How Big Is Your World?

(Stray thoughts corralled during unguarded moments of an introspective round-up.)

A few days ago for some inexplicable reason at about 8:30PM I was all about ready to drop to bed unable to keep droopy eyes opened in spite of the colorful visual perks on TV and the Internet. So off to soft warm comfort I plopped before 9PM, undoubtedly unusually early for me. Before long I was roaming dreamland.

But by 1AM I suddenly nudged and sleep was interrupted, with eyes and mind unerringly flashed back to reality. And the lingering warmth of the prior sunny day was no help in my half-hearted attempt at getting back to sleep. Thus unleashed, the unrestrained mind started racing through whatever figment of any idea floated through.

Suddenly the question. How big is your world? I mean that physical world that you can presently perceive, participate in, personally interact with, and in so doing somehow influence. And on the other hand, I do not mean the world that one has access to either virtually, remotely, vicariously, or from afar. The world that opens up for you when your imagination takes over, or when you turn your TV on, or when you read books, or when one plays video games, etc.

I emphatically refer to the concrete world of reality that we daily have to either enjoy through or labor under, a world we cannot hurry or slow down, a world we may exert some influences on but not really much.

I immediately thought about the suddenly ubiquitous politicians and their surrogates, this being the midst of the political season, and whose political ambitions and boundless rhetoric media have unilaterally co-opted as its addictive business to repeatedly delve into and broadcast wide to all and sundry.

By purpose and choice, the politician’s world has to be big and wide. They have to know and interact with lots and lots of people because of the very nature of their profession. They have to know most of the bureaucratic people in government, the motivated people in their frenetic campaigns, the harried people in business or those stodgy people oozing with money, and in most abundant numbers, the faceless and numberless masses falling under the term, electorate. It goes without saying that they have decided to allocate for themselves the biggest world they can have, acquire, keep, and influence.

And undoubtedly, there are many other equally motivated people who find themselves in likely situations. The smart business entrepreneurs would have the same goals, but for reasons of their own, essentially so their businesses would have extensive exposure and clientele, and the bigger the better. Churchmen and purveyors of religion also have the same though spiritual designs, to reach as many potential devotees as possible.

But for the multitudes of us, we would rather keep our worlds easily manageable, comfortably small, and maybe uncluttered and easy to gather and discern. All in the cozy and safe embrace of the mantle of personal privacy and privacy rights where many of us find shelter and have ordained to keep our domicile. Thus, we are easily incensed when we discover any attempt whether by government or through any private initiative to invade or curtail that aura of privacy, and thus attempt to make our worlds larger. We will fight ferociously to keep our privacy cove clandestinely isolated and intact and its well-guarded boundaries and parameters sacrosanct. We do not welcome intrusions.

To arrive at some proof or validation, I did start to take stock of my own personal situation to determine what size my world was.

The idling mind then ambled to its next likely chore, trying to determine for me how big or small my world was, especially in these new environs where we have purposely decided as migrants to install ourselves in. We did choose this place to be near our immediate family members, our married kids and their families. A married daughter and her family are only 5 minutes drive away in the same city. But aside from them, the nearest relatives are at least 50 miles away in different directions and contacts are essentially through the phone. We do attend church services, but beyond communal prayer and worship, we have not really had deep social interactions in the different groups available in the parish. And we do shop regularly in some retail stores for our daily needs, but nothing much beyond just having nodding acquaintances with a few sales people. Even within the tight housing development we are in, we cannot in honesty really say that we have acquired new friends, and mind you it is not due to a simple lack of trying. And mark another nil in the work environment, since I have not really sought any local employment, while the wife preoccupies her time taking care of a family member a couple of miles away. Any other sectors missed?

All things considered, it is quite a narrow miniscule world I inhabit, if I may say so. Although being first generation immigrants (regardless of the considerable length of stay here), we still regularly interact with the old world we left behind in the old homeland, through regular protracted visits.

Inversely, we inhabit other worlds which in some ways may not easily lend themselves to size measurements. The daily and at times prolonged incursions in the unfathomable depths of the Internet allow the subject not only access but real-time interaction with a vast uncharted world of differing interests and subjects, encompassing whatever drives one’s fancies and curiosities. The regular sessions in front of TV serve up a plate-full of worlds just as varied and exotic, and all this in high definition. Newspapers, books, magazines, even those colorful business ad flyers collectively derided as spam, bring one to worlds that could stagger anyone’s vivid imagination in terms of its diversity and volumes of subjects.

We do include the mystical and vertically-oriented world we visit during prayers and worship, during solemn times of spiritual contemplation and introspection, where we leave the world of reality and ascend to one more ephemeral and ennobling.

And lastly and almost needless to state, I do have bouts with my fertile imagination as venue, seeing myself soaring through the air above some remote verdant canyons in the province of Bukidnon, expertly maneuvering and guiding my trusty gyrocopter through cascading treetops and adroitly outflanking shifty winds, etc. A world suspended in eager anticipation of the day when my real-life preparations for such activities will have been undertaken and accomplished.

What exactly is the relationship between these twin-category worlds, the real and the virtual? Do they grow or constrict in inverse proportion to each other? Or do they both grow side by side, complementing and supporting each other?

This might be the next interesting avenue to explore come next time when the same fertile mind is given free rein anew during moments of quiet and idle introspection.

Personally then the early but interrupted sleep was parlayed into a meaningful purpose for me. Gave for me new meaning to the cliché, sleeping on one’s problems.

Graphics:
1. Sculpture made by G. Ruggeri, from Tuscany, Italy. 14" statue of Blessed Virgin with infant Jesus. Made of bonded Carrara Marble and Alabaster, and finished by hand with remarkable detail, and hand painted.
2&3. Clarinet set, dismantled and in case.

A Not So Super Tuesday

Today was a day at the polling place. And as has been touted by media incessantly for the last months, today was supposed to be Super Tuesday. The day that will determine the rise and fall of the remaining presidential candidates. Or maybe not. A day when over 20 states in unison hold their presidential primaries. Many eyes will be on California, a very populous state where a hefty number of delegates are up for grabs to the different candidates still on the hunt.

An early sunny winter morning ushered in this Tuesday, a good harbinger for those bent on fulfilling a crucial civic duty – voting for the presidential candidates plus a round of propositions placed on the ballot. Being a registered Independent, I am entitled to vote also on the candidates of one of two parties that allowed unaffiliated voters to participate in their primaries. The two parties allowing this are the Democrat Party and the American Independent Party.

But the surfeit bordering on ennui of media coverage of the different multi-pronged campaigns leading to this somehow turned me out, so I decided that I would only vote on the seven (7) measures on the ballot. Four of them making a tight cluster since they all pertained to Native American gaming issues.

At past 11 a.m., I drove quietly to our assigned polling place. And this being the first time since our move from another county, I had to drive slowly so as not to miss our polling place, which is snugly nestled in a quite hidden cul-de-sac in one of the residential developments here in western Tracy. And so positioned inside a residential garage as to not easily be recognizable until within a distance of a few meters or so.

Anyway the warm sunny day was a good respite from the cold nights we have been experiencing, enough to make me park a little distance away and thus allow the little leisurely walk to the place.

There were three voters ahead of me, and three polling officials to man the precinct. With marked sample ballot in hand, I was out of there in no time. A couple of minutes or so at the most. But tarried a bit in walking to the truck to see if more voters would be streaming in. Unfortunately, no more. The polling place was empty save for the people assigned. And I saw one precinct watcher leave in her vehicle, to lunch I had surmised.

It did not look like it was primary/election day. And driving to another section of Tracy to do some errands, the same observation prevailed. No signs of excited activity. I thought maybe later when people have gotten out of work that’s when most will attend to this important civic duty.

But for my purposes, it did not seem like Super Tuesday. More like any Tuesday except that the sun shone early, clearly a teasing invitation for people to go out and enjoy its warmth and glow.

To idle the day?

Brace For A Possible Bumpy Ride!

No stellar promises and expectations ushered in 2008. It just came. With a dull thud, that now promises to escalate to a resounding boom that will not augur well for the entire country. I may not have noticed much because I was too busy warding off our own little calamitous familial situation.

But there appears to be no uplifting exultation to report about US politics and the overall economy. The entire din created by both politicians and media have only contributed to the cacophony of sounds and fury that could only result in confusion in and mixed messages among the general populace. This definitely signals the kind of unwanted onslaught we will all be harangued with until the presidential elections in November 2008. So brace yourself for a possible bumpy ride.

And the economy? Earlier, we wrote about the general housing slump which shows no discernible signs of any abatement or improvement. Signs point to its getting worst before it gets better. And which cellar does worst reside? Who knows, but hope springs eternal.

The start of the year also did not presage well for Wall Street, with stocks staggering to the finish line. And now they continue to grope around the dark, dragged by a couple of dire economic indicators.

The unemployment figure shook a bit and ended at a higher 5%, one of many foreboding signs to suggest an oncoming recession.

The dollar continues to belittle itself in the international arena, continuing its downward slip vis-à-vis such worthy equivalent as the euro, and an unlikely partner in a duo, the Philippine peso which has been surprisingly soaring for so many months.

While the watchful economists and vigilant government bureaucrats are on top of all these early signs, divisive and contentious disagreements continue to muddy the waters. Semantic discussions as to distinction between a diminishing GDP growth vs. a diminished GDP growth enter in to add uneasiness. Many micromanagers are refusing to accept traditional criteria on determining what a recession is. Is it when two successive quarters show negative growth or what? Others have more refined ways of determining recession.

But everybody is talking about the forthcoming stimulus package emanating from the WH and to be discussed and decided in detail by the legislative body. But again sides have been drawn creating a formidable wall between them. Even the statements of the Fed chief with regard to the issue get interpreted in different ways. Does he or does not favor it? But all agree that that eventual package better be a fast and straight shooter, because the looming recession waits for no one.

And to make the situation dicier, we read how the rest of the world, though not gloating at seeing the vulnerabilities of this vaunted behemoth, are at best quite nonchalant about the distressful stirrings in the US economy. Which makes for a sad and unexplainable commentary given that if the US suffers, the rest of the world gets dragged in the morass, too.

What about the public confidence in the economy? With many politicians and detractors of the current administration fomenting the gospel of economic doomsday and quite vocal about it, it is a wonder that the entire electorate has not latched on to that ominous message. Though many of your typical "man on the street" types have easily been bent toward that direction, believing in the worst for the country. Do these particular politicians and vociferous detractors honestly believe in their gloomy doctrinal views on the economy? One is slightly favored to believe that these are all propagated for coarse political ends. Because in spite of the many challenges, many figures, statistics, and indicators of the economy collectively find it still quite healthy and vibrant, especially comparatively speaking taking the rest of the world as a measure.

One could bet safety that the illegal immigration with its many negative ramifications contributes to the current malady, jointly with concerns about the seemingly illogical escalation of the prices of oil. And the budget deficits, though tamed somewhat but still necessitated by continuing gargantuan expenditures on security, the wars, and what have you, can be reasonably added in the unlikely mix.

Oh, so many factors to blame, but none to suit all purposes of all contending parties. Thus, the problems tied with illegal immigration as a contributor, definitely not in the minds first of the illegals and definitely in those posturing for open borders, or even those employers who blatantly encourage illegal immigration by continuing to hire them for less than market wages.

But still so many contributory factors to blame but no magical package to fit our collective size.

Solution? Resolution?

No doubt it will come. We can say that we have gone through all this, and worse. And maybe though expecting to come out scathed, still none the worse for renewed rebirth.

So let’s brace for a possible bumpy ride, and let’s get our collective noses to the grind to tackle these pesky challenges. Remember after this, there are still a few wild horses to tame – social security and public debt which cumulates with increases in budget deficits. And while in this inspired mode, let’s plan heuristic strategies for doing something about current account deficits, too.

Whew! There is no rest for the evil, err, working man.

Graphics: Refrigerator magnets, anyone?

Big Brother Is Coming!

This government-proposed plan has hit the proverbial fan and sent cold shivers down to the biosphere of the Internet and talk radio. Heard it on the radio this morning and Drudge Report featured this story today. Now we learn that talk radio king, Rush Limbaugh, had earlier also created considerable buzz about this aimed at his millions of listeners.

As the International Herald Tribune headline declares, California wants to control home thermostats.

“Next year in California, state regulators are likely to have the emergency power to control individual thermostats, sending temperatures up or down through a radio-controlled device that will be required in new or substantially modified houses and buildings to manage electricity shortages.”

But as early as the start of last summer, those of us in the Central Valley (CA) had received an invitation from our electricity and gas provider, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, to join in their SmartAC Program.

The program is designed to work this way:

1. When high energy use drains California’s power systems, PG&E sends a signal to activate SmartAC technology installed in homes across the state.
2. The SmartAC technology then reduces your air conditioner’s energy use by cycling it on and off for brief periods or slightly raising the temperature on your thermostat.
3. Your AC fan continues to circulate air in your home during this period, helping to keep you comfortable.
4. SmartAC is only activated when it’s needed. At any time, however, you may call PG&E or go online to return your air conditioner to normal operation.

Additionally, one had the choice of installing either a SmartAC thermostat, which is installed in your home and will allow you to program both your heater and air conditioner, or the SmartAC switch which is installed close to your air conditioning unit. And an added bonus, when you are away you can log in and program your thermostat from the Internet. Now, talk about convenience.

Now, one may ask about the cost. Nada. Not a penny. As a matter of fact, we each got an appreciation check of $25 to have installed either a thermostat or switch. Thank you.

Of course, this is different because this is a private company doing it, but the proposed plan will be government initiated.

And so the resonant stir created has brought out to the fore once again George Orwell and his work, 1984, and mention of all-intrusive Big Brother.

Personally, I do not mind this little bit of intrusion into privacy and the shedding away of a bit of control on how cool or hot the interior of “castle as my home” should be. Better that than total breakdown or blackout, which we have had in the past. Or have people forgotten that, too?









The SmartAC switch was installed in the air-con unit which is located outside of the house.

US Homeowners vs. Current Housing Slump (Continued)

It just doesn’t seem right if we leave this issue without delving with some seriousness into the all too human factors that helped this all along, which are the human proclivity or predisposition for greed, and maybe, fraud. Yes, because SEC and state-initiated investigations are still ongoing as we speak. Which by the way made this not only a grave domestic issue, but eventually reverberated globally in summer, when a world-wide nail-biter of a credit crunch gripped the global economy necessitating gargantuan infusion of capital funds from various sources to bail out the strapped players involved. Even world's largest bank Citigroup as I recall had to sell away a good chunk of itself to a group in Dubai.

And for some basic understanding we have to dive into the shadowy world of “derivatives”, particularly sub-prime derivatives which a group of Wall Street bankers made available to investors in 2005.

Now these particular derivatives consisted of sub-prime mortgages, which became very prevalent during the peak of the housing boom. Mortgages almost indiscriminately granted to risks that normally would not merit credit-worthiness. Thus we had mortgages where the tests for income and capacity and ability to pay were summarily dismissed and set aside. Mortgages where normally necessary documentations and processes were shunted aside, and even where no or only very minimal down payments were required in granting the loans. And remember this was during the frenzied peak of the housing boom when house values soared high and fast.

So these derivatives were packaged by security firms and marketed as collateralized debt obligations, cleverly hidden and mixed with investment-grade securities as to merit appropriate ratings. But in reality were not only more risky, but their real values could not easily be ascertained.

With very lucratively high rates of return, they easily got lapped up not only domestically but across the globe by investors only too eager to make extra money, counting our now glum friends from Norway as mentioned in the first blog entry. Inventoried by a large numbers of big and renowned banks across the breadth of the economic universe. Even school districts and hospital management companies based in the US went for shares of the large rich pie. Old father greed made sure those interested got their rightful shares.

But poor sub-prime borrower, written of as bad by any logical standard right from the get-go, suddenly started defaulting, unable to pay higher than teaser rate monthly mortgage amortizations. Does he walk away from his precious and newly-acquired palace? With no other viable option available, and realizing too late that the re-finance window had never really been open to his not credit-worthy record to start with, he walked away.

With no other recourse for themselves, security firms who sold those mortgages started plugging the leaks incurring great losses, and understandably they started getting jittery. And the careening ball went for the investors from near and afar who had pocketed those nice and neat investment packages with contented thoughts of great returns.

In due time, by July about 14% of sub-prime mortgages ceased paying. Now that represented only about 5% of total US borrowers.

But it was enough to freeze the world’s credit markets. Suddenly, sub-prime mortgages were toxic to all to them and their marketability fell to zero.

But 2008 finds us in a somewhat appeased mode, with the financial institutions writing off their losses and licking their wounds; and as a result, easing the credit crunch somewhat. And those awash with capital, maybe like surplus-rich China or those wallowing in escalating petro-dollars, go into bail-out mode where needed.

And it may be ironic to mention that there is an unheralded group that actually made the right choices and thus minimized losses. Those who bet against the mortgage market, those who predicted that the mortgage market would go into a tailspin and invested correspondingly.