The Economics of Ozzie Guillen (for Luke)

So good ol Ozzie has been in the news again.  Here is a quick synopsis from the Huffington Post:
Because a lot of my readers are not baseball fans a quick background:
Ozzie is a former player, then the manger of the Chicago WhiteSox, now the manager of the Miami Marlins

(Miami Marlins as in Miami Florida, home of a huge Cuban refugee community).

Last week Ozzie said this:
"I respect Fidel Castro. You know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that son of a bitch is still there."

My temptation is of course to attempt to explain to non-Cuban Americans how I think Cuba is better off with Castro then it would have been without him.  But....that will have to wait, and the man did cause a lot of damage as well. 

For now, The Marlins response to Guillen's comment is where my problem lies. 

This is a team with a new stadium, a new name (formally Florida Marlins) that is attempting to build a new image.  This type of thing is exactly the reason they hired Guillen.  This is the first time in my baseball loving memory that the Marlins have been national news for more than 12 hours (other than winning the World Series).  Suspending Guillen for 5 games, when behind closed doors he was probably given a huge bonus for drawing attention (exactly what they are paying him to do), assumes that all baseball fans are ignorant asses that can't grasp why the Marlins would hire a loudmouth ass to be an ineffective on-field manager in the first place. 

Sorry for the rant, but it was promised!

Canada Leads the Way? Elimination of the Penny

Many people that I have personal contact with me have heard some form of complaining about something unimportant in the grand scheme of life.  One of my favorite rants, the continued existence of pennies.  I hate pennies. 

Inflation is necessary part of capitalist stability, and has long since rendered the penny obsolete.  Rounding every purchase to the nearest 5 cents saves far more than it costs.  There are many places to find analysis and commentary on this, here is one.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-03-29/canada-eliminates-penny-which-costs-penny-and-a-half-to-make

Even in a worst case scenario for an individual (say losing 3 cents on 10 purchases a day for an entire year) the losses are fairly insignificant (around $100 a year).

 I can't fully explain why the little copper coins annoy me so much, but they do, and per the above story, my home nation is making a bid for me to return home (I can't think of any other reason for Canada to eliminate the 1 cent coin?)
Actually I can think of many....but I'll suggest that Canada needs me back as the primary reason (for now). 

Revival of a Classic: The Simpsons, Krusty for Kongress on Fox News

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa1G3Y7ev4Y

This is just a liberal jab at News Corp
but quite funny.

Relevant part starts at 1:02. 
I only bring this up because of the constant coverage of the Republican primaries. 
Well worth 30 seconds if you haven't seen it. 

Dodgers Sale. Quick Hit...

Lazy reporting, Magic Johnson is just one of the members of the Chicago based financial group (* the only one that anyone has heard of I'm sure), not the "head" of the group.  

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/magic-johnson-group-buy-dodgers-2-billion-050903869.html

Regarding the sale:  I'm pretty sure part of the 2BILLION includes the parking lot as well (makes it all worthwhile).  Pretty much finishes my dream of ever owning a team though.