Miika Grady

Scandinavia pictures

Got home from a big 2-week Scandinavia vacation with my family. Here are some pictures.

All Rhys, all the time

More on my Flickr page…

Aw, what a cute pterodactyl baby

Our screaming little pterodactyl-monkey baby is almost 5 months old.

Why does food seem so expensive?

It’s related to our desire to become less dependent on foreign oil (and the Middle East). By subsidizing the ethanol industry, we’re increasing food prices.

TIME magazine breaks it down in last week’s issue, and Slate provides further explanation. The unfortunate consequences are as follows:

1. Farmers abandon growing other crops because they can get sky-high (subsidized) prices for corn (ethanol). Because farmers are growing less of other food crops, supply drops and food prices increase.

2. With oil now costing what it does, the cost of transportation and production of food has gone up, which results in higher prices at the grocery store.

3. Though ethanol is being touted as a green solution, Brazil’s rainforest and other forests around the world are being razed in favor of farm land to grow ethanol. Forest are a major carbon dioxide sink that balances out global warming. Less forests, more global warming.

So, now in addition to subsidizing oil production, we’re subsidizing ethanol production which isn’t any better for the environment, AND it negatively impacts food prices and supplies. It’s another pretty bad cycle we’re getting into. Shouldn’t the goal simply be to use the energy we have as efficiently as possible?

How big do I seem to my baby?

At 4 months, Rhys is growing really fast. At his last doctor’s appointment he was measured at 27 inches long and almost 16 pounds. He’s a big boy!

But he’s still tiny. After looking at him in the crib the other night, I wondered, “If Rhys was actually my size (70 inches and 150 pounds), relatively speaking, how big would I seem to him?” Or in other words, “If I were a baby (at my current size), how big would my dad seem to me?” After some quick calculations, I am approximately 15 feet tall (181 inches) and 1,400 pounds.  That’s right.  I’m 1,400 pounds.

Bear Stearns Bailout: Sentiment vs. Reality

There has been a lot of commentary trying to make sense of the Bear Stearns buyout. But, none of them quite captured my sentiment on the matter as did this article [ "Dear Ben: Really, Next Time, F*** Wall Street." ] from, of all places, fashion/celebrity blog Jezebel.

The gist of the article is: A.) Bear Stearns should’ve been forced to eat it because it was their own greed that got them caught up in the Ponzi scheme, subprime mess in the first place. B.) JP Morgan is getting a sweetheart deal from the Fed. And, C.) Yesterday’s 3/4 point rate cute is all about saving Wall Street’s millionaire, investment banking, hypocritical ass. Shouldn’t Wall St and Bear be forced to suffer the consequences of their own irresponsibility (much like any individual would)?! Isn’t that the basic tenet of capitalistic, business philosophy?! Besides, I’m constantly getting the short-end of the stick financially because all of these c-suite, investment banker guys get rich squeezing the little man (me). Screw them! Seems simple enough.

To be honest, I only have a decent layman’s understanding of why the economy is hitting the fan (Click here if you need further explanation). I know it isn’t that simple. The Fed couldn’t just let Bear declare bankruptcy. A.) There are plenty of “little people” at Bear, and declaring bankruptcy would’ve immediately locked their doors Monday morning, with no severance pay to boot. B.) It would’ve had a massive ripple effect on all investment banks, the mortgage industry, Corporate America, etc. And, C.) Letting investment banks collapse is what led to the Great Depression.

But, it still stinks. As a graphic/web designer (who was smart or lucky enough not to get himself caught up in some crazy ARM mortgage) I know there are more informative, educated and lucid sources of information concerning the Bear Stears bailout than me. Among them: The Big Picture, Paul Krugman, Dealbook, Calculated Risk, Marginal Revolution, etc. But, how can JP Morgan swoop up Bear for less than the price of the building they occupy in mid-town Manhattan? It just doesn’t make sense. I just can’t help but feel that the Fed is basically using tax payer money to prop up a failed bank, give another bank that doesn’t need any favors a huge freebie, and save a bunch of executives who will eventually disproportionately profit from the bailout.

Rhys giggles

Rhys is really developing fast. Everyday he’s doing something new. Last Thursday was his first giggling fit. We caught some of it on video.