...The Jiaozhou Bay Bridge

Earlier this week I wrote about China pretty much building a bridge in California at a cost of $7.2 billion. Yesterday I saw a new bridge opening in China, The Jiaozhou Bay bridge. It is 26 miles long and is designed to withstand an earthquake or typhoon. The part that made me re-read it was the cost. China says it only cost $1.5 billion to build this bridge. Are you serious!?! France said it cost $2.7 billion, still cheaper than our bridge. Great Britain said it cost more like $8.8 billion, which though more than our bridge, is still a hell of a deal. Why is the San Francisco/Oakland bridge $7.2 billion, and that is considered a "deal", and theirs is much longer and cost less per mile? I hope that I find out later that this bridge cost $30 billion and is unsafe. Until then I am going to give China a Digit Up for their ingenuity, the same ingenuity that will overtake the world.

...States

In California they are building a bridge from San Francisco to Oakland. Normally this would never make news in my eyes, but this time it is. Why? The bridge is being made by the Chinese. The assembly work in California, and the pouring of the concrete road surface, will be done by Americans. But construction of the bridge decks and the materials that went into them are a Made in China affair. California officials say the state saved hundreds of millions of dollars by turning to China. The state is already in debt so saving money is important, but giving money back to American companies is more important. But this is not just a California issue. In New York City alone, Chinese companies have won contracts to help renovate the subway system, refurbish the Alexander Hamilton Bridge over the Harlem River and build a new Metro-North train platform near Yankee Stadium. As with the Bay Bridge, American union labor would carry out most of the work done on United States soil. At $7.2 billion, it will be one of the most expensive structures ever built. But California officials estimate that they will save at least $400 million by having so much of the work done in China.California issued bonds to finance the project, and will look to recoup the cost through tolls. I guess $400 million is a lot..but when you are spending $7.2 billion already, what is an extra $400 million? Not much in my eyes. It cost a lot less to make things in China for sure, especially when you look at a typical worker. Pan Zhongwang, a 55-year-old steel polisher, is a typical Zhenhua worker. He arrives at 7 a.m. and leaves at 11 p.m., often working seven days a week. He lives in a company dorm and earns about $12 a day. It sucks but we cannot compete with such low standards of living. Still I must give these States a Digit Down. Where there is a will there is a way and if they really wanted to get a deal in America, they could have done it, but they are not going to "waste" their time searching for them.

...Paying

I hate paying for a lot of things. The things I hate paying for most would be: Gas, Food, Music, Insurance, Utilities, Cell phone bill, Cable/Internet and Hair cuts. Other than music, if I plan on moving to the Wet coast, California, I will end up paying a lot for all of these things, including taxes, whcih I do not mind paying for, but California taxes are crazy. I love to drive and West coast gas is more because it is so far from everything! Car insurance, house insurance...CRAZY high. I am young as well so it will be a portion of my pay check, the invisible pay check I assume I would have but probably would not...not regularly anyway, I am not a flake I am just not a robot. For now I will stay content with my South-East cost of living, though it still anonoys me. I am giving paying for things a Digit Down. Though I am an adult, none of you other adults out there can honestly admit you enjoy paying for things all fo the time.

...DeLorean

Back to the future because the future is now! DeLoreans, DeLorean DMC-12s to be exact, are back! People who loved these cars from the movie "Back to the Future" are buying these neat looking cars. Ke$ha drove one to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards; will.i.am owns one; Kanye West and Die Antwoord are vocal fans. The British band Neon Neon devoted its entire 2008 album to the car. If that does not help get it back out there At least 4 movie projects are making the rounds in Hollywood. Imagine up to 4 movies out int he future about this car. The car is an icon. Though the look fast, they do not go over 130MPS, we are talking about a 2.6 liter V-6 engine and a 0-60 times in 10.5 seconds. Vroom vroom. They are not the most reliable either, if you own one you will spend a LOT on maintence, though if you own a Jaguar you would be used to this. But with all of that aside this car is one of the most recognizable symbols of the 80's. The man behind the car, John DeLorean, was even arrested for transferring a suitcase filled with 220LBS of cocaine. How 80's is that! With the popularity of the care starting to surge, the company has agreed to some licensing deals:

- Nike 6.0 Dunk SE DeLorean. The $90 sneaks started listing for $400 on eBay the day after they sold out online. Nike designers visited DMC during production to re-create DeLorean taillights in the sole of the shoes. The kicks came packaged in a silver box that opened on either side like gull-wing doors.

- Mattel Hot Wheels DeLorean edition. The tiny cars sold 400,000 units last year in the fourth quarter alone. A special Back to the Future version is due out this spring.

- Xbox Gran Turismo. Sony approached DMC "very early," Wynne said, but he turned them down. "They offered me a dollar for the licensing, and I said no—you're missing some zeros here. They came back two years later with some real money."

- The Hundreds. The L.A.-based design shop is heavily influenced by southern California's skateboarding and surf punk culture. The Hundreds partnered with DMC to produce a special run of DeLorean T-shirts and a wrap option for the DMC-12

I do plan on owning one of these cars int he near future. The originally sold for around $25,000 30 years ago and you can buy one from $11-$50,000. The expensive ones usually have a "Back to the Future" car kit on them. I am giving the DeLorean a major Digit Up because it is still one of the coolest cars ever built.

...California

I may HAVE to move there. Why? Because it is where the industry lives. Movies and television shows are made there. New York City does it as well, but California is the state, Hollywood, and its surrounding cities, are the places whee things get made. I am not a huge fan of California, but it is okay. It is almost bankrupt and it has high taxes, insurance and real estate. I am not sure if I will enjoy living there, around people who are all pretty much the same. I do not want to become a celebrity, that is not my goal in life, but I do wan to make television interesting, new shows, possibly a movie or two. Florida is my home state, it is cool, but Miami is the location for things, and even that is limited. Miami is...Hollywood South. Who knows, maybe it will be New York City for me. They have fashion, business, and WEATHER. Rain, snow, sun, all of the things I enjoy. In California, Southern California, when it rains there is always a chance of a mudslide and a house or 6 falling down. I am getting ahead of myself, I am a few steps away from this, but it is better to plan ahead than get stressed when you finally get to that point. I am giving California a Digit...Down. This could change in the future, maybe a Digit up or 2 Down.

...The Crystal Cathedral

Although this is not the 1st church to close or go under during this recession, this has to be one of the most well recognized to do so. The Crystal Cathedral in Southern California, known for its "Hour of Power" shows, has filed for bankruptcy due to debts that exceed more than $43 million. It has a mortgage of $36 million and owes more than $7 million to vendors of many sorts for things over the years. The church had been negotiating a repayment plan with it's vendors but a string of lawsuits threw that out of the window. With its 10,000 members and millions of viewers around the world the church is trying to stay away from credit and is only using the nearly $2 million it receives monthly from members, donations and revenue. The church also sold some land and property to stay afloat. Hopefully the church does emerge from this shinier and newer and with a better sense of financial responsibility. I do not want to see this beautiful church go down and have this palace like cathedral possibly turned over into the wrong hands. I am giving this news a Digit Down for sure.

...Bell, California

Bell, California has been in the news for months since it was reported this Summer that 8 of its city officials gave themselves outstanding salaries. Bell is a suburb South of Los Angeles and has about 40,000 residents. It is not a wealthy city, most the families average about $30,00 a year. When the residents found out that some of its officials gave themselves huge salaries they, along with America, became angry and upset. Robert Rizzo, a former city manager, was the most disliked when it was discovered he had a salary twice that of the President's at $800,000 a year! Former assistant city manager Angela Spaccia gave herself a salary of $376,288 while four others gave themselves nearly $100,000. Those arrested were: Former City Manager Robert Rizzo, Mayor Oscar Hernandez, former Councilman George Cole, former assistant city manager Angela Spaccia, Vice Mayor Teresa Jacobo, council members George Mirabal and Luis Artiga and former council member Victor Bello. Someone who was not arrested was former Police Chief Randy Adams, who made $457,000 and was looked upon in the same way as the others in the resident's eyes. This is an example of a corrupt government or as Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley called it, "corruption steroids." They are making an example out of these people, and I could not be happier. I hope that this is just the start of things like this. No matter how big or small the city or town may be no one should steal from its people or the government, eventually you will get caught and once you mess with the government you cannot by your way out of it. I hope the money is repaid, as much of it as they can, because the city of Bell is not a wealthy city, 1 out of 6 residents live in poverty. It is very working class and the people living there right now are struggling with a lot of issues, even before this all came about. I am giving the city a Digit Up for making the proper move and I do hope that this is a warning shot seen and heard across this nation.

...Los Angeles Stimulus Money

The controversial stimulus packages that President Obama pushed for to help retain and create jobs seems to have done exactly that. In Los Angeles $111 million in stimulus spending by the city's Department of Transportation and Department of Public Works found that the money went to projects that created or retained just 54 jobs. That works out to roughly $2 million per job. But wait there is more. $71 million was given to the Department of Public Works to fund 15 road projects and save or create 238 jobs, but it only managed to create 7.76 jobs, or about $10 million per job, and saved 37.7 jobs, well below the projected number. Some of the projects they completed were installing new LED light bulbs in traffic lights and installing 65 new left-turn arrows. Both projects came to $13 million total. Obviously the money was not spent or handled properly and it needs to be looked into deeper. The audits show that the money was spent on actual projects but they just spend too much money on the projects. I think hat sounds fishy... California has had a couple of smaller towns that had corrupt officials giving themselves annual salaries that rivaled and even surpassed the President's, who makes $400,000 as President and is the highest paid government official. I must give this a Digit Down. In the economy no government money should be wasted on silly things that could be held off for a better day.

...Ferrari

Ferrari is known for making some of the most coveted sports cars in the world. But recently their new darling, the 458 Italia, has been having major problems. This new Ferrari is being recalled because some have caught on fire on more than 1 occasion, about 10 cases actually. Apparently the rear wheelhouse has glue that can melt and become flammable when you drive the Ferrari hard, the way you are suppose to drive a Ferrari. The cars being recalled were made before July 2010 and were sold in Europe, China and California. With a base price of $230,000 a problem like this should have never ever occurred in the 1st place. I am still planning on purchasing one, why not, but I am going to make sure that all of the kinks have been fixed before I take it for a drive. I am giving Ferrari a Digit Down because these a Bush League problems.