Sex January 17, 2018January 16, 2018 So yesterday we had the most important TED talk you’ll ever watch, which ties in neatly with the book I’ve been plugging, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, both of which cry out to us — implicitly — to elect really smart, really competent, superbly thoughtful leaders. Boy, did Putin ever knock us off that track. But all most of us really care about, from minute to minute, is food and sex (perhaps I’m just speaking for myself?), and since you know I don’t eat — saves time, saves money, saves the planet, extends longevity, lessens the cruelty — I offer you today Andrew Sullivan’s take on the over-reaction to admittedly vile, in some cases criminal, behavior.
The Most Important TED Talk You’ll Ever Watch January 16, 2018January 15, 2018 Sam Harris on artificial intelligence. We are alive at the crucial moment.
The Progessive Case For Trump’s Stupid Wall January 15, 2018January 15, 2018 Well argued here, in New York Magazine. Chuck and Nancy should read it. And a sad, related read from the New Yorker: “When Deportation Is a Death Sentence.” We were once a compassionate nation, a beacon of hope and democracy. Remember? Our racist, petulant, self-obsessed President has now issued more than two thousand falsehoods and the world sees him for what he is. Read the book. Happy Birthday, Reverend King. The struggle continues. FOURTH QUARTERLY 2017 ESTIMATED TAX PAYMENT DUE JUNUARY 16 (unless you will be filing your return, with any balance due, by January 31)
Books, Bikes, and Backpacks January 12, 2018January 13, 2018 Discovery Channel: Three minutes on the airports of tomorrow (WheelTug at 1:57). Some of it pretty silly — but not, I hope, WheelTug. Holland. You have to read/watch this about Trump’s ambassador to the Netherlands and his press conference there. Book #1. You know the old guy you always see sitting on the stoop of his brownstone, or else on the bench outside the supermarket? Rumpled white T-shirt and shorts, seemingly not crazy — nor homeless — often reading, never muttering to himself. Maybe mid-seventies? Overweight? Not much white hair left? No? Well, I do. A little. And not long ago, as I passed him on his stoop, he urged me to download and read a copy of his e-book: Fifty Years And Counting: One Man’s Journey Through A Half Century Living In New York City. The autobiography of a talented man who didn’t hit the jackpot. In a way, Fifty Years reminded me of one of my all-time favorites — Dostoevsky’s Notes from the Underground — whose fictional narrator begins, “I am a sick man. A wicked man. An unattractive man.” A man who lays it all out there. Well, John Elari is neither sick nor wicked — nor Dostoevsky — but boy does he ever lay it all out there. He had a ten-year run as celebrity florist-to-the-stars that brought him into contact with everyone from John Lennon to Meg Ryan. But that was a long time ago. He has lived in the same one-room rent-controlled apartment for nearly 50 years (paying about 20% what your or I would, were he ever to give it up) and in this book chronicles 50 years of New York (as well as some of its earlier history), 50 years of the nation, and 50 years of loneliness and a certain amount of bitterness. If you happen to be a gay man of a certain age living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, you have to read this book — ah, the memories. If you’re anyone else, I’m not sure what you will make of it. It’s sooooo raw, soooooo honest. (Soooo long and un-copy-edited!) But for the price of a latte, he gives you his whole life. Which in and of itself is a remarkable thing. Book #2. Homo Deus. Yes, I keep plugging this one. It is beyond fascinating, riveting, and important. (Thanks, Matt!) Book #3. Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. You may be sick of hearing about it or feel that, with all the excerpts, you don’t need to read it. But oh my gosh. Read it. Or listen to it at 1.5X . . . which I prefer because one of Trump’s speeches (to the CIA), read verbatim at that speed, will leave you reeling. Bikes. Backpacks. George Mokray points us to China’s test of a solar highway — here. But then goes on to write us about solar backpacks and energy-capturing bikes: This is the future I’d like to see where every individual who wants to can have survival electricity easily, affordably, and in perpetuity. That future is available to the present now through off the shelf commodity products produced in gross quantities – small solar devices and bicycle generators – but it is not a possibility recognized by the vast majority of people because we are so unused to thinking of the power of the small. My experiments with solar backpacks have gone on for about a decade and a half and I am still the only person I see walking around Cambridge, through the Infinite Corridor of MIT, or in the halls of Harvard with such devices. I go to lecture after lecture on energy and climate change and only rarely mention my solar backpack. I don’t want to embarrass the bigwigs. Most people don’t even notice that I carry solar power on my back. In the bicycle shops, every one I’ve asked about solar bike lights doesn’t even know that such products exist. Oh well. I think this is an important message and am trying to let the people in Puerto Rico, the American and British Virgin Islands, throughout the Caribbean and the world know that these tools are available NOW, affordable NOW, and work so that at least you can have a light at night and some communication through phone, when the cell towers are operating, or through the radio if they are not. This is real NOW and I am doing what I can to help others realize it. Like many problems, the solution is right in front of us but we don’t have the eyes to see the obvious. Click here for pictures and links from George’s blog. Have a great weekend!
NKTR, BOREF, and “How They Get Away With It” January 11, 2018January 10, 2018 VOX: The GOP is trying to pass a super-unpopular agenda. Political science (and common sense) says they ought to pay a price at the polls. They might not. . . . Their basic design runs exactly counter to voters’ stated preferences. Americans don’t consider tax cuts a high priority, and they are spectacularly unenthusiastic about reducing taxes on the rich in particular. Which, it turns out, is exactly what the GOP tax bills aim to do, even as they threaten to raise taxes on many Americans and prompt future spending cuts. Despite all the deception and haste, most voters get this. The GOP health bills were unpopular for the same basic reason: They sought to impose painful cuts on most Americans while promising lucrative benefits to those at the top of the income distribution (through, yes, tax cuts). . . . So how do they get away with this? “One explanation, perhaps the most important, is that they have built a formidable electoral floodwall. To hold the House, for instance, it’s generally estimated they can afford to lose the national popular vote in 2018 by 6 or 7 points.” And the Senate? Well, Wyoming, Alaska, and the Dakotas, with 3 million people, have 8 votes in the Senate compared with just 2 for California, with 40 million. But in a wave election November 6, we can overcome all that. We just have to turn out. Artie: “I didn’t buy any SPRT, but I’m doing handsprings over NKTR. That one I did buy.” ☞ Well, it was a long time coming — nearly five years — but every sextuple helps. “Thanks, Guru.” (No clue where it will go from here. Declare victory and take your profit?) Of course, “nearly five years” is but a seventh-inning stretch compared with BOREF. And yet, it seems, we inch forward. As, for example, with yesterday’s press release: Total Air Group and WheelTug Aircraft E-Taxi Program to Expand Partnership MEMPHIS, Tenn. and GIBRALTAR, 10 January 2018 – Total Air Group (TAG) and WheelTug plc are pleased to announce an expansion of their existing cooperation. In its expanded role as a risk-sharing partner, TAG will help finalize WheelTug’s test, maintenance and repair procedures, as well as assist in the development of training procedures for WheelTug-authorized mechanics and technicians. TAG will also provide mobile teams for WheelTug system installations and maintenance at customer sites, and handle some logistic functions for the WheelTug support network. Mike Silvius, CEO of TAG, said “becoming a member of the WheelTug Team is extremely exciting for our organization. The partnering of a dynamic repair station with such an innovative, forward thinking aviation product is an outstanding ‘power multiplier’ that will benefit all parties immensely. The efficiencies, time savings, safety, and automation that this system brings to an aviation environment with growing operational limitations will be celebrated by CFOs, pilots, and passengers.” WheelTug CEO Isaiah Cox agreed. “This expanded agreement with TAG is a natural progression. TAG has already been a very valuable member of the WheelTug development and certification team, thanks to its hands-on experience with aircraft operational aspects, maintenance implications, and on-aircraft tests. We also look forward to working with them on our TaxiCam™ system to provide pilots with greater situational awareness.” Total Air Group is a small, veteran-owned LLC formed in 2006 by a team of FedEx aircraft maintenance technicians. Headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, Total Air Group is a FAA/EASA Certified Repair Station that provides scheduled, unscheduled, AOG off-site, component repair, fleet management, and on-demand aircraft maintenance support for both certificated air carriers and private operators throughout the country. WheelTug plc is a Gibraltar company developing an innovative e-taxi electric drive system that will enable aircraft to taxi forward and backward using twin electric motors installed in their nosewheels. Airline savings in flight turnaround time, fuel, reduced aircraft damage, emissions, and other areas are expected to total more than $1,000 per flight. Currently in the certification process, entry into service, initially for Boeing 737NG aircraft, is anticipated in mid-2019. A full listing of WheelTug partner companies and airline customers is on the company’s website at http://www.wheeltug.gi. A forward-looking statement is available at http://www.wheeltug.gi/fls.shtml Don’t count your chickens, don’t hold your breath, don’t take any wooden nickels, and don’t take anything for granted. But — if purchased with money you could truly afford to lose — don’t sell your BOREF, either.
Car Loans, iPhones, SPRT — and Founding Flubs January 10, 2018January 9, 2018 G Hammond: “I am reading your investment guide. If offered a choice between a 1.5% interest rate or $1,500 ‘cash back’ on a $19,500 car, your advice is to take the cash (page 25). Why?” You may think I’m posting that question to plug my investment guide, but no. No, no, no! I’m posting it because I love G Hammonds email tag-line: Talk without being offensive; listen without being defensive; always leave your adversary with their dignity, because if you don’t, they will spend the rest of your life making you miserable. Wise words I too often forget. (I answered: “So let’s say you put $2,500 down and borrow the $17,000 balance at 1.5% for 48 months = $365/month. That compares with borrowing $15,500, after the $1,500 cash back, at perhaps 2.5% for 48 months, which works out to $334/month. Or at 3% — $343/month. Or at 5% — $357/month. And while I have you? Buy a used car. “That new-car smell is the most expensive fragrance in the world.”) If you have an iPhone 6 or 7, “run, don’t walk, to replace your battery for $29,” $50 off the regular cost. According to the Washington Post, you’ll get added battery life and your phone will run faster. (According to Apple, when I showed up on time for my 4pm Genius Bar appointment for this today, I’d have to wait half an hour for a Genius to put me on the wait list of at least two weeks for the battery; then make another appointment and wait however long past my appointed time for her or him to install the battery.) No guarantees of success, of course, but as an SPRT shareholder I was heartened to see a new, sophisticated investor has filed with the SEC to disclose the 6.7% interest acquired last year. On top of the previously-reported 4.98% stake acquired by value-themed BML Partners. Also, for what it’s worth, the company’s web traffic seems to have spiked sharply in the last few months. That could be a good sign as well. And now, for extra credit, from the New York Times: The Constitution’s Blooper Reel.
Oprah 2020? January 9, 2018January 9, 2018 You’ve probably already seen it, but just in case. And it’s not just Oprah. We have tons of potential traditional Democratic candidates with tremendous smarts, integrity, experience, and good will. But for now, can we please focus on a massive turn-out November 6 that flips Congress and a great many state legislatures blue? The perpetual Republican “vision” of tax cuts for the rich, that has led to tens of trillions of dollars in National Debt (stemmed only by Clinton and Obama), produces nothing but rising inequality and, for many, despair. And don’t tell me you don’t know what Democrats stand for, because you do. And I’ll prove it. See if you can identify which party favors each of these: 1. TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH 2. RAISING THE $7.25 MINIMUM WAGE 3. CONFRONTING CLIMATE CHANGE 4. OPENING WILDERNESS AREAS AND COASTLINES TO DRILLING 5. COAL 6. SOLAR 7. WOMEN’S RIGHTS 8. LGBT EQUALITY 9. DEFUNDING PLANNED PARENTHOOD 10. CONSUMER PROTECTIONS 11. IMPROVING THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT 12. REPEALING THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT 13. RESPECTING UNIONS 14. BREAKING UNIONS 15. MAKING IT HARDER TO VOTE 16. MAKING IT EASIER TO VOTE 17. REFINANCING FEDERAL STUDENT LOANS AT TODAY’S LOW RATES 18. SENSIBLE GUN SAFETY REGULATION 19. SEPARATING CHURCH AND STATE 20. PROGRESSIVE JUDICIAL APPPOINTMENTS 21. THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA Not to say every single Democrat and Republican in Congress is in lockstep on every issue. And not even to say which of these positions is right or wrong (though I certainly have my opinion). But how many of the 21 did you have trouble identifying with one party or the other? Feel free to suggest others to get it up to an even 25 or 50.
How Democracy Dies January 8, 2018January 7, 2018 David B.: “All I could think of while reading Bill Gates in Time was that his optimism is the Trump voters’ pessimism. Everything he thinks is going well is exactly what they hate about the world. The divide is startling.” Well, maybe not everything. But yes. Meanwhile, from the New Yorker: The Increasing Unfitness of Donald Trump. (Really? Could his unfitness increase?) . . . Future scholars will sift through Trump’s digital proclamations the way we now read the chroniclers of Nero’s Rome—to understand how an unhinged emperor can make a mockery of republican institutions, undo the collective nervous system of a country, and degrade the whole of public life. . . . He was able to destroy Low-Energy Jeb, Little Marco, Lying Ted. He has decimated the State Department and is working hard to destroy trust in the FBI and the press. So here’s the question: Can he destroy democracy? From the New Republic: How A Democracy Dies.
MORE Good News January 5, 2018January 6, 2018 Yes, the administration is unraveling, America’s hard-crafted world leadership of the past 70+ years has been lost — the US-centric TPP will instead cede the giant Pacific market to the China-centric RCEP, and Russia has destabilized our democracy — all that. Read the New York Magazine excerpt and then read the book. But in keeping with yesterday’s glorious theme — The World’s Getting Better All The Time — I give you today Bill Gate’s optimism, as he edits the current issue of Time Magazine. There is so much to be excited about. Read Homo Deus or listen to it on Audible at 1.5X speed as you do your power walk. If only we can get back onto an even, progressive, science-and-environment-respecting keel. (Happily, the Administration has just granted a Chilean billionaire permission to mine for copper in a wilderness area that the Obama folks had preserved. It’s a mere coincidence the Chilean owner rents his home to Ivanka and Jared.)
The World’s Getting Better All the Time January 3, 2018January 3, 2018 Click here for the good news: 2017 was a year of medical and technological breakthroughs — as 2018 and each year thereafter will surely be, too. Enjoy the list. It was also a relatively good year not to get killed — humanity is getting better at minimizing the death toll from natural disasters. But if you really want to put it all in perspective, Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari is the book for you. Subtitled: “A Brief History of Tomorrow.” First there was nothing. Thirteen or fourteen billion years. Then, about a second ago: Homo Erectus. Now Homo Sapiens. Next: Homo Deus.* *Unless thoughtless, unstable leaders render the planet uninhabitable. Then we’re back to nothing for a few billion years.