What’s Wrong With That Zucchini??? June 13, 2019June 12, 2019 Once the guys leave Sunday night to “go to work” (a concept with which I’ve grown increasingly unfamiliar), I spend Monday through Friday eating whatever they’ve left behind. And (hoping they don’t read this post) I have to tell you I live for the peace and quiet of the weekdays — and the amazing leftovers. Come Sunday morning I start to think . . . will they actually leave that whole half watermelon? All that pasta salad? (I try not to eat pasta; but if it’s free? and would otherwise go to waste? how can I resist?) Sometimes they’ll chow down things I’ve been quietly coveting as they’re packing and on the way out. But, like as not — three half-eaten açaí bowls in the freezer! — I have enough to last me all week. And now the confession. This past Sunday, even by mid-day, I saw there were still two (entirely separate) half sandwiches from the deli on prominent top-shelf refrigerator display. I never buy sandwiches; I try not to eat bread. But free? And seasoned for a couple of days, to let whatever’s inside the paper wrappers get even better, soggy in the best way? So I began to take what some might call an unnatural interest in those two leftovers, glancing nervously each time someone approached the refrigerator . . . each time relieved to see they had extracted only beer. Beer they can have. By mid-afternoon, my true nature came to the fore. (Are we not all a blend of good and evil? Generosity and greed?) I pushed the two half sandwiches back a little and moved a large container of pineapple cranberry juice (seriously? cran-pineapple? who bought that?) in front of the sandwiches, blocking them from view. It worked. The first couple of guys left. Sandwiches still there. The next couple left. Still there. And the next. (My house on weekends is a little like a Volkswagen filled with clowns except they work at Google.) Success! The two-day-old half-sandwiches were still there. And, yes, it occurred to me in the midst of all this, I was essentially Ronald Reagan in that famous story where he was meeting with heads of state but all he could think about were the donuts at the other end of the table. He was dying for another, but couldn’t interrupt the President of China. (They might have been jelly beans, and I have no idea whom he was really meeting with. A quick Google failed to come up with the actual anecdote. But this is the gist of it. It was in his memoir or someone else’s.) Presidents are human. Well, so am I. I should have been focused entirely on raising funds for a massive blue turnout next year to save democracy and perhaps humanity itself — but what was inside those beckoning crumpled sandwich wrappers? After that huge build-up I’m happy to tell you they were tuna salad and bacon — both of them — with mayonnaise and a little lettuce and tomato. And that even if my fundraising distraction wound up costing us a hair-thin election someplace (because our massive turnout next year, the organizing for which is already under way and needs to be funded now, fell just a few votes short — i.e., we won the White House and took back the Senate but fell just 7 votes short of winning the race for Ohio Secretary of State, say) . . . even then, I have to tell you those sandwiches were worth it. Later in the week I finished the açaí bowls, the salad, the watermelon, and a whole lot else . . . including a green zucchini I fished out of the garbage thinking it should have gone into the compost bag, but then realizing it was perfectly fine. (Yes, this is true, but not nearly as gross as you think.) It was firm and fine and I can’t imagine why anyone tossed it; maybe by accident? So after washing it and contemplating it for a couple of days, I microwaved it for three minutes, applied salt, pepper, and Smart Balance, and . . . mm, mm, good. Waste not, want not. John Seiffer: “Thanks for yesterday, on food waste. I just read this about food labels — How To Tell If Food Is Bad, According To The FDA. You’re on the cutting edge.” The boys return tomorrow, to restock.
Food Rescue Dot Org June 12, 2019June 11, 2019 John Seiffer: “Regarding Gloria’s comment on food waste. 412 Food Rescue is a great organization in Pittsburgh — and is expanding nationwide. They take perishable food that can’t be sold but is still good and deliver it directly to people who need it. It goes to subsidized housing, senior housing and the like. Since 2015 they’ve rescued over 5.5 Million pounds of food. And after they started, the housing authority here has had zero food emergencies due to their work. Here’s the cool part. They rely on volunteers — food rescue heroes — to pick up food that needs immediate rescuing via an app that they’ve built which tells you where to pick it up and where to deliver it. This can take as little as half an hour. People can do one-off or can sign up for a regular route. One of the grocery stores that is a food donor said they would be throwing out $300 a day of good food (produce, bread etc) that is just past the prime and can’t be sold. Now they donate it to folks who need it, saving them trash fees, and keeping it out of the landfill. Disclaimer — my wife has a regular weekly rescue and we’re big supporters.” → Hats off to John and his wife! This is such a win-win-win. Click here to find a similar organization near you. Oh! And I don’t usually make calls, but because I assume most Republican senators lean against scientific integrity . . . as they lean against consumers and workers and affordable health care and voting rights . . . and against Roe v Wade and DACA kids and confronting climate change and so much more (tell me again why you vote Republican?) . . . I took 60 seconds to call one of my Republican senators at 833-513-5863, to ask him to support the Scientific Integrity Act. Click here to learn more. It’s really easy and low stress. Maybe this is a bill that can pass. CORRECTION Rob Novick re yesterday’s post on homophobia: “To keep things accurate — Morgan Freeman never said that. Though it’s stated in a way that sounds like him.” → Thank, you Rob (and Snopes.com).
Has Morgan Freeman Gone Too Far? June 11, 2019June 11, 2019 June is Pride Month. Seems a little strong, because I think many homophobic men are scared. They’re afraid they’re gay, and use their homophobia to hide it. As a teenager, I was — and did. But so much has changed since then . . . there’s so much less to be afraid of . . . so maybe Morgan Freeman is right. UPDATE/CORRECTION I like to think he’s fine with it anyway, so I’m leaving it up; but according to Snopes.com, Morgan Freeman never said that.
Did He Leave? June 10, 2019March 24, 2021 Suggested here nine years ago at $1.25, I sold most of my EMIS at $9.75 yesterday. Sometimes, patience pays off. Buy when everyone else thinks it’s hopeless — like SPRT last week? (I bought more at $1.65) — but only with money you can truly afford to lose, because all too often everyone else is right. (SPRT faces some significant challenges sown by the previous management; but I like the CEO and am betting that in the long run this may work out.) Gloria: “I cringed a little when I read ‘expired food’ in Thursday’s post. In this country we are incredibly wasteful. It is estimated that about 40% of all the food produced in the US ends up in the garbage. This is shameful. A ‘best by’ date is a qualitative guideline put forth by the manufacturer, and as such it could be quite skewed. Even vinegar has a ‘best by’ date, which as a winemaker I have always found funny, because once you’re vinegar life can’t get that much worse… If you’re looking for an eye-opening book to add to your reading list, check out Jonathan Bloom’s American Wasteland. It’s also on audio!” Grocery prices and the forsaken foods at the back of your fridge seem to increase weekly. After reading American Wasteland, you will never look at your shopping list, refrigerator, plate, or wallet the same way again. Jonathan Bloom wades into the garbage heap to unearth what our squandered food says about us, why it matters, and how you can make a difference starting in your own kitchen—reducing waste and saving money. Interviews with experts such as chef Alice Waters and food psychologist Brian Wansink, among others, uncover not only how and why we waste, but, most importantly, what we can do about it. “Paul:” “Your guys won last week bigtime. Pelosi (or someone) set Trump up masterfully and he fell for it hook, line and sinker (which it might well do to him). The Ingraham interview from start to finish was a disgrace, and will lose a lot of his base.” → My dumbfounded question to this gay Ivy League grad of impressive credentials and good will, who’s been a close friend for more than 40 years — why is it “your guys” and not “our guys”? How can he possibly have voted for Trump and — worse — been defending him up until now? And is he still? Has Trump lost him? I wrote to ask; have not yet heard back. My fingers are tightly crossed.
College Behind Bars June 7, 2019June 6, 2019 Here’s a seven-minute PBS preview you may find uplifting. I know one of these former inmates. He is a fine guy who, as a kid, made one terrible mistake. As a nation, we could “do” criminal justice so much better. Here’s just one example — 22 years in prison, and counting. Enjoy your weekend! Designated Survivor, spectacularly revamped by Netflix after two uninspired seasons on ABC, drops today. And you could always read the Mueller Report. See why 1,000 former federal prosecutors say it’s not even a close question: if he were not president, Trump would be indicted on multiple felony charges. A felon, a liar, a bully, and a sociopath walk into a bar . . . and the Republicans inside cheer for him.
Borealis June 6, 2019June 5, 2019 Hey, so I see BOREF dipped below $5 for a minute yesterday and is not much higher than it was 20 years ago when I first bought some just north of $3 a share (and first wrote about it a few months later). You can read the January 3, 2019 Chairman’s letter in the 2018 annual report to get the company’s overview. I’ve gotten their permission to disclose that I’ve personally sunk $1 million into WheelTug in recent years, and raised a bunch more, to help fund the drive toward FAA certification, currently very much underway. Of course, there’s no assurance when or whether that certification will be forthcoming (it could easily be another 18 months or more) or that, once certified, lease payments and profits will gush as hoped. But with the company projecting that airlines will save more than $1 million per plane per year (mostly in time saved at the gate) . . . on what could ultimately be a significant fraction of the 17,000 jets currently in service that could be retrofitted (about 1,200 planes are already in queue) . . . the current $15 million market cap of Borealis (which owns 62% of WheelTug) seems (to me) kind of ludicrous. Yes, the company could fail. Its stock could ultimately wither away to zero. But it could also succeed. A lot of smart people are working hard – primarily for private WheelTug stock assigned a $1.25 billion market cap — to MAKE it succeed. So I hang on, albeit only with money I can truly afford to lose.* *At this point, having told you about the $1 million, I guess I should remind you that my needs are few. I have no car, boat, or plane. I bought my apartment when they were giving them away. I eat expired food — most recently some Gulden’s mustard marked “best by December 3, 2011.” And look at all the money I’ve saved over the years by not smoking!
Forget Bush v. Gore — How About TRUMP v. Gore? June 4, 2019June 5, 2019 This is the story of the multiply convicted, imprisoned child porn molester with ties to the Trump campaign, the White House, and Mar-a-Lago. It touches on our Middle East policy, Russia, the DeVos family, Blackwater, the Republican National Committee — everything. Watch! And then consider the contrast. Do you remember how outraged Bush 43 supporters were when Vice President Gore was found to have made a fund-raising call from the White House? Arguably — although the law was unclear — he should have gone across the street to a non-government phone so the taxpayers would not be footing that dime. A scandal. Do you remember how they mocked Gore for claiming that the characters in Love Story had been based on him and Tipper — and that turned out to be only half true? How they ridiculed him for saying he invented the Internet (which he did NOT say, but whose creation he did in fact champion long before it was in any way glamorous or easy)? How quaint all this seems now, when we have a porn-star-hush-money-paying pathological liar and sociopath in the White House actively wrecking our democratic institutions, ending the American Century, and siding with journalist-murdering autocrats all over the world. If you read the Mueller Report — which if you are still a Trump supporter but consider yourself a patriot you have an obligation to do — as Republican Congressman Justin Amash did — you will almost surely agree it’s time for this insanity to end. It’s time to start the impeachment inquiry — but with one big caveat: At the same time, we must constantly call on the Senate to pass the numerous bills the House has already passed, and a few more it should soon pass, that would make regular Americans better off. All our talking heads should demand it; all our presidential candidates should demand it; there should be massive marches on Washington — specifically the Senate — to demand it. If Senate Republicans finally do their job, great. A big win for the American people. It will still be fair to say they had to be dragged kicking and screaming to do it. In the more likely event they continue to block everything — obstructing justice and obstructing progress — voters will have even more incentive to sweep them out of office. No one asked about impeachment should fail to lead with something like this: “Well, the FIRST thing the Senate needs to do is pass the nine bills the House has already passed this year to make regular people’s lives better. The House did its job passing those bills to lower prescription drug prices and impose universal background checks and confront climate change and so much else — the Senate needs to do ITS job and vote on those bills. But on impeachment, yes, that’s part of our job, too. OUR NATION IS UNDER ATTACK BY THE RUSSIANS. For real! And the President constantly denies it and praises our attacker. So, yes: it’s part of our job to investigate that. WHY were there hundreds of contacts between Trump’s people and the Russians? And WHY did so many of them lie about it to the FBI and to Congress if it was innocent? If you actually READ the Mueller report, as Republican Congressman Justin Amash bravely did, you will conclude as he did that imeachment is warranted. But let me stress: the FIRST priority should be for the Senate to take up the nine bills the House has passed since January to make regular Americans’ lives better. It’s an outrage that they are obstructing this progress, even as so many of them are complicit in obstructing justice.”
The Peacock Clock; The Borrow-And-Spend Party June 4, 2019June 3, 2019 Under four minutes. Amazing. (Thanks, Alan.) I have a 1937 Mills nickel slot machine — a “one-armed bandit” like this one — that’s kind of beautiful but got jammed and now doesn’t take nickels. (Any ideas?) This thing is a lot older, a lot golder — and still works, apparently! Enjoy. WHOSE DEBT IS IT ANYWAY? Did you know that the National Debt grew 13.9% a year under Reagan — a Republican — and at 11.5% a year under Bush 41 — a Republican — but was cut to just 4% a year under Clinton? Did you know that after Clinton (a Democrat) handed off a balanced budget and, thus, a National Debt that had stopped growing, Bush 43 (a Republican) grew it at 8.5% a year? And that even though he handed off an ENORMOUS deficit that it would take Obama some time to tamp down (he first had to save the world from global depression), Obama’s 8-year rate of growth in the debt, even including the nightmare deficit he inherited, was 7.5% . . . less than Reagan, Bush, or Bush. Here are the numbers. Trump has the deficit exploding again . . . during good times, which is exactly when you don’t want to run them. So can we please note that Democrats are the party of (at least relative) fiscal responsibility and that Republicans are the borrow-and-spend party?
The Inversion June 2, 2019June 2, 2019 I unfairly trashed Margaret Sanger last week . . . see below and please accept my apology . . . but first . . . A money guy I know: “I can’t stop looking at Bloomberg’s 1963-2019 chart that shows the 8 times that the yield-curve has inverted. EACH time has seen a recession or significant downturn… And most of the time, many prognosticators said ‘this time is different.’ I don’t think it is — not with the trade war escalating and general geo-political scene deteriorating. I have ZERO confidence in the Trump admin’s ability to deal with a serious economic issue; if anything, they are likely to make anything worse than it otherwise would have been. I know that the inversion is very small as of now, but given how low rates are, the signal is probably valid even here.” → Normally, investors demand a higher interest rate the longer they have to up their money. So the Treasury usually has to pay more for 10-year money than 3-month money. But that’s inverted: as of Friday, the 3-month T-bill was yielding MORE than the 10-year note. Kris McCormack: “The Trump Administration — helping Putin win in so many ways.” (Kris links to the Wall Street Journal: A Surprise Winner From the U.S.-China Trade Spat: Russian Soybean Farmers.) Judy, Texas Grandmother and Proud Liberal: “Thanks for the tip on Michael Lewis’ podcast. You are right – BEST PODCAST EVER! But, Carl? I really wish he would talk to someone who has had an abortion and ask them why they did it. Until he’s done so, he can never understand what goes into making such a decision.” And now . . . Artie: “I am certainly not a student, let alone a scholar, when it comes to the work of Margaret Sanger; but your post threw me for a loop. So I did what any good time-challenged person would when their long held, but not firmly grounded, beliefs are questioned. I went to Wikipedia. As I read it, Sanger was much more a kindred spirit than anyone marching around in a MAGA hat. I don’t doubt that you quoted something that can be found on the internet; I just question your willingness to take it as authoritative. If not, I do suggest the wikipedia entry.” Douglas Symes: “Every so often you seem to swallow some ‘alternative facts’ hook, line and sinker. The last time I took you to task about this was 16 years ago over Noam Chomsky. This time it is Jefferis Kent Peterson (JKP), an anti-abortion activist who you didn’t bother to fact-check on the most basic of levels. Check out Planned Parenthood’s fact sheet, Opposition Claims About Margaret Sanger.” → I screwed up.