Wishing You Good Health January 17, 2020January 17, 2020 At the end of this post I offer — free — an amazing “stage play” to which you might want to devote an hour of your weekend. But first, as laughter is the best medicine, watch Larry David on the Today Show promoting Season 10 of Curb that airs Sunday. I laugh just thinking about it. Have you seen this telling graphic? We’re all immensely grateful for the breakthroughs that a profitable, properly incentivized bio-pharm industry provides. But things have gotten out of balance. The Health-Care Industry Is Letting Surgeons Behave Like Muggers. (Thanks, Sam!) Michael Myler: “In 2011, the Republican House passed a bill titled REPEALING THE JOB-KILLING HEALTH CARE LAW ACT. They even get a dig in naming their bills! Well, here we are with ObamaCare still in place and 3.5% unemployment.” → It almost makes you think Republican lawmakers are not being straightforward about their priorities. Was their goal to save jobs? Or to repeal Obamacare’s 3.8% surtax on wealthy donors’ dividends and capital gains? David: “I think you are harming people (not intentionally) by advocating plant-based diets. There is some pretty significant data that suggests that humans should eat meat and that plant based diets are not optimal for humans. First let me direct you to this TED talk about how important animals are to the environment.” → It is a stunningly important talk on “desertification” and climate change and planned grazing that I posted here seven years ago. Everyone should try to find the time to watch. But cows raised in pens achieve none of the benefits described from planned herd movements. Nor is it necessary to slaughter and eat them for those benefits to be achieved. Still: watch the talk. Read the comments. David is right: This is important! “Second, some info about plant toxins. A plant-based diet is not harmless. Watch. “Third, there is significant evidence to suggest that humans are evolved meat eaters. The industrialization of agriculture has not been a good thing for human health. In particular the last 30 years have created an enormous rise in diabetes, obesity, and other chronic conditions. See: Evidence for a meat-based diet. And How the Extinction of Ice Age Mammals May Have Forced Us To Invent Civilization. “Lastly, please take a few minutes to look over this page and this one. My wife and I are 57 years old. We switched to a 90% meat-based diet six months ago and the the improvement in our health has been dramatic.” → I’m grateful for the feedback, but not buying too much of it. I’m considerably older than David and his wife, eat very little meat — and feel terrific. So there may be ways to eat healthy that are dramatically more resource-efficient than sirloin. And now, David Mixner‘s one-night-only, one-man play, You Make Me Sick, performed with the help of some friends last month in New York . . . executive produced by, among others, former Republican National Committee Chair Ken Mehlman, as described here: . . . Mixner related his macabre health care tales — battles with sepsis, Dilaudid drips which caused him to hallucinate an attack on the hospital by North Korean soldiers; a gruesome “eyeball scraping” after which he was forced to lay face down for days — with ribald, jaw-dropping humor and a spiritual lucidity. He wove his stories into a condemnation of the health care system which has left him in the humiliating position of asking his friends for financial help, reminding his audience that there are many others less fortunate, without the privilege of the access he receives. “They die,” he whispered to the silent and riveted crowd. A farewell to friends and strangers from a man who’s given six decades to the fight for peace and justice. Have a great, healthy weekend. Season 10 of “Curb” airs Sunday!
Flip Trump Voters The Easy Way January 16, 2020January 16, 2020 Or at least the easier way — by political psychologist Karin Tamerius. Worth the read. You might also mention that — despite running close to a $1 trillion deficit to juice the economy (and get more cash into the hands of already-cash-rich corporations that used it to buy back stock and drive their share prices up) — job creation in 2019 was the slowest since 2011. But that’s not likely to resonate with Trump voters, who know that the true unemployment rate in the last months of the Obama Administration was “as high as 42%” (or so Trump had “heard“). The truth is, this election will be less about persuasion than TURN-OUT. So less about advertising than ORGANIZING. So less about waiting until you see the whites of their eyes (given that people remember the last thing they heard) and more about starting NOW (because the organizing snowball grows largest when it’s given the most time to accumulate volunteers as it rolls downhill). Have I ever shared this link with you before? Following up on Monday’s post — Hillary exonerated — here is Rachel Maddow chastising the ordinarily indispensable New York Times. (Pressed for time? Skip felon Flynn firing up the Republican Convention with his “lock her up” chant and start five minutes in.)
A Crisis Of Despair January 15, 2020January 14, 2020 In his new book, Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope, published yesterday — of which you can read a compelling sample here — Nicholas Kristof reports on the crisis that grips much of the country. There are things we could do about it. Those things do NOT include: cutting taxes on the rich, rejecting Medicaid expansion, crushing unions, opposing a higher minimum wage, preventing student loan refinancing, or blocking the revitalization of our infrastructure that would put millions to work in good jobs . . . all Republican priorities. Speaking of despair . . . this progressive grandmother used to admire Lindsey Graham. Now — thanks to Lindsey — she fears democracy is dead. And WE have the chance to get all this back on the right track! A Democratic president working with a Democratic Senate would sign into law the many pro-average-American bills the Democratic-led House passed last year — to lower drug prices, raise wages, extend Medicaid, require universal background checks, require paper ballots, restore net neutrality, reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, and much more. Click here.
Progress Is Our Most Important Product January 14, 2020January 12, 2020 I’ve been meaning to share this wonderful piece (“We Need a New Science of Progress”) . . . which has an embedded link to this wonderful piece (“The 50 Greatest Breakthroughs Since the Wheel”). Better late than never. And speaking of progress, how about The Superpowers of Super-Thin Materials? As a species, we are hurtling ever faster into the future. Buckle up. Even with wise, brilliant women and men of good will it could go terribly wrong. With Kellyanne Conway, Donald Trump, Moscow Mitch and Senator Snowball, it surely will. Click here.
Benghazi, Uranium One, The Child Sex Ring . . . January 13, 2020January 12, 2020 Turns out, Hillary did nothing wrong. Do you think Trump will apologize for leading chants of “lock her up?” He, who deplores witch-hunts? He, who is himself subject to the greatest witch-hunt in our country’s history? He, who is surely not guilty of obstruction of justice, let alone obstruction of Congress? (He did want our democratic ally under lethal attack by Russian invaders to do him a favor, though.) From day one — when the media mocked his claims of the largest Inaugural crowd in history — Trump has told us the truth. Oh, he might exaggerate a little (“unemployment as high as 42%”). But in addition to being the healthiest man ever to assume the presidency, he may well be the most honest. He said he would “absolutely” release his tax returns — and he did. He said all 25 women were lying — and they were. He said we “wouldn’t believe” the stuff investigators he sent to Hawaii to find out about Obama’s birthplace were finding — and we didn’t. He said health care would be “so easy” — and got us all “great health care at a tiny fraction of the cost.” He said it was a perfect phone call — and it was. Just ask Lindsey Graham. Just ask Devon Nunes. Just ask Rush Limbaugh or David Duke or Sean Hannity or Trey Gowdy or Mike Flynn or Michael Cohen or Paul Manafort or Jim Jordan or Vladimir Putin — or this kid. Sure, they might hedge a little on the specifics . . . or even on the question of Trump’s honesty . . . but he’s their man. Speaking of honesty, should Moscow Mitch be allowed to swear a false oath before God and country? Lawrence Lessig makes a powerful argument that he should not. Honesty once mattered so much to Republicans that they sought to unseat a president for lying to cover up a highly inappropriate (legal, consensual) affair (that had no national security or domestic policy implications). Now, they seem ready to lie under oath on matters of grave importance, as we have (among so much else) already ceded much of our influence in the Middle East to Vladimir Putin and called into question the integrity of our elections. And Moscow Mitch will swear to be impartial? Having previously invented the password hint and the forever stamp — ideas so obvious that, without me, it might have taken weeks for someone else to come up with them — I hereby invent the bold face link. To wit: Unless I forget to do it, I will hereafter bold links it would not otherwise be obvious I think you should click. I.e., to signify that something is not only a likely-interesting substantiation of whatever point is being made or fact being asserted . . . worth clicking if you doubt the point or are curious to know more . . . but, rather, a link that I think, time permitting, you should click. For example: I didn’t use it for the Inaugural crowd because I figured you’d assume — rightly — it’s just more side-by-side crowd-comparison photos, like the ones you’ve seen before. I did bold “he has told the truth” because, although you’ll rightly assume it goes to Trump’s 15,000+ lies and misleading statements, it’s not just another article; it’s a resource easily searchable, fascinating, and perhaps worth bookmarking.
Um, Did He, Um Did He . . . January 12, 2020January 11, 2020 You’ll need the sound on for all four of these: One reason for a young person to back Trump. Seventeen seconds. Three minutes from the 2018 State of the Union address. Stand By Your Man. Also three minutes. The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Five. Much in that last one that makes no sense to me — I don’t think the two parties are equivalently out to “prey on the people” — but I could listen to the harmony all day long. These guys . . . who look suspiciously like each other except for the hair (which could give new meaning to the phrase “barbershop quartet” except there are five of them) . . . are really talented. Enjoy!
Meat Me At Burger King January 10, 2020January 9, 2020 Beyond Meat sausages and Burger King’s Impossible burgers are delicious. Sing “the cowman and the farmer should be friends” as much as you want, but let’s face it: plant-based burgers threaten the meat industry, which is trying to get you to see them as unhealthy. Before you fall for that, read the truth. Plant-based “meat” is probably better for your health. It is definitely, magnificently better for the planet. Something to consider as we watch Australia burn, knowing that things will only get worse even if we do change our behavior, let alone if we don’t. Not addressed in that LA Times editorial is the fear that Impossible Burgers could make you less manly. But if I’m not worried about that — I who am surely as insecure about his masculinity as the next guy — I don’t think you should be. No, Eating Soy Isn’t Going To Give You Manboobs. Really. BONUS: SUPER-HEALTHY PIZZA Place a big beefsteak tomato on its side and slice. Lay the slices on the cutting board beside each other. Douse with olive oil. Sprinkle with ample salt (or garlic salt), pepper (or red-pepper flakes), and — especially — a whole lot of oregano. Voila! Lift each slice to your mouth and enjoy. When finished, lick your oily salty fingers and try not to lick the cutting board. (Good luck with that.) Then wash your hands (and chin). Total cost? $2. Elapsed time? 2 minutes. Credit? Cooking Like A Guy™! Have a great weekend!
In A Golf Cart With Larry David January 9, 2020January 9, 2020 Remember magazines? Remember magazine profiles? I used to write them for Clay Felker’s NEW YORK Magazine. Clay would meet someone at a party, decide he was interesting (or, less frequently, she, given the power structure of the 70’s), and persuade him to allow one of his writers to follow him around. Sometimes I was that writer. It was exhilarating, if nervous making — me, in my mid-twenties, earning $15,000 a year (and dressed like it), riding behind a chauffeur with a billion-dollar real estate developer as he toured his properties . . . playing backgammon at the South Hampton estate of a music mogul (and later, back in the city, watching wide-eyed as he and his famous wife had a shouting match right in front of me) . . . observing a meeting between the head of Paramount Pictures and an ever-so-colorful Italian producer (whose remake of King Kong he dubbed, “The Most Original Motion Picture Event of All Time”). Fun, fun, fun. And we all deserve some fun, so I offer you here, from the new issue of GQ, this wonderful profile of Larry David. If you never cared for Seinfeld, or have never watched Curb Your Enthusiasm, you can skip it. (Though: what’s wrong with you?) Otherwise . . . “you’re welcome!” (Thanks, Brian!) Concerning yesterday’s post . . . Gloria: “Libraries are a terribly underutilized resource. My local library here in Solano County allows me to stream movies, TV shows, music and audio books for free, and download bestsellers, current editions of popular magazines, language course apps, etc, to my iPad. It also offers free admission to many museums and cultural institutions in my area. Once a month volunteer attorneys provide free legal help. I can have a diabetes screen, attend a Korean language and culture class, or research my genealogy, all for free. The list of benefits goes on and on. I love seeing my tax dollars at work. And then of course there’s this old-fashioned benefit.” → If your library is missing one of these benefits, perhaps suggest it?
Could YOUR Library Save You Hundreds Of Dollars A Year? January 8, 2020January 7, 2020 But first . . . Russ MacAusland: “Andrew…….NBIX !!!!!” → The best performing stock of the past decade, up from $2.50 to $110! So why haven’t I doubled your subscription price? You’ll find the answer in this 2014 post: NBIX jumped 90% yesterday, to $18.50, which is great for those of you who bought it at $2.60, when suggested here or around $4 here, unless — a big “unless” — you sold at $11 three months ago, as more or less suggested here. But maybe you kept some? (Reason enough not to read this page every day!) Guru thinks the stock is not the great bet at $18.50 it was at $2.60, so it could be a good time to take your profit. But that obviously doesn’t mean it won’t go higher. If any of you did buy at $2.60, as I did, and held on — as I did not — click here. I hope you bought a lot. Jeff C.: “Are you out of GEC? You didn’t mention it specifically, so I’m assuming the worst!” → It sure has disappointed. I thought I posted, when it was occasionally above $4 last year, that the smart guy who had suggested it to me had lost his enthusiasm. Not to say he was actively negative; just that he saw better opportunities. So, yes, I’ve been lightening up, though I still own a bunch. I don’t see any sign of having posted that — my bad — so I’m glad you asked. And now . . . Wayne Arczynski: “I thought you would like The Fund That Does a Lot by Doing Nothing. Here’s the best part. [Even though I don’t pay $468 a year to subscribe to the Wall Street Journal], I read it for free at home using my digital library card from my local Howard County, MD, Library. Paywalls crumble at the power of the public library. I learned about this here.” . . . Now, if your local library system doesn’t provide this access, you can also look at state libraries, university libraries, or other libraries in the region for which you are eligible. Finally, there are some public libraries that offer library cards to non-residents for an annual fee. For example, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library in North Carolina offers library cards by mail for $45 a year (Seniors 62+, $35 a year). → He saves another $199 a year on a Morningstar subscription. I recognize this may not be reason enough to move to Howard County; but have you checked to see what digital access your local library might provide? Or these libraries that offer access to non-residents? (I’m not sure any of them includes newspaper subscriptions; will try to find someone to check them for us.) I’m all for supporting journalism, but would rather steer my big bucks to the indispensable New York Times and Washington Post (“Democracy Dies in Darkness”) than to Rupert Murdoch, who has for nearly half a century, in my view, been a malign force in the world.
Saving Specie And Species January 7, 2020January 5, 2020 SPECIE: Could the Truebill app save you a little coin? Definitely worth reading the review. (Thanks, George!) SPECIES — INCLUDING OUR OWN: Definitely worth these four minutes. (Thanks, CBS Sunday Morning!) BOREF: no need to take any action. Go back to sleep. GLDD: now that we finally have our reward, up from $2.33 ten years ago to near $12, I’ve taken some profit. What keeps me from selling it all is the prospect of moving millions of cubic yards of sand and muck to to protect threatened coastline around the world. But I wouldn’t buy more here. Some or all that hoped-for business may already be priced into the stock.