“Arthur – It’s Your Mother” November 23, 2010March 19, 2017 STOPPING THE S.T.A.R.T. TREATY Nate Black: “Per your post last Friday, the Republicans have decided that discrediting our President is more important than keeping nuclear material from terrorists. I don’t see how you can get any lower than that. Count me as one of the many former Republicans astonished at what that party has become.” LOOKING FOR A TAX LOSS? Guru says: “A DYAX competitor is going to have data out by the end of the year that will probably look quite good. Probably best to take the loss on DYAX and move on.” The eggs in speculative baskets can’t all be golden. I sold the shares I have in my taxable account, for the loss; still mulling what to do with the shares in my retirement account. ARTHUR – IT’S YOUR MOTHER It has come to my attention that some of you have actually never heard the iconic 1962 comedy album, An Evening With Mike Nichols and Elaine May. It’s available for download for $3.61, a sum so nearly trivial I think you should just trust me on this. And if you’re driving to visit your parents for Thanksgiving, listen to it on the way and then play it for them when you get there. You may be too young to remember payphones or the Vanguard rocket, but they won’t be. (And while we’re at it, you do know Tom Lehrer’s rendition of the Periodic Table of Elements, an 89-cent add-on to the otherwise complete, and completely brilliant, Tom Lehrer: That Was the Year That Was? “It is a sobering thought,” the young math professor / cabaret performer said at the time, “that when Mozart was my age, he had been dead for four years.” “Ave Maria / Gee it’s good to seeya / Doin’ the Vatican / Doin’ the Vatican / Doin’ the Vatican ra-a-ag!”) TWO OTHER HOLIDAY GIFTS For the women on your list there is the [shameless family self-promotion ON] Charles Nolan shop at 30 Gansevoort Street in New York, or here, on-line. For anyone over 15 on your list [self-promotion still ON], there’s the 2011 edition of The Only Investment Guide [They’ll] Ever Need, pre-orderable here and timed by the publisher to arrive just after the holidays. (Go figure.) In the meantime, you could put $10 under the tree, as a placeholder. WHEN DID YOU CHOOSE? Carl Granados: “Here is a great quick YouTube. A group goes around Colorado Springs asking people if they think being gay is a choice. If they say it is then they are asked when they made the choice to be straight.” ☞ It’s all low-key and friendly, and you can see minds opening right on the spot.