Author: A.T.

I again commend Dana Milbank’s column:  Blame for the border crisis now rests squarely on the shoulders of the Republican Congress and the strongman from whom they take their orders.

(“We have a catastrophe at our southern border,” Mike Johnson said after ascending to the speakership in October. “Inaction is unacceptable, and we must come together and address the broken border.” . . . But then Trump intervened. . . . Suddenly, Johnson forgot everything he had previously said about border legislation.”)

Share widely!

If you prefer video, these three minutes start with a riff on oil, after which House members making it clear:  Republicans are now squarely to blame for failing to address the border crisis — just as they were a decade ago, when they blocked the bi-partisan reform that had passed the Senate 68-32 and would have become law if only the Speaker had allowed it to come up for a vote.

People need to know it’s Republicans who kill bi-partisan solutions to the border crisis.

If they believe the crisis is real — as it is — they need to be furious with Republicans.

As always, I cede the balance of my time to Lindsey Graham (60 seconds).

BONUS

Like movies? theater? TV?   My friend Julian Schlossberg, a producer of all three, has just dropped the first episode of his new podcast, Movie Talk: an interview with F. Murray Abraham.

I thought that because I had listened to Rachel Maddow’s ultra-amazing, ultra-compelling, ultra-relevant podcast — recommended here several times — I could skip Prequel.

Well, I was wrong.

Whether you read it or listen (at 1.4x), you may agree with the New York Times that it is a “ripping read [whose] parallels to the present day are strong, even startling.”

(Have I ever mentioned that today’s Republican frontrunner kept a book of Hitler’s speeches by his bedside?)

It’s not unlike another book I urged on you last month, A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them. Did you find time to read it?  That fever was not some tiny fringe thing.  Forty percent of the white men in Indiana were Klan members. Nearly a hundred United States Senators and Representatives were Klansmen.

The two books tell totally different stories — but raise the same question.  Will the fever break this time?  Or will the pro-Hitler (see Prequel), pro-Klan (see Fever), kinda-pro-Putin (CNN for yourself), pro-strongman, “America Firsters” win this time?

I love white Christian men as much as the next guy — I shared my life with two of them.  (Catholics, but I checked: Catholics are Christian, and the Klan no longer hates them.)

And I love America.

But I also love democracy and civility and honesty and compassion and problem-solving and multiculturalism and the rule of law.

And I would point out that blame for the border crisis now rests squarely on the shoulders of the Republican Congress and the strongman from whom they take their orders.

In case you can help, click here.

Or volunteer.

David Klepper asks: ‘What happens when no one believes anything anymore?’

This is the world we seem headed toward, and sooner than almost anyone thought.

One thing no MAGAn will believe: Biden’s Economic Record is Much Better than Trump’s.

But it’s true.

Writes Robert J. Shapiro, who oversaw the Bureau of Economic Analysis in the late 1990s:

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From growth and jobs to investment and business creation, the economy has performed substantially better under Biden than it did under Trump. Biden’s superior record holds even if we set aside the pandemic’s impact in 2020. The exception, of course, is inflation. But just as the COVID-19 pandemic led to the collapse in GDP and employment during Trump’s last year in office, it was also the main reason prices rose so much . . .

. . . President Biden’s record not only eclipses Donald Trump’s, but when policy made a difference—on growth, employment, investment, and inflation—Biden stepped up and improved our economic conditions. Those are the facts.

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→ The details are worth reading in full.

And hey!

Take this quick four-question quiz.  It will make you feel smart.  And rightly so.

BONUS FOR BOOMERS

As I noodled over what to title this post, the egregiously ungrammatical “Who Do You Trust” popped into my head.  Johnny Carson before he was Johnny Carson.  Enjoy.

And have a great weekend.

I listened to Miles Taylor on a zoom yesterday, conducted from the safe house his family has had to move into, and bought Blowback, his new book.

“Things aren’t as bad as you’ve been led to believe,” one insider told him before he signed on as Trump’s Homeland Security chief of staff.  “They’re worse.”

And would be much, much worse, he is certain, if Trump returned to power.

More and more, we’re seeing Trump voters saying they’d prefer a dictatorship to democracy if the dictator were Trump.  (Watch just two minutes.)

At the same time, lawmakers fear for their safety — not just their jobs, their lives — if they oppose the great leader.  Just as in Russia or North Korea.

Poll workers, too.

The threat is huge. 

Taylor believes it’s 50/50 that American democracy ends November 5.

We’re going to win — we have to — but right now, it’s a tossup.  

If you’re in a position to help, click here.

Or volunteer.

There’s only one restaurant within dining distance of me that sports two Michelin stars (and none with three).

Frugal, simple lad that I am, I had never heard of it.

Until last week when a super generous Democratic donor and his wife invited me as their guest.

What to wear?

And what to eat!

I looked up the menu to see what was in store and saw the Dover sole in brown butter and lemon sauce, first entree listed, $129 plus tax and tip (so $165).  Not stated: whether it came with fries.

Clearly not a place I would go on my own — but hey!

An hour before I was going to call an Uber, my host called.  He’d been felled by the flu, or whatever this thing is that’s going around.

I felt bad for him — there’s nothing worse than being sick — but immediately saw the bright side and reached into the freezer for the plant-based fake chicken I had recently bought.

I knew roughly where I had placed it, and the shape of the box . . . yet somehow found myself holding a similarly shaped box of Green Giant sugar snap peas.

I didn’t remember ever having tried to cook snap peas, let alone buying this particular box; and was not entirely sure what snap peas were . . . but life is an adventure.

Three servings to the box, 40 calories to the serving, five minutes from freezer to palate.

I noted, as the microwave was whirring, that my peas promised to be “better if used by 25Feb2017” but as long-time readers know, I scoff at such promises.

And I’m here to tell you that, while not an entire dinner in themselves, my snap peas were sweet and delicious.

The sole, I’m sure, would have been at least as good, and I was really sorry to miss seeing my truly wonderful friends, but I had a fine night.

Ad it’s not just snap peas.

I’m going more and more vegetarian.

Which got me into an argument with two friends at a sensibly priced vegan restaurant last night over whether vegetables could possibly be more nutritious if you cooked them.  I mean (I argued) how could that be?

So I just now asked ChatGPT and it turns out we were basically both right.  Or half right, depending on the vegetable:

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Raw vegetables are rich in enzymes that aid digestion and provide essential nutrients such as potassium, fiber, and folate ¹.

However, cooking vegetables can break down their cell walls to release more of their nutrients. When cooked, some vegetables can provide more antioxidants like lutein, beta-carotene, and lycopene than when you eat them raw ².

That being said, the best way to consume vegetables depends on the type of vegetable. Some are better eaten raw; others, cooked.

Here are some examples of vegetables that are more nutritious when cooked:

1. Tomatoes: Cooking tomatoes increases the bioavailability of lycopene, an antioxidant that is beneficial for heart health ¹.
2. Spinach: Cooking spinach increases the bioavailability of vitamins A and E, calcium, iron, and protein ¹.
3. Carrots: Cooking carrots increases the bioavailability of beta-carotene, an antioxidant that is beneficial for eye health ¹.
4. Asparagus: Cooking asparagus increases the bioavailability of vitamins A, C, E, and K, as well as folate ¹.
5. Mushrooms: Cooking mushrooms increases the bioavailability of ergothioneine, an antioxidant that is beneficial for brain health ¹.

Here are some examples of vegetables that are better eaten raw:

1. Kale: Eating kale raw preserves its vitamin C content, which is beneficial for immune health ¹.
2. Broccoli: Eating broccoli raw preserves its sulforaphane content, which is beneficial for cancer prevention ¹.
3. Bell peppers: Eating bell peppers raw preserves their vitamin C content, which is beneficial for immune health ¹.
4. Onions: Eating onions raw preserves their quercetin content, which is beneficial for heart health ¹.

It’s important to incorporate a variety of both raw and cooked vegetables into your diet to reap the benefits of each.

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On a roll, I figured I’d drill down on a couple of others (because the “buffalo cauliflower wings” were what had touched off our debate in the first place; and because . . . what about red cabbage?)

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Cauliflower can be consumed both raw and cooked, and both have their own benefits. Raw cauliflower is rich in enzymes that aid digestion and provide essential nutrients such as potassium, fiber, and folate ¹. However, cooking cauliflower can break down its cell walls to release more of its nutrients. When cooked, cauliflower can provide more antioxidants like lutein, beta-carotene, and lycopene than when you eat it raw ²³⁴.

According to a registered dietitian nutritionist, Roxana Ehsani, MS, RD, CSSD, LDN, there’s no denying that cauliflower is packed with health perks. “Cauliflower contains about two grams of fiber and two of protein, and it’s high in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory properties,” Ehsani says ².

That being said, the impact heat can have on the nutritional value of cauliflower can vary depending on two main factors: how hot and for how long you cook it. One study found that steaming and boiling cauliflower resulted in a loss of antioxidant activity ³. Another study found that cooking cauliflower increases indole levels ⁴.

In conclusion, both raw and cooked cauliflower are healthy and provide essential nutrients. It’s important to incorporate a variety of both raw and cooked vegetables into your diet to reap the benefits of each.

Raw red cabbage is rich in enzymes that aid digestion and provide essential nutrients such as potassium, fiber, and folate ¹. However, cooking red cabbage can break down its cell walls to release more of its nutrients. When cooked, red cabbage can provide more antioxidants like anthocyanins than when you eat it raw ²³.

According to eMediHealth, a health and wellness website, steaming or microwaving red cabbage increases its antioxidant availability. Steaming also makes red cabbage easier to digest. It reduces the amount of nitrites that bind to nutrients and prevents their absorption ².

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In other words: eat vegetables any way you like.  They’re good for you.  And they don’t have to be flown in from Dover and deboned.

You’re welcome.

[NOTE: I’m traveling.  If some huge news just broke and you wondered why I posted about vegetables, it’s because I wrote this Monday.]

Paul London in The Hill:

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Articles about the economy in recent months often praise the Federal Reserve’s success in taming inflation . . . [and] inflation has indeed come down from a peak of roughly 9 percent in mid-2022 to 3 percent or even less in January 2024. More price reductions are predicted by economists for what such predictions are worth. The important point, however, is that the recent moderation in prices is the result of causes that have little to do with the Fed or its policies, and emphasis on the Fed role lets the real culprits for inflation get away with it.

What has happened is that the main causes of price increases in 2022 and early 2023 have been reduced or eliminated. COVID-related shortages of computer chips, new and used cars and the like are no longer raising prices. Ships aren’t lined up to be unloaded at ports. Truck drivers are back on the road and domestic trucking services are less expensive. Gasoline prices have come back to levels of a few years ago.

Falling prices for the last several months are basically the result of supply catching up after Covid interruptions. Once-overwhelmed supply chains have filled up and returned to normal. Energy and especially gasoline prices have fallen back, reducing the price of many other goods and services. U.S. oil, natural gas and green energy production has surged. Markets seem to have adjusted to the Ukraine War and to Russian, Saudi and Iranian efforts to raise prices. There is still upward pressure on prices as wholesalers and retailers of goods and services try to “pass through” earlier increases, but not all of these efforts will succeed. In short, improvements on the supply side are what is moderating inflation.

. . .

Government and private sector actions to deal with the COVID crisis, reopen supply chains, expand energy production, and invest in infrastructure get short shrift when in fact they have done far more to fight inflation than Fed monetary policy.

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That said, as I learned from interviewing Fed Chair Paul Volcker 40+ years ago, inflation has perhaps as much to do with psychology as economics or monetary policy.  If the Fed hadn’t been perceived as willing to do “whatever it takes” to defeat inflation, inflationary expectations might have been higher.  And inflationary expectations can be self-fulfilling.

PRKR

Some encouraging news.

In November, with the stock around 8 cents, I lamented:

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ParkerVision made its appeal yesterday.  You can read about it here and, in more detail, here.  Lord knows I’m gun-shy by now; but if you own PRKR (with money, in this case, you basically have already lost) — currently valued at barely $7 million — I would hold on to see what happens.  Who knows?  The good guys might finally win.

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I would say the same here at 17 cents.

Trump is trying to kill the immigration deal so he alone can fix it.

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‘Massive mistake’: Trump’s allies are turning against him for his latest blunder

Former President Donald Trump’s heavy lean on Senate Republicans to tank in-progress talks on a bipartisan package for foreign defense aid and border security, solely for the purpose of keeping the border issue hot for Republicans to campaign on, has started to trigger backlash from within their own party — and is even making some allies of the former president uncomfortable, said MSNBC’s Ryan Nobles on Friday . . .

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Gumming up the works has what Trump may see as the added benefit: delaying aid to Ukraine.  If he’s one day prevented from doing business in New York, he might at least get to build that hotel in Moscow.

Bill O’Reilly supported Florida’s book ban law until it came for his books.

Which brings to mind:

Have a great week.

We have every reason to be concerned for our democracy, and, with it, the world order — without which it’s hard to see our species coping very well with the climate crisis or any other.

But we’re going to win.

For one thing, we have to.

For another, at the end of the day, Democrats are not going to vote for Trump and neither are most independents or Romney-Cheney-Bush-Mitch-McConnell-Lindsey-Grahm Republicans.

Here’s 2 minutes that will give you a sense of what is possible.  Eric Willoughby is 17.

Another of my heroes, Zev Shapiro, is 21.  He ran his first successful campaign at the age of 8.  His drive to add a salad bar to the school cafeteria not only won, it was adopted city-wide.  He now runs TurnUp, a non-profit he started between classes that has registered hundreds of thousands of young people, many of whom care about issues like climate, guns, abortion, LGBT rights, civil rights, and democracy.  It’s non-partisan, so a tax-deductible 501c-3. Donate here.  (Or — if you do your charitable giving through a donor-advised fund, as recommended in a certain investment guide Amazon is currently selling for $8.79 — here.)

I connected the two of them, noting, when I did, that, combining their two ages, they were now fully half my own.  So they’d better get a move on and start accomplishing something.

(Speaking of age, Zev’s grandfather is the oldest professor still actively teaching at Harvard.  He’s 94.  And . . . here’s the part I love . . . he teaches not Icelandic poetry or Greek mythology or something.  He teaches astrophysics.)

Kevin Bacon, meanwhile, was 18 when I saw him on stage from the first row, about four feet away.  He probably doesn’t remember.  I do.  Now 65, he and his wife are PUMPED about November (2 minutes) and hope you will be, too. (Or 9 minutes to watch in full).

There’s a lot of energy out there, yours included.  I could go on and on but want to leave time for the bonuses:

BONUS

Larry David on Steve Martin (7 minutes).

BONUS

Bob Newhart and Don Rickles, “a love story” by Judd Apatow (20 minutes).

Have a great weekend!

Years ago, I urged you to buy Honest Tea because it was healthy, ethically sourced, tasted great, and I owned a teeny tiny piece.

You did; Coke bought it; and I made a teeny tiny killing.  (It took 12 years, but hey.)

That’s not the selfless part.

At the end of 2022, Coke discontinued it, surprising a lot of people.  Honest Tea’s founders seized the opportunity to launch the strikingly similar Just Ice Tea instead (justice tea, like honesty — get it?) . . . which I am again urging you to buy.

That’s not the selfless part, either.

(I own a teeny tiny piece.)

But consider:

You could buy a bottle of Just Ice Tea every day and love it.

It would set you back maybe $1,000 a year.

I’d be very grateful.

Not that you’d literally do that, in winter and in summer.  But for your whole household?  On average? Maybe your spouse likes it, too.  Maybe you live in Palm Beach.  Whatever: I’m just trying to paint a picture and keep the math simple.

Or . . . (and here’s the selfless part) . . .

You could buy just two bottles — and 7 boxes of Stash Licorice Spice tea bags.

You’d drink those two bottles, remove the labels, put two tea bags in each and fill with tap water.  (Cut off the tea bag strings first.  No need to cold brew those.)  Refrigerate.  Just keep brewing a new bottle each time you empty one so a spare is always ready.

No need to buy all 7 boxes of tea bags at once, of course.  Experiment with different brands and varieties, though I’m kind of crazy about the caffeine-free Stash Licorice Spice.  And experiment with THREE bags if you like your tea stronger (or just let the two sit longer).

But look what you’ve accomplished:

> You’ve spent $150 instead of $1,000, saving $850 tax-and-caffeine-free.

Invested at 6%-above-inflation, you’d have amassed an extra $72,000 in today’s dollars after 30 such years’ cold-brewing. 

But wait — there’s more!

> You‘ve saved the world’s having to make and label 365 glass bottles and metal bottle caps each year . . . saved the energy required to ship them to the bottler . . . saved having to pack the now-filled bottles in plastic-wrapped cardboard cases that someone else had to make and transport to the bottler . . . saved shipping those cases to the store . . . saved having to unpack the cases and stock the shelves . . . saved your having to carry them home.

All of which takes energy; much of it, from fossil fuel. 

But that’s not all!

> You’ve saved having to dispose of those 365 bottles (and 30 plastic-wrapped cardboard cases) someplace, somehow.  Times 20 million people, say = 7.5 billion bottles.

Each year.

And wait!

That’s right!

There’s still more!!!

> By not boiling water to brew the tea, you’ve saved that energy, too.

If I still wrote for PARADE, which claimed 80 million readers, which works out to just about every iced tea drinker in the world, I might not be so selfless.  But PARADE bit the dust just weeks after Honest Tea, as it happens.  And my current readership — while exceptional in quality — is itself teeny tiny.  So maybe I’m not being that selfless.  And you can still demand Just Ice Tea when you’re at a restaurant or health club, airport or movie theater.  If they don’t yet stock it, make a fuss.

With honesty and justice for all . . .

BONUS

Why Fani Willis, despite her great work, should step aside.

MORE-FUN BONUS

The Secret Life & Loves of Tab Hunter (48 minutes).  If you’re old enough to remember who he was.  Yes: life was really like that.  Young Love!  (Two minutes.)

His first five minutes: the age thing.  Worth sharing widely.

(Faithful readers may recall from earlier this month how much they would have left on the table if they’d thanked Warren Buffett for his service at age 82 and sold their shares out of concern for his age.  Spoiler alert: a further quadruple.)

The Economist: 

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What a second Trump term would mean for American business and the economy

. . . Businesses often say that what they fear most is uncertainty. With Mr. Trump that is guaranteed.

This unpredictability could make a second Trump term very much worse than the first. His administration would lack establishment types like Gary Cohn, once of Goldman Sachs, to shuffle the president’s in-tray and hide the madder ideas from him. More moments like January 6th are possible, as is a full-on revenge presidency. The idea that in this scenario business leaders could keep a low profile and focus on EBITDA is fanciful. Employees, customers and the press would demand to know where bosses stood and what they proposed to do. The administration might in turn take exception to every whiff of criticism.

In the long run, the idea that corporate profits can be insulated from societal upheaval is a fantasy. If Mr. Trump is broadly corrupting of American politics, and businesses are seen to profit from his rule, that poses a big risk to them in the future. In Latin America, when big businesses have become associated with autocrats the result was usually that capitalism was discredited and the appeal of socialism rose. That seems unthinkable in America. But so, until recently, did a second Trump term.

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