Lindbergh And Carlson March 17, 2023 Thom Hartmann explains why he thinks Republicans Frightened of “A Guy Called Tucker Carlson” Could Cause WWIII, arguing that “In the 1940s, Republicans appeasing a fascist dictator were led in the media by an ambitious young man named Charles Lindbergh; today’s GOP follows — and fears — Tucker Carlson.” Some really interesting history, if you click. Let’s hope it neither repeats nor rhymes. But it sure makes you wonder how different things would be if Lindbergh had won the day and we were now 80 years into the 1,000-year Reich. (As imagined, for example, in Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America.)
What To Do Before Your House Burns Down March 16, 2023March 16, 2023 But first . . . YESTERDAY’S MUST READ Tom Friedman: Putin and Netanyahu Show Why Bad Things Happen to Bad Leaders TODAY’S BEST QUOTE David Currier was my hands-on editor at PARADE. You’ve never heard of him, even though he worked on thousands of pieces by scores of writers reaching tens of millions of people. He died at 87 a few months ago, beloved by everyone. Brilliant, mirthful, and completely without ego. At the Zoom memorial this week I learned that “in addition to his passion for ballet and opera, he attended the show where Andy Kaufman invited the entire Carnegie Hall audience to board buses for milk and cookies afterwards” — perfect. And one of David’s colleagues, remarking on his lack of ego, remembered David once telling him: “I’ve always preferred to dance in the spotlight of others.” If PARADE was your newspaper’s Sunday supplement, David quietly added something to your life. AND NOW! Last week: advice in case someone gets hit by a bus. Today: advice born of the house fire that upended my friends lives: Google Lens has been an amazing tool to help us recover. I can’t even begin to tell you how many sentimental things we found online that we would never have been able to find with just simple searching and online shopping. For example: We went to the Star Wars Celebration last year and purchased amazing, custom (expensive) artwork from some independent artists. They were completely destroyed. Imagine typing “Star Wars artwork” in Google hoping to find that custom artwork! Impossible. But we found an image of the artwork in the background of another pic on our phone. We zoomed on the background and Google Lens found the exact artwork on the artist’s website. Amazing! We purchased it — something we thought would never be replaced. We also found vintage cookbooks, kids’ childhood memory toys (2004 Mickey Mouse) and clothes using Google Lens. It’s an amazing tool. With Google Lens, eBay, and some other online auction sites, we have been able to replace much that went up in smoke. It has really helped with the recovery process for the kids. When they come home, there are some familiar items in our rental house to help them feel as though not everything is lost. Our takeaway message #1: Take pics or a simple video to document everything in your house. Message #2: Store important backups offsite. I had tons of backups of all of my stuff (expecting earthquake), but just had external hard drives in my office (next to the machine I backed up). Dumb. All of those external hard drives melted in the fire. Laurie had lots of stuff stored in DropBox so she was able to recover all of her work. Message #3: Be sure to check your insurance policy to see what coverage you have. You want “replacement cost” insurance! Because we had paid extra for it, we got NOT for the depreciated “actual value” of the house and contents but the MUCH higher cost to replace it all.
Eric, Hunter, And H—er March 15, 2023March 15, 2023 Republicans are keen to discover what improper things, if any, Hunter Biden may have done even though he has no role in the Administration. This piece contrasts his situation with that of Donald, Jr., Jared, Ivanka, and Eric. It’s night and day — written in 2019. Updating it, I would note two more differences: > Hunter did not plot with his father to overthrow our democracy. > Hunter does not tour the country with a Nazi sympathizer as Eric Trump does. That link is worth your four minutes because — just as elements of today’s Republican Party seem to be taking Russia’s side over our own — so the resurgent American Nazi movement has found a home, along with Q-Anon and the Boogaloo Bois, in today’s G.O.P. And, yes, the Boogaloo Bois Are Back. Bigger than you think. I promise lighter fare tomorrow, with less to click, but let me end with another of Arnold’s videos. The former Republican Governor has a message for the neo-Nazis and white nationalists. It is so powerful, not least because his father was a Nazi. Some Americans thought we were on the wrong side of that war, too.
Laugh? Cry? Explode? March 14, 2023 Have you read Elizabeth Warren’s op-ed? Silicon Valley Bank Is Gone. We Know Who Is Responsible. She is pissed. So is Barbara Morrill — but she’s funny, too: Kevin McCarthy’s deal with the devil has worked out great—for Democrats. . . . When the “red wave” never materialized in the 2022 midterms, McCarthy made a decision to relinquish whatever ethics and morals he had left, preferring to cave to the extremists in his party, all in pursuit of the speaker’s gavel. What he really handed over was a gift to Democrats. . . . (That’s not the funny part. Give it a read.) And here is John Oliver on DeSantis. Funny, pissed, and seemingly ready to explode at any moment. His rant won’t change minds; but those of us who don’t see DeSantis as the answer will get a kick out of it. Warning: strong language, hyperbole, polemic. When a Q-Anon supporter is made Speaker of the House Pro-Tem, one doesn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or explode. Personally, I lean toward . . . . . . scroll down . . . . . . scroll down . . . . . . scroll down . . . . . . scroll down . . . . . . the suspense builds . . . . . . scroll down . . . . . . scroll down . . . . . . scroll down . . . . . . scroll down . . . . . . though you suspect there’s a trick in here someplace . . . . . . scroll down . . . . . . scroll down . . . . . . scroll down . . . . . . scroll down . . . . . .winning back the House.
Finally — An Email From Me Asking You NOT To Give Money March 13, 2023March 12, 2023 That was the subject line. I sent it to 1,500 people. Most already knew the three Members of Congress running to fill retiring Dianne Feinstein’s U.S. Senate seat. It read: I love Katie Porter. I love Barbara Lee. I love Adam Schiff. But there are just three possible outcomes. THE CATASTROPHE: WE LOSE IT ALL So MANY wonderful Dems get into this open primary, splitting the vote, that the top two vote-getters are Republicans, meaning that we lose the seat altogether – and possibly control of the Senate itself. THE DISASTER: WE LOSE A GREAT DEAL We win – but lose three great House members. AND will have spent a fortune fighting each other in the primary. AND may have lost Katie’s seat altogether (and perhaps even the House itself, as a result!). She spent $24 million last year to edge out a guy who spent a tenth as much. She’s a hero for winning in such a tough district — and may be the ONLY hero who can hold it for us. THE SOLUTION: WE WIN IT ALL What we donors need is an informal consensus to form around just ONE of these three amazing candidates, and then to give – to the extent we give at all — only to her or him. My suggestion is that we let someone really, really smart guide us on this – ideally, a progressive champion who knows California and knows how to count votes. A winner, basically. Which is why Nancy Pelosi’s endorsement of Adam Schiff solves the problem. All [Dems] should give only to Adam or to no one at all . . . and urge Katie and Barbara — TALENTS WE CANNOT AFFORD TO LOSE — to follow the leader . . . possibly determining control of the Senate or the House (if 2024 turns out to be the squeaker it may be) and freeing up tens of millions of Democratic dollars to fight MAGA Republicans. If this makes sense to you, please spread the word. (And, as always, click here.) Thanks! Another scenario might have Governor Newsom tapping Barbara Lee to fill out the Senator’s term if she retires early (good for his Presidential run, if in some year he makes one?) . . . at which point I hope Porter, at least, might drop out in time to retain her House seat. And maybe Schiff, too. Aged 49 and 62, respectively, each would have another shot at this in 6 years when then-Senator Lee — contemplating a second term that would run past her 90th birthday — would likely opt for a well deserved rest. But the main thing is: Democrats spent $100 million in Florida choosing which candidate would go on to lose the governorship to Ron DeSantis by less than half of one percent in 2018. Would it have made sense to spend, maybe, $15 million instead and use the other $85 million to beat DeSantis? That’s the sort of thinking I hope we might do prospectively here, and thereby retain Senator Feinstein’s seat and the talents of all three exceptionally good candidates now running to fill it. ARE YOU AN ACTIVIST? MIGHT YOU BECOME ONE? Here’s a menu of keynotes and panels that might interest you, organized by Field Team Six and kicking off Thursday at 11am EDT (8am PDT). Zoom in to part of it? It’s free. THE AVERTED BANKING CRISIS At this writing, it looks as though the Administration is doing what’s required to keep the banking system upright. The shareholders and bondholders of Silicon Valley Bank and others will be largely or entirely wiped out (that’s how capitalism works); but at no cost to their depositors or the taxpayers (broadly speaking, that’s how the Dodd-Frank legislation works). It’s nice to have serious, competent, experienced people running the federal government.
Ahhhh-nold March 10, 2023March 9, 2023 There’s so much I want to write about — Uri’s reaction to Monday’s post, your reactions to Tuesday’s guest post by ChatGPT — but today . . . . . . start with this, the most important film Arnold Schwarzenegger ever made. Seven minutes. You’ve probably already seen it — I had — but it’s worth watching again. And then treat yourself to this profile in the Atlantic. . . . Schwarzenegger was born two years after World War II ended and grew up, as he put it, “in the ruins of a country that suffered the loss of its democracy.” His father, Gustav Schwarzenegger, was a police chief in Graz, Austria, and fought for the Nazis. Schwarzenegger has spoken more freely of late about his father’s activities and his own attempts to reconcile with them. History need not repeat—that has been his essential theme. Hatred and prejudice are not inevitable features of humanity. “You don’t have to be stuck in that,” he told me. Humans “have the capacity to change.” . . . Have a great weekend!
In Case Someone Gets Hit By A Bus March 9, 2023March 8, 2023 IF IT’S A FRIEND’S LOVED ONE . . . I found Glenn Sonnenberg’s How Do You Empathize When the Grief Is Great? uncommonly wise and helpful. IF IT’S YOU . . . Larry Francis: “I’ve found a book, In Case you Get Hit by a Bus, that is SO helpful for how to organize your life and paperwork in case your life ends abruptly. It is an exhaustive but helpful list of things you might not have thought of. It has suggestions for solutions. BUT it doesn’t list the best place to put all the documents for someone trying to organize your life while you’re in a coma or a casket. The place I’ve found for that is fidsafe.com. It’s a FREE service of Fidelity and has been available for many years without any advertising or promotion. It’s easy to use and fits nicely with the ‘bus’ book. Documents are locked up and secure until the folks you designate get access. Too many features to list them all here — check it out.”
A Whole New Thing For Us As A Country March 8, 2023March 7, 2023 Georgia’s Republicans are poised to squelch the prosecution of Trump for his effort to find “just 11,780 votes.” They’ve decided they can’t trust a jury to decide the case; they need to be able to fire the prosecutor and shut it all down. Watch. As the host says — and I know some of you don’t like her, but you should listen anyway because our democracy is at stake — “this is a whole new thing for us as a country.” I’ve taken a gamble on UNIT. At $4.70, with a 60-cent dividend, it yields 12%. Check it out if you have a high tolerance for risk. If interest rates stay high for three or four years, I will lose all my money (less dividends I may have received along the way). If interest rates moderate after a year or two, I could earn that yield for a long time and enjoy a capital gain when I sold. I can afford to lose that $4.70. None of us can afford to lose our democracy. The world cannot afford for us to lose our democracy. Watch. (And if you can, help.)
Guest Column March 7, 2023March 6, 2023 “So why don’t you get ChatGPT to write your columns?” a friend suggested after reading this one from last week. I scoffed. But thought about it. And then typed: write a 300-word column in the style of andrewtobias.com. ONE SECOND LATER, I got this: Delayed Gratification for Financial Success Welcome to my column, dear readers. Today, I want to talk about a topic that’s always on everyone’s mind: money. Specifically, I want to discuss the concept of delayed gratification and how it can lead to financial success. In our modern society, we are bombarded with messages telling us to buy, buy, buy. From flashy advertisements to social media influencers, it can be hard to resist the urge to spend our hard-earned money on the latest and greatest products. But what if I told you that delaying gratification could actually lead to greater financial success in the long run? By choosing to save and invest our money rather than spending it on immediate pleasures, we can set ourselves up for a more secure financial future. This doesn’t mean that we can’t enjoy life in the present. It simply means being mindful of our spending and focusing on the things that truly bring us happiness and fulfillment. By cutting back on unnecessary expenses, we can free up more money to put towards our long-term financial goals. One way to start practicing delayed gratification is to set up a budget. By tracking our expenses and setting limits on our spending, we can ensure that we are making the most of our money. We can also prioritize saving and investing by automatically transferring a portion of our income to a savings or investment account each month. Another important aspect of delayed gratification is patience. Building wealth takes time, and it’s important to remember that financial success is a marathon, not a sprint. By staying committed to our financial goals and being patient in our investment strategies, we can reap the rewards of our hard work and dedication over time. In conclusion, delayed gratification is a key component of financial success. By prioritizing saving and investing, setting up a budget, and practicing patience, we can set ourselves up for a more secure and prosperous future. Remember, it’s not about depriving ourselves of life’s pleasures, but rather being mindful of our spending and making choices that will benefit us in the long run. Not my best . . . but IN ONE SECOND? The Singularity Is Near. BONUS From the Patriotic Millionaires: Wall Street is trying to kill the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau again — and we need your help to stop them. Voters of all political backgrounds, Democrat, independent, and even Republican, support the CFPB’s work. Only Wall Street and their allies in Congress hate it. If we can generate enough public pressure, we can stop them. Please send a direct message to your members of Congress now. It only takes a minute.
I’m #61 (George Clooney is #62) March 6, 2023March 7, 2023 Fifty years ago I wrote a story for NEW YORK about Uri Geller. When I first handed it in, concluding, as the Stanford Research Institute and the CIA had, that Geller’s paranormal powers were real — he drove me through Central Park while blindfolded! — my editor told me, figuratively and literally, he “wasn’t buying it.” “But I saw it with my own eyes!” “Do more research.” “I blindfolded him myself!” “I’m not going to let you ruin your career, dear boy. You’re just getting started. Do more research.” I was aggrieved. What good would more research do? Like a sullen teenager, I stalked out and . . . found out how to drive blindfolded. I rewrote the story — now, basically an expose — and NEW YORK put it on the cover: Okay, He Averted World War III, But Can He Bend a Spoon? Fast forward 50 years. I am in Israel for the first time, as described last week — within walking distance of the Uri Geller Museum. How could we not go? I booked a tour. (Open by appointment only, with visitors led through the museum by Uri himself. Uri donates the admission fee to Save A Child’s Heart.) It was fantastic. Including the part where he told us about being summoned by the CIA to be tested and meeting Wernher von Braun . . . who, Geller hinted, showed him frozen extraterrestrials. Here he is telling that story on TV last week (start at 2:40), almost word for word as he told it to us. And has doubtless told it to thousands of others over the years. “Do you know the Tom Lehrer song about Wernher Von Braun?” I asked. (Von Braun developed rockets for the Nazis and, later, for us.) He did not. “Send it to me!” Which I did — the operative lyric, of course, being, “‘Vunz zee rockets are up, who carez VEHR zey come down? / Zat’s not my depaahtment’ / says Wernher von Braun.”) We saw so much. Signed photos of every major star, politico, and celebrity, each with a story — his great friend John Lennon, his great friend Salvador Dali (who had his own way of bending things), his great friend Michael Jackson. A MAGA cap with four strands of Trump’s hair, a priceless Warhol, Boris Becker’s tennis racket, Pele’s signed jersey, an Egyptian clay plaque from 2,100 BC, a photo of tiny Lamb Island that he’s turned into (an uninhabitable) country, a giant model Libyan Airlines Boeing 727 given to him by Muammar Gaddafi — “an amazing, astonishing, incredible story.” Pretty much all his stories are “amazing, astonishing, incredible,” as is his enthusiasm for telling them. Some are probably even true! As he texted me after our visit (emphasis, mine): I posted this today please see my Twitter @theurigeller: << Friends I am astonished that at my age and with an unbelievable narrow repertoire of psychic demonstrations I have stayed relevant for over 50 years. The secret is: chutzpah (Israelis have it) charisma, stage presence personality and character. BUT most important controversy! Which has fueled the wheel of publicity around me, the jealous and envious minority of magicians, skeptics and Geller haters created the enigma around me the mysterious Aura the mystical the mysticism and debate. they are the ones that I have to thank they are the ones who gave me longevity. And to those who liked me I give huge respect and love to those who hate me I also send love. The other element was and is that I managed to instill spoon bending into world culture it became iconic legendary and I always said that the secret of success is originality. All this I achieved without managers or agents or image makers or PR people. Zero! I know what the media loves quirkiness, mysteriousness, bizarre elements woven into your performances. So to the young magicians, mentalists and performers I say be controversial be cool be nice and don’t give a F to the ones who envy you, just think about your success and be motivated to reach your goals. There is nothing which you cannot be do or have! Because you are the architects of your own lives. >> I was going to try to write a summary of the Uri Geller phenomenon, but with the above he more or less beat me to it. (Could he have picked up on my brain waves from 6,576 miles away?) He is in some measure a fraud — any magician who suggests his feats are paranormal is a fraud — but in full measure a showman. Wildly narcissistic — with a lot to be narcissistic about. A dynamo of positive energy who knows much of what he says is embellished (at the very least) — but who may actually believe we are routinely being visited by extra-terrestrials. Surely he doesn’t believe he persuaded the Kremlin to sign the 1987 nuclear arms treaty, as he claims. But it’s good for the show, and he’s at it again, this time, with Putin. As our afternoon was coming to an end, a young man wandered in: the Israeli Air Force’s mentalist, Yanai Elgossi. (Israel’s Air Force has a mentalist?) All of 18. One of Uri’s mentees. I took his picture with Uri and after some chit chat, he held out a deck of cards . . . had me inspect and shuffle . . . pick a card (any card) . . . and then show it to everyone — even him. Really? If he saw it, where was this headed? He took the card back and returned it to the deck. “Do you have your phone?” I did. “Where is it?” I patted my left pants pocket. My eyes began to widen as I imagined the impossibility of what was to come. “Take it out and look at the last picture in your photo album.” Oh, no! There was a photo of him . . . holding my card! The two of hearts! Of course, it is a measure of what an idiot I am (and what a good magician he is) that Yanai was able to “force” me to pick the two of hearts (here are 10 ways to force a card) and that I hadn’t realized this impossible feat was set up the minute I suggested a photo. He had held the cards next to his smile — a natural pose for a magician, so I hadn’t particularly noticed — and now, a few minutes later, there I was, looking in amazement at the photo I had taken. “Want to see another one?” Still wide-eyed (only later would I figure it out), I said, “Sure!” “Pick a number between one and a hundred.” “Okay.” “You’ve got it?” “Yes.” “What is it?” “You want me to tell you?” “Yes.” “Sixty-one.” He immediately handed me his phone and asked me to look in the Notes page. Up came a list of 100 celebrities. I scrolled down and found myself (hardly a celebrity, I need hardly add) at #61. Oh, no! Just after Ariana Grande, #60, and ahead of George Clooney #62. Okay, I know about forcing a card. But forcing a number between 1 and 100? None of us could figure out how he had done that (and Uri at least pretended to be astounded), but of course here’s the thing: Yanai never claimed to have paranormal powers; Uri became famous tricking people into believing that he did. “You’ve just spent three hours with us,” I wanted to ask as we were leaving. “Why do you take the time?” The answer, quite clearly, is that for 50 years he has loved being Uri Geller, building — and being dazzled by — his own legend. It was big fun taking that tour and seeing him again. (If you can’t get enough of this stuff — as, clearly, I cannot — here’s Andrew Weil’s account of meeting Uri in 1973 a month after my story appeared.) Have a great week.