Martin Shkreli May Be The Worst Guy Ever

Or at least the quintessential sociopath.  First he got famous for raising the price of a 63-year-old drug, Daraprim, from$13.50 a pill to $750 — 5,500% — rapacious barely begins to describe it — and now this amazing story.  Which will surely cure you of any further thought of shorting stocks.  And likely add your voice to those demanding a better funded, more aggressive SEC and a federal government that negotiates drug prices.

And have you thought about parsnips?  Until one arrived at my door in a box filled with ingredients for meals I was supposed to make myself — “prep time, 10-15 minutes, cook time, 35 minutes” (like that was ever gonna happen) — I’m not certain I had ever even seen a parsnip.  Sure, they must have crossed my field of vision at the supermarket; and doubtless even been ingested from time to time along with other unidentified ingredients.  But here was a whole, raw parsnip, about half a pound, vaguely like a yam, though apparently more of the carrot family — a root — all by itself in a plastic baggie labeled “1 Parsnip.”

And I am here to tell you that, microwaving it on a plate (prep time: 2 seconds, cook time 6 or 8 minutes) and then salting, peppering, and eating it was just swell.  So parsnips now take their place alongside beets as a vegetable that just does not get its due.  Mmm, mmm, good.