Molluskation September 22, 2010March 18, 2017 DON’T ASK/DON’T TELL What a disappointment to fall just shy of the 60 required votes. But with the President, the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the House of Representatives, a majority in the Senate, 64% of the Republican electorate and 80% of Democrats all favoring repeal – and with a Federal Disrtrict Court just having ruled the current law unconstitutional – I think we’ll find a way to have open service sooner rather than later. Stay tuned. TTT This one only seemed to drop yesterday. Suggested here earlier this month, TTT is now trading ‘ex-dividend,’ meaning that anyone who buys it now will not get the imminent dividend, which in this case is not cash but, rather, a quarter share of KHDHF for each TTT share. So at 6.80, your shares are really worth 6.80 plus 1/4 of 7.60, or about 8.70. I’m holding on. SHUCKING LIKE A GUY Finally! Last Wednesday, we microwaved corn: Zap, shuck, eat. Today (how much corn could a dumb cluck shuck if a dumb cluck could shuck corn?) we turn to clams. SHUCKING LIKE A GUY Here’s how you’re supposed to shuck clams. Simple, elegant – and I totally couldn’t get it to work, so I invented my own method: Be sure to buy cherrystone clams. They’re big and delicious and a third the price of oysters. Little Neck clams are just annoying. There’s a reason they’re called little. Maybe if you’re a seagull they fill the bill*, but not if you’re a human. Be sure they are all happy. The way to know is that they are tightly shut. If someone tries to sell you a clam that’s already open, and possibly smelly, it’s likely a clam that’s passed on to his or her reward. Take no chances. Clean the shells (“with a stiff brush,” say all the guides) because there could be bacteria on the outside that could infect an open wound, like the one you could inflict on yourself trying to open them. And now you are ready to shuck the first one. Wrap it in a dish towel of some sort . . . “Not my towels!” Charles shouts from the next room. Grab a heavy skillet . . . “Not my cast iron skillet!” Charles has now appeared for emphasis. Wait for Charles to leave and strike the towel flatly, with authority. [Important: you are not trying to smash the clam, just shuck it. A hammer is too specific; a flat skillet is perfect.] Remove any large pieces of shell, open the now completely acquiescent clam (far too dazed to feel any pain) and enjoy. That’s it. Before eating a clam, be sure its liquor is clear, not milky. ALTERNATE MOLLUSKATION Here’s how you steam them. Mmmm, mmmm! No shucking required. But you could also freeze them – just a little, for less than an hour, so their muscles go numb (again, don’t worry: for them it’s like getting stoned) – and they should open enough on their own for you easily to insert the shucking knife as demonstrated by Legal Seafoods’ head chef in the very first link, above. Or you could do the really smart thing and arrive at the Ocean Grill bar Sunday through Thursday night at 9:30pm, after which the oysters, clams and shrimp are shucked to order, half price. *Da BUM bum.
Bill Clinton on Jobs Don't Miss It September 21, 2010March 18, 2017 MUNGER John Kasley: “You write, ‘And he’s 86? Amazing.’ Meh. Maybe not so amazing. You’d never be deliberately unkind (after all, what would your mother think?). There is, however, just an outside chance that people might think that you think that as we age we are unable to do anything but sit on a park bench complain about pains, and drool on our zippers. Munger is the paradigm of ‘use it or lose it’ mental agility.” ☞ Good point. (Sorry, Mom.) Did you see Thursday’s New York Times profile of the sitting Wichita federal district court judge who, at 103, remains clear as the liquor of a properly shucked clam? May I call THAT amazing? KETCHUP, ETC. Howard Tiersky: “You write, ‘Just because ketchup turns brown and is a couple of years past its expiration date doesn’t mean it’s not basically fine…’ My company actually produced an entire web site on the topic of how long you can really keep different foods (often much longer than you’d think). Helps people save money and avoid waste.” ☞ That said, I was surprised to encounter an open, ancient, unrefrigerated jar of peanut butter that had, indeed, gone bad. It so spooked me that, against all my better instincts, I recently tossed – without even opening to sample – a container of yogurt best bought by October 19, 2007 that I found at the back of our refrigerator. It was probably fine, but I had been shaken. THE MIDDLE-CLASS TAX CUT IS FOR RICH PEOPLE TOO Peter Kaczowka: “The so-called middle-class tax cut is a tax cut for everyone, on the first $250,000 of income. If I get a raise that puts me over $250,000 a year (as if), I don’t lose that tax cut. I get it no matter how much I make. It’s a universal tax cut, a tax cut for all.” ☞ Pass it on. THE CLINTON GLOBAL INITIATIVE BEGINS TODAY Read about it here. (The central thesis: CGI seems actually to get more done than the U.N.) Watch its sessions here. BILL CLINTON ON JOBS And take a few minutes to watch what President Clinton had to say after the Daily Show ran out of time last Thursday – this is the part that only the studio audience (and now you, via the web site) got to see. It’s actually split in two parts, as you’ll see. Don’t miss the second part either.
Venture Capital September 16, 2010March 18, 2017 DEMOCRATS.ORG Check out the revamped democrats.org, launched yesterday. There’s a lot there, including links to articles like this encouraging report from Time on the stimulus: . . . Yes, the stimulus has cut taxes for 95% of working Americans, bailed out every state, hustled record amounts of unemployment benefits and other aid to struggling families and funded more than 100,000 projects to upgrade roads, subways, schools, airports, military bases and much more. But in the words of Vice President Joe Biden, Obama’s effusive Recovery Act point man, “Now the fun stuff starts!” The “fun stuff,” about one-sixth of the total cost, is an all-out effort to exploit the crisis to make green energy, green building and green transportation real; launch green manufacturing industries; computerize a pen-and-paper health system; promote data-driven school reforms; and ramp up the research of the future. “This is a chance to do something big, man!” Biden said during a 90-minute interview with TIME. For starters, the Recovery Act is the most ambitious energy legislation in history, converting the Energy Department into the world’s largest venture-capital fund. It’s pouring $90 billion into clean energy, including unprecedented investments in a smart grid; energy efficiency; electric cars; renewable power from the sun, wind and earth; cleaner coal; advanced biofuels; and factories to manufacture green stuff in the U.S. The act will also triple the number of smart electric meters in our homes, quadruple the number of hybrids in the federal auto fleet and finance far-out energy research through a new government incubator modeled after the Pentagon agency that fathered the Internet. . . . ☞ And speaking of the government-seeded Internet, democrats.org has a link to the iPhone app I’ve been mentioning that lets you join our army of door-to-door canvassers, tells you which doors to knock on, and receives your report on the results of your door-knocks to enhance our database (and keep people from having their doors knocked on too much). Pretty amazing grassroots tools, neighbor to neighbor. All in an effort to keep the country moving forward toward a brighter future. RANDOM COOKING TIPS Just because ketchup turns brown and is a couple of years past its expiration date doesn’t mean it’s not basically fine. It just means you have been unaccountably restraining your ketchup consumption. (Why? Ketchup makes almost anything better! Try it on salmon! Try it with peanut butter and bacon! Try it on tomato slices!) Or else it means you bought several cases at once, on sale, as an investment. Nicely done. You could shuck an ear of corn, spend a whole lot of time waiting for a pot of water to boil, drop in the corn and wait a few minutes more. Or you could just zap it for two minutes, shuck and eat. (If God did not intend corn to be cooked this way, why would He have invented microwaves?) Tomorrow: Shucking Like a Guy
August Is Happiness Happens Month August 3, 2010March 18, 2017 Artichokes are badly misunderstood. And apricots! They are in season and just 17 calories each. The trick to not spurting juice onto your clothes or close associates as you bite into them is to put the whole little thing in your mouth and eat it, shunting the pit off to the side with your tongue. I may have more to say about this at a later date. CHEESE DOODLES Joel Grow: “A moment of silence to honor the passing of a true Great One.” ☞ Morrie Yohai, inventor of the cheese doodle. Gone. Dead at 90. It was a good life. Gone too: NATIONAL THRIFT WEEK It died in 1966, after a half-century run. (“In 1916, with the First World War looming imminently on the horizon, the leaders of America’s major civic organizations launched an ambitious education campaign designed to ready the American public for a wartime economy. Dubbed ‘National Thrift Week’ and sponsored primarily by the Young Men’s Christian Association (Y.M.C.A.), the campaign became a recurring celebration, beginning each year on January 17, in honor of the birthday of Benjamin Franklin, the ‘American apostle of thrift.’ . . .”) It sounds silly – there’s a “week,” or more commonly a “month” for everything, and few pay attention. (August is, among much else, National Cataracts Month, National Beach Month, National Investors Month, Happiness Happens Month and Psoriasis Awareness Month – the perfect month for happy investors with psoriasis and cataracts to go to the beach.) And yet think what’s happened to America since discontinuation of National Thrift Week. It’s time to bring it back. COLLEGE LOOMING? Zac Bissonnette writes on the Huffington Post that the default train wreck on student loans is just beginning. Out at the end of this month, available now for pre-order: Debt-Free U: How I Paid For an Outstanding College Education Without Loans, Scholarships, or Mooching Off My Parents.
Cooking Like a Stand-Up Guy July 23, 2010March 18, 2017 SAVE INK Who’d a thunk. According to these tips, some fonts – like Ecofont– use a lot less ink than others. (Try Century Gothic?) Using readability to print web pages will save the expensive color ink required to print ads you probably didn’t want to print anyway. THE BEEP AARP reports that only 15% of hearing-aid shoppers ask for a deal; yet because the markups are so high, most of those who do ask for a deal get one. Tell Gramps. I’m not going to say I actually receive the AARP Bulletin. But those who do tell me that this list of 99 money-saving tips includes some good ones. And most are not age-specific. For example: Did you know that – whatever your age – you can by-pass maddening voice mail instructions by dialing (in this order) 1 (which by-passes Sprint), * (which by-passes Verizon), and then # (which bypasses AT&T and T-Mobile)? Dial all three in quick succession and one of them should take you straight to the beep. CORN PUDDING Maureen Welch: ‘Sounds good. any chance you could post the recipe?’ ☞ We had it again last night – to raves: Charles’s Corn Pudding Two ears of corn per person Butter or olive oil to taste Salt Pepper Jalapeno (optional) Preheat oven to 350° Husk and thoroughly clean all the silk from the corn. Cut ears in half so they are shorter and easier to manage on the grater. Grate corn on a box grater into a large bowl. I leave a couple of ears ungrated, and, instead, cut the kernels off with a sharp knife to add some texture. Season however you like. I generally use plenty of coarse salt and black pepper and a very finely chopped fresh jalapeño but tonight I did not have the jalapeno so I substituted a small amount of finely chopped pimento and flat leaf parsley. Blend thoroughly and then pour/push the seasoned corn mixture into a baking dish, smooth out and dot the top with several small pats of butter pushed into the batter. If you don’t want to use the butter you can drizzle olive oil on the top instead. Dust the top with a bit more black pepper and course salt. Bake until done – the top should be golden and a little bubbly and the sides start to pull away from the dish. Cooking time will depend on just how much you are making; anywhere from 30 to 50 minutes. Instead of a baking dish, I usually use a greased cast iron skillet, serving family style but it works just as well and is a bit more formal in individual ramekins baked in a Bain Marie. If it hasn’t gotten as brown as I’d like, I put it under the broiler for a minute or so to crisp up. ☞ If you don’t love it, you must have missed a step. Do it again. STAND-UP GUY This all started with the news that the longer you sit, the shorter you live. (Here is corroboration, just published yesterday, from a 14-year study of 123,000 people.) So some of you suggested standing desks . . . Clark Cole bought one . . . And (if I remember his phrasing correctly) “Oh, Mamma” does his back ever hurt now. He requested your help and you, shall we say, rose to the occasion: Karen Tiede: “On what is Clark standing? My back feels much better when I have a resilient mat – look at what cashiers stand on in the grocery store.” Margie Power: “I don’t proselytize about many things in this life, but Pete Egoscue’s books, Pain Free and Pain Free at Your PC, took me from debilitating back pain to no pain back in 2002. Just 15 minutes a day of simple postures makes all the difference. If I get the slightest twinge of back pain nowadays, I do his exercises for a couple of days and all is well.” Jeff Cox: “Standing properly is fairly easy. Definitely, definitely, have a rest for one foot, a rail or a box or something to keep one foot off the floor. The next time you are in a pub, look at the rail at the bottom of the bar – serving this very purpose. Lifting one foot takes some strain off the back. Resting one’s elbows is probably also a good idea. Others: Work in the middle of the desk, not at the edge. Move around a bit. (Walking is less tiring than standing.) Consider not believing every bit of health advice that comes free from a financial advice website.” Steve Margerum: “ . . . Maybe he should just take his computer down to his neighborhood bar instead.” Tom Anthony: “It took me almost three weeks (at age 69) to get used to standing up at my computer all day, especially if I did a long hard run in the morning and was worn out before starting a six-hour computer session. I found it initially very tiring since I had never stood in one position for so long before. But your standing muscles adapt and strengthen. Now, four months later, standing in front of the computer all day long does not bother me at all. It helps to shift your weight about and stand on one leg now and then. I sometimes go through some Yoga positions, e.g Tree Pose, while reading a long article.” ☞ Like Jeff, Tom also mentioned the “bar rail” – and installed one he made from some two-inch Home Depot PVC tubing he had left over from a project. “The bar rail seems counterintuitive,” he writes, “but it is surprisingly effective.” And he goes on: “If you go barefoot around the house like I do, you might want to put a soft pad in the area where you stand because bare feet on a hard floor for long periods can be uncomfortable. My pad is an old exercise pad folded over twice so that there are four layers under me. The give of the pad may make you unconsciously keep adjusting your leg and back muscles and that may help avoid fatiguing them. Clark’s problem may be related to the table height. I noticed that his IKEA model had a maximum height of 38 5/8″. I adjusted the height of my table to 40 5/8″ so that my forearms were level with the keyboard – I’m 5′ 10″. If my table were 2″ lower like his, I might be bending forward some to accommodate the lower table height and that would strain the back muscles. He might consider putting a book or two under his monitor/keyboard to raise it and also to tilt the monitor upwards.” Tom offers these suggestions from an exercise physiologist for people who sit all day. Michael Choquette: “I don’t think there is any single proper way to stand at a stand-up desk for the same reason that an entire day of sitting is bad: a body doesn’t like to be forced into any single alignment for hours on end. I stand: at attention; at ease; on one foot (for ankle strength); and, to shake things, up occasionally I pace around while composing emails or writing code. I have been using an upright employer-provided desk at work for three years. My desk accommodates sitting as well as standing by way of an electric motor that raises and lowers the top and also displays the current height to the tenth of an inch. With that display, I always know exactly where I stand. (Sorry.) I have the desk because my orthopedist said my severe leg and low back pain from years of desk sitting would go away if I didn’t sit so much. (He was right.) I don’t think many people can afford the setup I have, and I am fortunate to have it at work. I am not tall, only 5’8”, and for full comfort and straight back while standing at my desk, I set the table height at 40 inches. This is the table height that works best for both my keyboarding and monitor viewing. Now, to Clark’s specifics: According to the Ikea web site, the maximum height of the Fredrik desk is only 38-5/8 inches. I would think this height would be good for only those who are shorter than me. This could be Clark’s problem – the Fredrik is simply not at the height he requires. Something else to consider: 8 hours of standing might be okay for some, but I find that mixing up the standing and the sitting throughout the day works best. Fredrik does not provide this flexibility.”
Triple By-Pass Burgers July 6, 2010March 18, 2017 Yesterday was a holiday, so there was no column – unless you have an interest in BOREF or DCTH. Today . . . HUBBLE HUMBLES You’ve probably seen lots of slide shows like this that help to put the size of our planet – and problems – in perspective. English is not necessarily Zartha’s first language, and subtlety is not his trademark. But it’s pretty wonderful to run through these awe-inspiring photographs nonetheless. FLYING CARS Ah, the fantasy of being able to fly over traffic. Could the saving in gasoline from no longer having to crawl possibly make up for the added fuel required to fly? And what about the noise, pollution, and spectacularly fatal accidents? And is this really where we should be spending our $194,000? Nope. Still, you’ve got to smile at the thought. Check it out. (Next up: a flying SUV?) HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP Peter Kaczowka: “I really recommend this article to you, Charles and your readers. It may save your life; it will at least save our health care system billions. (‘We would be much healthier as a nation if we stopped worrying so much about fats, and instead made a concerted effort to avoid processed, quick-digesting carbohydrates – especially added sugars.’) Evidence is presented in the article.” ☞ Yes! Short, colorful (the popular Heart Attack Grill’s “Taste Worth Dying For”) – and thought-provoking at the very least. Happily, Charles has become a master of broccoli, corn pudding, and Brussels sprouts. I have never eaten or felt better.
How to Peel a Carrot June 30, 2010March 18, 2017 WINDMILLS Susan: ‘Re yesterday’s column, this shows that Maine voters overwhelmingly support Governor Baldacci’s position on wind power – 88%.’ CARROTS Here’s a real time saver. It turns out you don’t have to peel carrots, which only wastes time and annoys the carrot (or wastes carrot peel, anyway) and leaves you with an idiotic implement to clean. Instead, just rinse, snap off the tip, and chomp. Cooking Like a Guy™. OBAMA AT 18 MONTHS Read Peter Beinart’s take here. ( “So he hasn’t plugged the leak, and his poll numbers are sagging. Truth is, Obama has exceeded in 18 months what Clinton and Carter achieved in a combined 12 years.”) And watch the Rachel Maddow clip I’ve been pushing, here. HEALTH CARE TAX Randy Vanderbeek: “All hell is breaking loose over the proposed taxes on real estate sales in the Obama health care package. Would you please describe the REAL situation?” It’s so discouraging to see so many people either trying to tear the Adminsitraion down (cheering when we lose our bid to host the Olympics), or else falling so gullibly for junk like this. Happily, Randy smells a rat. Here’s the thing he refers to that’s been burning up the Internet: This should help stimulate the Real Estate market! UNDER THE NEW HEALTH CARE BILL – DID YOU KNOW THAT ALL REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS ARE SUBJECT TO A 3.8% “SALES TAX”? YOU CAN THANK NANCY, HARRY & BARACK (AND YOUR LOCAL CONGRESSMAN) FOR THIS ONE. IF YOU SELL YOUR $400,000 HOME, THIS WILL BE A $15,200 TAX. Verified Higher taxes on real estate investments. The 3.8% Medicare surtax would hit average, middle-class investors in real estate. A middle-class taxpayer who happens to sell real estate for a gain in a particular year would be liable for this new tax, regardless of how low her income might be in other, more typical years. ☞ In the first place, the added tax applies only to your profit on the sale, not to the whole $400,000 purchase price. In the second place, if it’s your home, the first $250,000 in profit ($500,000 filing jointly) is exempted. And in the third place, the added tax applies only to folks with incomes above $200,000 (or $250,000 filing jointly). So let’s say you’re an average middle-class couple who list your average middle-class home for $995,000 . . . accept $925,00, netting $850,000 after closing costs . . . and thus clear an average middle-class $500,000 profit on your $350,000 purchase price. Your extra Obama health care tax? Zero. No question, some people will have to pay 3.8% extra on their capital gains. If the seller in the example above had been single (or gay), only $250,000 of the $500,000 profit would have been exempt, and 3.8% would clip off an extra $9,500 – on top of the regular 15% capital gains rate that would apply. Total tax on the gain: 18.8%. But to put it in perspective, the tax rate for capital gains under Reagan/Bush was 28%, and under Clinton, 20% . . . so really, 18.8% is not THAT terrible. Even the 23.8% it’s likely to be once the Clinton 20% rate is restored (if it is) will be significantly less than under Reagan. Of course, it’s terrible anyone has to pay any taxes for anything, ever. But I, for one, am happy we’ve finally got the health care train moving toward universal coverage and greater efficiency that, in the long run, will save huge amounts of money – and huge amounts of illness, misery and premature death.
Ciao Bella! June 11, 2010March 18, 2017 THE LAST OF MARC’S 12 MOST USEFUL THINGS We’ve had fun, haven’t we? But now it’s time to revert back to uselessness . . . after this one last tip: 12. Keep a pen in your wallet. The WalletPen is aptly named because it fits inside your wallet without making it any bulkier. It comes in very handy when you need it. It’s also a thoughtful gift. Their site says it’s one of “Oprah’s favorite things.” Walletpen, $49. ☞ If you missed any of the others, click here! Thanks, Marc! MORE! MORE! I know what you’re thinking: could it really be over? Is that really the end of the show? And sure enough, just like Ferris Bueller coming back at the end of the credits (“You’re still here??? Go home!”) – just like that famous baker who had six fingers on one hand but seven on the other – Marc offers us this: Meetings are more productive if they have an agenda. But sometimes a meeting is only 10 minutes away, and you realize that there’s no agenda. In these situations I use www.Typewith.me. This service basically enables you to create a Word-like, Web-based document on the fly. The unique thing is that you can share the page with any number of people via its Web address, and that it’s “live.” This means that when someone makes an edit to the document it updates immediately for everyone else. It’s similar to a real-time chat. And there’s no need to log in, have an account, or a password. So when you need an agenda, simply create a page at www.Typewith.me, jot down agenda items that you can think of, then send the link for the page to all meeting participants so they can add their agenda items. You’ll have a collaboratively generated agenda in no time. Of course, this works also to create an agenda if you are not time-crunched. For instance, I use it to ask my collagues to contribute their items to the agenda for our weekly department meeting. Typewith.me is also a great tool for collaborating on documents such as news releases while on the phone with others. It really transforms the process of real-time collaborative text-editing, making it much more efficient, and fun. Typewith.me is based on open-source code from Etherpad.com which was recently acquired by Google. Its live sharing is somewhat related to Google Wave, but far more user friendly, because people don’t need a password or any type of account in order to participate. ☞ Now go home. CIAO BELLA! I know it’s not summer yet, technically speaking (and even if it were, the thing I mainly want you to buy is iced cold Honest Tea, mmmm, mm!) (full disclosure: I have a small interest in Honest Tea), but may I just say (why do you keep interrupting me?) that an entire pint of Ciao Bella wild blueberry sorbet, which is naturally fat-free, completely delicious – and which I have all by my rotund little self just consumed – contains a scant 280 calories? Barely more than you’ll find in a pathetic little fat-drenched 2.2-ounce Three Musketeers candy bar? And not many more than in a single Subway chocolate chip cookie? Is this a great country, or what?
You’ve Got Voice Mail May 20, 2010March 17, 2017 EAT LESS MEAT Manish Bhatia: “I read a lot about the actions that we all need to take to reduce the impact of global warming (and avoid it – if we are not already too late!). You have advocated efficient light bulbs, solar energy, hypermiling, and myriad other things. The one thing I don’t remember you advocating is going vegetarian. There are countless articles on the internet about the high carbon footprint related to eating meat (like this one). Hope to hear you talk about this too.” ☞ Here, here! It’s amazing the impact of a hamburger on our environment. (And so, with Memorial Day barbecues around the corner, I suppose I should reprise the Andy Burger, with serious apologies for naming it after myself. A quick search of the archives did not return any hits, but I’m almost sure I’ve told you before, because it’s such a staple. In any event, here it is. You walk up to the burger-flipper, who I assume is your brother-in-law, and ask him to toast your bun on the grill, so it picks up some of the taste and smell and greasy residue of the prior burgers – and hold the burger. You then add lettuce and tomato, pickle chips if available, and tons of ketchup – and that’s it. Mmmm, mmmm! It contains no burger, yet has the burger smell and taste from the grill, and all the taste of the ketchup, which is, let’s be honest, the whole point of the burger in the first place.) THE SIXTH OF MARC’S 12 MOST USEFUL THINGS So far, I’ve given you the first through fifth (well, Marc has given them to us). And at the end of this series, I’ll give you the link to all 12. But for now . . . 6. Transform voicemail. PhoneTag will send you very accurate transcriptions of all your voicemails. At $30 per month it is more expensive than the free Google Voice (which also does transcriptions), but it’s far more accurate since it uses human transcribers. PhoneTag saves me a lot of time; it is handy in situations when you can’t check your voicemail (for instance, when you’re in a meeting). Thanks to PhoneTag, I always know right away whether a call is important or not. It creates more peace of mind, which is priceless. PhoneTag, $29.95 per month for unlimited messages.
Cocoa Nibs April 12, 2010March 17, 2017 RETHINKING HIS IRA Eric Haglund: “I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to read the recent New Yorker piece on Paul Krugman (it’s a great read, as you’d expect from the New Yorker), but I was rather startled to find out that Krugman and his wife ‘pulled out of the stock market ten years ago and never went back.’ I know it’s not his particular area of expertise and that you shouldn’t allow yourself to get spooked by one guy’s opinion, but Krugman is a pretty damn smart guy and tends to be right a lot of the time. And there’s something to be said for the fact that somebody like me, whose knowledge of the stock market comes from books like yours and whose participation in the market is almost entirely limited to index funds, still really doesn’t know what the heck he’s doing with this stuff. Are P/E ratios way out of line with what they’ve historically been, as Krugman says? Search me! It occurs to me that if somebody challenged me on why my Roth IRA is entirely invested in index funds, all I’d be able to say in response is, ‘because guys like Andrew Tobias say that’s what you should do.’ Suddenly the ground beneath my feet doesn’t feel all that sturdy.” ☞ I don’t know how close you are to retirement, or any of the other factors that could affect your asset allocation; but with the Dow back at 11,000, I don’t think you’d be crazy to reassess a bit. For example, you might diversify with a little gold – GLD, which trades like a stock, is the simplest way – despite the fact that, for the long term, gold will surely not be as productive an investment as . . . well, actual productive investments. But the more intriguing shift might be into a Roth IRA under the management of my friend Joel Greenblatt’s Formula Investing. It’s sort of like index investing, but with a significant twist (namely, picking a basket of just the best businesses selling at the lowest valuations); with still-modest costs and, because this is a Roth IRA, no tax drag. There’s no guarantee, his method will beat the index funds. But Joel is a pretty smart guy. For example, if you read Michael Lewis’s The Big Short (do! do!), you’ll notice that Joel spotted Dr. Mike Burry (the one-eyed medical student whose phenomenal investing success, as written up by Lewis, was excerpted in Vanity Fair) and gave him $1 million for 25% of his aborning hedge fund before anyone else did. Clearly, rare people like Dr. Burry can beat the indexes by spotting value. And rare people like Joel have done very well spotting value themselves. His Formula Investing won’t make you rich; but I’d be surprised if, over time, it didn’t outpace the index funds, especially when sheltered from tax consequences inside a retirement account. Then again, how big is your IRA? If it’s large enough, me-mail me about a couple of small private managers who may be able to do even better still. (Or may not.) INCREASED CORPORATE POWER Corporations tend to back Republican Presidents, and Republican Presidents from Reagan on have been nominating justices like Scalia and Thomas – who gave us George W. Bush, who in turn gave us Roberts and Alito, who in turn decided recently in Citizens United to give corporations still more power to influence elections. As reported by ProPublica – here – that added influence can be easily hidden. And it extends far beyond national elections. . . . Businesses must reveal their identities on public [2] reports [3] to the Federal Election Commission if they buy advertising on their own. But one popular and perfectly legal conduit for companies wanting to influence politics under the radar is to give money to nonprofit trade groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber and its national affiliates spent $144.5 million [4] last year on advertising, lobbying and grass-roots activism — more than either the Republican or Democratic party spent, according to a Center for Responsive Politics analysis of public records — while legally concealing [5] the names of its funders. The Los Angeles Times reported this week [6] that the Chamber is building a grass-roots political operation that has signed up about 6 million non-Chamber members. Some of the positions the Chamber has successfully advanced on behalf of its donors include a nationwide campaign to unseat state judges [7] who were considered tough on corporate defendants and opposition to a federal bill that would have criminalized defective auto manufacturing [8]. . . . CHOCOLATE Bob Diem: “Regarding your recent chocolate [reduces the risk of stroke and heart attack] post, your readers might be interested in cocoa nibs. I mix them with raisins and nuts to make a delicious and healthy trail mix. Keeps me away from the unhealthy snacks.”