Some Mildly Good News on Spreadability of COVID-19

As the NYT reports: "Growing evidence shows most infected people aren’t spreading the virus. But whether you become a superspreader probably depends more on circumstance than biology." The full article can be read from this link: Link to Full NYT Article re Spreadability

The U.S. Now Is Officially a "S _ _ T Hole Country"

[Prefatory Note: The above subject heading was not our coinage. We heard it elsewhere, and used it because it certainly fits]

Although the European Union did not choose to invoke the colorful language Trump has in labeling places where things are not going well, it has confirmed that American citizens will not be allowed to enter its borders even as the bloc begins to ease travel restrictions imposed earlier this year in response to the pandemic.

Suggestion to Biden for His Campaign

[Prefatory Note: Some early reactions to this idea ranged from "bad" idea to "terrible" idea to "moronic" idea, and other reactions were not as complimentary]

At the same time that Biden names his choice for VP, he also should name his choices for key cabinet positions, including especially AG and Secretaries of State, Defense, Treasury, and HHS. Such an approach would have the following advantages: (i) whatever "disappointment" might be felt in the VP choice can be "made up for" with the other choices; (ii) it is akin to Trump's tactic in 2016 of naming his Supreme Court appointments which was effective; and perhaps most important (iii) if Biden makes great picks in the sense not only of substantial people but great campaigners, it produces a team of 6 campaigners instead of a team of 2, where 4 of them can flood the media with appearances each of which is devoted to their field and expertise on issues critical to the country, and per force limit the amount of questions Biden has to answer in public. And if Biden were really smart, he would offer for the debates that they not be limited to just president and vice-president, but that there be "cabinet debates" as well, which would make especial sense given that virtual appearances will be replacing physical appearances anyhow. 

Keep Trump's Name Off Anything

Text of letter to the Failing NYT (the substance of which surely will show up in one of its columnists pieces): "Princeton rightfully removed the name of a former racists president (Woodrow Wilson) from one of its schools, and justifiably so. Given the undeniable racism Trump has engaged in both before and after becoming president, all universities, all state and local governments, and any other institution with naming rights or the right to erect monument, should take a pledge now that they will not name anything or erect anything in the name of Trump."

Masks: Evidence Masks Protect You as Well as Others

It is being reported that, in addition to protecting others by inhibiting your spreading the virus, your wearing a mask may also protect you from being infected by the virus. At the same time, there appears to be no downside to wearing a mask except for children under 2 or people with breathing difficulties. 

Link to Johns Hopkins Article

How to Practice and Perfect Forgiveness

From the New Yorker:

Hamilton on Disney Plus

Hamilton, with most of the original cast, was filmed for release at some future date and sold to Disney. Disney has decided to accelerate its showing, and it will be available on Disney Plus (Disney's streaming service) this July 3 (apparently, Disney got confused about when the nation's birthday was). Disney Plus costs $6.99/month or $12.99/month with Hulu included. For obvious reasons, Disney has (at least temporarily) canceled it's one-month free test period, so you'll have to spend $6.99 to see Hamilton. That might seem like a lot of money, but it's less expensive than I'm told tickets were to see the show on Broadway. If Disney Plus does not appear as an app/station/streaming source on your TV, you can find it on your Fire Stick or Roku Stick.

[Note to All: If you have not seen Hamilton or heard anything about it, it has gotten excellent reviews. Pointedly, although she's not on TAP (our Theatre Appreciation Panel), Michelle Obama has said that Hamilton is the single greatest artistic achievement of all time of any media. And TAP will say that's a defensible position]

[Note to Stock Market Gamblers: Disney is getting clobbered with its theme parks being closed and ESPN ad revenues evaporating. In all likelihood, there will be a surge in Disney Plus subscribers in July. If you can figure out the day and hour that surge will be reported, it might be a good bet to buy Disney stock or call options just before. But it might also be wise to immediately take your profits given that it will soon, if not immediately, be concluded that that surge will dissipate as soon as the new subscribers have watched Hamilton and cancel their subscriptions]

     

Link to Explanatory Article

Link to Signing Up for Disney Plus

Not Your Grandparents' Bunker: A Wine Cellar, a Panic Room, and More

During the cold war, many of us built underground bunkers to have a safe place to go in the event nuclear war become a reality. As the NYT reports in the linked article, today's underground bunkers, many of which are pre-fab and there are many companies that make and install them, serve many purposes, from wine cellars to panic rooms, as well as simply being safe escapes. Also, if you don't want to buy or rent a separate condo to solve your sheltering-in-place issues as suggested in yesterday's post, a personal underground bunker is a good second-place option--because it turns out they are quite affordable. Be sure to look at the pictures in the linked article, confirming just how comfortable and neat these bunkers can be.

Link to NYT Article re Personal Bunkers

Update re RVing

An earlier post lauded the rental of luxury RVs as a safe and fun way to vacation this summer. All loyal readers were intrigued by and drawn to this possibility, but the one reservation they voiced was the difficulty of driving something that was 65' long and finding places to stay other than KOA campgrounds. We not only listened, we heard you. The linked article from the NYT sets out the solution to both these problems: (i) many of the RV rental outfits and others independent will provide your own experienced personal driver at a very reasonable cost; and (ii) that driver as well as other sources of information will guide your RV to all kinds of safe and wonderful stopping spots outside KOA campgrounds. So, with that, giddy-up!!

Link to NYT Article re RVing

505 Southwestern Hatch Valley Flame Roasted Green Chile

505 Southwestern Hatch Valley Flame Roasted Green Chile is likely everyone's favorite (although they have plenty of variations). The problem, of course, is that it often is not stocked and is very expensive on Amazon and eBay. The people who make it have their own website store, and while there is a shipping charge, buying a pack of 6, which will be delivered in a few days, costs less than buying it from Amazon or through eBay and is not that much more than Fry's charges when they have it. 

Link to 505 Southwestern Website

NASA Pulse Necklace: Keeps You From Touching Your Face

NASA has developed the Pulse necklace. The concept is simple — if the wearer lifts their hands toward their face, a proximity sensor will detect this and, using power from a common button battery, cause the necklace to vibrate. This vibration will remind the wearer not to touch their face, helping them establish the muscle memory needed to form this new behavior.

Unfortunately, it's not for sale. Of course, it is likely that some companies will latch on to this idea, improve it, and sell their own more refined versions to the public. In the meantime, NASA JPL provides the necessary STL files, as well as a list of the parts you’ll need and the assembly instructions. The 3D printer aside, the rest of the components are simple to source and the pendant should be easily made by anyone who has basic electrical DIY skills.

Link to Instructions of How to Make Your Own 

PS: One of the benefits of wearing a mask is that it serves to stop you from touching your face. 

Brilliant Solution to Reducing Sheltering-in-Place Stresses

While I've heard and read about, but have not experienced it in any way, it has been reported that some couples who have to shelter-in-place essentially 24/7 are having some "issues" where even (or perhaps mostly) little things tend to annoy (or even greatly annoy) their partner and fray the partner's nerves, and increasingly so as the day grinds on and on and on and on. As noted, I have no need or reason to alter my sheltering-in-place arrangement, but here is a solution that has a very high probability of solving the problem (although it might not be affordable for everyone, but if you have cash it could be a good place to park it since the fixed income market will give you nothing and who knows what the stock market will give you): Buy or rent a near-by condo to which one person trundles off each morning (as if going to work at an office), spends the day and fixes themself lunch in the "office" kitchen, and returns from (as if coming home from work) in time for dinner and a movie or streaming TV series episode (assuming they don't have to "work" late). Sometimes Saturday morning "work" or all day and even more rarely Sunday "work" might take one to the condo, but generally, weekends would be spent together at "home." In essence, then, the couple is replacing what is close to a normalized pre-pandemic arrangement that is guaranteed to eliminate all those things that make post-pandemic sheltering-in-place apparently so difficult for some couples. 

Tax Policy and the Pandemic: Rich Lives Matter

Re: Deferral of Tax Payments: The Administration has delayed the filing deadlines for paying 2019 taxes to ease the financial pain caused by the pandemic. If your taxes were paid principally by withholding, then the delays in the tax filing deadlines do you little or no good. Still, think about who benefits, and that be people who have to pay a chunk of taxes on or before the deadline. Yup, it be the rich.

Re: Tax Credits for Vacationing: Senator McSally (R-AZ) has proposed a $4,000 per person $8,000 for married couple tax credit if you take a vacation in the U.S. at least 50 miles away from home to boost the travel industry and give people a respite from having been locked down. Such a qualifying vacation can be to a second home. Again, think about who benefits. No hints this time.

Re: Capital Gains Tax: (Although it's not clear they've thought through the effect on the stock market if appreciated stocks in taxable accounts could be sold tax-free), the Republicans have proposed a tax "holiday" on capital gains taxes to boost the growth in the economy. Need I say more?

How the Airlines Care About You and Prove to Be Total Morons

American Airlines announced that, starting next week, they will start booking flights to full capacity. Link to Confirming Article  So, it should be easier for you to get a seat, because no one is likely to book on American except people who refuse to wear masks or social distance. And, as it turns out, several airlines are following suit.

The Biggest Bluff (2020 Maria Konnokova (no relation to Hana Kournakova))

The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win is absolutely riveting. While it focuses on the author's learning poker from one of the greats, it's a book about how to handle skill and chance in life or in poker because that's what poker and life come down to, and it's what surviving, not to mention succeeding and excelling, come down to. Roulette is gambling with no skill. Poker, like life, is not gambling ... there's luck for sure in poker as there is in life, but the more skillful will win over the less skillful and will thrive far more than the less skillful. The writing is superb which is no surprise given the author's earlier best-sellers and her contributions to The New Yorker, and the richness with which she covers so many diverse areas is no surprise given her background, education, and brilliance. The book is riveting in so many ways, including how mathematics and psychology have been battling as the basis to approach so many disciplines, including medicine, poker, and life.

As the author explains, poker drives home that all decision-making is an assessment of probability. Nothing is a sure thing. Doctors may say their sure their stated diagnosis is correct, but in reality, all they are really saying is the probability they are correct is very very high. To test this conclusion, ask the doctor to bet their entire net worth or the life of their children on the correctness of the diagnosis, and you know the bet will not be taken. See if you can say anything that is supposedly a sure thing and ask yourself if you'll take that bet. Every investment decision, every career decision, every decision ultimately is based on probability. The skill is to know which side to bet. The luck will even out in the end.

As the author takes us through her learning from a master, the book ultimately is about how we learn well vs. how we learn badly. At bottom, learning well begins with the best teachers--loss and failure, because early success is a teacher of false lessons. For example, if you win your first cases as a lawyer, you attribute nothing to luck and everything to the decisions you made, and many of them were just plain wrong, but you lucked out. If you lose your first cases, and you can learn to handle loss with grace, you then can learn to deal with objectivity as to what does work and what does not to win a case. 

Posterior Note 1: Some "games" can be played as skill/luck games or pure or virtually pure luck games. For example, most people play Monopoly as a virtually pure luck game. The way I've always played it is, like duplicate bridge, is to deal out the properties before the game begins, and keep track of how the deal went. Then play best of 3 or best of 5 or best of 7, where each game starts with the same deal. There's still luck because of the dice rolls in terms of what squares one lands on, but over time everyone will know who the better player is or, indeed, who the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) is. Modesty prohibits me from naming the GOAT Monopoly player.

Posterior Note 2: This book harkens to books by Harvey Pennick, considered the greatest teacher of golf ever. He wrote two brilliant and delight-to-read books, the Little Green Book and the Little Red Book, where he took the lessons he taught golfers and explained how they applied to every aspect of life. Golf, like poker and life, requires the same navigation of luck and skill to survive not to say to excel.

Link to Book on Amazon

Desert Song (Yoga, Pilates, Meditation and More)

Many loyal readers have asked me how I manage to remain so upbeat and cheerful during these unreal times that are imposing so much stress on everyone. Putting aside that my life has likely changed less than others' lives pre- vs. post-pandemic, I would encourage doing what you can on the physio-mental-reflective side to elevate and at the same time ground your psyche and your inner- and physical-balance, through yoga, tai chi, meditation, pilates, and the like.There is no better place to do it than through Desert Song Yoga, which, while located in Phoenix, is available to all (although massage is not for the moment available for anyone) while their classes are done remotely. The owner is one special person, which I know from a personal experience of 20 years ago when through her class I became a tai chi master, and has recently been voiced by one loyal reader who took one of her live, online yoga classes for the first time. This loyal reader raved about the instruction and class, even with having to be guided by a zoom class setting and reflected on how much better the instruction was than she had seen in so many other free, recorded online courses. Another loyal reader had similar raves about the pilates class. 

Link to Desert Song Website

A 10% Lead in the Presidential Polls: Not So Comforting

The anti-Trump punditry are slobbering over Biden's 10% (50-40) lead over Trump in the national polls and in some key swing states, and his apparent competitiveness in some heavy red states. If things were going good in the country, or even okay, or even not so bad, or even a little bad, or even moderately bad, there would be grounds to jump for joy. But we are in the midst of the worst health crisis anyone can remember, the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression and maybe the worst ever, and the throes of the sustained civil unrest to put an end or at least a big dent in systemic racism and inequality, and Trump has been an incompetent disaster on all these fronts. Any strong challenger to Trump, anyone skilled politician and leader who could inspire hope and trust, any candidate with any vision for a better future or at least to get us through this, could and likely would have a 30% or more lead in these polls, and for certain would have more than the 50 Biden has. As concerning, polls tighten in the final days, especially where Biden faces a rabid moronic cult of Trump followers, a Republican machine adept at voter suppression, and Biden's own ability to step on his own [body part deleted].

PS to our loyal readers out there who consider themselves grammarian and usage gurus: The word "punditry" can be singular or plural as it can denote countable or uncountable. 

Two Tips re Shipped Orders From Fry's (Kroger)

Tip 1: Many loyal customers have had difficulty in getting to order products shipped by Fry's because the Fry's website keeps putting the desired item (e.g., tonic cans) into one's pickup or delivery cart and won't create another cart. Here's an easy work around: Create a second account and then use one account for your delivery or pickup orders and the other account for your delivery orders.

Tip 2: Many loyal customers have received wrong or damaged shipments from Fry's (e.g., tonic cans that have come smashed because of poor packing or, where the order was for 3 6-packs, what came were just 3 cans). Getting through to customer service (at 800-576-4377) might be easier and faster than expected, and their willingness to issue a refund hassle-free (they are not equipped just to re-ship you a new order), don't call immediately upon receiving the order because it takes about an hour to actually show up in Fry's customer support system. You'll get an email when it does. Finally, if when you call back says she cannot do the refund to your credit card, but can only give you reward points, and has to transfer you to another department where there's a 3-hour hold time, just hang up and call back and the next rep likely will handle it just fine.

What Malcom X Would Say to Trump

In these days of heightened awareness of systemic racism, it is meet to remember what Malcolm X once said about the African-American experience in America: “We did not land on Plymouth Rock. Plymouth Rock landed on us.” And in these days of heightened awareness of COVID-19, it would be meet if Trump, as "strongly" as he and his band of moronic enablers and supporters try to be done with the virus, might remember what Science has said about the pandemic experience in America: "While Trump is done with the virus, the virus is not done with us." 

PS: That wouldn't be a bad line for Biden to use.

Removing "Signature" Adverts

[Prefatory Note: We are very grateful to a loyal reader for bringing this issue to our attention]

Your cellphone and its communication (e.g., email, texting) apps often will have as a default setting to include a "signature" advert at the end of whatever message/text you sent, such as "Sent From My Very Expensive iPhone" or "Get the Blue Mail Android App." Properly modest and discerning people prefer that such signature adverts not appear. Fortunately, every phone and app has a setting to turn them off. Just look for the setting which usually appears under "Signature" and turn it off. The Google can help you find it if you have trouble. In all events, there is no reason to do what one ignorant moron on our technical staff did in sending an email to the app developer complaining about the matter when it was so easy for him to fix the issue in two clicks himself. We noted the matter in his file and have put him on probation.  

Zelle (Better Than Venmo)

Zelle, which is free, and available through virtually any bank, is the easiest and fastest way to send money to a recipient once or often (it will keep a list of all your recipients). To see how fast and easy and convenient it is, just open your online bank site or your bank's mobile app, and go to Pay and Transfer/Zelle. All you  need to know for the recipient is their name and either email address or mobile phone number. It takes under 30 seconds to designate a money-send order and the money is received within a few seconds or at most within a minute or two. As best I can tell, you do not need the Zelle app at all, because all it does is take you to your phone's banking app to do the transfer. Venmo is like so yesterday and a total pain compared to The Zelle. Finally, while Zelle has some obvious advantages over PayPal, PayPal has the advantage of being able to send money from a credit card and thereby get the "cash back" benefit if you have such a credit card, which you should. 

I'll Be Gone in the Dark (2020 6-Episode HBO Series)

This coming Sunday (June 28) is the first night of a 6-part series on HBO focusing on the unsolved crimes of the so-called Golden State Killer. Unfortunately, while we usually are given a screening before the first episode airs, we were not so we cannot review it. We are simply noting its arrival here so you can set your DVR.

IMDb Link to I'll Be Gone in the Dark

What to Do With Travel Credit Cards

If you have an airline or hotel branded credit card, and don't expect to travel, and your card has an annual fee, you might consider cancelling it and going with no-fee cash-back card. Amazon's Prime Visa card has no fee, pays 5% back on Prime purchases, 2% back on gas and restaurant purchases, and 1% back on everything else. The Chase Freedom Unlimited pays 1.5% back on everything. That said, your travel card just might have altered its terms to your benefit so, depending on your future plans, holding on to it might be an okay decision. Getting a new card also can be quite a bonus because of the sign-up incentives being given. The linked article from the WSJ explains it much better than I can (which if not visible when clicked on from your daily email should be from the blog website): Link to WSJ Article

PS re Noble Eatery (Phoenix Restaurant)

Further to an earlier post praising Noble Eatery, we have additional praise to heap upon it beyond its great bread and everything else it has being delicious:

1. Its website menu updates in real time as they run out of stuff as the day wears on. So, you're better off placing your order earlier rather than later. You can place it as soon as they open at 10:30 am and designate a later time for pick-up.

2. The menu changes with some frequency so there's often new stuff to try.

3. The prices represent an amazing bargain. The sandwiches are big enough so that a half will fill you, and the take-and-bake pastas are good for 4 meals. If you buy 2 sandwiches and a take-and-bake pasta, the bill will come to $50, and a full loaf of bread and four salad portions will be included. Then, when you get home, you realize that will be enough for 8 meals (4 lunches and 4 dinners) plus slicing the loaf in half and freezing half for later use, so each meal is about $6 with extra bread left over.

4. They also have Mexican Coca-Cola in bottles.

Biden's Further Possible Responses on the Wall

Further as to how Biden should respond to Trump's asking him at the presidential debates if he would tear down the wall, many loyal readers have proposed worthy responses. We gave substantial cash awards along with the EDC Blog Gold and Silver Medals and Decorations of Freedom to the following respective entries (edited slightly for style and space) getting the most votes from MADOFF (our Medals and Decorations of Freedom Foundation):

Winner: “I will tear down no section of any wall that you got, as you promised you would, Mexico to pay for.”

Runners-up: "I’m not going to spend one more dollar of taxpayer money, which Congress never approved anyhow, on this 'wall.'  If Mexico wants to tear it down, I’m all for it."*

___________

     * There were two runners-up because the riposte as it appears above combines suggestions from two different entries.

How to Recoup Any RMD Withdrawal This Year

The linked article from the WSJ explains all the various wrinkles concerning RMDs this year from retirement accounts: Link to WSJ Article re RMDs  If you made an RMD this year, here in brief is how to recoup the tax bill:

Presidential Debates

It has been agreed to have three presidential debates. If there is one forum where Biden could really blow it, these are it. Here, for example, is one Trump attack Biden had better be ready for: "I know you and the Democrats and the liberals and the fake news all opposed my building of the wall. If you become president, are you going to tear down my wall?" 

Question: If you were advising Biden, what would advise him to say in riposte?

Right Answer: "Yes" or "You're darn right I will. It will be my first order of business"

More Likely Answer He'll Give: "What wall? Where is the wall?"

Perry Mason (New Series of 8 Episodes on HBO)

One bad thing about this new series on HBO, starring Matthew Rhys who is best know for The Americans and most envied for being Keri Russell's husband, is that each episode is an hour long. But, if you like dark, you will really like this show which is nothing like the Perry Mason you used to watch with Raymond Burr in the lead. In fact, in the first episode, Perry Mason is not even a lawyer, he's a detective, and Della Street shows up but not as his assistant. It's got a real Chinatown feel to it. It's very very dark. 

IMDb Link to Perry Mason

Alternative Way to Replace Missing Salad/Desert Forks

Particularly in this pandemic, the last thing you want is for a dinner party to break out and be short salad/desert forks. An earlier post brought to your attention Replacement.com from which you can order replacements of all kinds, including replacements for your 2 missing salad/desert forks from your set of 12. Unfortunately, while you might have thought you found a perfect match, upon arrival you see not so much. Then it hits you: Go the Amazon and put in a search for stainless salad/desert forks, which they sell in sets of 12 or smaller, and find a set that is close enough, and then do a complete substitution of your 12 new salad/desert forks for your existing 10 salad/forks, and go back to sleeping easy.

Noble Eatery (Phoenix)

While we consider ourselves the premiere makers of lemonade when handed lemons, the pandemic has posed a severe challenge to our unbridled cockeyed optimism. But one sustaining force is the drive to help out local restaurants (particularly the ones who are really trying like The Parlor and Southern Rail) as opposed to ones that are rude, stiff-necked, and uncaring like Super Dragon and Pizzeria Bianco), and Noble Eatery is more than worth your patronage for drop-in-the-trunk service. Just look at the pictures on the website but not when you're hungry. Their bread is unbeatable (except by Panne Bianco which doesn't count give the aforementioned mention) either sliced enclosing a scrumptous sandwich or as a loaf by itself or included with one of their pasta dinners for 4 people which also includes a large Caesar salad (for the amazing price of $28 for the whole shebang and you'll have plenty of bread left over). Their sandwiches are also a true  bargain unless you can eat both halves in one sitting in which event they are still fairly priced. They also have brioche hamburger buns and no hamburger (whether a real one or a meatless one) should be served on anything but a brioche bun). Ordering for curbside pickup is very easy on their website, and the pick-up is a dream even if you show up in a car different than the one you described when ordering that you would be showing up in.  

Link to Noble Eatery Website

Hey: The New Email

If you don't like Gmail's accessing and selling your data (I for one am glad that anyone is interested in my data) or anything else about it, and Outlook is driving you nuts, you might consider switching to Hey, a new email service with a bunch of really cool features, including most importantly, insuring that your email and stay private. I'm not going to write more because I suspect most if not all readers will decline to pay the $99/year subscription fee, preferring instead so-called "free email" like Gmail. Of course, Gmail isn't really free given the access it gives to your email and your data.

Proof the NYT Steals My Stuff and Passes It On

On June 17 we did a post entitled "American Exceptionalism" and on June 22 followed up with another post entitled "American Exceptionalism 2," which made the points that America led the world by far in COVID-19 infections and deaths and was too broken to fight the coronavirus. After that second post appeared, Michelle Goldberg wrote a piece in the NYT entitled "America Is Too Broken to Fight the Coronavirus," making the points that: "It’s not just that the United States has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths of any country in the world," "This is what American exceptionalism looks like under Donald Trump." Although its brazen theft, she has written an excellent piece: Link to MG's Plagiarized Theft of EDC's Rhetoric

American Luck

Just think how horrible everything viz slavery and racism might have turned out if Trump had been president instead of Lincoln. Just think how horrible everything viz the social safety net and the survival of democracy would have turned out if Trump had been president instead of FDR. Just think how horrible everything viz civil rights and voting would have turned out if Trump had been president instead of LBJ. Just think how lucky we are given that Trump is president only during a raging pandemic, a global recession, and a realization that structural and systemic racism still ravages our country. 

American Exceptionalism Part 2

The United States has 4% of the world's population. It has 25% of the world's COVID-19 infections and deaths. Given how we lead by so much, it's no wonder why we do so well in the Olympics (or at least in the Summer Olympics).

Reasons and How to Remove Internet Explorer 11 From Windows 10

As this article explains, there is no good reason to keep Internet Explorer on your Windows 10 machine (it's been replaced by Edge) and good reasons to remove it (for security and stability reasons), which as the article further walks you through, takes about 5 clicks and 30 seconds. Link to Noted Article

Houseparty: Better and Easier Than Zoom and Face Time

[Prefatory Note: Before the pandemic, Face Time was the primary way people did video chats. Unfortunately, Face Time only worked with iPhones. That fact allowed a certain unnamed person to get out of her promise to at least try an Android phone when she replaced her iPhone 5, invoking the "I want to Face Time to see my new grandchild defense" to the breach of contract claim that was filed against her, seeking damages for the delta to the depletion of the marital assets resulting from the fact that iPhones cost more than Android phones, not to mention the emotional distress. Then Zoom came along but it's clunky and gives people headaches and requires set up and hosting, unlike Face Time. Houseparty does everything Face Time does, does it across all platforms including Android, iOS, macOS, and Google Chrome, and doesn't require any hosting. Philosophers and theologians have long grasped to find a test to determine if a God exists. If Houseparty is adopted in certain households as a replacement to their using Face Time, they and all of us will know that there is a God]

Houseparty is a social networking app that allows you to video chat with up to eight people in a virtual room. The beauty of this app is that it makes connecting people effortless, and no one is needed to host a meeting before a conversation. The number of rooms is not limited and floating between rooms is easy. When running this app, you can add friends in Houseparty by tapping the plus icon in the top right corner, and group multiple people together for group calls. The smiley face in the top left lets you add friends too, besides managing a list of your friends in the app and setting notifications. After adding friends, you will be notified when your friends open the app, and the same goes for your friends when you open the app. In this way, both can be connected for a video chat spontaneously.

Besides this basic function, the app offers some useful features that are worth a mention:

Facemails

Whenever your Houseparty friends are not around for a video chat, you can easily say hi or pass a note to them from this app, or record a brief video message, aka Facemail, and send it to your friends right away. You get a notification when they read it.

Sneaking into Houseparty

If you don’t like the app to notify your friends when you open the app, take the option to sneak into the app. To do so is easy, hold down the app icon and tap "Sneak into the House" from the context menu. You can then see who is online and your friends won’t get a notification.

You can also manage notifications by tapping the smiley on the top, switch off or on both sending and getting notifications, or set individual friend notifications.

Locking a Room

When you're chatting in a room, anyone can join your conversation if the room is not fully occupied. However, there's an option to lock the room if you don't like others to barge into your private conversations. To control it, use the lock button at the bottom of the screen.

Games and Quizzes

To allow you to play games with your friends during chat sessions, the app includes some simple games and quizzes, like Heads Up, Trivia, Quick Draw, Word Race, and Chips and Guac. Tap the dice icon on the top right, select a game and invite your friends to join the game.

Avoid Super Dragon in Phoenix

If you order delivery from Super Dragon, because of how they wrap, or more accurately do not wrap, the food, if you've ordered anything that might leak, like lemon chicken, it will have leaked all over everything. If you call to bring the matter to their attention, and if you suggest they do drop in the trunk pick-up, even if you do so really nicely and after complimenting the food you got, you will get an earful of total malarkey. 

Possible Benefit of Wearing a Mask

While it is said that one should wear a mask to protect others, and a mask does not protect the wearer, there is some evidence that a mask does in fact give some, even if little, protection to the wearer. Even outside, when one is walking and keeping a proper social distance, it is now said that wearing a mask might reduce the likelihood of infection from droplets left in the air by bikers, runners, and others in whose wake one is walking. Whether this is right or wrong, one conclusion is clear: Wearing a mask at any time or at all times when outside does NOT increase the likelihood of COVID-19 infection. 

El Vecino (The Neighbor) (2019 Netflix Original Series)

[Prefatory Note: The following is based on the first episode]

This is not for everyone. It was recommended by a loyal reader who has a spotty record, but he was right about this. It's totally off-the-wall, totally bizarre, a hoot to say the least. It makes no sense so far, but it's captivating and laugh out loud funny at parts. I'm not even going to begin to describe the plot because it makes no sense, especially in its dealing with the super-natural. It's in half-hour episodes which is always a plus, and provides a nice respite from the continued tension in watching Occupied. So, it costs nothing to take a shot and watch the first episode and then you'll continue with the series or you won't. Speaking of tension, however, and noting again that this series is not for everyone, if you think you and your sequester-mate agree on watch-ability of streaming stuff (other than boring British stuff which you agree to disagree on and not watch together), there is a good chance you will have to watch from Episode 2 on alone. 

IMDb Link to El Vecino

Trump's Tulsa Rally: Let Us Pray It Is a Harbinger

The pitifully small crowd that showed up in Tulsa might be the best marker yet for the trouble Trump many hope he is in for the election. And for my loyal readers, I have the added pleasure to relate to you the coverage of it by Fox News (which I watched as a favor to you and to spare your having to know how Fox News covered it), and here I am not kidding: Learning from the inauguration, both the show emcee and the reporter on the scene with emptiness behind him, just gushed about the "huge, overflowing crowd" that showed up. You cannot make this stuff up. 

ETF for the Pandemic: GERM

[Prefatory Note: What follows is simply the description of a newly announced ETF. This blog does not give financial advice, and this post is neither recommending or discouraging any investment choice]

ETF Managers Group rolled out what looks to be the first COVID-19-inspired ETF, though there are several others waiting in the wings. The ETFMG Treatments, Testing and Advancements ETF (GERM) tracks the Prime Treatments, Testing and Advancements Index and focuses on U.S.-listed companies that research, develop and provide testing and treatments for infectious diseases.

GERM comes with an expense ratio of 0.68% and lists on the NYSE Arca exchange.

The fund divides its holdings into two buckets: Treatment and Testing. To be classified under the former, a company must have at least one vaccine in any phase, from pre-clinical research to commercial availability. To be classified under the latter, a company must derive at least half of its revenue from the development and provision of biological tests, the prospectus says.

Companies are weighted based on a combination of equal weighting and market capitalization, with companies divided into tiers based on their size and then either equal weighted or market-cap weighted within those tiers. To be included in the index, companies must meet minimum size and liquidity requirements. Reconstitutions and rebalances are scheduled quarterly, according to the document, which also notes that the index had 56 components in early June.

Oklahoma Supreme Court Rally Decision Explained: A Case of Bad Lawyering

The Oklahoma's rejection of the case about the Tulsa rally might have been the result of bad lawyering. The plaintiff's lawyer sought an injunction that masks and social distancing protocols be mandated. The court held there was no rule, law, or regulation in effect in Oklahoma that required masks or social distancing and that the state had allowed places to open and set their own rules. So, maddening as it is, as an astute loyal reader brought to our attention, it appears the plaintiff's lawyer did not argue what or ask for the relief that he should have, namely that: The rally posed a reckless or intentional and knowing endangerment to people in Oklahoma and other states, and rather than seek an injunction to enforce regulations that didn't exist, should have sought an injunction to stop the rally altogether on the grounds of endangerment.

Proof of Trump's First-Rate Intelligence

F. Scott Fitzgerald, as he wrote in 1936 in “The Crack Up”: "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function." Here are Trump's characterizations of Bolton's book: On the one hand, ""Wacko John Bolton's exceedingly tedious book is made up of lies & fake stories"; and at the same time, on the other hand, its publication must be enjoined because "it contains significant amounts of classified national security information."

How the U.S. Fares in Flattening the Curve

Before the WH Coronavirus Task Force was effectively shut down, and Drs. Fauci and Birx were prohibited from appearing on television (as CNN reported, all requests to have them on a show must go through the White House and every such request lately has been denied), everything being suggested to do was so that there would be a flattening of the curve. As it turns out, while France, Italy, and Spain and other countries have flattened the curve, not only has the United States not flattened the curve, as John Hopkins reports, compared to the rest of the world, it looks like the United States has just given up. Put another way, the war Trump declared on the virus appears to have been lost.

Whole Foods/Amazon Delivery Orders Cautionary Note

When you place an online Whole Foods/Amazon delivery order, you pick the time slot you want the delivered in. You'd think that the order will be "shopped" starting about an hour before that time slot. But that does not appear to be so. For example, if this morning you chose an 11 am - 1 pm delivery time slot, you would have gotten a text at 7 am saying the shopping began. In reality, it did not. The consequence of Amazon's notifying you that the shopping supposedly has begun negates your ability to cancel the order, which you otherwise could do until the shopping began. 

Occupied (Netflix ... 3 Seasons)

[Prefatory Note: Recommended by the same loyal reader as who recommended The Plot Against America. This recommendation came after the second episode which led to the conclusion that the series was truly gripping. The following review was written after finishing the third episode]

Although perhaps not as strange as The Plot Against America which centered around Charles Lindberg becoming president even though he never did, Occupied's plot is a bit odd as well. No, it is not the story of an airplane restroom. It is the story of Norway's being occupied by Russia as a result of its pro-environmental policy of prohibiting oil and gas production in the North Sea. Not as gripped as others after the second episode, the third episode does start to bring one to the edge of one's sofa cushion. While I perhaps enjoy it more than viewers not fluent in Norwegian, the sub-titles do a respectable job of translating the dialogue. The writing is tight, and the story moves along at a nice clip, and the characters are fascinating. Best of all, it is chocked through with little twists and turns that keep your interest. This might not be everyone's cup of tea or barrel of oil, but discerning audiences will like it.

IMDb Link to Occupied

How to Dent Fox News

Everyone sane complains about Fox News--particularly the prime time line up of Carlson, Hannity and Ingraham, but no one does anything about it. Fox News is not the weather. All that has to be done is to boycott any company that advertises on those Fox News shows. Many of the advertisements are targeted to morons, but some of them are the same advertisements that appear on the MSM. For my part, I refuse to buy any My Pillow pillow or mattress cover or any other product from that company.

US Tennis Open Is Going to Be Played

Governor Cuomo announced that the US Open will be played at the Billie Jean King Center in Queens. While it will be without fans or lines-persons (calls will be electronic) and only three instead of six ball boys and girls (actually there should not be any), apparently the most import tennis guideline set out by Dr. Birx is not being followed. As Dr. Birx explained, tennis should be "played with marked balls" so that opponents and partners are not touching each other's balls. We brought the issue to the USTA's and Governor Cuomo's attention, but have received no response. Unless the matter is clarified and marked balls are mandated, we fear there will be much touching of balls that should not be taking place. We wonder if the television broadcaster simulates crowd noise as is being done in other fora, whether there will be a particular crowd noise invoked electronically should someone touch someone else's balls.