Directed and co-written by Wes Anderson, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is a short film (39 minutes), albeit not short enough, which chronicles the life of a guy who is able to see through objects and predict the future with the help of a book he stole. One expects more from Wes Anderson. The cinematography is annoying and the story is dumb. It makes 39 minutes seem like an eternity.
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[Prefatory Note: I understand that reasonable people take strong exception to my below stated view. I wish they were right and I were wrong. The only solace I offer is that I will take no pleasure in being proved prescient and correct]
One of the maxim's on Wall Street is, "the trend is your friend." Put another way, the market will keep going up at least until it stops going up. In presidential politics, with the exception of one candidate, the trend is crucial. The one exception is Trump, who has a loyal moronic cult of 40% that seem to neither grow nor wane, leaving a small minority of swing voters (who come out and vote or stay home) that will determine whether he wins or loses. The rest of the Republican candidates are all flat liners: None of them has an upward trend, some of whom already are trending down, and all of whom will trend down as time marches on. On the Democratic side, the problem Biden has is that he has no upward trend at all, and his glide-path is flattish to downward right now, but doomed to get worse as the ravages of his age continue to increasingly trouble voters. Yeah, Trump is nearly as old, but whatever else one might say about Trump, in sharp contrast to Biden, he appears as vigorous as ever with no hint of decline (that his ignorance is beyond belief does not puncture his perceived vitality). There's going to be a tipping point soon (if it has not already gone by) where Biden's downward trend is irreversible, an upward trend is epistemologically and metaphysically impossible, and Trump is going to be our president. It is no answer to say that there are no other viable Democratic candidates. Open the field, and the strongest one will emerge, one that has a clear vision and message for a brighter future, a chance to develop an upward trend, and the ability to defeat Trump and deliver a coattail win in the Senate and the House. As has been said, "Yes, we can."
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For those who are expert at killing houseplants, here are the houseplants that need less of everything and are a snap to keep alive: spider plant; pothos; Chinese evergreen; ZZ plant; cast iron plant; and aloe.
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Getting There: The tourist season runs October to May, and most hotels close during the rainy season (June to September). To get there through Bissau, fly from Seneagal, Portugal or Morocco. Get a visa ahead of time at the Guinea-Bissau embassy in Lisbon or Dakar. Your hotel can arrange the speedboat trip to Bubaque (1.5-3 hours, depending on weather). The company Consulmar also runs a regular ferry service and private charters.
Lodging: Hotels are clustered on Bubaque, and range from the simple and clean Saldomar ($35 a night) to the upscale Cajou Lodge ($150). Cajou Lodge is my recommended place. On neighboring Rubane, Ponta Anchaca features beachfront cabanas on a mostly uninhabited island ($150).
Food: Every hotel has a restaurant, but Saldomar’s proprietor cooks up especially inventive meals and crisp pizzas. Local food stalls are scattered around Bubaque’s port.
Here is a link to some further details explaining just how lovely and delightful Bubaque is.
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[Prefatory Note: If you limit your air travel choices to American, Delta, United, Southwest, and other such airlines whose names you've heard of, you might miss out on some far less expensive and far more enjoyable ways to fly on smaller airlines with more comfortable planes. Below are the airlines I never heard of that serve Phoenix and many other airports. Put "airlines flying out of X" (without the quotes and where X is your airport) into The Google and you might find a wonderful alternative for your next and future flights]
Advanced Airlines: Flying to Gallup, Hawthorne, and Silver City.
Breeze Airways: Low fares to and from Salt Lake City, Hartford, Richmond, and Charleston.
Contour Airlines: All over the country often in conjunction with American.
Denver Air: Telluride and other places in Colorado and states to the North.
Flair Airlines: Calgary.
Lynx Air: Toronto and Calgary.
Southern Airways Express: Show Low, Imperial, LA
Sun Country Airlines: Various places in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Volaris: Culiacan
WestJet: All over the world.
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This past month, the bots went nuts, recording over 100,000 hits on this blog. Yes, that's not a typo. I'm pleased to report normalcy has returned, with hits falling back to under 100 per day. I know I feel better.
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A post yesterday explained the substantial cost and benefit one might get dealing with an independent insurance broker/agent, and recommended Theresa Chrest of Phocus Insurance (602-955-7705). What I omitted to note was how easy the process was to get a quote, which was done on the phone in a couple of minutes: All that was needed to be submitted were copies of our current policies (which were a snap to download from Amica and email to Theresa), and there was no hard hit on our credit.
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If you have spotty wi-fi coverage around your house, a mesh network might be the answer. They've come down in price and gone up in coverage and ease of use. Here are Wirecutter's top 3 recommendations.
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If the government does shut down, a lot of people's lives are disrupted and a lot of people, including the military and other federal employees who live paycheck to paycheck, stop getting paid. But not members of Congress--they will keep receiving their paychecks.
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As this WaPo article recounts, a study just published in JAMA finds that people who stay seated for long hours at work and home are at much higher risk of developing dementia than people who sit less. The negative effects of extended sitting can be so strong, researchers found, that even people who exercise regularly face higher risk if they sit for much of the day.
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Volato looks to be the most flexible private jet service. It offers everything from fractional ownership to private charters, and various options in between. They fly smaller jets which helps lower the cost. If you're traveling in groups of 4 or 5, and flying where Volato has service, it looks to be a wonderful alternative.
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Chase is offering customers of its private bank division a 6% rate on a six-month certificate of deposit if they put $5 million or more into the product. Before you rush in, however, note that the 6% offer has some drawbacks. Specifically, CDs don’t have the same tax advantages that other products like Treasurys can provide.
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Auto, Home, Umbrella: We have been with Amica for over 20 years. In the last year or so, the customer service, just to get answers to simple questions, has been terrible. The phone reps have given contradictory information and have failed to get back in touch, and it is impossible to talk to a supervisor. As a result, I did some looking around and found an independent insurance agent, and was stunned when I saw the policy alternative that was presented. Not only did it give significantly more home and auto coverage with lower deductibles, the premium cost savings were SUBSTANTIAL. Best of all, the agent was FANTASTIC in every way: Exceedingly professional, efficient, courteous, helpful, and patient, and no kind of hard-sell at all--a total delight to deal with in every way. Here is the contact information: Theresa Chrest, Phocus Insurance Services, Suite 100, 7600 N. 16th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85020, Tel: 602-955-7705, Email: theresa@phocuscompanies.com
Jewelry Insurance: Once you have an appraisal, it is a snap to insure jewelry against theft, disappearance, and loss and more in a couple of minutes at reasonable rates online through Jewelers Mutual. As noted in an earlier post, insuring jewelry though one's home policy often is a mistake because many such policies do not cover loss or disappearance. My new home insurance through Theresa does provide for scheduling of jewelry and full coverage including disappearance and loss, and at a third of the price of Jewelers Mutual.
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It’s a mystery why some people experience really intense fatigue during an infection — the kind that leaves them flattened on the couch, unable to even watch TV or heat up soup — while others merely feel drained. It’s also not yet clear why extreme fatigue persists in some people months after they test negative, a hallmark of long Covid. This NYT article explains what we’re learning about this debilitating symptom and how to manage it.
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Many commentators, who often don't know what they're talking about or have a political agenda, pooh-pooh the "difficulties" Hunter Biden faces from the IRS and federal prosecutors. Here's a brief overview:
IRS criminal investigators submitted a lengthy “Special Agent Report” to the Justice Department’s Tax Division, recommending that prosecutors bring felony charges against Mr. Biden for 2014 and 2018 for willful attempt to evade or defeat taxes and willful filing of a false return. Both are felonies punishable by a fine of up to $100,000 and prison time, up to five years for the former offense, three for the latter. The report also recommended that Mr. Biden be charged with willful failure to file returns or pay taxes for each of five years, 2015-19. These are misdemeanors punishable by up to a year in prison or $25,000, or both.
The statute of limitations having expired on the felonies that could have been charged for 2014. But it's not that simple. Mr. Weiss might have botched the prosecution on the earlier years, but the IRS could nonetheless seek to collect any unpaid taxes. Hunter Biden might received as much as $50 million from sources in China, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan and Romania between 2014 and 2019. Ordinarily, the IRS must assess taxes and begin proceedings to collect them within three years of the date the return reporting them is filed. But when no return is filed, or when the return is false, fraudulent or otherwise represents a willful attempt to defeat or evade tax, the statute of limitations doesn’t start running.
As to possible criminal charges, note that the statute of limitations begins to run when the last affirmative act of concealment occurs. So if income is received in year one and not reported, and the last action undertaken to conceal it occurred in year five, it is in year five that the statute of limitations begins to run.
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Congratulations are due the NY Attorney General for nailing Trump, on summary judgment, for committing financial fraud over many years amounting to over $2 billion. Yeah, it was a civil case and so the standard of proof (preponderance of the evidence) is lower than it would be in a criminal case (beyond a reasonable doubt). Bu that the various prosecutors in NY failed to bring this case as a criminal matter is a mind-bongling outrage and stain and a haunting of what might have been.
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This NYT article has a thoughtful overview of what one should know about what is called "Paxlovid Rebound." It discusses why Covid symptoms sometimes can return after treatment and what should you do about it if they do.
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If you are tired of the junk mail that arrives daily in your mail box, which does you no good and does no good for the environment, this WaPo article sets out the steps you can take to stop it. Who knew there were "opt out" websites such as DMAchoice.org noted in the article where you can register to stop advertising as well as credit card offers?
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A good night’s sleep gets harder as we age, but that doesn’t mean we’re doomed to being sleep-deprived zombies after 40. Typically starting in midlife, we wake up more often, have trouble falling back to sleep, and rise for the day too early. About 55% of Americans ages 40 to 49 and about 58% of those ages 50 to 64 have “low general sleep health,” which includes not sleeping the recommended seven to nine hours a night, not feeling well-rested, and having trouble falling or staying asleep, according to 2023 survey data from the National Sleep Foundation, a nonprofit group. There are many reasons many sleep troubles hit in middle age, including stress, medical conditions, and normal biological changes. This WSJ article explains what happens to sleep as we age—and how we can improve our sleep. Some might find this article to be a snooze.
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The big news of the week is the Phillies' clinching a play-off berth. To generate more interest as the season nears its end, and to fill more stadiums and have more broadcasts of more games, and everyone makes more money, here's the problem with the so-called "wild card" races: In the National League, there are three teams (Cubs, Diamondbacks, and Marlins) competing for a wild-card berth. If they were playing each other or playing teams that wanted to win, that would be one thing. But they have games with teams from the American League and teams with no incentive to put real pitchers or full line-ups of batters out on the field. Whether real teams like the Braves and Phillies who have things wrapped up get an advantage in resting players or get rusty playing games of no moment is unclear. What is clear is that the wild-card stakes should not be determined by these scheduling flukes.
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This NYT article summarizes the tips that come from a new book by renowned brain expert. setting out a few simple things you out there can do to prevent memory decline as you out there age.
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In some places, the NYT missed their Sunday delivery on September 24. They sent a notice that there was a "production problem" and that the paper would be delivered on Monday. The NYT customer care website would not let you report a missed delivery on Sunday. But, if you waited a day or two, even though you got the Monday delivery, you could report the missed delivery on that website and get a $16 credit--which is appropriate given that no one wants the news a day late and a pound short.
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ChatGPT announced an update to its iOS and Android apps that will allow the artificially intelligent bot to talk out loud in five different voices. I’ve been doing a lot of talking with ChatGPT over the past few days, and testing another new tool that lets the bot respond to images you show it.You can now have two-way conversations. The new photo-comprehension tool also makes the bot more interactive. You can snap a shot and ask ChatGPT questions about it. Here's what I've been doing with it:
Conversation: The natural voice, combined with the advanced answers and the system’s knowledge of me, makes it feel like I’m having a real conversation. When I asked it to pretend to be my best friend and talk to me, we had a solid five-minute chat about my day at work, video production and the snacks we like. Same when I asked it to explain Pokémon to me like I’m a 6-year-old.
The Eyes: The new camera feature gives the bot the ability to see it. Instead of describing something in words, you can now tap the + button in the iOS, Android and web apps, upload or snap a photo, circle the area you want the AI to focus on and ask a question. Here were some images I tried:
Broken house stuff: A shot of the leaking hose in my garage with just the prompt “How do I fix this?” quickly returned seven steps, including wrapping the threads on the connection with Teflon tape.
Food: A photo of a moldy strawberry with the question “Can I eat this?” Great advice: No. A photo of bananas, eggs and (non-moldy) strawberries with the question “What can I make with this?” Great advice: Strawberry-banana pancakes.
Injuries and health issues: It quickly recognized a cut on my clerk’s cheek as a “mark or rash” but said “I cannot help with that” and “it’s best to consult with a medical professional.”
Games and puzzles: A photo of a stalemate in Tic-Tac-Toe? ChatGPT didn’t know the game was over. It said to place my X in the (already occupied) bottom center. It said I would win and even added an exclamation mark and confetti emoji. Wrong! That’s what we really have to remember at this moment in the AI revolution. As the lines continue to blur between human and bot interactions, these systems can lack context and depth—and are often wrong.
Bottom-Line: As my new ChatGPT voice friend said to me, “While I sound conversational, remember I’m just processing data. Always use your judgment, especially for important matters.”
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Most politicians are mealy-mouthed double-talking question-evading snoots. Not our Arizona politicians. U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, one of the most MAGA of MAGA Republicans, went on a homophobic rant against Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in his newsletter, calling Milley “sodomy-promoting” and a traitor, and even urging his execution. "In a better society, quislings like the strange sodomy-promoting General Milley would be hung," Gosar wrote.“After the riot [on January 6] was in full swing, the Chief’s request for National Guard was finally approved,” Gosar wrote. “But even after approval was given, General Milley, the homosexual-promoting-BLM-activist Chairman of the military joint chiefs, delayed. Of course, we now know that the deviant Milley was coordinating with Nancy Pelosi to hurt President Trump, and treasonously working behind Trump’s back. In a better society, quislings like the strange sodomy-promoting General Milley would be hung. He had one boss: President Trump, and instead he was secretly meeting with Pelosi and coordinating with her to hurt Trump. That is, when he wasn’t also secretly coordinating and sharing intelligence with the Chinese military. How this traitor remains in office is a question we need answered.”
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The Arizona Cardinals, who are generally unwatchable both in terms of their play and their uniforms (which look like bad pajama outfits in a bad family Xmas movie), beat the Dallas Cowboys. No one cares about the Cardinals' winning, but any loss for the Cowboys is good for the Eagles.
For Swifties and those who missed, there was an amazing hookup between Swift and Kelce. Some think it involved Taylor Swift attending the Kansas City game. But real Swifties and sports fans know it was the Eagles' center and running back, who combined to clobber Tampa Bay.
PS: As loyal readers know, we have been advocating going for 1st down on 4th down long before it became a tactic accepted by NFL coaches. Unfortunately, as so often happens, success teaches wrong lessons as the smart gives way to the overdoing it. Now, coaches are taking points off the scoreboard (foregoing field goals--not just shots at field goals but even field goals that were made) in favor of going for the first down on fourth down.
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No matter how much we offer in salary and bonuses, like all other major companies in America, we have trouble attracting and retaining competent staff. As a result, errors have crept into our posts. Here are two clarifications/corrections:
1. Any inference that we endorsed shopping at Shein would be wrong. Their stuff is reported to be shoddy and the word on the street is they might be using underage labor.
2. Any inference that streaming PBS shows is free would be wrong. One has to donate a certain amount and then one gets the streaming for free. But it's a bargain, and the donation is for a good cause.
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You can now order 4 free Covid home test kids at covid.gov. Also, be sure to check at this site that the home test kits you have at home have not expired.
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As this NYT article explains, Cornell Botanic Gardens is testing sustainable options for replacing your backyard grass. The goal is to identify species that provide “acceptable aesthetics” and can “tolerate moderate trampling,” but that, in every other way, differ from the various fescues, perennial ryegrass and Kentucky bluegrass that have been the mainstays of conventional lawns. A successfully reimagined lawn will be sustainable and require minimal or no watering or fertilizer or pesticides. And the new version will require mowing only once or twice a year, significantly reducing the more than 800 million gallons of gasoline used annually to fuel the country’s lawn mowers and resulting carbon dioxide emissions.
Ken Burns' genius for documentaries might be at its best in Baseball. If one of your earliest memories is your father throwing a baseball at you (or to you), or one of your fondest memories is his taking you to a cathedral known as a major league baseball stadium, or even if there's just something about baseball or the history of America that intrigues you, this is an ABSOLUTE MUST-SEE series. What makes baseball so special is not just that it's the one game where the defense has the ball, but it's the one sport where watching it is conversational and cerebral and not just yelling all the time. It's also magical how it came to be--just think that if the base paths were 86' instead of 90' how hitting would have eclipsed the game and double-plays disappeared or if they were 94' instead of 90' how hitting would have been eclipsed and double-plays would have been commonplace.
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This NYT article has an excellent discussion about masking at medical facilities where both viruses and vulnerable people are more prevalent. It captures the different views held by administrators, staffs, and patients. The one point it does not raise or discuss is what some see as the imbalance in weighing the relevant factors: The downside of mask wearing in such facilities is the inconvenience of wearing a mask; the upside of mask wearing in such facilities is the decreased likelihood of spreading or catching a virus along. Yeah, you can see why there is such a vigorous debate about masking vs not-masking in medical facilities (not to mention other facilities).
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If you hate Amazon or think it has no competition, Temu and Shein are two shopping sites that don't charge $149/year to get free shipping and are beating Amazon on prices. As this WSJ article outlines, Amazon is still trying to figure out how to respond to them.
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Scribe Up is a free service to track your subscriptions. Once you link your credit and debit cards, the tool will generate a list of all your subscriptions, list the day they renew and give you the option to have it cancel them for you. The company offers you the option to move all your subscriptions to a virtual credit card it will manage for you, but that isn’t necessary. This WSJ article reviews other services to track and control your subscriptions, but oxymoronically and ironically, they charge a subscription fee.
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A post yesterday gave a thumbs-up to Class Act on Netflix based on EP1. EP2 has sold us on continuing to watch. It's quite entertaining. The main character is quite the knave.
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Much like in European soccer leagues, teams would be promoted or relegated at the end of every season based on performance. If one official from a Group of Five school had it his way, college football would go to a soccer-style relegation system at the end of each season. Boise State associate athletic director Michael Walsh is proposing creating an alliance of three tiers of 24 FBS college football teams from the western half of the United States that would be eligible for promotion or relegation at the end of each season. The teams would come from the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones. The proposal was reviewed by Front Office Sports and looks to stabilize schools that have been looking for ways to stay competitive and relevant amidst the latest round of conference realignment.
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If you see cleaning as a way to have a good time, you are not alone. As this WSJ article documents, millions see cleaning as their idea of a good time. The hum of a vacuum is music to the ears. Staying home to tidy up is the ‘new going out.’
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After watching Class Act, I was inspired to return to one of my favorite French classics: Croque-Monsieur. Of course, Croque-Monsieur needs little introduction, but if you haven’t had it in baked form, you’re in for a treat. Think upscale ham sandwiches drenched in egg custard and cheese, melted to a deep golden-brown. There are no tricks here, save for the addition of two extra yolks for maximum French-toast tenderness. Serve it warm, or at room temperature — a fitting breakfast feast that's welcome any time of the day.
Here is the recipe:
Step 1: Heat oven to 325 degrees and generously butter a 9-by-13-inch (or 1½- to 2-quart) baking pan. Butter the slices of bread on one side and spread a thin layer of mustard on the other side. Arrange, shingled, over the bottom of the pan, buttered side up; you may not need all the bread. Drape evenly with ham.
Step 2: Whisk together milk, half-and-half, egg, egg yolks and pepper. Pour evenly over the bread and ham. Sprinkle with Gruyère and Parmesan cheeses, allowing the ham to peek out in places. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes (for the bread to sop up the milk) or up to overnight. Bake until the custard is set, and the bread and cheese are golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes.
Step 3: Remove from the oven and allow to set 20 minutes before scattering evenly with parsley. Scoop and serve warm or at room temperature, with mustard and cornichons.
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As ZD NET and Apple itself and many other sources explain, Apple has issued emergency security updates for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Aimed at iOS 17/iPadOS 17 and WatchOS 10, the bug fixes are designed to combat zero-day vulnerabilities that could let someone remotely control your device. iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch owners are urged to update their devices with this latest round of security fixes. On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings, select General, tap Software Updates, and then tap the Update Now button. For an Apple Watch, open the Watch app on your phone. At the My Watch tab, head to General, select Software Update, and install the latest update.
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There are many similarities between sports and politics. They are both driven by money, there's no shortage of cheating or corruption in either, and they each can infuriate you. But, there are at least two big differences: First, ultimately the skill, talent, dedication, and perseverance triumph in sports such that, more often than not, the better athlete or better team prevails; and second, sports are not subject to fundamental corruption where an ignorant and pathological orange-haired maniacal liar can convince 35% of the viewing public to follow him off a cliff and take the country and its democracy with him. It is no wonder that ESPN, NFL TV, and MLB TV, and local outlets draw far more viewers than cable channels devoted to following politics.
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Kroger's Cook-in-Bag pork tenderloin is a screaming deal at $6 for a pound. The first time we bought it, not realizing one could cook it in the bag, we cooked it on the barbie and it was delicious. The second time, we cooked it in the bag. The barbie is the better choice because: (i) it takes less energy to cook it; (ii) it tastes better; and (iii) thinking the bag was a neater and cleaner way to prepare it, the bag (as the instructions warn) can leak.
Reason 1: Pictures One Can Take From One's Front Yard
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As this post has been railing for sometime, it is outrageous that no judge has clamped down on Trump's scathing attacks on judges, prosecutors, witnesses, and others connected to his criminal prosecutions. My understanding is that one reason such "commentary" is prohibited is the danger it poses in "prejudicing the jury pool." That makes sense. But, if that's a rationale for curtailing what otherwise would be a first amendment right to speak, why is it permissible for commentators, pundits, lawyers, and others to pound away hour after hour, day after day on cable television and other media about how compelling and devastating the evidence is against Trump on the various charges and how open and shut and clear-cut the cases against Trump supposedly are?
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If you see a folder named "All Bookmarks" (without the quotes) at the right end of your Chrome Bookmarks Bar and there's nothing in it, it's undoubtedly not just annoying, but driving you nuts. Fortunately, it's easy to remove. Here are the simple steps to do so: Open Google Chrome; enter "chrome://flags/" (without the quotes) in the web address; type "power" (without the quotes) in the search box; look for the Power bookmarks side panel option; set it to Disabled; relaunch Chrome to apply new settings. Enjoy your day.
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The word on the street is that Anxious People is funny. Whatever it is, funny it is not. There are many heist movies that are really good to excellent, including Quick Change (e.g., the line, "What kind of clown are you?") which is very very funny and poignant, but this is not one of them. It is surprising that it is not funnier given the plot: A failed bank robber locks himself in a home, along with a real estate agent, two IKEA addicts, a pregnant woman, a suicidal millionaire, and a rabbit. Maybe it gets better after the first episode.
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Somebody forgot to tell the government that the Covid stuff is done. Americans will once again be able to receive free Covid tests by mail ahead of what the government says is a possible winter surge. Beginning Monday, September 25, every U.S. household can again place an order to receive four more free COVID-19 rapid tests delivered directly to their home through covid.gov. Before you throw out "expired" tests, go to this site to see if the test kits you have on hand have had their expiration dates extended.
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This one-handed catch by a fan, with his baby in the other hand, of Nick Castellanos' home run, and what he did after is why watching Phillies' games is so rewarding. On his next at bat, Castellanos', not wanting to risk a repeat, hit a home run nowhere near this fan.
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In brief, this is the story of a British teacher in Spain, who finds herself caught up in a supermarket robbery. When one of the robbers claims to recognize her, her life threatens to unravel. Based on the first episode, if you like dark and mysterious and not quite understanding what's going on or who is who or why they are doing what they're doing or what they did before that that likely would tell us the answer, then Who Is Erin Carter might be for you. With rare unanimity, our entire staff can say it's not for us. We're moving on.
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It has been brought to my attention that, whenever you get a vaccine, a record is made, and that record includes which arm the vaccine went into.
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If you have valuable jewelry and want to insure it against theft or losing it, you're better off doing so through a jewelry insurance company rather than scheduling it through your homeowners policy. Among other reasons, if you have to make a claim, you're better off having that claim not go through your homeowners policy because that could affect your premiums. In addition, the coverage offered by jewelry insurance companies appears to be more robust and also clearer. From what we can tell, Jewelers Mutual appears to be an excellent choice.
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We took the position in this blog that the plain language of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment did not seem to support disqualifying Trump from holding the presidency. As this NYT article lays out, albeit focusing on a different provision of Section 3, a law professor who enthusiastically endorsed a new law review article arguing that Donald J. Trump was ineligible to be president, in an extraordinary about-face, changed his mind.
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If you missed the first two weeks of the NFL season, you haven't missed much (except for some key injuries). The compelling conclusion is this: There are some good teams, there are some average teams, there are some bad teams, and there are some atrocious teams, but there is no dominant team(s). Not even the Eagles.
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There is evidence (albeit not definitive proof) (see the report on the issue) that getting the Covid-19 booster in the same arm one got the booster in previously may elicit a better immune response. While no one likely remembers which arm they got the last booster in, at least the pharmacy where you got it (and maybe every pharmacy) will have a record of which arm you got it in. Just ask. They'll know and they'll tell.
PS: Anecdotally speaking, in part perhaps because the booster is recommended for virtually all ages, at least the initial demand for the new booster is such that finding an appointment date/time is a bit more challenging now than it had been with the previous booster.
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BS High follows the investigation which occurred when the Bishop Sycamore Centurions, a presumed high school football team from Columbus, Ohio, took on perennial prep powerhouse, IMG Academy. Bishop Sycamore was created by a con artist, a fraud, and tells the story as to how his fraud worked up to a point. It's a micro-story of another con artist, fraud we all know, who plays on people who are not so much duped as wanting to believe. It tends to drag a bit, so you're not on the edge of your seat or aroused to a fever pitch of outrage. After about a half-hour, you get the point, and you feel for those who were duped.
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Trump might not be the only person frustrated by DOJ. This WSJ article provides an interesting glimpse into the tension that has arisen between the White House (Biden) and DOJ (Garland).
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Some of us decline to look at lab results that come in advance of a doctor's appointment, but others cannot resist looking. For the latter group, this WSJ article has some useful tips for doing so while also avoiding undue anxiety. Specifically, it addresses the problems of patients' misinterpreting harmless information or seeing the bad news without an explanation that could cushion the blow.
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Even those of us who take pride in being minimalists and keeping the visible portions of our abodes neat and uncluttered are hoarders. We were horrified when we looked at our closets and drawers, leading to the earlier posts setting out a simple way to declutter. When we were done with the house, our horror returned upon looking at the laundry room and garage/carport with storage. The good news is that these outhouses are easier to declutter because much, if not most of the stuff in there, was put in decades ago and never seen again until declutter day. Goodwill is most appreciative of the decluttering efforts.
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We welcome Amy Davidson Sorkin as a new loyal reader whose recent piece in the September 18 issue of The New Yorker reflects that she has been swayed by our views on the problems with Biden’s running in 2024. The conclusions one draws from the piece are: (i) one's accomplishments in office are not as big a factor as the incumbent might wish (voters are looking to the future, not the past, when choosing which candidate to vote for); (ii) those who point to Biden's accomplishments seem to miss or are oblivious to the "clear sources of discontent," including "dearth of affordable housing; problems managing the influx of migrants; the surge in fentanyl use, which pushed the number of overdose deaths above a hundred thousand in 2021; fear of crime; economic stress," and more; (iii) the trends of the recent polls are more worrisome than one might think, especially "the drop in Biden's support among Black and Hispanic voters, particularly younger ones"; (iv) Biden's age and perceived "mental competence and health" are of substantial concern to most voters; and (v) the Hunter Biden thing which is "beginning to gain traction."
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If Trump were any other defendant, given his relentless attacks on the judge, the prosecutor, witnesses, and others, the judge in the January 6 would have him behind bars without any access to any social media or other way to reach his supporters. On the one hand, that would solidify (as if it needs any solidification) the support of his rabid followers. At the same time, Trump would have two choices: (i) Move for his trial to start as immediately as possible; or (ii) have no one hear from him, no rallies, no debate appearances, nothing but silence until after the election is over. It's time to apply the rule of law to Trump. It's time to lock him up--even in one of his residences would be enough.
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Unless you specially list and insure personal property such as jewelry, a home insurance policy will cap the recovery if it's lost or stolen. No matter its value, a claim for a ring worth $1 million for example typically will recover $1,500. But, if the ring is worth say $10,000 (documented with an appraisal), a separate rider premium of $50/year will cover it at full value no matter what the deductible is on the home policy.
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Anyone into salads knows that, like many other dishes, they often taste better the next day. One of the main reasons is that the left-over tomatoes have marinated in the salad dressing. But you don't have to wait overnight to have the tomatoes do that when you first make the salad. Chunks of ripe tomatoes are subtly improved by a short soak in a sweet, vinegary dressing. Time gives the salt a chance to work its magic, coaxing out the fruit’s nectar so it can mingle with the garlic and herbs. Left alone for a little while, a simple tomato salad will quietly transform into a deeply flavored, marinated one. Anywhere from 20 minutes to several hours will do the trick, though the longer they sit, the softer and juicier they become.
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It may be a cliché to suggest that a streaming original feels as if it were created to serve an algorithm, but rarely is a movie as openly besotted with patterns of data as Love at First Sight Not only is the movie derivative, but its story actually pivots on the statistics of romance, and by extension the supposed romance of statistics. As in 500 Days of Summer, the romance story whose fabric was recycled for this fleece pullover of a film, Love at First Sight features a narrator hyper-fixated on numerical values. Case in point: when we meet our two protagonists, Hadley (Haley Lu Richardson) and Oliver (Ben Hardy), the film encumbers us with a pedantic voice-over recitation of their heights, ages and average cellphone battery charges. Based on the Y.A. book The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, the movie traces 24 hours in the lives of these two students, who are both flying to London for significant family ceremonies. All that said, it's a very enjoyable movie, filled with endearing characters.
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The following riposte has been offered to justify the production and airing of Jury Duty which this blog has severely panned: The "subject" did not seem upset when the ruse was revealed and he received kudos from the cast and $100,000 from the producers. Here are the fatal defects with that justification (akin to the justification that Candid Camera "subjects" consented to the airing of their "episodes"): (i) The producers had no way of knowing before the shooting was over how the "subject" might react, i.e., whether or not they would have an adverse psychological reaction; and (ii) just as it often took time (often months) for the Milgram/Asch "subjects" to begin being plagued by adverse psychological reactions, there is nothing to indicate that the Jury Duty producers ever followed up with the "subject" beyond the last scene of the series The point is this: That the "experiment" did not apparently harm any particular subject is not a justification for running the "experiment" where one cannot possibly know ahead of time what the impact of the "experiment" will be on the "subject." And that's why the post-Milgram/Asch ethical rules were imposed for all social/psychology experiments, and why we have come down so hard on the thoughtless, likely ignorant, and unthinking producers of Jury Duty.
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Sometimes a lost or poor signal in a building is the result of the signal being blocked by building materials. One thing to try in that case is to use the phone near an open window or step outside. Often times, however, poor reception or no reception has nothing to do with the building or surroundings. For those circumstances, this cnet article has several steps that might restore and improve the reception of both iPhones and Android phones, all of which are easy and quick to try.
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Hunter Biden has been indicted for lying about his drug use to obtain a firearm and possessing a firearm while he was a drug user. Those gun safety laws were enacted before the Supreme Court's Bruen decision which held that gun-control laws "must be deeply rooted in historical precedent" to pass constitutional muster. Since the Bruen decision, several courts, including in an appeals court ruling last month, have ruled for defendants charged, like Biden, with violating the drug-user gun ban. And recently, some gun-rights advocates have been more vocal in pushing to invalidate that prohibition. Early-American laws made it a crime to carry a gun while intoxicated. But judges ruling against the drug-user gun ban cited the absence of historical laws that entirely stripped away the gun rights of Americans who consumed intoxicating substances. Hunter Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, has signaled a potential Second Amendment defense, referring to recent rulings in a statement Thursday. Gun safety advocates have been notably silent on the Hunter Biden case.
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People watching the Eagles game on Thursday night wondered how it was I was sitting in the owner's box. It wasn't trick photography and you now can sit there as well. As this article explains, Goldman Sachs is preparing to offer a unique investment: the chance to own a piece of a private sports team. Thus, the bank is creating a “sports franchise” unit within its investment banking division that will combine sports M& A with sports financing. A top goal is to work with asset and wealth management to pitch clients on investing in teams, stadiums, and other flashy deals.
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It turns out they have released the first and second episodes of Season 3 of The Morning Show. A recent post panned Ep1. We shouldn't have been so harsh. Ep 2 is even worse. There will be no further reviews of this series. Maybe we'll miss out on something great. But one can take only so much insufferability.
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A previous post gave a favorable review to blurb.com. It might be the best of breed when it comes to putting together photo albums and such, but the customer support is outrageously bad. There is no telephone support. And you can spend 2 days exchanging over 25 emails with two different reps and some bots and get nowhere on a simple problem, like how to change the color of the cover. When my next project comes along, I hope to find a better place to have it done with.
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Within hours of Jack Smith's seeking an order curtailing Trump's continued attacks on the prosecutor, the judge, witnesses, and others, Trump let fly with more attacks of the same ilk. In essence, Trump, as bullies do, is daring the legal system to treat him like any other criminal defendant would be treated. The only way to rein in a bully is to stand up to him. It is time, actually it is well past the time, to start treating Trump as if he were subject to the laws of this country. The verdicts in the cases for which has been indicted likely are not going to come in time. But the time is now, while he is not the president, to make clear to him and to the country that no one, not even this maniacal cultist who believes he could shoot someone in Times Square and get away with it, is above the law.
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As was predicted by everyone who made a prediction, the Georgia judge refused the DA's request to try Trump and all 19 conspirators together. With that, the trial of two of Trump's lawyers will begin in October, and the remaining defendants are on hold until that trial is over. The reality is Trump now is virtually assured that he will not stand trial in Georgia before the election. Here is our view of the Georgia DA' lawyering: (i) Convicting any or all of the defendants other than Trump means virtually nothing if Trump is not timely tried (i.e., tried before the election); and (ii) it is inexcusable that the Georgia DA did not present a Plan B alternative to the judge, namely, that if the judge would not agree to a trial of all the defendants in October, the prosecutor was willing to try just Trump along with the two lawyers who asked for a speedy trial.
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Yesterday, this blog surpassed 400,000 hits (not counting "hits" on posts in the daily emails). While we have seen increased interest from columnists and others at the NYT, WSJ, and elsewhere, we have no clue what's going on out there, or why the bots (which now seems to account for over 3,000 hits per day) even bother with us.
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If you watched the Eagles on TNF on Prime (which was the only way to watch it), and obviously everyone did, you saw how terrible streaming sports is. In addition to the problems noted in the next post re pausing, skipping ads, and the like, the definition and picture clarity were terrible. Prime likely loses more customers than it gains given how lousy their broadcast is and how lousy any streamed source for sports always is.
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We have long warned potential cord cutters about the down-sides of cord cutting. Specifically, if you want to eliminate ads, enjoy channel switching, and prefer the benefits of watching at variable speeds and skipping things through the DVR function of a cable box, cord cutting is not for you. Lest anyone think I'm making this stuff up, perhaps you will believe it when you read it in this WSJ article.
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Global Entry offers travelers faster processing through customs when they arrive from international destinations, as well as speedier trips through security lines at U.S. airports. Unfortunately, there is a substantial (up to 6 months) delay in processing Global Entry applications. In the meantime, The U.S. Customs and Border Protection has a free app, called Mobile Passport Control (available here for iOs devices), that lets you enter your travel document, photo and customs-declaration information to speed up entry into the U.S.
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Hunter Biden had a plea agreement which would have gotten rid of the gun and tax charges. But Hunter Biden and his lawyers revoked the agreement when the government said it reserved the right to continue investigating Hunter Biden for possible violation of FARA (the Foreign Agent Registration Act). As a result, the government remained free to indict Hunter Biden for the gun violation which they have now done and the tax charges which they likely will do, and could still indict him under FARA. So, what possible advantage did Hunter Biden and his lawyers see in tearing up the plea agreement? With it, he was off the hook on two of the three charges; without it, he became on the hook on all three charges. Put me down as confused.
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Tesla has combined a series of innovations to make a technological breakthrough that could transform the way it makes electric vehicles and help Elon Musk achieve his aim of halving production costs. The company pioneered the use of huge presses with 6,000 to 9,000 tons of clamping pressure to mold the front and rear structures of its Model Y in a "gigacasting" process that slashed production costs and left rivals scrambling to catch up. In a bid to extend its lead, Tesla is closing in on an innovation that would allow it to die cast nearly all the complex underbody of an EV in one piece, rather than about 400 parts in a conventional car. The know-how is core to Tesla's "unboxed" manufacturing strategy unveiled by Musk in March, a linchpin of his plan to churn out tens of millions of cheaper EVs in the coming decade, and still make a profit. While Tesla has said its unboxed model involves producing large sub-assemblies of a car at the same time and then snapping them together, the size and make-up of the modular blocks is still the subject of speculation.
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As this WSJ article reports, the FDA will consider next week how scientists should conduct the first human tests of bag-like wombs, meant to nurture babies born so premature that modern medicine struggles to keep them healthy. The wombs would require removing babies from their mothers by caesarean section and immediately placing them into the bags before their umbilical blood vessels constrict, as would happen normally in birth. You don't have to be an oracle to see where advances in this technology are going to intersect with the abortion battles.
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Most people think that assumable mortgages, like dinosaurs, are things of the past and no longer roam the earth. As this WSJ article explains, in actuality, 22% of all mortgages are assumable. Obviously, in any sale of a house/condo, if the mortgage is assumable, that can be a big deal for both the seller and the buyer. So, do not assume that the mortgage your dealing with is not assumable.
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The first season of The Morning Show was fantastic. The second season started off okay, but became increasingly unwatchable. The first episode of the third season is now available and, if it is harbinger of what's to come, the third season will be a bust. Jon Hamm can't save it playing a Musk/Bezos character, and the space sequence and related sequences involving him are ridiculous. I'll give Ep 2 a shot, but if there's no turnaround, that will be it. That's not a threat, it's a promise.
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If you're old enough to remember and liked Candid Camera, then you enjoy watching innocent people be humiliated for no good reason, and there is no need to read further. But if you found that Candid Camera went over the line to unduly risk causing psychological pain, and boycotted the show, then you understand why Jury Duty (where everyone involved in a several-weeks trial is an actor is in on the ruse to trick one juror who thinks it is a real trial) is so offensive and should be avoided. I'm embarrassed and pained for having laughed during the early episodes and not having stopped watching it sooner as the series left humor behind and started to turn dark.
For those who don't know about the Milgram and Asch experiments of the 1950s, here is a brief summary: Many people, especially American Jews scarred by the Holocaust, wondered whether what happened in Nazi Germany was the result of something in the German character or something in human nature. B'nai Brith funded social/psychological experiments to find out. The Asch experiments showed how humans (the subjects of the experiments) would abandon what they knew to be reality and accept instead the consensus of community views (expressed by actors in on the experiments' ruse). The Milgram experiments showed that humans (the subjects of the experiments) would inflict severe pain on other humans (played by actors in on the ruse) where doing so was legitimized by an ostensible authority. Several upshots: (i) It was clear that Nazi Germany was not a product of or explained by some flaw in the German character; (ii) many of the subjects in these experiments were so upset by what it revealed about themselves (their gullibility in the Asch experiments and their willingness to inflict pain in the Milgram experiments) that they needed years of counseling to recover or never fully recovered, and it is believed that Asch's suicide was the result of how devastated and depressed he became from what he saw revealed by these experiments; and (iii) experimental social/psychology academia imposed strict ethical rules for conducting experiments so that what happened to the subjects in those experiments would never happen again.
So much for "never again." One might fairly assume that: (i) The "artists" who produced Jury Duty were so ignorant and uneducated that they never heard of the Milgram/Asch experiments; (ii) they certainly had no awareness of or concern for the ethical rules that were developed in response to these experiments; (iii) they have no clue, whether in the name of art or to make money, as to the difference between a harmless practical joke and an elaborate, meticulous, scheme whose effect on an innocent, decent human being just might be devastating; and (iv) as I'm told, upon disclosing the ruse (which the cast did with "a tone and look"), the producers gave the "subject" $100,000, and the "cast" fawned over him about how friendly and kind he had been--leaving one to wonder what they were prepared to do if the "subject" had had an immediate adverse reaction or, again like some of the Asch and Milgram "subjects," the adverse impact doesn't hit him for a while.
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Third-parties (e.g., Expedia, Priceline, Trivago, etc.) advertise heavily about all the money they will save you over your booking directly with the airline or hotel. We have long resisted booking through third-parties in part because the cost savings sometimes aren't there at all but, more important, the ability to resolve a problem with the airline or hotel is often much easier if one has booked directly. As it turns out, we are not some lone voice in the wilderness any more. As is apparent from this WSJ article, the WSJ reads our blog and is now a believer in and advocate of our views on the matter.
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The RSV vaccine is available for infants and people over 60. The new Covid booster is available for all ages. So, the crowds lining up for the RSV vaccine likely will not be as packed as one might fear. Given our country's addiction to do anything to mitigate getting infected or infecting others with Covid, the crowds looking to get the Covid booster likely will be gimonguous. Okay, we all need a laugh sometimes.
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This WaPo article ranks and explains its top 12 choices for Marinara sauces. No surprise, consistent with what we've been saying forever, that Rao's and TJ's came in first and second.
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We wish to extend a warm welcome to David Ignatius, the esteemed WaPo columnist, who obviously has become a loyal reader of this blog and embraced a position we advocated for some time. As Igantius's most recent WaPo column correctly urges, "[I] don’t think Biden and Vice President Harris should run for reelection. It’s painful to say that, given my admiration for much of what they have accomplished. But if he and Harris campaign together in 2024, I think Biden risks undoing his greatest achievement — which was stopping Trump."
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A post several days ago gave a strong thumbs up on Jury Duty (Netflix mini-series) based principally on how funny it was. As it goes on, it not only stops being funny, it's reminiscent of the horrifying Milgram and Asch psychological experiments of the 1950s. I'm sorry I started watching it and apologize for recommending it. I don't know how it ends up.
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The CDC has approved the new Covid booster. At least in Phoenix, appointments now can be made to get it and the senior flu shot at CVS.
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With Aaron Rodgers out for the season (and a good chance of retiring), the Jets are left with a starting quarterback who is marginal at best, and no back-up quarterback. Here is what I'd do if I owned the Jets.
1. Buy a house on Hanalei Bay on the North Shore of Kauai.
2. Buy my own jet to get there and get others there because that's the kind of thoughtful person I am.
3. Pay Tom Brady whatever he wants to be the quarterback. In addition to the money, it would give him the opportunity to be the person who slayed the Namath-jinx/curse that has plagued the Jets' quest for another Super Bowl championship. And if Brady were to do that, it would secure his position of being not only the Goat of NFL quarterbacks, but the Goat of all NFL players and perhaps of all athletes up until now and forever into the future.
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You've likely seen the notice of Chrome's new privacy settings and ignored it because it looked a bit complicated, which it is. This WaPo article makes it easy to change the settings, and if you’re concerned about your data and privacy, take a moment to learn more about what’s happening and which settings you should change.
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Apple's iPhone 15 will be going to a USB-C port for charging, joining the standard set Android phones. USB-C is just a standardized plug and port shape. The cables might look the same but can have very different capabilities — and unfortunately it can be hard to tell them apart. All USB-C cables support charging. But some carry as much as 240 watts of power — meaning they could charge devices much faster than cables that carry less power. The cables also vary wildly in how fast they transfer data. Some USB-C cables can do it at 80 gigabits per second, or Gbps, allowing them to connect computers to high resolution monitors.
Prices for USB-C cables can vary widely — from under $10 to as much as $160. You don’t need to splash out on a cable with super-fast data transfers if you’re only ever going to plug it into the iPhone charger next to your toothbrush. But you also want a cable that’s not going to overheat or catch fire, so I recommend sticking with a reputable brand like Anker, Cable Matters and Monoprice or one that says it’s been certified by a trade group called the USB Implementers Forum, or USB-IF. (It tells me it tests them for being plugged and unplugged 10,000 times.)
The markings on the end of a USB-C plug can indicate how fast the cable can transfer data (top number) and how much power it can carry (bottom number). How can you know the capability of a USB-C cable? Look near the plug part of the cable for a little swoopy logo with two numbers: The one on top is how fast it can transfer data, and the one on the bottom is how much power it can carry. Not all cables include this label, but usually, they’ll at least list the power and speed specs on their box or website.
PS: Apple didn't just choose to go the USSB-C route. It was forced to by the European Commission. And we can be glad it did for environmental reason. Thus, the European Commission estimates a common charger will save 11,000 tons of e-waste annually in Europe alone.
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If you have the good fortune of living out here like in Phoenix, you get on and off highways and cross bridges and such and never think about it. Not back East. They've got tolls like you wouldn't believe. You don't see them. But they see you. So, long after you return a rental car, you'll start seeing toll charges come up. And they are nothing to sneeze at because they often fold into the charge some registration fee or something whereby, instead of just paying a small charge or even a couple of dollars for the toll, you pay an additional $11 as well. And, if you're driving in 2 states, that $11 fee gets put on for each state. No wonder Trump was able to garner the support he did by railing against what the East Coast elites have been doing to us.
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If you need inspiration for planning ahead, take a look at McDonald's. As this article explains, McDonald's is now planning to eliminate it's self-service soda stations. Here's the inspiring thing: They are planning for it to happen in 2032.
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Many loyal readers and others have pummeled me as to what I think about BDCs (business development companies) because you might get an 11% yield through them. To be clear, I have no view of them and had never heard of them until this morning. But the WSJ has, and this article explains what they are and the risk they carry. My only related advice is if you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.
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The RSV vaccine is available now (at least in Phoenix) for people over 60 and appointments can be made to get it at Fry's (at least in Phoenix). The old bivalent Covid boosters no longer are available but the new Covid vaccine booster, which just got FDA approval, should be getting CDC approval in the next day or so and be available almost immediately.
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We are honored that James Carville, one of the sharpest political pundits in the whole wide world, especially when it comes to advising Democrats as to whether or not and how they can win an election, is reading this blog. We are especially honored that he has taken up the mantel on Biden's increasing vulnerability in a race against Trump. Borrowing from recent posts here, Carville has "sounded the alarm" given Biden's sinking poll numbers and "clear age problem."
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Getting gifts for peoples' homes is tricky. Art type stuff might not meet their taste, and anything that takes up space might be unwanted, particularly where the recipients are minimalists and anti-hoarders. Wirecutter has come up with the perfect gifts, especially for people who like to clean, and for those who don't like to clean, they might not appreciate the gifts so much but such people need these gifts which will prove useful for them. In short, the article sets out scrubbers and washers that are excellent, well-designed, and beautiful tools to make cleaning satisfying beyond words, along with cleaning potions and gadgets.
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When American Airlines and other mainstream carriers complain about a much smaller airline that flies fewer flights in a year than American flies in a week, as this WSJ article notes, then it merits taking a look at what that little airline, JSX, is doing to cause such an outcry. In short, here it is: If you are willing to pay for first-class on American or other mainstream carrier, you can often pay less on JSX and show up 20 minutes before a flight, and slide right into a roomy leather seat with no need to go through any security lines and no middle seats. Free cocktails flow and 2 bags checked for free on a 30-seat plane. In short, you get a jet-setter's benefits but you don't have to join anything. We just hope JSX starts flying to more places.
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As tragic and devastating as 9/11 was, and as substantial the changes we made in action to it have been, it's not clear that "never forget"still resonates as it promised it would 22 years ago. What is clear is that Trump and his cult followers and his enablers and what used to be the Republican party pose a far graver threat to our country.
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A post yesterday suggested using a crumpled up piece of aluminum foil to use as a scrubber for getting stains off of pans. As a semi-loyal reader has correctly pointed out, that is BAD for the environment. We are mortified by our oversight, and apologize for it. Please consider that suggestion withdrawn, and we request that you use only environmentally-friendly stuff as scrubbers. We thank the semi-loyal reader for the diligence and for not asking us to commit seppuku up and down our line as he often does, and thank you, our loyal and semi-loyal readers, for understanding!
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Presidential elections are about one of two things or a combination of two things: Turning the page on the past or hope for a brighter future. If food and fuel inflation continue to persist, housing remains unaffordable, and unemployment rises, no matter what Biden accomplished on other fronts, swing voters are going to want to turn the page on the past. Because Biden cannot undo the aging process and he is aged and becoming more so, he is not and never will be capture swing voters yearning for a brighter future. It is a few minutes before midnight to find a viable Democrat who can take on Trump on both scores in 2024. If Biden really cared about the future, he would let those gates open. If the Democratic party really cared about the future, it would force those gates open.
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Given that the pandemic is long over, no one can find their home rapid Covid test kits if they ever had one. But, if you do happen to have any, as this NYT piece explains, and you decide to test yourself for some reason, before you rip open a test that has been in your medicine cabinet since 2020, check the expiration date. If the test has expired, you can’t always trust the result. That said, the Food and Drug Administration has extended the expiration dates for certain brands of tests. You can check a test by finding the lot number (typically found right by the expiration date) and cross-referencing it at this FDA website. In all events, PCR tests remain the gold standard.
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There are teams everyone likes to watch (like the Eagles), but the gods have decided that the Dome of Heat was not enough punishment for Phoenix this summer. Now they televise the Cardinals vs. Washington, as if anyone wants to see them. Here's what makes them unwatchable: they both stink; penalties contribute to more yardage than offenses do; celebrating every play is tiresome to watch; the relentless crowd noise is such that one has to mute the TV's sound (and why anyone would go to a game is beyond explanation); and the NFL is in the stone age when it comes to technology (e.g., baseball and tennis can tell you exactly where 100-130 mph small balls are at every point but football can't keep track of a big oval melon moving at a snail's pace). The only way one can watch this kind of stuff is by having it on the DVR and watching at 6x speed. That way, you don't miss anything of importance if anything of importance happened (like seeing Sonny Jurgensen sitting in the owner's box), and you get through the game in under 20 minutes with no noise and no ads and only fleeting glimpses of mindless celebrations.
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If you are a judge or former judge, a lawyer or retired lawyer, someone ever picked for jury duty, or a human being with a sense of humor, you will like Jury Duty. At the very least, it will make you laugh out loud. It follows the workings of an American jury trial through the eyes of Ronald Gladden, a juror who is unaware the entire case is fake. Everyone except him is an actor, and everything that happens is carefully planned. Ronald Gladden serves jury duty on a civil trial in Los Angeles. To him there is nothing out of the ordinary in proceedings. Little does he know, however, that all the other participants - his fellow jurors, the judge, the plaintiff and defendant, everybody - are actors, the trial isn't real and everything is staged. And to its credit, the episodes are a half-hour.
PS: You access it through Amazon Prime but it streams to you via Freevee. Freevee is free but there's 90 seconds of ads about half way through the episode.
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This WSJ article explains that food experts broadly agree that the expiration dates on every box of crackers, can of beans and bag of apples waste money, squander perfectly good food, needlessly clog landfills, spew methane and contribute to climate change. Ah, but food-safety regulations keep us safe, you might say. Yet in almost all cases, there’s no regulation, and the dates do nothing to keep us safe.
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Dinner guests always ask me how I get my pans so clean. The short answer is, "I don't let them get stained in the first place." But my cooking class does cover the topic for those people who are not so careful and end up with stained pans, and here is the answer: (i) let the pan cool completely; (ii) crumple up a piece of aluminum foil into a ball; (iii) add a few tbsps of water to the pan; (iv) scrub the pan with the aluminum foil ball; (v) rinse the pan with hot water and towel dry; and (vi) rub the pan with a little oil to protect the coating. If that doesn't work, try the following: (i) make a paste of baking soda and water, apply it to the stain, let stand for 20 minutes, and scrub with a cloth or sponge; (ii) mix equal parts of white vinegar and water into the pan, heat the pan until the mixture boils, let cool, and scrub pan with soft brush or cloth; (iii) cut a lemon in half and rub the stained area with the exposed lemon; (iv) sprinkle some coarse salt onto the stain and use a damp cloth or sponge to scrub; or (v) fill the pan with water, bring to a boil, as the water boils, use a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape off the residue. If none of those work, buy a new pan and, please, be more careful in the future.
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Making timely loan payments will boost your credit score. Ironically, paying off an installment loan might lower your credit score. This WaPo article explains the factors that will raise or lower one's credit scores.
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As this WaPo article explains, Pegasus spyware poses a real security threat to iPhones and iPads, and goes on to instruct on how to download and install the security update that will protect those devices.
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We've long recommended that you put photographs of your IDs (e.g., driver's license and passport) on your phone (Keep is an excellent program and Chrome extension to do it with). This WaPo article has additional tips as to what to do for lost IDs and things like rental car keys and your phone.
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Supposedly in an effort to reduce the number of kickoff returns in the name of safety, when a kickoff receiver makes a fair catch inside the 25 yard line, the ball is marked at the 25 yard line. Given the dangers on the kickoff return, we applaud this rule, but expect and hope for more substantial changes to the kickoff rules as the XFL has done. In the XFL, the kick happens at the 30 yard line. Other than the kicker, the players on the kicking team are aligned at the receiving team’s 35 yard line. Ten of the receiving team’s players are positioned five yards away. Only the kicker and the returner may move before the ball is touched by the player fielding the kick.
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Although no one masks any more and no one is going to get any of the latest boosters (for Covid, RSV, or flu), there is no reason to read this WaPo article. It just gives an overview of "how covid experts are living now," both in terms of activities (e.g., eating out) and masking. It also covers when they think one should get boosters and whether or not getting them all at once is okay.
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With apologies for recommending it to a semi-loyal reader, the title Sleeping Dog has nothing to do with the show, but aptly describes what it does to the audience: It puts them to sleep because they can understand or care about what's going on no more than a dog can, even a dog that speaks German. It's disjointed to say the least, none of the characters are interesting, and the plot is, well, I'm not sure there really is a plot. In the spirit of full disclosure and transparency, heading off to bed well before each episode finished, and not even trying to watch the last episode, might have contributed to my bewilderment and dislike for this series.
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An earlier post complained about Keyword not posting the time it took one to solve the puzzle. As it turns out, we were mistaken. While they no longer post it in the scoring box, it is posted at the upper right of the page.
Anyone who watched the OJ Simpson trial came away with one conclusion: The prosecution team was a bunch of amateurs. Unfortunately, it looks like the Georgia prosecution team went to the same school of prosecution. At the hearing the other day, pressing to try all 19 defendants in one trial starting October 23, the prosecutor told the court that trying the two defendants asking for a speedy trial (Kenneth Cheseboro and Sidney Powell) would involve calling 150 witnesses and take 4 months excluding jury selection. I don't know what the DA's agenda is. But I'm not going to follow the pre-trial stuff.
PS: Lest anyone think malpractice is limited to the prosecutor, Cheseboro and Powell argued to sever their cases and be tried separately. Under Georgia law, if they had staggered their requests for early trials, instead of both filing during the same term, they automatically would have been tried separately.
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Printer makers love to sell you more toner. That is why they put an alert setting in their printers to tell you to replace the toner cartridge long before you need to. How one deletes that message depends on the make and model of printer, and diligence pays off when searching The Google for what will work on your machine. As it turns out, your machine (e.g., the Brother MFC-L2740DW) has a fix built right into its settings. Likely, other machines do as well. Look under the general settings and the toner settings.
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As this WSJ article explains, travelers starved for cheap flights, your season has arrived. End-of-summer airfare discounts are in full swing for September/October flights. And this cnet article sets out how Google Flights can help get you the best flight fares (e.g., noting the days of the week that often produce lower fares).
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Often opting for a "ticket upgrade" is not worth it, but on American Airlines, opting for Main Cabin Plus can pay for itself and more, especially if you're checking luggage. Main Cabin Plus gives you a free checked bag or 2, earlier boarding, better seat selection, better overhead storage, and more flexibility if canceling or changing flights.In short, don't be a schmohawk thinking that every add-on is a waste.
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I don't know anyone who hasn't seen Barbie yet, but I'm told there are such people. Barbie isn't currently streaming online, but it's coming. It is available for pre-order through video-on-demand (VOD) platforms like Prime Video, Apple TV, and the Microsoft Store. The movie will be available to buy and watch online starting Sept. 12 on Prime. Apple TV and other platforms haven't specified a date. It appears it will cost about $24, which is a bargain when you split it with the 10+ guests you have at your pot-luck byob Barbie party.
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If Costco is closed on a Monday holiday, it may be prudent to not shop at Costco on the following Tuesday. The pent-up demand of Costco shoppers is not something you want to fight.
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