The Long Road Out

There are so many despicable companies and brands in the world.   So it's hard to chose the absolute numero uno  when this much-coveted prize is awarded annually.  But the judges (me) have decided.  My choice is Monsanto--protected by the government, actively poisoning the food chain, guilty of predatory customer behavior, and literally violent to non-customers. Monsanto is still first in the "Worst Corporation of the Decade" ranking, which, surely, this year's victory will help.   They're kind of like the Chicago Bulls in their heyday. It's nice to feel so certain that Monsanto is the absolutely worst company on the planet.   Knowing this makes the judges (me) feel clearheaded and thoughtful, since it would be easy to be confused by the many categories and brands in the runner-up spots: All the defense contractors--whether General Electric or General Dynamics, these guys make money exporting death to bad people, and go out of their way to make sure...

We happened to be eating on Rue Oberkampf, on the same block as the Bataclan in Paris, the night of  those events.   And we happen to live on the West Side in Manhattan where not a day goes by without at least one trip on the West Side Bike path.   My work is based in Portland, Oregon where it's been OK to walk in and assault dark-skinned individuals for quite some time, including yesterday. Does proximity make any difference? Lack of proximity clearly makes it harder to understand how other "tribes" feel.   Just look at Trump's response to the bike path murders in New York yesterday--60% of the victims came from Argentina and it never occurs to him to even mention the sadness in Rosario.   Of course, he's a moron, but the point here stands.   We mourn our own.   It's in our genetics, often disguised as biased "empathy" rather than the true standard of "compassion." But if this psychopathic guy had just stayed in Passaic where he wa...

I offer, with appreciation, these few paragraphs from an editorial in the NYTimes today by Jill Filipovic.   One more coherent effort to make sense of how we ended up with Trump in office...a man of such repulsive mediocrity that his one accomplishment is being the perfect icon for all that is truly awful about the United States.  In Filipovic's words, "The president is a perfect figurehead for this bizarre moment: a man who carries all of the negative characteristics of stereotypical masculinity while adopting almost none of the virtues, occupying the most powerful and exclusively male seat of power in the nation (and perhaps in the world), who ascended in large part because a yawning fear of female power kept one of the best-qualified candidates in history out of office. He is ego unchecked, narcissism in place of dignity. 152 COMMENTS In a 1961  essay for Vogue , Joan Didion wrote that people with “self-respect have the courage of their mistakes. They know the p...

When your business policies are unethical, there's normally an additional cost of business; public relations, false advertising (often with a green tint), and philanthropy in the sorts of activities that give the appearance that you care about humans. That's what happens with bad companies.   For instance, the major airlines.   I like picking on United because their employees seem the most miserable and the experience of dealing with them is the most institutionalized.   With the other airlines, every once in a while some rogue employee acts up and does the right thing. Today's wonderful policy:  trying to change the return flight on a ticket I paid for 45 days ago--for a flight in three weeks. The original ticket on business was $1103 and returned to Newark.   I needed to switch to Logan in Boston.   The new ticket, including the $200 change fee, was $2471.   Yup, that's right...the increase was more than the original ticket.   And they've ...

Most U.S. citizens don't know that France occupied Mexico in the 1860's.   In fact, they probably assumed that Spain was somehow in control, if they've thought about it at all.   True, Spain was the main colonial bully, from the 1500's until, a fter eleven years of war (1810–21), New Spain became the sovereign nation of Mexico, with the signing of the  Treaty of Córdoba . A brief period of monarchy (1821–23)  was followed by the founding of the Republic of Mexico, established under a federal constitution in 1824. That left free reign to the US to attack Mexico in 1846.   We didn't really want to occupy the country like the Spanish--we just wanted to take half of the land, which we did in 1848 via the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.  So much for the Mexican-American War, and the glory of San Antonio and Davey Crocker and Sam Houston.  Now we have Beverly Hills and Phoenix! So, 1848 passes.   A half-sized Mexico continues, initiating a series of li...

We always hear about Napoleon Bonaparte--otherwise know as Napoleon I or Napoleon the Great… And then, in the 1850's, Napoleon III appears as the last French monarch. It made me wonder, who on earth was Napoleon II?   Hardly any one talks about him! So, here is the timetable: Napoleon Bonaparte (“I”) declared himself emperor in 1804 and lasted until 1814 when the Bourbons reinstalled a King (Louis XVII). Louis didn’t last long—half a year, before Bonaparte reinstalled himself—for an even shorter period before he was exiled to Elba.   In an attempt to hang on before exile, he annointed his son—Napoleon II (!) Emperor.   Napoleon Junior was only 4 years old the day he became Emperor--but he only lasted about two weeks before the Bourbons managed to kick him out, putting Louis XVIII back as king.   This 100 day period of I and II in charge is known as “The First Empire.”   Ha…for a few months.  By the way, Napoleon II was also sent into exile...

So I read that Jennifer Lawrence believes that she's in a film, Mother !, about human destruction of the Earth.  She plays a young housewife with large breasts who needs to protect her home from the riff raft in a way that has not been equalled in cinema since Sam Peckinpaugh did Straw Dogs . And Javier Bardem thinks he's in a film about the rise of cults.   He plays a narcissistic poet with writers block who thinks reader adulation is heroin. OK for Jennifer and Javier--they've both done some fantastic films and some great acting. However, the film barely pays homage to climate change or cults. What it services is yet another artistic exploration of how cool it is that older men, particularly if they have artistic pretentious, can fuck younger women.   The guy in this movie, played by Bardem, is a prime example for the older guy who gets exactly what he wants, sulks when believes there's the slightest chance that he won't, lies at other times, and then just...

The experts who work in City government are at it again...making things as bad as possible.   Here are some new ways that our many agencies are working against us as hard as they can: Landmarks Preservation--set a new low by requiring a co-op owner to remove a story and a half of new construction a year after it was completed.   The coop happened to have a ceiling door that was used as an escape route for an underground railway station--cool, huh?   But this construction project had been passed and certified and given the go-ahead by every one, and besides, the building was private and no one has access to the old 19th Century door.  But some idiot--and I use the word kindly--found out about this after the fact and rescinded the permits.   The result?   Another year of closed sidewalks as the owner tears down what was completed.  I'm not a pro-owner kind of guy, but even I feel badly...it hurts to tear out nice new renovation and send all those cons...

North Korea, Iraq, and Yemen all signed on to the Paris Climate Accords two years ago despite being emeshed in conflict.  So did the U.S.!  Our involvement was surprising because we rarely sign on to any global treaties or laws.   We do not recognize international law, human rights covenants, and many other agreements that are a natural part of the fabric for the entire rest of the world. But fortunately we have a friend or two when it comes to climate change.   First Syria.   OK, it's true, Syria was under a western travel ban at the time the Accords were negotiated and signed.   Representatives of Assad's government are not allowed to travel to the west, so the only way they could have participated was if the agreement was shipped to Russia for a special session. Second, Nicaragua.   Ortega's government refused to sign because they took the position that voluntary compliance wasn't enough--especially for countries like the U.S. which have a long ...

The World Science Festival, which started its 10th year last night in New York City, goes for very high production values…and the 2017 opening night program offered the talents of Pilobolus, Renee Fleming--and Joshua Bell knocking the hell out of the violin.   The previous 9 years of the WSF have looked straight into the cosmos to confront the expansiveness of time and space--so this year added the relatively new knowledge that the universe is expanding at an  accelerating  pace.  The program  ended with a wild version of “The Sound of Silence ” backed by Brian Greene's forward-look into astronomical physics--a universe that's spinning away from us.    Think about that when you think about true silence.  "Hello darkness my old friend," indeed... For example,  soon (in cosmos-time) you won’t be able to see any stars because all the galaxies will be moving away from us at speeds faster than light.  (My partner thinks the...

Apparently the Republican leadership suggested Merrick Garland for Director of the FBI but he turned it down, citing the need for dependable employment.  The Senate Majority Leader described Merrick as a fantastic apolitical choice.   This is the same guy who stopped Garland's nomination to the Supreme Court?   Once again, these guys are knocking the wind out of me... So, fortunately, Hillary accepted with the guarantee that she could not be terminated by the President or any one else as long as Donald is in office. That's good news.   She might be the only lawyer in the country who would have credibility in the position. (I owe this suggestion to my partner Mina.)  And no one else would take the job--how embarrassing to work for a known idiot. And since Trump is within a month or so of being escorted out of the White House in handcuffs anyway, Hillary will be able to get on with her life very quickly--in June, for instance.  She's starting a bipartis...

It's not really a fair fight to pick on the US for not being smart...a core principle at the center of our national identity is anti-intellectualism.   How else can you not observe international law?  Because it's created by smart people.   Deny global warming?   Because scientists have confirmed it.  Continue to eat toxic foods by the pound?   Because some doctors think you need nutrients and should avoid ambient toxins. Consume nothing but pop film and art?   Because the more talented artists are just trying to make us feel inferior--and besides, I never read subtitles. I'm above average, so don't trust me.  And don't trust Andy Borowitz writing in The New Yorker, who makes exactly the same point that the U.S. just came in last .   Again.  I think Borowitz is smart too, from what I hear, so be sure to ignore him. So, 66% of the French were taking a (healthy, relaxing) walk in the park when they elected Emmanuel Macron Sunday. ...

Unless he establishes a military dictatorship (a possibility to be feared but it doesn't seem like the military likes Trump any more than I do), it feels pretty certain to me that we're within 6 months now of seeing him doing the perp walk.   I'm not sure what the cause of arrest will be, since, as a McKinsey consulting friend of mine says, "it's not against the law to be inept."   And I did a lot of research to confirm that "narcissism" and "bullying" are apparently also not actionable at either the state or federal court level.  I didn't check with the international courts in the Hague, since, of course, the US doesn't comply with, recognize, or acknowledge the rules every other country observes. But there are so many other things that clearly are against the law: hiding assets in bankruptcy proceedings impeding law enforcement agencies in their work discrimination  conflict of interest laws aiding known criminals  H...

I was in an airport Thursday afternoon as Trump gathered with the gloating old white men in a setting that looked like a plantation birthday party to celebrate the 217-213 passage of the new health care bill in the House. I mention Logan Airport only because, as you know, it's impossible to turn off the propaganda feed on airport TVs.   They've removed the on-off switches, and submerged the cables and electricity so you can't simply pull the plug.  1984, 24/7. But watching these smarmy motherfuckers celebrating their daily theft was not what really got me.  We already knew that the ruling ideology of the moment is "protect your white tribe first and drive every one else away." What pissed me off the most, at that moment, was that Trump was supposed  to have lunch with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull yesterday.   At 1 PM.   Instead, he called for this lawn party, and left Turnbull sitting on his hands until he could meet at 7 PM in the middl...

This film quickly moved to the top immediately after release.   The current three worst films of 2017 are: A Quiet Passion-- The film opens with a vision of 1840's Mt Holyoke College as an opt-out nunnery and then continues to get less and less accurate but equally as boring.   I believe the only research any one did for this Emily Dickinson biopic was to see a high school production of  The Belle of Amherst .  Which is a shame because if there ever was a time when the world could use to be (re)introduced to one of the great philosophical wordsmiths, it's when we have President Trump who can't talk.  Dickinson was a beautiful voice from the utopian spirit of the middle 19th century--but that's not what we get here.   We get Cynthia Nixon imitating electro-shock therapy (I think she watched Nicholson in Cuckoo's Nest  as preparation?), caught between the very sacrificial anodes of abolitionism and atheism.   When Dickinson wrote "I am a nobody,"...

I travel a lot.   I've never been dragged kicking and screaming off a plane by United, Delta, American,  Southwest, JetBlue or Alaska (our current big 6?).   Worse. Here are the real crimes committed by the MBA's (shame on you for taking these crappy jobs at corporate) who get hired by these stale transportation companies: Theft--no other industry takes money for services early, won't allow refunds or changes, and then has no obligation to provide the services you signed on for (ever been automatically rebooked for a connecting flight that leaves two days after the late incoming arrival?).   I'd rather be on YouTube crying, which is what the airlines do regularly to their customers. Violence--I fly business class.   I'm an athlete.   I'm 5' 11"  or relatively average height.  I can barely walk up the disembarkation ramp after any flight 2 hours or longer.   This is physical abuse, and while I don't even play a doctor on TV, I think lo...

It's been a few hours now since we expanded our imperialist aggressions back on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Do our "friends" in Islamabad really condone this sort of war-mongering 200 kilometers from their offices?  From a government that doesn't recognize either the Cold War (Tillerson on "this is the low point of US-Russia relations") nor Hitler (Spicer--everything about that dolt)? Ignore that question.   Our government doesn't know where Pakistan is, I'm certain. Meanwhile, a la The Great Game, w e're piling carcasses upon the carcasses of previous generations of western invaders. But one group that loves this scary and dangerous development is Wall Street.   Why is this?  I thought the day 1 lesson on every on-line CFA exam prep course was "risk is the denominator in value." Could it be that they know how much munitions cost and assume using more weapons and bombers will spin money into the Fortune 500 quarterly rep...

We're in the land of Google here, but if you have a WordPress site, you know that you get notifications any time a user does anything.   If you have any user base at all, or any spamming activity, the admin email box gets filled in minutes, and WordPress (I'm in the 4.7 updates) offers no way to shut them off. Web research suggests that you install Disable New User Notification Emails plugins, but the two most downloaded versions haven't been updated past WordPress 4.5, and did not stop emails to the admin (they may have stopped emails to the new users, but that's not the problem I was trying to solve). So, instead, I tried Manage Notification E-mails by Virgial Berveling .  This plug-in allowed me to instantly turn off the new user spam I was receiving as admin--plus a number of other notifications to both the users and me.   No need to try to change the user registration code, which is beyond my pay grade. Installation took 15 seconds, and introduced an addition...

There is no such thing as smart money.   Yet, when was the last time you heard some one described as a "below-average hedge fund manager?" Probably never. Or a "mediocre physicist?" That's because these two professions seem mystical to people who don't stop to question that at least half of the hedge fund managers--and physicists-- graduated in the bottom 50% of their university peer group. Yet look at the HFRI Equity Hedge Index compared to investing in a no-fee indexed S&P fund since 1996--the last 20 years.   (Note:   you've been screwed in either case so don't hold your breath).  Yes, all those wicked smart hedge fund guys (remember their nice suits from back in the late 90's?) rocked along at 13% annual returns from '96 til early '00.   So did the S&P. Since then it's been a negative shithouse for the guys who get their drawn portraits published in the WSJ.   Between ''08 and '13 a dollar invested i...

Index funds have killed hedge funds and active management.   By how much?   It appears 5 to 1 during the period from 2010 to 2015.   The artificial run up caused by the Trump election can only have made this gap worse, since many big investors (Buffett, Soros) have bet against the market recently.   Index funds have only continued to ride the wave of every one else's capital staying in one place. It's comforting to see the gap--the NY Times reports these numbers from Seth Klarmen, who they say is some kind of wise guy for hedge fund managers.   I've never heard of him, not that I would.   I have friends with real interests.   He's apparently a value investor like Buffet at some place called the Baupost Group (is this a real firm?   Who knows.)   I've got nothing against him.   I can imagine he's a bit frustrated, losing money for his clients day after day, relative to the S&P. My point, as always, is that these are all dumb guys....

The New York Times, which is trying its best to provide historical context to this period of fascist revolution, found yet another clever parallel:   the censorship of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour . OK, yes, I'm biased.   I did in fact sit in my living room and watch Tom and Dick--and Pat Poulson--every week with my family.   But still.   This stuff is funny . And it reminds me of how invasive the government seemed then.   Every one knew it.   How could any one claim to be surprised by the simple disclosures of Edward Snowden that the government is lying to us about surveillance, all those years later.   Phones were tapped then, and privacy was a joke.  And you could get your head bashed in in Chicago and elsewhere--or your successful TV show cancelled--for saying the obvious. So here's to the two subversive guys who could turn Paint Your Wagon  into a text for revolution.

I've been a radicalized feminist since 1978, and an unconscious one prior to that.   I've read the core literature, and have believed since the beginning that the single best place to start any battle for a more peaceful and humane world is with womens' rights. It's time to stop.   I've taken off my pink pussy hat.  Perhaps I feel this way since I spent the recent Women's March in NYC looking at the same posters and the same angry cops I did at Take Back the Night marches on Broadway in 1984.   Or the Senaca Falls womens' peace encampments.   Etc. etc. And maybe it's because I realize that strong women don't need, nor necessarily appreciate, male fellow travelers.  Generic feminism now means being women-centered in a more exclusionary way than the earlier part of this wave did, I believe. (I wonder if that was true of the first and second waves of Western feminism--that they too grew more exclusionary as they evolved?   I have no idea.) Mostly...

I want to live and thrive in a diverse community.   That's one of the reasons I live in New York City.   Often, people comment that I'm in a "bubble" here--protected from the most overt forms of racism supposedly more common in most of the rest of the United States. Leaving aside the fact that New York City has its own versions of racial problems, I'm glad to be part of the bubble and wouldn't consider moving back to any other part of the country as my home.   Montreal, perhaps.   Or Paris.   But never elsewhere in the States. So I'm sad to report that the free-for-all released by the election of a pathological egotist by the part of our electorate he panders to has pierced the New York world--both in image and reality.   In the last two days: A Japanese theater acquaintance was called a "gook" as she walked down West 13th Street in the Village to her home.   She posted notes describing this pleasant exchange on Facebook. At the W 79th an...

I suspect 2016 will be remembered as a year of good indie films--there were a lot of them (here's my list of best films of 2016 ), thank goodness.   The blockbusters weren't spectacular--in fact, if LaLa Land wins, it will really be because most of the voters didn't bother to see Moonlight .  But this year did offer some truly awful films that came apart at the seams in ways that no one could predict.   Look at these disasters and steer very far away! Silence --you're kidding right?   Scorcesee's apologia for the Jesuits and the Pope?  Like we need this now?   I already knew that Buddhism isn't all incense and yogic charm.  But don't hide behind that to do a puff piece for Rome.  Apparently, 17th century Japanese citizens needed better dentists, or so we learn here.  Beyond that...damaging. A Bigger Splash -- Luca Guadagnino  cannot tell stories nor develop characters.   Why do people keep giving him money to make films...

Trump represents everything I hate about my country.   How bizarre that after all these years the pacifist left has to hold on to the slim hope that Trump is simply as inept as he's always been--a weak and failed business person, a morally confused human, and an intellect slowed by too many dumb companions. These are the things I hate about America: We are the world's worst bully .   You have to go a pretty long way to hit number 2, which is probably Israel, and then 3, which might be Russia?   It's a multi-country tie for fourth--and the list pretty much parallels the list of weapons exporters.  We continue to be the leading seller of lethal firepower into the world's murder zones.   We earn extra points from our history of diplomatic hanky-panky and the per cent of our GDP invested in covert militarism and surveillance.   We believe we're exceptional .   Dudes, we're not in the top 20 in ANY category normally identified as indicators of civiliz...

Two guys sitting behind me on the last PHX-JFK flight last night, four bourbons in, got into a heated discussion about whether “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” or “Sympathy for the Devil” was the greatest Stones song ever.    They were drunk and stupid (to give you an indication, at one point one guy said “how about this song?” and started humming what I think was Scarlet Begonia—which was confirmed when the other guy said “dude, that’s not the Stones.   That’s the Grateful Dead.”). But something about the conversation made me tear up…   Good thing I was flying by myself because my partner or my friends probably would have questioned why I was crying on American Airlines.