The Long Road Out

I'd rate 2017 pretty high on good films--even from Hollywood.   I might note that some of the films I actively despised came from the intellectual indie side this year, as opposed to the usual commercial   box office silliness. So, if you prefer wise, moving, thoughtful, surprising cinema, you may find these worthwhile.   Ranked in my order of preference: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri-- an examination of justice gained, justice lost, and justice deferred that never stops and ultimately takes on biblical proportions--fire and rain pour down.   In the end, Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell take to the road--how else can a morality tale end--with the line "we'll figure it out as we go."  Martin McDonagh ( In Bruges ) cannot be missed.   Glory-- a truly radical film from Bulgaria, where the women sweat through their new western business suits, and graft and organized crime are the only competing ideologies.   The ending of this film will ...

Top-ranked films of 2016 Louder than Bombs --not released in the US or UK until April (though elsewhere in 2015) this Westchester examination is in a league with  The Ice Storm .   People are really really struggling up there, it turns out, and sometimes finding transcendence.  Extraordinary Jesse Eisenberg, Isabelle Huppert, and David Strathairn...and not just saying this because the director Joachim Trier is Scandinavian... Embrace of the Serpent-- this is actually at 2015 release but no one saw it in the US until 2016--when it lost the Best Foreign Film award to Son of Saul .  It shouldn't have (no comments about the surprise that a holocaust film won out over a true original gem with radical environmental and racial politics).   The movie tells of  the relationships between Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman and last survivor of his people, and two scientists who work together over the course of 40 years.  The relationships show the vi...

 COVID creates a knee-jerk vote of thanks to first responders, so let's take a moment to consider than any automatic applause is guaranteed to hide real scrutiny.  For that reason, I'd like to point out the many ways that the First Response Syndrome in NYC is a large part of the reason we're in the mess we are today. Here are some reasons I believe our attitudes towards the fire, police, and ambulance militias have exacerbated our sickness, disenfranchisement, and powerlessness in the face of a City that's out of control. First responders believe that they are priority workers--and they act that way. Because they've drunk their own koolaid, these public employees break traffic rules, cultural rules, and civility rules in a way that causes far more damage than the protection services they offer in return First responders aren't contributors to noise pollution anxiety in New York City--they ARE the noise pollution.  Each time a siren goes up, the blood pressure of...

 How can 85% of Republican voters believe that there's a deep state "conspiracy" to unseat Trump.  Who are they picturing?  Hillary in a deep bunker (surrounded by a bunch of sex slave pre-teens????) with three other socialists pulling levers and saying things like "HHHHAAAAA!  Now vee gott heem!" There's not a Democrat in the country who hasn't said, outloud and in public, 100 times or more, that Trump is the biggest loser they've ever known, and they'd do anything to get anyone with a brain in power. A few people tried to give Trump the benefit of the doubt after he won in 2016.  That lasted four minutes until he tried to open his mouth and began to degrade the value of the universe from his new podium. So, we shifted into descriptors immediately: Trump is an asshole Trump is fat Trump has an IQ of 11 on a good day Trump has a vocabulary of 200 words Trump wrecks everything he touches Trump is a failed business loser who has screwed over everyo...

Here's a blurb from Medley 238.  My thanks to author Nat Eliason for alerting me to this analysis, even if the conclusion is well known.  Of course McKinsey was the prime advisor to the Sacklers while they were pushing oxycontin.   How does McKinsey stay out of jail?  The law firms and CPA firms who advise criminals get nailed.  Remember Arthur Andersen? Here's Eliason's summary, including his link to the original reporting.      The World of Opiates      💊 Another bombshell insight into how McKinsey helped Purdue "turbocharge" opiate sales  came out last week . Apparently McKinsey suggested they give opiate distributors a rebate for every overdose attributable to the opiates. Don't worry if you kill anyone, you'll get your money back!  ➕ They were even kind enough to do the math for how much money this might mean:  "The presentation estimated how many customers of companies including CVS and Anthem might overdose. I...

Once again, I updated  my VPN and lost all ability to connect to my wifi.  The problem was far beyond "reboot the router." Fortunately, the geeks on the web saved me again.   As item number 12 on a list of solutions I found, here's the answer.  Once I deleted these files, my Mac sprung back to life, all the lights lit up, and I was back in business.  Thank you! 12. Delete Preference Files Deleting all preference wireless setting plist files may help you fix this problem. Here is how: Turn off Wi-Fi. Go to the Finder. Click Go and Go to Folder (or hit Command+Shift+G). Enter the following: /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/ Locate the following files (plus any “old” backups): com.apple.airport.preferences.plist com.apple.network.identification.plist com.apple.wifi.message-tracer.plist NetworkInterfaces.plist (if present) preferences.plist Now you may want to create a folder and drag them to this folder (so you will have these files so you can put them bac...

Like many families, we've applied for a refi on our New York City apartment.  The refi is for an amount equal to approximately 28% of the appraised value.  This seems like a pretty safe transaction since so many people we know have financed up to 100% of appraised value in the last six months.  Rates are low and it's a good time to move cash out of real estate in a bad market. Here's the latest message I received from the mortgage banker I've been working with for 50 days. (I submitted all or most of these documents six weeks ago, got a Commitment Letter, and then that letter was shockingly cancelled this week.  The Bank has now offered me an alternative solution with significant points, closing costs, a higher interest rate, and significantly worse terms.  I think the banking term for this behavior is "larceny." Plus, lots of fun photocopying so that I can pay extra points, interest, and principal compared to TD Bank's signed Commitment Letter they failed...