Travel brings insights:
The country seems to be booming. The noise of construction is everywhere — from outside my New York City window to the zillions of cranes dotting the Portland, Oregon skyline. New Business startups are everywhere. My inbox is suddenly full of companies whose products I love and whose stock are all ten baggers.
Airlines are full. My two Alaska Air (ALK) flights were packed. ALK’s P/E is still only 10.96. That airline has all the right metrics — best service, best pilots, best on-time, best friendly and best innovative. They have power outlets at every seat. But — dig this — no TV screens. If you want to watch their free offerings tune, in your iPhone, your iPad or your laptop. Or rent a Toshiba tablet from them for the trip — $10. They have a movie server on the plane and WiFi. So you can watch their stuff flawlessly. GoGo provides expensive Internet, of dubious quality. But heck you’re up in a plane.
I found these apartments in an area of Portland called St Johns. I love the design of them. Three floors. Walk-up. No elevator. The only things I know about them: They were built to sell as condos. But some owners (investors?) will rent you a one bedroom for $1,200 a month. The one tenant I met loved the tall ceilings, the spaciousness and the all Whirlpool appliances. The management company will take care of your management. That’s investor friendly. I like that. The colors are brighter than these pictures, but it was a typical Portland day — drizzling and overcast. Hence, grey skies. Yuch.
The grey clouds hanging over people who voted for Hillary seem to be lifting, albeit slowly. Good idea to stop reading the liberal, left-wing, commie, pinko, coastal media (like the New York Times) which reported this morning:
The president-elect’s far-flung holdings present an array of potential conflicts of interest, complicated further by having his children serve on his transition team and run his businesses.
As president, Mr. Trump will be exempt from a federal ethics rule prohibiting government workers from actions that could benefit their financial interests.
Separately, Ivana Trump, his first wife, said she wanted to be ambassador to the Czech Republic, her native country.
I read to Eleanor, age 3.
These days, children’s books are REALLY creative and huge fun — specially for me. Here is my pick for the two best ones:
Monday’s supermoon was gorgeous. It was the biggest and brightest since 1948. You’ll get another chance on the evening of December 14. Don’t watch it from Portland, Oregon. It’s raining there until May next year. Here are a few pictures I stole from CNN’s site.
This one is Cordoba. Spain.
This is Frankfurt, Germany.
This is Athens, Greece.
And this is from Jack Ritch’s 12-year old granddaughter, Bibi Ritch, in Sydney, Australia.
Oih Vey
A distraught senior citizen phoned her doctor’s office.
‘Is it true,’ she wanted to know, ‘that the medication You prescribed has to be taken for the rest of my life?’
‘Yes, I’m afraid so,’ the doctor told her.
There was a moment of silence before the senior lady replied,
I’m wondering, then, just how serious is my condition because this prescription is marked ‘NO REFILLS’.’
Harry Newton, who loves reading stories to grandchildren. That’s why God made Papi (i.e. me). Here’s Eleanor, again. Please indulge me.
Oops, forgot that trolling is a major outlet for people with no life. And I forgot my own advice to appreciate your posts but skip the comments.
Those are not my words but any empathic person with a heart should pause at the message.
Harry, here is how some people feel:
I am not mad at you that Clinton lost. I am unconcerned that we have different politics. And I don’t think less of you because you vote one way and I voted another. No. I think less of you because you watched an adult male mock a disabled person in front of a crowd and still supported him. I think less of you because you saw a man spouting clear racism and back to him. I think less of you because you listen to him advocate for war crimes, and still thought he should run this country. I think less of you because you watched him equate a woman’s worth to her appearance and got on board. It isn’t your politics that I find repulsive. It is your personal willingness to support racism sexism and cruelty. You sided with the bully when it mattered and that is something I will never forget. So, no.. You and I won’t be “coming together” to move forward or whatever. Trump disgusts me, but it is the fact that he doesn’t disgust you that will stick with me long after this election.
Well…roughly, half the voters felt Hillary was more repugnant….just sayin…
Because Trump reaches 15 Million via Twitter practically on a minute by minute basis, will the death, or at least the emaciation of the New York Times and its horrid ilk move at a much faster pace? I am smelling another paradigm shift. Will “writers” do direct selling completely without middle-man publishers just as Trump is reaching a far greater than the NYT, WaPo, etc all together and with NO Middle man?
Harry, does a platform already exist that allows authors to sell their works directly to readers? Perhaps even on a chapter-by-chapter basis? If it exists (I’m sure it must) somebody (Google) needs to buy it and give it a kick in the butt. It’s time.
Name calling is so very effective. NYT paid circulation, both print and online, just barely breaks a million on weekdays. Yes, it has great “pass along” circulation and still has significant influence. But, if you check the history the NYT and other outlets like WaPo have been in a financial tailslide even IF you include the online subscribers. Comparing the NYT to two other newspapers means nothing. One ship is not sinking as fast as another ship? They have only made their balance sheets look a little less sickly by cutting back on everything. You can only do that for so long.
Their 2015 EBITA is a little better than 2014, but they are already warning for 2016. If Liberals were still in charge inside the Beltway, the NYT would be termed “too big to fail” and supported by taxpayer guarantees. Now, it can be allowed to expire or morph back to a caterpillar as it should
I thought the NYT’s mantra was “All the shit that fits.”
Harry, life goes on and no point being mired in the past. I think it’s good that you have readers of both a liberal and conservative stripe. It strikes me how many of the conservative voices seem to lack empathy, and are acidic with their words..are they just blowing off steam or are they abusive, abrasive, and cruel in their day to day? At the most unenlightened, mollusk-brained level, the driving motivation of a tribe is to annihilate another tribe. Some of us seem to live at that level.
AS a publisher I am sure you have seen the phenomena that EVERYONE thinks they can write a children’s book. When my publisher USED to take me out to dinner (back when I was making them a lot of money) one common story line was “who brought in a children’s book today”. “Saturated Market” does not begin to describe it. But hey, Rush Limbaugh has made a lot of money creating and selling historical fiction for children. (Liberal Teacher groups grow purple in consternation) (NPR story ..clipped below.. must have caused significant author/publisher anguish)
“Rush Limbaugh won the Author of the Year award at the Children’s Choice Book Awards for his book Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims: Time-Travel Adventures With Exceptional Americans, in which Rush Revere and a talking horse named Liberty travel back in time to visit the pilgrims. …Four finalists for the award were chosen because of their places on bestseller lists, and the winner was chosen by children’s votes.”
On a different topic.. regarding the well named “liberal, left-wing, commie, pinko, coastal media ” it is with a significant appreciation of karma that we watch the NYT twist in the wind because they were not invited to accompany the “President Elect” (such sweet words) when he took his family out to dinner. The ability of Trump, with 15 Million Twitter Followers, to completely outflank the “DNC Agents with a Byline” and make them completely irrelevant is a thing of sublime beauty.
Oh, we still need the NYT “Journalists”
(SIC) to provide balance?? YGBSM! They ain’t been “balanced” since just after the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
How sweet it is!
Amazon Echo Dot may not be ready for market…I thought it would replace my expensive DishNet music ($20.00 per mo) for $50. plus 3.99 per mo. First one would not connect to internet…first replacement would not connect to WiFi and 2nd replacement would not even turn on other than a blue light. All returned to Amazon who will only refund purchase price and not even send a 4th one. Apparently never tested at factory and poorly packaged so they rattled around in box which may have lead to their demise.