News & Views

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The Problem With Wind and Solar

I’ve written about this general subject before – how little most people understand about the economics of greening the economy. On July 5, I showed you how expensive electric cars are. Not just in dollars, but in terms of carbon waste. In this video, Mark Mills, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, explains, in simple terms, the true cost of wind, battery, and solar power and why they are unlikely, ever, to be a significant part of global energy production.

Check it out here and judge for yourself.

 

Oh, the Irony!

After Twitter announced it was suing Elon Musk for pulling out of his offer to buy them, Musk posted a meme of him laughing in a series of four photos with captions: “They said I couldn’t buy Twitter… Then they wouldn’t disclose bot info… Now they want to force me to buy Twitter in court… Now they have to disclose bot info in court.” Click here.

Spider Webb, RIP 

Spider Webb, a NYC-based tattoo artist that was a key figure in promoting the craft as a fine art, died July 2. One of the guys from Fantastic Damage, the tattoo business that rents one of the suites next to mine, told me about it. Apparently, their shop is well known. And they and their employees are all very cool looking. Plus, their place reeks of marijuana starting at 8 a.m. So, I trust their judgment when it comes to – well, just about everything. They said that Spider Webb was “the man” and a “legend” in the industry. I looked him up. I have seen many tattoos that are more technically impressive than his (including the work done by Fantastic Damage). But, the story of his life and struggles, and the force of his personality, impressed me. I think I can understand why he was so revered.

Click here for a video clip that will give you a taste of his work, his life, and his personality.

And click here to read a piece about him from the NYT.

Business & Marketing

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Subscribe to a New Porsche

One of the things that the internet changed is the rise of the subscription model as a basis for business. As a newsletter publisher, my business was already taking in 90% of its income by subscription when things started moving in the late 1990s. Today, dozens of businesses that used to sell their products conventionally (pay first and keep forever) are using the subscription model, because it is, in many ways, more appealing to consumers.

Now, the auto world wants in.

* In 2017, Porsche launched a subscription service giving drivers access to a range of vehicles for $2,000+ per month. Click here.

* In 2020, Volvo launched an all-in-one subscription service that included rental fees, service, maintenance, and in-car Wi-Fi. Click here.

* BMW recently made waves by offering access to several features, like heated seats, through paid monthly subscriptions. Click here.

* Tesla did it, too, when it launched a monthly subscription for full self-driving functionality last year.

Will This Be the End of American Museums? 

Staffers at the Baltimore Museum of Art voted 89 to 29 last week to unionize amid an industry-wide movement to secure higher wages and better working conditions. BMA employees will join the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Council 67.

Over the past two years, large institutions such as the New Museum and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Philadelphia Museum, as well as the MFA Boston and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, all formed unions. Click here. 

Amazon: It Keeps On Keeping On 
Amazon continues to grow despite (or because of) COVID, government shutdown, economic uncertainty, and inflation. The company sold 300 million items during its 48-hour “Prime Day” this year (up from 250 million last year), exceeding $12.5 billion in sales. Top sellers included home goods, electronics, and Amazon devices. Click here.

Speaking of Amazon… 

Prime Video, the company’s media division, spent a whopping $465 million producing the TV series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Will it make that investment back, plus a profit? Judge for yourself. Click here to watch the trailer.

Fun and/or Interesting

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The Amazing Story of the Smiley Face

Nearly 50 years ago, one man “invented” the smiley face. Then another man halfway across the world made it into a $500 million cash cow. Click here.

Worth Reading

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Sophocles: The Theban Plays 

Translated by Robert Fagles

430 pages

Published Jan. 3, 2000 by Penguin Classics

GG, one of our younger Mules members, suggested reading Sophocles, the great Greek playwright, for our July selection. In particular, he recommended Robert Fagles’ translation of The Theban Plays (Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone). I suggested reading Hemingway’s To Have or Have Not, which I reviewed here last week. It was decided that we would read both.

I had read Oedipus Rex before. In college. And Antigone and Oedipus at Colonus in graduate school. I knew the plots and I had an understanding of the trilogy’s importance in the history of Western literature, thanks to my teachers. (Including my father, who was, among other things, a reader of Greek and Latin literature.) I expected to have my high assessment of these tragedies confirmed. And it was. But I also got something I hadn’t gotten before: an appreciation for the poetic and rhetorical excellence of these works, thanks in part to the translation by Fagles.

But my enjoyment was most enhanced by the conversation that ensued after GG began our discussion of the Sophocles trilogy by asking, “Who was the greater tragic hero? Oedipus or Antigone?”

In a future blog post, I’ll tell you what I said. For today, I want to simply suggest that if you’ve never read these plays, you should do so. They are short. They are profound. And they are, as I mentioned, beautifully written.

Worth Quoting

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“Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organization of hatreds.” – Henry Adams

A Word to the Wise

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Rhetorical – from the Ancient Greek for “concerning public speaking” – refers to the use of language as a means to persuade. As I used it today: “I expected to have my high assessment of these tragedies confirmed. And it was. But I also got something I hadn’t gotten before: an appreciation for the poetic and rhetorical excellence of these works, thanks in part to the translation by [Robert] Fagles.”

Readers Write

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Re my essay on Cultural Appropriation in the July 12 issue: 

“Thanks for your recent article on cultural appropriation. It triggered me to confirm that the University of Utah also has a written agreement with the Ute tribe for use of the Ute moniker for its sports teams – and has since 1972.” – DC

“In the 1980s, the Regents of Eastern Michigan University (EMU) decided that the name ‘Hurons’ was somehow inappropriate. Never mind that EMU borders on Huron Street and the Huron River. Never mind that the tribe issued an official plea to keep the name. Noooo, the Regents conducted a public poll to find a less offensive replacement.

“I submitted two entries through the local newspaper in case the obvious and fun ‘Emus’ didn’t win: the Blands and the Regents. So what did they latch onto? The EMU ‘Eagles.’ (Yawn.)

“Love your blogs; please keep it up.” – JM

“Cultural Appropriation. Before it became bad, it was apparently acceptable to liberals to appropriate culture and use it to boost their woke egos.

“The Maori culture was always taught in schools as part of history and social studies. This occurred for 75-100 years. In the last 25 years or so, this transitioned to Maori culture being more important in NZ schools and woke society than the 3Rs. Children in grade school were forced to learn, read & write in Maori. This was odd, for Maori is a verbal language only. There was no written word, ever! So a written language was created in order to force-feed the culture on the citizenry. Now all kinds of non-Maori people converse online, in person, and even legal contracts in a dead verbal-only language.” – TM

Re my essay on Grandparenting in the July 15 issue: 

“Freaking hilarious, Mark! And I love the long-term babysitting responsibility. Brilliant.” – KT

Re the Omeleto video in the July 15 P.S.: 

“The video… was something else. What was it, 10, 12 minutes? I’ve watched two-hour movies with less impact than that. It’s amazing when you can combine great dialogue, great direction, and great acting. It’s so condensed yet you come up with such an emotionally charged segment. I’ll spend the rest of my day wondering what happened next.

“Is it part of a movie or is that all there is?” – AS

My Response: Yes, that was the whole of it. As I said, Omeleto specializes in short films. I recommend it. It’s free. And If, like me, you sometimes find that you want to watch a good film but don’t have 90+ minutes to spare, it’s just the thing!

Postscript

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Michael Jackson invented his own style of dancing that’s been emulated ad nauseam. SC sent me this clip of James Brown doing his unique way of dancing – some called it “happy feet.” It occurred to me that no one I know has ever even tried to learn it!

Watch it here.

Friday, July 15, 2022, Delray Beach, Florida


Notes From My Journal

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Grandparenting; The Good. The Bad. The Incompetent.

I was always told that it is more fun to be a grandparent than a parent. And that is true for a very well understood reason. As a grandparent, one has the luxury of interacting with one’s progeny without the responsibility of rearing them into responsible, well-mannered adults.

Unless, of course, we have agreed to take charge of them for any length of time. When that’s the case, we must act in locus parentis. We must keep them safe. But we must also entertain them with stimulating and enriching diversions, and discipline them when they misbehave.

In theory, that should be a simple job: Just care for them the way, decades earlier, we cared for their parents. Of course, it doesn’t work that way anymore – at least in my situation. I’m expected to parent my grandkids according to the same child-rearing theories and protocols their parents follow. These, I’ve been told, are more enlightened than the crude techniques they remember me using with them.

I can understand the point. Children need consistency. And even if I don’t believe an extra scoop of ice cream will permanently damage a toddler’s brain, there is no absolute need for me to provide one. No matter how adorably the grandchild asks for it.

But when it comes to the activities and interactivity my grandchildren are accustomed to, I must draw a line. I have less energy, emotional elasticity, and physical endurance than I had 20 or 30 years ago. There is a limit to how many times Dado is willing to be pushed into the pool.

Because of such expectations and constraints, I am happy to be the Dado when my grandkids’ parents are present. But as for keeping them safe – i.e., alive, uninjured, and un-kidnapped – while I’m watching them, I’ve established a time-limit of five minutes.

I just can’t imagine how embarrassing it would be to have to say to the mother of one of them, “Gee. I don’t know. He was there when I nodded off. I’m sure of it!”

Luckily for me, I’ve never been asked to be the sole guardian of my grandkids for more than five minutes. If, like me, you think that is a good thing, you may be interested in emulating what I did to get my name checked off the list for long-term care.

Volunteer to be responsible for the children’s pets. And then mindlessly (and honestly) allow them to disappear. I have done this twice in the past five years. And I’m happy to report that each time the animals were eventually recovered. But the lesson was clear: Momo is fine. Dado? Not with my babies!

This has worked out very well for everyone involved. And it has taught me something about grandparental love that I admit and respect. My affection for my grandkids is roughly equal to their affection for me. When they are adorable, I adore them. When they are affectionate, I am delighted, and return the affection. When they want to listen to a story, I’m more than happy to read to them. And when they want to play, I am good for as long as my cardiovascular system allows. But when they are irritable and obstreperous, I leave them to K or their parents. They have no objection. And neither do I.

What kind of grandparent are you? If you’re not sure, click here to read an article that might help you figure it out.

News & Views

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The Private Jet Business Is Booming

Corporate spending on private jets for CEOs and board members in the US hit a 10-year high in 2021, per Financial Times. Meta led the pack, and was the only tech company in the top five. As a group, S&P companies spent almost $34 million last year, a 35% increase over the year before. PR spokespeople attributed the increase to the pandemic. Maybe. Maybe not. In any case, the trend has proven to be a windfall for private jet operators like Wheels Up, which went public in 2021, and Jetty, which has an Expedia-like platform to simplify private jet bookings.

 

After 60 Years – Still Rolling

This week, The Rolling Stones, considered by many of my peers to be the greatest live rock band ever, turns 60. I’ve seen them in concert. And they were very good. Besides the quality of their shows, they made dozens of memorable contributions to Rock & Roll’s great-song book, including Gimme Shelter, Beast of Burden, Sympathy for the Devil, Ruby Tuesday, and Satisfaction. An interesting footnote: Were it not for Alexis Korner and his band, Blues Incorporated, The Rolling Stones might never have happened. Click here.

 

Do This Next Time You’re in Pain…

Soft sounds may help dull pain, a new neurological study in mice shows. The researchers found that, under certain conditions, signaling from the brain’s auditory cortex may inhibit pain processing in the thalamus. Click here.

 

Is a College Education Really Worth It?

The facts:

* 43.4 million Americans have outstanding student loans, totaling $1.7 trillion.

* The average borrower owes $37,000 in federal loans alone, according to the Education Data Initiative.

* 51% of student loan borrowers decided to go to college for the higher earning potential, according to a survey by ResumeLab. But more than half of the respondents ended up in jobs that don’t require a college degree.

 

Are There Still Good Stock Plays Out There?

There is an old saying in the investment world: Bull markets are measured in years and bear markets are measured in months. Does that mean the worst is behind us? I don’t think so, but there is a way to invest in stocks in situations like we are in today without taking on unreasonable risk. And that’s by looking for good, durable businesses that are growing and profitable, in spite of the downward trajectory of the market. And especially if (a) they are undervalued, and (b) have heavy insider buying. That’s what Alex Green, editor of The Oxford Club’s Insider Alert newsletter is doing. And that’s why I’m considering one such company he recommended in the latest issue: Avis Budget Group (Nasdaq: CAR)

For information about The Insider Alert, click here.

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