Sunday, January 26, 2014

The Boys of Winter


The latest "stadium series" produced by the National Hockey League is being held at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Today's game between the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils found the Rangers down 3-1, before scoring six unanswered goals, including their seventh on a penalty shot, to win 7-3. Unlike the Rangers faithful at Madison Square Garden, the 50,000 fans at the stadium did not chant Mar-ty, Mar-ty, Mar-ty, when the Devil's goaltender Martin Brodeur was pulled after the second period.

On deck in the Bronx, the New Islanders on Wednesday night.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Oh Lord, Won't You Buy Me . . .


The 2014 Rolls Royce Wraith offers a $12,925 option called the Starlight Headliner. It's composed of 1,340 light emitting diodes that are hand sewn into the car's interior roof, giving the owner stars to drive by. Isn't that what moon roofs are for?

The rest of the car will cost you $359,339, plus a $1,700 gas guzzler tax.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Swamp Road

Since the late 70s, the drive to my family's farm in Vermont would usually start in New York City and end just a few miles after traveling through one of the state's covered bridges. Like the ferry to Martha's Vineyard, the covered bridge on Swamp Road in Salisbury, first built in 1865, has always marked the transition from the bustle of modern ways to a slower, more peaceful place. Last weekend's visit felt the same but different.


Friday, January 3, 2014

Tale of Two Cities

The New Yorker - The Last Straw ~ Adrian Tomine
We've had our turn poking fun at former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's nanny state impulses: cigarettes, sugar, salt, trans fats and most recently, 32-ounce Big Gulp sodas. While thoughtfully predicated on long-term health care implications and costs, these impulses were nonetheless political overreaches and infringements on individual liberty and freedom. The soda ban was ultimately blocked by a New York State Supreme Court judge, who called it "arbitrary and capricious."

On more serious matters like restoring security and safety after 9/11, reducing violent crime, attracting business and tourism, and managing the city's finances, Bloomberg's record was peerless. Think Detroit, Chicago . . .

Bloomberg's successor, Mayor Bill de Blasio, was sworn into office on January 1 and wasted no time tilting at Obama's windmills, chiefly reducing "inequality." And how does de Blasio propose to do that? Lessening regulation, and implementing pro-business growth and jobs policies? No, he plans to redistribute wealth by increasing the already 50 percent marginal tax rate paid by New Yorkers with incomes over $100,000. So, this is a middle class tax that will sow divisive resentments between taxpayers and beneficiaries of entitlements, and polarize his constituency.

Is there evidence anywhere that redistributing wealth in the form of education programs and broader entitlements leads to future equality? Does it reinforce the real factors that increase the odds of success like being married before having children, maintaining strong families, completing higher education (not pre-K), and having a disciplined work ethic? Does it ignore the simple truth that life is hard, even adversarial, and that one's choices, character, effort and luck are variables we all must deal with, and even then there are no guarantees?

A mandate for de Blasio's progressive policies has been inferred by the fact he won the election over his GOP opponent Joe Lhota by a large margin, 73 percent to 23 percent. What's not as widely reported is that voter turnout was only 24 percent. In other words, fewer than one in four of the city's 4.3 million registered voters actually bothered to vote. The last time turnout was over 50 percent was when 57 percent of registered voters threw out Mayor Dinkins and elected Rudy Giuliani who began New York City's historic turnaround of the last 21 years. New Yorkers have short memories. Leadership and policies do matter.

Investment tip? Buy Florida and Texas real estate.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Winter Time

And there's a snow storm on its way.

Roz Chast ~ The New Yorker