Tom Faranda's Folly

Friday wordle

Friday cocktail - Oh No! Bourbon scams!! + a riff on the Old Fashioned

First the Old Fashioned modification. I posted about the Old Fashioned back in October. Friday cocktail: The Old Fashioned - with bourbon   Here's the Farandaville recipe with the modification, which of course I got off a youtube channel.

THE RECIPE

It's stirred, not shaken.

2 oz. (60 ml) bourbon -  we use Jim Beam!

0.25 oz. (7.5 ml) rich Demerara syrup*

4 dashes Angostura bitters

          *We use RAFT Demerara syrup - available on Amazon - instead of a sugar cube - and it's great.

The modification - add 1/4 oz. Grand Marnier - or any orange liqueur. Really, really good. 

Bourbon Scam! Has to do with collectible bourbon which is not something we'd ever be into, since we'd immediately drink it. But still interesting...  You need to hit the link to find out the "signs of a scam." I never heard of any of these bourbons.

"Bourbon scams leaving buyers out hundreds of dollars "

Bourbon is booming and collectors everywhere this time of year are looking for those hard-to-find labels.

The problem is that scammers are also trying to fool you with stolen photos and prices that are too good to be true. And this modern-day bootlegging can end with no bottle at all, but you are out hundreds of dollars in cash.

Brad Bonds owns the Revival Vintage Bottle Shop, selling hundreds of bottles of rare and old bourbons and other spirits, some over 100 years old. Every holiday season, though, Bonds hears from bourbon lovers who lost money to a bourbon website scam or ended up with a fake.

*****************

He has seen fake $300 bottles of vintage Old Fitzgerald for sale, that someone simply refilled with cheap grocery store liquor.

Other counterfeited brands include Blanton's, and any of the hard-to-find Weller labels. It happens even more with Pappy Van Winkle, he says.

Thursday wordle -An ace! First in quite a while

"Pope Francis simplifies his funeral rite" - not satire or parody

Yup. Simpler. More down to earth (Pun!?)

 

Wednesday wordle

Bill Maher offering tough love to Democrats

That sign - all over Croton, although somewhat fewer these days. Self-righteous gobbledygook.

Tuesday wordle

Blessed Clelia Merloni - Nice Italian! Good miracle story!!

I  had never heard of this Italian nun until a few weeks ago when I read a meditation of hers in the Magnificat prayer book. She died in 1930 after founding the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus now active on five continents. In the USA their headquarters is in Hamden CT.

There is a short biography here - Life History - Mother Clelia. Today is her feast day.

Here is the miracle that was recognized for her beatification!

The story of the miracle dates back to 14 March 1951, when the Brazilian doctor, Pedro Ângelo de Oliveira Filho, was stricken suddenly by a progressive paralysis of all four limbs and was rushed to Santa Casa de Misericordia di Ribeirão Preto Hospital. He was diagnosed with an ascending progressive paralysis known as Landry's paralysis or Guillain-Barré syndrome. Within a few weeks the paralysis worsened and spread, resulting in acute respiratory failure. It eventually caused difficulty in swallowing.

The prognosis was fatal in view of the seriousness of the condition and the limited medical options for a cure which were available at that time. When the paralysis reached the throat, the doctors discontinued treatments. On March 20 the doctors informed the family that he would not survive the night. With that news the patient's wife, Angelina Oliva, sought out Sr. Adelina Alves Barbos to ask for prayers. The sister gave her a novena to Mother Clelia along with a holy card containing a piece of fabric from the veil that Mother Clelia wore. Sr. Adelina approached the sick man and gave him a cup of water in which she had placed the tiny relic. Although he was gravely ill, he managed to take some of the water. After a few minutes, those present noticed that he was able to swallow.

When the doctor on call arrived in the morning and saw the patient cured, he exclaimed that it was a miracle. Pedro Ângelo continued to improve, and within three weeks he was walking normally. On 6 May he was released from the hospital for his healing was complete, permanent, and without relapse or signs of any symptoms. The doctor died on 25 September 1976, of cardiac arrest, 25 years after his miraculous cure.

Notre Dame prepares to re-open; Virgin Mary Statue returns

Lovely short - under 4 minutes - video about the rebuilding of the Cathedral. Five years; fast work really.

 

Monday wordle

"The Harris Voters Betting on Trump. Democrats in business are suddenly excited about the possibilities."

From the Wall Street Journal commentator James Freeman -

It helps Americans get over a bitterly contested election if many of the losers believe that life will be better with the winners in charge. This oddest of all presidential campaigns seems to be ending with the bizarre phenomenon of Harris voters letting business colleagues know how optimistic they are about the coming four years.

Pershing Square CEO Bill Ackman posts on X:

The business community is giddy with excitement about the @realDonaldTrump administration. I am hearing this from everyone, including from people who didn’t vote for Trump.

Mr. Ackman goes on to issue his own bullish forecast, based in part on the potential of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) to cut federal red tape:

Business leaders are becoming more confident about the country and the economy. This means they will be making more investments in our future which will drive the economy and the stock market, reducing the cost of capital and bolstering confidence further, catalyzing more investment and more growth in a self-reinforcing, virtuous cycle.

Merger and acquisition activity is about to explode as there are an enormous number of deals that have been deferred pending a more favorable regulatory environment for transactions. M&A will drive efficiency, greater profitability and growth. It will also enable the return of capital to investors who will seek to redeploy their profits and proceeds in new investment opportunities.

The DOGE and deregulation will drive government efficiency and make America a vastly better and lower-risk place to do business efficiently and effectively…

China’s economy is in trouble. Europe’s is a mess.

The U.S. has now become by far the best country for investment. Growth is about to explode.

Let’s hope Mr. Ackman is right about a coming boom in the United States. What’s perhaps surprising is that he’s picking up the giddy vibes from Trumpers and non-Trumpers alike. But Mr. Ackman is not alone.

A prominent private-equity executive reports his surprise listening to a pro-Harris colleague giving a presentation this week on the suddenly sunnier outlook for deploying more capital in the U.S.

A hedge fund manager, just back from a healthcare investor conference, reports Harris fans sounding very cheerful about the postelection business environment.

A Wall Street investment banker shares a recent conversation with an industry colleague: “She voted for Harris but was oddly relieved that Trump won as her business will do better.”

 

Sunday wordle

Review: Ken Burns PBS documentary "Leonardo da Vinci"

This is from the Wall Street Journal. I've excerpted a key paragraph. The two part series starts this week. Farandaville will be taping it. 

‘Leonardo da Vinci’ Review: Ken Burns’s Portrait of the Master. The celebrated documentarian co-directs this two-night extravaganza on PBS about the towering genius of the Renaissance.

But it is ambitious, musically, visually and intellectually. Directed by Mr. Burns, daughter Sarah Burns and David McMahon, “Leonardo da Vinci” is always a feast for the eyes and often enough for the mind, the first non-American subject to be part of the Burns oeuvre and a stylistic departure from previous projects. Yes, there is the close visual inspection of stationary pieces, including the mirror-written notebooks (as Leonardo was left-handed and didn’t want to smear the ink), the anatomical drawings, machine schematics and the major paintings, from the disintegrating “Last Supper” to the “Mona Lisa.” But there are also wild visual departures into imagery meant to convey the originality of the subject’s thinking.

 

 

"Croton's Nick Springer continues to inspire, years after tragedy, comeback, his death"

I remember this so well. But he conquered his adversity. Thanks to MC for pointing me to this article.

Nick Springer's brush with meningitis cost him his legs and his lower arms. But his warrior's heart was what drew others to him, and continues to draw others to his story.

It’s 1999. Gary Springer and his wife, Nancy, are in their son's hospital room.

Nick, 14, awakens to learn he has been in a coma for six weeks. Given just a 10% chance to survive a near-fatal brush with meningococcal meningitis, Nick has made it through. But doctors had to amputate his legs through the knees and his arms at mid-forearm.

Gary Springer recalls the conversation, with his heavily medicated son.

“He said: ‘Dad, I don’t think I have any fingers.’ I said: ‘Nick, you don’t. When you got sick, they had to cut them off.’ He goes: ‘I think I know about my legs, too.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, Nick, but we’ve already had people in to see you. You’re going to be able to walk again. You’re going to be able to have new legs.’ Instead of breaking down, Nick just said: ‘OK.’”

**************

Nick Springer was more than fine. He soared. The Croton-on-Hudson native found inspiration of his own. He shunned prosthetics and mastered life in a wheelchair. He was MVP of the gold-medal-winning Team USA wheelchair rugby team at the Beijing Paralympics in 2008 and won bronze in London in 2012.

Wheelchair rugby gave him back his identity. He was an athlete again, on a team with guys who didn’t treat him like he was different. He wasn’t fragile. He was ferocious.

“I was just one of the guys again," he said.

But he was more. He was elite.

Saturday wordle

Larry Keon

A good Croton friend of mine - gone at 92 years old. I know several of his children quite well - Larry was a wonderful man with a great family.

His full obituary if you hit the link. 

Lawrence Hugh Keon June 22, 1932 – November 15, 2024

 

 

Times change - AOC no longer using "she/her" pronouns in her correspondences

Growing up... She's 35. The former Yorktown resident. Thanks to JD for sending me this.

Famously progressive Democrat congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez raised eyebrows by removing her pronouns from her X account. The move from Squad lawmaker, 35, seen as one of the most liberal members of Congress, was seen by some as a sign that the cultural tide is turning following Donald Trump's election win. Journalist Benjamin Ryan said records showed AOC removed her 'she/her' pronouns sometime between August 3, 2023, and May 28, 2024.

Conservative commentator Paul Szypula told his 250,000 followers that he believes she was pandering to Hispanic voters after the voter bloc swung dramatically to Donald Trump in the election. 

'If you're wondering why AOC ditched her pronouns in her bio, it might have something to do with the massive exodus from the Democrat Party by Hispanic voters,' he argued. 

'Many have conservative values and aren't thrilled with gender ideology. They care about low prices and strong borders.' 

Others drew a link between her removal of pronouns and Democrats' attempts to coin the phrase 'Latinx' - a gender-neutral alternative to Latino and Latina - which many Hispanic voters said they found offensive in recent years. 

Friday wordle

 

Friday cocktail - The Green Ghost

Still on a gin and chartreuse kick. This is last Friday's with gin and chartreuse. Friday cocktail: The Last Word  Both really tasty but The Last Word is more complex.

 

Farandaville recipe -

2 oz. Botanist Gin (very floral and herbaceous!)

1/4 oz Green Chartreuse (In Croton, Van Wyck usually has green chartreuse)

1/4 oz Lime Juice

Shaken not stirred.

Delicious!

 

Thursday wordle - Epic but I got it!

Took me about 50 minutes, spread over three different sessions. Probably not a great use of time, but doesn't happen very often.

Biggest loser in election -Grover Cleveland

As he's lost his unique place in American history as the only President to serve non-consecutive presidential terms. Thanks to EM for sending me this article.

This from the AP.

NEW YORK (AP) — On the list of U.S. presidents, several have been tapped by voters to serve for more than one term, with Donald Trump joining the group as the 45th president and now the 47th, too. But only one other American president did it the way Trump will — with a gap of four years between terms.

That was Grover Cleveland, who served as the 22nd president after the 1884 election, and as the 24th president after the campaign of 1892.

Cleveland was governor of New York when he was tapped as the Democratic Party’s nominee for president in 1884. He was “viewed as the epitome of responsibility and stability,” said Daniel Klinghard, professor of political science at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachussetts.

A narrow victory in the popular vote gave him enough votes in the Electoral College to be named president. Four years later, even though he once again had a slight lead in the popular vote, he lost the Electoral College count to Republican Benjamin Harrison.

Cleveland remained well-thought of by the public, though. He won both the popular and Electoral vote in 1892.

**********************

“This is a point at which the modern notion of the of the national party really came together. Cleveland had a group of skilled political operatives, very wealthy folks, who saw themselves benefiting from free trade,” Klinghard said. “And they spent a lot of time sort of keeping Cleveland’s name in front of the electorate, sort of very much as Trump’s allies have done, sort of dismissing anybody else as a challenge — as a rival.”

Wednesday wordle

MSNBC (& CNN) ratings crater after election

UPDATE - Also this story -  CNN 'will axe top stars ...'

From Nielsen via Mediate.

MSNBC saw its audience crater on Thursday and Friday, just days after the left-of-center network beat CNN in election night ratings for the first time ever. Thursday’s total average daily viewers on Fox News came in at 2.6 million and 375,000 in the coveted 25-54 age demographic, according to Nielsen data. Meanwhile, MSNBC brought in only 596,000 total viewers and 71,000 in the demo. CNN brought in 419,000 total viewers on Thursday and 91,000 viewers in the demo.

Fox News was up some 60 percent year over year for the day, while MSNBC and CNN were down 23 and 40 percent – respectively. In prime time the news was even more bleak for CNN and MSNBC as they shed 30 percent and 54 percent of their viewers, respectively, compared to the same day last year. MSNBC host Alex Wagner had her lowest-rated show ever in terms of total viewers, while Chris Hayes’s show brought in its worst numbers since May of 2016.

On Friday, seven MSNBC programs recorded their lowest Friday ratings for the year as the network also saw its lowest-rated Friday prime time programming of the year — outside of holiday weekends. Post-election, Fox News averaged 4.4 million total viewers Wednesday to Friday in prime time and 701,000 viewers in the demo. MSNBC brought in 808,000 total viewers for the same period and 90,000 demo viewers. CNN, meanwhile, saw 611,000 total average prime time viewers and 159,000 average demo viewers.

Fox News also dominated election night with over 10.3 million average viewers from 8 to 11 pm, further extending the network’s long reign atop the cable news industry.

On Tuesday night MSNBC scored an impressive 6 million average viewers, which was enough to eclipse CNN’s 5.1 million. CNN, longtime the home for breaking news events, saw its audience nearly halve since 2020 when it brought in 9.6 million average total viewers during election night.

MSNBC’s inability to keep its audience tuned in throughout the week signals a potential mood shift on the left as hope for a Kamala Harris victory has quickly soured into defeat and anxiety while awaiting Donald Trump’s return to power in January.

Tuesday wordle

Bill Maher's post election monologue - three minutes

At least he's funny.

 

Monday wordle

"Nancy Pelosi Begins Drafting Articles Of Impeachment"

From the always accurate BB.

"He won, and that's against the law," Pelosi said. "And, quite frankly, he's admitted it. He's admitted to winning the election, but no one is above the law."

Though Pelosi no longer serves as Speaker of the House and was unable to cite any specific law or statute Trump had broken by winning the election, she remained determined to follow through on impeaching him again.

"He must be held accountable for this heinous crime," Pelosi continued. "This is an urgent matter. We don't have time to deal with citing actual reasons why he should be impeached. That's not necessary. The important thing is to make sure he gets impeached for... something. We cannot let him be president again because that would be very bad for me, and that's illegal."

At publishing time, Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie, who sits on the House Judiciary Committee, thanked Pelosi for her service ...

Sunday wordle

NYT's Maureen Dowd crushes Democrat wokeism.

Probably painful for her to criticize her Party but she's not dumb. You should be able to access the entire article through the link.

Some Democrats are finally waking up and realizing that woke is broke. Donald Trump won a majority of white women and remarkable numbers of Black and Latino voters and young men. Democratic insiders thought people would vote for Kamala Harris, even if they didn’t like her, to get rid of Trump. But more people ended up voting for Trump, even though many didn’t like him, because they liked the Democratic Party less.

I have often talked about how my dad stayed up all night on the night Harry Truman was elected because he was so excited. And my brother stayed up all night the first time Trump was elected because he was so excited. And I felt that Democrats would never recover that kind of excitement until they could figure out why they had turned off so many working-class voters over the decades, and why they had developed such disdain toward their once loyal base.

Democratic candidates have often been avatars of elitism — Michael Dukakis, Al Gore, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton and second-term Barack Obama. The party embraced a worldview of hyper-political correctness, condescension and cancellation, and it supported diversity statements for job applicants and faculty lounge terminology like “Latinx,” and “BIPOC” (Black, Indigenous, People of Color).

**********************

“When the woke police come at you,” Rahm Emanuel told me, “you don’t even get your Miranda rights read to you.”

*****************

A revealing chart that ran in The Financial Times showed that white progressives hold views far to the left of the minorities they champion. White progressives think at higher rates than Hispanic and Black Americans that “racism is built into our society.” Many more Black and Hispanic Americans surveyed, compared with white progressives, responded that “America is the greatest country in the world.”

**************

Representative Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat, said the party needs rebranding. “Democrats spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone,” he said. “I have two little girls. I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat I’m supposed to be afraid to say that.”

On CNN, the Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky said that Democrats did not know how to talk to normal Americans.

Addressing Latinos as “Latinx” to be politically correct “makes them think that we don’t even live on the same planet as they do,” she said. ...

Kamala, a Democratic lawmaker told me, made the “colossal mistake” of running a billion-dollar campaign with celebrities like Beyoncé when many of the struggling working-class voters she wanted couldn’t even afford a ticket to a Beyoncé concert, much less a down payment on a home.

“I don’t think the average person said, ‘Kamala Harris gets what I’m going through,’” this Democrat said.

The Trump campaign’s most successful ad showed Kamala favoring tax-funded gender surgery for prisoners. Bill Clinton warned in vain that she should rebut it.

James Carville gave Kamala credit for not leaning into her gender and ethnicity. But he said the party had become enamored of “identitarianism” — a word he uses because he won’t say “woke” — radiating the repellent idea that “identity is more important than humanity.”

 

 

 

Peggy Noonan - no fan of Trump - gets lots right in her column

A few paragraphs excerpted below the link. I especially like the quote from Liz Cheney at the end, who I happen to admire.

A Triumph for Trump’s Republicans

It is worth being moved that in our huge, restive, cynical and yearning nation we peacefully, and with complete public acceptance of the outcome, made a dramatic national judgment this week. Just about every adult citizen took part and took it seriously. All together they produced something we needed: a clear outcome, one delivered without charges of large-scale chicanery or even small-scale so far as we know. There will be a peaceful transfer of power. ...

***********************

What did it all mean? The people did what they wished. They revolted. They looked at the past four years of Washington and said no. They said “Goodbye to all that,” to the years 2020-24—to the pandemic, to the pain and damage of that era, which affected every part of our lives. That is the real turning of the page I think, from a time they hated that made them view their government as bullying and not that bright. In terms of issues it was illegal immigration, inflation and a rejection of the deterioration all around them—of drugstores locking up the shampoo and the beleaguered Walgreens employee late with the key to the cabinet and in a bad mood because he’s afraid of thieves and crazy people and it’s wearing him down. It was the woke regime, which people have come to experience as an invading force in their lives. It was Afghanistan, and other wars, and the sense Washington isn’t getting foreign policy right and perhaps barely thinking about it. They just seem to be staggering through each day. The country’s been waiting for years to hear from its leaders: What are America’s interests?

***********************

In September, pondering the race, I wrote: “This will be a path election, not a person election.” Once we chose a shining John F. Kennedy, who would choose the path. You chose dazzling Ronald Reagan, and he’d cut a path through the forest. This year I felt people would be choosing a path, not a person. “And I’m not sure they want to go down the Blue Path any deeper than they already have.”

I think that’s what happened. Tens of millions of people who didn’t like Donald Trump voted for the path he promised.

**********************

What are the Democrats? What’s that party for? When I was a kid they were the party of the working man, the little guy. That’s the Trumpian GOP now. When I was a young woman they were the antiwar party. That’s the Trumpian GOP. The party of generous spending? The Trumpian party says hold my beer. What belief do the Democrats hold that distinguishes them? LGBTQ, woke, gender theory, teachers unions, higher taxes? Why not throw in cholera and chlamydia?

*********************

As for me, I don’t like the SOB, I think him a bad man who’ll cause and bungle crises almost from day one, but he’ll be the American president, and we all deserve grace. ... As someone once said, the real story of American life is where you stand and the price you’ll pay to stand there.

I like what Liz Cheney tweeted Wednesday: “Our nation’s democratic system functioned last night and we have a new President-elect. All Americans are bound, whether we like the outcome or not, to accept the results.” We also have a responsibility as members of “the greatest nation on earth” to “support and defend our Constitution, preserve the rule of law, and ensure that our institutions hold over these coming four years.” She singled out the courts, the press, “and those serving in our federal, state and local governments” to be “the guardrails of democracy.”

Just so. God bless America. Onward into the mess and clamor.

Saturday wordle

Cool interview - Polymarket betting site CEO Shayne Copland

This is the site where this happened - The "Trump Whale" (that betting dude!) who correctly called the election - made $50 million...  -The guy is 26 years old - lives in SoHo!  It's about half the interview. First television interview - pretty polished kid!

Friday wordle

The "Trump Whale" (that betting dude!) who correctly called the election - made $50 million...

This bet (bets) on polymarket was widely followed before the election. Wow. It was a Frenchman. Lots of champagne.

This article is from the Wall Street Journal.

The mystery trader who calls himself ‘Théo’ is on track for a payday of nearly $50 million

Not only did he see Donald Trump winning the presidency, he wagered that Trump would win the popular vote—an outcome that many political observers saw as unlikely. “Théo,” as the trader called himself, also bet that Trump would win the “blue wall” swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Now, Théo is set for a huge payday. He made his wagers on Polymarket, a crypto-based betting platform, using four anonymous accounts. Although he has declined to share his identity, he has been communicating with a Wall Street Journal reporter since an article on Oct. 18 drew attention to his bets.

In dozens of emails, Théo said his wager was essentially a bet against the accuracy of polling data. Describing himself as a wealthy Frenchman who had previously worked as a trader for several banks, he told the Journal that he began applying his mathematical know-how to analyze U.S. polls over the summer.

He concluded the polls were overstating support for Vice President Kamala Harris. Unlike most armchair political commentators, he put his money where his mouth was, betting more than $30 million that Trump would win.

*************************

In messages sent privately to a reporter before Election Day, Théo predicted that Trump would take 49% or 50% of all votes cast in the U.S., beating Harris. He also predicted that Trump would win six of the seven battleground states.

As of Wednesday afternoon, analysts were projecting that Trump would win the popular vote, with nearly 72 million votes to Harris’s 67.1 million, although millions of ballots had yet to be counted in California and other states. Betting markets regarded it as a near-certainty that Trump would win the popular vote.

Trump is also favored to win all seven swing states, betting markets show. The one state where Théo thought Harris might win, Michigan, was called for Trump on Wednesday.

The Journal has confirmed that Théo is the trader behind the Polymarket accounts that were systematically purchasing wagers on a Trump victory. Polymarket has corroborated some parts of his story, saying that the individual behind the bets was a French national with extensive trading experience and a financial-services background.

*********************

In his emails and a Zoom conversation with a reporter, Théo repeatedly criticized U.S. opinion polls. He was particularly critical of polls conducted by mainstream-media outlets that, in his view, were biased toward Democrats and tended to produce outlier poll results that favored Harris.

“In France this is different!! The pollster credibility is more important: they want to be as close as possible to the actual results. Culture is different on this,” he wrote.

Théo shared a table of numbers he had compiled based on RealClearPolitics polling averages, showing that Trump had overperformed his swing-state polling numbers in 2020. Given the tight polls in swing states in 2024, Théo reasoned that a similar overperformance by Trump would easily push him into the lead.

Polls failed to account for the “shy Trump voter effect,” Théo said. Either Trump backers were reluctant to tell pollsters that they supported the former president, or they didn’t want to participate in polls, Théo wrote. 

****************************

The data helped convince him to put on his long-shot bet that Trump would win the popular vote. At the time that Théo made those wagers, bettors on Polymarket were assessing the chances of a Trump popular-vote victory at less than 40%.

 

Friday cocktail: The Last Word

Another delicious drink. It was "invented" before The Paper Plane which I posted several weeks ago and which modeled itself after The Last Word, not as far as ingredients, but as equal parts design. You may wish to cut back slightly on the lime juice.

 

Note the gin below; Farandaville has used Gordon's in the past but are looking forward to making it with The Botanist.

As per the video, it's shaken not stirred.

THE RECIPE

3/4 oz. (22.5 ml) The Botanist Islay Dry Gin

3/4 oz. (22.5 ml)  Green Chartreuse 3/4 oz. (hard to find but they frequently have it at Van Wyck in Croton.)

(22.5 ml) Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur 3/4 oz.

(22.5 ml) Fresh lime juice(I'm not up to squeezing limes  but I'm sure that improves the drink over the bottled lime juice I get at Shoprite!)

Cocktail cherry for garnish

Thursday wordle

How Democrats lost; good summary from USA Today (of all places)

As with all USA Today features, it's a quick read. Below the link I've pulled out some of the lowlights - if you're a Democrat. Not mentioned below but my opinion - she didn't help herself with her VP pick. And - see below - she under-performed Biden with women.

WASHINGTON – When Kamala Harris appeared on ABC’s "The View" last month, it was supposed to be a friendly forum to introduce herself to Americans unfamiliar with her story. The Democratic presidential nominee instead struggled to explain what she would do differently than President Joe Biden. “Not a thing that comes to mind,” Harris, the incumbent vice president, told the hosts.

Following President-elect Donald Trump’s lopsided election victory over Harris, that television moment underscored a fatal flaw of Harris’ campaign that doomed her election bid – an inability to separate herself from an unpopular president whose approval ratings have hovered around 40% for most of his four years in the White House.

David Axelrod, former longtime adviser to Barack Obama, called the exchange − which became a Trump ad − “disastrous” for Harris as he recapped the election outcome on CNN early Wednesday morning. “There’s no doubt about it. The question is: What motivated it?”

*************************

Harris underperformed with voters of color − particularly Latino voters − but also Black voters in urban centers such as Philadelphia, Detroit and Milwaukee. Harris carried Black voters 86%-12% and Latino voters 53%-45%, according to CNN exit polls. But in the 2020 election, Biden won Black voters by a wider 92%-8% margin over Trump and Latinos 65%-32%.

*********************

In the final weeks of the campaign, Harris escalated her rhetoric, calling the former president a fascist, warning that he is "unhinged and unstable," and highlighting the assessment of Trump's former White House chief of staff, John Kelly, who alleged Trump made past admiring statements about Adolf Hitler.

******************

“Kamala Harris lost this election when she pivoted to focus almost exclusively on attacking Donald Trump,” veteran pollster Frank Luntz said on X, formerly Twitter. “Voters already know everything there is about Trump – but they still wanted to know more about Harris’ plans for the first hour, first day, first month and first year of her administration.

“It was a colossal failure for her campaign to shine the spotlight on Trump more than on Harris’ own ideas,” Luntz said.

***************

Harris, who campaigned aggressively on restoring abortion access, won female voters by a sizable 54%-44% margin, according to CNN exit polls, but it was a slimmer margin than Biden's 57%-42% performance with women in 2020. Trump won male voters over Harris by the same 54%-44% margin as Harris won women.

The abortion issue ended up not being the galvanizing force it was in 2022 when Democrats exceeded expectations in the midterms.

Harris' loss marks the second time in three election cycles that Democrats have fielded a female presidential candidate in hopes of making history − only to both times lose to Trump.

CNN's conservative commentator explains things to his colleagues

Scott Jennings.

 

Wednesday wordle

Amazing popular vote flip + tears from Robert Reich

So - Trump went from losing the 2020 popular vote by 4.5% to winning it (so far) by 3.5%. An 8% switch.

Here's the former Clinton Labor Secretary, who has  popular - 890K followers - youtube channel.

 

Worth remembering today: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 1978 Harvard Commencement Speech

I was living in Jamaica at the time but remember the reactions to this speech. Expecting to hear him denounce the Soviet State the survivor of the Gulag Archipelago instead called the West to a return to moral values. It did not sit well with liberal elites. Go here Harvard Commencement Address - A World Split Apart  if you want to read or see the whole speech.

Tuesday wordle

The classic ELECTION LATE NIGHT cocktail

For later in the night as the votes come in, as you've already had this one Election night cocktail(s)  at your cocktail hour. And the late night one is easy to do.

Election; how I voted & who I think will win

Just got back from casting my ballot. Here's the short version -

I did a write in for President - voted for my friend Theresa B. and also voted for her for state senator. And did the two write ins in the local trustee election here in Croton. See Croton rinky dink politics: "Nobody is forced to live here" for the explanation on local vote.

Who I think will win - I expect after the dust settles we will be calling the president "Madame President."

Here's the long version -

I did a write in because despite voting for Trump in the past two elections and being broadly in favor of his policies while he was in office, he is such a bloviating blowhard - his own worse enemy - and since NY State won't be close in the presidential election I decided to write in Theresa. I have voted for her in the past in several elections, a couple of governor races when Cuomo was running & I couldn't stand the republican opponents.

HOWEVER had my vote been meaningful - if it was the deciding vote for president - Kamala Harris is just appalling. Her main campaign issue is there are not enough abortions in America, She's inarticulate - Without a teleprompter she's an airhead - and I can't imagine her negotiating with China, Russia, North Korea. OMG. It's a shame that the republicans nominated Trump; they had half a dozen candidates who would have united their party and crushed her.  And it's a shame that Harris amen choir said things like this NY Governor Hochul video - "basically anti-American" to vote for Trump and this NY Times editorial: "Harris the only Patriotic Choice for President." Way to unite the country...

Just like in 2022 when the republicans thought they were going to sweep the senate and the house and did not win the senate and barely got the house they are way overconfident about this election. They never learn. Good article: "The Chronically underestimated Kamala Harris".  In national elections the Democratic party machine starts with 40% of the vote; the Republicans only have that kind of blind loyalty from about 29% (Pew poll, 2019).

The silver lining - the Republicans almost a certainly to take the senate which until at least 2026 will stop any of her bizarre social and economic policies coming to fruition. Although as my friend JD points out "what about foreign policy?" And then there's this - the problem of the massive debt we've run up NR - Making America Greece Again: "No Matter who wins We're Fiscally Doomed". Regardless of who wins, we better grow the economy like crazy or we are in for very tough times.

End of homily. We will see. Maybe Trump will eke it or Kamala and the Dems will win everything in a landslide but don't bet the farm on either.

 

 

 

 

.

Monday wordle

Election night cocktail(s)

Two, depending on who you are voting for... Very easy to make and to do substitutes on the ingredients. Of course Farandaville will use Jamaican rum. And since I'll be doing a write-in, I'll just mix the two cocktails. If the election runs to the early morning hours, then I suggest a morning Harvey Wallbanger, or a Screwdriver.

"Nicki Haley: Trump Isn’t Perfect, but He’s the Better Choice"

In the Wall Street Journal today. Haley was my choice to be the presidential candidate and it"s a shame she isn't.

"If you like his policies but are put off by his tone or his excesses, consider the cost of the past four years."

Millions of people love Donald Trump, and millions hate him. Each group will vote accordingly.

But there are also millions whose views on Mr. Trump are mixed. They like much of what he did as president and agree with most of his policies. But they dislike his tone and can’t condone his excesses, such as his conduct on Jan. 6, 2021. This third group of Americans will determine whether the former president returns to the White House.

To that group, I’ll point out that Mr. Trump isn’t the only one on the ballot. This election isn’t a referendum on him. It’s a choice between him and Kamala Harris.

I don’t agree with Mr. Trump 100% of the time. But I do agree with him most of the time, and I disagree with Ms. Harris nearly all the time. That makes this an easy call. Here are the facts most relevant to me.

Americans today on average face some $13,000 in higher annual costs than they did four years ago. Prices on nearly everything—food, gasoline, utility bills, insurance—have gone up. This is the direct result of the Biden-Harris agenda, which stoked inflation and stuck families with the bill. Americans are stuck with another bill, too: the national debt. It has reached nearly $36 trillion, thanks in part to Ms. Harris’s tie-breaking votes on the grossly misnamed American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Act. Despite its title, the latter is still boosting inflation...

Then there’s national security. The Biden-Harris agenda has made the world far more dangerous. Our southern border is our most pressing security threat; Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris have made it dramatically worse. Their debacle in Afghanistan not only created a new terrorist state; it also signaled weakness that sparked Russia’s war against Ukraine. Their appeasement of Iran has enriched that despotic regime and emboldened it to pursue war with Israel through its terrorist proxies. And the administration’s weakness toward China has done nothing to impede the communist power’s expansion at our expense. This is the world that Biden-Harris failures have given us in four short years.

************************

I agree with Mr. Trump that America should be strong—far stronger than we are today. When he was president, Russia didn’t invade another country, Iran was on its heels, China received serious pushback for the first time in decades, and our southern border was more secure. The world is unsafe under Biden-Harris, and we shouldn’t expect that to change under a Harris administration.

**********************

Will Mr. Trump do some things I don’t like in a second term? I’m sure he will. If that was the question before voters, then I imagine Mr. Trump would lose. But that isn’t the question in any election. No politician gets everything right. For those of us clear-eyed enough to see Mr. Trump’s flaws and honest enough to acknowledge them, the question is whether we’re better off with his policies or his opponent’s. On taxes, spending, inflation, immigration, energy and national security, the candidates are miles apart. And Mr. Trump is clearly the better choice.

Ms. Haley was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (2017-19), and governor of South Carolina (2011-17) and a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

NY Governor Hochul video - "basically anti-American" to vote for Trump

The article is from National Review Online - her comment is in the first 25 seconds as she is on MSNBC. People who approve of this trash are the true Blue Democrats - the volunteers, the online commentators, etc, etc. That's who this kind of commentary is aimed at  Maybe she'll retract it but don't hold your breath?

“If you’re voting for these Republicans in New York, you’re voting for someone who supports Donald Trump, and you’re anti-woman, you’re anti-abortion, and basically you’re anti-American because you have just trashed American values and what our country is all about,” Hochul said.

 

Sunday wordle

Croton rinky dink politics: "Nobody is forced to live here"

That from the dopey Mayor Brian Pugh, who also is on Senator Harckham's staff, or running his campaign. So he's got bigger aspirations than the part-time mayor's job in my village. See the commentary below the write in picture.

Croton is a one party - village, there is no organized republican party. I was never interested in local politics UNTIL the last couple of years as the five elected officials decided what Croton needs is urbanization. This has spawned a serious write - in campaign for the two trustee positions that are up for election. There are actually vastly more yard signs up for the write - in candidates than for the two incumbent Democrats - including signs in yards which also have Harris / Walz signs. Nevertheless a very long shot for them to win - I will be writing in.

Thanks to MC for the link to this  commentary on the friendly Croton political scene.

This is a depressing note to end on, but the reality is that we get the community that 51 percent of us vote for. Mr. Pugh can ignore us and tell us that we are not being forced to live in Croton. Mr. Murtaugh can accuse us of being racists. Ms. Shatzkin can flip us the finger and return to her $1.3M Tudor City co-op while lecturing us about how we need to fill Croton with low-income apartments.

We want to be accepted by our tribe. In Croton that means we go in lock-step to the polls and vote “Row A all the way.” We might want to reconsider our unwavering devotion to a group of elites who literally give us the finger and tell us nobody is forcing us to live here.

But wait, there's more!

BACK ONLINE---A LETTER FROM PAUL STEINBERG ON THE ...