Cash flow

Thursday. The word of the day is opportune.

Elon Musk wants to buy Twitter outright, now.

It’s budget season in these parts. Boston’s budget is pretty practical. Lots of necessary facility and infrastructure upgrades. Personnel costs dominate. Status quo. That’s not a bad thing. At the State House, despite overflowing coffers, the Governor’s plan for tax relief for for seniors, low earners, renters, and parents of dependent children was put off by legislators. Speaker Ron Mariano told Commonwealth Magazine that those tax cuts “weren’t necessary.”

There were lots of allegations of voting shenanigans investigated after the last presidential election and some were actually found to be legitimate.

Russia is blustering over Sweden and Finland joining NATO, throwing out the threat of moving nuclear weapons closer to the border. As if close to the border is worse.

And here are the winners of Apple’s ‘Shot on iPhone’ macro photography contest. Wow.

Cops and robbers

Wednesday. It’s a birthday for Butch Cassidy, Seamus Heaney and Al Green.

Gilbert Gottfried has died. The Miles Davis of comedy.

Many Democratic cities are backtracking on defunding the police and instead are moving to hire more cops. It’s amazing what a couple of years and an increase in crime can do. And in Maryland, a last minute police reform bill has made everyone unhappy. Which means it’s probably solid policy.

Sam Tyler weighs in on an appointed vs. elected School Committee. As you might guess, the practical-minded Tyler favors the former.

The war in Ukraine looks, increasingly, like an ongoing conflict. The other war—the economic one—will continue on as well. Whether we’ll have the will to persist with it is yet to be seen.

And insider trading, crypto-style? Sure looks that way.

Inflation theory

Tuesday. It’s National Grill Cheese Sandwich Day!

Even though this is Squirrel Week, the Times is featuring pigeons. Very disrespectful, don’t you think?

A report this morning on the consumer price index is expected to show inflation at an ‘extraordinarily elevated‘ level. It could be pretty ‘nasty,’ some say. Who could have seen this coming?

How to build your own cathode ray TV set, circa 1933. Sounds easy. Not.

Ethereum is moving closer to the merge. It might even be real this time.

And over at BU, they’re creating “a real love atmosphere.” What would John Silber say about all this?

On the fast track

Monday. The second day of Squirrel Week.

Jet Blue is looking beat up these days. The question is: Is it just chipped paint from the weather or is it a crack in the fuselage?

Finland and Sweden are on track to join NATO as early as this summer. There’s a long border between Russia and Finland. Plenty of room for an Article 5 misunderstanding.

Matt Viser on Kamala and Marty.

The jigsaw puzzle is almost finished but one important piece that was supposed to fit… just doesn’t. In this case, the puzzle is the Universe.

And what’s a good tip for a robot waiter? You tell me.

What’s old is new again

Saturday morning music: Darlingside’s Extralife and The Best of Bread.

An uncanny valley for… benches?

Inflation prognosticator Larry Summers recalls the early 1970’s when demand outstripped supply and then, unexpectedly, OPEC tightened oil markets. As he noted in an interview with Ezra Klein, “in many ways, that’s the right analogy for now.” It does certainly does have a familiar unwelcome ring to it.

Bitcoin is so 2020. It’s over. Ethereum is what the cool kids are into.

Maybe it’s just from the perspective of a guy getting up there, but this cellular rejuvenation thing seems like kind of a big deal.

And meanwhile, in Russia…

Out in front

Friday morning. Happy birthday to Shecky Greene.

All those diplomats were really spies? Who woulda thought.

Tom Nagorski and Joshua Keating take on the mystery of why so many Russian generals are getting killed in Ukraine.

With one ex-Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation taking over the New York subway system, another is pushing to electrify this state’s regional rail system.

Robinhood is opening up the beta for crypto wallets. This could be interesting.

And, “Your Competitor Wrote The RFP You’re Bidding On”. File under: funny because it’s true.

War is hell

Monday. Today’s word is salient.

Running a national government with absolutely no experience is easy. It’s just like running a social media company. You bring in the best people. In both cases the results will speak for themselves.

Images from Bucha, taken by a Washington Post photographer on the ground. Staggering.

Erica Pandey writes about crypto, which might seem very faddish these days but is not merely a flash in the pan. “Some of the world’s smartest young minds aren’t going to law school or Goldman Sachs — they’re going into crypto.”

Today’s Apple seems to be firing on all cylinders and decimating competitors. Neil Cybart considers why.

And maybe we can learn a thing or two from people who think that nothing is true. (But I doubt it.)

Good news bias

Saturday morning music: Something/Anything by Todd Rundgren.

St. Brendan’s was once a powerful center of Irish Catholic life in Dorchester. Today it’s hanging on by a thread. Lauren O’Brien makes an appeal to the Cardinal to keep it open.

Inflation. War. Oil anxiety. God forbid we should concentrate on some positive economic news.

Walgreen’s is moving towards having robots mix prescriptions. In Japan, robots will bring your food. Elon Musk’s says his most important project this year is the development of a humanoid robot. It’s happening…

One good thing to come out of the pandemic is better access to government through live streaming and remote access meetings. Let’s keep that going.

And anyone can be a great photographer. All it takes is a smart phone and lots of bad photos.

Hanlon’s Razor

Friday, the first of April.

How a scam prevention expert got scammed.

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. In the case of that 7 1/2 hour gap, either one is a problem, of course. But my money’s on Hanlon here.

Christopher Muther ranks those lunchbox-sized Table Talk pies, with lemon at the top of his list. I mostly agree with his choices but I would have moved blueberry up a notch or two.

What is the Strategic Oil Reserve and how can it reduce gas prices? Amber Phillips brings us up to speed.

And Betty Reid Soskin, one hundred years old, decided it was time to retire. Good for her.