More Random Thoughts

May 17, 2020

More Random Thoughts

random thoughts

Mark Rubin

Random thoughts. The Internet says random thoughts mean something, and that science agrees. Who knew?

My first random thought involves recycling. I keep two old-fashioned galvanized steel trash cans outside, near my kitchen door. The city picks up recycling every other Monday, so I carried that bin out to the alley. Lo, when I went to my city-owned recycle bin, someone had tossed in an Apple computer box. Very shapely. Stylish even, but it filled my container.

I solved the problem, but here is my question: Can you dump recycling in any blue bin? Or, just the one by your house? An inquiring mind needs a good answer.

Next up: living my life. I

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Trump, the Court, and Subpoenas

May 12, 2020

Trump, the Court, and Subpoenas

trump court subpoenas

Mark Rubin

The U.S. Supreme Court heard three cases during two oral arguments today. Here’s the C-Span link.

Two cases involved subpoenas directed to Mazars (an accounting firm which provided services to Donald Trump and his entities) and Deutche Bank (purportedly, the only money center bank which still deals with the Trumps and their entities). The other case involves state law claims which a New York County (Manhattan) grand jury intends to investigate.

I have thoughts. Really, you say? A top 40% law student – TBT, 57th percentile, ranked just behind my law school roommate, with a practice which mostly involves elder law and real estate – intends to spout off on Con

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Personal and Business: Isolation News

May 10, 2020

Personal and Business: Isolation News

person and business

Mark Rubin

My house has a more than 60’ long walking length, passing from kitchen to dining room to hall to my bedroom. I walk that distance, back and forth, every day. Hundreds of times. (During the past week I averaged 24K steps per day.) Max thinks I’m nutso, I’m sure, and Leigh removes all doubt. But … I feel wonderful, and the early morning steps – the real workout – and the walking breaks all day refresh me.

Veganism had crept into my life. Beef went away almost totally a few years ago, for Leigh worries greatly about prions. Who knows, but for the environment and everything else, we ought to stop raising

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Michael Flynn: The Dismissal and What Might Happen    

May 7, 2020

Flynn: The Dismissal and What Might Happen

Michael Flynn

Mark Rubin

 

Today, the Justice Department announced its intent to dismiss its case against Michael Flynn. Recall that the United States of America charged Mr. Flynn with a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001 (False Statements). Mr. Flynn’s sin: lying to the FBI about contacts with Russian governmental officials before January 20, 2017.

Mr. Flynn pled guilty, cooperated with the government for a while for the purpose of lessening his sentence and, on January 14, 2020, filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea. Now, the government says never mind and more – the Justice Department has trashed the FBI and President Trump accuses the Obama Administration of treason, even though

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Elmore Leonard and Sam Sifton

April 28, 2020

Elmore Leonard and Sam Sifton

elmore leonard

Mark Rubin

Elmore Leonard was a great writer, with an extraordinary way with dialogue. Sam Sifton writes pretty well, too. Presently, he’s the Food Editor for the New York Times, where he has worked for almost 20 years. (Mr. Sifton’s grandfather was Reinhold Neibuhr, who wrote the Serenity Prayer. It comes to mind often, but only after I have failed to appreciate the difference between what I can and cannot change.)

Every week Mr. Sifton sends What to Cook … emails. They bring me great pleasure, always, but I really enjoyed Cook Anyway, which I received on April 27. Mr. Sifton starts out thusly:

Good morning. One of the greatest first lines of a novel,

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More Thoughts from the Self-Isolation Front

April 21, 2020

More Thoughts from the Self-Isolation Front

self-isolation

Mark Rubin

I’m here! Apologies – as always – for not blogging often enough.

Candidly, spare time involves more activities than “stuck” might suggest, and I’m spending writing time working on my personal memoir. I expect to be around for a long time, but I’d be a G.D. Fool if I didn’t note my age (62), my four pneumonias, and the absence of a solid, functioning health care system. Those who deliver health services deserve every bit of love we can offer them, but if we don’t take away from this crisis a recognition that we don’t have a functioning public health system, We. Are. Blind.

The memoir enlivens my time. I’m blessed, and

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Numbers Illiteracy

April 6, 2020

Numbers Illiteracy

numbers illiteracy

Mark Rubin

John Allen Paulos teaches math at Temple University. He writes books, too. Good books. Books for lay people about math. One of which he titled Innumeracy … which is why this post got titled Numbers Illiteracy, as opposed to … Innumeracy.

Stupid numbers drive me nutso. They abound now, in an era when stupid, vapid creatures rule.

I hear lots of people talking about how the United States has the largest number of COVID-19 cases in the world. These comments come, mostly, from those whose fury focuses first on our Fearless Leader.

Well, duh! More people live in the United States than in any other country, save China and India. Among large nations we have, by

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Notes From the Isolation Ward aka Home

April 4, 2020

Notes From the Isolation Ward aka Home

isolation ward

Me, before COVID-19

Hey there! I hope you all are well and safe. Apologies for not posting for 2+ weeks.

Sheltering in Place

I am sheltering in place. Our terrific crew at the office got me set up completely at home. Everything works, and I want for nothing (on the work side of life.) Well, not exactly! My office phone sits on my desk at home courtesy of something called … VOIP! And it rings. Often! Even when I call the office from it. Such troubles!!!

Personally, sheltering in place works. I’m writing on Saturday. I bought produce at 7:15 a.m. at Cardenas, where they reserve the 7 a.m. hour for old people

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Rubin & Bernstein PLLC – An Update

March 18, 2020

Rubin & Bernstein PLLC – An Update

R&B update

Mark Rubin

I’m embarrassed! Rubin & Bernstein PLLC celebrates – can we celebrate anything, other than a youngster’s birthday, in these times? – our second anniversary on May 1, six weeks from now. Still, we don’t have a working website for the firm we treasure. So, here at my Leftie site aka the place where I provide The Word, I’m providing an update.

In theory, I sent myself home more than a week ago. I heard what seemed like a directive to be home if you’re 60+. I was an early adapter, but Life Happens and today, Wednesday, March 18, was really my first day away from the office. (A foolish grocery store

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Random Thoughts About the Corona Virus Crisis

March 16, 2020

Random Thoughts About the Corona Virus Crisis

corona virus crisis

Mark Rubin

It’s week — (who knows) in the annals of the Corona Virus Crisis. Some random thoughts are on offer here.

Bad Math

I love my Wingnut friends. They’re mostly in their 60s, 70s and 80s, but they still drink Kool-Aid every day. Flavor? Trump-Aid. Have you read or heard from one of them, comparing the 20K deaths per year from influenza with the double-digit deaths in the United States of America in the first few weeks of the pandemic? (Think: Week 5 v. Week 50. One might be bigger than the other, and it’s an irrefutable fact that death after Week 5 will be no less than death after Week

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