Penn Station. Acela Lounge. Republican Debate. CNN. Pataki. Santorum. Graham. Huckabee. Las Vegas Review-Journal. Arctic Warming. Walruses. Los Angeles Threat. Saudi Arabian Coalition. Yemen. Sunni. Shia. Houthis. Plumbing truck with jihadists.
I’m sitting in the Acela Lounge at Penn Station, waiting for the 7:15 train up to Hudson. The television monitor in the Lounge is on CNN and the final debate of this year for the Republicans. It is the “B” team, Pataki, Santorum, Graham and Huckabee. When Rick Santorum was announced, I actually was surprised. I thought he was gone. He’s not.
I am debate weary and there is almost another year until the election.
The debate is being held in Las Vegas, which somehow seems appropriate.
One of the things Las Vegans are working to find out is who owns their most important paper, The Las Vegas Review-Journal. It was sold at a premium to a recently formed group that no one can find out anything about. The reporters at the paper are stumped. Seems like a Las Vegas kind of story.
It was sunny and balmy here in New York, the temp was up to 64 degrees. On some of the last few days, New York has been warmer than Los Angeles. It is the subject of many watercooler conversations in the city.
The Washington Post reported this afternoon that the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet, thinning ice and endangering the walrus population.
There was a bomb hoax against the Los Angeles school system today. It disrupted the city and gave students a day off, while wondering what was going on.
Now on the train, we are sliding out of Penn Station and I’m away from the debate. I will be catching up in the morning about what happened, particularly in the major round.
It is doubtful to me that any of the gentlemen that were in the first round will be the nominee. Santorum and Graham made it clear they would support Trump if he were the nominee.
Saudi Arabia has announced a coalition of 34 nations to fight IS. Reading the details causes the mind to hurt. Not included in this coalition are Iran and Iraq, who are primarily Shia while IS and Saudi Arabia are Sunni. The Sunni Saudi Arabians are working to put fellow Sunnis back in control of Yemen, which has been overrun by the Houthis, who I think are Shia-centric. Following the players in this drama is always confusing.
The Sunnis and Shia consider each other apostates but they are still Muslims. Saudi Arabia is attempting to overcome complaints that it hasn’t been doing enough to stop IS, which actually seems to have much of its ideological roots in the Arabian Peninsula. There are certainly strong similarities between the Islam followed by IS and Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia had elections in which women could vote for the first time. A few have been elected to office though they can’t drive cars to get to their work. A Saudi Princess who runs a department store in Riddyah said Uber is becoming very popular with her “sales girls.”
Someone said to me: something is always better than nothing.
A hotel guest in Alva, OK, went to the front desk and said he had been charged twice. The hotel reversed the charges but he didn’t believe them so he drove his truck through the lobby. When arrested, he told the police he did it because they hadn’t believed his threat that he would do it.
Another truck in the news is one that was owned by a plumber in Texas. He traded it in for a new one and asked that the decals of his plumbing company be removed before sale. They weren’t. It ended up in Turkey and a photo of it filled with jihadists ended up going viral. The plumber, Mark Oberholtzer, had to clear out of town for a while because of all the threats he was receiving.
The dealership, he said, in the lawsuit he just filed, hung up on him when he called to complain.
It is dark outside the train. When I get home, I need to wrap Christmas presents and get them to UPS in the morning while also cooking for a dinner party tomorrow night. Thursday takes me back to the city.
Good night, all.
Letter from the Vineyard 
Letter From New York 12 17 15 Naughty Hedge Fund Managers to a return of The Force, may it be with you
December 17, 2015Red Dot. Alana Hauptman. Jerimiah Rusconi. James Ivory. “A Room with a View” “Howard’s End” “Maurice” Putin The Donald Martin Shkreli Enrique Marquez Farook Malik US and Cuba flights Star Wars May the Force be with you!
Early this morning I came down to the city and will return on the 7:15. There is a Holiday Party I should attend but will not. I want to return to the cottage and continue cleaning up from the dinner party I had last night.
Alana, who owns the Red Dot, and her partner, Patrick, were there as well as Jeremiah Rusconi, the premiere consultant for restoring homes in the Hudson Valley, and James Ivory, the directing partner of the Merchant Ivory team that brought us such films as “A Room With a View,” “Maurice” and “Howard’s End.” He lives at the end of my street and has become by way of a friend.
It was a lovely evening. Roast duck, scalloped potatoes, creamed pearl onions and peas, carrots and a salted caramel chocolate ganache for dessert.
We talked of movies and politics and local events in the warmth and coziness of the cottage. Floodlights lit up the creek and holiday lights festooned the front of the house.
Jim and I started the evening with martinis and went on to a chill white Cotes du Rhone. It was a softly warm evening of good chatter and comradeship, all united by the place where we live. I treasure nights like that at the cottage.
While we dined and sipped wine, the world was moving on…
Putin has said that The Donald is the absolute leader in the race for the Presidency. They have formed a mutual admiration society. Trump wants to get closer to Putin and Putin sees nothing wrong with that.
While I was waking up this morning to make my way into the city, Federal agents were preparing to arrest Martin Shkreli, the bad boy of pharmaceuticals. He is famous, or infamous, for upping the price of drug that had sold for $13.50 a pill to $750.00 a pill. Used to treat people with toxoplasmosis, including those with AIDS, it was a critical component of many folks drug regimen.
Apparently, according to the Feds, he was not a very good boy before that and is charged with fraud and wire transfer conspiracy. He’d been doing, according to the Feds, a number of naughty things with companies he’s been involved with and lying consistently about the financials of those companies.
I hope it’s all true.
Enrique Marquez, a friend of the San Bernardino shooters, Farook and Malik, was arrested. He legally obtained the assault weapons used and gave them to the shooters, without going, apparently, through he legal process to transfer firearms.
He converted some years ago to Islam but quite going to his mosque because some members found him “goofy.” Depending on what charges are filed, he faces some years in prison up to life imprisonment.
The US and Cuba are working out an agreement to allow up to thirty flights a day between the country. Hello, tourism!
And hello “Star Wars,” which is released tomorrow. Generally the reviews are really good and say the film harkens back to the first films, which were actually Episodes 4, 5 and 6.
1, 2 and 3 came out much later and while box office successful, were not critically acclaimed and didn’t capture the love of the audience the way the others did. The magic seems to have returned with this episode, number 7.
I am sure I will see it but not for a bit. I don’t like crowds and the crowds this weekend with be formidable. May the Force be with you!
Tags: A Room with a View, Alana Hauptman, Claverack, Enrique Marquez, Farook, Howard's End, James Ivory, Jeremiah Rusconi, Malik, Martin Shkreli, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Maurice, Putin, Red Dot, Star Wars, The Donald, US and Cuba Flights
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