The Writer's Life 1/10 - Oh, Cisco

There's an interesting development in the sexual harassment furor, reported in today's NY Post. A collective of about 100 European women has signed an open letter published in a French newspaper rejecting what it sees as a new puritanism. Here are excerpts: “Rape is a crime. Insistently or awkwardly hitting on someone is not.” And: “But this liberation of speech is turning on itself: People are being intimidated to speak in the right way or to stay silent on what makes them angry. Those who refuse to comply with such injunctions are looked upon as traitors, accomplices!” And: "This expeditious justice already has its victims, men sanctioned in their job functions, forced to resign, etc, while their only wrong is to have touched a knee, tried to steal a kiss, spoken of ‘intimate’ things during a professional dinner or to have sent sexually suggestive messages to a woman whose attraction was not reciprocal.” And: “...fever to send the ‘pigs’ to the slaughter,... far from helping women to empower themselves, ...serves the interests of the enemies of sexual freedom.” The most famous signer is legendary French actress Catherine Deneuve.

A man converted a building in Manhattan's West Village from a warehouse into 14 luxury coop apartments, and built a cabin and garden on the roof. He's since been plagued by government busybodies, suffering a fine, and is now involved in a lawsuit. Here's the guy's crime:

Sign of the times: Yesterday morning I was in a bagel shop and noticed a machine in a corner - not an ATM but one where people can buy Bitcoins, the controversial electronic currency whose stock is off the charts. The counterman said that it has been used. Many are ignoring the dire warnings of its detractors, who are sure they will get burned. Those who bought the stock early and sold it recently have been big winners. I suppose that can be likened to those who get into a Ponzi scheme at its beginning. I don't know what to think, but it is fascinating, and I wish I'd bought it two or three years ago when I first learned of it.

I'd owned 100 shares of Cisco for ages, perhaps as long as 20 years. I bought it at less than $32. With the market rallying like mad, I put in an order to sell at $40. I just got email confirmation from Schwab. That's one less stock to worry about should a major correction occur. It's nice to win, although it's a small victory given how long I'd held the shares.

And I had a win on the street as well, as Monsey bought Billionths of Lifetime, the first sale of one of my books in 2018. My thanks, and also to the woman who bought two books in Russian, whose husband bought three yesterday.

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