Total Pageviews

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

The Writer's Life 1/9 - Econ 101

There are two interesting bits of information on economics in today's NY Post. In response to the raising of the minimum wage, Red Robin, which operates 570 restaurants in the USA, will be eliminating porters, hoping to save $8 million. Last year it dropped those who placed food on plates in the kitchen, saving $10 million... In his business column John Crudele again cites why the unemployment figures should be ignored. Before the great recession, the labor participation rate was 63%. It is currently 60.1%. On the bright side, it has risen from 59% in the past year.


If Oprah decides to run she will be tough to beat. She is loved and respected by most Americans. Unfortunately, her policies will likely be similar to Obama's. At least President Trump will have three more years to continue righting the ship.

From Yahoo Sports, edited by yours truly: The tax-exempt status of the PGA Tour and other sports leagues was in jeopardy late last year under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The legendary Jack Nicklaus and future Hall of Famer Davis Love III reached out to congress to keep the exemption in place. It has nothing to do with what pros earn for their play. It pertains to the organization itself. All net proceeds from its events go to local charities, and corporate support helps pay bills from prize money to operational costs. Last year the PGA gave $180 million to charity. It has raised $2.65 billion dating to a $10,000 donation from the Palm Beach Invitational in 1938. In effect, congress would have been stealing from charities. Does that surprise anyone?

I've never watched Roseanne. There's just something about Barr I can't stand. The show is in reruns on Cozi-TV, 108 on Cablevision in NYC. A prime-time reboot is in the works, scheduled for March. According to talk radio host Mark Simone, the family will be Trump voters. He claims one of the show's aims is to portray life outside the bubble of NYC, D.C. and California. If so, it will be interesting to see how the mainstream media reacts. Will they attack or simply ignore the program?

Yesterday when I checked conditions in front of the Chase bank on Bay Parkway and 85th, I knew I wouldn't be deterred by the snow piled there. The day was so darn beautiful that I simply had to set up shop. It had been a week since I last worked outside. It took me about 15 minutes to clear a space for the display. I then laid large plastic bags on the sidewalk to keep boxes dry, and I placed the Russian books against the wall of the bank. Was it worth it? Not in the financial sense, although I did sell seven books. The toil almost always dwarfs the income. The best part is that I'm out of the house and doing something. Sometimes I even sell a copy of one of my own books. My thanks to the kind folks who made purchases today. The main worry was whether I would have to shovel out a parking space when I returned home. I removed some slush from the area of the rear wheel on the driver's side, in case it froze overnight. It took less than a minute. Here's a pic of the display: 

Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)