Trump/Putin lickspittle Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) said that instead of panic buying and clearing shelves at supermarkets, people should instead visit their neighborhood pub. “It’s a great time to just go out and go to a local restaurant,” according to Nunes. “Likely you can get in easily.”
“Henry VIII bathed often and changed his undershirts daily, he was a royal rarity.“
Coronavirus has put sanitation into our collective mind. Keep your distance from others; wash your hands; don’t touch your face. Back in the sixteenth century, King Henry VIII (voted “worst monarch” by the Historical Writers Association, had the same worry. His fear of the dreaded sweating sickness caused him to sleep in a different bed every night.
Without warning, a person would be overcome with headache, neck ache, general weakness and a cold sweat covering the entire body. Then came fever, dehydration and heart palpitations. In less than twenty-four hours, half of those afflicted were dead. The infection was blamed on foreigners — sound familiar? — specifically mercenaries Henry’s father had brought to England to help him seize the throne.
March 8 is International Women’s Day. But why do women need their own day? The Seattle Times found out why when it began research for a story about Continental Mills, a local company, owned and operated by the third generation of the Heily family. Continental is known for its Krusteaz brand of pancake, pie crust, biscuit and other mixes.
The Krusteaz web site features a “History” page with a photo of four women at a card table and a heartwarming story of the women of a Seattle bridge club who invented a just-add-water pie-crust mix. They called it “Crust Ease.” (Krusteaz — get it?) Except no one at Continental Mills knew who these women were.
The Boeing Company named David Calhoun its new Chief Executive Officer a few weeks ago. The company, once the pride of Seattle, is trying to get back on course after discarding its engineering focus and putting the company’s direction in the hands of bean counters. The end result, as we know, was the crash of two aircraft, killing 346 people, and the grounding of the 737 Max — the latest iteration of its venerable workhorse.
Arch-rival Airbus took orders for more than a hundred aircraft at the 2019 Paris Air Show. Boeing left the show without an order. None. Zero. Nada.
The new chief executive Calhoun, a protege of former General Electric CEO “Neutron Jack” Welch, was an ardent defender of his predecessor at Boeing. He now says the company was in worse shape than he thought, already deflecting blame. “It’s more than I imagined it would be, honestly,” Calhoun said. “And it speaks to the weaknesses of our leadership.” (Welch got his nickname for his reputation of firing people but leaving buildings intact.)
Calhoun will be paid $1.4 million salary and guaranteed(!) cash bonus of $2.5 million and $10 million in restricted stock and another $7 million cash if the 737 Max gets back in the air. (“Bonus” does not mean the same thing in corporate execu-speak as it does to the rest of us.)
Boeing announced that its fired CEO Dennis Muilenburg will not receive severance pay. In addition, the company stated he is forfeiting his $14.6 million performance bonus for 2019. Muilenburg will still receive pension, deferred compensation benefits and long-term incentive awards totaling $62.2 million. Boeing paid the now-disgraced chief executive $23.4 million in 2018.
Muilenburg also holds options to purchase nearly 73,000 shares of Boeing stock at approximately $76 per share. Boeing’s share price currently hovers around $265, its twelve-month low. Still, not bad: an immediate profit of about $14 million when he exercises his options.
“If we kill all the owls, for example, someday we’ll be up to our ribcages in mice.” – Republican Governor Tom McCall
Tom McCall Waterfront Park borders the Willamette River as it flows along downtown Portland. The park opened in 1978, replacing Harbor Drive, a semi-freeway that separated the city from the then severely-polluted river. Waterfront Park was given its name to honor Tom McCall who served two terms as Oregon’s governor, from 1967 to 1975. Gov. McCall’s enduring legacy is his advocacy of land-use planning and his anti-pollution leadership.
The lobbying and trade group National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) celebrated its 125th anniversary with the announcement of the Alexander Hamilton Award. The first recipient of this prestigious new award is a person who, in the NAM’s words, “Like no one in government has ever done, she has provided singular leadership and shown an unwavering commitment to modern manufacturing in America.”
The honoree is of course Senior White House Adviser Ivanka Trump.
Ms. Trump “embodies the collaborative spirit and relentless drive needed to solve manufacturers’ most pressing challenge,” demonstrated by her Ivanka Trump brand of apparel and fashion accessories. The Ivanka Trump fashion brand went out of business in July 2018, despite of being exempted from China tariffs. The award winner’s namesake clothing and accessories were manufactured exclusively by factories in Bangladesh, Indonesia and China.
