Thought this was beautiful cookware at the Amazon 4-Star Store.
BTW, can’t believe Amazon is now getting into bricks and mortar too!
These enameled cast iron dutch oven pots are colorful and useful.
In a way, they are too good-looking to use.
Maybe just put them on the stovetop and let them look pretty.
There is always the microwave for the real food. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
I saw these two photos separately.
But I instantly realized that they belong together.
Like peanut butter and jelly.
Who is a bigger pee brain than AOC?
* She impulsively lost 25,000 jobs and $5 billion investment in NYC from Amazon (as well as about $27.5 billion in tax revenue over 25 years).
* Her ridiculous Green New Deal wanted to rid us of farting cows and airplanes and didn’t get a single yes vote in the Senate (even from her own party).
* AOC stated that the three branches of government are the “the presidency, the senate, and the house” (Uh, wrong!).
* Ocasio-Cortez boasts insanely that government deficit-spending doesn’t really matter (hmm, I wonder is that how she handles her personal finances too?).
* She allies herself with fellow anti-American and anti-Semites like:
– Ilhan “(Schmilhan) Somebody Did Something [on 9/11]” Omar
– Rashida “(Israel-Hater) They Forgot What Country They Represent” Tlaib
– Linda “Muslim Brotherhood” Sarsour
How did anyone actually vote for (or support) people like these to run this amazing country? 😉
(Source Photo: AOC is from Facebook and Impeachment is from me)
I just thought this was an interesting acronym that Amazon uses for selling unprofitable knick knacks.
They call it:
CRAP
It stands for:
Can’t Realize A Profit.
Sometimes, you see people buying stuff, lots of stuff, and it’s not important–often, it’s all a lot of junk.
But they like to shop–bordering on shopsholics’ compulsion.
Maybe they don’t even have a lot of money for this stuff.
However, just the act of buying it–of having some control in their lives and some freedom of the purse–makes them feel good and buy and hoard more and more things.
Likely it ends up in Goodwill, recyclables, the attic, or the trash.
Is it crap?
Well you can’t make realize a profit on it. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
While some politicians are hard at work to create jobs, revive our manufacturing, and expand our economy…
…Others like NY Representative, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are busy destroying jobs from her city.
After a grueling competition for the Amazon HQ2 with 200 cities offering incentives to land one of two 2nd Headquarters for Amazon, the winners were Arlington, VA and Long Island City, NY.
These lucky cities were to divide 50,000 new jobs and $5 billion in investment by technology and e-Commerce behemoth, Amazon.
Instead of thanking G-d for their good fortune and celebrating their win under the political savvy of New York’s Governor, Andrew Cuomo and NYC’s Mayor, Bill de Blasio, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez railed against the “corporate welfare” and basically killed the deal.
What should be critically noted is that incentives for Amazon were based on meeting their performance benchmarks for NYC and Arlington and were not corporate charity or handouts.
What Socialist, Ocasio-Cortez failed to understand is that Capitalism is successful precisely because of competition and incentives for performance, and that capital is ideally allocated to where it can get its highest return.
In short, New York and Virginia weren’t giving away the farm, they were competing for great jobs and investment in their cities–and that’s what 200 cities recognized from Mexico, Canada, and the U.S.
Aside from AOC’s blatant bigotry and Anti-Semitism so far, she has goofed with a Green Deal that promised income security (socialist handouts) to those “unwilling to work” and sought to get rid of everything from “farting cows” to Airplanes, and now she’s lost 25,000 jobs in NY.
Voters in NY and Democrats in Congress should be paying attention to their new Socialist champion and one of its extremists in chief.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
I am marveling at the Genius of Amazon and Jeff Bezos but also concerned about their future direction.
Traditionally, they have invested for the long-haul!
For years, Amazon never made a dime, actually operating at a loss.
But all the time making long-term investments in infrastructure (warehouses, supply chain, logistics, etc.) and in customer acquisition.
Their great selection, reasonable pricing, free shipping, and easy return policy lured hundreds of millions of people to drop the brick-and-mortar stores and even other online retailers to go Amazon all the way.
Most people I know get virtually everything and anything on Amazon these days.
Of course, the fear always was that Amazon would become such a dominant player and monopoly that no one else could compete.
For a long time, they didn’t even charge sales tax!
It seems people can’t even imagine not having Amazon–where in the world would they shop and get all their stuff in 2-days or less (Prime Customers) and still be able to return all the crap they don’t even want.
So here is the rub.
Now that Amazon is so dominant, guess what? They are raising the Prime Rates and cutting back on returns–with customers actually being banned for returning too much.
Ah, the lure, bait and switch.
Amazon got us all as their slave customers–and we let them and love them for it.
And after they snared us with all the convenience and security of being able to return stuff, they pull the rug and what can you do, but cry foul?
I love Amazon for their genius and what they have done for eCommerce, but I don’t like that they’ve built in a sense a dark empire to prey on their loyal customer base.
Mr. Bezos, here is my message to you…
Please stay true to your ideals of customer-centricity and long-term investment in the company that has been the foundation for what you have built into such a retail juggernaut.
Keep valuing your customers and serving them well and not trading them in for short-term profit gain.
In the end, that is a winning strategy that won’t land you in either regulatory hell and/or antitrust action to then force you to bend your knee or your ultimate breakup.
Remember, you have one chance to make the right decision for Amazon or I fear that it’s not product returns that you’ll be for long worrying about. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Amazon has upended so many industries–and you can basically buy almost anything there.
And yes, what you can’t buy today, you will be able to buy tomorrow.
What started as books and DVDs is now virtually synonymous with e-Commerce itself!
Next up for Amazon is pharmaceuticals!
Some people may think that Whole Foods gives Amazon the footprint it needs to sell these and dominate.
But what people aren’t considering is that Amazon can sell the pharmaceuticals online.
Amazon can do what other online drug distributors can’t.
Why?
Because Amazon has the most unbelievable distribution network in the world.
Currently, people can order drugs through the mail, but these tend to be for regular reoccurring prescriptions that have lead time.
However, Amazon can outdo these mail order pharma companies, because they can get you the drugs you need when and where you need it.
– You don’t feel well and can’t make it to CVS, Amazon will deliver to your door.
– Need same-day delivery, no problem.
– Plus do all your shopping together in one fell timesaving swoop.
My prediction:
Amazon the low cost, efficient online seller of everything to everywhere is going to partner with Teva Pharmaceuticals, the #1 world leader in low cost generic drugs.
Teva already produces 120 billion tablets and capsules every year, operates in 80 countries, and currently fills 1 in 6 generic prescriptions in the U.S.
Together, Amazon and Teva can make beautiful music, that is medicine + money!
Who needs CVS when pharmaceuticals perhaps soon can be gotten at Whole Foods or at your Trusty Amazon.com.
One more time, I see some radical disruption–and this time it will bring you cheaper and more convenient drugs–make a l’chaim to your health. 😉
(Source Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
(Endnote: I am a big fan + investor in Teva, and of course, all opinions here are my own.)
I took this photo a few weeks ago on the streets in Washington, D.C.
This was a huge box from eBay coming to someone.
In my building, they recently built an extra storeroom for all the deliveries that are coming everyday–there is no where to put all of them.
Jeff Bezos was recently names the 4th richest person in America, as the stock price of Amazon is up 45% in the last year alone.
While today in the Wall Street Journal, even the revered retailer of Herald Square, Macy’s, had their stock price shed half it’s value in the last year, and other big box retailers are hurting just as bad.
eCommerce is threatening the very survival of brick and mortal retailers, as they are seriously eating their lunch–and breakfast and dinner too!
But this is part of a much larger transition occurring from our physical to virtual worlds…
As we abandon department stores and the Mall for online shopping,
movie theaters and playhouses for home theaters and video streaming,
physical activities for gaming and virtual reality,
and even factories and office work for telework and robots,
soon we will have no real place to go and nothing to physically do.
From the bed and couch to the computer and gym, like hamsters on the wheel of triviality, we might as well package ourselves up in the big eBay box and send ourselves to outer space–but only as long as we can get Internet access there. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
As per my previous blogs on the mystical number 613 (corresponding to the G-d’s commandments in the Torah), today we have a technological twist.
Recently, Google paid an award to a former employee of $6,006.13.
The amount is special in two ways as you can see:
First of all, Google saw that, if you look closely, this number spells Google.
Secondly, it has the number mystical number 613 in it.
613 is a winner and so is Google, which is now the the most valuable company in the U.S. (worth more than Apple) at $554 billion!
If you use simple Gematria, where each letter is a number (A=1, B=2, C=3…Z=26), then Guess what other successful technology companies has the mystical 613 in their names:
(Also, see which amazing technology company has 613 twice in their name!)
In contrast, some ailing technology companies that do not have 613:
– Yahoo
– Twitter
– LinkedIn
613 is a reminder of G-d’s benevolence to mankind in that he G-d us the commandments as a roadmap to live by. 613 is a symbol of faith in G-d almighty and in his holy Torah (Bible).
For those that keep His charge, we believe that Hashem will bless them and keep them.
Indeed, technology used for the good of mankind is a blessing to us all. 😉
(Source Graphics: Andy and Dossy Blumenthal)
So I don’t know how I feel about this or maybe I do.
The Wall Street Journal reports today that from the 10 largest companies by market capitalization:
1) The top 3 are technology companies
– Apple $679B
– Alphabet (Google’s Parent) $489B
– Microsoft $422B
2) Moreover, a full 5 (half) of the top 10 are technology companies
That includes the 3 above and the other 2 below:
– Facebook $288B
– Amazon $280B
As a technology person, I am thrilled at the impact that IT has on our society.
We are no longer the same thanks to our Apple iPhones, Google Search, Microsoft’s business tools like Outlook, Office and SharePoint, Facebook’s social networking, and Amazon’s online shopping.
But to think that these information capabilities outweigh by value everything else in society that we need as people is somewhat astounding.
For example, the other 5 of the top 10 companies are:
– Exxon Mobil (Oil and Gas) $346B
– Berkshire Hathaway (Insurance, Utilities, Clothing, Building Products, Retail, Flight Services) $340B
– General Electric (Power and Water, Oil and Gas, Energy Management, Aviation, Healthcare, Transportation) $298B
– Wells Fargo (World’s Largest Bank) $280B
– Johnson and Johnson (Pharmaceuticals) $278B
So when you add these behemoths up–this is what we have:
The 5 top technology companies are worth $2.158T
Vs.
The top 5 traditional companies from all the other industries combined are worth only $1.542T
Net it out:
The largest representative IT companies are worth $616B or 40% more than the other major companies combined.
(In fact, just the top 3 IT companies at $1.56T are worth more than the top 5 other companies at $1.542T.)
Sure IT growth has been on a tear for the last couple of decades and we love everything futuristic it brings us.
But isn’t it a little scary to think that the companies that meet all our other needs from food, clothing, shelter, medicine, transportation, energy, finance, retail, etc. isn’t worth more to us than just the IT alone.
Perhaps adding it up from a value perspective just doesn’t add up in a real life perspective.
I love technology and want more and more of it, but man does not live by technology alone. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So if you ever go to Barnes and Nobles, you’ll see that they have the most horribly hard wooden chairs.
They are so uncomfortable–many people seem to rather sprawl out on the floor to browse the magazines and books, rather then get a butt bender in those darn chairs.
Some other people that I’ve seen now have resorted to placing cushy stuffed animals on the chairs to ease the discomfit on the arse!
I took this picture of someone’s chair by the window with 2 stuffed animals left over after what must’ve been a much needed cushion liner on the the bare wood.
[BTW, sorry for whoever buys those sat on, smelled on stuffed animals afterwards–ew!]
The question is why invite people in to browse and sit–if you are only going to make them so uncomfortable.
Ok, I get the implicit message, “You can read for a few minutes, but otherwise buy something or get the h*ck out!”
And not that they are wrong (they aren’t), but why resort to making people physically uncomfortable and forcing them to leave instead of making everything welcoming and encouraging shopping and sales.
Barnes and Nobles–a nice place to visit for 20 minutes as long as you have some stuffed animals for your butt–but Amazon will reign bookstore supreme. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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