BBC News Podcast reviews Eat GreenPoint

A bit of morning comedy does a body good.

The BBC reviewed the Brooklyn restaurant Eat, where punters are asked to dine in silence.

The owner explained that they encourage diners not to speak at all during their stay in the restaurant (90-minute set meal time). The interviewer asked about mobile phones and the owner replied that goodness no, he asks customer to please switch them off. Why the silent meals, is it to commune more deeply with the food?

The owner replies: "It can be whatever you want, I don't want to be dictatorial about it"

Props to the BBC guy for returning with: "Apart from asking them to shut up."

The owner also mentioned that every silent meal so far has ended in applause.

"Perhaps," replied the BBC, "out of relief that it was over".

Great interview. And stupid dining concept. IMHO. People: food IS sustenance and it IS communal. We eat because otherwise we die, and therefore if we must do it we may as well have fun doing it. And use it to our advantage: the meal is a time to come together and do nothing other than share. We share food, and we share stories. The whole point of food - beyond survival - is conversation. Even in Brooklyn.

Update:
The WSJ review brings up that whole dictatorial thing again:
Punishment for talking was having one’s plate–filled with handmade whole wheat pasta or  scallops and calamari, among other dishes–removed and placed on a bench outside, where loudmouths could finish their meals.

What Freedom Is

"we too can walk into an iced cream shop and choose what flavor we want just like we could in America, and this is not freedom....Yes, many of us can go to school, can work, can earn and spend our own money. But what we study or work at, and how and why and when and where and with whom and wearing what–all of this is controlled. "

And also

I can smile because I had a good day at work without being forced to explain why I am so happy.
I can cry at my empty, robotic life without being forced to explain why I am unhappy.
I can have facial expressions. Facial expressions.
I can have facial expressions.
I can have facial expressions.

Read the whole post here.

I would add that despite the title, this piece is not about religion. This piece is about freedom pure and simple.

Late night adventures

Around 21.30 G and I decided we needed lemons. So we went to the grocery store and bought three lemons. And I'm pretty sure the lady at the register laughed at us for making this a two-man job.

Is Italy running Healthcare.gov?

I'm pretty sure it is. Possibly with some input from France and foot soldiers from Greece.

The 24 hour hotline is closed on weekends. There is no message to tell you this by the way, the line just cuts off.

The website is still not working. (And no: this is nothing like Apple. Apple is one choice of many.)

Most recently the message has been that if your application has gone through (whether or not you actually submitted it) you can not call and ask for an update or see if anything is missing. In the particular case of which I speak this is especially important since an application was not actually submitted, though the phone operator said it is currently under way. In any case you must wait to see if somebody from the exchanges phones you. By Dec. 15th. After which, you have two weeks to get your act together.

Ah at one point I did arrive far enough on the website to compare premiums. Only. The screen only showed the prices but there was no way to view what was included. It's surprise health insurance.

New anniversary

I had my first ever Dairy Queen meal yesterday.

Movie Reviews

Rotten Tomatoes and I seem to agree only rarely. Anyway, I enjoyed The Heir Apparent: Largo Winch.
In a James Bond/Jason Bourne kind of way. Even if his initials are LW.

I can has hired

A new employee. Who came to me from a previous employer.

I have created movement in the labor market.

So now that previous employer has to fill that person's position. They may hire from another department, office, competitor, business type, or somebody who is fresh out of school or previously not working. In any case, it creates another movement in the labor market.

My employee is being paid, I should add, not through a hand-out, investment, or subsidy, but through revenues arriving from business growth. The existence and work of my business, has moved the money around making my clients better off with a great solution, my business better off with business growth, and the labor market better off with at least one more person employed.

And that, ladies and gentleman, is the "magic" of free capital movement. The best community programme there is.