As Rink Rats begin year number three of our weekly blog and
we head into the month of May, we stress the need for all to “just stay calm”.
The summer months are around the corner. May is a transition month to the summer:
college graduates begin to head out into the world of employment and debt,
families plan their summer vacations, the Triple Crown, hockey and basketball
playoffs highlight the sports world, and the winter clothes can now finally be
put away.
But with the bills of Christmas for some of us still
outstanding, the pessimism of our economy and political issues in this election
year high, along with the Housewives of Orange County coming to another season
end, many of us are uneasy and frazzled.
Yoga, a nice glass of wine, and even an evening of American
Idol are of little help to ease this stressful state. Some of us try to comment
on Twitter or Facebook our frustrations and ill feelings. But all we get in
return is even more idiotic observations and suggestions.
May is a good time to take a morning walk before work when
the air is cool and clean before the heat of the summer. Visit your library and
find a good book to read, take a friend to lunch, tell your parents you love
them, buy some flowers or plant a garden – all these are excellent methods for us
to stay calm and relaxed as we head into the heat of the summer.
STAY
CALM RECIPE: “Lemon Poppy-Seed Pancakes with
Greek Yogurt and Jam”
Time: 20 minutes
1 1/3 cups Greek yogurt, more for
serving
2/3 cup whole milk
4 large eggs
6 tablespoons unsalted butter,
melted, more for frying
2 tablespoons honey
260 grams all-purpose flour (about 2
cups)
12 grams baking soda (about 2
teaspoons)
12 grams kosher salt (about 1
teaspoon)
2 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
Jam, for serving.
1. In a bowl,
whisk together the yogurt, milk, eggs, butter and honey. In a separate larger
bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the dry
ingredients and fold in the wet ingredients until just combined. Fold in the
poppy seeds and lemon zest.
2. Heat a large
skillet over medium heat. Add a pat of butter to the skillet and swirl to coat.
Working in batches, drop 1/4 cup batter into the pan. Cook until bubbles form
on the surface of the pancakes, 2 to 3 minutes; flip and continue cooking until
golden and firm, 1 to 2 minutes more. To serve, slather each pancake with a
dollop of yogurt and a spoonful of jam.
Yield: 6
servings.
BIRTHDAYS
THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this week to: Martin
Brodeur (40), Mike Dirnt (40), Chris Krich …famous football coach, Tim McGraw
(45), Johnny Miller (65), Pete Seeger (93), Bob Seger (67).
LAW
SCHOOLS FLUNK ECON 101 - "U.S. law school deans could do
with a little Econ 101. Tuition at the likes of Yale and Stanford keeps rising
faster than inflation, despite a dwindling supply of aspiring lawyers. And job
prospects for graduates are getting worse. For all their sophisticated skills,
legal educators still haven't mastered the law of supply and demand. ... While
MBA and other graduate programs show signs of renewed popularity, law schools
are still suffering. Applicant numbers have tumbled to about 67,000 for the
fall 2012 class, the lowest since 1987. ... Part of the problem is the high
price of legal education. Tuition has quintupled at private law schools since
1985, averaging nearly $40,000 last year ... Including living expenses, it
costs over $230,000 for the three years required to earn a JD from Chicago's
Northwestern, the school's website says."
WAL-MART
STOCK CRUSHED - "Wal-Mart's stock fell almost 5 percent
... accounting for about one-fifth of the losses in the Dow Jones industrial
average, as investors reacted to a bribery scandal at the retailer's Mexican
subsidiary and a report that an internal investigation was quashed at corporate
headquarters in Arkansas. The New York Times reported on Sunday that Wal-Mart
investigators had found credible evidence that the subsidiary, Wal-Mart de
Mexico, had paid millions of dollars in bribes to support expansion in Mexico,
where the retailer has one in five of its stores. Told of this evidence in
2005, top executives in Bentonville, Ark., shut down the investigation, The
Times reported ... The fallout for Wal-Mart could be significant. A settlement
of any sort would very likely include large fines by both the Justice
Department and the [SEC]"
TICK-TOCK:
SOCIAL SECURITY: BROKE BY 2033 - "Social Security is
rushing even faster toward insolvency, driven by retiring baby boomers, a weak
economy and politicians' reluctance to take painful action ... The trust funds
that support Social Security will run dry in 2033 - three years earlier than
previously projected ... There was no change in the year that Medicare's
hospital insurance fund is projected to run out of money. It's still 2024. The
program's trustees, however, said the pace of Medicare spending continues to
accelerate. Congress enacted a 2 percent cut for Medicare last year, and that
is the main reason the trust fund exhaustion date did not advance."
"The trustees who oversee both programs say high energy
prices are suppressing workers' wages, a trend they see continuing. They also
expect people to work fewer hours than previously projected, even after the
economy recovers. Both trends would lead to lower payroll tax receipts, which
support both programs ... Unless Congress acts - and forcefully - payments to
millions of Americans could be cut."
SPORT
BLAST: LONDON OLYMPICS LOOKING STRONG - "This past Wednesday,
100 days before the July 27 opening ceremony, the countdown begins in earnest
for the world's biggest sporting event ... So far, except for a few glitches,
the Olympic rollout has gone fairly smoothly, a showcase of British know-how
and efficiency, officials say. Construction on several new stadiums is finished
or nearly there, an extensive transportation plan is being refined, a massive
security operation is underway and tickets have sold like hot cakes. But
there's little room to take anything for granted here in one of the world's
most densely packed and gridlocked cities, a magnet for tourists and terrorists
... And London's status as an expensive destination has been amply borne out by
the Games' price tag, which started at less than $4 billion but has been marked
up several times to the latest figure, a whopping $15 billion."
ANNIVERSARY
– Twenty
years ago this past week one evening I was driving home from teaching a class
at 10:00 PM and noticed the streets were strangely empty of traffic, the air
smelled of smoke. The Los Angeles riots were beginning, a strange and scary
time to live in metro Los Angeles.
HAPPY
BIRTHDAY – we begin our third year of weekly blogs. Any
suggestions?
NEW
SIGTARP REPORT: NO PROFIT? - Out overnight from newly installed
Special Inspector General Christy Romero. Top findings: "It is a widely
held misconception that TARP will make a profit. The most recent cost estimate
for TARP is a loss of $60 billion. Taxpayers are still owed $118.5 billion.
TARP's costs and legacies involve far more than just dollars and cents, and an
analysis should not be focused alone on money in and money out. ... TARP
legacies: Moral hazard and 'too big to fail'... TARP continues to be subject to
criticism that TARP helped large banks but not homeowners. In addition, after
3½ years, community banks have an uphill battle to exit TARP because they
cannot find new capital to replace TARP funds"
APPLE
SCORES ANOTHER BLOWOUT - "Apple has brushed aside concerns
that it could soon reach the limits of its soaring growth, with news ... that
huge international sales of the iPhone enabled its latest financial results to
once again top even the most optimistic Wall Street forecasts. The news gave an
immediate lift of more than 7 per cent to Apple's shares in after-market
trading, adding more than $35bn to the company's market value and reversing a two-week
correction that had wiped 13 per cent from the price. ... Behind the latest
surge in Apple's results was news that it had sold 35m iPhones during the
quarter, ahead of most estimates. The 11.8m iPads also sold during the period
were also at the top end of most estimates and 150 per cent ahead of the year
before. .. Overall, the US computing and consumer electronics company said it
had seen a 59 per cent jump in revenue to $39.2bn, with net income rising 94
per cent $11.6bn, or $12.30 a share. Wall Street had been expecting earnings of
about $9.94 a share on revenues of $36.5bn."
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton head to China for key economic meetings Thursday and Friday amid rising
tensions (more below) ... French runoff between Sarkozy and Hollande, which
could be big for the austerity (Sarkozy) vs. growth (Hollande) debate in
Europe, takes place Sunday along with big Greek parliamentary elections ... Per
WSJ, CEOs of big banks meet with Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo on Wednesday to
discuss exposure limits and other elements of Dodd-Frank ... Carlyle Group
expected to price its IPO on Wednesday.
Next week, finally that restaurant review and our Jackass of
the month.
Until Next Monday, Adios.
Claremont, CA
April 30, 2012
#III-1, 106
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