Category: Happiness

Brace yourselves, spicy-food lovers

Is there no end to the shortages? First it was toilet paper, then computer chips and now this.

Brace yourselves, spicy-food lovers: The world is now facing a sriracha shortage.

Huy Fong Foods Inc., the maker of one of the nation’s most beloved condiments, has been forced to suspend production of its iconic spicy sauces due to a shortage of chili peppers.

The Irwindale company confirmed Wednesday that a shortage of peppers in its inventory had affected production of Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce, Chili Garlic and Sambal Oelek.

What appears to be a letter from the company to buyers of the products, dated April of this year, recently came to light online.

“Currently, due to weather conditions affecting the quality of chili peppers, we now face a more severe shortage of chili,” the letter reads. “Unfortunately, this is out of our control and without this essential ingredient we are unable to produce any of our products.”

Chili-heads didn’t take the news lightly on social media, with some lamenting the “worst news of the year” and the “end of days.” Others said they were planning to bulk-buy Huy Fong’s sauces in case shelves ran empty.

Los Angeles is the City of Cars!

A state lawmaker from Los Angeles County has introduced legislation that would block freeway expansions in underserved communities across California.

Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) said her bill would prohibit the state from funding or permitting highway projects in areas with high rates of pollution and poverty and where residents have suffered negative health effects from living near freeways. With crowded streets and freeways Garcia says people should be using public transportation.

Garcia is wrong.

This proposal to stop highway construction is a utopian dream by environmentalists that will impact the lowest paid workers who will be forced to have longer commutes to work in unsafe public transportation.

Like it or not California’s life blood is the automobile.  Los Angeles is the city of cars. More than our means of transportation to our jobs, cars take us on trips to our favorite destinations on the coast or the mountains.  While the Metropolitan Transit Authority is building new lines to reach more parts of the community the ridership on buses and light rail has declined in the past few years.

Arguments that freeways have impacted minority communities more than other part of Los Angeles just does not hold water.  Examples are the Hollywood Freeway that diagonally goes from Downtown Los Angeles to the San Fernando Valley.  The Golden State Freeway that parallels the railway line and original surface street highway in the San Fernando Valley.  The Harbor Freeway parallels Alameda Street from Downtown Los Angeles to Long Beach.  The Ventura Freeway paralleling the original U.S. 101 was cut through high priced home neighborhoods from Studio City to Woodland Hills.

Public transportation has too many issues.

– Crime on public transportation is a known fact for most people.

– Seating is uncomfortable.

– Bus service is infrequent and unreliable.

Angelinos love their cars.  They take owners directly to their destinations.  The seats are comfortable and the music or talk on their radios is their choice. 

Los Angeles is the city of cars and most of us love it.

LA Auto Show Entrance 2015

Warren Buffett says public speaking is the single best investment you can ever make

Public-speaking skills will set you apart.

As graduate of Toastmasters Competent Communicator program I can confirm that Buffet’s recommendations are correct. That program changed my life.

Billionaire Warren Buffett has offered investment wisdom for five decades at the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder’s meeting. Buffett didn’t disappoint the 40,000 shareholders who attended this year’s meeting, often turning questions about the stock market into tips for a successful life.

During the six-hour question and answer period, Buffett was asked twice to name the single best investment he would recommend today as a hedge, or protection, against inflation. While the two people who asked the questions expected a stock tip, Buffett gave what he considered a far more valuable opinion.

“I’ll tell you something even better than one stock,” Buffett said.

“The best investment–by far–is developing yourself.”

If you are exceptionally good at something, people will beat a path to your door, says the 91-year-old investor. If you develop the skills that others are willing to pay for, you’ll thrive despite what’s happening in the broader economy. According to Buffett, “your abilities can’t be inflated away from you.”

For years, Buffett hosted business school students who made a pilgrimage to his office in Omaha to meet with him. The students were often surprised when Buffett showed off his most prized diploma–a framed certificate from a public-speaking course.

“I have one diploma hanging in my office,” Buffett would tell them. “It’s from a Dale Carnegie course which cost me a hundred bucks back in 1951. It’s incalculable how much value I got from that hundred dollars.”

There’s nothing like working to improve your own skills, Buffett said. He then added, “I would say communications skills are the first area I would work on to enhance your value throughout life, no matter what you do, because if you can’t talk to people, you’ll have a real problem selling anything–stocks or anything else.”

Yes, it’s all about Happiness!

Yes, I only watch two or three football games ever year. This spectacle was exciting right to the very end. Like the Rams-49ers game the Rams won with just a few minutes to spare. I suspect it was all FIXED. The idea is to entertain. Just like the ads (Larry David on Cripto and happy A.I. dogs) and the half time show you watched and the NFL earned millions of dollars.

So the rich earned million and everyone is happy. Well for the moment anyway. No masks. What? Me worry!

7 Classic Christmas Songs Written By Jews

From ‘White Christmas’ to ‘Winter Wonderland,’ some of the most famous songs of the season are by members of the Tribe. Yes Jews call themselves part of a tribe. That is a significant difference between Christians and Jews.

American Jews were prominent in the songwriting business of the 20th century, and even if they didn’t celebrate Christmas, they were happy to write for the popular Christmas market. Below are some of the most famous Christmas songs written by Jews. The link will enable to see the singers and her the songs on Youtube.

By the way have you noticed that orthodox Jews have Santa Claus like beards. Could it be that Santa Claus is really a religious Jew?

“White Christmas”

Irving Berlin

“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”

Johnny Marks

“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”

Johnny Marks

“Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow”

Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne

“Silver Bells”

Jay Livingston and Ray Evans

“The Christmas Song” (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)

Mel Torme

“Walkin’ In a Winter Wonderland”

Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith

Baskin Robbins – 31 Flavors

Did you know that Irvine ‘Irv’ Robbins (1917-2008), co-founder of Baskin-Robbins, opened his first ice cream store using money he saved from his #BarMitzvah! Born in Winnipeg to Eastern European Jewish immigrants, Robbins grew up working in his father’s ice cream parlor in Tacoma, Washington. He always finished the day happy and loved making others happy. After serving as an army sergeant in World War II, Robbins opened the Snowbird Ice Cream parlor in 1945 in Glendale, CA. In 1948, he joined forces with his brother-in-law Burt Baskin and the legendary Baskin-Robbins was born! Contributor: Jill GoltzerPhoto: Baskin-Robbins.

I post this because my parents were born in Winnipeg the children of Eastern Jewish immigrants who came to Canada between 1900 and 1905.