A dish with Jewish roots is Mish Mosh soup. It usually contains egg noodles, kreplach (Jewish ravioli), matzo balls and chicken broth with pieces of cooked chicken, carrots and onions.
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The title of this article reads, “Coronavirus vaccine 99% effective in preventing serious disease, death.” Israel has vaccinated more than half of its population and, as such, is a great “real world” laboratory for measuring the effectiveness of vaccines for the damn virus.
“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”
– Aldous Huxley
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This piece is titled, “The real bias in cable news isn’t what you think.” The author, Paul Brandus, has worked as a television producer for both MSNBC and Fox News. Here is more from the piece:
“Left-wing loons and right-wing nuts. This is the way Americans are conditioned to think these days. There’s little room for nuance anymore; the last two decades have seen an accelerated erosion of the political middle, with folks identifying wholly with one tribe or another — and shunning those on the other side. Things are getting angrier and nastier, it seems, by the day.”
“…Then there is this: Whatever political bias these channels have (and they do have them) is nearly always driven by an even bigger bias: that toward drama and conflict. The constant use of “breaking news” banners to announce often insipid bits of information. “Countdown clocks” to marginal events. Dramatic music, whooshing sounds, bells underneath it all. There are 24 hours to fill, and it’s cheaper to have an endless parade of talking heads — often underqualified pundits and journalists who are supposed to have an opinion on everything.”
I utterly reject the notion that only two ways exist to define the relationship between citizens and their government. A person does NOT have to choose only between Column A and Column B. Also, don’t forget that these “news channels” are in business to make money, which means catering to their perceived constituency.
Brandus is too easy on social media, in my opinion. Whether or not it is the proximal cause of polarization, it is the biggest factor in that through its use of algorithms and drive for profit, it sends people to places where everyone is preaching to the choir.
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From wallpaperup a picture of one of my idiosyncratic car “fetishes,” a 1973 Pontiac Grand Am:
I have been meaning to write about this car for a least a week, but until today have gotten sidetracked. Supposedly, Pontiac came up with the name Grand Am by using Grand for Grand Prix luxury and Am for Trans Am performance.
The Grand Am was really three distinct cars, but it’s only the first generation (1973-75) in which I have interest. This iteration had a little success in its first model year with sales of about 43,000, but between the oil crisis and concurrent recession, sales dropped to 17,000 in 1974 and fewer than 11,000 in 1975 after which it was discontinued.
Although the standard engine was the venerable Pontiac 400 cubic-inch V8, in 1973 the Grand Am was available with a 455 cubic-inch engine that produced 250 HP/370 LB-FT of torque. One source lists the Super Duty 455 (310 HP/390 LB-FT) as an option for the Grand Am, but I can’t find corroboration anywhere else.
Of course, if I were in a position to acquire and to store a car like this, I would also be in a position to have it restomodded. Once again, it’s the 21st century and I am not driving a car with a carburetor and drum brakes or older discs.
Hemmings currently has just one 1973 Grand Am listed for sale, in Desert Tan over Saddle with 67,000 miles and an asking price of $11,900. Mark A, is this a favorite of yours?
So many cars just one life, indeed.
#MondayMishMoshSoup
#TheVaccinesWork
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Disaffected Musings 
The first car my lovely wife and I bought was a 1973 Olds Cutlass which was built on the same A-body as your preferred Grand Am. We bought it after I returned from Thailand before we went back to Texas, trading in the 1969 Chevelle which was her car when we got married. GM’s mid-size lineup for those years were all built on that A-body, We looked at all of them but chose the Oldsmobile.
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Thanks for sharing, Philip.
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I had to think for a minute, but after thinking about it; I only own one vehicle that has not been modified in some way. That would be the mini van I purchased last month. And the ONLY reason it hasn’t been modified? A younger family, the father being a member of an organization I belong to, had a bad wreck the end of last month (hit a vehicle parked in the middle of a corner by a drunk driver) and totaled their car. Both were hurt, but not seriously luckily. Their insurance gave them a rental car, but once they totaled their car and paid it off, the rental went away. They have 3 children and the only transportation they had was his motorcycle. I don’t need the van, only bought it due to it being a good deal because of the mileage (18K), so I’m letting them use it until they can get back on their feet. Doesn’t matter to me if it’s a week or a year. If in fact they decide they want to keep it, I’ll sell it to them for what I have invested in it, under $3500.
Anyway, back to the topic. In one way or another, all my vehicles have some modifications, some more than others. For example; I added seat belts and a PerTronix ignition to my Lark and am considering a Turner disc brake upgrade.All of my motorcycles have upgrades, even an old (1975) Yamaha TY 250 trials bike. My cars and trucks I have mentioned before so I won’t repeat those tales here.
I guess the only “stock” vehicles I drive are rentals.
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Very nice of you to provide the family with transportation, DDM.
Some car shops use the motto “Stock Sucks.” I don’t know if I would go that far, but I have modified the last two vehicles I have owned and were my primary transportation. I don’t think I will modify the 2015 Cadillac ATS, though.
I am almost certainly not finished modifying the Z06. Later this year I will probably take it to a local shop and have some mods done that will increase HP to about 840 at the crank and 700-ish at the rear wheels. Unless we win a lot of money in a lottery, that will probably be the last powertrain mod. I am thinking about some custom paint work under the hood; the LT4 motor is not much to look at.
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” the LT4 motor is not much to look at.”
Under the hood of most every newer vehicle isn’t much to look at. Most are covered in giant plastic pieces which seem to cover every mechanical bit of the engine, or at least all the wires and sensors modern engines need. Might be another reason I prefer older vehicles; much more enjoyable to look at.
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Well, I do drive a 1976 Grand Prix, and yes I do have an affinity for the colonnade A-bodies. I do like the look of the Grand Am. The unfortunate truth is the Grand Am was a good example of how bad things had become as 1970s GM tried to slice the market ever thinner and likely cost themselves money created a lot of confusion.
Pontiac’s A-body lineup already had the base LeMans, and the Luxury LeMans (later named Grand LeMans). Of course these included the slant-back coupe, sedan and wagon versions. In 1973 the GTO option was still available on the LeMans. The Grand Prix was also an A-body and closely related to the LeMans, except it was a notchback or formal roof coupe on the 116 inch wheelbase (the A-body sedan chassis, opposed to the 112 in coupe chassis used for the LeMans and Chevelle). The Grand Prix also had the different dash layout and bucket seats with floor shift and console were the standard.
So, when the Grand Am was devised, the idea was a more European sport experience. What they essentially did was take the LeMans, graft an Endura nose (suggestive of the GTO/Trans Am), and threw the Grand Prix’s interior appointments inside (the luxury side of a Euro sports sedan). And of course you could option any one of these cars pretty much like the others.
At the end of the colonnade run, they even added the Can Am, which is fairly rare, and was much more ‘GTO/Trans Am’ as it included a shaker hood scoop.
It would seem quite appropriate you’d get around to posting the car in a mish mosh post!
But bottom line… they’re all still Pontiac A-body cars, not only competing with each other but also with Chev’s Chevelle/Malibu/Laguna, Olds’ various Cutlass versions (which was ultimately the most popular of them all) and Buick’s Special/Century/Regal lines (which I think are the most rare now). It’s no wonder the early generation Grand Am failed to find a market.
The pictured example is a pretty car, in my eyes. Nice colour combo (probably not very common) and the honeycomb wheels always look great.
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Many thanks for sharing your knowledge of these cars, Mark. To me, “so many cars just one life” is not a hollow aphorism.
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