Billionaire No More: Patagonia Founder Gives Away the Company
A half century after founding the outdoor apparel maker Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard, the eccentric rock climber who became a reluctant billionaire with his unconventional spin on capitalism, has given the company away.
Rather than selling the company or taking it public, Mr. Chouinard, his wife and two adult children have transferred their ownership of Patagonia, valued at about $3 billion, to a specially designed trust and a nonprofit organization. They were created to preserve the company’s independence and ensure that all of its profits — some $100 million a year — are used to combat climate change and protect undeveloped land around the globe.
The unusual move comes at a moment of growing scrutiny for billionaires and corporations, whose rhetoric about making the world a better place is often overshadowed by their contributions to the very problems they claim to want to solve.
I can report that my second booster (bivalent) was pretty mild. Had some wild fever-dreams last night, but am feeling about 90% today. Good enough to work.
P.S. Hey brain, can you stop having bad dreams about having school work due for classes that I didn't know I was taking.
Coal Roller FAFOs when he gets caught trying to sell his truck on Facebook, finds out that the cost of making his truck compliant is more than what it's worth. Government says "no, you can't use it to only use it offroad because it still will pollute." He is forced to crush his own car.
I love this quote: "They're overcharging for the water. Don't you get it?"
Municipal water is one of the great values available anywhere in the United States today. EBMWU water is a penny a gallon, and even at that price it's considered one of the more expensive "brands". Even so, it's high quality water.
In this case, "large size" refers to quantity of individual units - paper towels and TP.
Recently, CJay and his girlfriend Elle moved into a house in Oakland, kinda near Montclair if it isn't. We were invited over for dinner and to tour the new digs. Mrs Slug came up with the idea of going to Costco to get them a 30-pack of TP. But it was too close to the appointed hour, so it didn't happen.
Costco Charmin Ultrasoft is the only TP I buy. When Covid first started I had to buy Kirkland Signature because that's all they had when I went 1 hour early to stand in line so I had to "suffer" for a while.
i always ask for a kiddie scoop even if they charge me more. then i upgrade to a waffle cone .. not cheaper, just less ice cream since i rare eat that much and i like the cone-ice cream combo the best.
I've gone to Amorino Gelato twice since I've been here. First time was a Medium with Mango and Stracciatella. Last night was a M with Mango, Stracciatella, and Passion Fruit.
French fries from 5 Guys. During busy times, they throw in an extra scoop of fries - so it's an extra large at most places. During slow times, they throw in damn near the whole fryer worth of fries.
I bought pho for the first time, and why does nobody talk about the fact that it's 50% cilantro? Pho went straight into the trash after two bites, and I had SF Soup Co instead. 🫤
Last night we went to Tasca Kome, a japanese place recommended to us by HSB's friend. It was very good. I got a 5 nigiri and one fat roll plate. We also got a couple of other small rolls and tempura. It was very good and fairly inexpensive. So far I've found the food in Lisbon is VERY reasonably priced, bordering on inexpensive sometimes, like the grilled chicken place.
starting S4 of What We Do in the Shadows. It's at the point where the show could be retired, but after a couple of slow eps, it's been getting better.
Wondering if something changed with FX. I recorded all the eps on DTV Stream, and there a lots of uncensored F-Bombs. I don't recall that in earlier seasons.
i am up to episode 4 and about 300 pages into the book simultaneously. it took a while for the. book to get thru a lot of the previous generations to get up to the "present" as depicted in the show. now that it has, it is extra good to read/watch almost at the same time.
i usually read the book first, but enjoying the combo this time and not holding to any one rule too firmly.
[WaPo] Mainstream Democrats are winning and progressive are not gaining much traction. National GOP candidates are 36% MAGA and they are disproportionately winning. Brookings Institute says distancing from Trump has been a bad strategy as hardcore conservatives are a huge part of the party base, which contrasts with Democrats who have far more moderates. So Dems are staying fairly steady, but GOP is shifting right.
So it looks like the racist remarks at the BYU volleyball game may not have happened. Or at least, the guy who got blamed for it probably didn't do it.
This is beginning to look like a cross between a false assertion (Jussie Smollett) and a false accusation (Richard Jewell in the Atlanta Olympics bombing).
My guess is that the player isn't lying (she legitimately thought she heard something and maybe actually did), but if you look at the original stories the quotes about "constant racial slurs" mostly come from her godmother and her father, who were not actually there. So some second-hand accounts got reported as fact in some media outlets (who should have been more diligent), and then the player probably feels like she has to go along because that's the big story being amplified all over Twitter now.
Then when people actually go back and review the tape they can't find the evidence. That probably should have been the first thing to do.
There's a certain binary aspect to whether or not a person hears something. Either you do or you don't. Mumbled or muddled words don't count. Unfortunately, there's also stuff you can't reasonably account for, as I learned with my mom.
I remember one time she called me on the verge of being in a rage because "they" kept saying that her husband was cheating on her. My step-father was on a business trip in San Mateo. Keep in mind that my parents (mom and step-father) lived in New Jersey. I couldn't figure out who "they" were or why I should call my step-father to bug him about what someone else was saying about him.
It was only years later that I understood what was going on. Mom was having a schizophrenic episode. I didn't even know that she had been schizophrenic until years later. Probably 10 to 12 years later than that weird phone call, at least.
I'm not saying that the player in question is schizophrenic; only that stuff happens that can't be fully accounted for until it is. Such stuff falls under the heading of "In the fullness of time". It could happen that we'll find out more later that will provide folks with an aha! moment. But it won't be on any timetable and it will probably happen totally out of the blue.
ICYMI: Brian Kelly and LSU wax Southern 65-17. They scored 37 in the first quarter. It also doesn't help that Southern's first 11 possessions went punt, punt, pick-6, fumble, punt, punt, missed FG, missed FG, end of half, fumble, fumble...
It would have been worse, but LSU's backup QB was pretty bad.
ICYMI: Iowa's offense still sucked on Saturday, lose 10-7 to Iowa State.
150 yards, 3 turnovers (not including 1 missed fourth down conversion) , 6 punts, missed 48-yard FG to lose the game. They also got the benefit of 3 take-aways on defense.
He romped against USF, but got stuffed by Baylor's defense. He ran 13 times and only got 31 yards with his longest run being only 6 yards. BYU played pretty conservatively, running Brooks on 1st and 2nd down and then needing a more dynamic runner or a pass completion to keep their drives going. I think Brooks at BYU is the same as when he was at Cal - a high floor/low ceiling guy who will muscle out three yards after getting hit at the line of scrimmage. BYU's last regular season game is vs. Stanfurd and I hope he steamrollers them.
Before the start of the seventh inning of the San Francisco Giants 5-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves, the gates to the bullpen swung open, and Cole Waites, with his hair trying to decide whether it wants to be like Brandon Crawford or Jesus, came jogging out.
It was a memorable moment at the ballpark, an unforgettable moment for Waites, and a quietly monumental moment for the Giants.
It might have been lost on the fans who spend their days yelling at Farhan Zaidi for not yet having developed a young, star core for the Giants, but when Waites threw a 96-mph fastball that was incorrectly called a ball, the star of a new era began.
The Los Angeles Dodgers came into Tuesday with their first match point in the National League West race, if you can call it that. A win against the Arizona Diamondbacks would give Dave Roberts’ team their division crown back, after a one-year hiatus.
The clincher was a 4-0 win at Chase Field that game the Dodgers their ninth division title in 10 years.
Fittingly, the only pitcher on the staff who’s been a part of this successful, 10-year run was on the mound for this clincher. Did anyone expect anything less than an absolutely vintage Clayton Kershaw performance out in the desert?
Kershaw has been a very pleasant surprise for me. I didn't expect him to contribute as much as he has this season and assumed that he was on a steep career decline.
I think his decline in 2018 and 2019 was due to some back issues. Went to driveline before 2020 (maybe 2021) I think and brought his FB up a bit and threw his slider a little bit slower. Has been pretty good since.
It seemed like Cal couldn't sell out the allotment. So either fewer people are going than we thought, or ND gave us a shit ton because their fans don't want to go to a game against a lowly G5 (in 2 years) team ...
Billionaire No More: Patagonia Founder Gives Away the Company
A half century after founding the outdoor apparel maker Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard, the eccentric rock climber who became a reluctant billionaire with his unconventional spin on capitalism, has given the company away.
Rather than selling the company or taking it public, Mr. Chouinard, his wife and two adult children have transferred their ownership of Patagonia, valued at about $3 billion, to a specially designed trust and a nonprofit organization. They were created to preserve the company’s independence and ensure that all of its profits — some $100 million a year — are used to combat climate change and protect undeveloped land around the globe.
The unusual move comes at a moment of growing scrutiny for billionaires and corporations, whose rhetoric about making the world a better place is often overshadowed by their contributions to the very problems they claim to want to solve.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/climate/patagonia-climate-philanthropy-chouinard.html?campaign_id=190&emc=edit_ufn_20220914&instance_id=71940&nl=updates-from-the-newsroom®i_id=95471140&segment_id=106298&te=1&user_id=306b84d28d01963dfbedd722aeae6377
Important cat-tent: https://twitter.com/CulturedRuffian/status/1569686262969147394?s=20&t=VrzTw8zAWCLhNF7qQPsncA
RE: the cartoon at the top - "You pays your monies, you takes your chances", comes to mind.
Today in Covid
First booster (but fifth overall shot!) scheduled for next Tuesday
Signed up last night for my COVID booster. Friday, *October 7* in the afternoon. 3+ weeks out.
I can report that my second booster (bivalent) was pretty mild. Had some wild fever-dreams last night, but am feeling about 90% today. Good enough to work.
P.S. Hey brain, can you stop having bad dreams about having school work due for classes that I didn't know I was taking.
I've had that dream before.
Oh shit, what final did I miss?? Wake up...hold up...
Nur-Sultan was called Astana
Then it was Nur Sultan, not called Astana
Been a short time gone, capital Astana
Now to Kazahk delight, gonna be Astana alright
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/14/kazakhstan-to-change-name-of-capital-from-nur-sultan-back-to-astana
Is the cycling team going to change to? (Do they even still exist? Probably not)
Nice song lyrics, like Istanbul and Constantinople.
What happens when you get a professional photographer to snap hard-core hikers? This.
https://www.outsideonline.com/gallery/hiker-trash-vogue/
Australian farmers upset about invasive species getting into their monoculture fields
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-13/warning-as-canola-crops-bloom-across-wa-/101411858
Coal Roller FAFOs when he gets caught trying to sell his truck on Facebook, finds out that the cost of making his truck compliant is more than what it's worth. Government says "no, you can't use it to only use it offroad because it still will pollute." He is forced to crush his own car.
https://www.thedrive.com/news/diesel-ram-owner-forced-to-scrap-truck-over-deleted-emissions-equipment
Don't read the comments.
I've seen a few stories of the diesel customizers get hammered by the government on fees due to bypassing regulations. Haha..
No, he's not forced to crush his own car (or truck). He's acting like a petulant brat. I truly doubt that the cost of compliance is $10K.
depends upon how he disabled the emissions equipment. I could see a couple K for the equipment, and many hours to re-wire it properly.
So, in other words, he's paying the price for his hubris.
Crushing the truck is a huge waste. This just looks like someone who kills his wife and kids on the concept of "If I can't have them, nobody will!"
absolutely.
Wine
One of HSB's friends recommend I go down the street to buy some wine for No 1 and HSB. We'll see if it gets back unbroken and how good it is.
RIP 2-Buck-Chuck
https://www.winespectator.com/articles/wine-industry-iconoclast-fred-franzia-dies-at-79
I love this quote: "They're overcharging for the water. Don't you get it?"
Municipal water is one of the great values available anywhere in the United States today. EBMWU water is a penny a gallon, and even at that price it's considered one of the more expensive "brands". Even so, it's high quality water.
What do you buy in a large size?
In this case, "large size" refers to quantity of individual units - paper towels and TP.
Recently, CJay and his girlfriend Elle moved into a house in Oakland, kinda near Montclair if it isn't. We were invited over for dinner and to tour the new digs. Mrs Slug came up with the idea of going to Costco to get them a 30-pack of TP. But it was too close to the appointed hour, so it didn't happen.
Costco Charmin Ultrasoft is the only TP I buy. When Covid first started I had to buy Kirkland Signature because that's all they had when I went 1 hour early to stand in line so I had to "suffer" for a while.
Pho
Soda when all sizes are the same price, e.g. McDonald's
Lube
Well, not in "large" size, all 750ml - but generally 4 boxes (not all full) of the various scotch & bourbon I buy from K&L in SF (mainly scotch)
Ice Cream!
clothes
What do you buy in a small size?
A fountain drink at pregame Top Dog.
I'm a skinny guy and live by myself, so almost everything.
TBB and Scootie may say this is sacrilege, but ice-cream/gelato. There is steep decline in utility vs. volume.
i always ask for a kiddie scoop even if they charge me more. then i upgrade to a waffle cone .. not cheaper, just less ice cream since i rare eat that much and i like the cone-ice cream combo the best.
I am a proponent of quality, not necessarily quantity!
I, on the other hand, am a size queen.
"Quantity is a type of quality" - Josef Stalin .. . and sometimes me.
I'm a proponent of large quantities of high quality!
I've gone to Amorino Gelato twice since I've been here. First time was a Medium with Mango and Stracciatella. Last night was a M with Mango, Stracciatella, and Passion Fruit.
MMM..
Sometimes specialty coffee, to avoid ingesting too many calories. I'm not a Venti Frapuccino type of person.
French fries from 5 Guys. During busy times, they throw in an extra scoop of fries - so it's an extra large at most places. During slow times, they throw in damn near the whole fryer worth of fries.
DBD Lunch
I bought pho for the first time, and why does nobody talk about the fact that it's 50% cilantro? Pho went straight into the trash after two bites, and I had SF Soup Co instead. 🫤
Anyone have a recommendation for a veggie friendly place for Sunday on or nearby Lake Merritt?
Normally, Lion Dance Cafe, but they're closed until the end of the month--sorry!
Szechuan on the Mesa...treating our buddy that’s driving Darren & I to SBA at 4:45 a Fri for the flight to Chicago Midway....
A bowl of Tom Yum soup. I am trying to make up for my two days at the beach.
Today probably a Burrito from Taqueria Guadalajara. I didn't make lunch this morning.
90% sandwich, I think.
Leftover Chinese food.
Last night we went to Tasca Kome, a japanese place recommended to us by HSB's friend. It was very good. I got a 5 nigiri and one fat roll plate. We also got a couple of other small rolls and tempura. It was very good and fairly inexpensive. So far I've found the food in Lisbon is VERY reasonably priced, bordering on inexpensive sometimes, like the grilled chicken place.
Lunch at the hotel continues to disappoint.
anyone going to Lisbon should ask me or HAG to forward a list of food recs. i have never been, but it all sounds delicious
DBD AV
Reservation Dogs continues to be excellent
Yes, this season is even better then last.
I am ready for the Madisynn (two n's and one y, but its not where you think) Cinematic Universe.
YES! She's awesome, especially with the very serious Wong.
And I was late yesterday, but wanted to bring up Extraordinary Attorney Woo again. Anyone watching it?
Mrs. watched a few eps. thought it was a fine show.
starting S4 of What We Do in the Shadows. It's at the point where the show could be retired, but after a couple of slow eps, it's been getting better.
Wondering if something changed with FX. I recorded all the eps on DTV Stream, and there a lots of uncensored F-Bombs. I don't recall that in earlier seasons.
Baby Colin (and preteen Colin) are so great
House of the Dragon.
i am up to episode 4 and about 300 pages into the book simultaneously. it took a while for the. book to get thru a lot of the previous generations to get up to the "present" as depicted in the show. now that it has, it is extra good to read/watch almost at the same time.
i usually read the book first, but enjoying the combo this time and not holding to any one rule too firmly.
I'm enjoying the show.
Democracy Dumpster Fire
"Democracy Dies in Book Deals"
https://www.salon.com/2022/09/14/ny-times-maggie-haberman-called-out-for-withholding-bombshell-democracy-dies-in-book-deals_partner/
[WaPo] Mainstream Democrats are winning and progressive are not gaining much traction. National GOP candidates are 36% MAGA and they are disproportionately winning. Brookings Institute says distancing from Trump has been a bad strategy as hardcore conservatives are a huge part of the party base, which contrasts with Democrats who have far more moderates. So Dems are staying fairly steady, but GOP is shifting right.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/13/primary-results-polarization-far-right/
Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) responds to Mark Hamill's well wishes in a pretty great way
https://twitter.com/MaryPeltola/status/1569182525091717120
Other Colleges
So it looks like the racist remarks at the BYU volleyball game may not have happened. Or at least, the guy who got blamed for it probably didn't do it.
https://www.npr.org/2022/09/14/1122977386/byu-apologizes-to-a-banned-fan-saying-it-found-no-proof-they-yelled-racial-slurs
This is beginning to look like a cross between a false assertion (Jussie Smollett) and a false accusation (Richard Jewell in the Atlanta Olympics bombing).
Weird times we live in.
My guess is that the player isn't lying (she legitimately thought she heard something and maybe actually did), but if you look at the original stories the quotes about "constant racial slurs" mostly come from her godmother and her father, who were not actually there. So some second-hand accounts got reported as fact in some media outlets (who should have been more diligent), and then the player probably feels like she has to go along because that's the big story being amplified all over Twitter now.
Then when people actually go back and review the tape they can't find the evidence. That probably should have been the first thing to do.
There's a certain binary aspect to whether or not a person hears something. Either you do or you don't. Mumbled or muddled words don't count. Unfortunately, there's also stuff you can't reasonably account for, as I learned with my mom.
I remember one time she called me on the verge of being in a rage because "they" kept saying that her husband was cheating on her. My step-father was on a business trip in San Mateo. Keep in mind that my parents (mom and step-father) lived in New Jersey. I couldn't figure out who "they" were or why I should call my step-father to bug him about what someone else was saying about him.
It was only years later that I understood what was going on. Mom was having a schizophrenic episode. I didn't even know that she had been schizophrenic until years later. Probably 10 to 12 years later than that weird phone call, at least.
I'm not saying that the player in question is schizophrenic; only that stuff happens that can't be fully accounted for until it is. Such stuff falls under the heading of "In the fullness of time". It could happen that we'll find out more later that will provide folks with an aha! moment. But it won't be on any timetable and it will probably happen totally out of the blue.
ICYMI: Brian Kelly and LSU wax Southern 65-17. They scored 37 in the first quarter. It also doesn't help that Southern's first 11 possessions went punt, punt, pick-6, fumble, punt, punt, missed FG, missed FG, end of half, fumble, fumble...
It would have been worse, but LSU's backup QB was pretty bad.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/boxscore/_/gameId/401403873
ICYMI: Iowa's offense still sucked on Saturday, lose 10-7 to Iowa State.
150 yards, 3 turnovers (not including 1 missed fourth down conversion) , 6 punts, missed 48-yard FG to lose the game. They also got the benefit of 3 take-aways on defense.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/matchup?gameId=401404064
Somehow, Iowa is a 23 point favorite over Nevada.
https://www.actionnetwork.com/ncaaf-game/nevada-wolf-pack-iowa-hawkeyes/126672
Nevada is bad, but I don’t think they’re +23 bad. Nevada covers
thats what I think and a few $ on it today at sportsbook.
Wilner says Pac12 is looking to partner with Amazon. Since it's Wilner, there is a decent chance that's not true.
https://twitter.com/wilnerhotline/status/1569763103579197440
Getting a Prime account is much easier and useful than getting the Pac12 network.
Wilner has been pretty accurate about this conference negotiation stuff.
Couldn't read the tweet but I suppose it goes with a Prime account?
Oregon to pay BYU $1.1m to play them in Autzen. That is a dangerous game.
https://kslsports.com/492526/byu-oregon-big-payday-autzen-stadium-college-football/
Christopher Brooks seems to be having a pretty good season.
He romped against USF, but got stuffed by Baylor's defense. He ran 13 times and only got 31 yards with his longest run being only 6 yards. BYU played pretty conservatively, running Brooks on 1st and 2nd down and then needing a more dynamic runner or a pass completion to keep their drives going. I think Brooks at BYU is the same as when he was at Cal - a high floor/low ceiling guy who will muscle out three yards after getting hit at the line of scrimmage. BYU's last regular season game is vs. Stanfurd and I hope he steamrollers them.
Brooks would be a great compliment to Ott.
Yet Damian Moore would still inexplicably get 10 touches a game….
He is an excellent receiver out of the backfield, though, especially for a bigger back.
Also he has to stay healthy
Mail bomb at Northeastern University.
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/1-taken-to-the-hospital-after-reported-explosion-on-northeastern-univerity-campus/2833790/
Well, that SUCKS
Recalling the bad old days of Ted Kaczynski.
Pro
Quebec politicians say captain Nick Suzuki should learn French.
https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/34587090/quebec-politicians-new-montreal-canadiens-captain-nick-suzuki-learn-french
A's lose to the Rangers, 8-7
Watched the 9th inning, kind of disappointing. Also according to Glen Kuiper and Dallas Braden the goal for the A's is to avoid losing 100 games.
It was the 9-9 tie in the 7th? or 6th that was frustrating.
Cole Waites debuts, nothing else good happens
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2022/9/13/23352429/giants-braves-recap-cole-waites
Before the start of the seventh inning of the San Francisco Giants 5-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves, the gates to the bullpen swung open, and Cole Waites, with his hair trying to decide whether it wants to be like Brandon Crawford or Jesus, came jogging out.
It was a memorable moment at the ballpark, an unforgettable moment for Waites, and a quietly monumental moment for the Giants.
It might have been lost on the fans who spend their days yelling at Farhan Zaidi for not yet having developed a young, star core for the Giants, but when Waites threw a 96-mph fastball that was incorrectly called a ball, the star of a new era began.
151 more days until Spring Training
Dodgers clinch the National League West without breaking a sweat
https://www.truebluela.com/2022/9/13/23352434/los-angeles-dodgers-arizona-diamondbacks-game-recap-win-division-clicnher
The Los Angeles Dodgers came into Tuesday with their first match point in the National League West race, if you can call it that. A win against the Arizona Diamondbacks would give Dave Roberts’ team their division crown back, after a one-year hiatus.
The clincher was a 4-0 win at Chase Field that game the Dodgers their ninth division title in 10 years.
Fittingly, the only pitcher on the staff who’s been a part of this successful, 10-year run was on the mound for this clincher. Did anyone expect anything less than an absolutely vintage Clayton Kershaw performance out in the desert?
Kershaw has been a very pleasant surprise for me. I didn't expect him to contribute as much as he has this season and assumed that he was on a steep career decline.
I think his decline in 2018 and 2019 was due to some back issues. Went to driveline before 2020 (maybe 2021) I think and brought his FB up a bit and threw his slider a little bit slower. Has been pretty good since.
Also taking a recent month off due to a back tweak may have worked out in the long run
that's true. Rest for Oct.
Cal
Go Bears!!!
Man, I'm starting to get pumped for the Notre Dame game. I think there are going to be a LOT of Cal fans there.
It seemed like Cal couldn't sell out the allotment. So either fewer people are going than we thought, or ND gave us a shit ton because their fans don't want to go to a game against a lowly G5 (in 2 years) team ...
Sounds like 9K + Cal fans. Not bad. I hope the band makes the trip. What a great football environment as opposed to half-full Memorial on a good day.