Christmas Trees for Rockefeller Center

     Tonight is the annual tree-lighting at Rockefeller Center.  The festivity includes "music artists" who lip-synch and too many TV commercials overpaying for expensive airtime.  For the first time in 20 years, NBC won't have commentator Matt Lauer hosting the event... because they fired him overnight for his sexual misconduct.  

     Unlike other cities at Christmastime, NYC treats its event like a "lock-down": spectators are expected to line up several hours beforehand; if you leave for refreshments, you might not get back in; no bathrooms; barricades all around; streets are closed; and subways stations are closed.  

     During the event, spectators can't see most of the performances... 

because they happen atop the buildings (as seen below) or off-site.  It doesn't seem worthwhile to stand in line for hours for such a substandard view... but people do it.

     When its finally over--after the pushing of a button by an uncaring mayor--EVERYONE leaves AT THE SAME TIME.  That floods the few subway stations that are available.  It overwhelms the bus stops in the vicinity... for HOURS!  Such aggravation is more of a deterrent to avoid the event... but only clever people consider such logistics.    

     Naturally, the MTA does NOT arrange extra subways or buses at this time of year.  That's your tax dollars hard at work.  Anyone with knowledge/wisdom avoids the area.  

     However, one thing might make the mess less offensive: if they stopped chopping down real trees that take 100+ years to grow.  

     In the cheap/skinflint style of robber-baron John D. Rockefeller, Rockefeller Center doesn't even PAY for the trees! 

     Rockefeller Center persuades landowners to give each tree "for the joy given to others".  So, the landowner loses property value by removing a historic tree... and doesn't get money.  Not a dime.  

     This is not surprising, considering that the very first Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center was purchased in 1931 by poor Depression-era employees working to build Rockefeller Center.  Mr. Rockefeller didn't buy the original tree, so I suppose his family doesn't want to start doing it now either.  Yet, his family's Fund is happy for all the consumerism/tourism/profits that the tree brings his Center.

     The Rock obviously has enough money, so why can't they build an artificial tree for Christmas?  Americans already clamor for an artificial Las Vegas and Disney World.  Many people opt for faux firs in their homes.  Many cities around the globe happily illuminate artificial trees.

Those cities avoid harming centenarian evergreens.  

     Why make such a fuss of scouting/cutting down historic pine trees for Rock Center?  Is it really worth it?  Rockefeller is a closed-off "wall" that practically hides the tree from the majority of the city.  Tourists go out of their way to find it.  

     Even by planting hundreds of baby trees, people cannot replace the hundred-year-old conifers that get chainsawed for Manhattan (and then get put in a nearly-hidden place).  It might be better to transplant a tree into the park and use it annually.

How are such incomes possible???

     When flicking through the News, you see how inept candidates can be, yet they are appointed for Presidential Cabinet positions.

     A New York Post article illustrated that 1 in 4 NYC government workers got paid more than $100,000 in wages/overtime in 2016.  That's 76,166 employees who work for a lazy and historically-corrupt city, which charges extreme rent and taxes (and gives crappy infrastructure, slovenly environments, and a lack of progress).
     Openthebooks.com reported that 37,000 of 295,455 full-time city workers receive a salary surpassing $100,000!  Do you think the top-earners are only school principles, MTA chiefs, police captains, and deputy mayors?  No.  Look at this nonsense: NYC has 775 school custodians, and 694 of them earn $100,000+, while urban students have miserable grades and cannot graduate college!  
     The Post article revealed that thermostat repairmen and plumbers made more than $200,000 per year.  

Appreciating Cheese

     Hello cheese lovers!  Too many Americans love cheese in the same way they adore Twinkies.  They're eager to consume "cheese products"--like Cheez Wiz from 1952--that are stored in cans... or have a "shelf life" of several years.  That is not cheese.  In fact, it can only be labelled as "cheese spread", which is the same as "cheese product".  (Full of greed, Cheez Wiz reduced the actual cheese content throughout the years).  Such things are merely artificial ingredients, food coloring, and preservatives designed to keep a company rich and give you an unhealthy filler.  Cheese should not come from a can... especially a can that is not refrigerated and has a "shelf life" of two years.  Yet, many American's guzzle it.

     Some urban dwellers may be influenced by professional cheesemongers, speciality shops, gourmet shops, and local TV shows.  Urbanites are also impacted by Europeans who visit/immigrate to their areas and and talk about Parmigiano-Reggiano, Gouda, Morbier, and Stilton (which all achieved their nation's criteria for Protected Designation of Origin status).  Resourceful people beyond cities can learn from online videos and websites... and their travels to cheesemaking destinations.  

     Rural residents probably appreciate artisanal cheese due to their proximity to farms/dairies/creameries.

     Last week, Lewis and I popped into Murray's Cheese Shop on Bleecker Street.  It is iconic and classic.  Lewis has a penchant for firm cheese with crystal-like texture.  In that regard, we like aged Gouda (from the city of the same name in the Netherlands, where it was invented) and Montgomery Cheddar (Cheddar was invented in England's Village of Cheddar).  Thusly, we snapped up Sbrinz from Switzerland.  It sounds like how a cartoon character would sneeze, but it's truly a marvelous selection!

     You have to admire how Europeans mandate quality, and that their consumers demand it.  Brainwashed (and brain-dead) Americans lazily settle for "cheese products" and "cheese spreads".  They make industrial corporations rich, enabling those corporations to undermine/weaken small-batch cheesemakers across America.  

They happily ingest industrial imitations, such as these...

     Similar to Cheez Wiz, Velveeta is owned by Kraft Foods conglomerate and can only be classified as a "processed cheese product".  Its ingredients include water, milk protein concentrate, four types of salt, and food coloring.  That doesn't occur in South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, or India. 

     For example, Sbrinz is made according to unyielding specifications.  By law, it must be aged at least 18 months.  We bought one that was aged for 30 months!  

     The glory of their quality-assurance is superb, as they let it ripen for nearly 3 years before selling it.  You get a full sweetly nutty experience when eating it.  Other laws limit the distance the milk can be made from the producer... thus ensuring quality and freshness of milk.  No trucked-in milk that needed to be fortified to survive the journey to a factory.  

Legally, the milk must be raw, and it must come from cows eating grass in summer and hay in winter.  

American cows are force-fed cornmeal, due to the powerful corn industry (hence so many foods full of corn-syrup, as seen in the ingredients list below).  

By Swiss law, the cows making Sbrinz cannot be fed silage.  

From Crete to Wales, most European countries produce high-quality cheese.  Go try them; they're truly a mouth-watering experience.

Proper cheesemakers invest in handiwork and quality.  

Proper cheesemongers help you find such quality.  Give them your business/patronage.  Keep the art alive.