Update On North Dakota Plan To Press Ahead With Infrastructure Projects This Summer -- January 30, 2015

Bakken.com is reporting:

North Dakota’s Senate has approved $1.1 billion in special funding so that infrastructure projects can begin by this summer.

Senators voted 44-2 Thursday to approve the “surge funding” bill that would fast-track funding to cities, school districts and communities affected by North Dakota’s exploding growth.

Very, very timely. "Funny" how things work out.

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Not Lost In Translation

Reuters is reporting:

Greece's finance minister said the government would not cooperate with the European Union and International Monetary Fund mission. 

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What Is This Telling Us?

Reuters is reporting:

Shares of Shake Shack Inc more than doubled on Friday, putting a nearly $2 billion price tag on the small cult hamburger chain, in a huge bet that its growth can match top performers in the crowded "fast-casual" dining space. 

Shake Shack's debut is the latest in a string of blockbuster IPOs from trendy restaurant chains that cater to younger and more affluent diners willing to pay a bit more for fresher and higher quality food. Growth-hungry investors are hoping to replicate the red-hot run of industry darling Chipotle Mexican Grill.

But Shake Shack's own CEO Randy Garutti cast doubt on whether it will do so, calling the chain known for decadent milkshakes and hormone- and antibiotic-free burgers a "very measured growth company."

This was also a major story on ABC News, Friday evening, noting that Shake Shack hamburgers -- just the hamburgers --  cost $5.19. It was also noted that the fast food hamburger industry is now twice the size of the fast food pizza industry.

Some observations:

• red meat; hamburgers; fast food; there has been a big push for the past seven years, and perhaps the last twenty years for healthier food, and red meat/hamburger is now bigger than ever
• one can buy a value-meal hamburger for a buck at McDonalds (a company that is doing badly, sacks their CEO), and yet premium hamburgers at high prices are all the rage; there's a lot of folks out there willing to spend big money on premium hamburger; $5.19 is just the hamburger -- add in $2.50 fries, $2.50 drink and we're talking a $10 hamburger meal
• makes Omaha Steak hamburgers a bargain; twenty years ago Omaha Steak offerings were seen as high end; and now I love Omaha Steak products (in fact, I have a Omaha Steak filet mignon on the grill now, while watching The Big Lebowski again)

Or, more succinctly:

• home delivery: pizza; dining out: hamburger 
• healthy food fad is just that ... a fad
• the economy is doing a lot better than folks think .... willing to spend $5.19/hamburger

When we were in Boston off and on for the past four years taking care of our granddaughters, I was amazed at all the hamburger restaurants, especially so many on Harvard Square, and they don't even have an In-N-Out there, nor a Whataburger.

Gutterballs, The Big Lebowski
Julianne Moore is ... well judge for yourself.

Biblical themes and tropes in The Big Lebowski.