Books I read last month that I’m recommending you read this month: Walter Isaacson’s biography of Elon Musk, Charlie Munger’s Poor Charlie’s Almanack, Ganbatte! (a gift from one of my Japanese colleagues), and William Faulkner’s The Reivers.
When Jim Carrey Goes Off Script…
It shouldn’t surprise anyone, but this eight-minute video digest of Jim Carrey going off script on various movie sets demonstrates his special comedic genius.
Funny, Interesting, Surprising, Shocking, Thrilling…
24 Quick Videos Worth the Watching
Average Watch Time: 54.6 seconds
Total Watch Time: 20 minutes
1. Spooky: Carl Sagan’s “Foreboding of an America.”
2. Reality Check: Former Kenyan president responds to Trump’s dismantling of USAID.
3. Emotional: James Blunt doesn’t need sentimental music to make this song a heart-breaker. (Try not to tear up.)
4. Impressive: A fantastic beatbox performance by an unknown talent.
5. Inspiring: Dr. Gabor Maté on lifetime regrets.
6. Exciting: Killer dance moves.
7. Intriguing: Three ways to grow new brain cells.
8. Insightful: American vs. British comedy – “The “Underdog Debate” by Ricky Gervais.
9. Silly: Speed dating for an Arab prince.
10. Interesting: Three traits women find irresistible in men.
11. Fun. Celebs reacting to impressions of themselves. (This guy is good!)
12. Brilliant: Eternal inflation and the multiverse with Brian Cox.
13. Interesting: What is junk DNA? (Dr. James Tour on redefining human origins)
14. Funny: When black guys and white guys laugh…
15. Eye-opening: Joe Rogan on Bill and Hillary Clinton.
16. Puzzling: Attractive women explaining science. (Is this a thing?)
17. Funny: A Finnish comic takes on the English language.
18. Thrilling: Great fight, great commentary. I came across this the other night. I was surprised I’d never seen it before.
19. Fascinating: Einstein’s prediction proven after his death.
20. Moving: A story about an amazing man that was discredited by the liberal media.
21. Exciting: The first ever CRISPR gene-editing medicine!
22. Amazing: The secret mistake embedded in the speed of light.
23. Noteworthy: “Grow Up” – Megyn Kelly calls out CNN pundit.
24. WOW!: The greatest Led Zeppelin cover? You tell me!
* Clippings from my January Journal
* News that you probably missed because the mainstream media didn’t cover it
* I tackle the RFK Jr. nomination and the roundup and deportation of illegal immigrants
* Reading recommendations on getting into AI, getting out of NATO, the end of DEI, and corn syrup
* Bourbon!
* Questions, thoughts, and recommendations from your fellow readers
* And a fun little PS
Another Crazy-Busy Month for Me
January for me was no less jam-packed with writing deadlines, business meetings, projects, plans, and urgencies – including personal, social, and family events – than December was.
I’m not complaining. These are obligations I freely chose and do enjoy. Apparently, this is how I want to live this stage of my life.
Nevertheless, I am aware, and am often reminded, that I spend 10 to 16 hours each day by myself. I’m also aware that this troubles some friends and family members. Where are my priorities? Don’t I realize that according to actuarial tables I have fewer than 10 years left? Have I considered the fact that I’m acting selfishly? How can I excuse myself?
I can’t excuse myself. I can only explain what I’ve been doing and let those who feel entitled to judge me, judge me.
Looking back at my calendar, I see that I was busy during the whole of the first week with hosting 15 or 20 members of the Ford and Fitzgerald clans who had traveled to Delray Beach to renew connections and enjoy the (relatively) good weather. That and a half-dozen lab and doctor appointments to assess the status of my recoveries from a carotid artery surgery, a complete knee replacement, and, more recently, a bout of super-high blood pressure, along with various other less serious health concerns. All while I was continuing my experiment with losing weight via weekly semaglutide injections.
You didn’t ask, and I see no reason you should care, but I was given good to very good reports on all counts.
I did have several business meetings that were important to me – one involving a merger, one involving a de-acquisition, and two intense but rewarding half-day conversations about restructuring publishing companies whose profits were on a downward slope.
During the next three weeks, unbridled by visiting family, I was able to get 12 new chapters written for nearly as many almost-finished books, including Wealth Culture, The Challenge of Charity, The 7 Natural Laws of Wealth Building, and one on the 25-year history of finding and developing Rancho Santana from a cow farm to a world-class resort. I also had two virtual meetings with my partners and colleagues in Japan. One was about marketing strategies for 2025. Another was a critique of advertising copy written by several of their copywriters, which I very much enjoyed – probably because it felt like my critiques and suggestions were spot-on and could result in bigger monthly ROIs, just as a similar meeting the month before had resulted in, in one case, an 800% higher response rate.
I had several good planning calls with the senior executives running Rancho Santana, FunLimón, and Paradise Palms Botanical & Sculpture Gardens. Those calls are almost always good because the people running them are very good at what they do.
I read four good books and skimmed two not-so-good ones, and I watched six movies nominated for Academy Awards (two of which were very good).
And all the while, I enjoyed writing my weekly blog posts, which I hope you enjoyed reading.
Enough about my busy-ness. Let’s talk about other things. First, about bourbon, and then about the future of the United States over the next four years.
Eat, drink, and be chary… about value!
At my cigar club across from the tracks, guests eat, drink, and smoke for free. The cost of admission is courtesy, conviviality, and appreciation. Guests of good will understand the implications of those three rules. With one exception: Inexperienced drinkers and smokers might occasionally mistreat the best booze and cigars in stock out of ignorance.
I’m talking about painful and almost unforgivable offenses such as a Ron Zacapa XO rum with Coke or grinding out a half-finished Padron Family Reserve in an ashtray.
After years of unsuccessful efforts to prevent such atrocities from happening, I had to subdue my egalitarian prejudices and create a VIP Room.
Newcomers are welcome to order whatever type of booze they prefer from Frank, the club’s resident bartender. And as you can see, there are plenty of good and reasonably priced brands to choose from.
Likewise, inexperienced cigar smokers can broaden and deepen their appreciation of cigars by selecting from several humidors outside the VIP room containing more than a dozen highly rated sticks that are well priced – i.e., less than $8 per.
Although the VIP room is always unlocked, I’ve found that it has solved the problem of mistaken assaults by simply being there. Guests tend to ask for permission to enter. And when they do, I ask them about their knowledge and preferences. If they are neophytes, I help them choose from the beginner boxes outside the room. If they are experienced smokers, I walk them into the room to help them select a fine (and relatively expensive) cigar that they haven’t yet tasted.
One problem solved. Another arose. How do I decide what brands of what types of alcohol to put outside and inside the VIP room?
In the case of scotches, I have delegated the task to SS, my partner in the art business, who is a connoisseur.
As a long-time tequila drinker, I can make tequila-stocking decisions based on my own experience.
But for rums and bourbons and ryes and the rest, I have to resort to going online and comparing a half-dozen or so “Best” rankings.
I revise all of my selections once a year, and just completed my research on bourbons. In the “Living Rich” section below, you can see the choices I made for 2025.
A new kind of Trump derangement syndrome? Like… is he deranged?
Trump has been so busy disrupting government as usual that I can’t keep up. And since his “deal” strategy is closer to threatening and bullying than diplomacy, it’s hard to know what he means when he makes public statements about his intentions.
Perhaps the craziest from my perspective is suggesting that the US should take over Gaza and deport 1.5 million Palestinians. Alex Berenson responds:
So what’s really happening here?
There are a few possibilities.
1: Trump is serious. He is tired of hearing about Gaza and wants to make it the world’s problem, and he believes that Israel will be safer if it doesn’t have to deal with Palestinians in Gaza (and possibly the West Bank too).
2: Trump is semi-serious. He wants to light a fire under the Arab world to do something about Gaza, and he thinks this proposal will do so. He views this idea as a negotiating tactic.
3: Trump did it to distract the world from the fact that he’s going to let Israel do whatever it wants in Gaza. By the way, I am fine with letting Israel do what it wants in Gaza. (I know many of you disagree, but I think Israelis have the right to live without fear of mass terror attacks.) But that’s Israel’s problem, not ours.
4: Trump likes attention, and he hadn’t gotten enough Tuesday.
Click here for more.
Another coveted award for Rancho Santana, and…
Another proud moment for the Rancho Santana team!
Rancho Santana made it to the NYT’s prestigious “52 Places to Go in 2025” list, where it was recommended for, among other things, its ecotourism attractions, including “vast stretches” of preserved woodlands, five beaches, riding stables, and a turtle sanctuary.
You can get a look at Rancho Santana here.
Did You Hear About This?
The News: NPR has a new chief operating officer
On Jan. 13, Ryan Merkley was named NPR’s new COO. “Throughout his career Ryan has demonstrated a commitment to the public trust, leading organizations that prioritize universal access to the common good,” said NPR president Katherine Maher (who is perhaps best known for describing the First Amendment as the “number one challenge” that makes it “tricky” to remove content).
The View: Merkley’s prior job was Director of the Aspen Institute’s “Commission on Information Disorder,” whose big-name participants included Katie Couric, Prince Harry, and DHS official Chris Krebs. Under Merkley, the Commission drafted a report containing a series of hair-raising proposals, including creating “holding areas” into which “influencers with repeat bad behavior” would be placed for “manual moderation and scrutiny,” and the use of “demonetization” to “remove access to product features for violative behavior.”
Hmm… Maybe COO at NPR stands for Censorship Optimization Officer.
The News: The US is getting its own Iron Dome!
One of Trump’s executive orders that got virtually no attention in the media except for a short piece in the WSJ was a project titled “The Iron Dome for America.” The order asks for a plan to develop an advanced technological defense system based on the very successful system created by Israel. It instructs new Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to submit to the White House within 60 days “a reference architecture, capabilities-based requirements, and an implementation plan for the next-generation missile defense shield.”
The View: The threat of nuclear war via ICBMs is being eclipsed by super-high-tech military style drones that can drop a hundred little bombs for every massive ICBM. America’s current defense (and I mean North America, including Mexico and Canada) is dependent entirely on the US nuclear defense system, which was built to defend against atomic bombs. This transition has been evolving for at least a dozen years. Why haven’t the previous three administrations – not to mention Democrat war hawks and Republican neocons in Congress – ever proposed something like this? The answer is fascinating and scary. And more than 75 years old. If you don’t know the answer, you’ll want to take the Quick Video Course I’m working on, tentatively titled “The Cold War Isn’t Over. In Fact, It’s Been Heating Up for Years.”
The News: Another EV startup fails
Canoo, an EV startup launched in 2020, boasting it had secured deals with the US Army, NASA, Walmart, and USPS, declared bankruptcy in late January and immediately shut down operations. According to The Hustle, the company squandered $600 million in funding and folded owing $164 million to creditors, far more than its remaining assets are worth. Canoo follows other EV manufacturers recently gone bankrupt, such as Fisker and Lordstown Motors.
The View: Tech analysts I know tell me that Tesla has been, since inception, so far ahead of its competitors technologically that it’s nearly impossible for them to catch up.
Getting the Best Price for Your Business
A friend writes: “When people wanted to buy my company, I wasn’t ready to sell. When I became ready to sell, nobody wanted to buy. Is this just the capriciousness of life, or is there a pattern?
“The passion of a buyer, his or her readiness, seems to be more of a driver in transactions than the readiness of the seller. Is this true in your experience?
“I’ve had a discussion this morning with ChatGPT on the subject, asking if there were any quotations describing this phenomenon. There were plenty on the secrets of selling but none on this particular concept. So we (me and the machine) went about trying to create one. Through our dialog, I came up with the following, which ChatGPT agreed was good (such a good little robot): ‘Sales are driven by the buyer’s urgency, not the seller’s emergency.’
“I could see you riffing on this. For example:
Advice to a desperate seller. It’s not the price. Don’t focus on discounting your way to a solution. Think instead of building urgency, or at least desire, on the part of buyers. Do this with persuasion – copywriting, photography, video, all the tools of storytelling.
“What do you think?”
My Response: This problem is common for owners of small and even medium-sized businesses. When things are going well and cash is flowing and their bank account is rising, running the business is fun and they aren’t likely to think about selling it. But when the economy, the industry, or the company itself is doing poorly, they are going to think about it – especially if they are at or near retirement age.
I don’t have the space here for even a portion of the thoughts I’ve had on this subject. But if you are in this position, here are a few that might help…
Don’t ever allow yourself to value your business based on what you’ve heard others have got in selling their businesses. The stories you hear about are almost always exceptions to the rule.
Develop your own metrics based on a formula you would use to value a business like yours (in terms of industry, product, size, revenue, and profit history) and make it a regular part of your thinking while the business is going strong.
Then once a year, ask yourself a few questions:
* What could I get for it based on my formula?
* Who do I know in the industry that would buy it?
* What is the one thing about my business I wish they don’t find out (because they will)?
* Are there serious buyers aside from my competitors?
* Is it possible that one of my key employees would buy it?
* If so, what kind of financing terms could I offer?
Make a list of potential buyers and keep in touch with them. Periodically joke about you buying them out or them buying you out. It’s just a joke, but you will be planting a seed that you may one day harvest.
And finally, this: If you do find a buyer and he’s willing to pay the price you want, take a step back and ask yourself: “Is selling my company really the right move?”
I’ve been on both sides of this many times over the years, and those experiences have left me feeling doubtful about selling. I can think of several times when buying a business proved out to be a great thing, but I can’t say the same about selling. When I think about the businesses I’ve sold, I always wonder if it wouldn’t have been better to have sold enough shares to get the cash I wanted but maintained control so that the new “owner” didn’t ruin it.
US Health Care: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to be Director of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been a major issue of concern for not only the Democrats and their media, but also for some prominent Republicans and, shockingly, The Wall Street Journal.
The main issue, if you believe the rhetoric, is the question of whether he has the experience, expertise, and knowledge to head up this massive governmental bureaucracy.
Those who oppose his nomination argue that his bias towards healthy living and natural medicine has devolved into a belief in all sorts of unproven and scary “conspiracy theories” – most notably his contention that vaccines have been oversold to Americans by Big Pharma, that some of them (like the COVID vaccine) are ineffective, and others (like the Hepatitis B vaccine) are dangerously overprescribed to infants.
Those who favor his nomination – such as yours truly – believe that health care in the US is not operating to promote healthy outcomes for Americans, but rather to increase profits for Big Pharma (the multibillion-dollar drug companies), Big Food (the multibillion-dollar grain and sugar industry), and Big Medicine (the multibillion-dollar corporate triad of hospitals, health insurance, and legal businesses supported by lobbyists, the NIH, the CDC, and other government bureaucracies), as well as the hundreds of officials in Washington who rake in big bucks each year in political contributions from all of the above.
Think I’m spouting a conspiracy theory?
Consider where the US health care system stands in relation to the rest of the world: the good, the bad, and the ugly…
The Good
There are three “good” things that are often cited about the American health care system:
* The World Health Organization ranks the US #1 in the world for “responsiveness to the needs and choices of the individual patient.”
* Americans have had more access to new cancer fighting drugs than Canadians or Europeans because of the length of their approval processes. In some cases, according to the Fraser Institute, it took Canada more than 180 days longer to green light a new cancer treatment than in the US.
* The US leads the world in new medical innovations. A 2009 study by the Cato Institute, for example, showed that American scientists won the Nobel Prize in 33 out of the previous 40 years, whereas scientists from the entire rest of the world won it in only 25. (Often it was shared between Americans and non-Americans.) Additionally, of the top 27 drugs and devices, US physicians, companies, and scientists had a hand in developing 20 of them, whereas European physicians, companies, and scientists had a hand in only 14.
The Bad
* Health care costs in the US are enormous. The country spent $3.3 trillion on health care in 2023 – more than any other country per capita ($11,582 per person) and as a percentage of GDP (17.7%).
* Almost two-thirds of that $3.3 trillion cost – 64% – is paid for by American tax dollars, and that amount is growing. Health care taxes are higher in the US than in any other country – even those with universal health care programs.
* Inflated pharmaceutical prices are another huge factor. Americans spend an average of $858 per person on prescription drugs, about twice as much as people in Australia.
The Ugly
If the huge cost Americans pay for their health care – through taxes, health insurance fees, and out-of-pocket costs – resulted in longer and healthier lives, it could be justified. But that is not the case. The ugly truth is that by almost every metric, Americans are less heathy than most of the world, including many developing countries!
Don’t believe me? Take a look at this:
* The US has lower life expectancy at birth, higher death rates for treatable conditions, and higher maternal and infant mortality rates than other high-income countries.
* America’s infant mortality rate is higher than that of 47 other countries, including many much less developed countries and many countries with government-run health care systems.
* Nearly 75% of Americans are overweight or obese. Nearly 40% have prediabetes. America’s rate of drug overdose deaths far exceeds that of any other wealthy country, and has jumped 50% since 2019. (More than 107,000 Americans died of a drug overdose in 2023.)
Which brings me to the question…
So… why RFK Jr.?
I’ve been publishing newsletters on health for nearly 40 years. When I began, I would have had the same negative impression of RFK Jr. that his detractors now have. After all, it’s the only logical conclusion you could have if you get your news and information about health and medicine from the mainstream media.
Back then, I thought that any ideas I heard that were contrary to the established orthodoxy of modern medicine were baseless beliefs held by fringe religious sects or other nutty groups.
But since then, I’ve probably read 10,000 scientific studies (mostly executive summaries, to be honest), worked with dozens of doctors and scientists (with a natural health bias, to be sure), and even published a few pamphlets on health and medical falsehoods supported by special interest groups (including one I wrote about the widely held belief that sun causes skin cancer – melanoma, the one that kills).
I am now convinced that there is a reason why the US spends more money on health care than any other country in the world, and yet Americans are consistently ranked at the bottom in most of the important measures of health and wellness.
Given what I now know, I am strongly prejudiced in favor of RFK Jr.’s appointment to head up HHS for the following reasons:
* His decades-long experience litigating against Big Pharma, Big Food, and Big Medicine. In a feat of logical absurdity, some of those opposing RFK Jr.’s nomination have tried to destroy his credibility by suggesting that this experience makes his integrity questionable. Huh? The man has made his living fighting the lies and corruption of the Health Industrial Complex, not profiting from it, as his detractors – including the Dems opposing him in Congress and the major liberal and conservative media – have done.
* As an advocate for public health against Big Pharma, Big Medicine, and Big Food, RFK Jr. knows more about the deceptive marketing and PR tactics that these mega-industries have been practicing over the last several decades than 98% of our DC representatives. He also knows from personal observation the damage that these industries have caused, both in terms of the cost of health care and the terrible results.
* In the four+ decades he’s been battling the bad guys, he’s focused on what the doctors and health experts I trust believe is the elephant in the room – the indisputable fact that the major causes of sickness and death in America – obesity, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes – have nothing to do with viruses.
Let’s look at the congresspeople currently opposing RFK Jr.’s nomination. Here’s a list of the politicians who received the largest total political donations from Big Pharma last year:
Since RFK Jr. does not profit from promoting the half-truths and outright lies of the Health Industrial Complex and their stooges, as head of HHS he will be able to make policy decisions that are not dictated by ad fees or political donations.
But I think his main attribute is that, like many other Trump’s nominees, RFK Jr. is a Beltway outsider, which means that he has no loyalty to the tens of thousands of bureaucrats in DC that make their money by perpetuating our failed health care system. He won’t have any hesitation about getting rid of droves of them, which would be a huge step forward in making health care cheaper and infinitely better for all Americans.
Here he is providing his own bona fides for the job.
Is ICE Following Campaign Promises?
Or Is Homan on a Deportation Bender?
Tom Homan, President Trump’s newly appointed border czar, has been busy since Jan. 20, rounding up and deporting illegal immigrants.
In repeated public statements, he’s said that ICE’s priority at the outset will be going after immigrants that were let into the country with criminal records or have committed crimes since entering or otherwise present a safety threat to US citizens or to the security of the country.
None of the mainstream media is objecting to that strategy, per se. But since Trump’s election, they have been suggesting that it is a ruse – that the true aim is to deport immigrants indiscriminately, including peaceful, law-abiding people that have been here for many years, some of whom are raising families and even paying taxes.
I believe that there should be a path to citizenship for such people. And it should be a safe and speedy one.
Keep in mind that our economy is currently running on a large population of “undocumented” workers. Maybe in 10 years, all such work with be done with AI and robotics, but until that is a reality, we need to keep these people working. But legally.
Anyway…
Let’s take a deep breath, put aside our feelings of anger or virtue, and look at the facts…
* As of 2022, 77% of the immigrants in this country were here legally, with 49% becoming naturalized citizens.
* In 2023, the US recorded a record-breaking foreign-born population of 47.3 million, meaning immigrants accounted for 14.3% of the population.
* Between Jan. 21 and Jan. 23 of this year, ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested many individuals on charges or convictions including sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and drug offenses. They included nationals from a slew of countries, including Afghanistan, Angola, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Senegal, and Venezuela.
* ICE also issued nearly 400 detainers, which are requests to notify ICE when undocumented individuals are released from custody. The requests targeted individuals charged with severe crimes such as homicide, sexual assault, and robbery.
* A Honduran national, Franklin Osorto-Cruz, was convicted of driving while intoxicated. He was arrested in New York.
* A Jamaican national, Kamaro Denver Haye, was arrested for “promoting a sexual performance by a child less than 17 years of age and possessing sexual performance by child less than 16 years of age.”
* On Jan. 22, ICE-ERO New York City arrested Jose Roberto Rodriguez-Urbina, a 22-year-old citizen of El Salvador and alleged MS-13 gang member.
* In Boston, Bill Melugin, a Fox News reporter, said he witnessed ICE Boston make eight arrests, including murder and rape suspects and a volatile Haitian gang member with 18 convictions who told cameras that he “ain’t going back to Haiti” and “f— Trump, Biden forever!”
* An inadmissible Mexican national, Adan Pablo-Ramirez, was arrested in Illinois with convictions for operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol.
* A Mexican national, Jesus Perez, was arrested in Salt Lake City and charged with aggravated sexual abuse of a child.
* Colombian national Andres Orjuela Parra was arrested in San Francisco. He has a conviction for sexual penetration with a foreign object on an unaware victim.
* A Mexican national, Jesus Baltazar Mendoza, was convicted of 2nd degree assault of a child. He was arrested in St. Paul.
* Six unauthorized immigrants from Guatemala were arrested in Miami, with criminal histories including battery, child abuse, fraud, resisting arrest, DWI, trespassing, and vandalism.
Is all of that an indication that ICE does not intend to arrest and deport unauthorized aliens that are not public threats? Here is what Homan has publicly stated on that issue:
“Right out of the gate it’s public safety threats, those who are in the country illegally that have been convicted, arrested for serious crime. But let me be clear. There’s not only public safety threats that will be arrested, because in sanctuary cities, we’re not allowed to get that public safety threat in the jail, which means we got to go to the neighborhood and find him. They will be arrested too.”
And this:
“I’m being realistic. We can do what we can with the money we have. We’re going to try to be efficient, but with more money we have, the more we can accomplish.”
The Case to Get Out of NATO Now
Trump has plans to divest the US from many global and regional alliances and organizations. On top of my list of what should on top of his list is NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. I’ve been intending to write about this for some time. Happily, I just read a piece by David Stockman that makes the case better and more persuasively than I could have.
Stockman makes four dramatic statements:
1. The Federal budget has become a self-fueling fiscal doomsday machine, even as the Fed has run out of capacity to monetize the skyrocketing public debt.
2. The only viable starting point for fiscal salvation is slashing the nation’s elephantine Warfare State by at least $500 billion per year.
3. The route to that end is a return to the “no entangling alliance” wisdom of the Founders, which means bringing the Empire Home, closing the 750 US bases abroad, scuttling much of the US Navy and Army, and withdrawing from NATO and similar lesser commitments elsewhere.
4. Jettisoning NATO requires debunking its Origins Story and the false claim that it brought peace and security to post-war America when what it actually did was transform Washington into the War Capital of the World, dominated by a panoptic complex of arms merchants, neocon warmongers, and a vast Warfare State nomenklatura.
Read the whole thing here.
ChatGPT vs. Claude vs. DeepSeek
I have an aversion to reading instructions. Always have. I ascribe it to my undiagnosed ADD + dyslexia. Whatever the cause, I have an increasingly tough time initiating projects that require me to subject my brain to the tedium of reading about the mechanics first. I’d rather focus on the benefits and the outcome.
This resistance applies to projects regardless of whether they are trivial or important (such as assembling an electronic boat for a grandchild). Recently, however, I’ve been dipping my toes into the wonderful world of AI – looking for instructions on how to use it for the research, note-taking, and analysis needed for my writing. And the results have been impressive and encouraging.
I started by reading up on ChatGPT. But while doing that, I also found out about Claude (which I’m told is better for writing) and DeepSeek, which is said to be one level beyond the other two. Unsure which one would be best for my purposes, I was happy to find this introductory piece that outlines the characteristics and benefits of each. If you are in my boat relative to AI, you will find it helpful.
Who Will Save the Dems in 2028?
Did you see the essay in The Washington Post titled “The 12 Democrats who make the most sense for 2028?” I did, and I had the same reaction Matt Taibbi had in his 1/29 blog post. He said, “I thought it was a joke, maybe a guest column from Dave Barry…” Check it out here.
Can We Say Goodbye to DEI?
In the Dec. 27 issue, I speculated about the impact Trump’s election will have on American business and culture. My primary thesis is that it may put an end to some of the bad ideas about social justice that been embraced by academia, the mainstream media, government, and even many Fortune 500 companies. Among the worst of those ideas was DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) – the idea that American businesses and public institutions would work better if they made their employment decisions on identity issues (i.e., based on race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation).
There have been dozens of articles and essays published since Trump was elected in November suggesting that even before the election, DEI was a failed idea. This is one of them.
How Corn Syrup Took Over America
The widespread use of high-fructose corn syrup in processed foods stems from its cost-effectiveness and versatility, bolstered by a corn lobby that has poured billions into influencing policy and securing subsidies, despite growing health concerns.
This is a story RFK Jr. could have written himself. But he didn’t – so I’m recommending it to you.