April 2021
43 articles published this month.
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Georgia’s Controversial New Voting Law
“Voting is as much an emotional act as it is an intellectual one.” – Monica Crowley Georgia’s Controversial New Voting Law So, is this new law racist? Is it some new version of Jim Crow? It’s no longer…
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Worth Considering
8 Worthy Thoughts About First Love
I have a special home in the city of my heart where my first love resides. I didn’t build it. At least, not consciously. I found it many years later. My first love was not my greatest love. Or my most enduring…
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Postscript
Louisiana Woman's Million-Dollar Bank Error Dilemma
I’m not sure why I clicked on this video. I guess I do. It was the headline: “Louisiana woman accused of refusing to return $1.2M after bank error.” It’s like an elevator pitch for the opening of a movie…
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Notes From My Journal
America's Hidden Hunger Crisis Demands Urgent Attention
The US is experiencing a hunger crisis, the NYT tells us, and the Biden administration is addressing this by “accelerating a vast campaign of hunger relief that will temporarily increase assistance by tens of…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Does the US Really Have a Hunger Crisis?
“The rich swell up with pride, the poor from hunger.” – Sholom Aleichem Does the US Really Have a Hunger Crisis? If you google “hunger in the US,” you’ll get a plethora of articles about something called food…
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Worth Watching
Medieval Craftsmanship Reveals Hidden Artistic Brilliance
Medieval art bores you. I get that. But this slightly boring tour of the history and the craft of two astonishingly detailed medieval pieces will give you an idea about how amazing these pieces often are.
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Postscript
Fox News Host's Questionable Fashion Choices During Segment
This is a Fox News bit about the “border crisis.” I tried to pay attention to it, to cull some useful data from it. But I couldn’t stop thinking, “Why is this woman dressed up like she is?”
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Worth Watching
Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) Starring Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield I watched Judas and the Black Messiah last night. I wasn’t going to. Something about the title repelled me. I don’t know what I…
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Worth Reading
Solstice
Solstice By Joyce Carol Oates 249 pages Originally published in 1985; reissued in 2019 by Ecco Joyce Carol Oates is nothing if not a prolific writer. She published her first book in 1963 at age 25, and has…
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Postscript
Bill's Insight On Madoff's Broader Implications
Last week, I wrote a short piece about Bernie Madoff. I mentioned it to Bill at a partners meeting, and he sent this out… which takes my observation to a different level.
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Notes From My Journal
I was surprised by the Chauvin verdict
As I said on April 1, I thought there was a good chance that he would not be convicted of all three, if any, of the charges against him. I don’t know what was in Chauvin’s heart when he put his knee down on…
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Worth Considering
Charges, No Charges – You Decide
Charges: An officer involved in a fatal shooting in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, will face charges of second-degree manslaughter, prosecutors announced. Twenty-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black resident of the…
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Notes From My Journal
What I Believe — April 22, 2021
* It’s not easy to succeed. That’s because success is defined as achieving that which is difficult for most people to do. * Some people fail despite great effort. But most people fail to succeed simply because…
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Worth Reading
From Letters of Note…
I’ve never read Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, perhaps the most important environmental book published in the second half of the 20th century. After reading this heartbreaking letter that she wrote to a friend…
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Readers Write
An email from DP
I feel like I'm re-living many of your stories that I have studied voraciously in your books and blog posts. Thank you for being the mentor to so many that you never knew.
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Postscript
Seoul Taxi Drivers Defy Traffic Laws To Beat The Clock
We were on a 4-hour layover in Seoul, Korea. Someone suggested we should take a taxi into town. We did. There were six of us, three each in two little cabs. When I have more time, I’ll tell you the full story…
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Notes From My Journal
The Rising Cost of the COVID Shutdown
COVID-19 has so far killed 3 million people. Including 566,000 Americans. That tells us something about the virility and lethality of the disease, but not nearly enough to form an opinion about the efficacy of…
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Introducing...
Allie Sherlock
I thought I’d discovered an unknown busker when I first stumbled upon a video of Allie Sherlock playing on the streets. I followed her for most of last year, thinking that I should find and promote her. It was…
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Postscript
Spanish Learning Resources Worth Your Time
As part of my ongoing quest to master Spanish, I found this…
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Worth Reading
The Blue Streak
The Blue Streak By Ellen Lesser 242 pages Published in 1992 by Grove Press The Blue Streak was a book I selected randomly from the bookshelves of our home in Nicaragua. I decided to read it because (1) it was…
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Worth Watching
Shtisel (Season 3 launched March 25 on Netflix)
Shtisel (Season 3 launched March 25 on Netflix) Created and written by Ori Elon and Yehonatan Indursky Starring Doval’e Glickman, Michael Aloni, and Neta Riskin I thought Shtisel was gone for good, but when…
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Postscript
Bernie Madoff, RIP
Bernie Madoff is considered by many to be the greatest con artist of all time. At the Cigar Club last night, one friend said he had “stolen” $46 billion. Another said it was higher: $65 billion. Neither of…
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Notes From My Journal
Supreme Court's 1901 Ruling On Mandatory Vaccination
Among many, the fear of COVID-19 is great and the solution – universal vaccinations to achieve herd immunity – is incontestable. Some are calling for vaccination IDs, and even mandatory vaccinations. Would…
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Worth Considering
Infrastructure Spending's Diminishing Economic Returns
In introducing Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan, some pundits explained that the actual cost would be nothing because of the “multiplying effect” on such programs – i.e., the programs would result in…
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Notes From My Journal
Ram Jam, Thank You Ma’am: The Story of “Black Betty
I’m thinking of producing a documentary about “Black Betty,” a song that is often attributed to Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter. Lead Belly’s 1939 version is short – just one stanza – and simple. He sang it…
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Postscript
Phenomenal Photos I Wish I'd Taken: #2
Phenomenal Photos I Wish I’d Taken: #2
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Notes From My Journal
The Thrill Of Winning Art At Auction
“It’s not as though you feel satisfied after collecting a certain amount of stuff. Instead, you keep thinking about what you’re missing.” – Fumio Sasaki A Good Day at the Races One of the great pleasures of…
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Postscript
The Sneaky Ways We Enable Our Own Procrastination
A lighthearted look at procrastination and how we enable it…
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Worth Watching
Another Round
Another Round (2020) Directed by Thomas Vinterberg Starring Mads Mikkelsen, Magnus Millang, Lars Ranthe, and Thomas Bo Larsen Another Round is a Danish movie about four middle-aged school teachers who decide…
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Worth Reading
Red Notice
Red Notice By Bill Browder 416 pages Published in 2015 by Simon & Schuster Red Notice was the March selection for the Mules. I was in Nicaragua (for the ceremony inaugurating the new facilities at FunLimon)…
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Postscript
Craig Ballantyne On Optimizing Your Daily Schedule
Are you stuck in a schedule that’s less than optimal? Check out this short presentation by Craig Ballantyne, the man that took over Early to Rise after I retired from it.
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Notes From My Journal
Iran? Iraq?
Something I try to do every day: learn something interesting, useful, or in some other way worth remembering. This morning, during a conversation about I don’t know what, someone said, “Iran. Iraq. What’s the…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
So How’s Biden Doing on His Big Immigration Promises?
“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” – Mark Twain When they took over, the Biden administration was confident that it could quickly repair…
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Postscript
AOC's Border Defense Leaves Ben Shapiro Puzzled
I do not think AOC is as vacant-headed as she sometimes appears to be. I see her as an intelligent, badly educated person with immense charisma in a millennial sort of way. She made headlines last year when…
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Notes From My Journal
Real Estate Opportunities As Office Space Declines
“Inside of every problem lies an opportunity.” – Robert Kiyosaki Where to Invest in Real Estate in 2021 and 2022? Back in June, I said that my partners and I had put a hold on plans for a $14 million…
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Postscript
Juvenile Humor As A Stress Reliever
Feeling stressed? There’s nothing like juvenile humor to correct that...
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Notes From My Journal
A Surprising Benefit of the Lockdowns
I came down here at the end of March to check on some improvements we’ve been making at FunLimon. (FunLimon is the community development center my family and I have been developing across the street from…
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Notes From My Journal
Progress at FunLimon!
Last week we inaugurated FunLimon’s new and improved facilities. Among the improvements was a renovated gymnasium. The gym now has new equipment, a room for group classes, a remodeled martial arts center, and…
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Worth Considering
Things You Can Do (or Could Have Done) in Nicaragua That You Couldn’t Do in the USA
* Nearly die climbing a cliff you shouldn’t have climbed (because you are too stubborn to believe advice about how dangerous it is). * Get a haircut for $3. * Surf all year round in one of the best surfing…
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Postscript
Rancho Santana's Most Stunning Sunset Moments
A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I was putting together a photo-journal of the sunsets we’ve been enjoying at Rancho Santana. Here are some of my favorites…
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Notes From My Journal
The Chauvin Trial
Get ready. There is a reasonably good chance that Derek Chauvin will be exonerated from at least one and possibly all three of the murder charges against him in the death of George Floyd. And if he is, who…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Something Rotten in the EEC
“By a continuing process of inflation, government can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens.” – John Maynard Keynes Something Rotten in the EEC In mid-March…
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Postscript
Horse Racing's Slow Progress Against Homophobia
I’m not a huge horse racing fan, so I had never heard about the rampant homophobia that exists in that industry. I’m happy to report, however, that there has been some progress recently.
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