June 2022
67 articles published this month.
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Notes From My Journal
What I Believe: About Tour Guides
In Greece, we had several very good tour guides, including a young Frenchman that had graduated from the Sorbonne in psychology. He went on to work as an art historian for the Louvre, spoke five languages, was…
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News & Views
The Numbers Are Pretty Clear
We are in a bear market. The questions, for investors and retirees on a fixed income: How bad is it? And how long will it last? Three facts from Bonner Private Research: * The average bear market on the S&P…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Drink coffee…and live longer!
Really? Click here.
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Arts & Letters
Go to Hell With Your Money
I’m not ideologically inclined to like Asger Jorn’s school of art. But I have a number of pieces by him in a collection of COBRA art that I inherited through my first failed attempt at the art business. And so…
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Worth Quoting
Herodotus On Wisdom Without Power
“The most hateful human misfortune is for a wise man to have no influence.” – Herodotus
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A Word to the Wise
Lugubrious
– from the Latin for “mourn” – means gloomy, full of sadness or sorrow. As used in a NYT article about this year’s Westminster Dog Show: “Trumpet [the bloodhound that won Best in Show] had little to say. But…
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Readers Write
Re my review of Ted Chiang’s book Exhalation: Stories
“Was really happy to see you’re enjoying Exhalation. Which story was your favorite?” – SC My response: I can’t say I had a favorite. They were all great in the same way. I felt like I was reading a new kind of…
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Postscript
Motorcyclist Sets Cycling Record As Self-Identified Bicyclist
Motorcyclist who identifies as bicyclist sets cycling world record…
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Notes From My Journal
Faking It, Making It: The Changing World of Knock-offs
Cuban cigars are expensive. A Cohiba robusto will set you back more than $25. You can buy them for much less. And lots of people do. Trouble is, they are fake. People like me who have been smoking Cohibas for…
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News & Views
Common Sense Prevails…
In Sports: After smashing national records and winning the NCAA championship, transgender swimmer Lia Thomas announced that she was hoping to compete in the Olympics. Maybe not, said FINA. On Sunday, the…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Last Spix's Macaw Finds Hope Through Captive Breeding
In the mid-1990s, the wild population of the world’s rarest bird, a blue-gray parrot called the Spix’s macaw, dwindled to just one. Two decades later, conservationists are attempting to release Spix’s macaws…
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Recommended Places
Athens, Greece
In Athens, we’ve been staying at the King George Hotel, which is next door to the Grande Bretagne, and just a bit more affordable. But because both are part of the same luxury hotel franchise, we get to use…
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Worth Quoting
Mao Zedong On The Relationship Between Politics And War
“Politics is war without bloodshed; war is politics with bloodshed.” – Mao Zedong
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A Word to the Wise
Ersatz
– from the German for “substitute” – describes something that is a poor imitation of something better. As I used it today: “It used to be easy to spot ersatz Rolexes. Like Cohiba wrappers, their faces bore…
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Postscript
Ricky Gervais's Early Appearance With David Letterman
Ricky Gervais is a sometimes brilliant, often brave comedian. One of the few, along with Dave Chappelle, capable of staying brave and funny in the Orwellian social culture of today. I didn’t know that The…
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News & Views
The Rising “Misery Index
Last week, in an attempt to slow the economy without sending it into a recession, the Fed announced the biggest interest rate hike in 28 years. A recession is still likely. But even if we don’t fully enter…
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Worth Reading
The Immortal King Rao
The Immortal King Rao By Vauhini Vara 384 pages Published May 3, 2022 by W.W. Norton & Co. The Immortal King Rao was The Mules’ book for June. The overriding conclusion was that nobody liked it. And absolutely…
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Worth Quoting
Anton Chekov On The Exhaustion Of Ordinary Life
“Any idiot can face a crisis – it’s day to day living that wears you out.” – Anton Chekov
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Readers Write
Re my comments on gun control legislation
“Forget gun control. Start charging people $10 per bullet.” – AS Why I keep doing what I do: “I’ve come across your video about the power of one and I’m definitely going to implement it in every area of my…
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Postscript
Small Acts Of Kindness Amid Cultural Decline
The world is going broke and culture is degrading faster than living flesh in acid. But there are still small, usually overlooked, acts of individual service and selflessness that remind us of what human…
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Notes From My Journal
The Complex Problem of Gun-Related Violence
The bipartisan bill currently in the Senate is a breakthrough in gun control legislation. It has several gun safety measures, including “red flag” laws and enhanced background checks. But although any…
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Business & Marketing
The Rise of Tequila and Mezcal
The Rise of Tequila and Mezcal My first experience with tequila, about 50 years ago, left me prostrate at the door I couldn’t quite open where I spent the rest of the night. Thirty years later, I tried it…
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Arts & Letters
More on the Conceptual Art Scam
On May 16, I wrote about a discussion I’ve been having with my partners in producing my next book on Central American art. The issue at hand is conceptual art and why I think so much of it is BS. Click here to…
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Fun and/or Interesting
COVID and “Chemosensory Disruption”: Answers Begin to Emerge
As I mentioned on June 3, if I ever suffered any loss of smell from my bout with COVID, it was minor. My sense of smell was never great to begin with. Loss of smell was a very common symptom back then, when…
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Recommended Places
The Cyclades Islands
As I said at the beginning of this issue, we’ve been enjoying a trip through this group of Greek islands in the Aegean Sea for the past week. And there’s so much about them that’s spectacular. Unlike anything…
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Worth Quoting
Paul Theroux On The Human Impulse To Travel
“The wish to travel seems to me characteristically human: the desire to move, to satisfy your curiosity or ease your fears, to change the circumstances of your life, to be a stranger, to make a friend, to…
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A Word to the Wise
prostrate
To be prostrate is to be lying face down on the ground. As I used it today: “My first experience with tequila, about 50 years ago, left me prostrate at the door I couldn’t quite open where I spent the rest of…
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Readers Write
Why I keep doing what I do
“Mark Morgan Ford, thank you for being such an inspiration to the world of words and to us!” – MR “Thank you! You are my biggest inspiration when it comes to direct marketing. I study your Ready, Fire, Aim and…
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Postscript
Viral Talent Show Moment Hits Unexpectedly Hard
I’d like to believe that my social media use would be such that I would not have been fed this clip from “America’s Got Talent.” But I was. And although I suspect it was entirely planned to feel fortuitous, it…
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Building Wealth
A Change of Plans
A Change of Plans Two years ago, I got clearance from my town to tear down my current office space in Delray Beach, an 11,000-square-foot storage building, and replace it with a 40,000-square-foot Class-A…
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News & Views
US Housing Market Surges To Record Growth Levels
The rise in local rental prices (see above) reflects a larger trend: two years of growth in the US housing market. That includes house prices, rental prices, remodeling expenditures, brokerage fees, etc. From…
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Arts & Letters
Empty Frames
Another great essay by the great Theodore Dalrymple in Taki’s Magazine, this one on junk art. Here’s an excerpt: “Empty Frames” “Only a couple of weeks after the draping of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, a…
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Worth Quoting
Michelangelo On The Danger Of Low Ambitions
“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark.” – Michelangelo
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A Word to the Wise
Fatuity
is another way of saying stupidity or foolishness. As used by Theodore Dalrymple in “Empty Frames,” above: “Mr. Haaning, wittingly or unwittingly (I suspect the former), performed a useful social service by…
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Postscript
The Perfect Guitar Solo Moment
An amazing guitar solo…
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Worth Watching
Christine
Christine World premiere Jan. 23, 2016, Sundance Film Festival Written by Craig Shilowich Directed by Antonio Campos Starring Rebecca Hall, Tracy Letts, and Michael C. Hall Available on various streaming…
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Worth Watching
An “enraged letter” from Nobel laureate V.S. Naipaul to his editor at Knopf, Sonny Mehta
Copy editors are an essential cog in the wheel of publishing. Despite this, their relationship with the author can sometimes be a strained one. Case in point, this angry letter from Nobel Prize-winning author…
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Worth Quoting
James Russell Lowell On Creativity And Making
“Creativity is not the finding of a thing, but the making something out of it after it is found.” – James Russell Lowell
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A Word to the Wise
Assiduous
means working diligently at a task, showing great care and perseverance. As used by V.S. Naipaul in the above letter to his editor: “Every writer has his own voice…. An assiduous copy-editor can undo this very…
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Postscript
Small Acts Of Kindness Brighten Our Days
Aw, shucks! Sometimes you need to see a little act of kindness to lighten up your day…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
The Digital Dollar Approaches
As I predicted in past issues, the US government is moving forward with its intention to put an end to cryptocurrencies and replace them with a digital dollar. And as noted on Feb. 3, it’s been happening a lot…
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News & Views
Is a Crypto Winter Coming?
Is a Crypto Winter Coming? In his recent quarterly earnings call, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said, “Ironically… I’ve never been more bullish on where we are as a company.” He said that in the midst of a…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Five Amusing Things Worth Your Time
Maybe “good to know” is taking it too far. Here are five things I was amused by recently. * Johns Hopkins students design edible tape to keep your burrito wrapped. Click here. * US weddings are at their lowest…
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Recommended Places
Oaxaca, Mexico
I can’t believe it’s been more than 20 years since I was in Oaxaca (wa-HAH-ka) and I’ve never been back. I was so enchanted by it that I nearly bought a small house in the center of the city to use as a…
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Arts & Letters
M.C. Escher Is Now a Movie
I became a fan of M.C. Escher, the Dutch artist, the moment I saw this print. His pictures seemed designed to draw me in and hold me in a way that was enticing but also disturbing. They are like some of Dali’s…
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Worth Quoting
M.C. Escher on Wonder and Discovery
“He who wonders discovers that this in itself is wonderful.” – M.C. Escher
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A Word to the Wise
pied-à-terre
A pied-à-terre (pee-YAY-duh-tair) – French for “foot on the ground” – is a small apartment or house kept for occasional use. As I used it in today’s travel brief: “I was so enchanted by [Oaxaca] that I nearly…
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Readers Write
Re the P.S. in the June 1 issue about Bob Dylan
“After reading so many insightful comments from you about art over the years, I’m surprised that your column linked to this… column about Bob Dylan being the greatest artist of all time. “I’m a huge fan of…
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Postscript
New (to me, at least) comedian: Andrew Schulz
He’s funny. He has a unique style. And he seems to be particularly good when he’s adlibbing with the audience. Here he is talking to a woman about animal rights… And here he is talking to an ex-con…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
How Every Little Event in Your Life Is an Opportunity to Grow Rich
Here’s a thought: Every event in life, however small, is an opportunity to become richer. Richer in knowledge. Richer in trust. Richer in friendship. And, of course, richer in financial wealth. There are…
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