August 2022
79 articles published this month.
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The Economy & Investing
Why We Need a Recession
Inflation is up. Not just a little. A lot. And according to the standard definition, the US is in a recession. Working- and middle-class Americans have noticed. Everything from milk to toilet paper to…
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News & Views
Hybrid, Not Remote, Working Is the Future
In the executive boardrooms of the companies I work with, the debate about remote vs. in-office working rages on. Well, rages is not fair. It continues, but with less vehemence and certainty, as employees and…
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Worth Considering
How safe are your kids and grandkids?
It’s not common, but there are predators out there kidnapping children. According to a study I recently read, they don’t do it by swooping in and scooping them up. They do it by beguiling them and luring them…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Do wine aerators really work?
In this video from the Bonner Private Wine Partnership, Julien Miguel puts them to the test.
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Worth Quoting
Michael Masterson On Profit And Social Consciousness
“There is only one way to determine if a company is socially conscious: Is it profitable?” – Michael Masterson
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A Word to the Wise
Au fond
(oh FAWN) – a French term – literally means “at the bottom.” It’s used as a highfalutin synonym for “fundamentally,” “essentially,” or “in reality.” As used by Margaret Atwood in The Testaments: “Some days I…
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Postscript
Omeleto's Latest Short Film Gem
Another short, little gem from Omeleto…
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Notes From My Journal
How to Write a Best-Selling Novel
As someone who’s made a fair part of my living writing, I gobble up advice from successful writers whenever I can find them. I consume advice about writing fiction and nonfiction, poetry and drama, essays, and…
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Worth Reading
Hombre
Hombre By Elmore Leonard 201 pages Published Jan. 1, 1961 by Ballantyne Books This is one of two books by Elmore Leonard that The Mules are reading this month. Hombre is genre fiction. It’s a Western, the…
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Arts & Letters
Forgery: Modern Art’s Biggest Problem
Stephanie Clegg, an art collector, paid Sotheby’s $90,000 for a Marc Chagall watercolor about 10 years ago. Recently, she sent it to an authentication panel in France that declared it a fake. When Clegg…
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News & Views
Was This Excessive Force? You Decide
There’s no question in my mind: Body cameras on law enforcement officers are a good thing. As are smartphones used by citizens documenting police/people interactions. The body cam video clip below was released…
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Fun and/or Interesting
The 10 Best US Airlines
From The Points Guy website… “There are a lot of ways to measure an airline’s success. [These include] on-time performance, reliable scheduling, the affordability of airfares, excellent elite perks, and the…
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The Economy & Investing
Tipping Is Going Up: What Gives?
This chart was derived from a study by Toast, a point-of-sale (POS) platform that restaurants and other retail food services use to cash out customers. The study found that… * The average tip in full-service…
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Inside Paradise Palms Botanical & Sculpture Gardens
World-Class Palm Collection Takes Root In Delray Beach
The conservancy that I’m developing in West Delray Beach, FL, is destined to be (if I have anything to say about it) one of the largest and best-curated palm tree collections in the world. It also features a…
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A Word to the Wise
a word to the wise — August 26, 2022
Scintillating – from the Latin scintilla, meaning “spark” – is another way to say glittering; brilliantly and excitingly clever or skillful. (See today’s P.S., below.)
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Postscript
Eva Noblezada's Stunning Take Me To Church Performance
Check out the beautiful Eva Noblezada’s scintillating performance of “Take Me to Church”…
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Arts & Letters
How A Thousand Daily Calories Changed My Writing
I rarely get drunk anymore. I can’t remember the last time I did. Still, I like to drink. A cocktail at 5:30. Two glasses of wine at dinner. And a Cognac with my cigar afterwards. But, in an effort to lose 25+…
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Business & Marketing
Starbucks? WeWork? Here’s a Better Idea
Remote workers and one-person business owners in LA have a new, much more enticing choice of workspace with the opening of Heimat, a luxury club owned by the Berlin-based RSG Group. For $350 a month, members…
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News & Views
Regal Cinemas Eyes Bankruptcy
On June 29, 2021, after the COVID shutdown began, I posted an essay on how various businesses would be affected by it. One of the major casualties, I said, would be the movie theater industry. Young people…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Speaking of economics…
JS sent in two fun rap battles on two great debates. * To watch “Top Down or Bottom Up Economics” (Keynes vs. Hayek), click here. * To watch “March of History” (Marx vs. Mises), click here. And for a slightly…
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Worth Quoting
Robert Anton Wilson On Love And Annoyance
"You are precisely as big as what you love and precisely as small as what you allow to annoy you.” – Robert Anton Wilson
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A Word to the Wise
Slumgullion
– believed to be derived from “slum” (an old word for “slime”) and “gullion” (“mud” or “cesspool”) – was used by miners during the California gold rush to describe the muddy slurry left behind after washing…
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Postscript
Al Ruddy On Making The Godfather
On May 27, I mentioned how much I enjoyed The Offer, the docudrama about the making of The Godfather. Here’s an interesting discussion with the producer, Al Ruddy, that fills in some of the details from his…
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News & Views
Back to the Future With COVID
The CDC released new guidelines for COVID-19 on Aug. 11. And although we heard virtually nothing about it from the Biden administration or the mainstream press, what it did was astounding. After two years of…
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Business & Marketing
The Personalities You Need to Grow Your Business
Some years ago, in an attempt to figure out how to deal with the challenges being faced by our fast-growing company, I developed a theory that has been helpful to me ever since. The theory: Two types of…
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The Economy & Investing
Decoding America's Confusing Unemployment Statistics
A New Take on “Who’s on First?” COSTELLO: I want to talk about the unemployment rate in America. ABBOTT: Good subject. It’s 3.6%. COSTELLO: That many people are out of work? ABBOTT: No, that’s 23%. COSTELLO…
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Arts & Letters
Art Is About Beauty – Sometimes in More Ways Than One
When I first read that Anna Weyant, a 27-year-old artist represented by the influential Gagosian Gallery, had sold a painting for $1.6 million, I was eager to know more about her. I first looked at her work…
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Worth Quoting
Oscar Wilde On Sex And Power
“Everything in the world is about sex except sex. Sex is about power.” – Oscar Wilde
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Postscript
Mystery Celebrity Look-Alike From Three Decades Ago
This little clip sent in by JS – made nearly 30 years ago – reminds me of someone. But I can’t figure out who…
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News & Views
China Lockdown: A Conspiracy Theory?
China has ordered an indefinite lockdown of the city of Yiwu, the world’s largest wholesale shipping hub. The reason: an “outbreak” of COVID-19. Between Aug. 2 and 9, 135 cases were reported. The government…
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Fun and/or Interesting
World’s Most and Least Livable Cities
In the US, people are moving out of the major cities like New York, Chicago, and Baltimore. But in the world generally, the urban population continues to grow. In 2021, 51% of the world’s population lived in…
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Worth Watching
Vice
Vice Starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, and Sam Rockwell Directed by Adam McKay Released in theaters Dec. 25, 2018 Available on various streaming services, including Netflix and Amazon Prime…
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Worth Considering
What happens at the moment of death?
Researchers at NYU's Langone Medical Center conducted a study of patients that have had near-death experiences, and the results were intriguing and chilling. Click here to watch Dr. Sam Parnia, the director of…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Sense or Sacrilege?
Often, if my glass of Cabernet is half empty and the bottle of wine I poured it from is completely empty, I open a different bottle and mix the two together in my glass. The object is to see if I like my own…
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Worth Quoting
Michael Masterson On The Four Elements Of Great Art
“All human expression – whether it is in music, art, or literature – can be judged according to the same four elements: depth, complexity, subtlety, and elegance. Its content must be deep and complex. And its…
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A Word to the Wise
busker
A busker – possibly from the Spanish buscar, meaning “to seek” – is someone who makes a living by passing the hat while entertaining in the street or another public place, often by playing a musical instrument…
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Readers Write
Thermal Expansion Explains Rising Ocean Levels
AS wrote to weigh in on something I said in the Aug. 5 issue. I was wondering why we’re being told that, because of global warming and the melting of polar ice, there will be a dramatic rise in ocean water…
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Postscript
Buskers Turn Street Performances Into YouTube Gold
Something to think about for you unemployed buskers out there… You can earn your daily bread by standing in a park and entertaining passersby. But you can also – possibly – develop a second stream of income by…
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News & Views
Will Office Work Ever Be the Same?
The government-mandated COVID lockdowns created, almost instantly, a nationwide experiment in remote working. Since the lockdowns ended, supermarkets, big box stores, sports arenas, and airplanes are full…
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Notes From My Journal
Can This Old Dog Learn This New Trick?
I’ve been told more than once that I have a rather undiplomatic communication style when talking about business problems and solutions. I’m quick to arrive at a conclusion. I push my opinion strongly. And I’m…
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Worth Watching
Argo
Directed by Ben Affleck Starring Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, and John Goodman Available on various streaming services, including Netflix and Amazon Prime I saw Argo when it came out in 2012. I…
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Recommended Places
Savannah, Georgia
I flew from Baltimore last week to Savannah, where I spent a long weekend with K before meeting the kids and grandkids at a resort called the Palmetto Bluffs Montage in South Carolina. This is a family week…
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Fun and/or Interesting
10 Chess Hacks
I’ve never been very good at chess. But I think, probably due to an exaggerated sense of my intelligence, that I should be. I’ve been training on a few apps, and there are many. The better ones allow you to…
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Worth Quoting
Benjamin Franklin On Chess And Life's Strategic Battles
“The game of chess is not merely an idle amusement. Several very valuable qualities of the mind, useful in the course of human life, are to be acquired or strengthened by it…. Life is a kind of Chess, in which…
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A Word to the Wise
Verisimilitude
is the appearance of being true or real. As I used it today in my review of Argo. “The movie has a docudrama feeling that, while not overbearing, does add to the verisimilitude and urgency of every scene.”
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Readers Write
Re Tuesday’s issue
“Don’t assume the Inflation Creation Act is a done deal. We must act positive. Positive that the idiots in the House will squabble on this as they have in the past, and allow this to die on the vine.” – TM…
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Postscript
Marilyn Vos Savant's Famous Solution To The Monty Hall Problem
It pays to be smart. I mean high-IQ smart. People with an above-average IQ do better in just about everything from career status to income to net worth – and even to health and happiness. Then there are the…
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The Economy & Investing
About the Inflation Reduction Act
What a wonderfully Orwellian world we live in. Congress has just passed a bill called the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that, as far as I can tell, is practically designed to increase inflation. Its supporters…
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The Economy & Investing
Real Estate: A Time to Buy. A Time to Sell
In April and May, housing prices in the US were at all-time highs. In some areas, they are higher than they were at the early 2007 peak, right before the real estate industry began melting down before…
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Fun and/or Interesting
The True Cost of Going Electric
In the July 5 issue, I linked to a video that explained the true cost to the global economy of electric vehicles – both in dollar terms and in terms of the use of natural resources. EVs, it turns out, are not…
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