February 2023
62 articles published this month.
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Notes From My Journal
What to Eat? What to Watch?
Should we walk two blocks to our local eatery, Boheme Bistro, where Adel treats us like celebrities, and enjoy some great Lebanese food? Or walk half a block farther, to Burger Fi, for juicy cheeseburgers by…
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News & Views
What Our World Population Will Look Like in 2050
Back in September, I wrote about how dramatically the world is changing. More recently, I found this visualization of the population of the world in 2050. Once again, I was amazed. For example: While the US…
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Worth Quoting
On America’s Intelligence Capabilities
In 1957, following an attempt to assassinate Indonesia’s president, James Burnham wrote this in the National Review: “Last week’s attempted assassination of Indonesia President Sukhano had all the hallmarks of…
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Introducing...
Diego Vera
In the early days of the pandemic, Diego Vera, a smart but bored 15-year-old, read about Scott Young’s experience in completing the MIT Challenge, and decided to try it himself. The challenge is to learn MIT’s…
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Fun and/or Interesting
What Is the Multiverse?
And Why Does It Matter? I’ve heard the term. Many times. But from different sources, in different contexts, and with what seemed like different definitions. One definition, for example, is “a collection of…
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Arts & Letters
The 10 Most Expensive Paintings of the Last 12 Years
Masterworks, a company that sells fractional shares of important artworks it buys at auction, sent me this list of the 10 most expensive paintings sold in the last dozen years. I was surprised by some of them…
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Worth Considering
The COVID Response. What We Got Wrong — February 28, 2023
More Bad News on Vaccines I’m sure you’ve read about it – the many reports confirming fears that the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, which utilize messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, were causing heart…
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Readers Write
From SL, re theoretical physicist Sean Carroll’s video – “Talking About Time” – in the Feb. 25 issue
“As soon as your notes come to my inbox, I drop everything and read them immediately. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and insights. I’m a former physicist who has had a career in risk management at…
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Postscript
First Time Hearing Unchained Melody?
This is one of those now ubiquitous YouTube videos of Black Americans listening to White singers singing Black-inspired popular music for the first time. (I am actually doubtful of the “first time” angle, but…
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Notes From My Journal
Talking About (and With) an Artificial Intelligence Being
AI – i.e., artificial intelligence – is no longer fodder for science fiction. It’s here and it’s now. And thanks to the most recent iterations, it is the subject of many of my conversations. In the last two…
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News & Views
Political Correctness: Identifying Suspects
Two years ago, in preparation for an essay I never wrote, I was researching a scary spike in gang rapes that occurred in Sweden from 2000 to 2020. From data compiled between 2000 and about 2015, one could see…
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The Economy & Investing
Is Inflation at 6.5% Good News?
After peaking at 9.0% in June of 2022, inflation today is down to 6.4%. That’s a considerable improvement. Will it begin to climb again? Or might it continue to go down? My bet is that it will gradually move…
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Business & Marketing
What Was Adidas Thinking?
Adidas cut ties with Ye recently, after the latter publicized his antisemitic views. In doing so, it gave up the revenue stream from his Yeezy sneakers. Okay. I get that. Being connected to Ye now is a major…
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Worth Watching
Argentina, 1985
Argentina, 1985 Written and directed by Santiago Mitre Released Oct. 21, 2022 (US) Currently streaming on Amazon Prime I had seen all the Best Picture-nominated films for the Oscar, except for Women Talking…
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Worth Considering
The COVID Response. What We Got Wrong — February 24, 2023
A Quick Summary of Where We’re At… I’m not finished writing about what so many governments, health organizations, and media outlets got wrong in their reporting and recommendations about COVID-19. There is…
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Worth Quoting
A lot of very smart people believe some very stupid things. Why?
“While unintelligent people are more easily misled by other people, intelligent people are more easily misled by themselves. (Intelligent people) are better at convincing themselves of things they want to…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Talking About Time
I’ve written one book and dozens of essays on time management. That’s partly because I’ve always been bad at it and wanted to learn how to improve. After hundreds of hours of research and years of trial and…
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Introducing...
Yuja Wang. An incredible virtuoso pianist
Yuja Wang. An incredible virtuoso pianist. Click here. And here.
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Notes From My Journal
4th of July in Chad, Africa: Teachers vs. Well Diggers
That’s me, second to the left, shirtless. The time: July 4, 1977. The location: the residence of the US Ambassador to Chad. The occasion: a 4th of July party for the Peace Corps volunteers that were stationed…
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Worth Quoting
Bill Bonner on the Nord Stream Pipeline Attack
“It’s not every day that the US commits an act of war – against two of the most powerful nations in the world. It’s not every day that the US attacks its own allies, either... blowing up the Baltic pipeline…
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News & Views
The Aerial Invasion: Are They Spycraft? Weather Balloons? Or what?
The Aerial Invasion: Are They Spycraft? Weather Balloons? Or what? John Kirby, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, admitted that the mysterious UFOs the military has been…
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Worth Watching
Triangle of Sadness
Triangle of Sadness Written and directed by Ruben Östlund Starring Charlbi Dean, Woody Harrelson, and Harris Dickinson Released in theaters (US) Oct. 7, 2022 Available on various streaming services, including…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Global Superlatives: The World’s Most Extreme Countries
Though it’s always more rewarding to read essays that go deeply into a subject rather than widely and superficially, I can’t resist reading listicles. And sometimes, I run into one that has some very…
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Readers Write
From RS, re the China Spy Balloon
“I was excited to see my thoughts published in your ‘Readers Write’ section on Feb. 10, but dismayed to be dismissed as a conspiratorial loon. My hunch could certainly be wrong, but the truth behind these…
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Postscript
It’s Fat Tuesday!
New Orleans, home to the best-known Fat Tuesday festivities in the US, is poised to see at least 1 million visitors and up to $1B in revenue as it brings back its full slate of events after canceling them in…
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Notes From My Journal
Mentoring the Second Generation
I’ve had the pleasure of mentoring many young people throughout my career. With family members, it’s been mostly about watching them grow into responsible and productive adults. With employees, it’s been about…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Cops Monitoring Cops
I’ve been following this guy lately. He’s a cop. His YouTube bailiwick is police misconduct, and his thing is to call out the bad behavior of cops, whether it is verbal intimidation, bullying, or breaking the…
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Worth Watching
The Fabelmans
The Fabelmans Directed by Steven Spielberg Written by Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner Starring Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, and Seth Rogan Released in theaters (US) Nov. 11, 2022 Available to rent or buy on…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Speaking of Oscar-Nominated Movies…
After praising Cate Blanchett for her acting in Tár, I happened to see this essay by Calum Russell in Far Out: “The 10 Worst Oscar-bait Performances of All Time.” I’m not sure I agree with all of Russell’s…
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Worth Considering
The COVID Response. What We Got Wrong — February 17, 2023
Part XIV: Do Booster Shots Cause Strokes?! I wonder… Was the stroke I had in September caused by the Pfizer vaccines I took? In January, the CDC released a warning, saying that they have evidence that getting…
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Fun and/or Interesting
COVID Update: England Reduces Vaccine Mandate
As I’ve been reporting since the beginning of the COVID shutdown, it’s clear that the virus was a serious (i.e., lethal) threat to people older than 65 that are also overweight and diabetic. For everyone else…
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Inside Paradise Palms Botanical & Sculpture Gardens
Rare Cycads And Sculptures In West Delray Beach
The conservancy that I’m developing in West Delray Beach, FL, has one of the largest and best-curated palm tree collections in the world, as well as a growing collection of outdoor sculptures, a traditionally…
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Postscript
Amala On Stanford's Harmful Language Guide
I been following Amala. She’s smart and funny. Click here for her take on Stanford University’s new guide for the elimination of “harmful language.”
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Notes From My Journal
Making Sense of the State of the Union Address
Did you listen to Biden’s State of the Union address? Did you hear what he said about his economic priorities? He said he was going to make America great again by opening oil and gas exploration, reducing the…
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News & Views
Bits and Pieces — February 14, 2023
Bits and Pieces From National Geographic: Nature’s Design for Having Babies How big an issue is age in predicting fertility in women? And what should women do if they hear “the clock ticking”? Here’s a good…
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Worth Watching
Cate Blanchett Conducts Power And Abuse In Tár
Tár Directed by Todd Field Starring Cate Blanchett Released in theaters (US) Oct. 7, 2022 Available on many streaming services, including Amazon Prime K and I have been trying to watch as many of the nominated…
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Worth Considering
The COVID Response. What We Got Wrong — February 14, 2023
Part XIII: The Backtracking Speeds Up Almost every week since I began writing this series, there has been some revelation in the mainstream media about what the CDC got wrong about COVID. None of them admits…
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Arts & Letters
A Fascinating Story About Art Forgery
Ever since I began to forge the paintings of modern masters to hang in my first-bought house in 1985, I’ve been interested in reading about more accomplished forgers. Here is a story I came across recently…
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Fun and/or Interesting
The Difference Between Values and Morals
I found this in a recent issue of Classical Wisdom. It’s a reader’s response to an article about “conscience.” Although values and morals have their own individual meanings, I thought he did a good job of…
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Postscript
Shopping with grandma!
Click here to watch a grandmother/grandson team having a bit of fun on a weekend afternoon.
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Notes From My Journal
Watching the Super Bowl This Weekend?
The Super Bowl is supposed to be the biggest sporting event of the year in the USA. Virtually all my friends and family members watch it. Not moi. I prefer more intellectual sports, like MMA, where contestants…
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News & Views
Bits and Pieces — February 10, 2023
Bits and Pieces A Surprise Gift from Nicaragua to America Nicaragua released 222 political prisoners to the US yesterday, as part of a negotiated deal between the administrations of Daniel Ortega and Joe Biden…
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Worth Quoting
Bill Bonner on Biden’s State of the Union Speech
An excerpt from the Feb. 8 issue of Bonner Private Research… “The tattered coat managed to stand up and deliver a long, pointless speech. It was another triumph of politics… over common sense. And a triumph…
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Worth Reading
Foster
Foster By Claire Keegan 128 pages Published Nov. 1, 2022 I don’t know how I came to have it. But I know how I came to read it. I wrote a review of Small Things Like These, a book by the same author, Claire…
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Worth Considering
The COVID Response. What We Got Wrong — February 10, 2023
Part XII: More About the Masks On Dec. 20, 2022, I wrote about how inconsistent the reporting was on the effectiveness of wearing masks against COVID-19. I explained how the WHO, the CDC, and the US government…
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Arts & Letters
The Ultimate Fantasy for Art Collectors
This painting by the 17th-century Flemish artist Pieter Brueghel the Younger will be auctioned next month in France after having been recently rediscovered. The owners were unaware that it was by the famed…
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Readers Write
Re my essay in Tuesday’s issue, “Is the China Spy Balloon a Hoax?
From DD: “Hi, Mark, “Always enjoy your eLetter. “About the balloon... “As you may well have heard, some people in positions to know believe it’s just China probing our technological, political, and military…
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Postscript
Is Industrial Dance Worth Your Time?
Industrial Dance. I’m not feeling it… am I wrong? Take a look here.
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Notes From My Journal
Is The China Spy Balloon a Hoax?
Can we believe anything we read or hear from our elected officials or the mainstream media? Take, for example, this Chinese “spy” balloon. The idea is preposterous. We are talking about a big, slow-moving…
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News & Views
Bits and Pieces — February 7, 2023
Bits and Pieces (Maybe) Good News About the American Economy More than 500,000 non-farm jobs were added to the American economy last month. More than twice the number predicted by most mainstream economists…
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