March 2024
44 articles published this month.
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Just One Thing
Trump’s Truth Social’s multi-million-dollar valuation defies logic, some analysts say
“No shit,” says Garrett Baldwin in his March 26 issue of Postcards from the Florida Republic. He goes on... “Is Truth Social ‘expensive,’ ‘overvalued,’ and ‘divorced from fundamentals?’ “Damn right it is, but…
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Just One Thing
Biden’s Dangerous Game at the UN
In the United Nations last week, the Biden administration softened its support of Israel once again – this time by dropping its threat to veto a resolution calling for “an immediate ceasefire [in Gaza] for the…
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Notes From My Journal
Trump's Legal Troubles Unlikely to Stop His 2024 Campaign
he Legal Tactics to Jail or Bankrupt Trump Before the Election Are Failing. What Can Anti-Trumpers Do Now to Keep Him from Running and Possibly Winning? On March 4, as you know, the US Supreme Court ruled…
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The Economy & Investing
Chart of the Week: The Effect of Interest Rate Changes
Chart of the Week: The Effect of Interest Rate Changes Most Americans, including college-educated Americans, know little about economics and next to nothing about how the decisions made by the US Treasury and…
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News & Views
The End of Western Culture
Disparate Impact: Do You Know What That Means? In this essay, conservative political commentator Heather Mac Donald bravely articulates the facts about the concept of “disparate impact” and how it this…
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Fun and/or Interesting
How English Became the Common Global Language
How English Became the Common Global Language Today, 1.5 billion people speak English. But in the 12th century, the language was almost extinct. So, how did English survive and spread so widely? Is there…
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Worth Watching
Cuomo and Carlson on Media Ethics, Mistakes, and Moving Forward
This gives me hope for people with diverse views having civilized conversations.
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Quiz of the Week
Travel Quiz: Is It a City or a Country?
One wrong for me on this one (#18). Click here.
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Readers Write
From RR: “Ready, Fire, Aim – the best book ever written on starting and growing businesses
“I’m a massive fan of your work and really admire your entrepreneurial accomplishments. I’ve read Ready, Fire, Aim 5+ times. I’m convinced it’s the best book ever written on starting and growing businesses…
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Postscript
Smithsonian Magazine
This is just one of the finalists in the magazine’s 21st annual photo contest: Click here… and enjoy all 60!
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Just One Thing
The Connection Between Music and Numbers
The company I have worked with for nearly 30 years employs dozens of very good financial analysts. Some of them are technical. Some are fundamental. Some follow trends. Some follow momentum. And some follow…
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Notes From My Journal
Were It Not for Hypocrisy…
Were It Not for Hypocrisy… For ten years, from 2000 to 2010, I wrote a blog called Early to Rise. It was, in general, about self-improvement – building wealth, optimizing health and fitness, and living a rich…
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Worth Considering
CEOs Should Never Be on Vacation
I’m sure that many people who read the next paragraph will think I’m kidding. And I’m sure that those that realize I’m not kidding will think I’m both irrational and also inhumane. Nevertheless, I have to say…
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News & Views
Health Watch — March 19, 2024
A Persuasive Argument for Vitamin D Supplementation I’ve been following Dr. John Campbell for quite a while. He’s always struck me as reasonable, restrained, and believable. In this short but informative…
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The Economy & Investing
Chart of the Week: The Effect of Money Supply on Inflation
Chart of the Week: The Effect of Money Supply on Inflation I’m not a stock market analyst. I’m not even interested in stocks. But I have a sizable percentage of my wealth (about 20% to 25%) in stocks because…
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Worth Watching
Munich, The Edge of War
Directed by Christian Schwochow Based on the book Munich, by Robert Harris Starring George MacKay, Jannis Niewöhner, Jeremy Irons, and Sandra Hüller Released in 2021 Currently streaming on Netflix Watch Time…
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Worth Reading
Guns, Germs, and Steel
By Jared Diamond 480 pages First published March 1997 I meant to read this 26 years ago when it was first recommended to me. (The title is a reference to the means by which farm-based societies conquered…
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Fun and/or Interesting
What’s Good About Menopause?
What’s Good About Menopause? This is something that surprised me. Most mammals remain fertile throughout their lifespan, allowing them to maximize the number of their offspring. Only humans, chimpanzees, and…
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Quiz of the Week
Reason with This!
The Enlightenment was a favorite subject of mine in college, so I was hoping to ace this quiz. I got 17 out of 20. Are you more enlightened?
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Readers Write
From GM re the “How Much Do You Know About Beer” quiz in the March 13 issue
“I got 19 out of 21. I don't know if that’s a good thing or if I should be worried about myself.”
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Postscript
Here’s something we see too little of…
… a government official sincerely apologizing for a mistake. Click here.
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Notes From My Journal
Old Men Worrying About the Future
Old Men Worrying About the Future: Three Predictions We Won’t Live to See I got into an email chat with my Myrtle Beach crew that got briefly serious. In a single afternoon, we covered the economic, political…
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Worth Considering
So Many People in Jail for Using Drugs…
What If We Decriminalized It? It’s no secret that there are more people in jail in the US than in any other country. In recent years, it’s been about 1.8 million and 1.9 million. China is next with about 1.6…
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The Economy & Investing
Chart of the Week: Is the Market Overbought?
Chart of the Week: Is the Market Overbought? This week, Sean asks a question that many stock investors and most stock traders have been worried about recently: For nearly 90 days, the market has been outpacing…
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Worth Reading
Alex Berenson on the First Amendment, Part Two
Alex Berenson Last week, I gave you a link to Part One of Alex Berenson’s lecture on why he fears for the future of the First Amendment. If you missed it, here it is again. Now, here is Part Two.
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Worth Watching
All of the Academy Award Nominated Films
This may be the first time I’ve ever done this. Over the past several months, I watched all 10 of the movies that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. It may also be the first time I’ve felt that all of…
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Worth Quoting
Bill Bonner on the Two Important Ways Government Spends Our Money
“There are only two key issues in government – how it raises and spends its money… and against whom it goes to war. Everything else is a footnote. But on the two important issues, American voters have almost…
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Quiz of the Week
How Much Do You Know About Beer?
Relatively easy… but I still got four wrong. Click here.
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Readers Write
From BY re “My Crazy New Eating Strategy” in the Mar. 4 issue
“Fasting works well for the exact reason you mentioned. You are eliminating the insulin peaks and valleys that lead to craving and binging. The lack of hunger is a pretty magical side effect. It’s a lot easier…
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Postscript
The Old Philosopher” by Eddie Lawrence
From JM: Life bumming you out? Listen to this pep talk by Eddie Lawrence from 1956. (Stay with it to the end. It gets funnier as it goes.)
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Just One Thing
Reminder
Reminder: As I mentioned on Friday, I realize that my weekly posts have become quite long – maybe too long for some readers. So though I’ll continue to publish a full issue once a week, I’ll occasionally be…
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Just One Thing
Brain Health
I know the weekly posts are quite long. I’ll shorten them up a bit by posting some of the briefs by themselves on other days. Today I’m sending you a short explanation of how the brain keeps itself healthy and…
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Notes From My Journal
What’s Going On with Me, You Ask? I’ll Tell You… I’m Fat!
What’s Going On with Me, You Ask? I’ll Tell You… I’m Fat! RJ, an old friend who recently reconnected with me, asked me to bring him up to date on my life. “What are you spending your time on?” he asked. “Are…
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News & Views
Someone Among the COVID Skeptics Deserves the Nobel Peace Prize This Year: 3 Reasons
I promised to publish my “controversial” essays as Special Issues. And I am working on several of them right now. But last week, I found this little list somewhere (maybe on The Vigilant Fox website), and I…
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Worth Quoting
Entropy: The Hidden Force that Complicates Life
“Entropy applies to every part of our lives. It is inescapable, and even if we try to ignore it, the result is a collapse of some sort. Understanding entropy leads to a radical change in the way we see the…
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The Economy & Investing
Chart of the Week: From Your First $100,000 to $1 Million
Chart of the Week: From Your First $100,000 to $1 Million Einstein once called compound interest the Eighth Wonder of the World. And when it comes to wealth building, it deserves that title, because its…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Speaking of Fasting…
Did you hear that several incredibly brave pro-Palestinian Harvard students went on a hunger strike to support some pro-Palestinian Brown students who went on a hunger strike the day before? The Brown students…
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Worth Watching
Andrew Tate’s New “Fireblood” Commercial
Andrew Tate Andrew Tate is loathed by lefties, because he has a very old-fashioned view of the proper roles for men and women in the world today. The mainstream press has been hard on him, even circulating a…
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Worth Reading
Alex Berenson on Why the First Amendment Matters
Alex Berenson Alex Berenson is not a right-wing radical. He’s not even a card-carrying conservative. He’s a thoughtful and well-educated researcher and writer who has developed a following by challenging large…
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Worth Listening
Playing Nirvana Blind…
Julliard jazz professor Ulysses Owens Jr. plays drums to Nirvana’s “In Bloom,” a song he’d never heard before, and comes amazingly close to Dave Grohl’s original track. Click here.
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Quiz of the Week
Name That President!
How’s your knowledge of US presidents? This quiz wasn’t particularly hard. I got 8 out of 10.
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Cartoon of the Week
More Than Mere Words Can Tell
This week’s image comes from a high-school buddy of mine and a regular reader. He sent it to me a few days ago, saying, “Mark, in the interest of your self-improvement book writing, this idea may bear…
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Readers Write
From RY: “What are you hearing from Nicaragua?
“I’m hearing some bad news about what’s happening in Nicaragua. At one time, I was even considering being an expat there with my wife. Are you hearing anything of value from the people you work with there?” My…
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Postscript
Is Beyoncé a Real Country Singer?
On Feb. 12, in the middle of the Super Bowl, Beyoncé debuted two songs. One of them, “Texas Hold ’Em,” went to number one on the Billboard country chart, making her the first Black woman ever to capture that…
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