Articles from 2021
442 articles · browse by month or scroll through the year.
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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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Notes From My Journal
Tryptic
“Some people dream of success, while other people get up every morning and make it happen.” – Wayne Huizenga Tryptic Enrique Anna Julia asks me if I’ve seen Enrique. I tell her I saw him yesterday. We talk…
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Postscript
Rancho Santana Ocean Views Available This Year
Speaking of Rancho Santana… If you’ve had your heart set on owning an ocean-view property, Rancho Santana will make it easy to realize that dream this year. You will be able to choose between being close to…
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Worth Considering
3 Facts, 3 Numbers, 3 Thoughts — March 28, 2021
THE FACTS * A man was sent to jail for referring to his daughter as “she.” A British Columbia man was arrested for referring to his 16-year-old transgender child (who was born female but prefers male pronouns)…
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Postscript
American Men's Self-Perception Versus Reality
“Shocking News: US Males Not as Tough as They Think!”
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Notes From My Journal
Understanding The Staggering Scale Of A Trillion Dollars
A dollar isn’t much these days… So, when you hear that our government is in the middle of spending $6 trillion that it doesn’t have, you might wonder: How much is a trillion dollars? Here’s one way to get a…
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Notes From My Journal
What’s the Toughest High School Sport?
“The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing.” – Marcus Aurelius What’s the Toughest High School Sport? A Reader Remembers His 2 Weeks as a Wrestler From Joe M: I was a basketball player in high…
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Worth Considering
Interesting Facts About the History of Wrestling
Most of the following are from a series of columns written by the late Bob Dellinger, wrestling historian and former director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. * Wrestling, mankind’s oldest and most…
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Postscript
Georgian Wrestler Tosses World Champions Like Children
Check this out… a clip I got from Bryan W. His name is Revaz Nadareishvili. He’s a 30-year-old Georgian Greco-Roman wrestler, and a 5-time champion in his country. Weight/class: 98kg (220 lbs). Height: 5’8”…
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Worth Considering
I Told Them So…
I want to tell them that I told them so, but instead I’m going to say it here. The two most incendiary issues of the last election were Trump’s handling of the Corona Crisis and the border wall. The Democrats…
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Notes From My Journal
When Is a Hate Crime Not a Hate Crime?
A reader writes: I know you are in Nicaragua so you may not have seen the story of a man shooting and killing 8 people at 3 Asian massage parlors in Atlanta. It’s been a highlight of the news for days. The…
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Postscript
The Asian Race Issue's Overlooked Dimension
Another aspect of the Asian race issue…
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Notes From My Journal
The Sunsets!
I came here intending to stay two or three weeks. It looks like I'll be staying five. One reason, which I've been thinking about, is an effect of the COVID lockdown. I now know, beyond a shadow of a doubt…
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Worth Reading
Hamnet: A N
Hamnet: A Novel of the Plague By Maggie O’Farrell 384 pages Published in 2020 by Tinder Press Hamnet is, as the title suggests, a book about Shakespeare’s son and the plague that killed him. It is also a vivid…
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Worth Watching
Shakespeare in Love
Shakespeare in Love (1998) Directed by John Madden Starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Judi Dench, and Geoffrey Rush As I said above, Hamnet is, a part, an imaginary account of how Shakespeare came to…
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Postscript
Six-Year-Old Breakdancer Defies All Expectations
You’re not interested in breakdancing. Fine. But tell me you’re not amazed by the performance of this six-year-old girl.
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Notes From My Journal
Adventurer Aleksander Doba Dies At Kilimanjaro's Summit
Kevin K, with whom I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in February 2010, sent me an obit from the NYT for Aleksander Doba, a man who kayaked across the Atlantic three times – twice in his 60s and then again when he was…
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Worth Considering
How to Learn Multiple Languages in 15 Minutes a Day
“Own only what you can always carry with you: Know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag.” – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn How to Learn Multiple Languages in 15 Minutes a Day If…
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Worth Reading
Microaggressions” and Other Dangerous Words
According to an article in Business Insider, there are 14 things you should never say at work (or anywhere else) because they are “indirect expressions of racism, sexism, ageism, or ableism.” Here are some…
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Postscript
Reason's Limits in an Unreasonable World
Trying to be reasonable in an unreasonable world…
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Notes From My Journal
How A Teacher Silenced My Classroom Wisecracks
“We’re all the heroes of our own stories.” – George R.R. Martin I’ve mentioned before (January 25) that I’m doing this StoryWorth thing – writing anecdotes about my life to include in a family-tree book I’ve…
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