Articles from 2022
900 articles · browse by month or scroll through the year.
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Notes From My Journal
Huh?
I receive a regular stream of mail and email from readers. Too many to answer individually, but not too many to read. About 10% of them are funny. Ha-ha funny. Another 10% are funny. Peculiar funny. Like this…
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Worth Watching
Why CODA Transcends Its Coming-Of-Age Formula
CODA Released Aug. 13, 2021 Directed by Sian Heder Starring Emilia Jones, Marlee Matlin, and Eugenio Derbez Currently streaming on Apple TV+ Whenever K says that she’s read a good review about a movie, I get…
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Worth Reading
Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm
Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm By Thich Nhat Hanh 176 pages First published Jan. 1, 2012 by HarperOne This was a Christmas book – a stocking stuffer that fit easily into my reindeer…
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Readers Write
Readers Weigh In On Depression, Diet, And Markets
Re the Feb. 23 issue on Depression: “I want to thank you Mark for being open about a very important challenge for a lot of people. I enjoyed reading your deep dive in applying an analytical metric to this…
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Postscript
Bill Maher On Florida's COVID Response
Bill Maher on Florida and COVID…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Why Good Advice Usually Doesn’t Work
Why Good Advice Usually Doesn’t Work “Who’s this guy?” I asked Giovanna. “He’s the brother of a person that used to work for you. You said you’d take his call.” “What brother?” “I can check.” “Don’t bother…
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News & Views
Amazon Drops BLM Non-Profit Funding Platform
If you are a NYT reader, you may not have heard all the stories out there in the conservative media about how the head of the BLM Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF) was buying multimillion-dollar mansions soon…
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Notes From My Journal
How Not to Raise Spoiled Brats
I believe children grow up to be what their parents want them to be. When my children were young, I wanted them to be good at everything they did – school, sports, music lessons, etc. And they did a reasonable…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Why Core Inflation Ignores Food And Fuel
Curious: About the Inflation Rate The core inflation rate, for some reason, does not include two metrics that are very important: the price of food and the price of fuel. That seems bizarre to me. Those are…
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Recommended Places
Venice
Venice Here's the most important thing a new visitor should know about Venice: It’s just too crowded with tourists during the season. Better to visit in the Spring or Fall. And it’s got much more than the big…
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Arts & Letters
Letter from Ralph Waldo Emerson to his daughter, April 8, 1854
“Finish every day and be done with it. For manners and for wise living it is a vice to remember. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can…
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Worth Quoting
William O. Douglas On Protecting Free Speech
* “Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.” – William O. Douglas * “We love in another’s soul…
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Readers Write
Readers Share How Depression Coverage Changed Their Lives
Re the Feb. 23 issue on Depression: “I… wanted to both thank and commend you for the ranking system and the courage it took to talk about your malady. I’ve had some 3.5 days with the addition of physical pain…
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Postscript
Ben E. King's "Stand by Me" Gets Perfect Cover
The best-ever performance of “Stand by Me”…
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Notes From My Journal
My Revolutionary Indulgence Diet
At my age, I shouldn’t worry about how I look. It’s futile and undignified. And yet, I do. When I’m feeling fat, I tell myself that my weight doesn’t matter. So long as I am fit and healthy, I should be happy…
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News & Views
Update on “Sh*thole” Cities
Homeless man says this liberal city practically pays him to be homeless. Click here. Update on Pandemic Mandates On Feb. 9, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals said it would not reinstate President Biden’s…
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Notes From My Journal
What I Believe: About Wars
Proxy wars don’t work: Since the US military industrial complex was established after WWII, its lobbyists, in collusion with Congress, have kept America in nearly continuous wars (Korea, Vietnam, Iraq…
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Business & Marketing
Three Quick Ways To Recruit Top Talent Now
Three Ways to Recruit Great Talent FAST A colleague writes: “I am losing a great employee. And so, I’m in the market for a last-minute replacement.... Do you have any advice on getting a great replacement tout…
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Fun and/or Interesting
About Jordan Peterson…
You’ve heard of Jordan Peterson. You may have formed an opinion of him. If you read the NYT and watch CNN, you think he’s a homophobe. Or a misogynist. Or a racist. He is, in fact, a clinical psychologist with…
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Recommended Places
Key West
Key West is part of the Florida Keys archipelago. It’s Florida’s southernmost point, lying roughly 90 miles north of Cuba. Famed for its pastel-hued, conch-style houses, it’s a cruise-ship stop, and is also…
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Arts & Letters
The Scream's Daring 1994 Oslo Museum Heist
“Thanks for the Poor Security!” On the opening day of the Norway Winter Olympics in 994, thieves broke into Oslo’s National Gallery and stole Edvard Munch’s The Scream. They left behind a note reading “Thanks…
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A Word to the Wise
A word to describe something that smells like your grandmother’s attic: fusty
Fusty – probably from the Old French fusté (“tasting of the wine cask”) – usually means damp and dusty, having a stale odor. As used by Wilkie Collins in My Miscellanies: “The cab is fusty, the driver is…
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Readers Write
Readers Praise Business And Financial Planning Guidance
Re Ready, Fire, Aim: “As a mompreneur, I had to have this book. It showed me how to set up a plan to save for me and my business. Also, my kids can learn many ways to succeed in their first jobs, and not be…
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Postscript
JM's "Dancing on the Ceiling" Video Recommendation
Another great video from JM: “Dancing on the Ceiling”…
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Notes From My Journal
Why I Secretly Loved Cleaning Office Bathrooms
Here’s something you don’t know about me. I once worked as a maid. For several months in my late teens, I took a job working evenings for an employment agency. The job was cleaning offices. It was dull and…
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Worth Reading
The Maid
The Maid By Nita Prose 304 pages Published Jan. 4, 2022 by Ballantine Books The Maid was the March selection of my book club, The Mules. I didn’t finish it. I couldn’t . This book is absolutely the worst piece…
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Worth Watching
Monsters Inside: The 24 Faces of Billy Milligan
Monsters Inside: The 24 Faces of Billy Milligan Written by Olivier Megaton and Brice Lambert Directed by Oliver Megaton Season 1 released in 2021 - Available on Netflix An interesting look at dissociative…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Understanding Dissociative Identity Disorder And Its Symptoms
Previously called multiple personality disorder, dissociative identity disorder is a mental illness arising from traumatic events and/or abuse in childhood. Symptoms (criteria for diagnosis) include: * The…
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News & Views
Stocks Are Down: What to Do?
The stock market took a drop on Tuesday after the Ukraine story got scary. On Wednesday and Thursday, the financial media was full of advice on what to do. Sell? Hold? Buy? The answer depends. If you are a…
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Postscript
A Better Model For Cleaning Services
Speaking of maids… here’s a new and improved concept for a cleaning service.
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Notes From My Journal
The Depression Issue
About 10 years ago, I had my first experience with depression. Not sadness. Not extreme sadness. But severe depression, the life-threatening kind. That first experience was a nightmare that lasted for three…
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Notes From My Journal
The 10 Stages of Mental Health and Happiness
As I emerged from that second bout of severe depression, I began a journal, recording my recovery with an OCD attention to detail. I made entries into my journal about every three hours. I recorded not only…
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Worth Quoting
Barbara Kingsolver On Depression And Sadness
“There is no point treating a depressed person as though she were just feeling sad, saying, ‘There now, hang on, you’ll get over it.’ Sadness is more or less like a head cold – with patience, it passes…
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Postscript
Depression's Severity Levels Explained
Here’s a little clip about depression. I don’t think it’s entirely right. Most of the symptoms described here are related to Levels 5 and 6 (as opposed to Levels 2, 3, and 4), but the main points are accurate…
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Notes From My Journal
So, You Haven’t Been to Rancho Santana Yet?
Here’s What You Are Missing… I’ve spent most of my career in what I think of as “the idea business” – writing and publishing books, newsletters, and now blogs and podcasts on such far ranging subjects as…
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News & Views
China Races Ahead With Digital Yuan Launch
China and the Digital Yen Last June , I talked about why I believe the US is eventually going to have a digital dollar. And on Feb. 3, I noted that the Fed had taken the first step. But as I had said in the…
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Notes From My Journal
What I Believe: About Civilization
As Steven Pinker proved convincingly in Enlightenment Now, the world has been getting more civilized almost non-stop for hundreds of years. And that means, in terms of population percentages, greater wealth…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Interesting; Obesity by Country
In the Feb. 7 issue, I referred you to a video about obesity. Following are some facts about obesity that I’ve found since then. Not necessarily surprising, but nonetheless edifying: * About 30% of the…
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Recommended Places
Monaco's Hidden History Beyond The Glitz
Monaco City, Monaco Monaco, a tiny city-state on the French Riviera, is best known for yachts, billionaires, glamorous casinos, and the Grand Prix. But it’s also a treasure trove of history, archeology…
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Arts & Letters
Man Ray's Iconic Portrait Could Break Photography Record
Le Violin, the photograph above, which was taken by Man Ray of his muse Kiki de Montparnasse in 1924, is expected to fetch between $5 million and $7 million at auction next month. If it sells in that range, it…
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A Word to the Wise
A word I just recently came upon for the first time: comminatory
* A word I just recently came upon for the first time: comminatory Comminatory means threatening, punitive, or vengeful. Example from The Arrow of Gold by Joseph Conrad: “I suspected something comminatory in…
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Readers Write
Readers Share Impact Stories And Book Recommendations
Re my comments about identity theory in the Feb. 11 issue: “Mark, I recently read a fascinating book that addresses the question of gender fluidity and trans people – as well as several other woke issues –…
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Postscript
Tina Turner's Legendary Performance in Her Prime
Tina Turner in her prime…watch it here.
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Worth Considering
Lessons From TV Land
I was having a conversation with a friend last night about a TV series. Which was it? I think it was Godless. I said I had liked the first few episodes but gave up before the season ended. We were speculating…
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Notes From My Journal
Television's Pioneering Moments Through Personal Memory
* We got our first TV when I was about six, in 1956. It was a little box, with a dial that had 13 channels, only some of which worked. And it had a “rabbit-ears” antenna that had to be constantly adjusted in…
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Postscript
Bill Burr's Best Moments On Conan
Bill Burr’s Top 10 moments on Conan…
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Notes From My Journal
The Soft Side of Estate Planning
The Soft Side of Estate Planning Debate is a cherished sport in my family. A pastime that may have originated hundreds of years ago between the Fords and the Fitzgeralds, who were, I once discovered…
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Worth Considering
How to Destroy Your Wealth… and Your Family
How to Destroy Your Wealth… and Your Family It’s a well-accepted (and reasonably-well documented) fact that most family fortunes are dissipated within three generations. The first generation creates the wealth…
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News & Views
Inflation Hits Four-Decade High As Energy Costs Soar
* US inflation rose 7.5% during the 12-month period ending in Jan., according to newly released government data. The largest increase since Feb. 1982. What is even more alarming is that the cost of energy was…
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Fun and/or Interesting
43.4 million
* 43.4 million – the number of borrowers who have federal student loan debt. * $11.7 million – the value of a cube that a German artist created from 186 kilograms of pure 24-karat gold. The cube sits in New…
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