Articles from 2022
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Recommended Places
Why Buenos Aires Deserves Its Paris Of Latin America Title
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires is located at the northeastern edge of the flat plain known as the Pampas, which occupies the agricultural heartland of Argentina. It is situated at the point where the Parana River…
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Arts & Letters
From
“I’m writing to let you know I’m releasing you. I’m amputating you. Be happy and never seek me again. I don’t want to hear from you, I don’t want you to hear from me. If there is anything I’d enjoy before I…
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Worth Quoting
On Achievement
* On Achievement: “Enterprise and hard work will almost always win, even under communism or African dictatorships.” – Taki * On Forgiveness: “I once met a man who had forgiven an injury. I hope someday to meet…
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Readers Write
Reader's Tuba Trauma Resurfaces After Decades
Re the Jethro Tull video in the Feb. 9 issue: “I looked at the Jethro Tull video and had a flashback to grammar school. Sister Claire Eileen entered me in a music competition for the tuba when I was in 6th…
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Postscript
Two Years of Pandemic Life in Five Minutes
A well done video that sums up the last two years of our pandemic in less than five minutes…
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Notes From My Journal
Why I Haven’t Retired: It’s Hard to Explain…
When I complain about how much work I have to do, K says, “Well then, quit.” I say, “I can’t quit.” She says, “Of course you can. You could have retired 40 years ago.” Then I say, “I don’t want to quit.” Then…
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Postscript
The French Approach To Sustainable Weight Loss
Losing weight the French way…
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Notes From My Journal
What I Believe: About Identity Theory
A Problem No One Seems to Have Noticed Modern Identity Theory allows for the idea that gender identity is a “social construct,” and, as a social construct, it can be changed. A man that “identifies” as a woman…
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Postscript
Sacha Baron Cohen's Comic Brilliance On And Off Screen
Sacha Baron Cohen – He’s brilliant as a comic actor. He’s also very funny as a guest. Oops! Thanks to JJ for pointing out this goof in Wednesday’s PS. “Hi Mark. I’m sure many others will write to you about…
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Notes From My Journal
Bits and Pieces — February 9, 2022
Thoughts on Re-reading Ready, Fire, Aim: The Inevitable Bloating of Corporate Payroll If your business grows long or large enough, you are going to encounter payroll bloat – some number of employees at all…
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Postscript
Jethro Tull's Unlikely Mastery Of Rock Flute
Was Jethro Tull a Great Flutist? I was never a big fan of Jethro Tull until I saw him 10 years ago at a concert in Mumbai. (Of all places!) The auditorium was standing room only. The energy was palpable. He…
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Notes From My Journal
Bits and Pieces — February 7, 2022
Suffocating in a Cloud of Digital Detritus! I received a letter from a family member recently. A typewritten letter – actually typewritten, not laser printed – on an 8 x 10 sheet of paper. I tried to remember…
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Postscript
Otis Redding's Timeless Classic Gets Stunning New Performance
An amazing performance of “(Sittin’on) The Dock of the Bay”…
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Notes From My Journal
George's True Passion Lies Beyond His Day Job
You Are What You Think About in Your Spare Time George works for a brand-name, multinational information publishing company. He’s good at what he does. He rose from entry-level to executive-manager level in…
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Worth Watching
Hidden Gems From 2021 Worth Discovering Now
Potentially Great 2021 Movies to Watch in 2022 One of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2022 was to be more selective in the movies I watch. I want to watch only really, really good ones. I don’t want to spend the…
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Postscript
JM Demonstrates Impressive Knowledge And Creative Skill
Another great clip from JM. This is impressive on many levels – knowledge, skill, imagination, sense of humor…
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Notes From My Journal
Bits and Pieces — February 3, 2022
The Problem With Managers Managing Up When you were the founder and CEO, you knew the organization inside and out. Now, half retired, what you know about the business comes through the CEO you hired when you…
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Postscript
Buster Keaton Versus Charlie Chaplin: The Debate
Was Buster Keaton better than Charlie Chaplin? Watch it here.
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Notes From My Journal
Bits and Pieces — February 1, 2022
What I Believe: Meta-Knowledge = Meta-Tribes We develop beliefs based on our experiences. Our passive (reading and viewing) experiences as well as our active (physical) ones. Increasingly these days, the…
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Postscript
Golf With The Right Attitude
Another gem from JM… Watch it here.
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Notes From My Journal
Bits and Pieces — January 30, 2022
The Neuropsychology of “Close Talkers” A friend writes: “A customer, who later became the dentist who performed root canal on me, was one of those people who came very close to you when he talked. Seinfeld…
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Worth Considering
Learning From Iraq Before Repeating History
The last time this happened was 20 years ago, when Congress granted President George W. Bush the power to launch a military attack against Iraq. The theme was “a war on terror.” The excuse was “weapons of mass…
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Worth Reading
Nightmare Alley — January 28, 2022
Nightmare Alley By William Lindsay Gresham 304 pages Originally published in 1946 by Rinehart & Co. Every so often we Mules (my book club) select not just a book of the month, but a movie to go with it. Our…
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Worth Watching
Nightmare Alley
Nightmare Alley (1947) Available on several streaming services Directed by Edmund Goulding Starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell, Coleen Gray, and Helen Walker Genre: There is a sense of mystery to the way…
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Postscript
Tequila's Hidden Dangers Revealed In Viral Video
Every person, sooner or later in life, must discover what sort of booze works best for him/her. In my case, it’s tequila. There are risks involved, which are pointed out deftly in this short video…
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Notes From My Journal
Bits and Pieces — January 24, 2022
You Have to Admit… This Is Weirdly Encouraging A Maryland man with a terminal heart problem had a heart transplant. The donor was a one-year-old pig. Not an ordinary farmyard pig, but a genetically modified…
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Postscript
Pelosi's Remarkable Stock Trading Performance
Nancy Pelosi: Trader of the Year!
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Worth Watching
The Hand of God
The Hand of God Written, directed, & produced by Paolo Sorrentino Available on Netflix Starring Filippo Scotti, Toni Servillo, and Teresa Saponangelo MM recommended it to me. He said he selected it because the…
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Worth Reading
Enlightenment Now
Enlightenment Now By Steven Pinker 576 pages Published in 2018 by Penguin Books After I published a review of Rationality by Steven Pinker, AG, a colleague, sent me a note saying that he was happy I had…
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Postscript
What Makes A Song Truly Worth Hearing
This is the second time a friend has sent this video. It shows me two things. What good singing sounds like. And how a good song, well sung, can be an astoundingly good experience.
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Notes From My Journal
Bits and Pieces — January 19, 2022
The Virus Is All Around Us The coronavirus is spreading faster now than at any time since it was first reported on Dec. 31, 1919. But the mutation that’s raging across the world right now appears to be much…
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Worth Quoting
On Business Knowledge
“There are two kinds of industry know-how: specific knowledge and wisdom. Specific knowledge changes every six months. Wisdom lasts forever. The beginning entrepreneur, if he is lucky, can make do with…
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A Word to the Wise
Words to the Wise
* Palindrome – word, a verse, a sentence, or a number that reads the same backward or forward. Easy to remember examples: - Phrase: Able was I ere I saw Elba. - Names: Hannah and Otto - Numbers: 1661 and 2002…
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Postscript
This Is Why Joe Rogan Has 11 Million Listeners on His Podcast
He calls himself a liberal. But he has many views that appeal to conservatives, like me. Here he is talking about feelings and income inequality…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Well, Okay. Good Luck With That!
They wanted to make it a company holiday. I opposed doing it because I saw it as a passing political fad. Making it an official day off felt like a capitulation. And that’s what I said at the board meeting…
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Worth Considering
When You Are the Voice of Experience… 2 Questions to Ask Yourself
When you are young, you have the liberty to take up futile causes. You have the time to spend on them, and more time to abandon them when they go awry. When you are older, you can’t waste your time on idea…
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Worth Reading
A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories
A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories By Flannery O’Connor 252 pages First published in 1955 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich A Good Man Is Hard to Find is a collection of short stories written by Flannery…
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Worth Watching
The Alpinist
The Alpinist (2021) A documentary by Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen Available to buy/rent on several streaming services I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. (I wrote about it here.) And I’m proud that I did. But I’m…
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Postscript
Bullshit Art Criticism
The Black guy is halfway anchored to reality. The young woman has overdosed on art criticism.
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Notes From My Journal
Bits and Pieces — January 12, 2022
Ideas I’ve Been Chewing Over Recently… Revolution vs. Evolution * Revolution is loud and fast. Evolution is quiet and slow. * Revolution causes change, but mostly superficial change that is easily and often…
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Postscript
The Necessity of Predators in Nature
The necessity of predators…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
What I Believe: About Business Management
Why You Should be Sensitive to (but Not Care Too Much About) Your Employees’ Feelings Here’s how I explain it: It’s important to be sensitive to the feelings of your employees. But it’s equally important not…
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Postscript
Ancient Egypt's Sacred Gingerbread Palm Tree
A peek inside Paradise Palms Conservatory and Gardens… The drupe of a Gingerbread Palm (Hyphaene thebaica) Native to the Arabian Peninsula and northwestern Africa, the Gingerbread Palm (also known as Doum or…
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Notes From My Journal
I was not much of a reader as a child
I preferred to spend my time outdoors, playing. In my teens, I kept very busy building things, playing sports, and starting clubs and businesses. But not reading. I don’t believe I had read more than a…
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Worth Reading
Book Recommendations for 2022
From Literary Hub’s “Best 48” The Dawn of Everything By David Graeber and David Wengrow “Whether or not you’re a longtime fan of the late anarchist anthropologist David Graeber’s engagingly erudite…
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Notes From My Journal
Bits and Pieces — January 5, 2022
The End of the World As We Know It On December 17, I gave you my two cents on one of 2021’s hottest topics – the Metaverse. I said it’s real. It’s hugely important. And it’s already in motion. Battles will be…
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Postscript
The Surprisingly Simple Explanation Most Miss
JS sent me this… You have to like a simple explanation of a simple problem that most educated people don't understand.
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Notes From My Journal
Nostradamus's Secret To Perfect Prediction Records
“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.” – Benjamin Franklin It’s customary for know-it-alls to issue predictions this time of year. I’ve done my…
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Notes From My Journal
Predictions for 2022
The US economy will continue on its post-lockdown recovery, but the pace of growth will slow to nearly a crawl. Higher prices for many of the products affected by the supply chain slowdown will abate, but…
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Postscript
Dave Barry's Hilarious 2021 Year in Review
“Dave Barry’s 2021 Year in Review” Is there anything positive to recall over the past 12 months? Click here.
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