Articles from 2022
900 articles · browse by month or scroll through the year.
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News & Views
Immigrant Shuffle
In April, a year after the monthly total of illegal immigrants crossing into the US had reached 200,000 per month, Texas governor Greg Abbott launched his border bus mission, sending hundreds (maybe thousands)…
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Worth Considering
Are Americans Becoming More Accepting of Strangers?
Lots of things are getting worse. The economy. Crime. Wealth and income inequality. Political discourse. But there is one aspect of our culture that has been getting better: cooperation among strangers…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Why Humans Help Strangers They'll Never Meet Again
Click here to read a fascinating essay that suggests why humans help and cooperate with strangers. And click here for eight feel-good stories about strangers helping people they didn’t know.
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Worth Watching
The Gray Man
Directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo Starring Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, and Ana de Armas Released in theaters July 15, 2022; now streaming on Netflix This past Monday, I watched The Gray Man. K warned me…
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Fun and/or Interesting
The Right Way To Reheat Your Leftover Pizza
I usually eat my unfinished pizza the next day. Cold. I don’t heat it up because, whenever I did, it didn’t taste very good. I didn’t know that there was a correct way to do it. (Also, a worst way.) Click here.
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Worth Quoting
Michael Masterson On Speculation Versus Gambling
“Speculation, they say, differs from gambling because the odds are not predetermined. If you really understand the market or if you have inside knowledge, you can participate like an insider. You can be a…
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A Word to the Wise
Sentient
means able to perceive or feel things. As used in the news brief above: “Blake Lemoine, the Google researcher who publicly claimed the company’s LaMDA AI platform had become sentient, has been fired.”
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Readers Write
Questions and requests
“Hi Mark, what’s your opinion on mastermind groups? I’m wanting to connect with more experienced business owners and raise the bar of my business and my skills. Do you recommend any?” – AB My Response: I’m all…
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Postscript
Small-Town Veterinarian's Quiet Work With Fish Hooks
I don’t know how I feel about this little film. It’s interesting. Thought-provoking. And touching. But then I did the math: only 300 hook removals in 25 years? That’s less than one a month! Who’s paying her……
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News & Views
War and Inflation: The Deadly Duo
Ernest Hemingway, not a geopolitical analyst, was nevertheless a geopolitical thinker. He had it right when he said that there are two sure ways to ruin a country. War and inflation. We’ve got both now. War On…
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Fun and/or Interesting
John Maynard Keynes on the Destructive Power of Inflation
From his book The Economic Consequences of the Peace “Lenin is said to have declared that the best way to destroy the capitalist system was to debauch the currency. By a continuing process of inflation…
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Building Wealth
Funding Your Retirement
How Safe Should You Be? Mr. Money Mustache is someone I read now and then. His thing is retiring early. He himself retired when he was very young. I think he was in his late 20s, with a modest net worth. And…
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Arts & Letters
When You Can’t Sell a Stolen Work of Art
A Dutch historian known as the “Indiana Jones of Art” recovered ancient Catholic relics when the pieces were left on his doorstep a few weeks ago. The relics were stolen in early June from the Fécamp Abbey…
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Recommended Places
Place de la Concorde, Paris, France
You can’t spend any time in Paris without passing through Place de la Concorde at least a half-dozen times. It’s located between so much of what you want to go back and see. Covering almost 19 acres, this…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Tokyo Sushi Etiquette: What I Did Wrong
The last time I was in Tokyo, I had a sushi meal with two of my business partners there. It was a good, working lunch. And the sushi was excellent. One thing that I suspect was NOT good was my table manners. I…
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Worth Quoting
James Clear On Ambition And Satisfaction
From James Clear: Raise your ambitions. Lower your expectations. The higher your ambitions, the bolder your actions. The lower your expectations, the greater your satisfaction. Achieve more and be happy along…
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A Word to the Wise
Decorum
– from the Latin for “proper; decent” – is behavior that is controlled, calm, and polite. As I used it today: “I was unaware [during the meal with my business partners in Tokyo] that there is a decorum…
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Readers Write
Readers Weigh In On Subscriptions, Resorts, And Investing
Re the article in the July 19 issue about auto makers, including Porsche, using the subscription model as a new sales tool, GM sent this in: Lyrics from End of the Line by the Traveling Wilburys: Don’t have to…
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Postscript
When Mr. Bean Defends Cancel Culture's Critics
When Mr. Bean is talking against cancel culture, something is wrong.
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The Economy & Investing
About the Future of America…
Once the Digital Dollar Is Put Into Circulation! We’ve all been deluged recently with reports on the rise of inflation and the risk of an extended economic recession. And for the past year or so, I’ve been…
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News & Views
Media Confidence Ratings at a Record Low
American’s confidence in two facets of the news media – newspapers and television – has fallen to an all-time low. Click here. Amazon Is Rolling Out the Delivery Drones Amazon has been talking about moving…
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Arts & Letters
Sometimes You Get It Right…
And When You Do, Why Not Crow About It?! I bought this painting 30 years ago in a yard sale from a neighbor, who was Pakistani, as he was leaving the housing development we lived in then. I didn’t know the…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Understanding Gravity in Five Lessons
I have always wanted to understand post-Newtonian physics, which is probably the most important area of scientific thought of the last 100 years. Not seriously. I’m too old to attempt that. But at least enough…
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Recommended Places
Two More BIG Awards for Rancho Santana!
Travel & Leisure just announced its 2022 awards for “Best Resorts in Central America” and “Best Hotels in the World.” Not surprisingly, Rancho Santana is on both lists: #4 in Central America and #56 in the…
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Worth Quoting
Michael Masterson On Knowledge, Instinct, And Wisdom
“Knowledge is a store of factual information. If you have enough knowledge you can make correct decisions. Instinct is a store of personal experiences. Instincts can help you make good decisions when you don’t…
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A Word to the Wise
denizen
A denizen – from the Late Latin for “from within” – is an inhabitant or occupant of a particular place. As I used it today: “Apartment denizens that use coin-operated washing machines have noticed a ‘shortage’…
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Readers Write
Re my mention of The Stanley Hotel in the July 12 issue
“Beautiful hotel in a stunning location. I didn’t know it was the inspiration for The Shining. A great movie, btw.” – TO Re the July 15 issue: “Three articles in this blog that were utterly fascinating: The…
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Postscript
Can You Beat This Cult Movie Quiz Score?
I scored 8 out of 10 on this quiz about cult movies. Can you do better? Click here.
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The Economy & Investing
Is the American Middle Class Shrinking?
“The American middle class is shrinking!” So said the headline. And it sounded right to me. Over the past 20 years, our elected officials and the Federal Reserve have done so many whacky things, trying to…
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News & Views
The Problem With Wind and Solar
I’ve written about this general subject before – how little most people understand about the economics of greening the economy. On July 5, I showed you how expensive electric cars are. Not just in dollars, but…
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Business & Marketing
Subscribe to a New Porsche
One of the things that the internet changed is the rise of the subscription model as a basis for business. As a newsletter publisher, my business was already taking in 90% of its income by subscription when…
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Fun and/or Interesting
The Amazing Story of the Smiley Face
Nearly 50 years ago, one man “invented” the smiley face. Then another man halfway across the world made it into a $500 million cash cow. Click here.
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Worth Reading
Sophocles: The Theban Plays
Sophocles: The Theban Plays Translated by Robert Fagles 430 pages Published Jan. 3, 2000 by Penguin Classics GG, one of our younger Mules members, suggested reading Sophocles, the great Greek playwright, for…
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Worth Quoting
Henry Adams On Politics And Organized Hatred
“Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organization of hatreds.” – Henry Adams
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A Word to the Wise
Rhetorical
– from the Ancient Greek for “concerning public speaking” – refers to the use of language as a means to persuade. As I used it today: “I expected to have my high assessment of these tragedies confirmed. And it…
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Readers Write
Re my essay on Cultural Appropriation in the July 12 issue
“Thanks for your recent article on cultural appropriation. It triggered me to confirm that the University of Utah also has a written agreement with the Ute tribe for use of the Ute moniker for its sports teams…
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Postscript
James Brown's Happy Feet Dance Style Forgotten
Michael Jackson invented his own style of dancing that’s been emulated ad nauseam. SC sent me this clip of James Brown doing his unique way of dancing – some called it “happy feet.” It occurred to me that no…
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Notes From My Journal
Grandparenting; The Good. The Bad. The Incompetent
I was always told that it is more fun to be a grandparent than a parent. And that is true for a very well understood reason. As a grandparent, one has the luxury of interacting with one’s progeny without the…
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News & Views
The Private Jet Business Is Booming
Corporate spending on private jets for CEOs and board members in the US hit a 10-year high in 2021, per Financial Times. Meta led the pack, and was the only tech company in the top five. As a group, S&P…
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Fun and/or Interesting
The Mathematical Power of Three Random Words
At first I thought this was going to be a simple tip on how to create strong passwords that are easy to remember. It turned out to be a fascinating read on statistics and probabilities. Click here.
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Worth Reading
To Have and Have Not
To Have and Have Not By Ernest Hemingway 176 pages First published Jan. 1, 1937 by Charles Scribner’s Sons To Have and Have Not follows Harry Morgan, a fishing boat captain during the Great Depression who is…
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Arts & Letters
William Blake's Dual Mastery Of Poetry And Visual Art
The Amazing Genius of William Blake The Ancient of Days (1827) I studied William Blake as an undergraduate. His poetry was exactly what a young man of my interests needed. And then, when I was much older, I…
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Worth Quoting
Michael Masterson On Retiring Multiple Times
“I consider myself to be an expert of sorts on retirement. Not because I’ve studied the subject, but because I’ve retired three times.” – Michael Masterson
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A Word to the Wise
Obstreperous
– from the Latin for “to make a noise” – means boisterous and difficult to control. As I used it today: “When [the grandkids] are irritable and obstreperous, I leave them to K or their parents to deal with…
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Readers Write
Why I keep doing what I do — July 15, 2022
“Your blog is, as is everything you write, absolutely terrific.” – BB Re our ongoing discussion about Wokeness: “[My] business professor… told a story about a businesswoman in Japan who traveled with an…
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Postscript
Omeleto's Short Films Launch Emerging Filmmaking Talent
Omeleto, a four-year-old YouTube channel, advertises itself as a “home for the next generation of great filmmakers.” The channel features a wide range of genres and even some notable celebrity cameos…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Cultural Appropriation: Is It Really a Bad Thing?
Richard Hunt, an indigenous sculptor in Canada, is calling on federal authorities there to take action against foreign companies that are copying his carvings and selling them as authentic, native American…
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Fun and/or Interesting
The Swastika’s Original Meaning
The swastika is an ancient religious symbol. It has been used by Buddhists, Jains, Hindus, as well as many indigenous peoples to represent the sun and its life-giving energy. In the 1930s, Adolf Hitler…
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News & Views
California’s Nutty Scheme to Reduce Inflation… Huh??
Governor Newsom has a new plan to help Californians deal with inflation. He’s going to do more of what caused inflation. Working with Democrats in the state legislature, Newsom announced a plan to send out $11…
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Building Wealth
The End of the “Crypto Winter”?
Bitcoin is down about 70% from its November highs. And Ethereum has dropped 80% from its peak to its bottom. I’ve said in past posts that I’ve always been skeptical of the long-term prospects of the…
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