Articles from 2023
694 articles · browse by month or scroll through the year.
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Postscript
Conan’s Shocking Irish Heritage
This works well because it is perfectly delivered. Click here.
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Notes From My Journal
Connecting the Dots — November 14, 2023
Things I’ve Been Thinking About Lately Why Fixing Matches Is Good for Boxing: Years ago, a friend of mine who was a boxing promoter explained to me why boxing has a history of fixed fights. “When you have a…
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Worth Considering
My Conspiracy Prediction Is Looking Good
As regular readers know, I’ve been predicting that Biden would not be the Democrat nominee for president for more than a year. He won the 2020 election because Democratic strategists wisely made it about…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Quick Bites — November 14, 2023
“Wow, big news!, AS write in a recent email. “They are changing the names of certain species of birds because their names are offensive. I don’t know about you, but I have had many sleepless nights knowing how…
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Health & Wellness
Brian’s Amazing Weight-Loss Protocol
At our last Zoom meeting, I noticed that Brian had lost a lot of weight. In fact, he told me he’d dropped more than 100 pounds! This is a guy that has always been heavy. But he’s also heavily muscled, so the…
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Readers Write
From RO
“Your Oct. 10 article about food insecurity reminded me of a video I saw on what I think is the most likely source of this ‘household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to…
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Postscript
What are the chances?
Click here.
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Notes From My Journal
Putting My Editor’s Hat Back On…
I have spent a fair amount of time in my publishing career training, coaching, and editing new and developing writers. It’s an aspect of my work-life I very much enjoy because it is an intimate and earnest…
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Worth Considering
Five New COVID Discoveries and Stories You Haven’t Heard About
Celebs dying! One of the COVID “conspiracy” newsletters I read occasionally is dedicated to keeping the public on top of the young actors, athletes, and other celebrities that have been mysteriously dying…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Quick Bites — November 12, 2023
Cats vs. Dogs… About the “Shema”… A Debate at the Fed… Smuggling Migrants… Swederland? Oro, a Golden Retriever K and I occasionally care for, has a very expressive face. He has, in fact, at least a dozen…
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Readers Write
Re the Nov. 7 issue…
From BJ: “I read your blog today and see that you think culture is the foundation of our world. I couldn’t agree more. We care more about culture than we do about money, politics, religion, or anything I can…
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Postscript
And You, Helen
“And You, Helen” A poem about war by a British writer that fought and died in WWI, selected and read by the great Douglas Murray. Click here.
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Notes From My Journal
Connecting the Dots
Things I’ve Been Thinking About Lately This is a new column that I’ll be including once every week or two. As you can see below, it’s going to be a listicle of things that have been on my mind. Thoughts I find…
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Worth Considering
Recent Notable Reactions to the Israel/Hamas War
“It wasn’t the rallies with ‘Keep the World Clean’ posters and chants of ‘gas the Jews.’ Nor was it the glorification of Hamas paragliders by the Chicago branch of Black Lives Matter or, in New York and…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Quick Bites — November 8, 2023
Quick Bites: Abe Lincoln’s Beard… 690 New Words… Gaga!... the Latest from Freddie DeBoer… and WS Merwin’s Garden Thought to be the last beardless photo of Abraham Lincoln, taken in 1860 The little girl that…
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Readers Write
From PN re the average net worth of American families in the Nov. 4 issue
“I am so glad you pointed out that it is skewed by a small number of billionaires and multimillionaires. I thought it was irresponsible for the Fed to publish the average net worth instead of the median net…
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Postscript
Worth Quoting – from James Clear
“It’s hard to save poor early decisions with good late decisions. -It's hard to write a bestselling book if you chose an unpopular topic. -It’s hard to build a happy marriage if you married an unhappy person…
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Notes From My Journal
Question: Who Are the People That Had the Greatest Positive Impact on You?
In a video interview recently, I was asked to name the people that had “the greatest positive impact” on my life. The general topic of the interview was "business building.” So I first thought about the…
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Worth Considering
On the Economy
* The average net worth of American families topped $1 million for the first time last year, according to the Federal Reserve. That average is skewed to a degree by a small number of billionaires and…
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Worth Reading
Killers of the Flower Moon
Killers of the Flower Moon By David Grann 338 pages Originally published April 18, 2017 It was my book club’s November’s selection. I’m grateful to the committee for recommending it because it’s about an…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Quick Bites — November 5, 2023
Quick Bites: Young American Minds for Sale... Everyone Can’t Do Everything... Another Example of Inclusive Idiocy... So, You Don’t Believe in Book Banning... How Much Do You Know About Central American…
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Readers Write
From JM re my essay on “Political Culture in America” in the Oct. 31 issue
“You state, ‘So, yes, the two-tribe world we Americans now live in was sparked into life by the election of Donald Trump.’ I believe the reverse is the case. I think that Donald Trump’s election was the result…
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Postscript
Speaking of ideological tribes in America…
I’ve always felt that America’s love of certain sports – football and baseball, especially – has created its own version of irrational warring tribes where one group’s team is always right and the other…
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Notes From My Journal
Political Culture in America Today
In my college years, I saw America’s university curriculum as a smorgasbord of diverse and delectable ideas. A cornucopia of philosophical, political, and social ideas that were, to me at the time, potentially…
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Worth Watching
Born in Gaza
A documentary filmed shortly after the 2014 Israeli-Hamas war Directed by Hernan Zin Originally released Dec. 12, 2014 (Spain) Available on Netflix Born in Gaza appeared as a Netflix recommendation shortly…
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Worth Considering
US University-Hamas Alignment Continues to Grow
The anti-Israel sentiment that began about two minutes after Hamas invaded Israel and slaughtered innocent civilians continues to rise in Academia. This past week, for example… * Nearly 2,000 sociologists…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Quick Bites — October 31, 2023
A Primer on Inflation... Three Ways to Lose Money in 2024... A Heated Debate... Mike Tyson’s Profound Wisdom... The Dark History of the Werewolf * Doug Casey on the Destruction of the Dollar. From a recent…
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Readers Write
From CM re my comments on Hamas vs. Israeli killing in the Oct. 24 issue
“Nicely done. There is no moral equivalence. Period. “A friend called me from Israel today. He has a colleague working on identifying bodies at the site of the massacre. Today’s latest horror show update…
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Postscript
Spooky Snaps Photo Contest Winners
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Notes From My Journal
We Are So Much the Same. Then Why Are We So Damn Different?
When K and I had Number One Son, we parented him the way I imagine many first-time parents raise their children – to become, as Jordan Peterson advised, adults that we would like and admire. Number One-Son did…
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The Economy & Investing
Money: The Ultimate Incentive
“One of the greatest ironies of the modern world,” my friend Porter Stansberry wrote in a recent post on his website,” is how few people who enjoy the cornucopia of capitalism and free markets understand even…
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News & Views
Teaching: Why Experience Matters
Bill Browder in Moscow Bill Browder is an extremely successful entrepreneur that made his fortune in Russia and wrote a good book about it – Red Notice. (You can read my review of it here.) TS sent me this…
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Worth Reading
Congress: From Canings and Stabbings to Murder
It’s happened several times now. AOC, that adorable nitwit representing New York’s 14th Congressional District since 2019, has several times complained publicly (and twice, hysterically) about being accosted…
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Worth Considering
Another Way to Look at the Israeli/Hamas War
Hamas’s brutal and barbaric attack on Israel was done to provoke Israel to conduct a land war in Gaza. Hamas leaders believe they have the wherewithal to eventually defeat Israel by making it a long and…
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Health & Wellness
Another “Crazy” Idea?
A visitor looking at “In America: Remember,” a temporary art installation on the National Mall commemorating Americans who have died of COVID-19. When I continue to express the view that the most important…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Scientists have discovered that the moon is 40 million years older than previously thought
Quick Bites: Age Is Just a Number… Spooky!... Putting the Kibosh on CRT... An Unbreakable World Record... How Good Are You at Acronyms Scientists have discovered that the moon is 40 million years older than…
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Readers Write
From BB re the Oct. 24 issue
“Loved the lesson on writing from Charles Bukowski! It’s actually a lesson on life!”
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Postscript
From Funkanometry: A super-contemporary dance vibe for a classic rock song…
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Notes From My Journal
Back in LA, and Happy to Be Here
K and I were in LA this weekend visiting four of our grandchildren and their parents. Every time I come here, I have the same thought: Despite everything that’s wrong about LA (high cost of living, high taxes…
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Arts & Letters
A Day at the Races with Charles Bukowski
We spent Sunday with the kids on Octoberfest Day at Santa Anita Park. I’m not sure why it was selected as a good venue for the grandkids, but it was. I’ve seen only two equine racetracks in my time, and…
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News & Views
Hamas vs. Israeli Killing: Is There a Moral Equivalence?
I was going to write an argument on the moral equivalency of the Muslim killings versus the Israeli killings in the current conflict, a topic that’s been debated daily on the Internet since Hamas attacked and…
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Health & Wellness
Three New Takes on America’s COVID Response
* He Doesn’t Sound Like a Conspiracy Theorist! Dr William Makis, who has been labeled by Big Pharma as a conspiracy theorist, and whose essays on the mRNA COVID vaccines have been criticized as fallacious by…
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Worth Considering
Unpleasant Advice That Works
“During my eight years in college, I spent many thousands of hours reading about economics, politics, and philosophy. Since high school, I’ve spent over ten thousand hours writing. When young people ask me…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Quick Bites — October 24, 2023
Rethinking Slavery… Reconsidering Virginia Woolf… Child Abuse and the Catholic Church... Joe Rogan’s Secret... Another Insurrection Thwarted The long history of slavery. For most of my life, I thought of…
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Postscript
How Venn Diagrams Can Determine Your Future
How Venn Diagrams Can Determine Your Future A fun bit sent in by GM. Click here.
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Notes From My Journal
Scary: Palm Tree Experts Visit Paradise Palms
I spent most of last Saturday at the botanical gardens, hosting a group from the Palm Beach County chapter of the International Palm Tree Society. For the first time since we started the project ten years ago…
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News & Views
Where Do You Stand on America’s Involvement in the Israeli/Hamas War?
Republican lawmakers are largely united on aiding Israel, but divided over whether to help Ukraine, while Democrats largely agree on assisting Ukraine but are torn on supporting Israel. In this WSJ report…
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Worth Considering
Bill Bonner on War and the “Hypocrisy of the Elites
“But for our purposes, we are focused neither on the wolves nor the lambs, but on the shepherds. In a civilized world… leaders of countries such as the US, France, and Germany would be trying to protect the…
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Arts & Letters
Too Tacky! What Is the Fine Art World Coming To?
From Art Today: “Kim Kardashian and Tom Brady competed over an original George Condo drawing at a charity art auction in Atlantic City. The reality star kicked off the bidding for “Standing Female Figure”…
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Health & Wellness
More Studies Show that COVID Vaccines Can Infect and Affect DNA
Artist’s depiction of a virus particle covered with spike proteins If you’ve done any reading about COVID-19 and the vaccines created to combat it, you’ve heard about “spike proteins,” which the body uses to…
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