Articles from 2023
694 articles · browse by month or scroll through the year.
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Postscript
This dancing duo is all over social media…
And for good reason. Click here.
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Notes From My Journal
So, What’s the Answer? What Should I Do?
I was doing some research yesterday about the changing history of expert medical opinion on canola oil and omega-6 fatty acids (of all things). Over the past several decades, it has fluctuated from positive to…
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News & Views
When I think about racism in the US…
I don’t think about incarceration data, SAT results, or other “systemic” issues… I think about this. And this. A Modern-Day Witch Trial There are many good people working in and around the challenge of autism…
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Worth Quoting
Another Big Retail Store Bites the Dust!
From Nellie Bowles (The Free Press) on crime in Portland: “REI, the do-good outdoor recreation chain, the store where I buy most of my clothes (whoever says they don’t carry black tie clothes isn’t trying hard…
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Arts & Letters
Good News, Bad News — May 17, 2023
France’s Pompidou Center will close in 2025 for five years, while it spends $300 million fixing itself up. The bad news is that it will still be open till then. Its architecture, inside and out, has always…
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Health & Wellness
Second Sleep? What’s That?
I was surprised to learn this: For most of man’s time on earth, sleep happened in two shifts. The current “normal” of one seven- or eight-hour sleep was something that developed during the Industrial…
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Introducing...
Gloria Alvarez
A well-known political intellectual in Guatemala, Gloria Alvarez has been speaking out against the growth of socialism in Latin America for years. She’s now running for president of her country – and she’s…
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Worth Reading
The 10 Greatest Final Frames in Cinema History
I enjoyed reading this short essay by Calum Russell in Far Out Magazine, in which he lists, “The 10 Greatest Final Frames in Cinema History.” I was surprised at how many I remembered. All but one. That was the…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Speaking of Films… a Moment in Time
Twenty years ago, this was how movie makers filled the cinematic holes. Today, with digital technology, the work can be done at a fraction of the cost by a college intern. Click here.
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Readers Write
From SC, re “Chat-GPT as Mark Ford” in the May 12 issue
“I loved it. But to me, the only thing that I might call ‘disturbing’ was the hint of cynicism I’m seeing in some of your writing the last year or so. “Yes, those ‘keys to living’ are clichés and not terribly…
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Postscript
Talk about heroics… This is amazing!
Click here.
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Notes From My Journal
Exciting… and Disturbing
A subscriber sent in this “clipping” under the headline: “Chat-GPT as Mark Ford telling you how to live your BEST life!” I wasn’t sure what to make of it because I don’t know how Chat-GPT works. I know that…
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News & Views
Why You Can’t Trust Science Anymore
If you know how to search Google reasonably well, you can find studies to support just about any idea you favor. And some of those studies will be convincing. The problem is: Convincing does not = valid or…
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Worth Watching
Chimp Empire
Chimp Empire A 4-part Netflix series Season 1 released April 19, 2023 Directed by James Reed Narrated by Mahershala Ali It’s not for everyone. Some may find it a bit slow going. But Chimp Empire is a very good…
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Worth Considering
The COVID Response: What We Got Wrong — May 12, 2023
Another Validated Side Effect of the Vaccines JM, one of my trainers and physical therapists, sent me the link below on a study about the relationship between COVID vaccines and the incidence of retinal…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Test Yourself: How Much Money Does the Federal Government Waste Each Year?
I’m talking about overspending, duplicate spending, and improper spending. So, what do you think? A hundred million? Five hundred million? A billion? Here’s a partial answer straight from the Government…
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Readers Write
From JJ, re “China Is Winning This Battle Too!” in the May 9 issue
“Here in Ecuador (and likely other countries), China lends hundreds of millions of dollars for infrastructure projects, to be paid back in oil. “Ecuador is entirely self-sufficient in electricity thanks to the…
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Postscript
Derivatives Market Basics in 60 Seconds
The Derivatives Market Explained in Less Than One Minute… Click here.
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Notes From My Journal
I Was Profiting from a Bordello!
I like to think of myself as a good and responsible landlord. I keep the properties in good shape, keep the rent increases affordable, and give the tenants the privacy they deserve. But when Julio took over…
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News & Views
China Is Winning This Battle, Too!
As you might remember, I lived for two years in Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer. My assignment was teaching literature at the University of Chad. As a college teacher in the capital city, I had many…
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Worth Quoting
Bill Bonner On America's Declining Global Standing
“America is a victim of its own flim-flam. The peak of it… probably came when Madeleine Albright, the US Secretary of State, announced that the US was ‘indispensable’… and that ‘we stand taller… and ‘see…
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Health & Wellness
Coffee? Tea? Why Not?
A friend of mine told me that he was eliminating coffee from his diet for “health reasons.” I told him that the coffee=bad myth was debunked decades ago. In fact, a 2017 umbrella review of 201 meta-analyses by…
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Worth Watching
Jordan Peterson Interviews Camille Paglia: Fantastic!
I’ve known her name for years as a public intellectual. I thought she did movie reviews. Had the impression that she was a leftist. That’s all I knew. JM sent me this video of an interview Jordan Peterson did…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Ten Useful Learning Strategies with ChatGPT
Recently, Scott H Young asked his readers to write to him and explain how they’re using large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT. He then reported on their responses. I was impressed by what people are…
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Readers Write
From CM re my May 5 piece about charitable giving
“I really enjoy your e-letters. They are both informative and entertaining. Your article on charity was outstanding, and so were the links! Since you quoted the Torah, a subject I’m familiar with, I hope it’s…
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Postscript
Two Things You Need to Build a Following on Social Media
This guy has found his niche on social media. He has a big following. Not just because his schtick is clever, but because he’s very good at what he does. Click here.
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Notes From My Journal
Anonymous Giving
The Torah says that the highest form of charity is when the giving is done anonymously. One gives for the opportunity to help someone else, without any expectation of social recompence. When we donate to…
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News & Views
Is AI the End of the World? Or the Dawn of a New One?
Freddie DeBoer believes this “either/or” question, posed by Bari Weiss in The Free Press, is hype, meant to sell you on the idea that AI is something to wholeheartedly embrace: “The very notion that the world…
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Health & Wellness
The Statin Diaries: Can High Levels of Cholesterol Be Healthy?
I told you on Dec. 30 that ever since I began taking the statin drug recommended by my VIP doc, I’ve been needing more sleep, taking more naps, and feeling brain-fogged. I couldn’t say for sure that my fatigue…
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Worth Watching
Fauda
Fauda A 4-part (so far) Netflix series Season 1 premiered (US) Feb. 15, 2015 There are two series that I’ve been watching steadfastly for the last two years. Trailer Park Boys, a goofy comedy about…
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Worth Listening
I rise at eleven, I dine about two,
I get drunk before seven, and the next thing I do…” John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester Number Two Son sent the following link to me and my brother, a professor of ancient literature at Princeton. He said, “I…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Cinco de What? Mayonnaise?
Living in South Florida, I’ve had ample chances to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, which I assumed was a Mexican holiday of some historical event, presumably the day it won its independence from Spain. Yes and no…
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Postscript
A Legacy of One Man’s Lifetime
I so enjoy reading stories like this – lifetimes devoted to quirky but fun ideas. Click here.
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Notes From My Journal
What I Believe: About People with Gender Dysphoria
And How the Woke Mob Is Making a Mockery of Them In some ways, the transgender debate may be the most important cultural issue of this century. Certainly more important than ageism, xenophobia, and fat phobia…
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The Economy & Investing
Go Woke and Go Broke
Sales for Bud Light took a dive after the marketing VP in charge of the brand deciding to boost sales by getting away from the “frat boy” image and going for a new target audience: beer drinkers that are also…
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Worth Watching
West Beirut
West Beirut Written and directed by Ziad Doueiri Starring Rami Doueiri Released (US) Sept. 3, 1999 Available on Netflix West Beirut was fed to me by Netflix’s algorithm. It was great from start to finish…
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Worth Considering
The COVID Response: What We Got Wrong — May 2, 2023
The Craziest Part of the Propaganda As I hope you know by now, virtually every important statement that Fauci and crew told the press in 2020, 2021, and 2022 about COVID, including its origins, its…
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Introducing...
Alisha Lehmann
Who is Alisha Lehmann? I had no idea, but this little clip got me interested. It said, “Watch Alisha Lehmann get her revenge.” I looked her up. Turns out she’s the most followed female soccer player in the…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Three Life Hacks I Wish I Knew Back When!
Don’t ask. Just look at this (30 seconds) and think about how great it would be if you knew these three life hacks when you were younger. Click here.
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Readers Write
Re the April 25 issue
“Loved your piece about business/economic privilege! It’s so true!” – SM “Your suggestion – ‘Unless you have run a successful business for at least five years, don’t talk. Just listen.’ – I can definitely see…
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Postscript
Why I’m glad I’m not out there today in the dating sphere…
Click here.
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Notes From My Journal
When You Know It’s Unjust
One of the challenges of charity is that there are all sorts of nebulous aspects to supporting worthy causes. Among the most common are the many ways they can have unintended consequences. There is also the…
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News & Views
Inoue vs. Stossel: “People Like You…
For decades – and certainly since I was in college and graduate school in the early 1970s – higher education in America has had an attachment to Marxism and derivative ideologies. Since the turn of the…
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Worth Considering
The COVID Response: Are Vaccines Bad for the Brain? Or Is This Another Conspiracy Theory?
One of the claims made against COVID vaccination is that it can cause a variety of mild to deadly brain problems. I’ve already suffered three of the possible side effects. I had an ischemic stroke, an optic…
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Worth Listening
Long Ago... I Fell for Her
When The Carpenters were on the charts, I never thought much of them. I saw them as syrupy sweet and sentimental, which was not my teenage thing. But I do remember liking Karen Carpenter’s voice. A few days…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Wonder, astonishment, and devotion
I came across this journal entry in Diaries of Note. It was written in 1831 in Brazil by Charles Darwin. It describes a typical day in his life then, surveying the rain forest with the help of his team. I was…
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Readers Write
Re “Poor Wreck That I Am” in the April 21 issue, GM had this to say
“Thanks for that piece, Mark. I too have suffered from depression and anxiety since my late 20s. To this day I still wonder how I was able to start and operate a business for 30 years, have employees, sell…
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Postscript
I Tried Not to Laugh
Okay, this guy is being a bit of a jerk. But have you ever had this experience? If so, you might find this funny. I tried not to laugh. But couldn’t. Can you? Click here.
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Notes From My Journal
A New Rule for Discussing Economics
I don’t think much of Critical Race Theory. But there is one thing derived from it that I sometimes want to emulate. I’m talking about the idea of White Privilege – i.e., that if you are White, you should shut…
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News & Views
The End of Unbiased Reporting
The Ubiquity of Advocacy Journalism And the Elon Musk BBC Interview Reporting the facts, and all the facts, fairly and impartially, was once the acknowledged standard of journalism. It wasn’t always met. But…
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