Articles from 2024
411 articles · browse by month or scroll through the year.
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Postscript
New Monthly Magazine Format Launches Next Month
The first monthly issue of this blog will be posted in about three weeks. Here’s what you can expect: The monthly issues will be longer than the weekly issues. And they will look and feel more like a magazine…
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Just One Thing
How-to-Succeed-in-Business Books: Which Ones Can You Trust?
“I’m a sophomore in college, majoring in business, and I want to start my own business after I graduate. I’m taking all the usual courses on accounting, management, and finance, but I want to supplement what…
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Just One Thing
Economy's Health Divides Trump And Harris Camps
The State of Our Economy: Republicans Are Saying One Thing, Democrats Another… and Both Have “Facts” to Prove Their Claims Here’s What I Think On Aug.16 and Aug. 23, I wrote about the key issues I believe…
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Notes From My Journal
How Long Do You Want to Live? Here’s My Answer…
How Long Do You Want to Live? Here’s My Answer… Among my wealthy friends and coevals—let’s say, among the top 1% ($6 million+ net worth)—I’ve noticed that the great majority of them are still busy with their…
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Worth Considering
The Greatness and Difficulty of English
English is spoken in the big cities of just about any country an American tourist might visit. Do anything touristy, like check in to a hotel or go to a restaurant or go shopping, and you will find people that…
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Worth Quoting
Charles Baudelaire On Agreement Through Misunderstanding — August 28, 2024
“It is by universal misunderstanding that all agree. For if, by ill luck, people understood each other, they would never agree.” – Charles Baudelaire
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Worth Quoting
Charles Baudelaire On Agreement Through Misunderstanding
“It is by universal misunderstanding that all agree. For if, by ill luck, people understood each other, they would never agree.” – Charles Baudelaire
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Worth Watching
An Impressive Speech by RFK Jr
Watch Time: 50 minutes Whatever your political preferences, I urge you to watch RFK Jr.’s speech on why he left the Democratic party and took his name off the ballots in the “battleground” states. First, use…
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Worth Reading
Monkeypox and the Monkeypox Vaccine: A Brief History
In the Aug. 19 issue, I wrote briefly about Monkeypox, a virus that some health officials are predicting might spread as fast as COVID-19 but with a lethality rate 10 times as high. There was a time – and not…
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The Economy & Investing
Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger Are Recalibrating the Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio… Shouldn’t We Be Paying Attention?
Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger Are Recalibrating the Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio… Shouldn’t We Be Paying Attention? For several years, Warren Buffett has been warning investors that there are fundamental…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Five Quick Bites — August 28, 2024
Five Quick Bites * Interesting. Smartphone-free schools? A thought-provoking proposal. What do you think? Click here. * Interesting. Elon Musk on commercial space flights. Click here. * Interesting. Bill Maher…
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Photo of the Week
Another Finalist in This Year’s Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest…
According to the photographer (Irina Denisova), this photograph was influenced by paintings from Pablo Picasso's Blue Period. Textures developed using artificial intelligence were used in processing.
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Readers Write
From RM re “My Plot for a Science Fiction Movie” in the Aug. 19 issue
“Your plot is interesting.... “All it takes is one! One corporate behemoth to slip by the concerned masses and become too big and too powerful. A genie whose authority eclipses the authority of the authorities…
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Postscript
Viewer Discretion Advised!
It’s horrifying (but entertaining) to see that some college students are dumb as rocks. These clips were undoubtedly cherry-picked… but still.
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Just One Thing
My Fourth-Quarter Advice to Kamala and The Donald, Part II
Last Friday, I wrote about the key issues Trump/Vance and Harris/Walz will be facing over the next two and a half months. A conservative-leaning reader complained, noting that most of the advice I gave was…
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Notes From My Journal
My Plot for a Science Fiction Movie
My Plot for a Science Fiction Movie... And, Like Most Good Science Fiction Movies, It Will Probably Come True! I’ve been saying this for several years, knowing how implausible it sounds. I’m talking about my…
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Worth Quoting
Miguel de Cervantes on Preparation and Victory
“Forewarned, forearmed; to be prepared is half the victory.” – Miguel de Cervantes
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News & Views
Trump and Harris: Who Gets the Most Credit for This Bad Idea?
Trump and Harris: Who Gets the Most Credit for This Bad Idea? In June (I think it was), Trump announced that he was going to make workers’ tips nontaxable. Then last week, Harris made the same promise. I’m…
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Worth Considering
How Much Do You Know About US Debt?
Question: Do you know what the current level of US government debt is? Answer: $35 trillion in national debt – which is $105,000 for every individual and $270,000 for every US household. Question: Do you know…
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Worth Reading
Antisemitism Watch: Inside the Campaign to Blacklist “Zionist” Therapists
A therapist on a professional listserv in Chicago posted a request for a therapist who was a Zionist because the potential patient was dealing with feelings about the “current geopolitical climate.”…
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Health & Wellness
Is Monkeypox Going to Kill Us All?
Have you heard about Monkeypox? Monkeypox (Mpox) is a virus. It emerged several years ago (nobody seems to be exactly sure when) in Africa, in the Democratic Republic of the Conga. Government health officials…
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The Economy & Investing
Chart of the Week: Inflation Cools Again – What’s Next?
Chart of the Week: Inflation Cools Again – What’s Next? I’m halfway through writing an essay about the state of the US economy as I see it, including my analysis of US inflation. Reading Sean’s piece on…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Five Quick Bites — August 19, 2024
\ Five Quick Bites * Interesting. Dogs may have evolved to read emotions. Click here. * Fun and Interesting. Can ChatGPT be funnier than humans? You be the judge. Click here. * Interesting. Night owls may beat…
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Quiz of the Week
Ice Cream!
I am an ice cream ignoramus. I got only 2 out of 10 on this quiz, and I guessed on both of them.
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Readers Write
From CF re BJJ in the Aug. 9 issue
“Mark, just wanted to say I thoroughly enjoyed your piece today about your BJJ experience. Well written and relatable I think to a lot of men who have experienced the camaraderie of training and bonding with…
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Postscript
The latest update from FunLimon, our community center in Nicaragua…
* The Rancho Santana team Football Club makes history * New A/C training program offers cool career opportunities * A new Professional Development Program Click here to read about the center’s recent…
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Just One Thing
The Election Is Getting Close: My Fourth-Quarter Advice to Kamala and The Donald
After my May 17 essay on the coming election, I received a few complaints from Trump supporters saying that it was nothing short of a battle plan for how the Dems could win. So this time, I’m going to even…
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Notes From My Journal
Just Got Back from a Great Family Vacation on Grand Cayman Island…
Just Got Back from a Great Family Vacation on Grand Cayman Island… I’m back from a week in Grand Cayman with the immediate family: K, our three sons, their spouses, and six grandkids (two each). Happy to be…
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Worth Considering
Humanity’s Greatest Existential Threat
From GM, a regular contributor: “After witnessing the stupendous failure of the Secret Service in Butler, PA (and the press conferences), and not wishing to believe it was intentional, I sought to find another…
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The Economy & Investing
Chart of the Week: More Pain Inbound?
Chart of the Week: More Pain Inbound? As Sean mentions this week, I’d been concerned that the stock market was cruising for a bruising for some time now. Between our government’s $34 trillion debt problem, the…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Bet You Didn’t Know This
Bet You Didn’t Know This I rarely find anything on Quora that merits more than a moment’s attention, but I did find this about “famous actors with unbelievable backgrounds” to be worth the 90 seconds it took…
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Photo of the Week
Costume Designer Crafts Opera's Elaborate Set Cloths
A finalist in this year’s Smithsonian Magazine photo contest, this photo by Frederic Aranda shows costume/set designer John Macfarlane at work on set cloths for the Valencia Opera’s production of Tchaikovsky’s…
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Readers Write
From TA re the piece by Bill Bonner in the Aug. 1 issue
“I have been reading Bill Bonner for a few decades now. He has had more influence on how I see our government and politicians than any commentator out there. You have to get used to his doom and gloom, but…
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Postscript
A New Interpretation of a Radiohead Classic
JM sent this clip of Postmodern Jukebox (he knows I’m a big fan) performing “Creep,” featuring Effie Passero (who I’d never heard before) putting out a unique and somewhat more theatrical interpretation of…
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Just One Thing
There’s More Than One Way to Claim Victory
JG, a new friend I’m giving some advice to on how to grow his already successful business, wrote to me late last week. He mentioned, among other news, that he’d just returned to training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu…
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Notes From My Journal
What Matters Most (and Least) in Winning Fights…
What Matters Most (and Least) in Winning Fights… I can’t claim to be an expert, but I’ve learned some things about martial arts and fighters. I’ve taken lessons from and trained with many high-level amateurs…
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Worth Considering
Caveat Intellectualis
My brother, who is a serious academic, once mentioned that one of the things he does to keep au courant on the literary news outside his specialty (Greek and Latin philology) is to read Literary Hub, an e-zine…
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Worth Quoting
Howard Aiken On Overcoming Resistance To Innovation
“Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats.” – Howard Aiken
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News & Views
Antisemitism in US and European Colleges and Universities Hasn’t Gone Away. It’s Just Summer
Antisemitism in US and European Colleges and Universities Hasn’t Gone Away. It’s Just Summer. Since the school year ended, the large anti-Israeli protests have been few and far between. All students, even…
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The Economy & Investing
Chart of the Week: US Debt Reaches $35 Trillion
Chart of the Week: US Debt Reaches $35 Trillion Today, Sean provides visuals to illustrate the greatest threat (next to a nuclear war, which is also looming) to the world’s economy right now: US debt. This is…
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Worth Reading
Terrible Racists
Joel Bowman, an acquaintance and colleague who writes Notes from the End of the World, recently attended a family reunion in Pigeon Forge, TN, a town of just over 6,000 people. Spending an evening in town one…
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Worth Watching
Kill Tony
Have You Seen the Kill Tony podcast? I hadn’t until JM recommended it to me, saying, “It’s political satire, but you’ll like it.” I did like it. It has the three necessary elements to make political satire do…
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Worth Listening
Two Discoveries in One: A Child Prodigy Guitarist and a Reincarnation of Prince
“An unbelievable guitarist,” AS said. “A must see/listen.” AS didn’t leave a link, so I googled the name: Taj Farrant. And lots of videos popped up. Yes, he is amazing. And, in fact, he’s just a kid! Here he…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Five Quick Bites — August 6, 2024
Five Quick Bites * Interesting. I’ve always wondered whether Yelp matters to the restaurants it reviews. I don’t use it, because I don’t want hundreds of people I don’t know and trust prejudicing my opinion…
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Photo of the Week
The 25 Most Beautiful Beaches in the World
There is no such thing as “The World’s 10 Most Scenic Villages,” just as there is no such thing as “The World’s 15 Most Beautiful Men (or Women).” But that has never stopped me from clicking on such teasers –…
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Readers Write
From LP re a common marketing idea that rarely works
“I had the opportunity to read an essay in which you discussed how to earn extra money by taking surveys. Do you have it available?” My Response: I don’t remember writing about that exactly, and neither does…
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Postscript
Sweet!
Click here to watch this surprise reunion between six-year-old best friends. (As you know, I’m a sucker for sentimental stuff like this.)
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Just One Thing
An Appetite for Destruction” by Bill Bonner
One of the qualities I most admire about Bill Bonner, with whom I’ve worked for nearly 30 years now, is his courage as a writer. When you have a large fan base, hundreds of thousands of readers that pay you…
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Notes From My Journal
What’s Going to Happen? A New Prediction…
What’s Going to Happen? A New Prediction… Since I wrote about the election last week, I have changed my mind about the COPs’ strategy – which, if I’m right, is even more clever than I’d been giving them credit…
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Worth Quoting
Yogi Berra On The Folly Of Prediction
“It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” – Yogi Berra
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