Who’s Smarter? Liberals or Conservatives? 

From AS, re my August 4 piece on political ideology and intelligence:

“Interesting fact: I and other friends of yours, who shall remain nameless, have conversed over the years about your declining intelligence. Reading your article about liberals being more intelligent, I realized there is a direct correlation between your becoming a conservative and you heading quickly toward stupid.

“With that data confirmed, I plan to write it up and send it to JAMA. I think that’s enough research for it to be published, don’t you?”

My Response: JAMA will require a fair amount of support to be willing to publish such an observation. In addition to getting testimonials from our friends, you should get quotes from K and the kids, as they have been noting my senescence for decades!

So, You Want to Get Published? 

From PN, re my recommendations in the August 8 issue:

“Another option is a company like Inkshares.”

My Response: Thanks! I’ll check it out.

How to Come Up with Ideas – Day After Day 

From JW:

“I find that the hardest part of writing is coming up with what to write about. Do you have any suggestions for me? I’m curious if you’d be willing to offer a little glimpse ‘behind the scenes.’ How do you crank out so much great content so often? I would really appreciate any input you have on your idea generation and writing process.”

My Response: I don’t know how often you are publishing. But one of the surprising things I discovered about writing essays for a blog is that it’s much easier to come up with ideas when you are publishing on a daily basis. Easier than publishing weekly or biweekly. I think that’s because when you are publishing only once or twice a week, you demand more of each essay. And your readers also expect less because they understand that a daily publication is a bit like having a breakfast conversation with a smart friend. You expect an interesting conversation, but you don’t expect him/her to support all his/her thoughts with solid evidence and emotionally compelling stories.

That said, the best way to generate ideas worth your readers’ time is to do a good deal of reading yourself. Not stuff you find on Google, but essays and even books written by people that have expertise in the subject matter that interests you.

As a rule of thumb, for every 250 words you write, you should expect to prepare for it with an hour’s worth of intentional reading.

Step #1 in Building a Billion-Dollar Business 

From SS:

“Hello Mark Ford. I want to learn marketing and copywriting from you and really want to have you as my mentor. How can I learn from you? I want to build a billion-dollar company. Please. I really need your help.”

My Response: At this point in my life, I’m no longer doing one-on-one mentoring. The best way to learn from me right now is by reading my books. Since your goal is to build a billion-dollar company, I think you should start with Ready, Fire, Aim – and you can order a copy directly from us.

List price is $27.95. But for readers of this blog, the price is $15 (which includes free shipping). To order your copy:

* Send a check for $15.

* Make the check payable to Cap & Bells Press, LLC. (No cash, please.)

* Include your name and mailing address and mail it to:

Cap & Bells Press

Attn: GKoo

290 SE 2nd Avenue

Delray Beach, FL 33444

From CN: 

“I’ve always enjoyed your books and writing. Really enjoy your [blog] too. I just read the following book and thought it would make great fodder for you – The Well-Lived Life: A 102-Year-Old Doctor’s Six Secrets to Health and Happiness at Every Age.”

From GM, re Ivermectin:

“My wife and I attended a memorial in NY for her sister who passed in May 2022 from pancreatic cancer. Her sister had been the principal of a local school in Westchester County and was a very popular figure both from the school and her involvement in charity work. Consequently, hundreds turned out for the service that was held in a large ballroom at a yacht club along the Hudson. Still, the room wasn’t large enough. Walking into the room, I commented that ‘this was a super-spreader event if ever I saw one.’ Well, just two days later, at the same time, we both came down with Omicron. Having very closely followed the entire COVID landscape for over two years, every day reading the latest medical papers, protocols, and developments, I was fully aware of the worldwide random control trials involving Ivermectin. No lie, I have at least 1,000 hours in research time on this subject. My doctor cut me off and refused to continue a conversation/ debate over many COVID-related topics. I think he realized he didn’t stand a chance. As a result of this knowledge, I secured, early on, a supply of Ivermectin which I put into our ‘drug inventory’ in the cool, dry basement. At the first sign of symptoms, I broke out the COVID tests and IVM and followed the FLCCC protocol. 

“My recovery time was three days and my wife’s was five. Blood type matters in COVID. I am universal O but she is A. The data has indicated that those with type A have a more serious case with more symptoms and more severe reactions. Our firsthand experience bears out the data. The one lingering aspect, after the three and five days, was an annoying dry cough for several weeks. No big deal.

“Interestingly, both IVM and Pfizer’s Paxlovid are protease inhibitors. This is the mechanism utilized by both to terminate the proliferation of the virus. Very simply, the virus dies in the presence of the inhibitor. Early treatment is key to cutting off virus replication! So, why did Pfizer bring out Paxlovid rather than allow IVM to do the work? Patent $$$! IVM is generic and safe without the now well-known rebound effect of Paxlovid. IVM received the Nobel Prize in 2015 and it may well become recognized as a miracle drug since studies show overwhelming effectiveness against cancers and other viruses such as AIDS and influenza. All this with a drug that safely allows use with a wide dosage tolerance. You can be way off on the dose without harming yourself. But, if you were to ask the FDA, NIH, or CDC, they would tell you bumpkins to stay away from that there horse dewormer! Isn’t it just great? Pfizer gets to make billions on a ‘vaccine’ (Wait… NOT really a vaccine!) and when it fails completely sell you the newly patented drug Paxlovid since they can make no $$$ on producing IVM. Gotta love it!”

My Response: Wow! The work you’ve done researching this is impressive. I wish I had the time to dig in deeper.

From Murzban Shroff, author of one of the “Book Recommendations for 2022” that I listed here: 

“A small note to say: I stumbled upon your website here, which lists one of my recent books, Third Eye Rising, as a recommendation – and I was quite blown away to learn of your accomplishments and interests. Would you, by any chance, be based in New York or California? The reason I ask is: I will be visiting the US this fall on a reading tour and would consider it an honor to meet you. We could discuss our mutual love for books and literature and our individual journeys. Mine has been an interesting one: from corporate life to the literary, including intense persecution that brought my life and family under threat. Either way, I am very pleased to have known of you and wish you the best in your endeavors. I am Mumbai-based, so should you ever visit, please don’t hesitate to call.”

G, a regular reader and sometimes contributor, sent this… 

More Disturbing Vaccine News from Alex Berenson 

“A new treatment to lower harm from a minor respiratory virus in infants instead is associated with MORE baby deaths, clinical trials show. Yet no one seems to care. Two European drug companies, AstraZeneca and Sanofi, want the Food and Drug Administration to approve a costly new treatment called nirsevimab for RSV for kids under age 1.”

Click here

What could possibly go wrong?

“The companies’ own trials show far more deaths in infants who received nirsevimab than those who got either placebo or a competing older treatment. The FDA looks ready to go along.”

I have been following Alex Berenson for three years. He has been right every step of the way in calling out pharma and the CDC for their lies since day one of COVID. He is the only one who has successfully sued Twitter, and won, for censoring his views! He has paid a heavy price for his bravery. Now he is leading the way on the questioning of this (supposed) vaccine.

Click here.

From DB:

“I’ve read you as a subscriber since 2010, when you were a founding member of the Palm Beach Wealth Builders Club. There were reports that I found extremely helpful and fun about things that you are passionate about – like wine, travel, and cars. (Particular models that hold value over time, etc.) Given the inflationary environment we’re in today, I think readers would appreciate an updated version of those reports relevant to today. Appreciate all the words of wisdom.”

My Response: DB, you’re referring to a series of essays that I wrote over the years and later used as the basis of a book titled Living Rich. I’m sure some readers considered the advice frivolous because it was not about making more money (the main subject I was writing about back then) but about getting more quality out of the money you have. But I still think that’s one of the most important things one can learn about wealth.

I just took a look at the book, and most of what I said in it still holds up. Do I have anything new to add? I don’t know. Maybe. I’ll think about it. Meanwhile, if you would like a copy of Living Rich, you can order one directly from us. List price is $34.95. For readers of this blog, the price is $20 (which includes free shipping).

To order your copy:

* Send a check for $20.

* Make the check payable to Cap & Bells Press, LLC. (No cash, please.)

* Include your name and mailing address and mail it to:

Cap & Bells Press

Attn: GKoo

235 NE 4th Ave., Suite 101

Delray Beach, FL 33483

My thanks to everyone who wrote in after reading about my knee surgery in the July 7 issue. Here are just a few examples… 

From CS:

“I am glad you are recovering from your knee replacement surgery. The metaphor of the birth through your knee was so funny. Your brain will get better like your knee did, just give it a little more time. Thank you for keeping writing with very interesting topics.”

From WW:

“I have followed [your writing] for years, and have a better perspective for it. As for the knee replacement and rehab, there is a new and brilliant technology that has only been available for around nine months. It will speed up the recovery faster and more efficiently than any traditional method. I will send you the link.”

My Response: Thanks, WW! It’s too late for the right knee. But I will look into it in case I have to replace the left one!

From JJ:

“I thought I was going to need right knee surgery about six months ago. Then I found a book called Built From Broken. Written mostly for weightlifters and strength trainers, I learned that joints can be repaired by slowly lifting heavy weights. I started doing that with a jerry-rigged system I created. I was able to do 3-4 reps with 40 pounds before pain started. Now I can do 10-12 without pain. While the knee isn’t at 100%, and likely never will be, it’s close enough that I’ve ruled out surgery. For now.”

My Response: Thanks, JJ. I’ll keep that (as well as the new technique suggested by WW) in mind if and when the left knee no longer works.

In response to the June 30 issue in which I linked to an inspiring story about a high school wrestling champ that saved a woman from an attempted kidnapping, GM wrote:

“I enjoy when you highlight these stories that deserve wider coverage. This Canaan Bower was a remarkable young man who thought nothing about his personal safety to protect strangers. It gives hope for the future in this crazy world. I always read the comments after an item that I find moving and came across this.

“Absolutely heartbreaking! It makes me wonder about everything I believe. Imagine what he could have done and become.”

So, Where Do I Stand on the Transgender Issue? 

Question from JL:

“I’m having a little argument with a friend about your stance on the transgender movement and transgender people. Based on what you’ve written recently, which is never explicit, he thinks you may be transphobic. Based on my reading of the same comments, I think you may be pro-trans. Which is it?”

My Response: This is a big, interesting subject. I couldn’t possibly cover all my thoughts and feelings about it in this space, but here are some of them:

Whenever multiple ethical, political, and social considerations are involved in making decisions about complex problems, I tend to lean towards liberty. In the case of transgender rights, that means I believe adults have the right to alter their body parts. If the person intending to make the transition were a friend or family member, I’d want to believe that they had the opportunity to review the facts with someone that cares about them more than the cause. But I don’t think there should be any legal impediment to having the required medical procedures.

Having said that, I think there is, at best, a small chance that going through the transitioning process will provide lasting satisfaction. Most recently transitioned people say they are happy with their decision. But based on the data I’ve found, this might be, at least partially, confirmation bias.

As for the transitioning of children, I think that’s up to their parents. But I don’t think that parents should allow it before their children are 18. Let’s remember that most responsible parents wisely impose the “wait till you’re 18” rule on all sorts of requests – from getting a tattoo, to moving away from home, to getting a car, or joining the military.

Transgendering is a serious decision. It is also something that cannot be reversed if one decides the procedure was a mistake. For young people with genuine gender dysphoria, I am sympathetic to how frustrating it must feel to have to wait years to do something they are sure should be done immediately. But it is the nature of childhood and adolescence to want everything now. And one purpose of parenting during those years is to teach the child to delay gratification.

As for transwomen competing in women’s sports, the idea is utterly ridiculous. What’s amazing and endlessly entertaining about it is that there are tens of millions of Americans that know so little about physiology that they believe this form of misogyny should not only be allowed but encouraged. Not to worry. This particular idiocy is sure to resolve itself soon as more female athletes stand up and tell the world what it really is: ceding female sports (and eventually all areas of competition in which females compete) to men with psychological problems.

Already, some of the largest sports organizations have abandoned or are considering abandoning this indefensible social-justice trend. By this time next year, it should be one of those “What were we thinking?” conversations. If, however unlikely, that doesn’t happen, female sports will disappear as promoters and sponsors begin to realize that nobody has any interest in watching them.

I feel the same way about the support so many of America’s largest corporations have given to the transgender movement. They’ve been showing solidarity because they want good social-credit scores – scores that some major investment firms like Black Rock are using to evaluate the investment-worthiness of public companies. But now that we’ve seen what happened to Anheuser-Busch and Target when they went woke in their branding, I think that trend is dead.

Back to Gender Dysphoria 

All the above might suggest to some that I am ethically or aesthetically opposed to this now blooming social trend of gender identity – that people should present themselves as the sex they are genetically and leave the question of sexual attraction outside of identity, as it was when we had just four identities: two sexes and two sexual orientations.

That would be simpler for everyone. But if someone wants to take the trouble and spend the money to go through “gender affirming” care, I’m all for it – even if the motivation is not gender dysphoria, but an irresistible desire to be special.

I am especially sympathetic to anyone that suffers from gender dysphoria. From what I’ve read, it is a genuinely difficult and disorienting psychological condition. People with gender dysphoria have every right to make any changes they want to their bodies if they feel that such changes will give them relief and even happiness.

I am also sympathetic to parents of children with gender dysphoria. If it were my child, I would do everything I could to support him/her emotionally until they were financially and emotionally independent enough to do it on their own.

But here’s the thing.

I’m willing to bet that most people that identify as trans today don’t have and never did have gender dysphoria. What they have, in my nonprofessional opinion is INS (“I’m not special”) syndrome. My personal dictionary defines this as an extreme type of narcissism coupled with a discredited political ideology that is based on the notion that the universe of personal freedom is a fixed pie – i.e., for one person to gain freedom, or status, or power, someone or many others must lose it.

My advice to anyone thinking of transitioning: Research the data. Think hard. And if you decide to do it, don’t stop halfway. Go for the complete package. Hormones. Body parts excised and body parts added. Skeletal shaping. Vocal cord surgery. The whole nine yards.

Make yourself the best transman or transwoman you can be. But if you become a transwoman, allow your biological counterparts to compete with each other. Accept, like 99.9% of the rest of the world must, that you are not going to be winning any national or international athletic competitions.