“It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.”― William Patrick Ophuls, Apologies to the Grandchildren: Reflections on Our Ecological Predicament, Its Deeper Causes, and Its Political Consequences On March 20, an unusual Executive Order caught my…
“When confidence goes, the end is very near. It always comes faster than anyone expects and it always seems to be unexpected.” —Bernard of Chartres, 12th-century philosopher and thinker Working in Ecuador from 1996 to 1998, I figured out that currency and money weren’t the same things. It was taking…
“There can be no other criterion, no other standard than gold. Yes, gold which never changes, which can be shaped into ingots, bars, coins, which has no nationality, and which is eternally and universally accepted as the unalterable fiduciary value par excellence.” – Charles de Gaulle Based on consumption import…
“I will immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and families. Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.” —President Donald Trump, Inauguration Speech 2025 On January 20th, the whole world was watching….
If ifs and ands were pots and pans, there’d be no need for tinkers. —Unknown So I’m binge watching The Gilded Age, a great show on HBO Max. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, it refers to the economic boom between 1865 (end of the Civil War) and the turn…
If you pass through life without an opponent, no one can ever know what you are capable of, not even you. —Seneca It’s Saturday morning, and I’ve just had a glass of fresh squeezed citrus juice mixed with 1/2 teaspoon of Real Salt and 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar….
“The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand exponential growth.” —Albert Bartlett, a physicist On Friday, I drove an hour north to pick up my boys from college for winter break. When I arrived, they were still packing. Amazed by how much stuff they were bringing…
“It is the city of mirrors, the city of mirages, at once solid and liquid, at once air and stone.” —Erica Jong There’s a lot of news about Trump vs. the Deep State. Last week, the following articles posted: There Really Is a Deep State (the Atlantic), Trump’s ‘Deep State’…
“I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.” —Mother Teresa The BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, was a success. It was by far the largest event that Russia has hosted in years, attended by more than two dozen nations, including…
There are so many things happening right now, I don’t know how much I’ll be able to cover in this post, but let’s begin with the most fundamental principle in international law: Pacta Sunt Servanda. It’s Latin for “agreements must be kept,” which is one of the oldest moral and…
“Outstanding, sophisticated, and mesmerizing…a spiritual intrigue similar to Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.” —ForeWord Reviews