We Have To Cultivate Our Garden

I am told that successful blogs have to have strong graphics for the same reason that people need to shout in a crowded room to make themselves heard. The idea that the size of the audience can affect the message is an interesting one. Think about the mainstream press. The larger the circulation of a publication the more likely it is that the […]

A Little Rebellion Now And Then Is A Good Thing

I often have cause to drive from Nevada to California on interstate 15 and so have been stopped innumerable times by the California Fruit Border Control, and asked where I am coming from and whether I have any fruit in my car. The ostensible purpose of these checkpoints is to protect California from exotic invasive species. While there are […]

The Unintended Consequences Of Human Action

With QE3 the Federal Reserve has initiated another massive round of money printing, buying $40 billion worth of mortgage securities while continuing to reinvest its income from the securities  purchased during QE1 and QE2. In addition the Fed has changed the emphasis of its mandate, from targeting price stability to making itself responsible for employment, promising […]

Whisky’s For Drinking, Water’s For Fighting.

Whenever I do some serious backpacking I’m reminded of the central importance of water to our existence, particularly here in the American West. The earliest articulate description of the problem was made by Colonel John Wesley Powell (1834-1902), the famous ethnologist and geologist who was the first to run the Colorado River through the Grand […]

There Are More Important Things In Life Than Happiness

My teenage daughter wants to have fun all the time. I hear the word “fun” everywhere. It seems everyone wants to have fun. This has always seemed a little strange to me but maybe that’s because I was brought up in England where, compared to California, not much emphasis was placed on the importance of fun. […]

Sudden Wealth

Your life-time partner dies, you sell your late stage technology start-up to a larger company, you receive a large insurance settlement following an accident, your employer lays you off with a large retirement package. These events all have one thing in common, they are life changing in a significant way.  Your identity, your relationships, your self-image […]