Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
Get What's Yours by Kotlikoff, Moeller and Solman. This is a Simon and Schuster e-book on Social Security. Despite the seeming dryness of the topic, it's fascinating and very helpful.
The Dirty Dust, by Mairtin O Cadhain. What happens in the post-post-accumulation phase, when you are mold and watching the bairns in their profligacy with your hard-earned farthings.
And get to discover whom you'll end up with in the grave for all eternity. "But unfortunately, the dead can't budge an inch in the dirty dust."
"The greatest novel to be written in the Irish language" -- rapturous plug by another unpronounceable name. Fetching.
Re-reading "The Story of Civilization", by Will and Ariel Durant. Now in Volume 8: "The Age of Louis XIV". Sad but predictable that absolutely nothing is new with respect to man's treatment of fellow man.
From Wickipedia:
"Their goal was to write a "biography" of a civilization, in this case, the West, including not just the usual wars, politics and biography of greatness and villainy, but also the culture, art, philosophy, religion, and the rise of mass communication. Much of The Story considers the living conditions of everyday people throughout the 2,500 years their "story" of the west covers. They also bring an unabashedly moral framework to their accounts, constantly stressing the repetition of the "dominance of strong over the weak, the clever over the simple".
Good Question: Just(partially) read thru Barry Robbins new Investment Book, all 600 pages or so, basically a waste (he's big talker/little content) some interview information from the same old investors....Stuff you probably already knew.....maybe thumb thru if your bored or sitting on the beach...watching the college girls go by....
Read? Go watch the movie, Jerry. Two hours, and BOOM, yer in and out! (hee hee.) Love that line from "Seinfeld." Lately, I almost made it all the way through "Trout Fishing In America." Brautigan's thing, from my hippie days.
White Cargo: The Forgotten History of Britain's White Slaves in America Don Jordan and Michael Walsh
From 1641 to 1652, over 500,000 Irish were killed by the English and another 300,000 were sold as slaves. Ireland’s population fell from about 1,500,000 to 600,000 in one single decade. Families were ripped apart as the British did not allow Irish dads to take their wives and children with them across the Atlantic. This led to a helpless population of homeless women and children. Britain’s solution was to auction them off as well. During the 1650s, over 100,000 Irish children between the ages of 10 and 14 were taken from their parents and sold as slaves in the West Indies, Virginia and New England. In time, the English thought of a better way to use women (in many cases, girls as young as 12) to increase their market share: The settlers began to breed Irish women and girls with African men to produce slaves with a distinct complexion.
England continued to ship tens of thousands of Irish slaves for more than a century. There is little question that the Irish experienced the horrors of slavery as much (if not more in the 17th Century) as the Africans did. There is, also, very little question that those brown, tanned faces you witness in your travels to the West Indies are very likely a combination of African and Irish ancestry.
"They came as slaves; vast human cargo transported on tall British ships bound for the Americas. They were shipped by the hundreds of thousands and included men, women, and even the youngest of children. Whenever they rebelled or even disobeyed an order, they were punished in the harshest ways. Slave owners would hang their human property by their hands and set their hands or feet on fire as one form of punishment. They were burned alive and had their heads placed on pikes in the marketplace as a warning to other captives."
Here's a different take. I'm NOT reading the free app & 6-month subscription to the Washington Post which Bezos & Company recently installed on my Kindle Fire without my so requesting. Navigation is terrible. You can no longer move quickly from page to page by tapping somewhere or swiping the screen, which is what I like about reading on Kindles in general. Instead, yor scroll up or down to read each article similarily to how you would read on the web.
Nor does it seem possible to start on "page one" and browse quickly through the full newspaper, which is still possible with traditional Kindle newspaper formats. Instead, they have chopped the publication up into multiple sections including one for "top" news stories. Click on a section tab first and than click again on the list of stories to select one to read. Actually, a complete index listing all content doesn't seem to exist any more. Instead it's been chopped up into several shorter ones.
After clicking on an article title, it automatically shades itself (goes dim). I understand they meant to help the reader along. Actually, it signals to me that they don't feel their articles merrit re-reading later on. And it makes going back to look at a previous article difficult.
I didn't spend much time reading the articles, but from 5-10 sampled, it appears content has been dumbed down a bit from 10 years ago when I was a regular reader. Articles appear shorter and written at a lower vocabulary level, lacking the depth the paper once had (but still stand up well against mainstream print media). Lots of glitzy color photos. Frankly, they seem excessive to one like myself who doesn't read newspapers with the expectation of viewing slick photos.
Don Winslow's the Power of the Dog. Massive novel about the Mexican drug cartels, with lots of real life events -- the Iran Contra affair, the Mexico City earthquake, various assassinations and torture deaths -- woven in. A fascinating if grim read.
"it appears content has been dumbed down a bit from 10 years ago" "Articles appear shorter and written at a lower vocabulary level, lacking the depth the paper once had" "Lots of glitzy color photos."
I just finished Larry Swedroe's new book "The Incredible Shrinking Alpha." It reinforces the argument of passive vs. active fund management, and how as time goes on it becomes more and more difficult to beat the market.
Comments
What happens in the post-post-accumulation phase, when you are mold and watching the bairns in their profligacy with your hard-earned farthings.
And get to discover whom you'll end up with in the grave for all eternity. "But unfortunately, the dead can't budge an inch in the dirty dust."
"The greatest novel to be written in the Irish language" -- rapturous plug by another unpronounceable name.
Fetching.
From Wickipedia:
"Their goal was to write a "biography" of a civilization, in this case, the West, including not just the usual wars, politics and biography of greatness and villainy, but also the culture, art, philosophy, religion, and the rise of mass communication. Much of The Story considers the living conditions of everyday people throughout the 2,500 years their "story" of the west covers. They also bring an unabashedly moral framework to their accounts, constantly stressing the repetition of the "dominance of strong over the weak, the clever over the simple".
White Cargo: The Forgotten History of Britain's White Slaves in America Don Jordan and Michael Walsh
From 1641 to 1652, over 500,000 Irish were killed by the English and another 300,000 were sold as slaves. Ireland’s population fell from about 1,500,000 to 600,000 in one single decade. Families were ripped apart as the British did not allow Irish dads to take their wives and children with them across the Atlantic. This led to a helpless population of homeless women and children. Britain’s solution was to auction them off as well. During the 1650s, over 100,000 Irish children between the ages of 10 and 14 were taken from their parents and sold as slaves in the West Indies, Virginia and New England. In time, the English thought of a better way to use women (in many cases, girls as young as 12) to increase their market share: The settlers began to breed Irish women and girls with African men to produce slaves with a distinct complexion.
England continued to ship tens of thousands of Irish slaves for more than a century. There is little question that the Irish experienced the horrors of slavery as much (if not more in the 17th Century) as the Africans did. There is, also, very little question that those brown, tanned faces you witness in your travels to the West Indies are very likely a combination of African and Irish ancestry.
"They came as slaves; vast human cargo transported on tall British ships bound for the Americas. They were shipped by the hundreds of thousands and included men, women, and even the youngest of children. Whenever they rebelled or even disobeyed an order, they were punished in the harshest ways. Slave owners would hang their human property by their hands and set their hands or feet on fire as one form of punishment. They were burned alive and had their heads placed on pikes in the marketplace as a warning to other captives."
Nor does it seem possible to start on "page one" and browse quickly through the full newspaper, which is still possible with traditional Kindle newspaper formats. Instead, they have chopped the publication up into multiple sections including one for "top" news stories. Click on a section tab first and than click again on the list of stories to select one to read. Actually, a complete index listing all content doesn't seem to exist any more. Instead it's been chopped up into several shorter ones.
After clicking on an article title, it automatically shades itself (goes dim). I understand they meant to help the reader along. Actually, it signals to me that they don't feel their articles merrit re-reading later on.
I didn't spend much time reading the articles, but from 5-10 sampled, it appears content has been dumbed down a bit from 10 years ago when I was a regular reader. Articles appear shorter and written at a lower vocabulary level, lacking the depth the paper once had (but still stand up well against mainstream print media). Lots of glitzy color photos. Frankly, they seem excessive to one like myself who doesn't read newspapers with the expectation of viewing slick photos.
"Articles appear shorter and written at a lower vocabulary level, lacking the depth the paper once had"
"Lots of glitzy color photos."
@Hank- Sounds just like the SF Chronicle.
Derf
The Fortunes of Africa: A 5000-Year History of Wealth, Greed, and Endeavour. By Martin Meredith
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Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle by Thor Hanson
all you want to know about feathers. A must read if you are investing in feathers