After writing about the mathematics of Borda count voting systems as applied to the Eurovision contest, I realized I never posted the Russian performance, presented by the virginal 17-year old Tolmachevy Sisters. Bask in the symbolism of both the staging and the orchestration choices. Those of you with a history or music background will spot it…
The Washington Post this morning had a story about the political discontentment in Russia over the outcome of the 2014 Eurovision competition. Given that a few days ago, I outright said I’d personally emigrate were I living in Russia, this confluence of events is particularly timely. I’m going to use it as an excuse to talk about something known…
I spent my morning taking the Moroccan empire to victory in Civilization V against the world thanks to an extensive network of highly lucrative trade routes before going to the bank with Aaron to sign the contract for a new working capital line of credit our banker recommended. The whole experience was a pleasant surprise.
When I wrote this post a year ago predicting the decline of individual freedom in Russia, I never could have imagined how far the country would descend in a mere eleven months. In addition to the Ukraine conflict, the anti-free speech laws that make it a crime to insult certain religious beliefs, the criminalization of any outward sign that you are gay under the guise of protecting minors, the ban of any potentially offensive words in film and art, and a host of other development that look like something out of a 20th century dictator’s textbook, the country has now passed a so-called “bloggers law” that requires any site with more than 3,000 visitors every day to register with the government.
One of the most famous value investors of the past 100 years was a man named Christopher H. Browne. His father started a small firm, Tweedy, Browne & Company, that was Benjamin Graham’s stockbroker. It was through Tweedy Browne that Warren Buffett bought his personal shares of Berkshire Hathaway, taking control of the textile mill he would…
We tried a Korean beef bulgogi recipe for dinner this afternoon, which is available online for free and is incredibly easy to make. This would be a great first recipe for someone who didn’t know how to cook so if you’ve been thinking about getting started in the kitchen or on the grill, give this one a go.
When I adopted rationality more than a decade ago, discovering that the only intelligent way to go through life was to base decisions on the preponderance of evidence, critically attacking ideas to improve thinking, and working to constantly remove assumptions from my analysis, it was akin to the conversion of Saul in Acts 9:18; scales falling from my eyes and seeing the world for how it really was for the first time. I never anticipated how painful it would be to see others remaining behind in Plato’s cave given my natural inclination to teach and help people. Even reading the articles on news stories can be unpleasant.
One of the biggest questions on my mind for the past seven or eight years, and cause for a general chronic uneasiness in my heart, has been the nature of privacy going forward as a result of technological changes.
One of the projects on my personal study plate is examining the various business models of multi-level marketing systems that rely, in part, on referral businesses paying tiered levels of commissions on sub-distributorships brought into the enterprise by existing dealers; companies like Amway, Mary Kay, and Herbalife.
Often your best investment opportunities are staring you right in the face based on situational knowledge you have due to your physical location, career, or network; things that other consumers and capital allocators don’t, yet, realize.