Saturday morning I got up early, quietly dressed, made my lunch, grabbed the dog, and slipped quietly into the garage. I hooked up the boat up to the truck, and proceeded to back out into a torrential rainstorm with the wind blowing 50 mph, so I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio for the weather report and discovered that the weather would be bad all day.

So I went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped back into bed. I cuddled up again behind my wife, now with a different anticipation, and whispered, "The weather out there is terrible."

My loving wife of 10 years replied, "Can you believe my stupid husband is out fishing in that?"

Then the fight started...

Google, Twitter, TMZ, Paris Hilton's blog, wikipedia, CNN gets 20 million page views in one hour...these internet sites all overloaded on the news of popstar and legend Michael Jackson's death...Cheers, M

LONDON, England (CNN) -- How many people does it take to break the Internet? On June 25, we found out it's just one -- if that one is Michael Jackson. The biggest showbiz story of the year saw the troubled star take a good slice of the Internet with him, as the ripples caused by the news of his death swept around...

Read more »

The End of the Recession?

"Mario: I appreciate John's insightful research and comments because I don't like being fooled and I don't want you to be either. Mr. Maudlin's BS Detector is sharp and worth following. World trade/exports are down around 25%, so now a 5% increase, which gets touted by the media and government analysts as the greatest news on earth, still leaves us way below where we were....this article goes on to make this point very clearly and should be heeded well as we face the next few years of economic reality. The most comfortable place to live on planet earth right now is right here in China where the local citizens and government are awash in cash and the cost of living including very low medical expenses is 2-3 lower than in any of the developed countries. Comments welcome...Cheers, M"

Last week we began a series on data abuse, about how various commentators twist and torture data to make it say what they want, or fail to look at the details underneath the headlines. Predictably, there is a lot of fodder this week as we forge ahead into this ripe territory. The headlines screamed that US income data went up unexpectedly. Green shoots were everywhere. But if you look at the actual data, you find something much different. And, I keep hearing the insistent refrain that the market is telling us that the recovery is around the corner. Well, the recovery may be, but can the market really tell us that? I have about 25 windows open in my computer, with tons of misleading data. Let's see how much we can cover in this week's letter.

World Trade Shrinks Substantially To The New Normal

Air, trucking, and rail shipping is down 20% year-over-year. Global trade is down about 30% in the major exporting countries (see below). This means that even increases indicating recovery still leave us far below pre-crisis levels of productivity...a point the news media and analysts like to ignore.

Read more »

When the young Siddhartha, yet to become the enlightened Buddha, sat under the famous Bodhi tree, he was resolved to simply "pause". We can call this idea a transformational pause because it means taking the time to stop and surrender and accept everything in your life without any sense of desire or pushing away. When is the last time you just sat without thoughts of pursuing desire or thoughts of pushing away suffering in your life? We all have our share of both, but because we are too busy reacting, we lose our balance, we lose that sense of contentment which comes from simply being our true selves. Sit under the Bodhi tree, neither seeking pleasure nor pushing away suffering. Simply accept the balance of all things flowing in your life, as in the nature of life there is pleasure and suffering both flowing naturally. It is the normal state of existence. Our successes do not mean we are better than anyone else. Our failures do not mean we are unworthy and should not be wrought with guilt and anxiety. Pause to simply accept and allow your self to be as it is. Find the peace in that before you push on to whatever might be next in your life.

In An Exclusive Interview With Will Hutton, Nobel Prize Winner and Princeton Graduate Economist Paul Krugman Fears For Global Economic Blues Like Japan's Lost Decade

"As analysts and media hailed the tentative emergence of green shoots last week, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman caused international shock with a prediction that the world economy would stagnate just as badly, and for just as long, as Japan's did in the 1990s. In an exclusive interview, he talks to Will Hutton about his anxiety for the future - and how Gordon Brown might have saved Britain from the blight that hangs over the West."

Full Article at www.guardian.co.uk Click Here

Thanks to John Mauldin, editor of the weekly Outside The Box advisory newsletter for his insights bringing this interview to our attention. Cheers, M

When we're what we call "not happy" in some way, the world is filled with "solutions of the day" including "you need counseling" (an American culture favorite), start exercising, do yoga, develop a meditation or prayer practice, get spiritual (which could be anything from finding Jesus in your heart to Buddhism to joining the Jehovah's Witnesses) all guaranteed to work and guarantee your salvation, depending of course on who you ask, take up cooking or knitting or sports or reading self-help books.

Acceptance. That's the one. That's the real one. It's close cousin is called "detachment from outcome".

There is less and less fight in me as I get older. Is that maturity? Wisdom of age? I realize more and more that...

Read more »

Recently a close friend of mine listened to the entire audiobook of How To Win Friends and Influence People. While doing so, he diligently wrote a summary of the key points and lessons which he has given me permission to post here. Such a list is great reminder for all of us. Enjoy it! And by all means, buy the book or audiobook, which belongs in any library of life. Cheers, Mario

A Personal Summary Outline of the classic book How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie...

Read more »

Here's a quick smattering of this week's news tidbits to make you think, feel sad, wonder more about who is running our country, and most importantly appreciate the goodness found in your own life...

Famous actor David Carradine, most remembered for his starring role in the TV series Kung Fu and movie Death Race 2000, was found dead hanging in the closet of his hotel room, "possibly caused by autoerotic asphyxiation rather than suicide"

Stephen Johns, a friendly black security guard was shot dead at work by black-hating psycho John W. von Brunn

Up and coming 27 year old actor Johnny Palmermo and his girlfriend die in a car wreck in Hollywood - he had been appearing in a variety of popular TV series including Nickelodeon, CSI and many others.

At the University of Perugia (I was there!!!) British student Meredith, 21, was found semi-naked with knife wounds to the throat in a bedroom of the flat she shared with her roommate Amanda Knox, who is suspected of killing her after refusing to take part in a drug-fuelled sex orgy....why can't they just play nice with some pistachio hazelnut gelato?

House Rep Patrick Kennedy with a history of alcohol and drug addiction is back in rehab - how exactly did he get to his lofty, responsible position in the first place?

South Florida (a great place to live) real estate prices have basically been cut in half, with the average price of residential non-oceanfront homes with yards and garages and pools hovering around 7000-8000rmb/psqm while Sanya (a difficult place to live long term ) real estate prices have basically held steady with average residential non oceanfront apartments also priced around 7000-8000rmb/psqm.

Cheers, M