ALL POSTS
A FOLLOWUP ON FERTILIZER
IMPORTANT NOTE: This essay IS NOT about supporting Iran. My analysis of the results of the conflict is totally independent of any consideration of the validity of the military action. The costs of the conflict to the U.S. are important to understand. Those…
A FOLLOWUP BASED ON THE EVENTS OF THIS MORNING
Today marks some progress in the Iran War. It is not settled. It is not won. The ceasefire is now in place according to the understandings of both Iran and the U.S. Here is what has happened: The Iranian Foreign Minister posted this morning, “In line with the…
TRYING TO MAKE A DEAL
NOTE: Nothing that I write below should in any way be read as an endorsement of Iran, its theocracy, its leadership, or its culpability. I, like I imagine most of you who read this, would like to see a cessation of hostilities before the U.S. chooses to destroy the…
BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP
As we follow the arguments before the Supreme Court regarding the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, there are some questions that we might ask ourselves. I am not an attorney, have never studied law, nor am I a constitutional scholar. I am just an interested…
AND NOW FOR OUR NEXT TAKE
I wrote an essay called “Pieces of the Puzzle” on November 2, 2025, in which I laid out what I believed were the signs of an oncoming takeover of Venezuela. Many people, particularly Trump supporters, told me at the time that I was crazy, that we would never take…
A CASE STUDY IN FOREIGN TRADE
I am pretty sure most of you have bought your own plane ticket for a trip. You probably used one of the websites that allows you to view available flights from various carriers. The airlines have learned that travelers, once they put in their destinations and dates,…
WHAT IS AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT
A question has been raised about constricting the 14th Amendment to provide that only children born of a legal resident mother be given citizenship. Regarding that question here is some historical perspective. I think that perspective is important because what…
DEAL OR NO DEAL
As we all get out the bowls of snacks at 8 pm tonight to settle down and watch a civilization get obliterated on live TV, we might want to consider what a “deal” to avoid it would have looked like. More importantly, we should ask the question, “Would you make a deal…
WHY WE NEED TO BUY NITROGEN
You may remember from High School, that the air we breathe has Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide (a molecule containing one Carbon atom and two Oxygen atoms), but that the main component of air is Nitrogen. 78% of air is Nitrogen, 20% is Oxygen, and about 0.05% is Carbon…
THE COSTS OF FERTILIZING YOUR CROPS
Media coverage of the strains on the economy resulting from the Iran War seem to focus on fuel prices. And this is clearly important as fuel costs impact the family automobile budget as well as the national costs of transporting anything from one place to another,…
AND NOW FOR OUR NEXT TAKE
I wrote an essay called “Pieces of the Puzzle” on November 2, 2025, in which I laid out what I believed were the signs of an oncoming takeover of Venezuela. Many people, particularly Trump supporters, told me at the time that I was crazy, that we would never take over…
ON THE FIRST AMENDMENT PART I
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of…