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December 20, 2010 Auckland, New Zealand One of my favorite movies is the Matrix. I remember when it came out over 11-years ago, my best friend went to go see it. He called me immediately afterward and said, “I just saw the Matrix. You need to stop whatever you’re doing and come see
December 17, 2010 Auckland, New Zealand Earlier this week, the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals (one step below the Supreme Court) made an important ruling that should please anyone who longs for freedom. In US vs. Warshak, the court ruled that government agents must obtain a warrant in order to compel Internet
December 15, 2010 Wellington, New Zealand Do you remember the good old days the when it used to be illegal for governments to spy on their citizens? I don’t either… but I’m told that it used to be illegal. Oh how times have changed. The British government went out of control years ago;
December 14, 2010 Nelson, New Zealand Professor Hans Rosling is a sword-swallower. Crazy, I know. But as freakish and mesmerizing as that talent may be, the data that he has been compiling about developing countries is even more mesmerizing, and I promise it will surprise even the most worldly and well traveled among
December 13, 2010 Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand Even before Edward Gibbon published his famous treatise in the late 1700s, historians have frequently debated the causes of the fall of the Roman Empire. Some, like Gibbon, argued that Roman society’s moral decline was the root cause, while others such as Toynbee suggested that
December 9, 2010 Picton, New Zealand The ferry from Wellington across the Cook Strait to New Zealand’s beautiful south island was a bit rough today. I’ve mentioned before that I’m not particularly seaworthy, so I asked my friend Chris, a New Zealand native, to step in today on my behalf and give you
December 8, 2010 Wellington, New Zealand The price of a Big Mac is going up in China by 7%. In fact, Chinese state media outlets are reporting that prices for all items at McDonalds fast food restaurants across China are going up by 1/2 to 1 renminbi (RMB), roughly 7.5 to 15 US
December 7, 2010 Wellington, New Zealand Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, is a marked man. My hat is off to him. As far as I’m concerned, all he’s done is publish some information that shines a light under some big rocks and down some very deep crevices, and that is now making quite
December 6, 2010 Auckland, New Zealand Someone asked me recently, “Simon, if there are so many great places in the world full of opportunity, why don’t you just pick one and stay there– why keep traveling?” Simple. I wouldn’t be much good to you if I sat in one place and speculated about
December 2, 2010 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia A few days ago, I wrote an article on the merits of productive citizens leaving their home countries that are no longer aligned with the values of freedom and independence. I find this ‘starve the beast’ approach to be the most effective non-violent method to
December 1, 2010 Katoomba, New South Wales, Australia It all started a week ago. National Australia Bank, one of the largest in the country, had a technical malfunction in its core system. Within hours, a simple problem had practically brought a large part of Australia’s banking system to its knees. It was a
November 30, 2010 Katoomba, New South Wales, Australia There are an overwhelming amount of offshore tactics and jurisdictions that people can choose from– corporations in the Marshall Islands, foundations in Panama, insurance structures in Switzerland, bank accounts in Dubai, trusts in Nevis, holding companies in Labuan, property in St. Kitts, etc. With just
November 29, 2010 Katoomba, New South Wales, Australia In 43 BC, over 2,000 years ago, warring consuls Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian were duking it out with each other over control of Rome following Julius Caesar’s assassination the prior March. Each had legions at his disposal, and Rome’s terrified Senate sat on its hands
November 26, 2010 Katoomba, New South Wales, Australia Greetings from beautiful Australia once again; I’m spending the next 7-days in the very lovely Blue Mountains, about 2-hours west of Sydney. I’ve never been to this part of the country before, and it’s absolutely breathtaking. You can rent a holiday home here with an
November 24, 2010 Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia One of the few absolutes that we can always count on is that change happens. It’s inevitable– people grow older and change, cultures change, countries change, businesses change, families change, etc. Change is inevitable, there’s nothing that lasts forever. You might even find that your