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Last September– a bit more than seven months ago– my father died. Technically he was my step-father, but he was every bit my dad, and I loved him. The loss was hard. We didn’t do a memorial service right away, though. My mother understandably just wasn’t in the right frame of mind. So
It is becoming increasingly clear that the world is losing faith in the United States dollar… and rapidly turning to alternatives. And that’s a huge deal for the United States. For nearly eight decades, the US economy and US government have enjoyed the unparalleled benefits of the dollar being the world’s reserve currency.
By the summer of 1563, all of Britain had plunged into chaos over religion and the Reformation. King Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic church back in the 1530s, sparking a near civil war within the kingdom. Protestants killed Catholics, Catholics killed protestants, and extreme social tensions lasted for decades. Universities were
Thousands of years ago on the 27th of July, 54 BC, the famed Roman senator Cicero wrote a letter to his friend Atticus complaining about all the corruption and bribery that was destroying Rome’s political system. There was an important election taking place that year for Roman consul, which had once been considered
If you open up U-Haul’s website and have a look at the discount page, you’ll see a huge graphic at the top of the screen advertising “Discounts on One-Way Rentals from the Midwest to the West Coast.” It shows a map highlighting middle America, with arrows pointing west to California, and urging customers
On March 11, 2011, an earthquake in the Pacific Ocean caused a tsunami to strike Japan. You probably remember seeing this in the news, because, directly in the path of the tsunami sat the Fukushima nuclear power plant. As the waves crashed into the reactors, the plant’s cooling systems lost power and the
In late 1999, I was speeding along Interstate 88 in upstate New York, in a big hurry to go see my girlfriend at the time, when I saw flashing red-and-blue lights in my rearview mirror. My heart sank as I pulled over, knowing that the speeding ticket I was about to receive would
Paris. Such a romantic city. Sip cafe at a sidewalk bistro, while you take in the wafting smell of burning rubber from the street fires. Take a picture with the Eiffel Tower, as you dodge incoming tear-gas canisters. Enjoy the ambiance as you stroll the alleys between 5,600 metric tons of garbage currently
Practically on cue, politicians began their public hearings yesterday about the recent banking crisis. This was so predictable; every time there’s a major crisis, Congressmen book a committee meeting to express their shock and outrage. They pass new laws to prevent a future crisis. Then their new laws fail to work properly, so
If you’re old enough to remember— think back to the year 1999. Some of the year’s most popular movies included The Matrix, Fight Club, and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. The euro made its international debut. Vladimir Putin became Prime Minister of Russia. And over in the US, President Bill Clinton narrowly escaped
This isn’t over yet. Last week after Silicon Valley Bank went poof in a matter of hours, I wrote that this financial catastrophe is just getting started: “Like Lehman Brothers in 2008, SVB is just the tip of the iceberg. . .” Within days, several other banks were on the verge of collapse.
You know the old joke– “Predictions are hard… especially about the future.” And it’s true, nobody has a crystal ball. But it’s astonishing to see just how horribly wrong the people in charge can be in their predictions, especially about the very near future. You probably remember Joe Biden famously insisted in the
On Sunday afternoon, September 14, 2008, hundreds of employees of the financial giant Lehman Brothers walked into the bank’s headquarters at 745 Seventh Avenue in New York City to clear out their offices and desks. Lehman was hours away from declaring bankruptcy. And its collapse the next day triggered the worst economic and
In 2021, Malaysia’s My Second Home (MM2H) visa program became way more expensive. Fortunately, the country’s autonomous Sarawak Province had a far more accessible regional version of the program. And now, Sabah Province is following suit by launching its own affordable MM2H program… Malaysia’s MM2H Visa: A quick recap of recent program changes…
The past week has been a bloodbath for the investment migration industry. But demand won’t be disappearing, and more countries will launch residency and Citizenship By Investment programs in response. One such country is Armenia, which is reportedly launching a CBI program shortly… But first… Could Armenia make sense as a Plan B