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All of the Academy Award Nominated Films

This may be the first time I’ve ever done this. Over the past several months, I watched all 10 of the movies that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.

It may also be the first time I’ve felt that all of the nominated films deserved to be nominated.

In case you haven’t seen some or all of them and you’re interested in my two cents, here they are in order of my preferences, along with brief notes on each.

1. The Zone of Interest 

A distinctly different Holocaust film, with a clever perspective and great performances.

2. Oppenheimer 

It aimed to be a big and important film, and it met its ambitions completely.

3. Poor Things 

Wild, crazy, inventive, and exuberant, brilliantly shot and with a great performance by Emma Stone.

4. American Fiction 

A simple, straightforward drama about something that never should have happened in American book publishing. Jeffrey Wright’s performance was perfect. He carried the film.

5. Past Lives 

I have a prejudice towards Asian dramas and particularly Korean romantic movies. Past Lives delivered everything you would want from this genre: a good, believable story, emotionally moving visuals and music, and two adorable leads.

6. Killers of the Flower Moon 

The film didn’t quite measure up to the book (which I read for my book club), but it was nonetheless very good, with many good performances and lots of issues to think about later.

7. Anatomy of a Fall 

There are several things about this film that could have and did disappoint many critics, including the unsatisfactory denouement. But the photography, the music, the scenery, and the acting kept me fascinated all the way through.

8. The Holdovers 

You’ve seen this story a dozen times, and yet you won’t be bored or disappointed seeing done again with a great cast and good performances by all.

9. Maestro 

I’ve always been interested in Leonard Bernstein. Not just because of the music he made, but also because of the many rumors I’d read about his personal life. I wouldn’t call Maestro a great film, but it was good enough to earn the nomination.

10. Barbie 

I didn’t know what to expect, but I was prepared to be disappointed. I wasn’t. I was happily entertained and not bothered by the various woke “messages” because the film never took itself very seriously.

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Election Watch 

1. Back to My Prediction re the 2024 Election

Late last week, in response to special counsel Robert Hur’s report on Biden’s mishandling of classified information, the Dept. of Justice admitted that Biden did, indeed, violate the law. And that the violation of that law is a criminal act.

Why, then, you might ask, didn’t Hur move to indict Biden, as the Dept. of Justice did in Trump’s case?

The answer, and this was stated repeatedly in Hur’s report, was that those who questioned Biden about the case believed that, because of his mental degeneration, he would not be convicted. Hur’s conclusion was that, in a trial, Biden would appear to any reasonable jury as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” rather than a man with a functional memory that broke the law intentionally.

This is good news for Biden, but an embarrassment for the media and the millions of voters that have been insisting that Biden is compos mentis. So now there is much debate among Democrats and the mainstream media about whether our president is fit to be, or even can be, elected to lead our country in 2024.

If you don’t believe me, read any issue of the NYT or watch any program on CNN that talks about the 2024 election.

What is happening is precisely what I predicted more than a year ago: Biden will not be the Democrats’ nominee. I said back then that his mental incapacity was already obvious to anyone that knew him, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and others that are hoping for a Democrat victory. Biden cannot win against Trump this time around, but a slate consisting of Gavin Newsom and a prominent Black personality (not Kamala Harris) would have the best possible chance.

Why, you might wonder, would the press and the Democrat planners so blatantly abandon Biden after protecting him for so many years? The answer is that he refused to step down around Thanksgiving, which is when he was supposed to in order to give Newsom time to build momentum. And they realized that the best chance now of getting him gone will be at the Democrat National Convention in August.

2. Poor Nikki Haley

Nikki Haley always struck me as a B performer in the political arena – in every way. She’s not charismatic. She’s not commanding. And I’ve never heard her say a single thing that I thought was original or provocative. Still, I feel embarrassed for her for what happened last week in Nevada’s Republican presidential primary.

Because Trump was not on the ballot, she was considered the frontrunner. Yet voters resoundingly chose “none of the above” over her – making her the first presidential candidate from either party to lose a race to nobody.

3. News Like This Is Not Good for the Democrats

It seems clear that Republicans will be running on two wedge issues in 2024: rising crime and gutless law enforcement (which was a big part of their platform in 2020), and border security (a big part of Trump’s platform in 2016).

The Democrats are working furiously to tamp down the nationwide upset over Biden’s recent endorsement of a bill that basically puts back in place all of Trump’s policies. Meanwhile, the issue of skyrocketing crime, including violent crime and murder, is getting increased attention from the media. And not just the conservative media, because the stories are just too sensational to make them disappear. For example:

* Mike Gill, former Chief Operating Officer of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) during Trump’s administration, was fatally shot Jan. 29 during an attempted carjacking. Gill was parked on the sidewalk in front of his wife’s office, just a few blocks from the White House, waiting to take her home. After Gill was shot, the suspect continued the rampage, committing at least two more carjackings and one attempted carjacking, killing another victim.

* A group of young, male illegal immigrants that savagely attacked two NYC police officers on Jan. 27 were booked and immediately released under the city’s progressive “cashless bail” protocol. (Watch a video of the attack here.)

4. This Isn’t So Good, Either… 

For 138 days of 2023, 37% of the year, President Biden was away at a vacation spot or retreat, according to a report from The New York Post. In 2022, Biden was away for 38% of the year.

Deputy Press Secretary Olivia Dalton wrote The Post to defend her boss: “The President works every single day of the week, whether he is in Washington, Delaware, Camp David, or anywhere else – and those around him and reporters who cover him closely know that.”

Representative Gary Palmer (R-AL) had a different perspective: “President Biden’s entire presidency has been a vacation from reality,” he said.

Trends in Wokeness 

This week, it’s all about the gender identity wars…

1. But He’s a Boy! I Don’t Want to Sleep with Him!

An 11-year-old, fifth-grade girl, on a 2023 JCPS-sponsored trip to Philadelphia and Washington, DC, was told by the trip director that she had to spend the night in a room with a male student who “identified” as a girl.

According to a complaint filed by her parents, the JCPS had told them that the boys and girls would be on different floors and would not be allowed to visit one another. “This practice renders it impossible for these parents to make informed decisions about their children’s privacy, upbringing, and participation in school-sponsored programs,” reads the demand letter.

Click here.

2. Woke Mom, Woke Clinic, Woke Judge, Broke Dad

It began with Dennis Hannon’s ex-wife treating their son as a girl at age three, calling him Ruby Rose, without telling Dennis. When the boy was five, she took him to a clinic, and a doctor there recommended starting him on puberty blockers.

When Dennis found out about it, he went to court. But the court decided against Dennis, chastising him for not supporting necessary medical care for his son because he didn’t agree with the treatment. A year later, after having spent all his savings, nearly $150,000, in the court battle, “Ruby Rose” announced that he wanted to go back to identifying as a boy.

Click here.

3. State Department Spends Billions on LGBTQ Dance Programs… in Peru!

The US is $33 trillion in debt, but the State Department isn’t worried about that. They are still spending billions of dollars they don’t have on Woke projects that don’t work. Much of the funds are being directed through an agency called the Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund (CDAF), whose stated goal is “Strengthening democratic institutions and fighting disinformation; Protecting the environment; Human rights, refugees, and migrants; Building community through arts, sports, language, and technology; Fostering alumni network development.”

Click here.

4. The State of Justice in Woke England Today

“Something is going very badly wrong…”

Click here.

And, finally, this:

5. Mothers Sacrificing Their Kids for Status

Click here.

Conspiracy Watch 

1. Dominion Voting Machine Vulnerability Exposed in Courtroom Testimony 

Remember that crazy right-wing conspiracy theory that the Dominion voting machine, which was widely used in the 2020 election, was somehow rigged in favor of Biden?

In a Federal Court in Atlanta, GA, University of Michigan Professor of Computer Science and Engineering J. Alex Halderman testified that the machine was, in fact, able to be manipulated. He demonstrated by changing a machine’s totals using only a pen (borrowed, for effect, from Dominion’s defense attorney).

Here’s an interview with a journalist who was there.

2. The Jan. 6 “Insurrection”

At a House Republican press briefing last week to promote a resolution declaring that former President Trump did not engage in an insurrection, Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) criticized attempts to remove Trump from the ballot and insulted reporters for their coverage of Jan. 6. Watch it here.

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Conspiracy Watch 

 

What Really Happened to George Floyd? 

Three years after George Floyd died lying on the ground, face down, under the knee of Officer Derek Chauvin, some surprising and, for some, inconvenient facts are emerging. Facts that contradict my own impression of what happened that day, based on watching that gut-wrenching video of him screaming that he could not breathe, while Chauvin and the other cops on the scene blithely ignored him.

I believed that Floyd died from asphyxiation. I believed that Chauvin’s knee on his neck – for more than eight minutes – was an overt act of cruelty and racism. And I was disgusted by Chauvin’s attitude of nonchalance for the entirety of that time.

I wasn’t the only one. The clip went viral, and people all over the world were outraged. That led to the BLM riots that resulted in the destruction of more than a billion dollars in private property, the shuttering of hundreds of retail stores (many Black owned and operated), the murder of dozens of policemen and hundreds of civilians, mostly Black Americans, in the year that followed. And also to Chauvin being sentenced to 22.5 years in prison, during which he was stabbed 22 times by a fellow prisoner.

Since then, the wheels of justice have been slowly turning over the facts, including facts that question the way Floyd was handled, whether important exculpatory information was not allowed to be entered into court records, and – the one fact I thought we were sure of – that he died of asphyxiation.

Recently, some journalists have begun to publish information that was not available to the public at that time (including some that was available to the press, but not disclosed to their readers).

If, like I did, you “know” that George Floyd was a non-violent Black man maliciously murdered by a racist White cop, you should probably not read this article from The Free Press. It might be uncomfortable. And we wouldn’t want that.

Wins and Losses in the Gender Wars 

Women Against “Not-Women” in the Boxing Ring 

USA Boxing, the organization that regulates amateur boxing in the US, announced last week that trans-female (biological male) boxers, 18 and older, will be able to compete against women, so long as they have (1) “declared themselves to be women,” (2) “undergone gender reassignment surgery” (Just the bottom parts, oddly!), and (3) “taken hormone therapy (estrogen) for at least three months.”

The theory is that this triplet of requirements will reduce a transwoman’s athletic stamina, speed, and power to a level where he/she would be in the same category as a female, and, thus, would have no “unfair” advantage.

This is crazy. Since this topic became an issue, I’ve spent a bit of time researching the facts and reviewing the studies. To date, I haven’t found anything that supports this idea. Quite to the contrary, I’ve found nothing but facts and studies that prove that, although estrogen therapy can reduce the amount of testosterone in a male body, it cannot reduce by any significant degree all of the advantages that male bodies acquire during puberty, including bone density, fast-twitch muscularity, heart and lung capacity, and a few more things that I can’t remember offhand.

But that’s just science. And we know that science is just another tool of the hierarchy of privileged White males.

So, forget about science. Use your inner wisdom. See what happens when a transwoman fights a real woman in the same weight class.

For an extra gut-level, scientifically refutable insight, pay attention to the voice of the winner as he/she gloats about his/her crushing victory!

Click here.

Health Watch 

I Should Have Acted Sooner!

If you have never tried ski-boarding, you should know that, for beginners, at least, it’s easier than skiing in some ways, but worse in others. Like how hard you hit the ground if you fall.

Since I first tried ski-boarding about twenty years ago, I had this idea about creating a special snowsuit for newbies that would be lined with inflated tubes of air. It would look sort of silly but would protect the new skier and warn experienced skiers to stay out of the way. Still, because it would make the wearer look like the Michelin Man, I knew it would be a tough sell.

Well, that problem has been solved. Suzhou Yidaibao Intelligent Technology Co, a Chinese startup, has developed “wearable airbag clothing” that magically inflates only when the wearer begins to fall down, It is advertised as an aid to oldsters and others at risk in any sort of mobile activity, but I’m thinking of trying to get distribution rights for skiers.

Click here.

Are Oreos Better Than Statins? 

As I said in the introduction to my Jan. 19 extended coverage of the Hamas-Israel Conflict, I’m going to be publishing Special Issues on some of the recent – and more politically entrenched and emotionally charged – subjects that interest me. The idea is that it will allow me to devote more space in my regular weekly issues to subjects like business, investing, entrepreneurship, etc., that I have specialized in for decades.

The use of controversial and potentially lethal “drugs” – like COVID vaccines and statin medications – is one of the subjects that I will be covering at length in future Special Issues. But I couldn’t resist including a brief mention here of this article on statins in The Epoch Times by Nicholas Norwitz, who holds a doctorate from Oxford and is presently a Harvard scientist.

Click here to find out what he discovered by doing an experiment trying to manage cholesterol levels with… cookies!

(Thanks to CM, who sent this to me, saying, “Now here’s a replacement for statin drugs that I could go for!”)

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JH Gives Me the Inside Scoop of Self-Storage

After reading my post in the Aug. 15 issue, my friend Jon Herring sent this in. Good, useful information for anyone who, like me, is looking at the potential of self-storage as an option for growing assets and increasing income.

Self-Storage as an Investment

By Jon Herring

My initial interest in self-storage stemmed from conversations with a longtime family friend who owns facilities in Georgia. He described it as the ultimate semi-passive real estate investment. Much lower maintenance compared to traditional rentals. And lower complexity on the operations and human resources side.

In recent years, I have been following a guy named Nick Huber. He started with the purchase of one or two existing self-storage facilities, where he would go in and:

* Do a cosmetic facelift on everything.

* Perform any deferred maintenance.

* Add automation wherever possible to reduce human resource requirements, improve renter experience, and increase security.

* Implement the latest technology for accounting, billing, communications, and security systems and procedures.

* Outsource rote, repetitive computer tasks to virtual assistants in the Philippines to reduce labor costs.

* Roll up any operational and management roles that were not absolutely required by a person at the location to a central operations group, so that multiple facilities could be managed by one team.

* Raise rents, especially in facilities with 100% occupancy. He would raise rents until enough tenants moved out to reach a market equilibrium of about 90% occupancy. (The basic idea is that 100% occupancy means you are not charging enough.)

* Add buildings/ additional units on properties where the real estate footprint permitted expansion and add outdoor storage for boats and RVs where permissible.

These improvements led to revenue increases, greater operational efficiency, lower overhead, and increased profitability. Which in turn led to increased valuations. (A rising real estate market helped.) Then after a few years, he would refinance at the higher valuation, take out his original investment, reinvest in another property, and repeat. And now he takes on limited partners in his deals, so he’s expanding that way as well.

Self-storage flew under the radar for a long time because it’s not a sexy business. It doesn’t have the “cool factor” of vacation rentals or rehab-and-rent real estate, for example. However, it is a GREAT business. It can be very profitable, with reliable revenues, high occupancy, low complexity, and low maintenance.

But here’s the thing… the secret is out.

There are a LOT more investors getting into the market. They are building new and hitting up every aging existing property with offers, driving up valuations.

But there is a niche with significant demand that I believe is more overlooked: contractor garages.

I’m sure you’re familiar with these facilities. The units are larger than self-storage, but smaller than an industrial warehouse. The space is about 1,500 square feet per unit, with a main door, large overhead garage door, half bathroom, and sometimes a small office.

These spaces are rented by builders, plumbers, electricians, artists, e-commerce companies, car collectors, etc.

From what I understand, this asset class has five times the demand of self-storage and less competition from investors and operators.

You mentioned that you wanted to learn more about this business, so I wanted to pass this along. I hope it’s helpful.

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The COVID Response: Are Vaccines Bad for the Brain? Or Is This Another Conspiracy Theory? 

One of the claims made against COVID vaccination is that it can cause a variety of mild to deadly brain problems.

I’ve already suffered three of the possible side effects. I had an ischemic stroke, an optic nerve problem, and hand tremors. (Which can be manifestations of MS.) And while I want to believe that they were caused by other things (smoking, inflammation, etc.), I have to recognize that they all manifested themselves after I got my mRNA vaccinations.

I’m not scared. And I’m not trying to scare you. But if you’ve had your shots and are experiencing any of the above – or other – symptoms (I know three people that recently came down with tinnitus), you may want to educate yourself on the arguments. Pro and con.

I’ve been reading bits and pieces on this subject since I first heard about it. Recently, I found this rather in-depth (for a layman) essay written by Colleen Huber. I know nothing about her. I’m recommending her essay because she doesn’t sound like a nut. She sounds like she understands what she’s saying. And because, although the content is somewhat technical, I was able to understand it pretty easily.

Click here.

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Neither Safe nor Effective, The COVID Vaccines 

By Dr. Colleen Huber

Paperback, 232 pages

Independently published May 14, 2022

I didn’t hesitate to get vaccinated when the vaccines became available. My thinking was, “This may not work. But it won’t hurt me. So, why not give it a chance?”

I’m sure millions of others had the same thought.

However, if I knew then what I know now, I would not have been vaccinated. Although there is still more to learn about the risk/reward relationship of the COVID vaccines, based on what I have learned since they came out, that ratio is not good.

On the reward side, it is now indisputable that the early claims about their effectiveness were greatly exaggerated. As for their safety, new reports are coming in every day. And there is more than enough in them to make a reasonably intelligent person take pause.

In Neither Safe nor Effective, Dr. Colleen Huber examines a gargantuan amount of data gathered from governments in Europe, the US, and Canada. And she concludes, as the title suggests, that the COVID vaccines have proven to be only minimally effective in preventing the public from getting the virus and in keeping those that have been vaccinated from spreading it.

In fact, she says, the only positive thing that can be said about them is that “it is possible” (no firm data) that they help reduce the severity of the symptoms vaccinated people experience when they get the virus.

I’ve been following the COVID story since the beginning of the outbreak. And I generally feel that I’ve read or heard just about everything that’s been reported so far. I know, for example, that the vaccine can cause cardiac issues, immune system damage, and fertility problems. But what I learned from this book is that during Pfizer’s clinical trials, patients reported no less than 1,290 adverse side effects. That information was reported to the FDA, but never released to the public until the FDA was ordered to release it by a court order.

Again… that is an astonishing 1,290 different adverse side effects!

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Responses to my posts about statin drugs keep coming in. Friend and neighbor JS said this after reading my last little essay on why I don’t trust statin drugs: 

“My doctors are Chicken Shits. Why didn’t they yell at me and tell me that I was the cause of my high cholesterol count!

“I ate garbage sugar, processed foods, grains that I couldn’t even digest properly, and loved every damn minute! My doctor could have told me the truth. That I had to change my diet. Instead, he prescribed a statin pill.

Months later, JS was diagnosed as a pre-diabetic. Again, his doctor could have told him to exercise and change his diet. Instead, he recommended another statin.

“Boy, was that good news! I could continue to eat junk, get fat, and hang out on the couch, without worrying about my cardiovascular health. All I had to do was drop a pill once a day. Thank God for modern medicine!”

Since then, JS had done a lot of research. Here’s what he says now:

“Statin therapy. Is total – and I mean total – Bullshit! Doctors that recommend it should be charged with attempted murder. You think I am kidding? How about these simple facts…

“The real number of people statins save from heart attacks is 1%, not 33% as the advertising states. How do they claim 33%? Just by, using statistics. You may want to search the term Relative Risk Reduction or RRR to understand the deception that it creates.

“If you don’t believe me, ask your doctor. I did that several times, and he finally told me the truth and confirmed the 1% absolute result of a statin and then commented, ‘But 1% of a million people is a lot!’ In my book, a lot is a vacant piece of property. Tell that to the other 990,000 that got nothing in return!”

Re my Feb. 17 article on “Mentoring the Second Generation,” JV – one of the “kids” – wrote in with this: 

“Hi Mr. Ford. I’m writing to give you updates on where I’m at.

 “I am already seeing the results of immersing myself in copywriting.

“I am passionate about copywriting. I think copywriting paired with ads is my dream career and I want to thank you for opening up that door for me.

“I also got myself a job in Publix, and I do Uber as well. I know you support hard work. I don’t know what Publix will teach me about business, but I know that is a great example of creating loyal customers.

“In the meantime, I will be looking for a job in sales and will be crafting copy.

“Thank you again Mr. Ford. I hope you have a great week.”

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The conservancy that I’m developing in West Delray Beach, FL, has one of the largest and best-curated palm tree collections in the world, as well as a growing collection of outdoor sculptures, a traditionally styled Japanese tea house, a stock of African cycads, and dozens of other exotic plants and trees.

This is one of the palms:

Mangrove Fan Palm

Binomial name: Licuala spinosa

The Mangrove Fan Palm is native to Southeast Asia. In Cambodia, its leaves are used for hats, for decorations, for walking sticks, and to wrap food. Its heart is enjoyed as a vegetable. And in traditional Cambodian medicine, it is used in several ways. The bark of the trunk, for example, is used to treat tuberculosis.

For more information about Paradise Palms, click here.

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Making a Stranger’s Day

Click here for a video clip about a passenger helping out an Uber driver in trouble. When I watched it, it reminded me of a similar experience I had several years ago.

Here’s my story…

I was getting a haircut in NYC. Through the plate-glass window of the barbershop, I could see a young Black guy pleading with a pair of cops. My barber followed my gaze.

“That’s the young man that cleans all the storefront windows in this area,” he said. “A nice kid. He works hard.”

“I’ll be right back,” I said.

I went outside to see what was going on. A small crowd had gathered, taking in the scene. “I think they’re impounding his car,” one of them told me.

“For what?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Sounds like he didn’t pay a bunch of tickets.”

The kid looked frantic. He was pacing back and forth. “I need my car for my work,” he said. “Please! I’m going to pay those tickets.”

“You got the money?” one of the cops asked.

“No. But I will get it,” he said. “Just don’t take the car.”

The cop began writing him up, and his partner walked back to the squad car. I went over to him and asked if they would let the kid go if I paid his tickets. He looked at me as if he thought I was crazy.

“I’m serious,” I said.

He looked through his paperwork. The total is X,” he said. X was a lot of money. More than I expected. But I happened to have almost exactly that in my pocket, because I had just come from the bank.

He pulled his partner aside, spoke to him for a few minutes, then came back to me.

“Are you sure you wanna do this?” he asked.

“I am,” I said.

He motioned for me to follow him, and we quietly made the transaction behind his car. I thought about asking for a receipt but decided against it. He walked back to his partner and whispered something to him. Then he said something to the kid, and the kid started screaming and jumping up and down. “I knew it!” he shouted. “There is a god! There is a god!”

He searched the faces in the crowd to see if he could figure out who to thank. But I was already halfway down the street. I don’t believe in a god, but that made my day.

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Julie Nolke is a Canadian comedian, actress, writer, and YouTuber. I discovered her online while searching for comic relief during the COVID lockdown She is very talented, as you can see from this clip of her audition tape for SNL…

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