Field Notes Premium Edition

I am banned from Ukraine. Like, I cannot set foot in the country. Granted, it’s my own fault. Was a total accident. But in the world of geopolitics, total accidents are apparently cardinal sins. Stick with me, there’s a travel lesson in all of this. It all started because I was dating a woman—now my [Read More] …

Sun, sea, sand, and…Popeye. Yep. Popeye. In particular, the Robin Williams, live-action movie incarnation of the famous, spinach-eating cartoon sailor always at odds with Bluto and forever pining for skinny-as-dental-floss Olive Oyl. The movie, made way back in 1980, was filmed in a small cove on the northwest corner of the Mediterranean island of Malta. [Read More] …

Welcome to your Sunday digest…my weekly breakdown of the things we’re thinking about and talking about in the Global Intelligence world. I’d like to begin this week’s edition by wishing you a Happy Fourth of July! After the difficult past year of COVID restrictions, I think we all deserve the opportunity to rest, relax, and [Read More] …

My phone dinged. I looked at the screen—a text message from a friend I grew up with: “I carry pepper spray in my pocket now. I’m thinking of getting a pepper-ball gun. Sh** is just crazy out in the streets now.”  It was the second such conversation I’d had in 10 days from friends in the U.S.—one in [Read More] …

When you’re accustomed to the beatings, you never trust the helping hand.  And for the last decade or so, the beatings have been regular and unceasing, delivered by the Federal Reserve, at the hands of the banking industry.  Here’s how it goes:  You walk into your nearest branch, you have a bundle of Ben Franklins you want to stick into the highest-yield savings account [Read More] …