Don’t Look Up!
From 1967 to 1969 I was part of the Hydrobiology Research Team in the Water Resource Division of the U.S Geological Survey (see John Wesley Powell ), Department of the Interior. Our charge was the first scientific study of the ecology of the Everglades. Not like the writings of naturalists such as Margorie Stoneman Douglas […]
Charitable Giving
I am going to offer the list and information on the charities (non-profit 501(c)3 organizations) I am giving to this year if you request it. It is lengthy. I have screened the federal information return, Form 990, for these groups to satisfy myself that most or all of the money they raise actually goes to […]
Travels With Phil Eleven – The Gainesville, Florida Solar Walk
Found this one by accident on my way to a client in Gainesville. Did a double take and turned around and went back. In the middle of a residential area! Go Figure! Check it out here: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/gainesville-solar-walk
Twelve Good Salesmen
My family is Jewish. When we were kids, Dad owned his own taxicab. After moving to Miami, he drove a cab until becoming a car salesman at the Lincoln Mercury dealer. He was so good at it the Prudential manager got word of it and recruited him into the life insurance business which changed […]
Hollywood Endings
I am a Film Freak, a Cinephile. A rewarding moment for me was when AFI, the American Film Institute, came out with their first list of the 100 greatest films (frankly their only list worth anything). By then I had already seen 98 of them! I hate Hollywood Endings. You know, where they take […]
Ethics Two
The next mentor I consulted must remain nameless because he is the second example here of “Ethics costing me money!” He was such a significant actuary that a Federal District Judge once appointed him a special master to protect the pension for the employees of a national airline that went bankrupt. My personal […]
It Isn’t Ethics Until It Costs You Money
Many years ago Bill Moyers had a documentary series on Public Television called “Ethics.” I remember one thing very clearly, perhaps because I had more than one opportunity to live it. He was interviewing the president of the Peterson Institute of Ethics in California who said: “Around here we don’t call it ethics until […]
The Soup Nazi
I have been doing business in New York City since 1994. As many of you may know by now, I have had clients in New York City since then, when I was asked to come there to help a person who had come into some money due to an unfortunate circumstance. The $250,000 she had […]
“I am a Caffeine Based Life Form and I honor my Ancestors!”
I spent the summer of 1964 studying organic chemistry at the Rochester Institute of Technology. This was on a National Science Foundation Grant for bright high school students. I do not remember how I got it. I guess one of my high school teachers put me up for it. We somehow had time on our […]
Cultural Ecology
Having been on a scientific research team actually studying ecology, my main interest during my brief career as an anthropologist was a field called Cultural Ecology. It was the study of the feedback loop from our changing the environment which then forces our culture to adapt to its new environment! Yep, going on today at […]