Today's column: Things to watch for 2011

Today's column: From coconuts to coats

Today's column: Saipan learns Chinese

Today's column: Cheap, unglamorous, but important

Today's column: Commodities, Part III: Problem solved!

Today's column: Commodities, Part II: The Kowloon memo

Todays column: Commodities, Part I: The Saipan Betel Nut Corp.

Today's column: Bah humbug commodities

Today's column: Lavish money and my drool bib

Today's column: Playing the professional odds

Today's column: Ed's voting guide for Saipan and everywhere else

Today's column: Travel season 2010: Let's get ready

Today's column: Paved with wishful thinking

Today's column: Pump up the volume

Today's column: Walking a verb

Flashback: Pilot talk...

I was "hangar flying" with some fellow pilots today. We got to talking about Private Pilot magazine, which went out of business in 2005 after its 40th anniversary. I was with the magazine from 2001 until the end.

One of my favorite pieces was Midnight in El Salvador.

Today's column: Meet Asia's largest economy

Today's column: Dating an airport bum

Today's column: Juicing the yen

Today's column: Attack of the earthling ice zombies

Note: The site referenced in my column is here.

Today's column: The bytes of August

Today's column: Creating a limited user account

Today's column: The angry tourist

Today's column: The Dong Feng 21D missile

Today's column: Catching rainwater

Today's column: How much yen in a happy hour?

Today's column: Ed's market data (and yours too)

Note: The market data page has been discontinued.

Today's column: Who's your sergeant?

I'm too sexy for my shoes

Click HERE for today's column....a Deputy Director of Flip-Flops?

Some links:

Inc. magazine article

Rainbow Sandals, these guys have a lot of zoris

But Forbes magazine won't be wearing them

How many carbs in a cigarette?

Click HERE for today's column...no, I don't smoke, but these days, eating seems hazardous to your health, so maybe I'll trade my fork for a lighter...

Two is cheaper than one

Want to save money--a lot of money--on computers? Click HERE to read why buying two is actually cheaper than buying one.

You so stupid!

Click HERE for today's column, which delivers a linguistic diagnosis from my Mandarin tutor.

Aloft, alone!

Click HERE for today's column, which gives some highlights of my days as a flight instructor.

Risks and Swans

Click HERE for today's column. Thailand's turmoil was a surprise, but Saipan's problems were easy to see coming. Some folks have lived through both events.

Class of 2010

Click HERE for today's column. What's it like for graduates to be thrown into the maw of a looming fiscal crisis? I guess we'll find out...

China's economy

Click HERE for today's column, which ponders the Chinese economy.

Never bet the devil your head

Click HERE for today's column, which ponders a risky world.

The office has got the man...

Click HERE for today's column. Running a small, one-man office has advantages and drawbacks.

Economics: Two pieces

Click HERE for today's column, which splits its focus between local and international stuff.

Here we go again...

Click HERE for today's column. Oil prices have doubled over the past year (measured as of April 6, 2010 in US markets vs. April 6, 2009), and gasoline in Saipan is once again near the $4 a gallon mark ($3.779 yesterday).

As for the big picture, here's one paragraph from my column:

"I reject the dreamy notions that some sort of mythical recovery in the U.S. is bidding up the price of oil. I think that oil, somewhat like gold, may be attracting money as sort of a safe haven status as a prized commodity. If that’s the case, then oil can zoom up, or fall down, based on capital that is either running scared or sitting smug. This can be a recipe for volatility, as speculation, not fundamentals, drives the oil market."

Risk and reward

Click HERE for today's column, which looks at risk, reward, and economics.

The referenced United Nations article is here.

What's an ETF?

Click HERE for today's column, which offers a glimpse into the exciting world of Exchange Traded Funds.

March is for motoring

Click HERE for today's column. The April edition of Consumer Reports is on the way, and it's a must-have for anyone looking for a car.

Saipan's Bestseller books doesn't have it in stock yet, but they've promised to notify me when they do, and I'll post the news here on the blog. (UPDATE, April 2: Still no word from Bestseller on this, so you'll have to contact them yourself, I'm not going to keep this an open issue here.)

Gateway to the store

Click HERE for today's column. Although the mainland U.S. newspaper industry is in decline, Saipan's shoppers, and Saipan's storekeepers, make good use of newspaper ads.

What is and what ain't

Click HERE for today's column, which answers the question I posed last week: Can the CNMI's system be changed?

==========================================

Where there's smoke, there's smoke

Click HERE for today's column. Ever wonder why there's always so much talk about "investment" in the Commonwealth, but so little action? I explain the whole process.

Good Girls Don't

Click HERE for today's column. We note the passing of a generation's voice, and we also take a look at some really high-class literature...hey, that's the biz, sweetheart.

Make mine a double (double-wide, that is)

Click HERE for today's article, which is a book review of "Intermodal Shipping Container Small Steel Buildings." This is probably destined for cult classic status with those of us who have used containers as small warehouses, offices, or shops...I know people who have even made them into little homes.

Here's the Amazon link (current as of this posting).

Here's a link to author Paul Sawyers' web site.

How much is "some"?

Click HERE for today's column...especially if you've decided to "learn Chinese." Learn Chinese? All of it? That's a lot of Chinese. Ok, then, some of it. That's logical enough, but just how much is "some"?

And, yeah, while I was waxing philosophical on language, I threw in a typo: I didn't really mean to write "since because." I know how this happened. I didn't know which word to use, so I just put both, intending to cull out the extra on my revision. And then I didn't. See? The American work ethic really has gone downhill...

Us vs. Them

Click HERE for today's column. The "Us vs. Them" outlook is a lot more popular than the cool "indifference" studied by economists.

Oily loop-de-loop

Oil prices....they're baaaack. Click HERE to read the story.

Flying coconuts and rented nukes

Click HERE for today's column. The Asian arms race that I foresee will hold a lot of surprises...and a Rent-a-Nuke idea is mighty creative.

A man with a tape recorder up his nose

Click HERE for today's column. This is going to be such a zany, madcap year in economics it will seem like a Monty Python skit.

So, just to get you in the mood for 2010, here is, indeed, the man with a tape recorder up his nose.

Credit: Not gone (yet)

Click HERE for today's column, which highlights a blessing worth counting: As we start the New Year, credit is still available to entrepreneurs.