Slope of Hope Blog Posts

Slope initially began as a blog, so this is where most of the website’s content resides. Here we have tens of thousands of posts dating back over a decade. These are listed in reverse chronological order. Click on any category icon below to see posts tagged with that particular subject, or click on a word in the category cloud on the right side of the screen for more specific choices.

Word Power!

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I have written professionally since 1983, so words are important to me. More specifically, using the correct words (as well as correct grammar and syntax) mean something to me. For this reason, among others, I find it troubling to read or hear the words the Presidents is transmitting, since so often he gets them wrong.

I could go on for pages as to what I mean, but let’s laser-focus on just a couple of items. First is a word we’ll probably hear repeatedly in his speech tonight: “obliteration.” Here’s the definition, which should surprise none of you:

It doesn’t mean damaged for a few months. It doesn’t mean harmed for a little while. It means completely and totally gone, not to return. So that operation from last summer (Midnight Hammer, baby!) that “obliterated” the Iranian nuclear program? It didn’t. Just like the current “obliteration” isn’t going to change anything in the days, weeks, and months ahead of us.

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Happy 50th!

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The generosity of Slopers runs the gamut. Some folks have been here forever and give nothing back. Most folks subscribe. Some subscribers go above and beyond and do things like donate to dog charities, send me gifts regularly (Bigley!), or, as in the case with Peter from Ireland, sent me THIS bounty, which I just received.

I am particularly excited by the book, and it’s wonderfully fitting that I picked up this package today, because April 1, 2026 marks PRECISELY the 50th anniversary of when Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Ron Wayne, and Mike Markkula put together the simple document that created the partnership called Apple Computer. Thank you!

True March Madness

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Most of you know I watch sports basically not-at-all. What’s weird is that the EXTREMELY rare occasions I do watch them, something incredible happens. It’s quite strange. The latest was today, when my wife and I went to a sports bar (which feels weird even just to type) and watched the Duke/UConn game. The last ten seconds were………surprising.

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Slope Comes of Age

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Today is the 21st anniversary of the founding of the Slope of Hope. For the past 7,670 days, without fail, I have been writing in this space about whatever I felt was important, whether it was the financial markets, human nature, politics, theology, or some event in my life.

I have hammered out well over 50,000 posts here, and my employment at this one-person organization represents by far the longest tenure I’ve had at any job, dwarfing the dozen years I spent founding, building, and selling Prophet.

I have no doubt I will leave this Earth with Slope as the definition of what it is that I did for a living. I’d like to take a moment to reflect on what brought us all here.

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