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.

Third Reich Hot Take

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reich

I am continuing to plow my way through The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich on a nightly basis (it’s a very long book). It’s probably the highlight of my day. I’m up to the summer of 1939 at this point, just before the invasion of Poland, and I wanted to share a few things that I’ve learned, or impressions that I’ve had. I’d like to preface this by saying I’m a fairly serious student of history – – probably in the 95th percentile (OK, probably more like 99th percentile) of U.S. citizens, and I am stunned at the level of my own ignorance as I work my way through this piece.

  • 1933-1938 wasn’t easy: I always had the impression that once Hitler was made Chancellor, everything was a piece of cake for him. Not true at all. He had tremendous amounts of resistance. The majority of the public did not like the man, and did not vote for the man. Indeed, even at the height of propaganda and terror, when people knew their votes were being watched, he still couldn’t capture even 50% of the population’s vote. Most of the 1930s were very frustrating for Hitler, as he tried to work within the confines of established power and political realities to execute his vision.
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The Very Best of 2021 (Part 7 of 7)

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Preface to all parts: It’s that time of year again. I have written over 30,000 posts during the long history of Slope, and at the end of each year, I gather up what I consider the best of the prior year’s offerings. At the end of every year, I assume I’m utterly out of material, and yet at the same time, I look back with amazement at all the terrific posts from the year that has just completed. I’m not sure how long I can keep this up, but my concerns of content exhaustion have been proved wrong since March 2005. For your reading pleasure, I offer the following Best of 2021 Posts:

Fiscal Fantasy
Looking ahead a few years to the disasters about to befall us

Tesla Reflections
My success story predicting the price movements of Tesla

The Scale of Time & Space
We’ve only been here for a few moments, relatively speaking

Their Original Upright Positions
Life aboard a commercial jetliner……and an Uber car

The Passport
My epic tale of a lost passport that wasn’t lost and my travails with government employees afterward

Gulag Reflections
Nobel winner Solzhenitsyn wrote this masterwork decades ago, and it shook me to the core

That’s it! The last one! Here’s to a great 2022!

The Very Best of 2021 (Part 6 of 7)

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Preface to all parts: It’s that time of year again. I have written over 30,000 posts during the long history of Slope, and at the end of each year, I gather up what I consider the best of the prior year’s offerings. At the end of every year, I assume I’m utterly out of material, and yet at the same time, I look back with amazement at all the terrific posts from the year that has just completed. I’m not sure how long I can keep this up, but my concerns of content exhaustion have been proved wrong since March 2005. For your reading pleasure, I offer the following Best of 2021 Posts:

Tim Knight: Optimist
I’m not the Tim you thought I was

Low-Grade Heroes
$76 million dumped on county employees just for existing

Lessons Learned in the Cryptoverse
Looking back on the successful ticker.art NFT project

Crashed Out
This marked the end of my love affair with crypto, once and for all

A Friend’s Brush with Death
A former work colleague of mine writes at length about what it was like to almost die

Receding Airline
The lack of human workers has real consequences for millions of passengers

Tuba Mirum Spargens Sonum
The ridiculous objects I yearned to have as a child

The Very Best of 2021 (Part 5 of 7)

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Preface to all parts: It’s that time of year again. I have written over 30,000 posts during the long history of Slope, and at the end of each year, I gather up what I consider the best of the prior year’s offerings. At the end of every year, I assume I’m utterly out of material, and yet at the same time, I look back with amazement at all the terrific posts from the year that has just completed. I’m not sure how long I can keep this up, but my concerns of content exhaustion have been proved wrong since March 2005. For your reading pleasure, I offer the following Best of 2021 Posts:

I Didn’t Ask For This
This is when I started to fall out of love with crypto

White Clouds. And Nothing Else.
A loving tribute to the late Norm Macdonald

Generation XX
A long, contemplative exploration of what has changed in the twenty years since the 9/11 attacks

Finally, It’s Clear
So, Tim: what’s the whole bear thing about?

Ladders and Mountains
Personal risk and common sense

Fatal Doses of Radiation
An oh-so-woke Oberlin kid makes my eyes roll backward

Woven Like a Noose
The stock market is slavishly following the Fed’s money-printing

The Very Best of 2021 (Part 4 of 7)

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Preface to all parts: It’s that time of year again. I have written over 30,000 posts during the long history of Slope, and at the end of each year, I gather up what I consider the best of the prior year’s offerings. At the end of every year, I assume I’m utterly out of material, and yet at the same time, I look back with amazement at all the terrific posts from the year that has just completed. I’m not sure how long I can keep this up, but my concerns of content exhaustion have been proved wrong since March 2005. For your reading pleasure, I offer the following Best of 2021 Posts:

Hosed
Putting out a fire with a steady stream of gasoline

Political Discourse
Slope finally stops trying to corral political content, and of course the problem stops instantly

Gratitude Instead of Attitude
The horrors of Kabul make me think of things for which I am grateful

Good Boy
A homeless dog inspires another canine essay

Goobers
The hysterically-funny folks running for California’s top job

Dual Memories
My trip to Jackson Hole was filled with moose and memories

You Darned Kids!
If you’d enjoy some loss porn from Wall Street Bets