Rich Marin

The Hanseatic League

By Rich Marin | March 3, 2022 by Rich Marin

The Hanseatic League My vague awareness of Medieval History reminds me that in the Twelfth Century or thereabouts, the craftsmen of the northern Germanic countries of Europe gathered themselves into a massive and extended guild of sorts to protect their interests as they grew their commercial enterprises. This collective or union was called The Hanseatic League and it existed as a powerful business force in the region for several centuries. This confederation was put together…

Sonny Boy

By Rich Marin | March 1, 2022 by Rich Marin

Sonny Boy My youngest son Thomas is coming for a week-long visit on Wednesday. He arrives at San Diego Airport right in the middle of my Ethics class lecture (assuming his flight is on-time). Since the following week is Spring Break and since I do not want to keep my boy waiting too long at the airport (even though it is only a ten minute drive from the campus), I will probably end the class…

Memoir

Prelude to a Hobbit

By Rich Marin | February 28, 2022 by Rich Marin

Prelude to a Hobbit Today was a big day for my back hillside. On the occasion of our friends from Sonoma being in town for the weekend, we gathered my local family (all of whom know our friends very well) and had everyone over for a bagel brunch. I will start by explaining that I have a wonderful bagel deli here in Escondido, which makes life much nicer for me since 50 years of living…

Love Memoir Retirement

Where to Live

By Rich Marin | February 27, 2022 by Rich Marin

Where to Live There are three considerations that have more impact on our lives than any others. We cannot choose when we live as that is the role of the dice we call procreation, whether you believe in the human soul or reincarnation or whatever. I suppose some people can determine actively or passively through their lifestyle choices, how long they live, but that is a very different issue. The other three considerations are the…

Memoir Politics

Into the Darkness

By Rich Marin | February 26, 2022 by Rich Marin

Heading Into Darkness I’ve never been one that was terribly afraid of the dark. As a young child I preferred to have the door cracked open, like most kids, but I also always wanted a glass of water before bedtime. That makes me think it had more to do with wanting some attention and assurance of connectivity than any particular fear of the loss of light. These days we sleep with blackout shades (which Kim…

Fiction/Humor Memoir Retirement

My Personal Rainbow

By Rich Marin | February 25, 2022 by Rich Marin

My Personal Rainbow It is a transitional weather morning here on my hilltop. It rained and was stormy yesterday and last night and it looks like today it wants to alternate between that weather and clear and sunny by tomorrow. I am sitting at my desk on hold with some service provider or another. I have started to be in the habit of acknowledging that I now live on the West Coast and the rest…

Uncategorized

The Headwall

By Rich Marin | February 24, 2022 by Rich Marin

The Headwall I taught my ethics course last night on the subject of the subprime mortgage crash of 2007. I used the movie The Big Short as the case study and had two team of students debating the thickly implications of the activities in the market in early 2007 that I lived through so very much in real time back then as the head of BSAM. I gave the students additional reading to review including…

Politics

Pax Americana

By Rich Marin | February 24, 2022 by Rich Marin

Pax Americana We are all either wary or weary of events unfolding in Ukraine. It has been going on since 2014 or since late November (not coincidentally just after the Biden election win), depending on when you mark time with regard to the West’s awareness and acknowledgement that Putin has been on the warpath. In the last 48 hours, things have gone from a question of whether Putin will back down to just how far…

Fiction/Humor Memoir

The Burden of Refinement

By Rich Marin | February 23, 2022February 22, 2022 by Rich Marin

The Burden of Refinement We live in a modern, civilized and refined world. The last few nights we have watched some movies set in the late 1950’s and we are reminded that it wasn’t so long ago (a mere sixty years ago) that things were a lot less civilized and refined. We have watched Far From Heaven and Loving, both stories set in that era when I was a young child and when the country…

Fiction/Humor Love

Betty Betty Betty

By Rich Marin | February 22, 2022February 22, 2022 by Rich Marin

Betty Betty Betty My entire family has now gone to the dogs. Carolyn, who always wanted a dog from the youngest age and was denied by circumstances, had to invent her own dog in her plush Stieff floppy-eared mutt called Ted. As soon as she was in her own stable home environment with her now-husband John, they went and got themselves a little black and white Havanese that they named Abraham Lincoln or Abe for…

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Author: Rich Marin