U.N. Food Price Rising Report, Ron Paul Questioning Bernanke, and Amazon Closes Shop, and Tips for Writing

First on the list today is food prices hitting a new high on the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization' Food Price Index.  If you want to see an interactive chart from Reuters, check it out here.  According to EPJ, the rise was 2.2% in February alone.

If you want to watch Ron Paul questioning Bernanke on the definition of a dollar, just click below:

While Paul's question was good, I wish he would ask something a bit more pressing.  The line about the Fed facilitating Congressional spending was great though.  Bernanke dodged in typical fashion.  Apparently CNBC skipped to commercial right when Paul was about to speak and came back as soon as he was done.  I wonder why.

Now for further proof that businesses leave whenever taxes and regulations become too burdensome, check out

Amazon to close Texas distribution center amid sales tax fight and 

Amazon.com Threatens to Cut Ties With California Affiliates Over Tax Issue

When will people learn that raising taxes cause unforeseen consequences such as this?  Probably the same time when they realize how the Fed distorts the capital structure and does the exact opposite of smoothing out the business cycle.

James Altucher is out today with 33 Unusual Tips to Being a Better Writer.  Here are a few highlights:

Write a lot. I spent the entire 90s writing bad fiction. 5 bad novels. Dozens of bad stories. But I learned to handle massive rejection. And how to put two words together. In my head, I won the pulitzer prize. But in my hand, over 100 rejection letters.

Read a lot. You can’t write without first reading. A lot. When I was writing five bad novels in a row I would read all day long whenever I wasn’t writing (I had a job as a programmer, which I would do for about five minutes a day because my programs all worked and I just had to “maintain” them). I read everything I could get my hands on.

          Coffee. I go through three cups at least before I even begin to write. No coffee, no creativity.

Steal. I don’t quite mean it literally. But if you know a topic gets pageviews (and you aren’t hurting anyone) than steal it, no matter who’s written about it or how many times you’ve written about it before. “How I Screwed Yasser Arafat out of $2mm” was able to nicely piggyback off of how amazingly popular Yasser Arafat is.

For those that know me best, you will understand why this is my favorite:

Take a huge bowel movement every day. And you won’t see that on any other list on how to be a better writer. If your body doesn’t flow then your brain won’t flow. Eat more fruit if you have to.

I will end by commending Caroline Baum on her excellent Bloomberg article Goldman's Model Evokes Blood-Sucking Leeches: Caroline Baum.