theDrahos

The important question is: how could (how can) so many human lives be brought to a violent end? Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin, by Timothy Snyder I return to this book by Snyder; I feel I have taken enough of a respite.  This will be my final post on this book.  Before addressing Snyder’s question, however, the final episodes of atrocity will briefly be covered. Beginning in 1943 and continuing into the summer of 1944, Soviet troops were advancing westward toward Berlin.  Belarus – three years prior having been overrun by the Nazis, then suffering three years under the … Continue reading →

When I used to work in the city, my office location was not in the best area of town. Frequently, there were questionable people walking around. At the time, there had been an increase of violent crimes and some vehicles had been carjacked in the area. Needless to say, I did not want to be the next victim. As an added safety measure I walked with a group out to my car and always had my keys ready. I was lucky to never be a victim of of such heinous crimes, but I was always on the lookout. Little did I know … Continue reading →

New cars lack a certain something. But what is that something? What’s changed that’s made them less emotionally involving – and more appliance-like? Herewith some thoughts along those lines: * Liters vs. cubic inches – Engines seem more interchangeably anonymous today, in part because of the way they are identified. Which is by liters of displacement – like bottled water – rather than cubic inches, which is a more viscerally mechanical way to measure cylinder volume. The metric system ruins everything. Yes, of course. It is more precise. But that just the point. The metric system does not convey the same thing as, say, … Continue reading →

Men lose their hearing faster than women do. Here is the evidence. I wanted to test my hearing. I looked for online testing sites. I found three good ones. http://www.garynorth.com/snip/1177.htm http://www.garynorth.com/snip/1178.htm http://www.garynorth.com/snip/1179.htm I used a pair of high quality headphones: Denon. These tests involve background noise to cover words or numbers. This way, you get something like a real-world situation, not just a series of tones at various frequencies. Also, these tests have you set volume on-screen, not with your pre-amp. Each site’s software controls for volume to achieve greater consistency. The good news: I passed all three.

By Dr. Mercola The quality, quantity, and composition of the bacteria in your gut have enormous influence on your brain. Dr. David Perlmutter explores this phenomenon in great detail in his new book, Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain-for Life. Dr. Perlmutter is a board-certified neurologist and a fellow of the American College of Nutrition (ACN). He also has a clinic in Naples, Florida, and he’s been very active in publishing his findings in peer-reviewed medical journals. His previous book, Grain Brain, topped the New York Times bestseller list for 54 weeks. In … Continue reading →

With the victory of the Conservatives in last week’s British election, the future of both the European Union and the United Kingdom looks more doubtful. Newly re-elected Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, in order to please anti-EU constituents who were essential to his re-election, promised a referendum on EU membership by 2017, although it could come sooner than that. At the same time, the promised referendum is again inflaming secessionist sentiment among Scottish nationalists and separatists who wish to remain a part of the EU. Naturally, it would be highly simplistic to point to the EU issue as the only major issue … Continue reading →

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A few days ago I received an e-mail from my British bank about my US$ account in Jersey. I have this account in Jersey because my mainland branch did not allow me to have such an account with it. The e-mail was from someone called the business standards officer: Your account with us has been brought to my attention to review, and it has been found that we will require additional information to ensure that we are able to continue managing your account. Note that the bringing to attention and the finding of the requirement were entirely in the passive … Continue reading →

Poland is legally obliged to switch its currency to the euro under the terms of its 2004 EU entry. Nonetheless, Poland has continually demurred amid the Eurozone’s financial woes and voter opposition to exterminating the zloty, its national currency. Killing the zloty will only bring massive inflation to Poland and serious harm to its economy. Its national debt will be converted to Euros and therein will be the real crisis. The Euro has failed to benefit member states of the former  Soviet possessions as well as Southern Europe. Politicians are lawyers who know how to write laws and assume that is … Continue reading →