theDrahos

We’ve been covering the Economic Forum in Davos from the standpoint of its “mood” … which is said to be distinctly downbeat this time around. But I want to comment on notable speeches being presented by various august personages. First up is Bill Gates who according to Business Insider, “delivered another upbeat message on the world with his annual newsletter,” at the “hustle of the Conference.” The report, written by Gates and his wife Melinda, who are co-chairs of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, once again argued that the world is a better place than it has even been … Continue reading →

Generally I don’t remember my dreams, and to judge by the few that I do remember I am rather glad that I don’t. Nor do I believe, pace Freud, that they are the royal road to the unconscious, still less that they are auguries of the future. On the contrary, I think that they are the effect on the brain of the digestive products of heavy meals taken too late at night. However, I have to admit that this opinion may be the consequence of selection bias: the few dreams that I remember tend to be those that follow such heavy meals. Physiologists tell … Continue reading →

Many people have a reaction to a certain food and assume they are allergic to it, in most cases they are not, they have a food intolerance. It might sound like a one-word change is not overly important if a food makes a person sick, it makes them sick and that’s that. In reality, there is a massive distinction between the two in both the effects the conditions have on the body and the treatment required. Food Intolerance If you suffer from a food intolerance the symptoms appear some time after you have ingested the offending food, not right after eating. … Continue reading →

I began writing what I thought would be a report. Toward the final chapters in Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, he wrote about Public Debt asking why anyone considered it to be quality since all governments defaulted on their debts and never paid them off. I assumed the list wasn’t that long, since everyone knew about the defaults of Spain, France, and England. The more I began to investigate since Smith merely made that statement with no reference to such defaults, the more I was left in a state of devastating shock. When it comes to research, those that know … Continue reading →

The production, trade, and consumption of marijuana (cannabis) by adults should be perfectly legal.  Period. Yet having said that, the U.S. has a long history of drug restriction begining with the Harrison Narcotics Act (1914) which regulated  many so-called “hard” drugs.  Interestingly marijuana was excluded from the law. At the state level, Massachusetts enacted the first statewide cannabis prohibition in 1911 followed by California in 1913. Prohibitions soon spread throughout New England and then to most of the country by the early 1930s. The general public hostility to marijuana use (nurtured by media hyperbole) climaxed with the passage of the federal Marijuana … Continue reading →

Throughout the centuries people have enjoyed games. From simple ones to pass the time to more complex ones that use strategy and challenge the participants to compete intellectually and have been called mental sports. Man’s love of competition and play has evolved over recent decades and there are far more choices now than ever before. For the list I have skipped video and online games, sticking with those that have actual physical pieces. No exclusions were made based on whether they are better with 2 or multiple players. In the 17th and 18th century, being a great gamer was admired … Continue reading →

In late February, a conference is scheduled in New York City to discuss the risk of nuclear war if computers reach the level of artificial intelligence and take decisions out of human hands. But there is already the old-fashioned danger of nuclear war, started by human miscalculation, fed by hubris and propaganda. That possible scenario is playing out in Ukraine, where the European Union and the United States provoked a political crisis on Russia’s border in November 2013, then backed a coup d’etat in February 2014 and have presented a one-sided account of the ensuing civil war, blaming everything on Russia. … Continue reading →

“We’re going in!”  The Envoy’s voice had the sting of a cold wind cutting across the taiga.   Ratta. Tatta Tat.  The plane out of Ramstein was pelted with a bararage of fire as it descended into Tuzla Air Base in Bosnia.  Ratta Tatta Tat.  One piece of shrapnel pierced the window next to the Envoy’s seat.  She was calm.  “We can’t make it ma’am.  There’s even heavier fire below.”  “That was an order, Major Fenton.”  She was even cooler than her voice in the midst of the panic around her.  “I’m going up front.”  Bursting into the cockpit she took … Continue reading →