East and West German police faceoff before the Wall went up. The Berlin Wall effectively separated the two German states between August 1961 and November 1989. The Soviets did not lose the Cold War in 1989, in 1990 or even in 1991. They lost the war on 13 August 1961. That was the day when … Continue reading The Cold War – Chapter 1: The Berlin Wall
I was born on a cold December day in the Year of Our Lord 1979, in Bucharest, Romania. The day I was born, the 19th, USSR Secretary General Leonid Brezhnev had just instructed the Red Army to invade Afghanistan to effect regime change. So, one can say I came into this world during interesting times. … Continue reading The Story of My Life – Chapter 1
Do you know how you boss people around? Simple, you just take a big fat doodoo on their parades. Case in point: I was watching the Showtime TV series Billions the other day. This series is all about the conflict between the ambitious and unscrupulous Assistant US Attorney (AUSA) Chuck Rhoades, played by Paul Giamatti, … Continue reading Manipulation one-on-one: Chapter 1 – From bossing people around to Lying to the Future
The other day a friend was asking me which European country I would recommend him to immigrate to. Without the slightest hesitation, I told him to go settle in the Swiss Confederation (Confoederatio Helvetica). To my surprise, he followed through by asking me which canton or region I had in mind, given that he spoke … Continue reading Which is the best canton to live in Switzerland?
First off, admit it. You all thought I was gonna say that I was turning vegetarian. Gotcha! I gotta say I was quite tempted to go full vegetarian especially after building a nice firepit in the backyard and abusing the mititei output of the said grill. Although I did come very close to being quite … Continue reading The Extraordinary Journey of a Meat Lover towards eating less meat
Normal national colours are rectangular and let's put it this way... peaceful. That is not the case with the Swiss national colours. Here follows the extraordinary journey of the Swiss flag. Depicted: the Swiss Pantone 485 C Red. The approved colour of the Swiss Confederation's flag. Our story begins in the Middle Ages, up in … Continue reading The Abridged Story of the Swiss Square Flag
Today I am going to break one of my self-imposed rules. Today, I will be all heart. Today, I won't try to be a brainiac. Funny thing, when you google 'brainiac', you find out "he is a super-intelligent alien being from the planet Colu who has fought Superman." Who knew? Who cares? Now that we … Continue reading My Proustian flow of consciousness
Working hypothesis What if the Spanish Flu (1918-1920) was created in a lab like so many other killing inventions during WW1? But before I can properly answer this question, I need to tell you the story of a man, part angel part demon, which made me believe the Spanish Flu could have been made in … Continue reading The Spanish Flu – An accident of history or a weapon of war? Part 1
Preface When I started writing this blog three months ago, Covid-19 pandemic was in full swing, and the world seemed on a downward slope to oblivion. Because I did not want to add to the utter confusion of those days, I stopped to reflect. Some might even say I took a knee. In truth, I … Continue reading Your Country Wants You Dumb
Hoarding is morally wrong. Personally, I believe that any person who hoards food, medicine, medical supplies, toilet paper in excess to their needs, and for the purpose of profit making, is a person who believes they can survive when his peers are dead. Newsflash: they can’t. We all live because we need one another. We … Continue reading Covid-19 vs. Freedom
Götterdämmerung 