Dining
“Before you eat and drink anything, carefully consider with whom you eat or drink rather than what you eat and drink, because eating without a friend is the life of the lion or the wolf”. (Epicurus)
Archive of entries posted on February 2015
Iran and the bomb
The claim is that Iranian ownership of nuclear weapons would “vastly increase” the already substantial risk of an accidental nuclear catastrophe. Only luck has spared us so far, journalists claim. We in the West have had forty years of unremitting propaganda against Iran, much of it misleading. Contrary to propaganda Iran is an educated, sophisticated …
Happiness
People seem to have a natural happiness baseline to which they return after a sad or an exciting experience. A new, fancy sports car does not budge the baseline. It is unintelligent to depend on fancy apartments and clothes. We don’t need them. The pleasure we derive from them is momentary. What we need is …
The language police
We now have to be aware of the “cultural vigilantes” who look out for the slightest offense you might or might not be giving to some minority. The list includes homophobia, racism, transphobia, sexism and all-round bigotry. This new intolerance emantes from universities and colleges, where students must be on constant alert for “microaggressions” – …
Russia’s political downgrade
Recently Standard & Poor downgraded Russia’s debt to below investment grade, which increases the cost of servicing existing debt. Russia’s government, banks and companies owe $600bn externally, equating to 50% of GDP thanks to the plummeting rouble, although the economic result of the downgrade isn’t as important as its symbolic and political impact. Vladimir Putin …