Tag Archives: europe

A Tribute to Architecture, Old and New, in Europe

__________ Looking at the above video, it makes one wonder about what the human species really is, and where it’s headed. And, of course, we already live in a grand and bejeweled cathedral. __________ The Hubble Deep Field image itself … Continue reading

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Countdown to Eurogeddon: Greece Will Likely Vote Syriza Party June 17th

Opinion polls indicate that the leftist Syriza Party is on its way to a victory in the upcoming Greek election on June 17th, and that strongly suggests that Greece will be leaving the European Union. Here’s London’s Independent today: Opinion polls … Continue reading

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The Birds: Europe’s Debt Crisis Foreshadows President Obama’s Electoral Doom

I foresee, in the following New York Times reporting on the Eurozone economic crisis, the end of Barack Obama’s presidency: Jens Weidmann, president of the Bundesbank, the German central bank, argued Monday that the core problem in the euro zone … Continue reading

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Blame Atheists for Ballooning Budget Deficits and Islam’s Growing Clout in Europe?

Maybe. In a fascinating summary, at NewGeography.com, of global demographic research, Joel Kotkin points the finger at Enlightenment secularism for the ballooning budget deficits and low birth rates in industrialized countries: The increasingly perilous shape of public finance in almost all … Continue reading

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Inflate the Debt Away: Why Are Italian Interest Rates Climbing?

Italian interest rates are climbing because it’s feared that, should Greece leave the euro, Italy might follow suit, making the value of Italian bonds held by investors zero. That’s right, zero. Wolfgang Munchau at Spiegel Online explains: If Greece leaves … Continue reading

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Paul Krugman’s Advice to Italy and Spain: Inflate and Stimulate

Paul Krugman continues to think that what’s going on in Greece, Italy, and Spain says nothing—nothing!—about the political culture surrounding welfare statism in Europe and everything about the way the euro ties the hands of those making monetary policy: Japan is much more deeply … Continue reading

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A 3-D Film to See Before You Die: Werner Herzog’s “Cave of Forgotten Dreams”

It appears that Werner Herzog has produced a once-in-a-lifetime/not-to-be-missed film that, to be fully appreciated, must be experienced in a large movie house. It’s a 3-D documentary titled Cave of Forgotten Dreams. Its subject is Chauvet Cave in France, which Andrew O’Hehir … Continue reading

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The Euro Crisis: European Leaders Wing It and Deny Reality

At Spiegel Online, Stefan Schultz offers this ironic assessment of the way that Europe’s leaders have, thus far, managed the euro crisis: Since the start of the euro crisis, Europe’s leaders have perfected two techniques: scrambling to catch up with events, and … Continue reading

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For Whom the Bell Tolls: Is Spain Too Big to Fail? Are We?

The following was in the New York Times on the day before Thanksgiving, 2010. It describes with stark clarity the vicious debt whirlpool that Spain is in the grips of. I wonder what Paul Krugman would say about this. I suppose that, someday, the United States could find … Continue reading

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Sarah Palin: No Experts Need Apply; Joshua Livestro Has the Whole Economics Thing Covered for Me, Thanks

If you’re wondering how irrational, unpredictable, and volatile a Sarah Palin presidency would be, look no further. News is that she has retained, not an academically trained economist or financial expert, but a right-wing Dutch newspaper columnist (his name is Joshua … Continue reading

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When there’s a shark in the water, you get people out of the water, right?

I hope Barack Obama is thinking about terrorism in the way that Brody, in the movie Jaws, thought about sharks, for Osama bin Laden appears to be targeting at least one high visibility tourist area in Europe for a terrorist attack, … Continue reading

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Climate Change: The View from Germany’s Window

In Spiegel today, Christian Schwägerl takes after President Obama and America in their tag team foot dragging on climate change (rightfully so, I think): For most Americans, the world beyond the US’s borders is nothing more than an irritating nuisance. Hence arguments based … Continue reading

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Barack Obama is Pitch Perfect on American Exceptionalism

Below is one of the reasons why I voted for Barack Obama. Name another politician who can think this clearly on his feet, and with equal measures of clarity and nuance. And notice how he keeps America’s best historical qualities … Continue reading

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Bearing Witness to the Holocaust: Anne Frank and Margo Frank in a Purim Holiday Photo with Other Jewish Children, February, 1934, and an Image from Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, Where Anne and Margo Died

Anne Frank is the little girl to the left (in a dress in the front row). Margo Frank, Anne’s older sister, is with the taller kids in the back row, and is wearing a dress similar to her sister’s. Margo … Continue reading

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Bearing Witness to the Holocaust: A German Jewish Girl Who Was Part of the Kindertransport (1939)

This German Jewish girl (age 7) was part of the Kindertransport that, in 1939, got 10,000 Jewish children out of Nazi-controlled areas of Europe. Her name: Dorrith Oppenheim. She ended up in Scotland. Her parents died at Auschwitz in 1944. More … Continue reading

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Bearing Witness to the Holocaust: An American Soldier Poses in Front of a Dachau Train Car with Corpses, 1945

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Quote of the Day

Oh thou proud European of the nineteenth century, art thou not mad? Thy knowledge does not complete Nature, it only kills thine own nature. —Friedrich Nietzsche (Thoughts out of Season II: The Use and Abuse of History)

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Trippy

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