Category Archives: USA
Frugality is a Virtue
I am a very stingy person. I wear my father’s old shirts. I wear shoes with holes. I don’t have a car. I walk in the rain to save the bus fare. I never buy anything new if the old … Continue reading
Easily Confused (44) Taxes
Tax rate: Tax raid: Whenever I heard the word “tax rate” during law school, I imagined a “tax raid” and a film began to play in my head. I never learnt much about tax law.
“1493” by Charles C. Mann
Zur deutschsprachigen Rezension. 1493 refers to the year after Christopher Columbus “discovered” America and as the second part of the title suggests, the book describes how Europe’s discovery of the Americas revolutionized trade, ecology and life on earth. That sounds … Continue reading
Imam Ali and the USA
Preparing for my trip to Macedonia, I read an article about the Bektashi Sufi. I particularly liked this photo of the office which is decorated with a painting of Imam Ali, the successor of the Prophet Muhammad according to the Shia … Continue reading
The Gun Culture of America
How prevalent is the gun culture in the USA? Even congressional districts are drawn in the shape of guns:
Who gave terrorists the idea to attack New York?
In 1973 Palestinian terrorists tried to detonate three car bombs in New York City. Al-Qaeda tried to blow up the World Trade Center, two tunnels, a bridge and the UN Headquarters in 1993 and flew two hijacked planes into the … Continue reading
Why is there such a mess in Iraq?
A country rich in oil, one of the cradles of human civilization, bestowed with a democracy and rule of law which it received from the benevolent world community. That is Iraq. Why is this country deteriorating? Why is there a … Continue reading
Happy Birthday, Donald Duck!
It’s Donald Duck’s 80th birthday. Enjoy this short film which won an Oscar in 1943:
Commemorating World War I
For the 100th anniversary of World War I in 2014, the participating countries have different plans to commemorate this 4-year long war: The United Kingdom will hold a military parade in London and bask in memories of the Empire that once spun … Continue reading
“The Liberator” by Alex Kershaw
The full title of the book The Liberator: one World War II soldier’s 500-day odyssey from the beaches of Sicily to the gates of Dachau gives you the gist of the story already. It recounts the experience of Felix Sparks who served … Continue reading
The Happy Hermit 