Tag Archives: Statistics

How to measure Progress

Apart from the general criticism of the GDP expressed so eloquently here by Robert F Kennedy, I always wonder about the usefulness of international comparisons. I doubt that the GDP numbers for Nigeria are collected/calculated the same way as those for … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, History, Philosophy, USA | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Do you discriminate against disabled people?

Do you discriminate against disabled people? – I bet you do! And I bet you didn’t even know it yourself. Take this simple test: How many hours did you spend watching the Olympics? This figure is A. How many hours did … Continue reading

Posted in Sports | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

Climate Change History

Of course the climate has changed before, but never as dramatically as now in a short time. (Ok, maybe that one time in 1816, but that had terrible effects too.) Anyway, I don’t understand what kind of an argument “the climate has … Continue reading

Posted in History, Technology | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

How Britons react to Brexit

When I came back home from a trip to the Bolivian jungle yesterday, I had  already received dozens of e-mails from Britons along the lines of “my grandfather was from Germany, can I get a German passport?” As an expert in … Continue reading

Posted in Europe, German Law, Germany, Immigration Law, Law, Politics, UK | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

While researching the story of a great Romanian adventurer, I found a great Romanian adventurer. But a different one.

When I moved to Romania, I knew that it had produced one of the greatest adventurer of all times. This is the story of how I was both wrong and right at the same time. (Scroll down to the 5th … Continue reading

Posted in Afghanistan, Argentina, Colombia, History, Iran, Romania, Russia, Travel | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

“The New Yorker” confirms my warning about terrorist geeks

Exactly three years ago, I had outlined the way to detect terror suspects. Without racial profiling (which is illegal and doesn’t work), without torture (illegal and doesn’t work), carpet bombing (costly and cannot be applied in North America and Europe). In … Continue reading

Posted in Politics, Technology, Terrorism | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Who refuses to read my Blog? The 15 missing countries.

On the lower right hand side of this blog you see a flag counter which records the number of visitors from each country. As of today, this blog has had visitors from 227 different countries. The US, Germany and the UK are … Continue reading

Posted in Technology, Travel | Tagged , , | 27 Comments

Brazil is becoming more affordable

You know that a country is going through an economic crisis when your friends from Brazil don’t begin their days by posting photos of their morning coffee, but by commenting on the exchange rate between the Brazilian real and the US … Continue reading

Posted in Brazil, Economics, Travel | Tagged | 6 Comments

The appeal of the political outsiders

The three Republican candidates who have never held any elected office before, Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina, now poll – taken together – at more than 50%. More than half of Republican primary voters seem to think that … Continue reading

Posted in History, Politics, USA | Tagged | 1 Comment

Why Eastern Europe cannot accept more Refugees

Dear Western Europe, it seems you are in sulk about our unwillingness to accept more any refugees. It hurts us to hurt your feelings, so please allow us to explain things from an Eastern European perspective. We are certain you that … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Estonia, Europe, Human Rights, Hungary, Islam, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Politics, Slovakia | Tagged , , | 20 Comments