I have an adage in my life: maximising major changes in life to only one (1). Late 2024, a friend bought a house in Spain and left the Netherlands. My friend speaks adequate Spanish and had visited that region for many years, albeit as a Dutch tourist. My friend should have “grounded” but did not. Change in life is usually about family, friendship, house,...
America, China and Russia face (ever-) decreasing birth rates and to such an extent that various politicians have already claimed a demographic crisis. However, the reasons are very, very different. WSJ, 25 April 2024: “Fewer babies were born in the U.S. in 2023 than any year since 1979. American women are giving birth at record-low rates. The total fertility rate...
During my second sleep of last Tuesday night, I became convinced that I had an unfinished blog, called Need for Speed. That was it. No further words. No idea about its contents. I decided to wake up early and started writing the first paragraph of this blog. Later that day, I still failed to understand its message. Nowadays, speed is absent in my life. There is no...
Last Saturday, a blog title entered my mind: mission accomplished. That feeling resulted from my 3-week trip to Italy, which ended last Friday. Actually, several blog titles have passed my mind during my trip but those only made it to my list of potential topics. This one feels different. On 1 May 2003, the (then) US President made a televised speech on an aircraft...
Until about a year ago, many articles claimed that China would surpass the USA as an (economic) SuperPower. I never believed those articles. China did and does not meet the SuperPower criteria. Today, many articles assume that USA may not be surpassed. I doubt that too. The Roman Empire was - probably - the first global empire. Alternatively, it was a multi-regional...
Financial Times title: Pasta producers in hot water over soaring prices FT subtitle: Brands including Barilla and Panzani in tussle with EU governments as mark-ups continue despite lower wheat prices By: Madeleine Speed, Silvia Sciorilli Borrelli, Laura Onita and Eri Sugiura Date: 21 June 2023 "European pasta producers are facing growing pressure...
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