Ask western policymakers how they intend to squeeze growth from their sluggish economies and most pin their hopes on higher exports. That makes exchange rates an especially sensitive topic. A weaker currency improves the competitiveness of a country by making exports cheaper. It also encourages domestic consumers to switch from expensive imports to domestic goods. The [...]

A couple watching whales from a sailboat got a close-up view when a southern white whale soared out of the water off Cape Town and landed on their boat, snapping the mast. This species of whale navigates by sound and has poor eyesight meaning it may have simply not heard the sailboat, which had its [...]

As governments try to tackle huge structural budget deficits, one means of attack is to delay paying state pensions by gently raising the official state-retirement age. Protests are expected in Spain on Tuesday February 23rd against an official plan to lift the retirement age by two years to 67. Official retirement ages have failed to [...]

Beyond the big health reform debate the reality is lifestyles are killing us. Maybe it does not matter how we organize our health care system. Our daily lives work aggressively against anything resembling wellness. We don’t take time to manage our health, and in our pursuit of “more” we get fatter, slower, and unhealthier by [...]

Was the capital of Poland from 1038 to 1596 Kraków is one of the oldest cities in Poland, with evidence showing settlements there since 20,000 BC. Legend has it that it was built on the cave of a dragon whom the mythical King Krak had slain. However, the first official mention of the name was [...]

Visit to Birkenau – October 2008. Roz and I Construction on Auschwitz II (Birkenau) began in October 1941 to ease congestion at the main camp. It was designed to hold several categories of prisoners, and to function as an extermination camp in the context of Himmler’s preparations for the Final Solution of the Jewish Question, [...]