Author Archives: odeboyz

Karl Marx studied in this room

Posted on July 9, 2020
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The man with spare false teeth

Posted on July 9, 2020

A dinner speaker was in such a hurry to get to his speaking engagement he realized that he’d forgotten his false teeth. In a panic he said to the man next to him, “I forgot my teeth.” Amazingly his fellow … Continue reading →

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Why the west is stagnant

Posted on July 6, 2020

Thomas Piketty, the French economist, calculates that more than half of total wealth in Germany today is inherited — an estimate confirmed by German economists. In the 1960s and 1970s, the share was just a little over 20 per cent. … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Tim Harford ~ Messy: How to be creative and resilient in a tidy-minded world (2016)

Posted on July 6, 2020

Britain had a TV show whose catch phrase was, ‘The computer says no’ and it reflected a stifled uncreative world. It satirises the mechanistic attempt at deleting risk from everyday life looking for monochrome ‘perfection’. A hideous uncreative world doomed … Continue reading →

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Komodo Dragon

Posted on July 2, 2020

If you want to know more about them see Komodo dragon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo_dragon  

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Using Torture properly (?) a lesson for the USA

Posted on July 2, 2020

Empirical evidence on contemporary torture is sparse. The archives of the Spanish Inquisition* provide a detailed historical source of quantitative and qualitative information about interrogational torture. The inquisition tortured brutally and systematically, willing to torment all who it deemed as … Continue reading →

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The Mozart Problem: Educating Exceptional Children

Posted on July 2, 2020

He was playing the harpsichord and the violin at the age of five, and writing little pieces of music.* Introduction Mozart’s father was a musician and realised Wolfgang was exceptional. Leopold home schooled his son, constantly expanding his musical frontiers. … Continue reading →

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Solving a Marital Problem

Posted on June 29, 2020

A woman went into a pharmacy and looking straight into the pharmacist’s eyes said, “I’d like to buy some cyanide.” “Why do you need cyanide?” “I going to poison my husband.” The pharmacist exclaimed, “I can’t sell you cyanide to commit … Continue reading →

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Book Review: E M Delafield ~ The Diary of a Provincial Lady (1930)

Posted on June 29, 2020

Through the magic of Amazon’s pricing policy this costs 99p on Kindle. On the other hand if you wish to buy all five of the ‘Provincial Lady’ series you pay only 49p! Obviously it’s your decision but I risked 49p … Continue reading →

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A very brisk Mother Superior in a French convent

Posted on June 25, 2020

[Her] account includes being told by the [Mother] Superior that if a doctor advised a surgical operation, “your Superiors will decide whether your life is of sufficient value to the community to justify the expense. If it is not, you … Continue reading →

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