27 January 2023PUT IN TO TAKE OUTWhat is the one number you'd really like to know for a happy retirement? Yup, it is how much should I tuck away each month - not percentages or formulae, just the number please?THIS NOTE IS ABOUTFinancial planning is boring but unavoidable. So start here. Plus, a note on how to build a neat and tidy spreadsheet.GOALpeople typically aim for somewhere between half and two-thirds of their final salary as their retirement income. NEEDSBy the time they retire, many people have paid off their mortgage, and their...
Friday, 27 January 2023
Saturday, 21 January 2023
GEORGIO
Georgio is seeking the voice of the island, ie the voice of the people of Cyprus. He finds what is dear to themFamilyTraditionsSeaNatureReligionFoodCostumeAnd in his own way and style, he expresses this. He is a conduit.His paintings are more naive than childish. He is not a trained artist, he is self-taught. He is honest, he expresses what he sees, for you to see through his eyes.EXHIBITION BLURB:The George Pol. Georghiou - Timeless Cyprus exhibition has been organised on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the artist's death. The title, suggested...
Wednesday, 18 January 2023
BYZANTIUM
On Byzantiumhttps://youtu.be/2JHCfe86A8UFascinating. Right from the beginning where Paul Cooper tells us how the Mediterranean Sea was created (offset Part I, 8 minutes).To his explanation of how the Eastern wing survived for another thousand years after the fall of Rome.And America has managed 80 years and looks to be on its way out, having learnt nothing of the power of diplomacy from the rulers of Byzantium.
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MODERN LOVERS
https://youtu.be/VXMTG8prP7swhy are relationships seemingly so hard for so many people when it's the thing we need the most to feel alive to feel happy and feel connected?Love and work are the two pillars of our lives.The simple feeling of loving and feeling loved is actually a very complex thing just as nature is very complex, so too is human nature very complex. I'm a boomer and in my life I have seen Human Nature change at its fastest pace ever recorded. Human relationships today are certainly more complex and often more painful than in the...
CYPRIOT SALAD
18 January 2023I like the salad and tahini very much.
Cucumber, tomato, olives, cos lettuce, feta cheese, red onion, red peppers, dressing (olive oil and lemon juice), herbs.
https://youtu.be/0N6h_m5u...
ELEFTHERIA SQUARE, NICOSIA
18 January 2023Nicosia is "the last divided capital in Europe". It is a city with 16th century city walls and a moat and a new park in the dry moat.Amongst the many modern buildings of Nicosia today, there is Eleftheria square, known as Freedom Park. Freedom meaning freedom from invaders, notably the Turks, and the possibility for the Greek Cypriot population to live an independent life. But also, freedom in the sense of one unified island where...
Monday, 16 January 2023
SHOULD I BUY A GROWTH TRUST?
The discussion of private equity, what motivates the salespple. The joke. SMT. Scottish Mortgage Trust. There is a piece today on the high-conviction strategy of SMT where the managers admit to certain mistakes in 2921/22 going after exceptional growth companies like Amazon, Tesla and Tencent: thinking some covid-behaviour would persist more after the pandemic slow in recognising the significance of the deterioration in US-China relations.But they believe in the returns from high-tech companies and think these are not about...
Sunday, 15 January 2023
ORIGINS OF WAR IN UKRAINE
One of Rishi's ideas that is purely political is to send two tanks to Ukraine. Two! There's little discussion on military channels of its impact on the war because it will have none.The whole war dates back to 1996 and NATO's (America's) decision to renege on promises given to the Russian's to respect a security buffer in Eastern Europe. Expansion started in 1999.Russia had hope for a new joint security architecture for Europe. If you add to this possible alliance, the trade opportunities (commodities and energy for technology and finished...
Tuesday, 10 January 2023
US CHINA CONFLAGRATION
The States doesn't seem able to stock up Ukraine with equipment and supplies, what chance the capacity for a serious war?This simulation tells us thata) Strategic Ambiguity is dead - just as Ukraine is effectively in NATO, so Taiwan is in The Western Alliance, in the first island chain andb) the American military-industrial needs to ramp up preparations for World Wars 3 & 4. If I know America, their elite will have a
first-strike...
Monday, 9 January 2023
WHY THE WEST IS BEST
The top race, according to average achievements/capita, must surely be the Je*s.Then come the European whites, Anglo-Saxons on top. Why?1. We doubled life expectancy by introducing antibiotics insecticides and vaccines to the world. Nine out of 10 Indonesians would not be here today if it hadn't been for that !2. Holland did not get rich by pillaging Indonesia, or maybe it did, but Holland was already rich and powerful, which is how it was able to colonise Indy.And in so doing, Holland gave value to the spices they could grow there, that the people...
Sunday, 8 January 2023
AMERICA APPRECIATES FULL WELL WHAT IT IS DOING
9 January 2023I would love that people appreciate the real cause of this war.As a patriotic Englishman, I care and I want the best for my country and for Europe as a whole (which incidentally includes that part of Russia where 80% of Russians live).https://youtube.com/shorts/r8vvbOxAwKI?feature=sharehttps://youtube.com/shorts/r8vvbOxAwKI?feature=shareIt was made plain to America as long ago as 1997https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=huL4mTx55Kw&feature=youtu...
