April 2019, Ecuador expelled Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, from its embassy in London. He had been living there with asylum since 2012, fearing extradition to the United States. Assange helped leaked top secret information exposing US war crimes in the Middle East. Now he will be extradited to the “Land of the Free” to face charges related to computer hacking.

The timing of Ecuador's revocation of his asylum raises some suspicions. Less than two months before Ecuador expelled Julian Assange from its embassy, it secured a $4.2 billion dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The last time the IMF gave a loan to Ecuador was 2016. That was only $364 million, and it was to help them rebuild after a...

Maximilian Bern had saved up 100,000 German marks for what should have been a modest, but comfortable retirement. But in 1923, he withdrew every last cent, and spent it all on one purchase: a subway ticket. He rode around his city one last time before returning home, and locking himself in his home, where he died.

He didn’t kill himself. He starved to death… simply because he could no longer afford food. A single egg at the market would cost millions of marks, more than Maximilian Bern had saved over his entire life.

This was one of the most famous episodes of hyperinflation, certainly in modern history. In the wake of World War One, Germany (known as the Weimar Republic) was completely broke. The War to end...

We can see the traces. Nations with the religious tradition of “the one and only God” have the main part of the population dependent on “Gods will”. When problems come, just pray for protection and wealth. Hand out, perhaps it works. If not, reclaim on external causes and wait for “God´s will”.
However, when the clouds of problems are absent and the sky apparent forever clear, few have time for “God”. Such nice days could be used for virtuos actions, like teaching, learning, making preparations for difficult times, enjoying in spiritual progress and helping others. Frequently, the best time is wasted on self-cherishing and meaningless entertainment playing. When bad times return, “God” is again...

From the depths of our heart we want to be happy all the time, but we are not usually very concerned with the happiness and freedom of others. In reality, however, our own happiness and suffering are insignificant compared to that of other living beings. Others are countless, whereas we ourself are just one single person. Understanding this, we must learn to cherish others if be able to accomplish the ultimate, supreme goal of human life.

What is the ultimate, supreme goal of human life? We should ask ourself what we consider to be most important – what do we wish for, strive for or daydream about? For some people it is material possessions, such as a large house with all the latest luxuries, a fast car or a well-paid job....

The legendary guitar player, music compositor and overall funny guy left us 4th of December 1993,  25 years ago, only some weeks before his 53d birthday. His satiric critics over the American lifestyle and its extraordinary stupidity was understood by few, but trustworthy fans. He spoke out about issues people normally don´t speak about. Or better, do not dare to speak about. High intelligence, determined, good character, big heart, but very little patience with ordinary stupid couchpotatoes. And zero tolerance with unskilled professionals, specially the ones less interested in the quality of their work than in money.

In a 10 hours interview you can see what kind of man Frank Zappa was. Here is an interview collection 1967...