Why are birth rates plummeting all over the world? Something very unusual is happening that is not being discussed very much. Global birth rates are plummeting. I even did a documentary about it, focusing on Germany and Italy, with interviews from a few years ago, pre-Covid. The problem became much worse since then, of course….
Category: Articles
Brief reflections on Saint Agnes' day
By coincidence — but some say there are no coincidences — I’ve just found out that today is the feast of Saint Agnes. I wasn’t familiar with her story, but when I was in France, last December, I saw a medieval painting in a museum in Montpellier that called my attention. It was an anonymous…
How to get rid of a dead body?
And how to marry a witch — two classic American films by European directors I have trouble being consistent with my themes, but, in general, this blog is about the things I like — film, literature, travel and conspiracy theories. So this is a post about film, for a change. I have been trying to…
Who is Klaus Schwab?
A genealogical investigation of the Bond villain’s mysterious origins Very few people have heard about the obscure French writer Marcel Schwob, but many have heard about the infamous WEF chairman, Mr. Klaus Schwab. And yet it was a commentary related to the similarity of both surnames which led me through this rabbit hole. Although Mr….
The Sickness unto Death
Random notes on illness, death — and moving to Samoa Calm down, the title of this column is just a quote of the title of one of Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard’s most famous books (which I haven’t read). I am not a hypochondriac. In fact, quite the opposite: I may be slightly iatrophobic. I avoid…
Strasbourg
The last stop before resuming normal life I stopped for a couple of days in Strasbourg in the last leg of my New Year journey. It is a beautiful town, even if my visit was a bit marred by a persistent cough and sore throat that I caught somewhere between Barcelona and here. (Should I…
Everything must change
A Happy New Year to my few readers I’m in Catalonia, in a small seaside poble less than an hour away from Barcelona. When I started writing this, it was December 31st, 2022, the last day of the year, and I was sitting in a small cafe outdoors, looking at the sea. Inflation has struck…
We'll always have Paris
A visit to the iconic city sparks some thoughts What can be said of Paris that hasn’t been said before? It is one of those few cities, like London, or Rome, or Chicago — well maybe not that last one — that live in the world’s imagination, so much that even those who have never…
Merry Christmas to all!
“In the Bleak Midwinter” in animation
Argentina, again
Messi, Borges and the World Cup win Yes! Argentina won the World Cup after a nail-biting game that seemed it would never end, and Messi got his dreamed and well-deserved prize. Fantastic! I didn’t realize that Argentina had last won in 1986, because it got really close other times: it was two times vice-champion since…