The Monday Mix (06/03/2023)
Hi friends,
I didn’t send out my reading list for February as I’ve been ill since Wednesday, and am still ill now. I’ve got some flu-like virus and the desire to do anything productive has seeped out of me. I had second thoughts about sending this email out today, but as I’m feeling a bit better I thought I should follow through and not let the virus defeat me.
One thing I’ve noticed about getting ill is that it makes you appreciate just how good it is to be healthy. It’s something you never think about much as you’re usually healthy. But the experience of being ill is so grim, that whenever you do get ill you pine to feel normal again. To not feel like absolute rubbish. It’s amazing how the mind works and we don’t think about how much of a good thing it is to be healthy.
I guess out of sight out of mind really does apply in this case!
From Mind Control To Murder?
A crazy article about how one man’s death led to the reveal of some of the CIA’s darkest secrets. It’s interesting how much goes on behind the scenes without us realising it. I’m not sure this is as much the case today as it was before the internet age, but there are undoubtedly lots of things spy agencies and governments are working on that we have no idea about. Some of the projects mentioned here are nuts and just show how paranoid the early era of the Cold War was.
How the Moon is making days longer on Earth
Fascinating article about the Moon is slowly spinning out of the Earth’s orbit. I’d heard about this before but never read about it in-depth, and this article does a good job of explaining why it’s happening. It also mentions that 3.2 billion years ago, which is quite a long time, the Moon was much closer to Earth. So close in fact that there might have been two sunrises and sunsets in a 24-hour period! This is hard to get your head, as is the fact that our days are getting ever-slightly longer.
Call of the Void
You might remember MH370, the flight that disappeared over the South China Sea back in 2014. It was one of the biggest news stories at the time, and despite nearly ten years passing, there’s still no definitive explanation for what happened to the plane. As far as I’m aware, and I could be wrong, very little if any of the plane has ever been found, which is crazy to think about. This is a long article but it does a good job of explaining what might have happened to the flight.
Book I’m reading - In Europe by Geert Mak
Another downside of being ill the past week is that I made little headway on this book as I couldn’t concentrate long enough to read much. It’s still fascinating and I recommend it to anyone who wants an interesting look at the twentieth century in Europe.
Quote I’m pondering: – “Keep the company of those who seek the truth- run from those who have found it” – Vaclav Havel
That’s all for this week.
Until next time,
Tom