The report of a reader saying it snowed in Rome was an incorrect translation. It was Hailstones. The same thing took place in Calgary. Although strange, they are not unknown even in summer. Hailstones are large, layered ice particles, often spherical in shape. They are produced by thunderstorms having strong, tilted updrafts. Hailstorms form within an unusually unstable air mass. In the […]

The Swedish election has shifted to the right thanks to the Refugee Crisis. The Social Democrats came in with the worst result in decades and the right-wing populists have risen to their best results since their inception. Although the Social Democrats escaped a complete disaster in the parliamentary elections, they have lost a lot to the right-wing populists. The […]

This theory of Global Warming and the oceans will rise and places like New York City and Miami will sink beneath the waves is just so childish it is beyond contemplation that anyone coming up with such a theory would ever understand a complex system. They must have cut class during Physics probably because it was […]

  Unusual Snowfall in February 2018 that Reached Down to Rome COMMENT #1: Mr. Armstrong; It was snow flurries here in Rome already. This looks like a bitterly cold winter this year as you said. Roberto COMMENT #2: Marty; I live just down the street from your old place in Kensington. It is snowing already. […]

  Monetary History of Byzantium   Andronicus II 1282-1328AD Andronicus II Palaeologus (b 1260; 1282-1328AD) was the son of Michael VIII Palaeologus and it was during his reign that the Byzantine Empire declined to the status of a minor state under siege by the Ottoman Turks in Anatolia and the Serbs in the Balkans. This is […]

Monetary History of Byzantium   Manuel II Palaeologus (1391-1425AD) Manuel II Palaeologus (1391-1425AD)  ruled what was left of the Byzantine Empire as it was entering its final phase near the closing decade of the 14th century. The Byzantine empire was a dying state. Upon the formal coronation of Manuel II in 1392, the downfall of […]

Monetary History of Byzantium JOHN VIII 1423-1448 John VIII Palaeologus (1423-1448AD) was the eldest son of Manuel II Palaiologos and Helena Dragaš, the daughter of the Serbian prince Constantine Dragaš, who he succeeded as Emperor. In reality, the Byzantine Empire amounted to just the city of Constantinople by this point in history. He was associated […]

Monetary History of Byzantium Constantine XI 1448-1453AD Constantine XI Dragases Palaeologus (b: 1405; 1448 – 1453)  was the son of Manuel II and the last Emperor of the Byzantine Empire. He ruled Constantinople and died in battle at the fall of Constantinople in 1453. He previously was serving as regent for his brother John VIII […]

Monetary History of Byzantium   NICEPHORUS II PHOCAS (963-969AD) Nicephorus II Phocas (born c. 912; 963 – 969AD) was a brilliant military strategist which contributed to the resurgence of the Byzantine Empire during the 10th century but lost Sicily to the Muslims and most of Italy following the incursions of Otto I. He did retake the […]

Monetary History of Byzantium   MICHAEL III The Drunkard 842-867   Michael III (b: January 19, 840; 842 – 867AD) was the third and last member of the Amorian (or Phrygian) dynasty. His successors called him the Drunkard but that seems to have been an exaggeration. His reign did play a role in the resurgence of […]