Hello and welcome back to Five Things!
I am so exhausted. But it is the good type of exhaustion. We had friends and family over to celebrate the confirmation of our 14-year old daughter, affectionately known as K3. We think it is important to give her a bi-religious education, so she goes to a catholic school and a protestant church. Actually, I am not much of a religious person, even though I did help my history professor to edit his masterpiece Geschichte des Pietismus and if you have ever wondered why the footnotes of these four volumes on the history of pietism were so extraordinarily thoroughly checked, well, I did that. On Word 5.1 for DOS! What an ordeal! I am sure that there was some higher meaning in there somewhere that I had to do this.
Anyhow, the greatest gift of all is that my American parents made it across the pond again and visited us for this event. I am so lucky that they let me into their family and their hearts some 37 years ago. I am forever grateful that they are wonderful parents for me and amazing grandparents for our kids, spoiling them best they can.
So if you ask yourself why I let my kids get confirmated at a Lutheran church even though it’s not really my thing. Well, I am very tolerant and faith is a very personal thing. My parents never baptized me and I do not think I missed anything, but if my kids want to go to church, then I am supporting that, as I think it is their decision, not mine. They also got baptized, which was my wife’s decision, not mine. I also don’t think my kids noticed back then, so no harm done if they later on think it is a bad idea.
While I had wonderful conversations with nice people big and small, one thing stuck in my head: even though everyone has a smartphone and a navigation system in a car, people from small towns still get stressed about driving in a big city and finding a place to park. I remember trying to navigate through Hamburg with one of those fancy foldable maps that you could never really fold again after unfolding and when we got a map booklet thingy we always turned to the wrong page after making a turn and boy did I spend time finding streets again that I recognized, but that was in the 90s. Also, my dad always turned off the radio and said “quiet, I need to concentrate!” when we drove into Hamburg and I thought this was then and now we let ourselves be guided through every unknown city. I also don’t understand why people prefer to ask me for directions instead of just using Google Maps.
So, I had an amazing week. I also managed to squeeze in some reading, just for you. So please read this. And drink more coffee! Thank me later, after you read this!
The 17 Minutes That Changed America
On September 11, 2001, 17 minutes was the length of time from when American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, at 8:46 a.m., to when United Airlines Flight 175 entered the right-hand side of millions of TV screens, at 9:03 a.m., and plowed into the South Tower at nearly 600 miles an hour.
I still know exactly what I did on 9/11, how we had some weird phone cascade to get a hold on my American dad’s brother who worked on Wall Street and somehow calling in from Germany worked better than doing a long-distance call in the USA. It’s one of those days I will always remember.
Also, Garrett Graff is always worth reading.
Russia’s ‘hybrid war’ on Europe is starting to look a lot less hybrid
Russia’s campaign against Europe looks increasingly brazen. Yet EU leaders remain reluctant to call it what a growing number of security officials say it increasingly resembles: war. Instead, they reach for a softer phrase — “hybrid war” — that allows the EU and NATO to avoid a military response.
That language is coming under growing criticism as Moscow steps up sabotage, cyberattacks and other operations across Europe. Security experts, diplomats and defense officials who spoke to POLITICO say the “hybrid” label risks understating the severity of the threat — and obscuring just how far the confrontation with Russia has already escalated.
Germany has had this urge to be best friends with Russia. I hope this is finally changing now. It is not in our interest to just ignore how Russia acts, we have to act accordingly. Russia doesn’t share our Western values, it views them as a threat. I wish it were different, but Russia is an enemy and we have to make sure that Russia gets contained. I visited St. Petersburg twice over 20 years ago and I was so hopeful that the country was on the right track to democracy. It wasn’t and it tries to destabilize our liberal democracies. We cannot let them do this any longer. It’s good that Europe is finally starting to wake up and smell the coffee.
Why We Like Things
Taste, then, is that ineffable thing that makes you, and your business, irreplaceable. It separates the winners from the permanent underclass. It seems to be objectively measurable, or at the very least hierarchical, much like employee compensation or financial capital. To have good taste is to have more of it than other people. But to understand what taste is and how it’s cultivated, we may need to return to an earlier moment in history — when automation led to similar anxieties about human distinctiveness and economic competitiveness.
I, of course, have great taste. And I didn’t know that Hannah Arendt was thinking about taste as well. I find taste fascinating as it is something money can’t buy and yet it is so different and unique at the same time.
Coffee Drinkers Have Less Fat, More Muscle, And Surprising Sex Hormone Differences
In a new study published in the European Journal of Nutrition, researchers looked specifically at coffee’s relationship to metabolites (chemicals produced by the body’s natural processes), cardiometabolic markers (heart and blood-sugar health indicators), and sex-related hormones (such as testosterone).
The study team, led by researchers from the University of Oulu in Finland, found that those who drink more coffee tend to have less stored fat in their bodies and greater skeletal muscle mass (the muscles linked to movement) – despite body mass index (BMI) scores being broadly similar.
I knew it. All these years I had been drinking coffee not just for kicks, it was with purpose.
The Backlash Against Polyester Has Gone Too Far
Synthetics can enhance the performance of a garment, or the feel, or the durability, all of which contribute to a garment’s lifespan. The better it serves its intended purpose, the less likely you are to replace it with something new. A beautiful, all-natural raincoat isn’t an especially virtuous purchase if it doesn’t repel rain. On the whole, clothing with some percentage of man-made fiber requires less care than an item made with wool or silk or linen does—no hand-washing, no ironing, no reason to worry that moths might eat your favorite sweater.
I basically just post this article here as backup for many discussions I have with my wife, who says she cannot wear polyester. Some of my favorite pieces of apparel are polyester and have you ever worn Polartec Alpha Fleece? That stuff is magic! My wife even gave me the most awesome Hrannar Zipneck for Christmas and it is one of the best sweaters I’ve ever had. Go Poly! I do stay away from acrylic, that just gives me an itchy 70s vibe.
That’s it. Have a great Sunday! If you missed last Sunday’s edition of Five Things, have a look here:
— Nico