Still enjoy learning despite 17 months since my diagnosis made.

"The Balkan peninsula is, according to some definitions, what lies south of the rivers Sava and Danube from the city of Belgrade."  

"Slovenia, too, was once part of Yugoslavia. It is their recent independence that has allowed for the Slovenes to re-proclaim their desire to be considered Central European".

Is Slovakia part of the Balkans- No link
Slovakia was a part of Czechoslovakia and gained indendence in 1993 when splitting from Czech Republic after democratic elections

Kosovo is still part of Serbia. 

Which Present Day Countries Were Once a Part of Yugoslavia?

• Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• Croatia.
• Macedonia.
• Montenegro.
• Serbia.
• Slovenia.

Through my life, I am chagrined to admit I often confused Baltic States and Balkan states, despite knowing WWI began with the assassination in Sarajevo and had a close childhood friend who was born in Estonia. 

Is Trump's Coup

"Coup Attempt link wiki

"On the eve of 16 October 2016, the day of the parliamentary election in Montenegro, a group of 20 Serbian and Montenegrin citizens, including the former head of Serbian Gendarmery Bratislav Dikić, were arrested;^[7][8] some of them, along with other persons, including two Russian citizens, were later formally charged by the authorities of Montenegro with an attempted coup d'état."

On 28 April 2017, Montenegro's parliament voted 46-0 to join NATO, while the majority of opposition parties kept boycotting parliament sessions and protesters burned NATO flags outside.^[19]

Tensions between Montenegro and Russia continued to escalate thereafter.^[37]

Cruising may be best way for people with Alzheimers to travel.

Two stops on my next cruise. 

1-Kotor, Montenegro

"Kotor is a beautiful walled medieval city of twisting, pink-paved streets, markets and architecture reflecting Byzantine to Venetian influences

. Stroll through the compact old town, admire the impressive walls and tour the imposing St. Tryphon Cathedral, consecrated in 1166."

I will soon be on a cruise to Kotor.

2-Dubrovnik, Croatia

"Enjoy a walk through this famous walled medieval city and its exquisite Venetian monuments. 

See the Franciscan monastery and explore the Rector's palace and the cathedral. 

Or explore the countryside with a visit to lovely Cavtat, an enchanting seaside resort that began life as a Greek and then Roman colony.

 Then visit a local family in a Konavle Valley village and enjoy their hospitality over a traditional welcome of brandy and figs with a serenade by local musicians."

Dubrovnik is the next stop on the cruise. 

I took a Viking cruise from Amsterdam to Bucharest

"The longest river in the European Union, the Danube River is the second-longest river in Europe after Russia's Volga. It begins in the Black Forest region of Germany and runs through 10 countries (Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine) on its way to the Black Sea.'

I did get to Bratislava by Viking cruise, water levels higher?

I did not get to Moldova or Ukraine. 

New itinerary for Eastern Europe Cruise

Slovakia, Slovenia Serbia,

Part 2 of researching countries of Europe that I put in my Memory Palace.

Slovakia

1- Bratislava (the new Prague?)
I visited here on a Viking river cruise.  It was wonderful.

2- Velvet Revolution link
"Gentle Revolution was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 29 December 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia included students and older dissidents. The result was the end of 41 years of one-party rule in Czechoslovakia, and the subsequent dismantling of the planned economy and conversion to a parliamentary republic."

3- Considered the poor sister of the Czech Republic, not to be confused with Slovenia formerly part of Yugoslavia.

4- High Tatra mountains are a huge tourist attraction. Photo link

5-"Radiocarbon dating puts the oldest surviving archaeological artefacts from Slovakia – found near Nové Mesto nad Váhom – at 270,000 BCE, in the Early Paleolithic era"

6-"Slovakia joined the European Union and NATO in 2004 and the Eurozone in 2009."

Slovenia

1- A major Eastern European Success Story! 

2- First former Yugoslav country to become a member of the European Union.

3- About the size of Switzerland and has produced several Olympic Ski Champions

4- Venetian harbor towns on the Adriatic coast.

5- "The Julian Alps are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps that stretch from northeastern Italy to Slovenia, where they rise to 2,864 m at Mount Triglav, the highest peak in Slovenia and of the former Yugoslavia."

Serbia (Montenegro was part of this country)

1-"Still suffer an ignominious reputation as Balkan bullyboy cultivated by former leader, Slobodan Milosevic"

 page 349 The Travel Book. Lonely Planet. `

2-  On March 24, NATO air strikes began. link

I visited Belgrade via Viking Cruise.  

There was still some destruction present in the Capitol when I was there. 

Otherwise nice city. 

3- "Adriatic Beaches set against spectacular coastal mountains."

4-Kosovo is not a country of Europe. It is part of Serbia. 

"Kosovo, self-declared independent country in the Balkans region of Europe. Although the United Statesand most members of the European Union (EU) recognized Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008, Serbia, Russia, and a significant number of other countries—including several EU members—did not.Apr 5, 2019"

5- Has Europe's deepest Fjord 

MONTENEGRO, MACEDONIA, MOLDOVA

Why write about Montenegro, Macedonia,  Moldova.
Since I have a memory palace listing all the countries of Europe I want to enrich the palace with more research.
When I recited the list of countries to my neighbor, he said he not ever heard of many of the countries.  This is a man much smarter than me at practical items and math.
He doesn't travel but I do.  I wrote a book, The Tubby Traveler from Topeka.
As I looked through my books, I found I had already looked up Moldova but I didn't remember any of the highlighted paragraghs I made.
I hope starting this blog will help despite my Alzheimers.

The process will be fun in any event.



MONTENEGRO

1-"Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, the republics of Serbiaand Montenegro together established a federation known as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which was renamed to the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro in 2003. 
On the basis of an independence referendum held in May 2006, Montenegro declared independence and the federation peacefully dissolved on 3 June of that year."

2- "The mountains of Montenegro include some of the most rugged terrain in Europe, averaging more than 2,000 metres (6,600 feet) in elevation."

3-" Montenegro believes NATO integration would speed up EU integration.^[42] In May 2017 NATO accepted Montenegro as a NATO member starting 5 June 2017."

4- "Bursting at the seams with majestic mountains, breathtaking beaches and larger-than-life locals, minuscule Montenegro proves once and for all that good things do indeed come in small packages." Lonely Planet link

5-"Coup Attempt link 

"On the eve of 16 October 2016, the day of the parliamentary election in Montenegro, a group of 20 Serbian and Montenegrin citizens, including the former head of Serbian Gendarmery Bratislav Dikić, were arrested;^[7][8] some of them, along with other persons, including two Russian citizens, were later formally charged by the authorities of Montenegro with an attempted coup d'état."

On 28 April 2017, Montenegro's parliament voted 46-0 to join NATO, while the majority of opposition parties kept boycotting parliament sessions and protesters burned NATO flags outside.^[19]Tensions between Montenegro and Russia continued to escalate thereafter.^[37]

'

MACEDONIA ("north")

1- ALEXANDER THE GREAT old stomping ground.

2- Has a gnarled 900 year old plane tree at Ohrid. Photo of tree link

3- "North Macedonia is a landlocked country that is geographically clearly defined by a central valley formed by the Vardar river and framed along its borders by mountain ranges."

4- "On 6 February 2019, the permanent representatives of NATO member states and Macedonian Foreign Affairs Minister Nikola Dimitrov, signed in Brussels the accession protocol of North Macedonia into NATO."



MOLDOVA

1- Famous for dry white Sauvignon's.

2- Has two split away republics.  Transdniestr and Gaugauz
"Trans-Dniester unilaterally declared independence from Moldova in 1990. Fierce fighting followed. Trans-Dniester's independence has never been recognised and the region has existed in a state of limbo ever since."

3- "Tin Pot republic" ?

4- Independent from Soviet Union in 1991

5- First Post Soviet State to elect a communist President in 2001.
"Pro-Russian candidate Igor Dodon was elected president in November 2016, beating pro-European rival Maia Sandu with 55% of the vote."

6- Small but densely populated with very fertile soil.

7- Capital: Chisinau  669,694 (2012)


Recent article on Moldova link  26 February 2019

Takedown of Trump by Fox Senior Analyst

Slate reported put in a more readable form

Amidst the barrage of support for President Donald Trump on Fox News’ airwaves comes an extraordinary takedown of the president

from the small, still functioning truth-telling cortex of the Fox News brain.

This bit by senior legal analyst Andrew Napolitano is stashed away online, in a digital video segment called “Judge Napolitano’s Chambers,” but in it the Fox News regular lays out

1-Trump not only acted criminally but immorally in obstructing justice on multiple occasions revealed in the Mueller report.

A written piece accompanies the video, and it’s fine, but we’ve all read a lot recently about everything that’s wrong with Trump and the obviousness of why. When said out loud though, given the platform and the intended audience, Napolitano’s quickie sermon is somehow more powerful

and even more welcome as a reminder that certain principles and laws and facts remain true even if Fox News’ primetime lineup refuses to acknowledge them.

2-“[W]hen the president asked his former [deputy national security] Adviser K.T. McFarland to write an untruthful letter to the file knowing the government would subpoena it—that’s obstruction of justice,” Napolitano says.

3-“When the president asked Corey Lewandowski, his former campaign manager, to get Mueller fired—that’s obstruction of justice.

4-When the president asked his then White House counsel (Don McGahn) to get Mueller fired and then lie about—that’s obstruction of justice.

5-When he asked Don McGahn to go back to the special counsel and change his testimony—that’s obstruction of justice.

6- When he dangled a pardon in front of Michael Cohen in order to keep Cohen from testifying against him—that’s obstruction of justice.”

“So why not charge him?” he asks.

“Because the attorney general of the United States would have blocked such a charge.

Because the attorney general of the United States is of the view that obstruction of justice can only occur if you’re interfering with a criminal investigation of yourself.

But that’s not what the obstruction statute says. And that’s not what law enforcement believes and that’s not what prosecutors do.

Prosecutors prosecute people who interfere with government functions. And that’s what the president did by obstruction.”

“If [Trump] had ordered his aides to violate federal law to save a human life or to preserve human freedom, he would at least have a moral defense to his behavior,” Napolitano concludes.

“But ordering them to break federal law to save him from the consequences of his own behavior that is immoral, that is criminal, that is defenseless, and that is condemnable.”

Memory palace to store names of Europe countries.

3 hours work sheet over two days to build memory palace.

1 minute 30 second video listing all European country. link

6 minute video explaining how I built this memory palace link

Update 7/23/19

I have been working on identifying European countries in relation to their location on a map.

Today I hit 49/50.  I would have gotten 50 but I had a lapse of focus on the dots.

I missed Liechenstein below, I hit Luxembourg instead.

Eastern Europe is difficult.  I got Albania and North Macedonia correct below.  Now try to name the countries above these two.

Some countries include KAZAKHSTAN and AZERBAIJAN
I still trying to remember how to spell these names.
I was able to find them on the map.

My Alzheimer's was diagnosed in Dec 2017.  

That was one year and 8 months ago.

Happy to find I can study and increase my knowledge of geography.

I enjoy this subject as I have travel a great deal.

My wife and I are going on a bus tour of Eastern Europe. 

nostrum for Alzheimer's

Joe,                                                                          10/10/2018

  Sustained release berberine  has an incredible number of uses because it controls carbohydrate and fat metabolism. 

 It help in weight loss. 

It prevents cardiac and liver damage and damage to the kidneys.

 It is incredibly useful for the treatment of type 2 diabetes because it helps control blood sugar (glucose). 

I and a few of my friends have really been amazed at its all-around effects. 

 It has been shown to help with drug resistance in cancer and higher doses actually kill cancer cells.

 Biochemically these statements seem impossible but it has central control of metabolism –AMP kinase stimulation. 

It has now been shown to prevent vision degeneration-so called wet AMD. 

Most of the what this herbal product does is to control oxidative and nitrosative stresses which control most chronic diseases. 

By using the other sustained released products that you and your company make –the death rate from chronic diseases will take a massive plunge. 

This will be a revolution in the prevention of diseases –instead of the treatment of diseases that wind up causing the demise of humans.

Best Regards,

KVD

From: Vandyke, Knox <kvandyke@hsc.wvu.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2018 1:20 PM
To: Joe Brunner <joe@endur.com>
Subject: RE: Alzheimer

Joe,                             10/9/2018

  I’m not sure if you received my recent message so I will resend it.

I’m not sure APO-E assay is linked to Alzheimer’s disease. The literature is not clear. Besides you have to do a spinal tap which causes problems.

I tried to get Ter interested in making sustained release berberine HCl. 

This is a fantastic supplement –because it controls blood glucose in type 2 diabetes and probably type 1 as well. 

It prevents heart damage by inhibiting cardiac fibrosis. 

It prevents damage to the eye by stimulating eye receptors. 

It has been found to inhibit drug resistance in cancer.

 It has no side effects.  it creates weight loss by decreasing hunger.

Ter said it is very yellow and would contaminate the work area.

 But, if you could isolate one press with a plastic hood—I would think it could be well controlled.

 It is quite inexpensive and the sustained release form would sell very well.

Best Regards,

Knox

Nothing like puberty to help a diet

Age 15 above 

I used an adult BMI chart.

See the rest of my photos in the book: 
The Chronic Disease of Obesity. link

Get a hearing test early. It may suggest you are at risk for Dementia

I might be interested in the last book but it might be too depressing for me

The other six books are nonsense.  It sells the false hope of Alzheimer’s.

My book is more optimistic in the short run.

Don't waste your time looking for a cure.

Use your last years to have fun.

16 months after my Dx was made I am optimistic.

My wife and I made  two more vacation plans for 2020.

I truly believe I will finish year two of my  series.

I am already writing about the fifth month of the second year.

When I first had the Dx confirmed in Dec 2017, I looked up the data on Aricept.

Aricept seemed to prevent decline of cognition for two years. Thus I only expected two
good years

If you survive 5 years after a diagnosis of cancer you are considered a survivor.

This is why I suggest people don't read book about the end stage of the disease.

Too much doom and gloom.

Instead get a hearing test. If you have hearing loss do an aggressive testing for dementia to catch it early.