Tom Au

15,428 reputation

11968

bio	website
	location	New York, New York
	age	55
visits	member for	1 year, 7 months
	seen	6 hours ago
stats	profile views	163

I took a double major in Economics and History in college in the 1970s. My "sweet spot" probably lies at the intersection of those two subjects. For instance, "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes" was really an "economic" admonition--to conserve ammunition.

I am the published author of "A Modern Approach to Graham and Dodd Investing" (Wiley, 2004), an (economic) "history of the future," and the unpublished author of "Axis Overstretch," an economic analysis of World War II.

	15,428 reputation	bio	website		visits	member for	1 year, 7 months
11968 badges		location	New York, New York		seen	6 hours ago

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May 9	revised	Has history mistreated Nero? added 151 characters in body
May 9	comment	Is Wikidpedia's article on Odette Hallowes accurate? @SamuelRussell: OK, so you've answered "my" rework of the question, the Telegraph is the less reliable of the two sources. I did insert a link to wikipedia in the question, and probably few "history books" cover this topic; only the "journalists" of one sort or another.
May 8	answered	How was Hitler able to rearm?
May 8	asked	Has history mistreated Nero?
May 8	comment	What literary or philosophical works did the ancient Egyptians have that have influenced ancient civilizations or the modern word? A Google search turns up "ancient Egyptian literature." But it is NOT simple in terms of relating that literature to the modern world.
May 8	comment	At what point was the Byzantine Empire's decline irreversible? On your other question, you should have said something like "under the [so-called] theme system, Asia Minor was a large source of manpower for the emperors." You DID know something about this topic, so you should show what you know, so that answerers know what NOT to explain.
May 8	comment	What was the general idea of the 'Theme' system that the Byzantines employed? This is not even as good a question for the site than the other one. Here, we're starting from "Ground Zero." A question is supposed to give us a better "start" or "platform" than this. Coming in, you're supposed to at least know what a theme system is. Then an acceptable question would be "how dd it work?"
May 8	comment	Why did the Fourth Crusade sack Constantinople? This is a "bad" question for the site because it doesn't look like you've done any research. Members of the site prefer to deal with questioners who have PART of the question under their "control" and need help filling some gaps.
May 8	comment	Is Wikidpedia's article on Odette Hallowes accurate? I have focused the question in the last paragraph to make it "real" as a historiography question, and nominate it for re-opening in its current form.
May 8	revised	Is Wikidpedia's article on Odette Hallowes accurate? added link and tag
May 8	comment	Was the State of Indiana's legislation changed to fix the value of Pi? This is considered a "good" question for the site because it lends itself well to "book" answers like the one below. Other questions may be more "interesting," but the site discourages questions that tend to generate debate. In general, ask yourself, "Is this the kind of question that a computer, or a person working with a computer, would be good at answering?"
May 8	comment	Was the State of Indiana's legislation changed to fix the value of Pi? Not a bad question although possibly better suited for the Politics site.
May 8	comment	What would a Norseman in the early 11th century have worn as daily clothing? Your sources or other evidence? "Probably" doesn't usually work on this site.
May 8	revised	Is Wikidpedia's article on Odette Hallowes accurate? Refocused last paragraph on quality of sources.
May 8	answered	Which is the first genocide?
May 7	comment	Why did Hitler declare war on the USA? @jwenting: Yes, acting on their own, and against Hitler's "official" instructions, a number of German ships sank American ships "accidentally on purpose."
May 7	comment	Why did Hitler declare war on the USA? @EvanPak: But at that time (and even today), the U.S. was less than 350 years old. It was regarded by many Europeans as a "nouveau riche" country, and therefore not to be taken seriously. Of course, we "Americans" know better.
May 7	awarded	Sportsmanship
May 7	comment	What was involved in “grounding arms?” @NathanCooper: Your comments are helpful. You might consider putting them in the form of an answer.
May 7	revised	What was involved in “grounding arms?” deleted 18 characters in body