Instead of setTimeout and than setting it again in the callback you can use setInterval And you are not creating any DOM nodes here so you shouldn't have any memory leaks. Please detail your ajax callback function because this code seems to work fine.
I'm not sure if the setTimeout (even if unsynchronized), will erase the context so your vars can be discarded. Have you tried setting values to null before calling timeout?
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.