Showing 1 - 10 of 17
End of fossil fuel?
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 20/12/2019
» I'm not a linguist. I'm not proud of it. English is my first and only language, which is not to say that it's the only language worth knowing. I studied other languages in school, but couldn't get the hang of them. Neither am I well-versed in English. I'm not being modest. I look at Webster and Oxford with a groan.
Mystical religion
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 04/10/2019
» I am saying straight away that I believe in God. How else can the cosmos be there? But I'm not religious. In my time I've been to churches, temples, mosques and holy places out of curiosity, not seeking a spiritual experience. In each I did the expected to the extent possible: sat, bowed, knelt, mumbled prayers, faked singing spirituals, et al. It was copying, not mocking.
Too ambitious
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 20/09/2019
» We are told as children that we must have ambition to make something of ourselves. What we aren't told is that it must have its limits. To be sure, most people are too lazy to make the effort needed to fulfil it. They figure that just getting along is enough. Anyway, they tell themselves that the odds are stacked against them. That those who succeeded did so by cheating or were just lucky.
Off the bad guys
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 23/06/2017
» Nations are paranoid, apprehensive that they will be attacked from one direction or another. History has shown that today's friends may well be tomorrow's enemies. So they pre-emptively draw up plans for war against neighbours and distant lands, stockpiling weapons.
Enough is enough
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 30/03/2017
» During my grade-school years in the Big Apple enduring the Great Depression, movies were too expensive and there was no television. Radio provided the only affordable entertainment to us working families. Mom listened to soap operas while doing the housework and I was a captive audience.
The Fourth Reich?
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 30/05/2016
» Whereas the guns going quiet with a ceasefire (armistice) marked the finis of World War I, World War II ended with unconditional surrender. Tens of millions, soldiers and civilians, perished in both struggles. The sides realigned in the Cold War with far fewer deaths.
Be wary of your spouse
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 16/05/2016
» It's said that men marry for sex, women for security. An oversimplification yet consistent with the undeniable fact that each party enters matrimony with expectations. Before exchanging vows, they've probably discussed and agreed on children, one or two jobs, family relations, domicile, time with friends.
Hey presto
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 15/02/2016
» In every category there's a person or group recognised as the best in their field of endeavour. Not all people agree with the judges' choice. Arguments invariably ensue over, "This award or prize goes to …..", "Are they blind or deaf? W, Y, Z was better than X by a long shot."
An enduring spirit
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 18/01/2016
» With the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki the world entered the atomic age. More devastating hydrogen bombs were tested, weapons of mass destruction indeed. The US and USSR rattled theirs at each other over the next 44 years, until the Soviets called it a day and the Cold War was over.
Until death, anyway
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 01/04/2013
» Glancing at the title Friends Forever by Yank author Danielle Steel, who has been penning romantic fiction like forever, this reviewer realised that I wouldn't be able to identify with the story, the characters or the plot. Because while I've had friends in my life, they came and went, none lasting the course.