Showing 1 - 10 of 56
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.
America's saviour
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 18/10/2019
» Bill Clinton wasn't the best president of the United States of America, nor was he the worst. Nor was he the most oversexed. John F. Kennedy had more pillow-mates by far. Yet Jackie Kennedy and Hillary Clinton didn't make a fuss about it.
Unbelievable
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 26/09/2019
» Since the end of World War II, much-deserved credit has been given Alan Turing and his staff for breaking the Nazi Enigma code, saving innumerable lives. British boffins also came up with radar warning systems that resulted in the downing of Luftwaffe aircraft. Feats to be proud of.
Flight of fancy
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 22/03/2019
» Intelligence agencies the world over see Russia's cloak-and-dagger operations as the greatest danger. But Russia's chief enemy is the US, to which it causes endless mischief, both directly and indirectly.
Fact or fiction?
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 21/02/2019
» It is common knowledge that the KGB weren't above using sex in its spying activities. Books were written and movies made about it. What isn't generally known is that the Russian Federation's FSB are not only continuing the practice but expanding it.
Ravens' feast
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 27/12/2018
» This reviewer's understanding of historical novels is that the authors do historical research on their topic, using actual figures and imaginary ones where need-be, to write essentially factual and hopefully interesting stories. But not all historical novelists follow this form. Some are more concerned about their own largely fictitious story than the actual events behind it.
Isis destroyed
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 06/09/2018
» As most of the hijackers responsible for the 9/11 outrage were Saudi Arabian, it stands to reason that the US would take the kingdom to task. Instead, Washington turned its ire on Afghanistan and Iraq. How could that be? In fact, it made sense. America is Saudi's biggest oil customer and didn't want it to stop flowing, the more than 3,000 dead at New York's Twin Towers notwithstanding.
Double-whammy master
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 22/02/2018
» By using fire for cooking, Homo sapiens took a step higher on the food chain. It made eating mammoths easier on the digestion. The press was another step. Print replaced cave drawings, clay pressings, stone carvings, papyrus. Books were cloth- or leather-bound.
Indian pirates
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 26/10/2017
» Pirates have been around as long as people travelled and traded by sea. A young Julius Caesar was among their prey two millennia ago. The fledgling US Navy pulverised those on the Barbary Coast two centuries ago. Still the pirates persevere -- from the Somali variety to those in the Pacific.
The Dark Ages
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 08/09/2017
» I was taught that the Roman Empire fell to the barbarians in 476 AD. My next grade teacher was vague. There were the Dark Ages, Medieval times and Middle Ages. I heard the word Byzantine only once, when the Turks captured Constantinople in 1455 AD. The Crusades took place halfway between.