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  • News & article

    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.

  • News & article

    Banks grows on you

    Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 17/08/2018

    » It's a relief to read a crime thriller that doesn't bill itself as a psychological mystery. Frankly I'm not an armchair psychologist, much less psychiatrist. I much prefer simple -- what you see is what you get -- people to complex -- you don't know the real me.

  • News & article

    Big city, small town

    Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 11/05/2018

    » People are natural actors. Observe how they tell stories to their friends, passing on telephone conversations or what they saw or heard. They mimic and flap their arms for emphasis. Hoping for smiles or groans. Novelists aim to do the same with more words. Alas, only the better ones succeed. All too many try and fail.

  • News & article

    Expert Advice

    Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 13/04/2018

    » In several Peanuts comic strips, little Lucy sets up a booth. For a nickel she'll solve a problem bothering you. Her advice is quite good, indicating insight unlikely in the young. The thing about advice is that virtually everyone offers it, asked for or not, free and costly.

  • News & article

    The midlife crisis

    Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 09/03/2018

    » What newlyweds with stars in their eyes aren't told by their elders is that there will be speed bumps in the marriage. One of the more common is the so-called seven-year-itch. The figure is approximate and refers to either or both parties being irresistibly drawn to others several years into a relationship. Usually he or she does nothing about -- but if they do, they take lovers.

  • News & article

    Appeasement

    Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 25/01/2018

    » World War I was so horrendous that it was universally believed another world war would mean Armageddon, the end of life on Earth. Imperialist conquest was one thing, but another world war had to be avoided at all cost. The way to settle conflicts was by talking, not shooting. An Austrian corporal, gassed and be-medalled, disagreed that the Great War was the War to End All Wars. Arguing that the Versailles Treaty ending it gave Germany -- his new country of citizenship -- a raw deal, he set about disclaiming it. Though talking peace, he set about arming the Third Reich.

  • News & article

    Choosing sides

    Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 08/12/2017

    » Not long ago a historian calculated that throughout human history there has been a total of fewer than 25 years of peace. There were wars somewhere on the planet the rest of the time. The clear meaning is that homo sapiens are a violent, bloodthirsty lot.

  • News & article

    A treaty for peace

    Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 23/11/2017

    » Following the two-decade-long Napoleonic Wars, Europe, not least France, licked its wounds and agreed "never again". Then they set about making a lasting peace. They felt able to do it. It was the Age of Reason and they were was intelligent as one could be in 1815.

  • News & article

    The partisans

    Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 10/11/2017

    » Before setting out on his war of conquest, the Fuhrer laid down his rules to his erstwhile ally. Whichever land II Duce defeated was Italy's alone. The lands Adolf took were solely Germany's. Albania fell and Italy took full possession. It also got the small piece of southern France it took while the Third Reich got the rest.

  • News & article

    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.

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