Today I Learned

Bernie Sanders doll, via Wikimedia Commons People often call Bernie Sanders  a (gasp!) socialist! But then, many people on the “right” call anyone who disagrees with them a socialist, communist, anti-American, traitorous, or a variety of other terms which they (apparently) don’t understand and (often) can’t even coherently define. My suggestion would be to ask anyone who uses a term like “socialist” as a knee-jerk response to define it – if they can, respond appropriately. If

Escalator, via Wikimedia Commons Whew! So, I CAN spell. I was worried. On the 1-Nov-2025 October Recap  of Cybersecurity Today, I heard something I found very interesting, and decided to look for more information. On investigation, I discovered that the panel consisted of host Jim Love, David Shipley of “Boer on Securities”, and Laura Payne of “White TOK”. Uh, no. Obviously AI-generated, so I dug a bit deeper. David Shipley is actually the CEO (or “head of the pack”) at Beauc

Cover Art, Astounding Science Fiction, October 1941, via Wikipedia.org One of my favourite stories by Robert A Heinlein , was actually written by Anson MacDonald. Early in his career, Heinlein wrote under several pseudonyms , but only one of them was “obvious”. I’m not aware of any way to link the names Lyle Monroe, John Riverside, Caleb Saunders, or Simon York to Heinlein. In contrast, knowing that Robert Anson Heinlein was, at that time, married to Leslyn MacDonald made “An

Lionel Hampton, playing Flying Home (1957), via YouTube.com With a title like “Good Vibrations”, you’re probably thinking I’ll talk about the Beach Boys, but no. Instead, I want to go back a bit further, and talk about jazz legend Lionel Hampton . Hampton started his career as a drummer, and combined brilliant technique with wonderful showmanship. An excellent example can be found here , where he demonstrates his ability, while also juggling his drumsticks and showing his sim

Charlie Chaplin, in The Great Dictator, 1940, via Wikimedia Commons Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about fascism. While I already had a fair degree of familiarity and understanding of the big picture, I’ve been picking up (and often blogging about) items which are new to me. Predictably, most are disturbing, but I occasionally come across something wonderful. Charlie Chaplin  was an immensely influential figure in the history of cinema, and his “Tramp” character has been an

The School of Athens. Print by Giorgio Ghisi, of painting by Raphael, via Wikimedia Commons What most people call “debate” really is not. I found the Wikipedia article quite amusing. My favourite bit was where it says: “...debates emphasize logical consistency, factual accuracy, and emotional appeal to an audience.” I guess one out of three isn’t bad? Even so-called “formal” debate, where there are rules, judges, and guidelines for acceptable conduct, are more about competit

Cover of "Living Next Door to Alice" single by Smokie, via Wikipedia Living with the name “Alice” was not always easy in the 1970s and...

Life of Brian – “I’m not”, via YouTube Even though I’ve seen it about a dozen times over the years, there’s always something new to learn...

The Knife performing at Melt! Festival in 2013 Connections are fun, and humans are very good at making them. Let’s start at the end, and...

Stg Schultz, Hogan’s Heroes, via YouTube For those who don’t immediately hear the words “I know nothing. NOTHING!”, this is Sgt Schultz ,...

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, via Wikimedia Commons Am I being too harsh in what I say about Robert F Kennedy Jr ? I’ve mentioned him several...

Karunakar Rayker, CC BY 2.0 < https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 >, via Wikimedia Commons Seashells  are really quite amazing,...

Artificial Intelligence, via Wikimedia Commons “People grow through experiences, if they meet life honestly and courageously. That is how...

Hitler’s “Memorandum Authorizing Involuntary Euthanasia”, 1-Sep-1939, via Wikipedia World War II is generally considered to have begun...

Cover art for Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording), via Genius.com The musical Hair opened on...

Bring out your dead! Via YouTube In the classic scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail , Eric Idle is moving down the road with a...

Generated by RG, via Microsoft Designer, 2025 “Trust everybody, but cut the cards.” Finley Peter Dunne Trust is a strange thing. I knew I...

Ferrari 166 S, via Wikipedia I was trying to think of a song about a car, and bounced around a bit before realizing the truth. Red...

Mark Carney & Mike Myers, via YouTube Canadians are an odd breed. While I think most of us love our country, we do not brag about it, or...

Survivorman Logo, via YouTube The TV show Survivor is described as a “ reality-competition ”, but it never struck me as realistic, and I...