Dark Dates - Infamous Events - 8 December - John Lennon murdered, Napoleon's capture and more
* Note to reader: an AI tool was used to collect research information. The symbols and signs of our history are all around us. They influence what we see each day and explain how our world operates today. But much of our lives is often influenced by the more infamous historical events that now shape our world. Here we recall some of the most infamous events in human history that happened on this day.
Read full storyDark Dates - Infamous Events - 7 December - Pearl Harbor, London Smog and more
* Note to reader: an AI tool was used to collect research information. The symbols and signs of our history are all around us. They influence what we see each day and explain how our world operates today. But much of our lives is often influenced by the more infamous historical events that now shape our world. Here we recall some of the most infamous events in human history that happened on this day. On This Day - United States.
Read full storyDark Dates - Infamous Events - 6 December - slavery abolished, Halifax explosion and more
* Note to reader: an AI tool was used to collect research information. The symbols and signs of our history are all around us. They influence what we see each day and explain how our world operates today. But much of our lives is often influenced by the more infamous historical events that now shape our world.
Read full storyBite-Size History #3 — Did Hitler escape to South America in 1945?
Examining the evidence, theories, and counter-theories. It doesn’t matter where you look in history, you’ll always find a conspiracy theory lurking nearby. Whether it’s that Shakespeare didn’t write his own plays, that Lewis Carroll was Jack the Ripper, that the CIA had John F. Kennedy assassinated [the topic of a future Bite-Size History] or that the Apollo moon landings were faked by NASA, there’s no shortage.
Read full storyDo images of the past influence our perception of the present?
My father used to film and photograph the three of us growing up: my brother, sister, and me. An 8mm film camera and slides. I remember sitting in the living room after a family holiday, the curtains closed, the whirring sound of the projector aimed at the wall. Those were the times!
Read full storyBook Review - The Harrogate Crime Series - Malcolm Hollingdrake (Crime, British Detective)
The Harrogate Crime Series offers the perfect mix of police procedural and investigation entwined with the personal lives of all those involved. There are cold-blooded serial killers and colleagues in danger, set against the beautiful town of Harrogate. All written in Malcolm Hollingdrake’s unique, sometimes poetic but always eloquent, writing style we’ve come to love.
Read full storyJames Bond In Numbers: An Icon or Time To Consign To History? What to expect from Bond Film #26
Let’s get this out of the way — we’re HUGE James Bond fans. Always have been, and I expect always will be. Fast cars, beautiful women, nations in peril, outrageous weapons and gadgets, and dastardly villains in their ridiculous lairs with an army of henchmen. What’s not to love?
Read full storyBite-Size History #2 — The Most Famous Battle Of WW2 You’ve Never Heard Of
Operation Dragoon — D-Day’s Little Brother and Its Role In Allied Victory. Whether you’re a historian, an enthused amateur, or someone who has ancestors that experienced the Second World War, if you asked about the key events of the conflict, you might expect some of the following to get a mention:
Read full storyBook Review — A Perfect Murder and Other Stories — S.R.Nair (Detective, Mystery & Thriller)
If you want to explore the culture differences between America and India, the position of women and simply human nature, check out A Perfect Murder …. A Perfect Murder is a collection of 14 short stories about the culture differences between India and America, especially the position of women in India but most of all, an insight into the universal good and bad in human nature.
Read full storyBite-Size History #1: Did the Battle of Dunkirk stop the Axis winning World War 2?
Examining the theories and counter-theories from May-June 1940. The “Conventional” Wisdom about the Battle of Dunkirk and Operation Dynamo. The successful, relentless advance by German Army Group A under the direction of Generaloberst Gerd von Rundstedt, under operation Fall Gelb (Case Yellow), left over 400,000 Allied troops trapped at Dunkirk, their backs to the sea, forced to abandon all their equipment.
Read full storyDo You Dare To Stand Out? Or are you obsessed with being part of the herd?
Why being comfortable with who you are is essential to self-acceptance. ‘Don’t wear bright colours,’ my aunt said to her husband. I was in my teens and wondered about that statement. Later I found out the reason and was stunned. Let me explain.
Read full storyWho Does It Better — Us or ChatGPT? — Should We Be Worried AI Will Take Our Jobs?
Unless you’ve been vacationing on Mars since mid-March, you will have encountered the fanfare of the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT4. Even if you haven’t been glued to social media, following the news, or paying attention to the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ emanating from friends and colleagues having a play with the this hyper-intelligent chatbot, you’ll have been exposed to its work.
Read full storyBook Review — The Long Walk — Stephen King (Horror, Speculative Fiction, Dystopian)
As someone who owns Stephen King’s On Writing, who loved the series,. Haven (based on the short story, The Colorado Kid), reading more of Stephen King’s prose was long overdue.
Read full storyBook Review — Madam Tulip — David Ahern (Detective, Mystery & Thriller)
When Derry is skint, she starts monetising her ‘gift’ — the ability to tell the future. As Madam Tulip,she finds out that the gift can easily become a curse. Twenty-seven-year-old Derry O’Donnell, half Irish, half American, is living in Dublin. Her mother has a successful art gallery in New York, her father fears his ex-wife and whenever she comes to Ireland he hides away, mostly at his daughter’s. Derry’s dream is to become an actress. In the meantime, she has no job and is “fully qualified for unemployment in three different languages.” But time is running out for Derry as her mother has given her an ultimatum: find a job within three weeks or move to the US and work for her mother’s art gallery. Derry is desperate to try anything….
Read full storyBook Review — The End of Lies — Andrew Barrett (Detective, Mystery & Thriller)
When Becky comes home to find her husband, Chris, murdered, she herself is in danger too. What follows is a rollercoaster of a ride. Flashbacks from the past tell us more about the shocking events involving dark criminals, nasty murderers and all-around bad guys. Who can Becky trust? Will she survive?
Read full storyNew Data Points to Deadliest Year for Gun Violence on Record - Does US Need More Gun Control?
With the war in Ukraine, rising inflation and climate pledges to meet, is gun control still on the political agenda?. While those with different views on what gun control in the US should look like may argue over what constitutes a “mass shooting”, the numbers for 2023 aren’t in dispute.
Read full storyThe Controversial Supply of Cluster Bombs to Ukraine - should the US be taking this path in the conflict?
[This article contains some research content generated by AI]. The recent decision of the US to supply cluster bombs to Ukraine has ignited a flurry of debates and concerns regarding the motives and consequences of such a decision.
Read full storyOpinion: It’s Pride Month – let's stop trying to "cure" sexuality
Why is the freedom to love still a political choice?. It’s Pride Month, so I want you to take a moment and picture this. You’re in a coffee shop, museum or sporting event — whatever pastime you enjoy, and then you encounter someone. The attraction to this person is immediate: the way they carry themselves, their smile, their looks, their intellect. Whatever the reason, the sparks are flying.
Read full storyIs being left-handed the last frontier of prejudice? Personal reflections from living in a right-handed world.
Living in a right-handed worldPhoto by Nick Fewings on Unsplash. You may wonder whether this is a serious piece or a bit of fun. Well, a bit of both, I guess. First things first — I am left-handed and proud of it! Add to this that I am left-footed, my dominant eye is my left one, and my political views are very to the left. In fact, in every way that matters, I am to the left!
Read full storyInterviewing from the other side of the desk
Interviewing from the other side of the deskPhoto by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels. Mine was having a cup of coffee when wearing a white shirt and thinking this was a good idea on a moving train. Yes, I spilt it down myself and had to endure the full interview, in Summer, without taking my jacket off. I don’t imagine it was a good look. And guess what? I didn’t get the job!
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