Top of the list: the Dyson Sphere — Monty Python made famous the Ministry of Silly Walks, for which a then-young John Cleese performed an astonishingly gawky long-legged walk while dressed in traditional British civil servant attire of black suit, black tie, black shoes, and black bowler hat. Were we to revisit satire today, we would likely want…

How the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am established a bizarre market niche — Everyone is familiar with the cliché of the overweight balding man in his mid-fifties who one weekend morning leaves the family home in a sensible commuter mobile and returns a few hours later in some fire-breathing crotch-rocket. In the USA, these midlife-crisis-mobiles can be expensive German imports or, for more…

By 2026 this may be sadly how it… —

How home working is gradually altering the relationship between employee and employer — The weekly English-language news magazine The Economist is generally regarded as being the highest-quality news source available to those for whom English is either a first language or one they’re comfortable with. Its journalists are regarded as being far better informed and rather more intelligent than those working for other…

Why clickbait and easy-to-understand claims are almost always wrong — As an old geezer with very little interest in squandering precious moments on social media, I visit a certain well-known site very infrequently and only then to see if my real-life friends have posted something of interest. …

Some reflections as my own draws toward a likely close — When I was still quite young, around eight years of age, I understood that my days were numbered and that every passing moment was carrying me inexorably toward my death. This may seem morbid, but the effect was to ensure that to the best of my ability I have lived…

Nicollo Machiavelli had far greater understanding of human nature than Sigmund Freud — For those who may know vaguely Machiavelli’s name but are unfamiliar with his seminal work The Prince, the term Machiavellian likely conjures up notions of deceit, trickery, and other psychological dark arts. …

It’s essential to acknowledge our feelings, but it’s not essential to act on them — I first encountered the term “the hurt locker” about thirty years ago, courtesy of some US military personnel I happened to know at the time. The hurt locker is that part of your mind where you stash things that you’ll deal with later because at the present moment you can’t…

Why the US military is issuing more and more suppressors to its troops — It’s generally a good policy to disbelieve absolutely everything you see on TV or in the movies. These are entertainments, not accurate guides to reality. They are designed to provide an illusion that captivates the audience, not convey accurate information. The difference between a gunfight in an entertainment (or a…