It's Life, Jim....

  Villains captivate our attention through the complexity of their characters and the narratives that surround them. The allure of villains lies in their ability to challenge societal norms and provoke our ongoing inner dialogue about the nature of good and evil. For example, Emma Frost, a Marvel supervillain, who, discovering her telepathic powers, faced such societal pressures, it lead her to embrace a cunning and often ruthless persona.  As a complex character, her journey involves intricate alliances, personal struggles, and a pivotal role in mutant affairs, showcasing the multidimensional nature of her backstory. Villains often possess a depth of motivation that goes beyond simple malevolence. Their backstories and experiences provide insight into the factors that shaped their choices, sparking a curiosity about the human condition and the thin line between righteousness and corruption. Villains are frequently portrayed as formidable adversaries, adding an element o...

Great Grimsby (LIncolnshire, UK) has a new and interesting claim to fame. Out on The Dogger Bank, (North Sea, UK) the worlds biggest windfarm just went online:          Dogger Bank sits approximately 130km (80 miles) off the coast of Yorkshire           and will occupy an area almost as large as Greater London and nearly twice the      size of New York City. When fully complete, its 3.6 GW capacity will comprise 277 offshore turbines capable of producing enough energy to power the equivalent of six million British homes annually. https://www.equinor.com/news/202310-dogger-bank But it's not all good news for windfarms. Recently I saw a disturbing photo of  dead birds around the base of a land-based windfarm. In a theme worthy of Edward Tenner's  Why Things Bite Back - New Technology and the Revenge Effect'   The benefits of 'clean' energy have been shadowed by increasing numbers of birdlife deaths. ...

 James Patterson; "The Last Days of John Lennon"  First, it's a collaboration upon which Patterson, as a well-known name has put his stamp to improve uptake, no doubt. I found this in the library and - speaking as a John Lennon fan (I can recall the exact moment and feeling when I was informed of his death by Debbie Atherton in Grimsby College of Technology at 8.40 am Monday December 9th 1980). I did a bit of research and it had only two takers over six months. Another review (https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/james-patterson/the-last-days-of-john-lennon/) states:     "To their credit, the authors at least don’t blame Lennon’s “Happiness Is a Warm Gun” for egging on the violence that killed him, but this book pales in comparison to Kenneth Womack’s  John Lennon 1980  and Philip Norman’s  John Lennon: The Life , among many other tomes on the Fab Four. A thimbleful of fresh content lies buried in tales familiar and often told." At leas...

Here’s a pop quiz for you. In which sporting endeavour did these women excel and innovate ? Susan B. Anthony Louise Armaindo Kittie Knox Cissie Colreavy Alfonsina Strada Which sport created the first black Olympian? Which technological invention was most influential in bringing about women’s emancipation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries? Was it  radio,  the vacuum cleaner,  was it the Blackboard? Stop this kind of thing!... Actually, it was the bicycle. In the 19th century, the advent of the bicycle brought about significant changes in society, particularly for women. It marked a departure from established norms and opened up many new opportunities for travel, liberty fitness and fashion, to name a few. Beyond being instrumental in advancing technologies such as the invention of the automobile and flight, the bicycle provided a massive thrust for women's emancipation. For the first time women of all classes were provided with a means of indepen...

When I was a boy I fell in love with Marilyn Monroe. https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/723883340108702168/ I dare say I was not alone. Goodbye, Norma Jeane From the young man in the twenty second row Who sees you as something more than sexual More than just our Marilyn Monroe (Elton John & Bernie Taupin) However, let’s face it I, and millions like me, fell in love with the idea of Marilyn Monroe. Norma Jeane herself would probably have staked me out on an anthill and laughed mercilessly at my pain. Perhaps not. The whole "rescue fantasy" idea has been around since Freud coined the phrase in 1910.   Originally, it was all about therapists or politicians wanting to swoop in and save "fallen women." But now, it's more about what therapists are secretly or not-so-secretly hoping for with their patients, especially in child analysis or therapy. But when it comes to young men or women falling for fallen angels like Marilyn Monroe, the rescue fantasy is a...

  How Misinformation Works The Naked truth ( Jean-Leon Jerome - 1896) Legend says that lies and truth met one day He told the lie to the truth: _This day is so beautiful! The truth looked around in doubt and raised her eyes to the sky and found the day really beautiful and the weather is beautiful and decided to spend the day walking with lies. Then he told the lie to the truth: - The water in the well is very beautiful, come let's go down to the water.. The truth looked at the lie in doubt for the second time, and I touched the water, and I found it really beautiful.. They stripped of their clothes, and went down to the well. Suddenly, the lie came out of the well, quickly put on the clothes of truth and ran. As Jonathon Swift wrote: “Falsehood flies, and truth comes limping after it; so that when men come to be undeceived, it is too late” And so we get taken in by misinformation as it cascades through the media. It is what an MIT study called a “Misinfor...

Why are we afflicted with Temporary Insanity? Why do some people fall in love at the drop of a hat? They are under the spell of The Halo Effect and The Affect Heuristic. The Halo effect is a cognitive bias in which our positive perception of one attribute or quality of a person, object, or idea influences our overall impression, leading us to see them in a more favourable light. When combined with the Affect Heuristic, our emotional responses can be amplified by the Halo effect. This can make us perceive fantasies or idealized situations as real because we focus on the positive aspects and emotions associated with them, neglecting critical analysis or scepticism. You can pass a florist a thousand times and gaze in wonder at the guy or gal waving a bouquet to advertise their wares. Then one day, you realise you are pining for someone ‘special’ and the notion of buying flowers is not only natural it’s almost an obsession. A Walk on the beach? Yesterday it was boring, but no, sudd...