============================================================

“I know what you’re thinking. ‘Did he fire six shots or only five’? Well to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I kind of lost track myself. But being that this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you’ve got to ask…

When I read the kiddie press chortling and cackling about Joe Biden’s “fumbles”, my mind goes back to the 1974 Canadian election. Pierre Trudeau’s government had fallen in a confidence vote and the country went to the polls. Without doubt, Trudeau was clever and charming and energetic, and all told not a bad Prime Minister….

I’ll bet you had no idea where the title of this piece was going to take you. To be honest, I didn’t, either. But this time no politics, no outrage, just a whimsical word study. Bedlam is one of those few words in English whose meaning can’t be guessed by its similarity to other words….

It seems that everyone is outraged these days. Everybody is upset about something, everyone’s feelings seem to be deeply hurt. So, just a few thoughts on outrage, partly as a communication issue and partly as a personal growth piece. But, first a bit of trivia, a juicy tidbit you can pull out the next time…

Marshal Ferdinand Jean Marie Foch was, by all accounts, a brilliant and insightful military leader, the Supreme Allied Commander during the last years of World War One. His opinion of airplanes? “They are interesting toys, but of no military value.” Not long before that war, the motorcar had come into vogue, and in many jurisdictions…

I should probably add English Muffins and French Toast to the list. Here we talk about names which describe things unrecognizable to the natives. Canadians visiting the US or the Caribbean are offered Canadian Bacon on the breakfast menu. Having no idea what is meant, they’ll order it only to discover it’s just run of…