Monthly Archives: January 2025

How Fascism Came to America

Posted on January 21, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

I have heard from some TBTP followers outside of North America who are baffled by the new status quo in the United States. The video and synopsis below go a long way in explaining the morass that we now find … Continue reading →

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Orwell is turning in his grave

Posted on January 20, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

I thought that I had stumble on something from The Onion when I saw a story about a £2 George Orwell commemorative coin being minted in the UK. Shockingly, it was a true story. The Royal Mint will honor author George … Continue reading →

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Oh, horror upon horror!

Posted on January 19, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

No writer has the ability to evoke a sense of horror and dread more effectively than Edgar Allan Poe, born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts. Poe’s parents were actors. Their brilliant and unstable son grew up to be a … Continue reading →

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Do You Ever Yearn (RIP David Lynch)

Posted on January 18, 2025 by Brian D. Butler
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Good News for Flyers

Posted on January 18, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Emirates is leading the way for neurodiversity needs, becoming the first airline in the world to achieve Autism Certification with a landmark recognition by the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES). By early 2025, the company plans to … Continue reading →

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“back when tigers used to smoke” (호랑이 담배 피우던 시절에)

Posted on January 17, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Once upon a time… korean: “back when tigers used to smoke” (호랑이 담배 피우던 시절에) czech: “beyond seven mountain ranges, beyond seven rivers” (za sedmero horami a sedmero řekami) georgian: “there was, and there was not, there was…” (იყო და არა იყო … Continue reading →

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heaped with shining hills

Posted on January 16, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

First Snow by Mary Oliver The snow began here this morning and all day continued, its white rhetoric everywhere calling us back to why, how, whence such beauty and what the meaning… The silence is immense, and the heavens still hold … Continue reading →

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Sacré bleu

Posted on January 15, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

The 1937 phrasebook Collins’ Pocket Interpreters: France paints an alarming picture of a typical visit to France: I cannot open my case. I have lost my keys. I did not know that I had to pay. I cannot find my porter. Excuse … Continue reading →

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Driving In Circles

Posted on January 14, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

I’m no Luddite, but I have serious reservations about self-driving automobile technology. This recent news story seems to prove me right. Last week, Mike Johns was on his way to the Phoenix, Arizona airport in a Waymo autonomous taxi to … Continue reading →

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No But Yes

Posted on January 13, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

You all know by now that I am serious about coffee. I take it so seriously that I got my own roasting machine and learned to be a competent amateur roaster. So when I read about coffee in a tube, … Continue reading →

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