I had originally planned to write about something else this week, but after learning about a particular piece of news, the die was cast, and the decision was no longer mine to make.
Just in case you’re a very unlucky person and have not been following the news, there has been a recent development in the administration of peace in the United States. The United States Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., which is run by the United States Congress, has been unselfishly renamed after everybody’s favourite world leader, as the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace. Naming a building after yourself is rather classy, especially if it’s a government building.
This compelling and authentic move reflects President Trump’s desire for peace in the United States and around the world; except for Yemen, the European Union, Venezuela, Portland, Iran, Mexico, Canada, Chicago, and Greenland, but they don’t count.
To prove this point, President Trump was awarded the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize recently, which in no way panders to his fragile ego. That is just garbage, spun by fake news outlets that believe in accountability and justice.
Like President Trump, I am very humble, and I would like to acknowledge TheDaily Show for giving me the idea for this informative article. Credit where credit is due. On behalf of 100% of the staff at Some Geek Told Me, I would like to thank The Daily Show for the inspiring idea, as well as President Trump for pursuing peace, because he can stop wars that don’t even exist! What a role model!
Credit: BBC & Getty Images
Because President Trump is a bastion for peace in a world that seems divided by President Trump, I have collected some other clinics, institutes, academies, and other learning centres that could be renamed, like the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace.
Sadly, I was born outside of the United States and away from President Trump’s bigly protection, so some of my selections may not be familiar to my international readers, but my New Zealand readers will understand.
And with that, let’s turn the page and begin now.
The Christopher Luxon Entitlement Academy
The Winston Peters Centre of Cultural Diversity
The Brian Tamaki LGBTQIA+ Appreciation Institute
The David Seymour Food Nutrition Clinic
The Pauline Hanson Centre of Islamic-Awareness
The Vladimir Putin Geography Academy
The Kim Jong Un Institute of Human Rights
The Viktor Orbán Centre for Free Speech
The Alexander Lukashenko Institute of Democracy
The Bashar al-Assad Anti-Corruption Institute
The Benjamin Netanyahu Anti-Genocide Centre
The Xi Jinping Institute for the Protection of the Uyghurs
The Nigel Farage Centre of Tolerance and Inclusion
The Kristi Noem Gun Safety School
The JD Vance Museum of Furniture
The RFK Jr Centre for Preventable Childhood Diseases
The Marco Rubio School of Fawning and Grovelling
The Sean Duffy Centre of Climate Change
The Lauren Boebert Gender-Affirming Clinic
The Marjorie Taylor Greene Institute for Autism Awareness
The Ted Cruz Free Abortion Clinic
The Elon Musk Family Planning Clinic
The Jeff Bezos Centre for Independent Book Sellers
The Bob Iger School of Business Ethnics
The Patrick W. Smith Academy of Accountability
The Darren Woods Museum of Environmental Disasters
The Anthony Hopkins Academy of Method Acting
The Neil deGrasse Tyson Flat Earth Centre
The Jonathan Pie Anti-Profanity School
The Alex Jones Meditation Institute
The Nicholas Cage Institute of Marriage Counselling
The Rassie Erasmus Centre of Sports Ethnics
The Neymar School of Acting
The Cristiano Ronaldo Centre for Modesty and Humbleness
And I would like to close with a post humorous choice:
The J. R. R. Tolkien Memorial Institute for Concise Writing
So, how did I do? Did I miss any selections? As always, please let me know.
I hope you liked this week’s rant as much as I liked writing it. Next week will be the last proper blog post before I head off into the sunset for a much-needed break, since running a highly successful blog takes its toll.
Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Please remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, watch the Supergirl trailer, and I’ll see you next week.
It’s been a long time since I celebrated a real achievement on this highly popular website. I’ve made over 250 critically acclaimed blog posts that are the envy of all the Flat Earth creators, and produced numerous content where people have actually left comments; sometimes it’s been two people! I know, it’s quite impressive, so please, don’t be intimidated too much.
The point is that today marks an important milestone in the history of New Zealand’s 5th least favourite website. On 29th April 2024, we entered the 1950s in the We Didn’t Start the Fire historical references blog posts, and today we finally enter the 1960s!
To remind any newcomers about this amazing life choice, I have decided, in my utterly infallible wisdom, to explain all of the historical references in Billy Joel’s song, We Didn’t Start the Fire. Why would I do such a thing when various people have already done this with a greater degree of professionalism? The short answer is that I love the song and history, so what’s another thing I can add to the Mountain of Eternal Regret?
I have said this before, but this blog keeps me off the streets and out of bars, so my wife can keep track of me.
The list of previous fascinating and informative blog posts can be found here:
We have now entered the third decade of historical references in the song; what a ride! This entry is shaping up to be quite chaotic, so you need to strap yourself in, because we are going back to 1960! Prepare yourself!
Credit: Rosners’/Pinterest
U-2
The incident happened during the Cold War, and it had nothing to do with an Irish rock band. U-2 refers to the Lockheed U-2, which is a high–altitude reconnaissance aircraft that has a single engine and a single pilot. The aircraft, known as a spy plane, is operated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the United States Air Force (USAF).
In what can only be described as a plot for a spy movie, on 1st May 1960, an American Lockheed U-2 spy plane took off from Pakistan and was eventually shot down over the Soviet Union by the Soviet Air Defence Forces.
The pilot, Francis Gary Powers, was taking aerial photographs when his aircraft was hit by a Soviet surface-to-air missile. Powers parachuted away and was captured by Soviet forces, then put on trial for espionage. The entire affair was a huge embarrassment for the CIA and USAF, as well as for the United States Government, and resulted in the cancellation of an upcoming summit in Paris between the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France.
Two modern examples of spy plane scandals were the 2001 Hainan Island incident between the United States and China, as well as in January 2024, when Ukrainian forces shot down a Russian Beriev A-50U airborne early warning aircraft, which serves as a surveillance and command-and-control platform. Truth is stranger than fiction.
The remains of the Lockheed U-2 are now on display in the Central Armed Forces Museum, Moscow, Russia. Credit: Alan Wilson.
Syngman Rhee
Syngman Rhee (1875-1965) was a dedicated advocate for Korean independence during the Imperial Japanese annexation of Korea. Rhee eventually became the first President of South Korea, who served from 1948 to 1960. He also wanted to reunify the Korean Peninsula.
If you’re a student of history like me, you would have noticed that Rhee was president during the Korean War. It could be argued that Rhee might have made this list for other reasons, but the reason he actually made the list in 1960 was related to the South Korean presidential election.
Rhee was looking to be re-elected for a fourth term, but his opponent, Chough Pyung-ok, died one month before the election. This meant Rhee was re-elected unopposed, and government reports said that he received 100% of the votes from a 97% voter turnout.
The focus turned to the race for the Vice President, which resulted in Rhee’s running mate Lee Ki-poong defeating Chang Myon, 79.19% to 17.51%. This caused widespread calls of election fraud and authoritative claims against Rhee and Lee, which led to the massive civil unrest and Rhee’s resignation and exile to the United States.
For some contemporary examples of politicians resigning because of public protests; would be the Arab Spring (2010-2012), Viktor Yanukovych (2014), Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson (2016), Serzh Sargsyan (2018), Omar al-Bashir (2019), Sheikh Hasina (2024), KP Sharma Oli (2025), Milos Vucevic (2025), and so many more.
TIME Magazine Cover: 16th October 1960. Credit: TIME Magazine/BORIS CHALIAPIN
Payola
This entry is completely believable, and it’s a wonder it didn’t happen sooner. The term payola refers to an illegal practice in the music industry, where a payment is made to a commercial radio station to play a song, but the station does not disclose the payment.
In 1959, a federal investigation was launched into the practice, which turned into a gigantic scandal. Over 330 DJs and radio hosts admitted to taking bribes to play certain songs over others. This led to criminal charges being levelled at radio hosts like Alan Freed, who was extremely popular at the time.
These investigations caused several people to lose their jobs and careers. An estimated $263,000 was accepted in bribes.
A modern equivalent would be in 2006, when a payola scandal involving record companies Universal Music Group, Sony, and Warner Music Group. Record labels were paying various radio stations for radio play, with settlements being over $30 million, after a New York Attorney General’s investigation.
Credit: Daily News
Kennedy
This is a straightforward reference involving John F. Kennedy being elected as the 35th president of the United States, defeating Richard Nixon. Kennedy served as President until his assassination in 1963. He was the second youngest person to be elected as President of the United States at 43 years old.
For comparison, Donald Trump was 70 years old when elected in 2016, Joe Biden was 78 years old and 61 days when elected in 2020, and when Donald Trump was elected for a second time in 2024, he was 78 years old and 220 days, making him the oldest person ever to be elected as President; just to point that out.
John F. Kennedy campaign button Button from John F. Kennedy’s 1960 U.S. presidential campaign. Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica
Chubby Checker
Cover songs can either work so well that the new version completely eclipses the original, so that people tend to think the cover is the original, or the cover song just simply exists, and pales in comparison to the original, or the cover and original both benefit from each other’s success. Trust me, I am going somewhere with this.
In 1960, Ernest Evans, aka Chubby Checker, released a song called, The Twist, which in fact was originally released by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters in 1958. The original was very popular in its own right and did very well in sales, but the cover sent the popularity of The Twist into the exosphere.
One of the reasons Chubby Checker’s version was popular, to the point that even if a nightclub in New Zealand played the song, people would know what to do, was the dance, or rather, a dance craze.
“Doing’ the Twist” twisted people on the dance floor around the world, but also helped in the United States, at least, by producing a dance that was popular with black and white audiences during the “Jim Crow” racial segregation era.
Naming cover songs that were successful and popular is one thing, while naming songs that introduce a dance craze is another. However, combining the two is a little more difficult, so the best that the staff at Some Geek Told Me can think of is Macarena, which is a remix from the Bayside Boys in 1995. You know the dance, I bet you do. Hey Macarena, ay!
Psycho
I’m not a huge horror movie fan, but I can sit down and enjoy one. Granted, I may have my eyes shut or my hands covering my face, but I have seen the next entry. This, of course, reminds me that one day I’m going to write about my favourite movie directors.
Like the seamless transition of Sméagol to Gollum and back, this brings us to Psycho. I can’t remember where or when I first saw the movie, but I sure as hell remember what happened in it. Released in 1960, Psycho is arguably one of director Alfred Hitchcock’s most famous works.
Shot in black and white, Hitchcock gave audiences a ride they didn’t see coming, in the form of a ground-breaking masterpiece in Psycho, which covered a range of themes like guilt, madness, voyeurism, family, and morality. Not only did Psycho change thriller and horror movies forever, but movies in general as well.
With a budget of only US$800,000, it collected US$50 million at the box office, as well as being nominated for four Academy Awards, with Janet Leigh winning a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.
For previous movie references in the song, Psycho did not win multiple awards, but rather changed how movies are made; it was revolutionary. In that vein, some modern movie comparisons include Pulp Fiction (1994), Toy Story (1995), Saving Private Ryan (1998), The Blair Witch Project (1999), The Matrix (1999), The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003), and Avatar (2009).
Belgians in the Congo
Belgians in the Congo means exactly what you think it does. For some much-needed context, in the 1870s, King Leopold II of Belgium was keen to have a Belgian colony in the Congo basin, which is located in Central Africa.
By the 1880s, he had effectively set up shop in the Congo basin. The people of the Congo Free State, as it was known, suffered atrocities with an estimated 1.5 million to 13 million deaths at the hands of Leopold’s policies and greed.
In 1908, the annexation became official, with the Congo Free State being rebranded as the Belgian Congo, thus becoming a colony of Belgium. The Belgian government began a massivesuppression of rights and economic exploitation of the region and of its people.
After years of a fierce independence movement, the country achieved independence from Belgium on 30th June 1960. The new country was renamed The Republic of the Congo, then changed to Zaire, and changed again, to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is what it is called today.
After independence was achieved, the transition resulted in civil unrest, protests, and conflicts, which became known as the Congo Crisis (1960-1965). Various wars were fought, with Belgian troops trying to regain control of the country, as well as other factions and countries that were involved. This eventually served as a proxy war between the United States and the Soviet Union, just like the Korean War, Vietnam War, Angolan Civil War, and Afghan–Soviet War.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo went on to suffer wars in the shape of the First Congo War (1996-1997) and the Second Congo War (1998-2003), which resulted in a combined death toll of about 5.65 million people. The Second Congo War was the deadliest war since World War II, with parts of the country still being unstable because of armed conflicts, mainly between the Congolese army and the M23 rebel group.
Belgian paratrooper secures the restaurant terrace of Léopoldville (Kinshasa) airport, during Congo Crisis, July 1960. Credit: Unknown.
So, for 1960, we covered a spy plane being shot down, a South Korean president, a music scandal, a US president, a musician and his dance craze, a movie, and an armed conflict. Obviously, all of these references happened before I was born; however, it always pays to understand why things happened and how they are related to the world today. Well, to me at least, because I love history.
Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. My Twitter and Mastodon accounts are still producing daily data about the world, so please drop in to say hello.
Please remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, Grok is not always correct, and I’ll see you next week.
The date was 16th June 2025, and it was a simpler time. We were watching the break-up of the world’s wealthiest person and the President of the United States of America; South Park Season 27 had not yet aired; New Zealand rugby supporters were happy; and the world had not yet discovered that the cause of autism was paracetamol and women were to blame.1
However, that date is also famous for being the last entry in one of the planet’s greatest literary feats, discussing the historical references in Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire.
The answer to your first question is no, James Gunn has not contacted me about being part of the DCU. The answer to your second question is yes, it’s back. After delays with other blog posts and events, the long-awaited musical and historical breakdown has returned, much like your persistent back pain.
Since no living person is perfect2, I have collected the previous entries of this wonderful endeavour and presented them to you, just in case you have missed any of them. They include:
If you’ve studied the teachings of Sesame Street’s greatest mathematician, you would have realised that after looking at the sequence of numbers above you, it leads you to the conclusion that 1959 is the next year in the pattern. Thanks, Count.
I’m curious to learn if there’s any positive and uplifting information that we can gather from 1959. So, like many times before, strap yourselves in, because we are going back in time! Cool.
Credit: Ruby Lane
1959
Buddy Holly
Charles Holley was born in 1936 and became a singer, songwriter, and musician. His stage name was Buddy Holly, and along with his band, the Crickets, he gained fame in musical genres like country and western, and rock and roll.
In the late 50s, his musical career was soaring, with national and international tours, as well as television appearances. Sadly, Holly is not in this song because of his musical talents. Holly and his new band were on tour, but they were having issues with the bus. The schedule was tight, and some people have said that it was poorly planned.
On 3rd February 1959, a flight was chartered from Iowa to the next gig in North Dakota. The plane was a four-seater aircraft, and on board the flight were 22-year-old Holly, 17-year-old Ritchie Valens, 28-year-old Jiles Perry Richardson Jr (The Big Bopper), and the pilot, Roger Peterson, a 21-year-old.
Soon after take-off, and flying in terrible weather conditions, Peterson lost control of the aircraft and crashed, killing everybody instantly. This incident was known as The Day the Music Died, made famous by Don McLean’s 1971 song “American Pie“.
Some contemporary examples of musicians being killed in aircraft crashes include Stevie Ray Vaughan, who died in a helicopter crash in 1990; John Denver died when his experimental plane crashed in 1997; and Aaliyah and her entourage were killed in a 2001 plane crash in the Bahamas.
Buddy Holly backstage at the Prom Ballroom in St. Paul on Jan. 28, 1959. (Courtesy of Blue Days Productions)
Ben-Hur
Released in 1959, Ben-Hur was a film that was adapted from Lew Wallace’s book, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, but also a remake of the 1925 film Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. It tells the story of Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston), or just Ben-Hur, in one of Heston’s most famous roles. Ben-Hur is a Jewish man living in Roman-occupied Judea, around the same time as Jesus Christ.
With a US$15 million budget, unheard of at the time, it earned US$146 million at the box office. By today’s standards, Ben-Hur’s earnings would be a disaster for the film studio, but for 1959, this film was a smash hit.
Like The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Ben-Hur won several awards. This included winning 11 Academy Awards, which still holds the record, tied with Titanic (1997) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), as well as three Golden Globe Awards.
Ben-Hur also raised the benchmark for various elements within the film industry, especially the size of sets, and the number of extras, animals, costumes, and other artists involved with the film; added with the legendary chariot race, places Ben-Hur as a Hollywood classic.
For examples of modern movies dominating awards, I covered this with The Bridge on the River Kwai entry. So instead of doing that, some better examples would be films quantifying their design numbers, such as Kingdom of Heaven (2005), which used around 30,000 extras, Stalingrad (2013) for the massive set designs, Marie Antoinette (2006) for the costume designs, and Alexander (2004) for using large numbers of horses and elephants.
Space monkey
For this entry, you can promote the advancement of science; however, the method is always up for debate. You can be for or against these particular scientific experiments, but regardless of your position, this historical reference requires acknowledgement and examination.
The space race between the Soviet Union and the United States of America had begun, and both nations were determined not to lose. To that end, we have “Space monkeys”, which is probably exactly what you think it is.
Space flight was still in its early stages, so they needed non-human organisms to be sent on flights to test the systems, but mainly to reduce the dangers to humans. These animals included fruit flies, mice, dogs, rabbits, frogs, and primates. The point is, a lot of these animals died being astronauts.
On 29th May 1959, NASA sent a rhesus macaque named Miss Able and a squirrel monkey called Miss Baker on a NASA JUPITER AM-18 mission. The monkeys successfully travelled a distance of 2,735 km, at a height of 579 km, with a top speed of 16,000 km/h.
Both monkeys survived the flight, making them the first two animals to be launched by NASA into space, survive and be recovered. Miss Able died four days later in post-flight surgery from an anaesthetic reaction, while Miss Baker lived until 1984.
In modern times, people still use animals in space experiments, but it’s mainly to assess how they cope and adapt to microgravity environments, rather than testing to see whether they survive space flights. Lately, these animals have included mice, fruit flies, spiders, and bobtail squids, as well as tardigrades, because they seem to be one of the resilient lifeforms ever found.
As you would expect, Mafia refers to organised crime, but there is more to it, because it’s not just one reference; it’s actually several. Since I’m a geek, I’m going to add some background to this, because it’s fun to learn about things!
In 1957, a meeting involving over 100 mobsters from the United States, Cuba, and Italy took place in Apalachin, New York, dubbed the Apalachin meeting. Topics to be discussed at the meeting included the takeover of recently murdered Albert Anastasia’s crime operations, but also gambling, loansharking, and narcotics trafficking within the United States.
The meeting was discovered by law enforcement agencies, which resulted in 60 mobsters being arrested, including the host of the meeting, Joseph “Joe the Barber” Barbara, and crime boss, Vito Genovese. This meeting forced law enforcement agencies to confront two things: the sheer scale of the organised crime network in the United States, and to admit to the public that the Cosa Nostra (The Sicilian Mafia) existed in the United States.
Fast forward to 1959, when some events occurred that were directly linked to the Apalachin meeting. The 1957 arrest of Vito Genovese, the boss of the Genovese crime family, led to his conviction in 1959 for drug trafficking, and he was sentenced to 15 years. Other 1959 convictions included Vincent Gigante (7 years), Joseph Valachi (15 years), and Paul Castellano (5 years).
These convictions changed the Mafia’s power structure, as well as empowering law enforcement agencies in their war against organised crime. Obviously, organised crime has never gone away, but some modern examples of assaults on their leadership have been the conviction of crime boss, John Gotti (1992); the Justice Department indicted 14 members of the Chicago Outfit, leading to convictions under the RICO Act (2005); and FBI agents arrested 127 mobsters in a single day, known as the Mob Bust (2011).
Vito Genovese, 1959. Credit: Phil Stanziola.
Hula hoops
This entry is quite straightforward. When Hula Hoops hit stores in the late 1950s, they were not an original creation. They had been used for thousands of years, in various forms across different societies, including using bamboo, rattan, willow, stiff grasses, and grapevines.
The new Hula Hoops were made of plastic tubing and were a colossal hit around the world. The trend drove sales of the toy to the heights of $100 million in the United States between 1958 and 1960.
For a 2025 equivalent, I would have to say Labubu. These elf-type monsters have conquered the world, with global sales in the first half of 2025 being over $670 million.
The Hula Hoop craze, Deerfield Illinois, 1959. Credit: Art Shay.
Castro
Love him or hate him, but there is no denying Fidel Castro’s influence on the 20th century. Castro was a Cuban lawyer, politician, and revolutionary, who was involved in the Revolución de Cuba (Cuban Revolution), which was an armed revolution against the Cuban dictator, Fulgencio Batista.
It began on 26th July 1953, and ended with Batista fleeing the country on 31st December 1958; though Castro’s forces (The 26th of July Movement or M-26-7) did not learn about this until the next day, when they started to take control of Cuba.
Castro became Prime Minister of Cuba on 17th February 1959 and served until 2nd December 1976, then became President of Cuba from 2nd December 1976 to 24th February 2008. Castro overhauled Cuba and transformed it into the first communist country in the Western Hemisphere, and ended up having a brutal regime, just like his enemy, Batista.
I’d like to add that Castro will return for the 1961 edition of this wonderful project. Be prepared for the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
A contemporary example of someone overthrowing an authoritarian government would be Ahmed al-Sharaa, when Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December 2024, after 13 years of civil war.
Fidel Castro addresses a rally in 1959. Credit: Sovfoto/Universal Images Gro/REX / Shutterstock
Edsel is a no-go
This is an interesting entry because there are two points to discuss. To establish the background, Edsel refers to a brand of car created by Ford Motors, and it was named after Henry Ford’s son, Edsel, since Ford was the company’s founder.
The car was launched in 1958 and became a commercial failure. By 1959, sales for the car had dropped significantly, which included reasons such as low quality, being ugly, being vaunted too much, and being introduced during a recession. The car resulted in a loss of over $250 million for Ford Motors, so it was pulled from production in 1960.
The second point of this tale is the actual name. Edsel was a relatively common name for boys in the United States at the time. However, due to the failure of the Edsel car brand, many new parents became hesitant to name their baby boys after a name associated with a failed product. As a result, just as sales of the car declined, so did the popularity of the name Edsel.
Some 21st century examples of failed or failing car brands include the Lincoln Blackwood, Rover CityRover, Saturn Ion, Chrysler Crossfire, Aston Martin Cygnet, Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet, BMW XM, Fisker Ocean, and the Tesla Cybertruck, to name but a few.
A 1958 Edsel convertible made by Ford. Credit: Underwood Archives / Getty Images
So for 1959, we covered a musician, a movie, two astronaut monkeys, mobsters being convicted, a toy, a revolutionary leader, and a failed car brand. 1959 was busy, and like many other years in this project, it can reflect 2025 as well. But look on the bright side, we get to enter the 1960s next time! Yay!
So that brings another blog post from yours truly to a close. Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. My accounts on Twitter and Mastodon are still operating, where I post daily things concerning everything. Cool.
As a New Zealander, I would also like to apologise to the world on behalf of my country for my government’s inaction in recognising the State of Palestine. It’s not good enough, and I’m very sorry.
Please remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, stay away from Polonium-210, and I’ll see you next week for some science advice.
1 In New Zealand, Tylenol is known as the drug, Paracetamol.
I was thinking the other day about our finite time on this beautiful planet. We try to use it by developing various skills and spending time with our loved ones. And then there is this project, which I don’t fully understand where it would fall.
Yes, dear reader, one of the worst ideas I have ever had has returned with a vendetta against logic and reason. Some Geek Told Me is proud to present the latest instalment of We Didn’t Start the Fire, where we examine the historical references of the song.
For the previous non-award-winning entries of the song, please see below to be stunned into submission!
In 1957, there were many shenanigans, so 1958 might be a nice change of pace. So strap yourself in, because we’re going back to 1958! Make it so!
Credit: Collinson & Cunninghame Ltd: Publisher
1958
Lebanon
Lebanon is a country that can be found in the region called the Middle East and has a deep and rich history, dating back to at least 5,000 BCE. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, with Cyprus just 240 km off the coast. Syria lies to the north and east of Lebanon, with Israel and the Golan Heights to the south. Lebanon has a population of approximately 5.84 million people, similar to New Zealand, which has a population of about 5.3 million. The capital city, Beirut, has an estimated population of 2.3 million.
1958 was the year of the Lebanon Crisis, where the country was thrown into political and religious turmoil. At the time, the President of Lebanon was Camille Chamoun, and he was in the sixth and final year of his term.
Some of the issues Lebanon were facing included tensions between Christians and Arab Muslims flaring up; Egypt and Syria had merged to create the United Arab Republic (UAR) and wanted Lebanon to join them; an armed rebellion had formed; along with Chamoun wanting to seek another term, which went against the Constitution of Lebanon.
The problem was brought to the attention of the United Nations Security Council, and one proposed solution involved United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower leading an intervention at the request of Chamoun. Under Operation Blue Bat, he sent 5,000 marines to secure the Port of Beirut and Beirut International Airport. This lasted from 15th July to 25th October 1958.
The legacy of the Lebanon Crisis was that Chamoun did not attain a new term, with Fouad Chehab becoming the President of Lebanon, and a national reconciliation government was formed. Sadly, Lebanon went on to suffer a civil war for 15 years, which killed an estimated 150,000 people, coupled with conflicts with Israel, the Syrian Civil War, the Arab Spring, the October Revolution, and a financial crisis, Lebanon is now identified as a failed state.
Charles de Gaulle remains a famous French icon, over 130 years after his birth. Born in 1890, de Gaulle was a veteran of the First World War, and after the war ended, he stayed with the army. This led him to gain worldwide attention later on during the Second World War, after de Gaulle was promoted within the army and the government, to the point where he was in charge of the Free French Forces against Nazi Germany.
After the war, de Gaulle remained within the government in various roles until 1946. However, in 1958, Algeria was involved in an armed conflict to wrestle its independence from France.
Charles de Gaulle re-entered French politics during a crisis in the Fourth Republic, particularly regarding Algeria, during the 1958 election. He was appointed Prime Minister and granted special powers to address the Algerian Crisis, as many believed he was the only person capable of resolving it.
This led to de Gaulle drafting a new French Constitution, which established the Fifth Republic of France, where he was subsequently elected as the first President of the Fifth Republic. Although Algeria won its independence from France on 5th July 1962, de Gaulle remained President until 1969.
A contemporary equivalent for de Gaulle would be someone who was a war hero and then entered politics. History is filled with such people, however, I’ll go for George H.W. Bush, Bajram Begaj, Hashim Thaçi, Aslan Maskhadov, and Min Aung Hlaing, along with many others.
Charles de Gaulle gives a press conference, 1958. Photograph: Daniele Darolle/Sygma via Getty Images
California baseball
This is not the first time a baseball team has appeared as an entry on one of our lists. California baseball refers to the New York Giants, who had played in the National League, in MLB (Major League Baseball), since 1883. They were based in…wait for it…New York; Upper Manhattan to be precise.
One of their rivals was the Brooklyn Dodgers, who managed to grace the 1955 edition of We Didn’t Start the Fire. At the end of the 1957 season, the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers left New York and moved to California. They transformed into the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers, all ready for the 1958 season so they could continue their feud.
After moving to California, the Giants won the World Series in 2010, 2012, and 2014. I’ve stated this before, but I’m not a baseball expert, so for a modern example of a baseball team relocating recently, I think the Oakland Athletics moving to Las Vegas, Nevada is a clear winner.
Giants first practice at Seal Stadium on April 15, 1958. Starting line up: Davenport, O’Connell, Mays, Cepeda, Sauer, Spencer, Thomas, Gomez. Starting Pitcher Ruben Gomez. Credit: Art Frisch.
Starkweather homicide
Alright, here’s a historical reference from 1958 that is still sending ripples through time. Between November 1957 and January 1958, Charles Starkweather killed 11 people and two dogs, accompanied by his girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate. The victims’ ages ranged from 2-70 years old, with the 2-year-old being Betty Jean Bartlett, Fugate’s sister.
Starkweather killed his first victim on 30th November/1st December 1957, then went on to terrorise the US states of Nebraska and Wyoming. The Starkweather homicides gripped the American public, which had resulted in a large manhunt for the couple. They were finally captured by authorities near Douglas, Wyoming, on 29th January 1958.
After he was found guilty, Starkweather was executed by an electric chair on 25th June 1959, while Fugate was given life imprisonment, though she was released in 1976.
The Starkweather homicides have spawned many adaptations and variations across television, film, books, comics, music, and video games.
Starkweather has been characterised as both a serial killer and a spree killer. The term spree killer is often used interchangeably with rampage killer or shooter. If you’re looking for a modern equivalent in 2025, simply reading a newspaper or watching news videos will help you find the latest incidents of spree killings, no matter where you are in the world.
Casper Tribune-Herald on 30th January 1958, describes Starkweather’s capture. Credit: Casper Tribune-Herald
Children of Thalidomide
Children of Thalidomide refers to the Thalidomide scandal that swept the globe. Thalidomide was first introduced in 1957, under the name of Contergan, and it was a revolutionary new drug. It was marketed as an over-the-counter medication, that could help with tension, sleeping, anxiety, and morning sickness.
Health authorities around the world began to observe three troubling trends: an increase in infant deaths shortly after birth, a rise in miscarriages, and a growing number of babies born with deformities such as heart, arm, leg, eye, and urinary tract defects. A common factor associated with these alarming trends was the use of thalidomide by pregnant women. Approximately 300 million tablets of thalidomide were sold during this time.
By 1958, the Thalidomide scandal was in full effect across the planet. Soon, country by country were starting to stop the sale of thalidomide and introduced legalisation to ban the drug. It was later discovered that thalidomide caused birth defects by disrupting the development of blood vessels in the embryo.
The Thalidomide scandal prompted many countries to review their drug regulatory policies, resulting in enhanced monitoring of these regulations. The effects of this are still observed today with stronger drug regulations worldwide.
In the last 15 years, many drugs have been withdrawn because of safety concerns, which have included Ingenol mebutate gel, Lorcaserin, Ranitidine, Flupirtine, Tetrazepam, Drotrecogin alfa, Propoxyphene, Gemtuzumab ozogamicin, Ozogamicin, and Rosiglitazone, to name but a few.
Contergan tablets. Credit: WDR
So for 1958, we covered a country, a war hero-turned-politician, a baseball team, a spree killer, and a dangerous over-the-counter drug. One of the biggest points about the historical references for 1958, is how these events are still being echoed in 2025.
So that’s it for another week. The 1960s are just months away, but we need to face 1959 first, so hang in there. Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. My accounts on Twitter and Mastodon, are still there, doing whatever the opposite of cool is.
This is a good time to remind my amazing audience that my mid-year break is coming up soon, where I take a well-deserved two-week holiday from running New Zealand’s 5th least favourite website. It’s hard work producing low-quality content.
Anyway, please remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, swipe right on diplomacy, and I’ll see you next week.
As the tariffs continue, so do the days of our lives. In our daily routines, we can choose what we do, including dissecting a 36-year-old song, even though it has been analysed before.
Because you’re a clever person who likes to get at least 10 hours of sleep and loves eating Vegemite, you would have realised I’m talking about one of my dumbest ideas, explaining the historical references in Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire.
I started this pointless project in February 2024, and I’m still stuck in the 50s. I’ll probably retire before I finish it. For those unfortunate people who have missed out on the past entries, fear not, for I have the complete list.
After reflecting on the historical events of 1956, I’m ready to delve into 1957, which promises to be just as wild and challenging. Like before, get ready for an adventure because we are traveling back in time with our destination set for 1957. Let’s do this!
Credit: Burlington
1957
Little Rock
Little Rock is located in Arkansas, United States, and in 1957, it was a flashpoint for the Civil Rights Movement. It centred around nine African American students who were integrated into Little Rock Central High School. These students become known as The Little Rock Nine.
Through a ruling from the Supreme Court that declared that the laws that established segregated schools were unconstitutional, and the backing of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), the nine students were enrolled at Little Rock Central High School.
The school was racially segregated, so black students attending an all-white school did not go down well for everybody. Among several protests against the integration, Orval Faubus, the Governor of Arkansas, deployed the Arkansas National Guard to support the protesters, as well as to block the students from entering the school.
If you remember from the 1952 blog, Dwight D. Eisenhower was the President of the United States of America, and this situation annoyed him. His response was to issue an executive order, which federalised the Arkansas National Guard. He ordered them to support the integration and along with the 101st Airborne Division, escorted and protected the students while at school. This drama was named The Little Rock Crisis.
As a non-American, it’s difficult to quantify a modern example of the Little Rock Crisis. My only answer is to point out the legacy that it brought to the public school system in the United States, by guiding the way in the desegregation of public schools.
The Little Rock Nine being escorted by the National Guard to Little Rock Central High School, Arkansas, 1957. Credit: Everett Collection
Pasternak
Boris Pasternak was a Russian poet, composer, literary translator, and novelist. He was born in Moscow, which was then part of the Russian Empire before it was transformed into the Soviet Union. He is included on this list because he wrote a small and uncomplicated book that you may have heard of: Doctor Zhivago.
Pasternak gave typed manuscripts to foreigners in 1956, knowing they wouldn’t be published in the USSR. The manuscripts were then smuggled to Milan, Italy. Doctor Zhivago was released in 1957, and I’m going to do an awful job at explaining this, but the novel focuses on wars, separation of families, love, and characters. So many characters, with just as many names.
The 1958 Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Pasternak for Doctor Zhivago, and it remains a masterpiece and beloved the world over for its themes. Over the years, the book has sold millions of copies and has been adapted for television, theatre, and film, with special mention to 1965’s Doctor Zhivago, where it was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won five.
We haven’t discussed baseball for some years now, but this entry will change that. Mickey Mantle was a professional baseball player who played primarily as a centre fielder for the New York Yankees, between 1951–1968.
Mantle earned many different baseball awards, championships, and trophies, but that’s not why he’s on the list. In 1957, Mantle made The Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Stars team. For those of you not up with the play, the All-Stars are players made up from teams in the American League and National League.
This fixture became an annual event on the MLB calendar. Now what made Mantle’s inclusion in the 1957 game special was that it was the sixth year in a row that Mantle had made the All-Stars team.
For a contemporary equivalent, you could go with Mike Trout, but the All-Stars also covered Major League Soccer (MLS-Football), National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL), and National Hockey League (NHL), so you could take your pick from them as well.
Bill Skowron, Minnie Minoso, Nellie Fox, and Mickey Mantle at the 1957 All-Star game. Credit: Unknown
Kerouac
This is quite rare, but we have a second book entry. On the Road was written by Jack Kerouac, and was released in September 1957. Kerouac based this book on his travels with his friends across the United States, and in some circles, it’s considered a memoir.
The book highlights the Counterculture generation, like the Beat movement, and was controversial with the characters’ carefree lifestyle, drugs, and travelling, along with the music. On the Road has sold over 4 million copies worldwide, with ongoing sales of around 100,000 copies annually.
On the Road has gone on to influence and inspire many different entertainment creators like Hunter S. Thompson, David Bowie, Matty Healy, Jerry Garcia, and Van Morrison, but also Jim Morrison and BobDylan.
Front cover for the first edition of On the Road by Jack Kerouac. Credit: The Viking Press
Sputnik
I wasn’t born in the 50s, so I can’t imagine the fear and tension that came with Sputnik. Launched on 4th October 1957 by the Soviet Union, Sputnik 1 was the world’s first artificial satellite. It was only 58 cm in diameter, and it carried a low-power radio transmitter that broadcasted a beeping noise at regular intervals, which could be heard by radio listeners around the world.
It achieved an Earth orbit with an apogee (farthest point from Earth) of 940 km and a perigee (nearest point) of 230 km, along with circling the planet every 96 minutes. The satellite remained in orbit until 4th January 1958, when it fell back and burned in Earth’s atmosphere. It had travelled 70 million km around the planet before deorbiting.
Known simply as Sputnik, this 83.6 kg device caused anxiety throughout the West, which marked the beginning of the space age between the United States and the Soviet Union.
The legacy of Sputnik can be seen in various spacecraft and satellites launched by the USSR that bear its name, as well as in the thousands of satellites launched by other countries and companies. Just consider where NASA, ESA, SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic would be today without the influence of Sputnik.
On Oct. 4, 1957, the Space Age began as the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, into orbit. Credit: The New York Times
Chou En-Lai
Chou En-Lai, also known as Zhou Enlai, served as the first Premier of the People’s Republic of China from its establishment in 1949 until he died in 1976. He was also the country’s foreign minister, a position he held from 1949 to 1958, during which he travelled extensively.
In 1950, he signed a treaty that committed China and the Soviet Union to co-operate. Furthermore, he played a crucial role in facilitating Richard Nixon’s historic meeting with Mao Zedong in China in 1972.
In modern times, you could go in two different ways, either as a foreign minister or an intermediary. For the foreign minister angle, you could just promote your foreign minister, however, the intermediary is a lot easier. Think of Henry Kissinger and President Jimmy Carter for the Middle East, Alexander Haig for Argentina and the United Kingdom, and recently, Emmanuel Macron for Ukraine and Russia.
Zhou Enlai (Chou En-Lai), Premier of China. Official portrait, 1950s. Credit: anonymous, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Bridge on the River Kwai
The Bridge on the River Kwai was a war film based on a book of the same name. Released in 1957, the film tells the story of Allied prisoners of war in Japanese-occupied Thailand, who are forced to build a bridge over the Kwai River, linking Thailand to Burma (Myanmar) for the Japanese, via a railway.
The film went on to earn US$30.6 million, against its US$2.8 million budget. It found universal acclaim, winning seven Oscars at the 1958 Academy Awards, three Golden Globes, and four British Academy Film Awards. The Bridge on the River Kwai has been described as not only the greatest war film ever made, but also one of the greatest films ever made.
I’ve been lucky enough to have seen it, and it’s phenomenal. Seriously, it’s one of those times when you should believe the hype about a film, it’s that good. Some modern films that swept the Academy Awards include Titanic (1997), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), and La La Land (2016).
So for 1957, we covered an American desegregated high school, a Russian author, a baseball player, an American author, a Soviet satellite, the Chinese Premier, and a film. We’ve been working hard on this, so 1958 will be less chaotic. Maybe.
So that’s it for another week in this ridiculous project. Cool. Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. I have accounts on Twitter and Mastodon, where I try to sound clever, so follow me if that floats your boat.
Please remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, and enjoy your 90-day pause on Trump’s tariffs. I’ll see you next week, where I’m going to discuss some news that is equally part exciting and scary. Take care and Slava Ukraini!
I’m going to start with an apology. Today’s blog post was supposed to be about We Didn’t Start the Fire’s 1957 historical references; as I spoke about this last week. Now, I’m very sorry to let the fans of this project down, because as I was writing the blog, something extraordinary happened, and I simply couldn’t ignore it.
So in my infinite wisdom, I decided to put a pin in the 1957’s historical references, and actually discuss a trade war. Due to our interconnected world, trade serves as a vital link among us. Surprisingly, it seems that the President of the United States is beginning a trade war with penguins, elephant seals, and seabirds.
Let’s analyse this carefully to determine its truthfulness, or if it is simply the mainstream media attempting to humiliate a 78-year-old convicted felon.
On 2nd April 2025 (local time), President Trump unveiled his hotly anticipated new tariff scheme, which was dubbed Liberation Day. Again, as you know, he declared a trade war against various countries and territories around the world, including my own.
I don’t have enough time to discuss how unusual it is that Russia, Belarus, and North Korea were omitted from the tariff list. My time is too valuable for that, as well as addressing the fact that these tariffs aren’t truly tariffs. Instead, they are based on a flawed formula meant to reflect the trade deficit between the United States and countries or territories.
No, I won’t mention those two things at all. I won’t even talk about how global markets are melting down, with at the time of writing, US$6.6 trillion was been wiped away. I would never stoop that low to discuss and mock those important matters.
And you can forget about me ever mentioning that the White House is now reframing the tariffs as sanctions. Nope, not by me, or on my account. There’s no way I would ever discuss that.
However, there is one tiny thing I would like to discuss. When the former McDonald’s employee and casino bankrupter revealed his list of countries and territories that he wanted to punish for not buying enough US-made items and goods, he included a rather strange entry: The Heard and McDonald Islands.
Credit: White House
The Heard and McDonald Islands are some of the most isolated places on the planet. They lie in the Southern Indian Ocean, about 3,850 km from Australia, where the islands are an Australian external territory. It’s roughly the same latitude as Madagascar, about two-thirds of the way from Antarctica and Madagascar.
The islands’ total land area is only 372 km2, with a coastline stretching 101.9 km. The Heard and McDonald Islands are home to two volcanoes and hundreds of thousands of fauna, such as penguins, elephant seals and seabirds.
But one of the strangest things about the Heard and McDonald Islands is the human population, which is zero. Yes, that’s correct, not a single person lives there. They are uninhabited by humans.
According to the data revealed by the White House, the Heard and McDonald Islands have a trade deficit of 10%, which has resulted in the world’s most famous 78-year-old convicted felon, slapping a 10% tariff on the islands.
Putting aside the suicidal nature of the financial and economic illiteracy of the tariffs, we have a problem. If we are to believe the White House’s data and figures, and why would we not, it means the Heard and McDonald Islands have a trade deficit with the United States.
From the United States perspective, the Heard and McDonald Islands are exporting more goods and services to the United States than they are importing from the United States, hence the trade deficit. But here’s the problem: if the Heard and McDonald Islands are uninhabited by humans, then who or what the fuck is trading with the Americans?
I hope you’re sitting down because the answer is penguins, elephants seals, and seabirds. I like to stay informed about world events, but I’ll be honest, I had no idea that a collection of penguins, elephants seals, and seabirds, living on islands near Antarctica, had not only mastered the ability to understand human language, finance, and commerce, but also have the means to conduct trade with humans. I feel really stupid and ignorant for not knowing this.
I have so many questions about this:
Do the different species of animals trade separately or collectively?
What do they trade? Is it eggs, feathers, shit, or something else?
If it’s shit, is penguin shit more valuable the elephant seal shit?
Do the penguins, elephant seals, and seabirds get along with each other, or are there different factions working against each other, whether it’s politically or financially?
How likely is a civil war to break out on the Heard and McDonald Islands, over the tariffs?
How do they communicate with the humans?
What do the penguins, elephant seals, and seabirds import from the United States?
Who are the American importers, and how are they surviving with the 10% tariff slapped on by the Heard and McDonald Islands?
What is the currency of the Heard and McDonald Islands?
Are Australian penguins, elephant seals, and seabirds, really taking jobs away from American humans, or American fauna?
Is this not the greatest example of evolutionary biology ever discovered?
How is this not the biggest news story in the history of the world; animals trading with humans?
Has anybody spoken to Sir David Attenborough about this? What are his thoughts?
Do the Heard and McDonald Islands only trade with the United States?
By starting a trade war with the Heard and McDonald Islands, does the White House hope to bring back more American jobs?
Does Elon Musk wish to export Teslas to the Heard and McDonald Islands?
The questions are endless because I’m just stunned at this revelation. This startling information is hard to understand and comprehend since it must be true and accurate. Otherwise, the US government would look like a group of people who wouldn’t be able to organise a party at a brewery. This would be one of the biggest displays of incompetence the US government have committed since Signalgate.
I mean, Trump, armed with his stable intellect, and his posse of loyal henchmen, could never make a mistake, right? Because that would be bigly. Nah, I bet every single penguin, elephant seal, and seabird on the Heard and McDonald Islands is woke.
And this ladies and gentlemen, is the world we live in. Welcome.
That’s another blog post for another week. Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me.
That’s three political blog posts in a row, so that’s enough for now. I’m going to finish We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1957, so we can discuss history, music, people, and politics…damn.
Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, tell Sir David Attenborough about tariffs on the Heard and McDonald Islands, and I’ll see you next week to continue We Didn’t Start the Fire.
Seriously, can someone please talk to Sir David Attenborough? His response would be amazing.
Following on from last week’s award-winning blog post on Elon Musk and Tesla, I thought I would include an epilogue of some sort. And when I mean award-winning, I mean…wait, do I need to explain that joke?
Anyway, Musk is a busy man. He’s mismanaging DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), selling Teslas at the White House, launching and blowing up rockets with SpaceX, selling and buying his companies to himself, and doing interviews with Fox News.
To everyone’s surprise, Musk still manages to find time to share his innermost thoughts and ideas with his 218.8 million followers on Twitter.1 Because of this, I talked to my Chief Consultant for Bad Ideas and decided to examine what Musk has been posting and reposting on his account lately.
Three things to remember before we start this stupid idea: 1.) I’m only going back a week at the most, because, well, that’s all I can tolerate. 2.) I’m focusing on the different posts and reposts that Musk has done on his Twitter account. I’m not including anything other people have said about him, that is not on his account. 3.) Since this is my account, I get to decide what happens. Because of this, I will be selectively choosing posts and reposts, which make Musk stand out for various negative reasons.
Awesome, so let’s read what nonsense the richest person on the planet has to say on nearly everything.
Credit: Sky News
Make of these posts as you will. That’s a lot to take in, as it was only over a few days, and that’s not counting all of the other stuff on his account. Musk is on social media more than George Takei, and that’s saying something!
Love him or hate him, Elon Musk is not going anywhere, least of all on Twitter, which Musk recently sold to xAI, an artificial intelligence start-up company, for US$33 billion. Just to clarify, Musk owns xAI, so he purchased and sold a company to himself. I have enough problems remembering to remind myself about things to buy at the supermarket.
Anyway, like I said last week, Musk is a complicated person, and his posts and reposts are a small window into the mind of a man who is one bad day away from becoming a real Bond villain.
That’s another blog post for another week. Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me.
Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, and if you can, please donate to the rescue relief in Myanmar, where a 7.7-magnitude earthquake hit the country and killed over 1,600 people. From personal experience, earthquakes are hell, so if you can donate, please do. I’ll see you next week because we’re going back to 1957. Can’t wait.
1 I know Twitter has been rebranded as X, but it’s still Twitter to me; just like the Gulf of Mexico.Sorry, I’m a jerk.
I’ve mentioned this before, but sometimes I struggle to find humour in discussing certain topics. Not that I’m an expert in comedy—far from it—but today’s blog post is one of those times when I can find very little humour.
To make sure we all understand what I’m talking about, let’s very quickly establish the facts. On 15th March 2019, a lone gunman, armed with a collection of firearms, including semi-automatic rifles, shot and killed 51 people and injured 89, at the Al Noor Mosque, and Linwood Islamic Centre, in Christchurch, New Zealand. This event became known as the Christchurch mosque shootings or the Christchurch mosque attacks.
I’m not going to rehash the events of 15th March 2019, minute by minute. Professional journalists and reporters have done that already, so I can’t add anything new to the conversation.
The purpose of this blog post is to express my feelings and emotions about the sixth anniversary of the deadliest shootings in modern New Zealand history.
I have a strong connection to Christchurch, even though I no longer live there. I attended university in the city, played football, and met my wife there. It’s where we got married, and additionally, my first child, UMC1, was born in Christchurch. I was even present during the ML6.3 earthquake that struck on 22nd February 2011, which tragically resulted in the loss of 185 lives.
We moved away from Christchurch in early 2016, but it’s still important to us.
Christchurch features a large public open space in the city centre known as Hagley Park, which was one of my favourite places to run. I would always run in an anti-clockwise direction around the park, with Al Noor Mosque on my right-hand side, directly across from the park. The mosque is a famous and significant site for both the city and the Muslim community.
As for the Linwood Islamic Centre, it was only opened in 2018, but I lived only three blocks from the future site, so I know the area quite well. I wasn’t in Christchurch when the shootings happened, but six years later, I am still a mixed bag of emotions surrounding it.
Before I continue, I want to clarify that I did not know anyone who was shot or injured, so families of the victims and survivors will have a much more personal experience than I do. I don’t want to disrespect anyone’s experience, I simply want to express my emotions and feelings because I believe our country and the world are forgetting the lessons that day taught us.
Credit: Combating Terrorism Center
Let’s start with easy emotions, like shame and sadness. Six years later, I’m still ashamed and saddened those murders happened in Christchurch, let alone in New Zealand. The city and country are forever linked to that day and will have to carry an albatross around their necks, until the end of time. Granted, the albatross will gradually decrease in mass and weight, but it will always be there.
There’s also the sadness and shame in educating and explaining to our tamariki (children) about that day, because it relates to them, directly and indirectly.
This brings us to the shame and sadness towards the Muslim community of Christchurch, New Zealand, and the world. Some of the people attending the two mosques were born in New Zealand, while others were born overseas, with some being refugees.
I still feel sad and ashamed for the families having to travel; especially from other countries to mourn their loved ones, because they should have been safe here in New Zealand. They should’ve been, and it was disgusting and unforgivable.
Besides the location, a place of worship like a mosque, church, synagogue, or temple, should be a place of safety and protection for people. It still upsets me that this evil act of hatred was committed, not just against Muslims, or Christchurch or New Zealand, but it happened at all.
My experiences of feeling shame and sadness towards the attacks are also deeply connected to my anger and rage.
I’m still angry someone was able to amass a collection of firearms of that magnitude with ease.
I’m angry that he was able to livestream the first shootings on Facebook.
I’m angry that a white migrant shot and killed other migrants because they were from a different ethnic background to him.
I’m angry that the gunman believed in the conspiracy theory of the Great White Replacement. Long-time followers and readers of this account will understand my views towards conspiracy theorists and the garbage they peddle.
I’m angry that it happened in New Zealand, and of course, Christchurch.
I’m angry not only for the Muslims in Christchurch, New Zealand, and around the world, but also for the Muslims where I live.
I’m angry that this evil act empowered supporters of conspiracy theories, the alt-right, and anti-Islam groups in New Zealand to speak up.
I’m angry for the victims and their families because this should not have happened.
And I’m angry as a white, straight non-Muslim New Zealand male. This country has been slowly working towards diversity and inclusion for over 170 years, so the whole thing is a nightmare.
Having said that, you can’t have light without the dark, and just like the Christchurch earthquakes, you can’t have dark without the light. The 15th of March 2019 was one of the worst days in living memory for my country, but it allowed hope and pride to take centre stage.
The way the city, country and government, rallied around the victims and their families, was and still is excellent.
The flowers, hakas, and tributes were wonderful.
The denouncing of hatred towards people of our community and country was powerful.
The work towards pressuring social media companies to regulate more of their content, especially around hate speech and livestreaming, was impressive.
Closing the gun law loopholes and making semi-automatic firearms illegal was swift and direct.
There were stories of bravery, love, compassion, and humanity that were uplifting.
The backlash over the upcoming film, detailing the shootings was glorious by the New Zealand public.
Ultimately, what gave me hope and made me proud as a New Zealander, was the amazing response to the shootings. The world looked at New Zealand at one of our lowest and darkest days, so we did what New Zealanders only know how to: we embraced the victims and families because they were us; and told hate groups to fuck off, because this event would not stop us from doing the right thing, as in being a nation of diversity and inclusion.
There are many other emotions I could talk about, but the main one that remains is frustration, which concerns what’s currently happening in New Zealand and around the world.
In New Zealand, our new government have said they are open to rolling back the assault weapons ban, “…because it punishes the good and responsible gun owners.”
Taking his cues from the President of the United States of America, our Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, wants to start an anti-woke crusade, to weed out DEI hires, because, according to him, diversity and inclusion are tools of the left.
Attacks and prejudice towards the LGBTQIA+ community are increasing the world over.
Because of Hamas’ actions, anti-Muslim attacks are rising, along with antisemitism, because of the actions of the Israeli government.
For all the optics, the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, seems to be at the very least, a Nazi-sympathiser.
The Great White Replacement conspiracy theory is still being pushed by popular anchors, hosts, and influencers.
People are still making racist jokes online and in person; along with spewing hate speech on social media platforms, with little or no recourse.
Fascism is being dragged into the 21st century for a reboot.
I feel frustrated, because to me, a lot of the lessons of tolerance, compassion, diversity and inclusion, surrounding the shootings, are getting lost in the noise of prejudice, hatred, nationalism and extreme behaviour; even here in New Zealand.
We have been slowly falling back into the mindset of, “…if another group of people are different from me, or if I don’t understand them, that makes them wrong.”
It’s frustrating to witness the tremendous efforts that have been made to rebuild and move forward from the shootings, been slowly eroded due to everyday life. The rise of disinformation, misinformation, conspiracy theories, and hate groups, along with various governments claiming that diversity and inclusion weaken us, is both disheartening and morally wrong.
We already have enough violence in Ukraine, Palestine, Congo, South Sudan, and Myanmar; we don’t need to add to it. We need to get back to educating our family, friends, and the public, that diversity, inclusion, tolerance, and compassion are strengths, and they are the glue that binds us together, not separating us. And we do this through actions, not just words.
I think that’s enough for today. I need my precious beauty sleep because my wrinkles are becoming deeper and wider. Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me.
Just like last week, please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, continue to tell Nazis to fuck off, and I’ll see you next week.
I know the last We Didn’t Start the Fire was released in December 2024, and you might have thought it was over. But just like Rambo, it’s never truly over. One day, this project will be finished—if I ever manage to write faster. However, that day is not today. So, without further ado, Some Geek Told Me proudly presents one of my least well-conceived ideas: discussing the historical references in We Didn’t Start the Fire.
For any unlucky readers who have missed the previous entries, the list is here:
We are well and truly committed to this insane project because this blog post is the ninth entry, which is tragic and hilarious, in equal measure. So, just like the eight previous entries, strap yourself in, because we are going back in time, to 1956 to be precise. Let’s go!
Credit: 68.media.tumblr.com
1956
Bardot
Our first historical reference is about the French actress, singer, and model, Brigitte Bardot. Bardot started acting in 1952, but in 1956, she starred in four movies; Naughty Girl, Plucking the Daisy, The Bride Is Much Too Beautiful, and And God Created Woman.
These films put the world’s spotlight on Bardot, which made her one of the first women to be given the name, sex kitten, which describes a woman who exhibits sexual aggression.
Bardot quickly became a global icon for sexual revolution, with And God Created Woman becoming the highest-grossing foreign film ever released in the United States at the time, earning $4 million. Bardot went on to a have a successful career in entertainment, and retired from the industry in 1973.
She also became involved with animal rights, setting up The Brigitte Bardot Foundation in 1986, for animal protection.
Some contemporary examples, although similar, but different, could be famous female actresses and animal rights activists like Alicia Silverstone or Evanna Lynch.
Bridget Bardot in the 1956 film “And God Created Woman.” Credit: Iéna Productions
Budapest
In 1956, the Hungarian People’s Republic was controlled and influenced by policies from the Soviet Union. Economic decline and political repression were slowly eating away at the country, so on 23rd October, university students and other citizens, began to protest in the capital city of Budapest. What happened next was known as the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, or the Hungarian Uprising.
They were against the Soviet Union’s policies and its influence on Hungary, and demanding Hungarian independence. The students clashed with the ÁVH (State Protection Authority), which was a special police group. These protests started a revolution across the country, but the Soviet Union started to push back.
On 4th November, Soviet tanks rolled into Budapest to end the uprising, which led to some infamous and iconic images, and by 11th November, the uprising was crushed. Soviet forces had brutally cracked down on the protests with over 30,000 troops and over 1,000 tanks.
The human cost of the failed revolution was 2,500-3,000 Hungarian citizens were killed, 13,000 were wounded, and 200,000 fled the country in exile. 26,000 people were arrested, with 22,000 sentenced and imprisoned, and 13,000 were interned. 229 people were executed. The Soviets suffered 722 killed and 1,540 wounded.
The revolution was famous around the world, not just for the brave actions of the students and citizens, but also for the awful and bloody response from the Soviet Union.
Some modern examples of revolutions and brutal crackdowns from oppressive governments include the Second Intifada with Palestine and Israel (2000-2005), the Arab Spring (2010-2012), the Tulip Revolution (2005), the Hong Kong protests (2019-2020), along with civil wars involving Syria, Libya, Yemen, and Sudan.
Though to be fair, I think the best/worst example would be the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.
The Soviet repression of the Hungarian Revolution saw T-54 tanks patrolling the streets of Budapest. Credit: Nagy Gyula
Alabama
Alabama refers to three events in 1956, with the first being the Montgomery bus boycott, in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. This was during the American Civil Rights movement, with the boycott centred on social and political protests, campaigning against racial segregation on the local public bus network.
The campaign lasted from 5th December 1955-20th December 1956, and it brought national and international attention to the cause, with the now famous Rosa Parks, an African-American woman, refusing to surrender her seat to a white person on a bus. This action led to her arrest.
The Montgomery bus boycott was a key moment in the civil rights movement, because the Montgomery Bus Line mandated that African-Americans were not to be employed as drivers, but were also forced to ride in the back of the bus, and were often ordered to give up their seats to white people. 75% of the bus system’s riders were African-Americans.
Reports detailed that many African-American passengers were assaulted on the buses, short-changed, treated poorly by the drivers, and sometimes were left stranded, even after paying their fare. The boycott led to the 1956 Supreme Court decision Browder v. Gayle, which ruled that Alabama’s segregation laws for buses were unconstitutional. Martin Luther King, Jr., the MIA’s (Montgomery Improvement Association) president, became a major civil rights leader because of the boycott.
The second event was on 10th April 1956. Tensions were running high, with some white men attacking Nat King Cole during a performance in Birmingham, Alabama.
The third event involved Autherine Lucy, who became the first African-American student to enrol at the University of Alabama. There were many riots protesting Lucy’s attendance at the university, but despite them, she continued to attend. Three days later, the university suspended her “for her own safety,” prompting the university’s president to resign in protest.
Montgomery Bus Boycott March. Credit: Socialist Alternative
Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which effectively meant he was the leader of the Soviet Union, from 1953 to 1964. Now if you cast your mind back to the 1953 blog post, you’ll remember that Joseph Stalin, the positive and uplifting Soviet Union leader, had died after 30 years in power, then Georgy Malenkov took his place. He only governed for 186 days, before Khrushchev had him removed.
On 25th February 1956, at the closed session of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Khrushchev gave a speech and report officially called, On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences. Unofficially, it became known as the Secret Speech. It was the speech that shook the world.
In this speech, Khrushchev did something unthinkable at the time; he started trash-talking Stalin. Even though Stalin had been dead for nearly three years, the Soviet Union had been altered, changed, influenced, and controlled by Stalin’s policies, over the course of decades.
Khrushchev was highly critical of Stalin and the way his followers still worshipped him. He also talked about the negative impacts of the purges, along with spitting out accusations and defamations towards the government.
Khrushchev wanted to introduce some reforms to the nation, which helped to kickstart the Soviet space programme, ease censorship policies, and have more open negotiations and discussions with Western leaders. In saying that, Khrushchev was in power when the Soviet Union went into Hungary to crush the uprising.
I can’t fully emphasise how important Khrushchev’s Secret Speech was, not just for the Soviet Union to move forward, but also to openly criticise the cult of Stalin and the damage Stalin had done to the country.
Drawing a contemporary comparison to the Secret Speech is challenging, as there have been numerous speeches delivered by leaders to their governments over the years, both public and private. With this in mind, I encourage you to make your own comparisons. A part of me believes that there may not be an equivalent to the Secret Speech, given its monumental impact—perhaps it is unparalleled.
Warsaw, March 1956, Polish print of the Secret Speech. Credit: Wikiwlh
Princess Grace
Grace Patricia Kelly was an American stage and screen actress, who gained international fame. She won an Academy Award, three Golden Globes and starred in classic movies like High Noon (1952), Dial M for Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954), and To Catch a Thief (1955), in addition to many television appearances.
While Kelly was at the Cannes Film Festival in 1955, with the world at her feet, she was invited to a photo session by Prince Rainier III of Monaco, at the Prince’s Palace of Monaco. From there, Kelly and Rainer started dating, and after a year, they were married, with two ceremonies occurring on the 18th April and 19th April 1956.
Kelly is on the list for two reasons; she retired from acting at age 26 years to marry Rainer, with High Society (1956) being her final film. The second reason was that by marrying Prince Rainier III, Kelly got a name upgrade, becoming the Princess of Monaco, though the public called her Grace of Monaco, or simply, Princess Grace.
A modern example of Grace Kelly would be (Rachel) Meghan Markle, the American actress. She married Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, of the British Royal family, on 19th May 2018. With this marriage, she became the Duchess of Sussex.
Grace Kelly, kneeing at the altar on her wedding day, April 1956. Credit: Getty Images
Peyton Place
This is the first and only book for 1956’s list. Peyton Place was written by Grace Metalious and was released in 1956. Peyton Place deals with a lot of issues, including abortion, adultery, lust, murder, incest and premarital sex, which were subjects that were quite taboo in 1956.
60,000 copies of the book were sold within the first ten days of release, and it remained for 59 weeks on The New York Times best seller list. The subject matter of the book divided many people, with some banning the book; or at least trying to ban it, because of the “shocking and disgusting” themes of the book. Other people were amazed at the material, and loved reading about the sex lives of people, living in a small New Hampshire town.
The book was a best-seller and helped to usher in the sexual liberation movement, along with Metalious’ other works in the franchise. For a 21st century equivalent, maybe Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed, by E. L. James, known as The Fifty Shades Trilogy.
Cover of the first edition of Peyton Place. Credit: Simon & Schuster
Trouble in the Suez
There is so much to this entry, I’ll try and cram it all in. The Suez Canal is a 193 km-long waterway, located in Egypt. It links the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, and by definition, Africa to Asia, and Europe to Asia. It is one of the busiest waterways in the world, with an average of 56 vessels traveling the canal per day. Construction on the Suez Canal started in 1859, and 10 years later in 1869, it was completed and opened.
I could be oversimplifying this, but the Suez Crisis, as it was called, started on 29th October 1956. At the time, the canal was operated by Egypt, with the backing of the United Kingdom and France. After the 1952 Egyptian revolution, our old friend, Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, from the 1953 blog post, was in power in 1956.
Basically, Egypt was flirting with the Soviet Union, so the United Kingdom and the United States got jealous of this, and removed their funding for the Aswan Dam. Nasser decided to play the game as well, and nationalised the canal on 26 July 1956, from the British and French company that controlled it.
He then transferred it to the Suez Canal Authority and closed the Straits of Tiran to all Israeli ships, because of the ill will of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War.
This was as popular as employing zombies as babysitters. The international community, namely the United Kingdom, France, and Israel invaded Egypt to take control of the Suez Canal. This become known as Second Arab–Israeli War, and lasted from 29th October to 7th November 1956. It didn’t last for long, but the damage was significant. At the end of the fighting, Egypt was still in control of the Suez Canal.
Pressure applied by the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Nations, along with Egypt’s war effort, forced the three countries to retreat. The war strengthened Nasser’s position in the Arab world, but it also humiliated the British and French invasions.
Their roles as the world’s superpowers had ended, with the United States and the Soviet Union, having emerged as the two prominent superpowers in the world.
The Suez Crisis resulted in 3,200 deaths, with 177 of those deaths on the Israeli side. The crisis also left around 5,500 people wounded and around 6,000 fighters taken hostage.
The legacy of the Suez Crisis is still being felt in 2025, which is covered by two current events. The first is about the Gaza Strip. At the time, Gaza was controlled by Egypt, after the First Arab–Israeli War.
During the invasion of Egypt, Israel gained control of the Gaza Strip and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Israeli forces held a four-month-long occupation of the region, before withdrawing, but not before winning freedom of navigation through the Straits of Tiran.
Years later, Israel recaptured and occupied the Gaza Strip and has never left. The Israeli military occupation of Gaza in 2025, is still relevant as it was with the wars in 1973, 1967 and 1956.
The second event is the escalating crisis concerning the Panama Canal. The United States government is demanding that the canal be handed over to them to ensure that the Panama Canal Authority is not influenced by China or other foreign countries and companies.
Will this be a repeat of the Suez Crisis, or can common sense and negotiation prevail? With the current US president, who the hell knows?
Credit: The Los Angeles Examiner
So for 1956, we covered a French actress, a failed revolution, a bus boycott, a speech, an American actress, a book, and a 10-day war. The more things change, the more they stay the same. 1957’s historical references are just as crazy as 1956, but that’s for next month.
And that’s it for another week. Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. I’m still lurking about on Twitter and Mastodon, so drop in to say hello.
Please remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, Slava Ukraini, and just like last time, go and tell a Nazi to fuck off. I’ll see you next week because I’m doing the Captain America: Brave New World: Movie preview. The preview should be terrible. Awesome.
Welcome back to New Zealand’s 5th least favourite website! I’ve had my break, so Some Geek Told Me is ready for 2025, with more incoherent rants and poorly written topics. I was going to start with something a lot more positive, but my OCD got the better of me.
You see, a certain 78-year-old convicted felon held a press conference the other day and made some fascinating and entertaining statements that were, in the nicest way possible, incorrect.
Before I stumble my way through this blog post, I need to go over something with you. A few weeks ago, I posted a blog about TIME’S Person of the Year. When talking about a certain 78-year-old convicted felon, I said,
“Any attention that man gets is good attention, because it means people are talking about him, and that’s what he wants. And we have all given it to him, which is why he has dominated the news cycle.
By ignoring his crazy rants and lies, along with his illegal dealings, we are condoning his behaviour; therefore, we are enabling him. By calling out his crazy rants and lies, along with his illegal dealings, he can play the “I’m a billionaire victim because the false news and the deep state are out to get me” card; therefore, we are enabling him.
He’s like a male succubus, but instead of feeding and living off sexual energy and activity, he thrives on communication. The more people discuss him, the stronger he becomes. His ego feeds off the attention.”
Moving forward into 2025 and beyond, I’m going to talk about him, without talking about him. I’m going to do this by doing two things:
If his behaviour is truly that terrible, I will name him. Otherwise, I will do my best to avoid naming him. Words have power, so I won’t give him any more attention than he needs or deserves, starting with his name.
If I discuss his antics, I won’t repeat the lies or absurdities; instead, I will provide a counterpoint or the truth to his unfounded claims. For instance, if he were to say, “We’re going to cure people of being gay because it’s a disease,” or “Vaccines are immoral and illegal,” or “Sour Cream and Chives is the greatest flavour in the world,” I will not echo the falsehoods.
Instead, I will explain that homosexuality is not a disease, vaccines are legal and one of humanity’s greatest inventions, and as for the last claim, I’ll make an emphatic argument in favour of Salt and Vinegar.
What I’m trying to say is that if he or anyone from the League of Losers makes a false statement or says something that’s utterly outrageous, I won’t repeat it here. Instead, I’ll counter with his kryptonite: facts and logic. Even if Mark Zuckerberg no longer agrees with it, I believe that #FactsMatter.
So, without further delay, let’s establish the facts over six things the famous 78-year-old convicted felon boasted about at his recent press conference concerning the Western Hemisphere. Someone is in big trouble for showing him either a globe or an atlas.
1.) There is no scientific evidence of any type to suggest that wind turbines hurt or kill whales, let alone drive them crazy.
Credit: ABC
2.) There is no criminal evidence of any type to suggest that Hezbollah were involved in the United States Capitol attacks and riots on 6th January 2021.
Rioters storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Credit: Ricky Carioti / The Washington Post via Getty Images file
3.) The Gulf of Mexico shares a border with Mexico, Cuba, and the United States. The gulf’s name first appeared on maps used by Spanish explorers from the 16th century. Apparently, there is a map that displays the name, Gulf of Mexico, from 1607.
No single individual can change the name of a body of water. Such a decision would need to be made by a recognised authority, like the International Hydrographic Organization. Even if the United States were to change the name from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, countries like Mexico, Cuba, and others around the world would not be obligated to adopt the new name.
Millions, if not billions of dollars would be wasted in changing maps, websites, and books to alter the name, which only one country on the planet would use. And there’s no guarantee it would last because the next administration could just change it back.
Map of the Gulf of Mexico. Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
4.) The Panama Canal, to everybody’s surprise, is located in Panama. It’s a shortcut that allows ships access to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, through the use of locks. Construction started in 1904 and was only finished in 1914, at a cost of roughly, at the time, US$500 million.
The waterway stretches 82 km, and it is vital to shipping and trade around the world. Yes, it is true that the United States did build the canal in Panama, through negotiations for economic, geopolitical, and strategic reasons, among others.
It’s also true that the United States owned and administered the Panama Canal, which was a very lucrative operation for them. That changed in the 1970s when President Jimmy Carter transferred the administration to a joint agency of the United States and Panama. Panama gained full control of the canal in 1999.
It’s been recently criticised that Carter was wrong and stupid for giving up control of the Panama Canal for nothing, but there were valid reasons for this.
Carter wanted to show the countries of Central and South America, that the United States was their friend and ally, not a bully. Basically, it was because of peaceful diplomacy.
The 1956 Suez Canal crisis, reinforced the notion that the world’s waterways should be neutral and for everybody; even communist countries like the Soviet Union and China, to prevent them from constructing their own canals.
The cost of keeping and maintaining the Panama Canal, especially since the introduction of nuclear silos, instead of deploying warships with nuclear weapons, meant that administering the canal outweighed the benefits.
The Panama Canal is owned by the Government of Panama, and operated by the Panama Canal Authority, not the Chinese Government. The United States has no legal right to annex the Panama Canal.
Map of the Panama Canal Credit: Thomas Römer
5.) Canada is the United States’ northern neighbour and shares the world’s longest international land border with them. Canada is made up of 10 provinces and 3 territories and has a population of about 40 million people. The country’s head of government is the Prime Minister, currently Justin Trudeau, but not for long; while the Governor General is Mary Simon, and the Monarch is King Charles III.
Although Canada and the United States are distinct independent sovereign countries, they share significant cultural and historical ties, as well as being crucial trading partners, allies, and friends. Both countries must address the harm done to Indigenous and First Nations peoples, but their relationships with the United Kingdom have varied. This has led the two countries into conflict with each other.
Having said that, the Dominion of Canada is not the United States of America, and the United States of America is not the Dominion of Canada. The United States has no legal right to annex Canada.
Canada is also a member of NATO, which means if the United States, a member of NATO itself, invades or attacks Canada, Canada could invoke Article 5 of the NATO charter, so all of the other charter NATO members will come to the defence of Canada, against the United States.
Map of Canada Credit: WorldAtlas
6.) Greenland is the world’s largest island at 2,166,086 km2 and has a population of 55,000 people. Greenland is physically and geographically closer to North America, but it is economically and politically tied to Europe, Denmark in particular.
Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark, but it has an interesting history because people have lived in Greenland for at least 4,500 years. However, in the context of the Greenland/Denmark debate, the following history is this:
In 1721, the first Danish settlement was established in Greenland.
In 1814, the Treaty of Kiel (Unification with Denmark) brought Greenland formally under Danish control.
In 1940, Nazi Germany invaded and occupied Denmark, cutting links to Greenland. The United States steps in and administers the island.
In 1945, after Nazi Germany’s surrender, Denmark is given control back over Greenland, but the United States kept a base of operations there.
In 1949, Denmark joined NATO.
In 1953, having integrated with Denmark and representation in the Danish parliament, the citizens of Greenland were also citizens of Denmark.
From 1979-2008, Greenland attains home rule and greater autonomy.
Simply put, Greenland has autonomy, but it has limits and restrictions, as it’s still formally under Danish control. There has been a push for greater autonomy for Greenland, in the form of independence, over the last decade.
Having said that, the United States has no legal right to annex Greenland, and just like Canada, if it did, Denmark could invoke Article 5 of the NATO charter, so all other charter NATO members would come to the defence of Denmark, against the United States.
Now why this 78-year-old convicted felon said those inaccurate statements, could be boiled down to five things:
a.) He made up some of those things on the spot to sound powerful and important, forgot what he said, read about what he said, and then talked about what great ideas they were, so he’ll take the advice and follow them through.
b.) He knows how to gaslight and scare people and the media, so he has no intention to follow through with any of them. He’s saying it because he can, just for shits and giggles since there is no such thing as bad attention for him. He loves and craves the drama.
c.) He’s serious about some of them, and less so about the others, but it’s the media’s job to figure out which ones are which.
d.) He’s honestly going to invade Canada, annex Greenland and the Panama Canal, and rename the Gulf of Mexico.
e.) The whole thing is a distraction, to stop people from realising that his campaign promises will go unfulfilled, like ending the war in Palestine and Ukraine quickly, decreasing the cost of groceries and fuel, and increasing employment.
Credit: BBC
As for the correct answer, take your pick, because maybe he doesn’t even know. Anyway, buckle up because the next four years will be chaos.
That’s another rant for another week. Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Please be generous and donate to the aid and refugee funds for the conflicts in Sudan, Palestine, and Ukraine, as well as for the emergency responses in Tibet and California.
Look after yourself and I’ll see you next week, because nobody’s favourite Tour of the Solar System is back!
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