Since I started producing this blog, I have accumulated a lot of information and trivia. Today, I am combining some of that intelligence and knowledge into a post that I hope you will find interesting, if not enlightening. I will begin with something Mark Twain once said: “Nothing spoils a good …
This is a repost of commentary I did a few years ago about the skills my great-grandparents had that few people have today. When I examine what life was like in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from about 1885 to 1905, I am amazed at how self-reliant and …
As I was surfing The Internet the other day, I came across an article that discussed crime and punishment in Europe during the Middle Ages. It pointed out that between 500 A.D. and A. D. 1500, punishment for most crimes in Europe was often performed in public. “Performed” is the …
History is important. It is a road map to our past. It takes us to places and times that can teach us important lessons about ourselves and those who came before us. It helps us understand our nation—its strengths and assets, as well as its weaknesses and imperfections. But when …
Ever since Donald Trump promised to seal our southern border with a massive border wall, his Democrat opponents and others who believe in open borders insisted walls don’t work. They incessantly pooh-poohed the very idea of a physical barrier and called Trump’s border wall a fiasco. They were wrong. Allow …
At its height in the 1920s, the British Empire was the largest empire the world had ever known—surpassing even the Roman Empire. In fact, the British Empire was so far-flung it was said that “the sun never sets on the British Empire” because its global span guaranteed that the sun …
Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism, Racism! There. I‘ve said it 39 times. I could say it another …
The good news is that Claudine Gay has resigned as Harvard’s president. The bad news is that she is still on the faculty, drawing a $900,000 annual salary and teaching students. The world knows that Gay’s downfall began during a House hearing on the rise in campus antisemitism related to …
Today, I am turning my blog over to Erin Geary, a fellow Substack columnist, who has penned a wonderful reflection on the tradition of making (usually futile) New Year’s resolutions. Enjoy! Now Is Not The Time To Play Possum: Making New Year’s Eve Resolutions for 2024 By Erin Geary We …
A “lexophile” is a lover of words–one who derives pleasure from the various uses of words, who appreciates the nuances surrounding different words, and who is alert to synonyms, antonyms, homophones, anagrams, palindromes, and homonyms, often using them for effect, sometimes in humor. The New York Times even holds an …