During long automobile trips our family sometimes sang songs to pass the time. Often they were silly, repetitive ballads that seemed to go on forever. One such song went like this: Thirteen men in a boarding house bed. Roll over, roll over. They all rolled over when anyone said, Roll over, roll over. One […]
The Protestant Reformation began with Martin Luther’s letter to his bishop on October 31, 1517, in which he enclosed 95 theses protesting the sale of indulgences. There is the well-known story that he also posted these theses on the door of a church in Wittenberg, but some scholars doubt the veracity of that account. What […]
The term “trick or treat” did not come into common usage in the United States until sometime after World War II. As a young boy growing up in the 1930s, however, I remember that Halloween tricks (without treats) were not uncommon. Young boys would roam the neighborhoods, often dressed in outlandish costumes, and do all […]
Last week I was involved in a brief discussion about the concept of morality and what effect it should have on our actions as a nation state. In other words, are we to be guided more by principles of what is right and just, or must national self-interest be the deciding factor. The subject was […]
Over the centuries various means were used to put condemned persons to death. Some methods were quite horrific, and they were specifically designed so that the victim would suffer long and agonizing pain before death. Crucifixion, impalement, burning at the stake, being thrown to the wild animals, and being drawn and quartered were among those […]
In 1692 and 1693 there were a series of trials in Massachusetts for people accused of witchcraft. More than 200 people were accused, and nineteen were found guilty and executed. Another person was tortured to death for refusing to plead guilty or innocent. It was perhaps the most notorious case of mass hysteria in American […]
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear two capital punishment cases during this session. Slowly, inexorably, capital punishment is being eliminated. Most western nations have abandoned the practice, and many American states no longer impose it. Liberal opinion today is definitely against it, and conservatives have mixed opinions. The present situation in the United States […]
It was battered and scarred, and the auctioneer thought it scarcely worth his while to waste much time on the old violin, but he held it up with a smile. “What am I bidden, good folk?” he cried, “Who’ll start the bidding for me? “A dollar – a dollar – then two, only two — […]
We have driven the Brett Kavanaugh controversy into the ground. Thank the Lord that the confirmation fight is over. Over the weekend, however, I received an e-mail from a granddaughter to which she had attached a video presentation by a left-leaning commentator. The fellow made a reasonably rational presentation, so I listened to him. Now, […]
This little piece of trivia is something I read many years ago. I copied it at the time, but I failed to note the original source. Appropriately, the subtitle was “Really Being in a Rut.” The U.S. standard railroad gauge (the distance between the rails) is 4 feet 8.5 inches. That’s an exceedingly odd number. […]
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