Author: Major Dan

A Brief History On October 22, 1983, the Federal Penitentiary at Marion, Illinois was the scene of a tragedy when inmates overpowered and killed two corrections officers in two separate incidents.  This terrible incident resulted in the concept of the “Supermax” prison, short for “super-maximum security” in the United States Federal prison system (Bureau of Prisons).  The idea is to provide secure housing for the “worst of the worst,” prisoners that are either so dangerous, represent such a tempting target to assassins, extreme escape risks, or ones that are a danger to national and/or international security. Digging Deeper The “supermax”…

A Brief History On October 21, 1966, at 9:15 in the morning, the little Welsh village of Aberfan was the scene of a bizarre disaster that combined natural and man-made elements that resulted in the deaths of 116 children and 28 adults.  The event, known as “The Aberfan Disaster,” was caused by the sudden failure of a “spoil tip” at the local coal mining yard. Digging Deeper (For those unfamiliar with such lingo, a “spoil tip,” also known as a “culm bank,” “boney pile,” or “gob pile,” is a waste area where the unwanted residue of coal mining operations is…

A Brief History On October 19, 2019, we celebrate another Saturday geared toward honoring our sweetest of our sweeties, another one of those “holidays” allegedly created by greeting card companies to sell greeting cards, but fun for the rest of us nonetheless! Digging Deeper Of course, we have previously discussed some of these made-up holidays, and had this to say about Sweetest Day: “Along with Mother’s Day and Father’s Day among others considered a “Hallmark Holiday” created commercially to sell candy and greeting cards, it was invented in Cleveland in 1921 by the newspaper, The Plain Dealer. MEN: DO NOT…

A Brief History On October 18, 1851, the Herman Melville classic, Moby Dick, was first published under its original or alternate title, The Whale.  Not surprisingly, a particular enormous Sperm Whale, that happens to be white in color, is the star of the story, never mind the human drama that interferes with the exciting whale parts!  People have often written books and stories about animals, whether those critters are loved pets, feared predators of humans, or just focusing on the animal as an individual persona.  Some of the stories are scary, some sad, some fictional and some really happened.  These…

A Brief History On October 18, 2019, movie audiences across the United States get what they have been waiting 10 YEARS for, the sequel to Zombieland!  Before we get into reviewing this film, let us preface our comments by saying that this reviewer originally believed Shaun of the Dead (2004) was the greatest zombie movie of all time, that is, at least until Zombieland came out in 2009.  Since both films are comedy oriented zombie movies, you can see where we are going with this.  We like funny zombie films, and it seems many of you do as well because…