Browsing: Crime

A Brief History On July 20, 1304, the forces of King Edward I of England successfully took Stirling Castle during the First War of Scottish Independence.  Although the Scots would ultimately maintain their independence, key to the English victory was the intimidating-sounding “Warwolf,” allegedly the largest trebuchet ever made.  This mighty siege engine catapulted rocks or other projectiles up to 300 pounds and was capable of battering down the walls of any castle.   We used this event to precipitate our article in 2015, “Weapons with Cool Names!”  We discussed the “importance” of giving your weapons and weapon systems cool names…

A Brief History On July 12, 1917, the local sheriff deputized 2,000 men as a posse to do the dirty work for the local mining company, called Phelps Dodge Corporation, and forcibly and illegally “deported” 1,300 people to New Mexico.  The deported people were striking miners and their supporters, most of which were Mexican Americans.  Echoes of this shameful event are evident today when we are on the precipice of another announced mass round up and deportation of undocumented (i.e., “illegal”) Mexicans from the United States, to be conducted legally by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) at the…

A Brief History On July 20, 2012, Aurora, Colorado was the site of the third largest mass shooting in terms of number of casualties in United States history at the time, now the eighteenth largest, and the second-deadliest shooting in Colorado after the 1999 Columbine High School massacre.  The shooting occurred just after midnight, when James Eagan Holmes opened fire during the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises in a Century movie theater, killing 12 people and injuring 70 others.  Although widely known for this tragedy, Aurora, Colorado also counts among the 60 largest cities in the United States, with a population greater than such cities as Pittsburgh, Buffalo or Salt Lake City, but lacks…

A Brief History On July 4, 1987, justice came late, but better than never, when Nazi German war criminal, Klaus Barbie, known as the “Butcher of Lyon” was sentenced to life in prison for his crimes.  A member of the SS and officer of the dreaded secret police, the Gestapo, Barbie was known to personally torture prisoners while in charge of the Lyon, France, Gestapo station during World War II.  Despite fierce French animosity toward this monster, the United States intelligence apparatus helped Barbie escape Europe for Bolivia, South America, where the US used him as an anti-Marxist agent.  Barbie…

A Brief History In 1923, The Highway Traffic Act (HTA) (the Act), which regulates the licensing of vehicles, classification of traffic offences, administration of loads, classification of vehicles, and other transport related issues, was first introduced in Ontario, Canada to deal with increasing accidents during the early years of motoring.  It goes without saying, that different countries have different traffic rules and regulations. It may, therefore, be a challenge for newcomers and visitors of certain destinations, especially major cities when trying to adapt to new traffic rules. In addition to this, familiarizing yourself with different traffic rules will also help…