Browsing: Society

A Brief History On August 17, 2017, the great Catalonian city of Barcelona, Spain was the scene of a mass murder perpetrated by Islamic extremist terrorists, and firearms were not the primary weapon that killed 16 innocent victims.  The primary weapon used in the terror attacks was the motor vehicle as driven into pedestrians, a deadly weapon in the wrong hands. Digging Deeper This outrage was committed by a terrorist group of 8 Islamic extremists and conducted in Barcelona, a major city of 1.6 million people, with a metropolitan area population of over 5 million.  (Note: The author has been…

A Brief History On August 14, 1480, during the protracted Battle of Otranto in Southern Italy, a siege of the city between the Ottoman Turks and the Italian defenders of their homeland, the Ottomans, who of course were of the Islamic faith, took 800 Christian Italians hostage and gave them a choice, convert to Islam or be executed.  The Italian Christians chose not to renounce their faith, and in turn beheaded by the Ottomans.  Sadly, this terrible incident is but one of many in which one side or the other has attempted to use force upon other people to cause…

A Brief History On August 12, 1676, John Alderman, known as a “Praying Indian” because he was a Native American converted to Christianity, shot and killed Chief Metacomet of the Wampanoag people, thus ending the conflict known as King Phillip’s War. Digging Deeper King Phillip’s War, known also by a bewildering array of other names, including Metacom’s War, The First Indian War, Metacomet’s War, Pometacomet’s Rebellion, and Metacom’s Rebellion, was a conflict that lasted from June 20, 1675 until the death of Metacomet in 1676, although some fighting continued in the Northern areas of British colonies until April of 1678. …

A Brief History On August 10, 2020, the people of the United States, notably those involved in the news media and those prospective Democratic or Independent voters that may or may not choose to give former Vice President Joe Biden the nod for President based on his judgement in choosing an appropriate Vice Presidential running mate, eagerly await Biden’s announcement about his choice for Vice President. Having already promised to choose a woman as his running mate, Biden has already demonstrated a disregard for choosing the “best available candidate” by eliminating all men from consideration.  With many suitable women available…

A Brief History On August 7, 1987, an American woman named Lynne Cox, age 30, swam all the way from the United States to the Soviet Union, through ice cold water!  Cox’s swim was a good will gesture during the latter stages of the Cold War between the USSR and its (communist) allies and the United States and its allies.  The successful swim was later given credit for helping to “thaw” relations between the US and USSR, though we doubt the swim helped thaw out Cox! Digging Deeper As far as notable long distance swims go, this particular one was…