Browsing: Society

A Brief History On the evening of July 14, 2016, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, an African-born Islamist immigrant to France, deliberately drove a 19-tonne cargo truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France killing 84 people and injuring more than 300.  Bouhlel was then shot and killed by hero police.  Due to his high number of victims, Bouhlel is unquestionably the most despicable scumbag of the year so far. Digging Deeper This loser was a Tunisian living in Nice, France and at age 31 was divorced with 3 kids.  According to his father, Mohamed was not religious, but…

A Brief History On July 14, 2004, Robert Novak of the Washington Post exercised irresponsible journalistic ethics by publishing an article outing Valerie Plame as a CIA operative. Digging Deeper Plame was the wife of Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a career diplomat that had been the US Ambassador to a few minor countries and had served other diplomatic roles.  Plame, who was already a CIA agent when she married Wilson, was used to good advantage by the CIA with her husband providing diplomatic cover. All that changed when Wilson angered the administration of George W. Bush by publicly opposing the expected invasion of…

A Brief History On July 14, 1881, the outlaw known as Billy the Kid was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett in New Mexico.  The Kid was a wild one, having killed at least 8 men and possibly many more (legend says 21) by the time he was 21 years old.  The West was called Wild for a reason.  Outlaws and rough justice were the way of life and battles between ranchers, rustlers, cattlemen, and robbers were not rare.  Here we list 10 of the wildest of the characters that made the West Wild.   Digging Deeper 10. Apache Kid. Named…

A Brief History On July 13, 1863, New Yorkers angry about military conscription (draft) started 3 days of rioting that would go down in history as the worst US riot ever. Digging Deeper White New Yorkers, largely poor Irish immigrants, could not afford to buy their way out of the draft like rich people could.  Nor could they afford to pay someone else to take their place, and they cared little one way or another about the issue of African slavery.  African Americans were not subject to the draft, further inflaming rage against them. With the Emancipation Proclamation of January…

A Brief History On July 12, 1561, St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow was consecrated.  It would go on to become one of the most famous religious structures in the world and remains so to this day.  Here we list 10 of the most famous religious structures, not in a scientific order but the order as we think of them.  (Apologies to St. Basil’s, St. Patrick’s, Westminster Abbey, and your local parish.) Digging Deeper 10. Lotus Temple, India. Not the primary temple of the Baha’I faith, but what a beautiful building!  As this faith is the youngest listed here, this building…