Browsing: Society

A Brief History On October 19, 1943, a French cargo ship that had been seized by Germany in 1942, was sunk by USAAF North American B-25 Mitchell and RAF Bristol Beaufighter bombers near Crete, taking 2,098 Italian soldiers being held as POWs to a watery grave. Digging Deeper The Italians had surrendered to the Allies in September of 1943, and the Germans were faced with considerable numbers of Italian military forces alongside German forces.  The Germans decided to give the Italian soldiers the choice of either serving alongside their German comrades just as before the surrender, or to assume the…

A Brief History On October 17, 2018, the recreational use of Marijuana was legalized in Canada.  Call it Cannabis, Hemp, Pot, Weed or whatever, for decades the “herb” was illegal in most industrialized nations. Digging Deeper Going back to 1378, the Emir of the Joneima in Arabia outlawed Marijuana and its derivatives, and Napoleon did the same for the French in 1800.  Other countries followed, including Mexico in 1920, Canada in 1923, Britain in 1928, and the USA in 1937. Now, almost a century later, the tide has turned, and many States and countries have legalized Weed for medical or…

A Brief History On October 16, 2008, Ohio handyman Samuel “Joe” Wurzelbacher was all the rage among supporters of Senator John McCain’s bid for the presidency.  McCain mentioned this “average Joe” several times in the previous night’s debate, and “Joe the Plumber” became an instant national celebrity. Digging Deeper As it turned out, Wurzelbacher’s first name was not Joe, and he was not even a licensed plumber in Ohio.  Wurzelbacher had told candidate Barack Obama that he was a plumber thinking about starting his own business, a patently false scenario.  Joe the Plumber was not even employed at the time! …

A Brief History On October 12, 1973, soon to be disgraced President Richard Nixon nominated US Representative Gerald Ford to replace Vice President Agnew who had resigned due to a criminal scandal.  Ford became Vice President without having run for that office, and in August of 1974 he ascended to the presidency, the only US President not elected either President or Vice President. Digging Deeper Ford was born Leslie King, Jr., in Nebraska in 1913, but his parents divorced less than a year later, and Ford’s name was changed when his mother remarried.  A graduate of the University of Michigan…

A Brief History On October 11, 2023, in the Middle East and around the world, many feel a sense of anxiety over what will happen next in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Digging Deeper The war began on October 7, 2023 with a combined land, air, and sea assault on Israeli territory by Hamas rockets and militants from the Palestinian controlled Gaza Strip.  The invading Palestinian terrorists attacked Israeli soldiers and civilians, massacring perhaps over 1,000 victims, wounding thousands more, and abducting perhaps hundreds in horrifying scenes of atrocities shared across various social media platforms as can be…