Browsing: Politics

A Brief History On January 21, 2019, the citizens of the United States of America celebrate another national holiday, this one in remembrance of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., an icon of the Civil Rights Movement.  Unfortunately, not everyone has honored Reverend King’s legacy in a commendable way this past month.  Yet, those who have disrespected Reverend King are but some of our fellow citizens who have disappointed our society in various ways in January 2019.  Although we have nearly a third of the month of January yet to go, we feel compelled to list “Jerks of the Month”…

A Brief History On January 18, 1884, Welsh physician Dr. William Price attempted to cremate the remains of his infant son, Jesus Christ Price, who had died of natural causes at the age of 5 months.  A believer and proponent of the ancient Druid religion, Price believed burying dead people would somehow “pollute” the earth, and therefore dead people should be cremated.  In Britain at the time, there were strong mores against cremation and as such an angry mob developed when Price was conducting the open-air cremation on a hilltop.  The mob swarmed the doctor and prevented the cremation, starting…

A Brief History On January 16, 27 BC, the Roman Senate conferred upon Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus the title “Augustus,” effectively making Augustus Caesar the first Roman Emperor, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire.  While previously the Romans had indeed conquered many lands, their government had been a Republic and run by the Senate until Gaius Julius Caesar (the man usually referred to as simply Julius Caesar) became Dictator of Rome, sort of a de facto king or emperor.  If you notice the similarity in names between Julius and Augustus, you can be assured this is not coincidental. Digging…

A Brief History On January 7, 2015, a day celebrated by millions of Eastern Orthodox Christians (Greek Catholic, Russian Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic, etc) as Christmas Day, France was stunned by a vicious terrorist attack on the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper offices that left 12 people dead and another 11 wounded.  The incident was a case of misguided Islamic extremism fueled by religious outrage over the politically incorrect newspaper’s penchant for poking fun at anyone and everyone, including the Prophet Muhammad.   Outrage over the terrorist attack and murders vis-à-vis the assault on free speech spurred the phrase, “Je suis Charlie,” French…

A Brief History On January 6, 2017, an American citizen and veteran of the War in Iraq opened fire at the Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport in Broward County, Southern Florida with a legally purchased and owned pistol, killing 5 people and injuring another 6 before surrendering to police.  While it is not unusual for mass shooters to either be assessed as mentally ill or to at least seem (to the general public) to be mentally ill, the convoluted path through mental illness to a tragic mass murder in this case is particularly disturbing.  While we describe the course of this…