A Brief History On September 29, 2017, the news media are buzzing about the revelation made public by CNN yesterday that not only did the Russians buy targeted Facebook ads in an attempt to influence the 2016 American presidential election, they also posted disinformation posing as Black Lives Matter sympathizers in an effort to create divisive rifts in US race relations.  Posing as “Blacktivists” the Russians also used Twitter and blogs to destabilize race relations in the US. Digging Deeper The so called “Internet Research Agency,” a front for a Russian government backed “troll farm” posted the ads and false…

A Brief History On September 29, 1940, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) experienced the most astounding incident of airplanes colliding in mid-air, becoming locked together, and then safely landing.  Incredibly, no crew member of either plane was killed! Digging Deeper At the RAAF No. 2 Service Flying Training School at Station Forest Hill, New South Wales, Australia (near Wagga Wagga if that helps), pilots and navigators learned to fly CAC Wirraway (single engine) and Avro Anson (twin engine) airplanes. The Anson was a derivation of the Avro 652 airliner, that served as a general purpose airplane before and during…

A Brief History On September 28, 551 BC, Chinese philosopher Confucius was born, a life started that would have a major influence on billions of people for centuries to come.  Considered by some (Daoists or Taoists) to be a deity, Confucius was a teacher, editor, and politician as well as a philosopher. Digging Deeper First off, the Confucius is a Latinized/Anglicized version of his Chinese name, Kong Fuzi.  He was born near what is now Qufu, China, and his father died while Kong was still a child.  Kong’s mother also died fairly young, and Kong was married at the age…

A Brief History On September 27, 2001, the chilling reality that a mass shooting could happen anywhere, at any time, became apparent when a deranged Swiss citizen walked into the Zug Canton Parliament building and started shooting Swiss legislators.  By the time the massacre was over, 15 were dead (including the gunman) and 18 were injured. Digging Deeper Switzerland is a relatively peaceful country that has been neutral on the world stage since the Reformation, jealously guarding their neutrality and independence by armed vigilance.  The last major conflicts in Switzerland were the invasion by Napoleon’s French Army and the Civil War…

A Brief History On September 26, 2017, we look back on the past week and marvel at just how much a jerk a human being can be.  Today, we will briefly discuss a few of those people.  Who would you nominate? Digging Deeper The biggest jerk of the week is Emanuel Kidega Samson, a 25 year old body builder from the Sudan, who went to his former church, Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch, Tennessee and shot the place up, killing one person and injuring another seven people.  A brave usher, Robert Engle age 22, confronted the gunman and…