Category Archives: History

9/11, ten years on.

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure.  Helen Keller They who can give … Continue reading

Posted in History, Politics | 2 Comments

Two MIllion, Six Hundred Thirty Thousand, Eight Hundred and Eighty Minutes

As Keith Olbermann would say, today marks the 1827 day since the declaration of “Mission Accomplished” in Iraq. 1827 days. 365 days x 5 + 2 leap days = five years. How do you measure the years? In inches of … Continue reading

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A reminder

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, … Continue reading

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The Reason For the Day

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which … Continue reading

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By this vote we honor…

Most states have instituted a “Vote in Honor of a Veteran” program. People decide to vote in memory and to honor the service of specific members of the armed forces who have served overseas. This is a great idea: men … Continue reading

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This morning, in several different places, I have been faced with people who have scorned the grief I and others have felt over yesterday’s Military Commissions vote. America has never lived up to “ideals,” they say — usually followed a … Continue reading

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A Debt We Owe.

On August 26, 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment was certified as having been ratified, and signed into law. Three years earlier, in October, 1917, Alice Paul was sentenced to seven months in the D.C. Jail for obstructing traffic on sidewalks. She … Continue reading

Posted in Feminism, History, Justice | 4 Comments

Little known heroes of American history, #37592

On August 18, 1920, the Tennessee legislature engaged in a fierce debate over the Anthony Amendment, which would give women the right to vote. Thirty-five other states had ratified the amendment, and if Tennessee followed suit, it would be enshrined … Continue reading

Posted in Feminism, History | 2 Comments

I have not been blogging much about the Middle East because a) other people are doing a much better job of it and I have nothing to add that would add much light to it and b) it’s very hard … Continue reading

Posted in History, Justice, The World | 1 Comment

Justitia fiat coelum (“Let justice be done though the Heavens may fall.”) — Edwin Horton’s grandfather’s motto In 1933, Judge James Edwin Horton, Jr. supervised the second trial, conviction, and sentencing to death of Heywood Patterson, one of the Scottsboro … Continue reading

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I swear to tell…

It is a very famous story. In his memoir, Life á la Henri, famed chef Henri Charpentier tells the story of how in 1896, when serving Edward, the Prince of Wales, dessert crepes, he accidentally caught the sauce on fire. … Continue reading

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