Since most elected officials in Washington are on their traditional August vacation, I thought it might be fun to explore a tangential topic that’s making some headlines during the dog days of summer. And that would be the presence of aliens among us. No, not thousands streaming across our southern border every month, but the [...]
Does the name Eugene V. Debs ring a bell? You may recall from your high school American history days that Mr. Debs was the Socialist Party candidate for President in 1920. He got about 3% of the total popular vote, which was quite a lot for a third-party standard-bearer. But perhaps the most interesting thing [...]
Have you replaced all your old light bulbs yet? We’re supposed to be doing that, you know. Federal edicts decree that the tried-and-true incandescent bulbs that have been lighting the darkness for more than a century now will soon be banned. If you haven’t shopped for replacement bulbs lately and are in need, be ready [...]
Around the July 4th holiday every year, there’s often a local or national news report about a group of newly minted U.S. citizens. Usually, this is a diverse assemblage of people standing in a government office, raising their right hands, and swearing allegiance to their new country. Previous to this naturalization ceremony, there was a [...]
With every passing summer day in the good ol’ U.S. of A. seemingly comes news that somewhere along the fruited plains there are either monsoons or Sahara-desert heat waves occurring. If it’s not record-setting stretches of triple-digit temperatures in the Southwest, it’s twice the average annual rainfall in a day throughout New England. Plus various [...]
Have you ever watched Mike Rowe and his show Dirty Jobs? Oh, first of all, before I go any further, if you’re eating you might want to put down your fork and spoon. Sorry. Anyway, on his show, Rowe tackles some of the nastiest tasks on the planet that people actually get paid to do. According [...]
As we all learned in our American History courses (in my school system, that was 5th, 7th and 11th grades), the Declaration of Independence was written and signed during the meeting of the Second Continental Congress. You may recall that on June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed a resolution stating that, “These [...]
What do you know about Belarus? Can you find it on a map? (You know, that piece of paper that never folded up right yet helped get us from here to there before GPS?) Anyway, Belarus is a country located in Eastern Europe, which you can’t easily get to by water. To access any navigable [...]
Where, oh where is Hollywood when you need it? As potential scandals abound for past and present denizens of the cesspool known as Washington, D.C., it seems as if this might be a good time for a really juicy showbiz brouhaha to hit the front pages and set social media ablaze. If for no other [...]
Summertime. And the livin’ is . . . expensive. Whether it’s working moms and dads with kids to entertain, outdoor adventurers, travelers of all ages, and even those just craving an occasional excursion for a double scoop of ice cream from a local emporium, everybody can all tell that the price of having fun is [...]