A major sea change: why COVID-19 is a turning point in history. So, it is the end of March 2020, and many of us are sequestered in our homes, trying not to get the virus that’s now sweeping the globe… Read More ›
history
On This Day: A Royal Duke Drowned in Wine – Alli Templeton
On this day, 18th February in 1478, a royal duke was executed for treason at the Tower of London. George, duke of Clarence was the brother of King Edward IV, but the relationship between the royal siblings had been fraught…
NOT EXACTLY A NORMAN ROCKWELL THANKSGIVING
For those of you who think Norman Rockwell only painted idealized images of white people, he didn’t. His idealized images are popular, but he painted many other, harder-edged pictures. The soft and sweet ones were done for magazines who would… Read More ›
THE JONESTOWN MASSACRE REDUX IN 2020
This is the anniversary of the slaughter at Jonestown. It’s 42 years later and still, we have not learned the lesson that slavishly following lying leaders can be deadly. If nothing else, this has got to be an object lesson… Read More ›
THE AMERICAN WAY
2019 and It’s here! The Republican Convention — the big show for which we’ve been waiting, the hottest party to hit Cleveland since 1997 when the Sox won the American League Pennant but lost the Series. The first day wasn’t… Read More ›
THE RABBIS BY THE WESTERN WALL
My favorite place in Jerusalem was the Western Wall, sometimes incorrectly called the “Wailing Wall.” In Hebrew, it’s Kotel — it rhymes with motel. I used to go to the Kotel to pray and leave messages for God. I loved the… Read More ›
PLUTOCRACY OR OLIGARCHY? THE UGLY CHOICE OF THIS UPCOMING ELECTION
We live in a country full of shallow, if not outrightly stupid people. They watch “the news” and believe it’s all lies because an orange-skinned bloke says so. As a woman whose husband was a television news reporter for more… Read More ›
ALL TOYS PLEASE REMAIN IN THE ATTIC – GARRY ARMSTRONG
The phone rang. The caller ID flashed, showing one of Boston’s two major newspapers. I figured it was the sales department. I handed the phone to Marilyn. I heard Marilyn respond “yes” several times and was puzzled. We didn’t need… Read More ›
THE LITTLE WELSH CASTLE OF A GREAT WELSH PRINCE – ALLI TEMPLETON
Last week I realised that it was exactly a year ago that I completed my Welsh Castle Quest, and I’ve been looking back through that epic journey and all the adventure and discovery it entailed. After the Quest, we stayed… Read More ›
THE END OF THE REPUBLIC
Imperium, by Robert Harris Random House Sep 7, 2010 Fiction – 496 pages It’s déjà vu all over again as we travel back with author Robert Harris to Republican Rome just before it became Imperial Rome. In America, we complain of corruption. Lying… Read More ›
DOOMSDAY BOOK BY CONNIE WILLIS
I read this for the first time when it was first published in 2008. It wasn’t available as an audible book yet, though it would be soon. So my first reading was words on paper. It’s the story of the… Read More ›
INTRODUCING THE POTATO – BY ELLIN CURLEY
When we celebrate the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus on Columbus Day, we should also be celebrating Columbus’s discovery of the potato. More accurately, Columbus’s introduction of the potato from the New World to the Old World. This introduction… Read More ›
