I don’t have much to say about this, even though it happened in my lifetime. It is hard to discuss, not only because it did not entire my psyche (I was only 12 when South Vietnam declared unconditional surrender), but also because the subject is so big. What to talk about — what angle? The fact that America lost a … Read More
40 Years Ago: The Fall Of Saigon
Hubert Vanes: I was fortunate enough to take a photograph that has become perhaps the most recognizable image of the fall of Saigon – you know it, the one that is always described as showing an American helicopter evacuating people from the roof of the United States Embassy. Well, like so many things about the Vietnam War, it’s not exactly … Read More
New World Trade Center Elevators Are Awesome
It’s opening soon. When you take the elevators to the observatory atop One World Trade Center, you’re going to be in for a treat. An animated time lapse in all 5 elevators shows the development of the city’s skyline, from the 1500s to today from the perspective of your exact spot inside One World Trade Center. Watch:
Deepwater Horizon Disaster, Five Years Ago Today
Let’s have a look back at the nation’s worst-ever oil spill, by the numbers:
Twenty Years Ago Today
Carried out by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, the Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building killed 168 people and injured more than 680 others. The blast destroyed or damaged 324 buildings within a 16-block radius, destroyed or burned 86 cars, and shattered glass in 258 nearby buildings, causing at least an estimated $652 million worth of damage. The bombers were tried and convicted in 1997. … Read More
150 Years Ago Today
150 years ago today, in the play “Our American Cousin”, the actor Henry Hawks uttered the line, “Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, old gal, you sockdologizing old man-trap!” It was the biggest laugh line of the show. “Sockdologize” was a slang term which became very popular in the United States during the 1850’s and … Read More
Why Don’t We Celebrate Civil War Holidays?
The Civil War ended 150 years ago today. Why do most people not know this? Jay Elias writes why: The battles surrounding the Civil War are still with us. Right now, there is an active campaign in this country to persuade Americans that the opposition to so-called Religious Freedom Acts in Indiana and Arkansas are a new fight, the latest … Read More
King Richard III Buried
England’s slain King Richard III, exhumed from an undignified grave under a car park, was finally buried with honor today, 530 years after his death on the battlefield. In a ceremony filled with pageantry and poignancy, a coffin containing his bones were lowered into the ground at Leicester Cathedral in central England as thousands of well-wishers gathered outside. “We return … Read More
Lyndon Johnson Was Prescient
Long ago, President Lyndon Johnson explained how this conservative schtick works: If you can convince the lowest white man that he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll even empty his pockets for you. The Fox News business model, ladies and gentlemen.
Story of The Day
A salute to this guy: An 89-year-old WW2 veteran who was banned by his nursing home from going to France for the D-Day commemorations sneaked out and went anyway. The pensioner left the Hove home at 10:30 BST on Thursday and was reported missing in the evening, police said. The nursing home received a call from a younger veteran later … Read More
Rewriting The Civil War
Heritage Foundation Leader Jim DeMint: DeMint: This progressive, the whole idea of being progressive is to progress away from those ideas that made this country great. What we’re trying to conserve as conservative are those things that work. They work today, they work for young people, they work for minorities and we can change this country and change its course … Read More
Head Explode
Christian conservatives are complaining about the new Russell Crowe action movie "Noah" because it does not accurately depict the real-life flood as written in the Bible. Oy. By the way, has anyone answered the question as to where all the flood waters went? I mean, the whole planet was covered in water — higher than the highest mountain. Where did all … Read More
Thinking Of Pete
A piece of Pete Seeger's congressional testimony before the House Unamerican Activities Committee in 1955: MR. TAVENNER: The Committee has information obtained in part from the Daily Worker indicating that, over a period of time, especially since December of 1945, you took part in numerous entertainment features. I have before me a photostatic copy of the June 20, 1947, issue … Read More
RIP Nelson Mandela
This is one of those passings when all the superlatives coming out of the radios and TV and on the Intertubes are fitting. Not only did Nelson Mandela live an incredible life (although 27 years of it were in prison), but he touched literally billions. I was one of them. In my college years, there were two political issues which … Read More
Those Who Don’t Laugh At The Past Are Forced To Repeat It
So this happened in 1919: Panorama of the Molasses Disaster site On January 15th, 1919, in what was probably the most bizarre disaster in United States' history, a storage tank burst on Boston's waterfront releasing two million gallons of molasses in a 15 ft-high, 160 ft-wide wave that raced through the city's north end at 35mph destroying everything it touched. … Read More