Stories Short and Strange
17 short stories for general audiences ranging from the unusual to the unbelievable to the just plain strange.
Slavery and the Law in the Old South
There are many unusual angles to history. At certain key times, the weather, disease, or a simple personality quirk can make a profound difference in the outcomes of critical events. (Was Robert E. Lee having a heart attack during the Army of Virginia’s invasion of Maryland?) So it’s always fun to explore the niches and
The Shortest Geological Epoch on Record
Have you heard the latest from the world of science? We are entering a new epoch. For some 12,000 years, we have been living in the Holocene era, a stable and relative warm climate that has allowed the present world to develop. But on August 29, a working group of scientists at a meeting of
Half-Peace in Our Time?
Just before World War II, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain talked about “peace in our time.” He was wrong, of course. But maybe now we’re halfway there. August 29, 2016 was the official start of a ceasefire in Colombia between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, better known as the FARC. Thus
A Good-News Story About Refugees
I’ve been reading a book entitled The Greatest War Stories Never Told by Rick Beyer and I came across something worth sharing. In September, 1943, Adolf Hitler ordered Denmark’s Jewish population to be deported to the death camps. The logistics were put in place and more than a thousand German police and Gestapo moved into
How Much Does the President Really Matter?
In this very unusual political year, the electorate seems as polarized as it’s been since the Civil War. Many people feel dire things will happen if their candidate is not elected president. Which brings up the question, how much difference does a president make anyway? Remember our Founding Fathers distrusted government at least as much
Again, How Far We’ve Come — The Great Migration
Recently I commented on how far we’ve come regarding women’s suffrage. I’ve just found another reminder in a different area. The September, 2016 issue of Smithsonian magazine is devoted to African-American history and culture. One of the issue’s most fascinating articles is “The Long-Lasting Legacy of The Great Migration” by Isabel Wilkerson , when blacks
The Verdict on “Baby Think It Over”
Whenever I teach in middle school, it’s not unusual to see girls with babies. Not real babies (thankfully), but realistic dolls that mimic a child’s needs. Their job is to care for this doll as if it was alive, including middle-of-the-night demands. I don’t know how long the assignment lasts, but it’s a mandatory part
Women in Politics — How Far We’ve Come
We have come a long way in this country from our founding when we were being led by an exclusive group of white male landowners. There has been so much progress that accounts of how social conditions used to be can be quite jarring. In just my lifetime, we’ve gone from racism being an integral
Could There Be a Fifth Force of Nature?
There’s a lot about this world we still don’t understand. That includes theoretical physics (especially for me). Scientists recognize four fundamental natural forces. They are gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces found inside atoms. Could there be a fifth? Basically, maybe. On August 14, 2016, physicists at University of California, Irvine (UCI)
Origin of Common Expressions and the Flintlock
I’ve always been interested in the origins of some of our most common expressions. One explanation for “the whole nine yards” came from some World War II fighters carrying 27 feet (nine yards) of machine-gun ammunition. When they came back empty, the ground crew would exclaim “He gave them the whole nine yards.” I’ve just