Make Way for the Elephant Robert Emmett, Irish patriot, was hanged, drawn and quartered in Dublin, Ireland, convicted of leading a failed rebellion for Irish freedom in 1803.  He was 25 years old. Emmett was a protestant from a wealthy family, hardly the type to commit “high treason.”  But he identified strongly with Catholics in […]

  The Self-Made Man David Rittenhouse (1732-1796)  was a world renowned astronomer, scientist, mathematician, surveyor and inventor. He was also entirely self-taught. Rittenhouse grew up near Germantown, PA.  It is said that at age 13 he had mastered Newton's laws of motion and gravity.  He was one of the first Americans to build a telescope and […]

Notes From The White House Since the federal shut down I have spent some time most days in front of the White House in what might be called a “crazy old man supportive vigil.” I carry a home-made sign saying, “US Shutdown = Tea Party” and a smaller sign saying, “Christ is for Healthcare.”  I […]

I chose death. Let’s be honest, that’s where the drama is.

  The War Relocation Act Seventy-one years ago today Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed an executive order requiring 120,000 mostly Japanese-Americans to report for forced relocation. In the wake of the December 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, politicians, leaders and many others concluded that all Americans exhibiting the features of Japanese ancestry were potential spies, soldiers or […]

  To Apologize for Kindness You may recall that after the Newtown massacre where 20 children and six adults were murdered, an inter-faith memorial service was held. Reverend Rob Morris, a Newtown Lutheran Minister, one of whose young parishioners was among the dead, gave the benediction at the service. Reverend Morris was subsequently forced to […]

  Ellsworth, Lincoln and the NY Volunteers The Smithsonian Museum of American Art is running an exhibition through April 28th, entitled The Civil War and American Art.  It includes 75 works, mostly created during the war by some of America’s most famous artists of the period: Winslow Homer, Frederic Church and Eastman Johnson.  It also […]

The (mostly) federal buildings around the city are adorned with some extraordinary lighting.                                                                                     […]

  343 One of my union local officers posted a piece on Facebook the other day reporting that a Florida elected official, Janet Long, was quoted as saying that firefighters, “have really taken advantage of 9/11 and what happened then and capitalized on it and the emotion” among other things. Ms. Long is going where […]

To FLY The Public Domain Review is showcasing a set of cards from the end of the 19th century which depict what life will be like in the year 2000.  The 100-year-old renderings attempt to capture the lives we are living today. Not surprisingly, they portray a mechanized world.  Everything from war fighting to dry […]