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 […]

Washington National Cathedral To Charge Admission It’s official: beginning in 2014 Washington, DC’s iconic National Cathedral will begin charging a $10 admission fee. To wit, the top ten ways to cover their budget gap. 10. Baptismal Font Admission Lottery- The Font will be refit as a lotto-style ping pong blower with balls marked $5 to $25. Pay […]

  Nelson Moves In Washington, DC’s Massachusetts’s  Avenue is called “Embassy Row” for a reason: lining the street for several miles are a string of mostly stately buildings which now serve as the Washington home to foreign governments. These buildings are on their second lives, at least, having originally been built as stately mansions of the […]

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

Here we are, on the cusp of Memorial Day, when we honor and remember those who died serving our country.

  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 […]

No doubt they would marvel at both our schools and our unwillingness to keep our children safe in them.

  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 […]

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