cultural icons

The Road to November and Beyond

It would not be too great a stretch to assert that the American public favors fair elections not predetermined by rigged devices such as gerrymandering. After all, fairness is a virtually genetic value pursued, if not perfectly practiced, in most… Read More ›

E Pluribus Unum Religion

In 1939, George Orwell coined the term Judeo-Christian in a book review describing a scheme of ethics or morals based upon communal principles of the two religions. The concept has no precedent in colonial America before its popular introduction in… Read More ›

The Poverty of Hate in Virginia

Whether or not one accepts or agrees with the designation of hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the potential for the existence and proliferation of such organizations should be of concern to all. That concern, in turn,… Read More ›

ICYMI……………..March 21, 1917

One hundred five years ago today, Loretta Perfectus Walsh, a 20-year-old Philadelphia woman, was sworn in as Chief Yeoman, becoming the first woman petty officer in the United States Navy. Walsh enlisted four days earlier under the US Naval Reserve… Read More ›

Where Are They Today?

MADELEINE KORBEL ALBRIGHT To begin with the headlines: In a New York Times article last week, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said that “Putin is making a historic mistake” by invading Ukraine. She continued, “a bloody and catastrophic war… Read More ›

ICYMI………….March 7, 1876

One hundred forty-six years ago today, Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for a new-fangled device he called a telephone. The first actual electronic call was made 3 days later in Boston when Bell delivered a message to his assistant… Read More ›

Believe It or Not

1 Robert Ripley launched his franchise Believe It or Not in 1919, offering readers bizarre and little-known facts as entertainment and challenge to received knowledge or wisdom. He employed dogged researchers to uncover and publish the little or unknown bits… Read More ›

Monument Men at VA Museum

Editors’ Note: Excerpted from The New York Times, February 25, 2022. By Graham Bowley For months before the bombs started falling, Hayden Bassett watched over the cultural riches of Ukraine — the cathedrals of Kyiv, the historic buildings of Lviv,… Read More ›

Up, Down, North, South    

Most folks relate “up” with north and “down” with south. East and west are, at best, consigned to left and right as in describing California as the Left Coast. North and south are two of the cardinal directions within the… Read More ›