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Saturday was America's 250th birthday, or semiquincentennial. There was a party in DC that I didn't follow and I don't care about all the talk it generated, for good or bad, as it all regarded our current president and the over-the-top opinions that surround him. That's not to say I do not think 250 years is incredibly cool. It is, and I'm stoked our republic has made it this long. May it survive 250 more. As for this blog I didn't really have anything planned in advance. It'

Last month I visited a friend in Massachusetts. It was unusual for us, as we were both without kids, and we made hay with our limited time. All day Saturday was spent exploring Boston itself, culminating with a trip to Fenway Park. But prior to that we did a lot of walking and checking out sites of the home of the American Revolution. It was glorious. To show its history and impact on the revolution, Boston has an actual red brick trail weaving through the city called the Fre

Today is Veteran's Day. We celebrate our veterans of the armed forces and thank them for their service. It's intended to be a day for living veterans, as opposed to Memorial Day where we remember those that have passed on. A day for those who served and are still with us. So if you know any veterans, reach out and check in. Naturally I want to look back at why we use November 11th for Veteran's Day. It goes back to World War 1 , as we now call it. At the time this conflict wa

After getting a tip I'm now reading The Roman Revolution , by Ronald Syme, a book about Rome's transition from Republic to Empire and features such figures as Pompey the Great , Julius Caesar , Mark Antony , Cicero and Augustus . This is also the subject matter from HBO's Rome , tremendously good TV which, in all honesty, is helping me read this book. This is not a beginners book on Rome, so I do need the help. It's very dense and blunt and I would not have been able to ge

Comparisons between America and ancient Rome are inevitable, they're the most culturally and militarily dominant empires the world has...

I started reading the Iliad (Fitzgerald translation) last year, well before learning about Nolan and the Odyssey , part of a prolonged...

In 2001 HBO put out a show called Band of Brothers following a real-life paratrooper company through most of the major events of WWII's...

As you likely know, I love Dune . As a much younger person I read all the books that were then out, I still have a bunch of them, and...

This year we were invited by a family in our church small group to a nearby historic Christmas town. In Farmington, MN, like 15 minutes...

Since last year's October 7th attack on Israel I've wanted to write (and learn/refresh myself) more about the Middle East. Finding the...

We had the shortest of trips this week, as my wife and I visited Atlanta without the kids. The purpose was twofold. My wife wanted to...

The Olympics are over, but there's still a good story to tell and you'll have to pretend this was more timely. This year, for the XXXIII...

1968 was a tumultuous year of protest. Anti-government and anti-authoritarian sentiment, amongst a host of other issues, resulted in...

Today is the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Operation Overlord , the Allied invasion of France during World War II. It was the largest...

Maybe you've heard about the new show from FX (and Hulu) called Shōgun . It's a mini-series, meaning one season only, and is an...

I've been reading Polybius, 'The Histories' (or according to Penguin Classics, 'The Rise of the Roman Empire'). A second century BC Greek...

The ongoing war in Gaza is not the only major event currently on-going in the Middle East. As a direct result of the war the Houthis, a...

I've meant to write more about Israel and the Middle East at large since the Oct 7th attacks, but life is busy, you know? Still the...

At some point or another you've likely heard that Christmas, the observance of Jesus' birth, is celebrated on different dates by...

On Saturday October 7, 2023 Israel was attacked. It was Hamas, the terrorist group that's controlled Gaza since 2007, that invaded the...