Today's Heroes: Zebulon Pike

On July 15, 1806, Captain Zebulon Pike, 27, began his expedition to explore the southern and western parts of the Louisiana Purchase.

My Problem Solving Ability

My last name, DeGisi, is not a common name in the U.S.  It is more common in the vicinity of Mount Vesuvius, which is why there were suddenly DeGisis in the U.S. and Brazil after the 1906 eruption. Apparently it took us millennia to figure out how to flee volcanic eruptions. We get faster at problem solving as we go.  That's what I tell my boss anyway.

Today's Heroes: Rawya Ateya

Today, 14 July 1957, Rawya Ateya, a pro-American pioneer of Arab feminism, an Army officer, a journalist, a nurse, a teacher, and more became the first female legislator in the Arab World.

Today's Heroes: The Carabinieri

Today, 13 July 1814,  King Victor Emmanuel I created the Carabinieri, the national police of Italy.  We commemorate the many heroic officers of the Carabinieri, especially those who fought the Nazis.

Of Interest 2013-07-12

Associated Press, You’re Why We Can’t Have a Nice Country Anymore

SpaceX's Reusable Grasshopper Can Now Fly to 1000 Feet

Today's Heroes: Buckminster Fuller

On today, 12 July 1895, Buckminster Fuller was born.  A Navy man during World War I, an architect, an author, an automaker, a builder, an interior decorator, an inventor, and a mapmaker, he did more in one lifetime than ten men.

Social Justice Is A Conservative Idea

Hands off, progressives! Social justice is a conservative idea!  It means, "the common good".  To do what is right for the common good, skip the progressive ideas. Embrace the conservative ones.

What is Social Justice? | Online Library of Law and Liberty

Today's Heroes: Hieromartyr Cindeus the Presbyter of Pamphylia

On 11 July the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates the life of Hieromartyr Cindeus the Presbyter of Pamphylia.  Cindeus paid the wood-cutter for the wood used to burn him, rather than having the man be unpaid by the soldiers who had confiscated it.

Of Interest 2013-07-11 (God and Family)

The Ten Commandments: Why the Decalogue Matters

Healing the Modern Family, with Faith and a Fish

What My Father Taught Me: Mike Rowe

Anti-Zionists: The Truest Islamophobes

Speaking of Anti-Zionists: "They are the true Islamophobes — afraid to criticize Islam, eager to join in its chorus of hatred."  We need to "make Muslim civility towards Jews the shibboleth of assimilation to a free and democratic culture".

Today's Heroes: The Vichy Eighty

On this day, 10 July 1940, the Vichy Eighty voted against the constitutional amendment which transformed the Third Republic into Vichy France.  569 voted for the amendment.  Twenty voluntarily abstained. Twenty-seven had fled to Algeria.  149 abstained in other ways.  One did not vote.

Of Interest 2013-07-10 (Science!)

Take the quiz!

Science and Technology Knowledge Quiz

Of Interest 2013-07-09

Killing Pollyanna

The New, Improved Axis of Jihad

Why Men Are Avoiding College

Holtz-Eakin and Roy: The Critics Are Wrong About the Future of Free-Market Health Care Reform

Using Metadata to Find Paul Revere

Of Interest 2013-07-08 (The Chicago Way)

IRS scandal a reminder of how I learned about The Chicago Way

45 examples of Chicago-style politics

Of Interest 2013-07-07

FNS-9 Contest Entry: Iraq – A Laboratory of Gun Control

Meet the man who claims he doesn’t need food

Of Interest 2013-07-06 (Topic: Obama's Scandals)

How Obama Et Al. Hacked the Constitution

From Scandals to Tyranny

What the Scandals Reveal

Leviathan Fail

Of Interest 2013-07-05 (Topic: Feminism)

Freedom Feminism: Its Surprising History and Why It Matters Today

Feminist-Fatale

How my mother's fanatical views tore us apart

An Independence Day Sesquicentennial Meditation

We Still Hold These Truths - Independence Day

Of Interest 2013-07-04 (Topic: Schools)

Fighting education fanatics: Column

Suffolk Schools: Pencils For Math, Not Murder

"We’ve reached a startling level of brainlessness when distinguishing pencils from pistols requires an ordinance."

Instead of School: Why Our Schools Do Not--And Cannot--Work

Natural Born -- Bureaucrats

In France people celebrate Bastille Day, which was a battle they won.  In Mexico people celebrate Cinco de Mayo, which was a battle they won at great cost.  In the U.S. people celebrate Independence Day, where we produced a document.  In Brazil people celebrate Independence Day and Republic Day, where they produced documents both times.  Hmmm.