Category Archives: Uncategorized

Business Journalism 101: The difference between revenue and profit

According to the Sermon on the Mount, reading online newspapers can send a businessman to hell. This is especially true for reading anything written by a journalist in past five years, especially a British journalist or commentator, especially any article … Continue reading

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Laura (1944) review

A mystery, filled with red herrings, deceptions and hilarious false leads, but at the end, when it’s all solved, it seems so obvious. The entire plot falls into place. How can anyone claim to forget who the murderer is? Roger … Continue reading

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Why watching movies can teach us history.

From the plays of the early 19th century to the movies of the present, spectators have seen things that were never in the script. Avengers Assemble, Independence Day, Monsters Vs. Aliens and a forgotten play which Washington Irving disliked illustrate how the audience sees what the critics don’t. Continue reading

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The sentence for the pamphlet

Daniel Isaac Eaton waited in Newgate prison to find out what his fate would be. Before Eaton could be convicted, a Mr. Prince Smith filed an affadavit in Eaton’s defense. In addition to other words of common sense, Mr. Prince … Continue reading

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When Tecumseh made the Mississippi flow backwards

Are recent earthquakes in middle America only aftershocks of a much bigger disaster from two hundred years ago? Continue reading

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Great Snakes! Australia in January 1812.

“A snake of the diamond kind has been lately killed at Blackwattle swamp, the length of which was 10 feet 4 inches, and its largest circumference five inches.” the Sydney Gazette reported on January 4th, 1812. A woodcutter was going about … Continue reading

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Have we forgotten the Alamo?

Recent cinema history, or the lack of it, sure makes it seem that way. The Alamo, starring Billy Bob Thorton as Davy Crockett, bombed in 2004.   That fact that it only grossed about a fifth of its budget at the … Continue reading

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Did Jefferson support a Balanced Budget amendment?

Back in 1997, when a Balanced Budget amendment was put forth by the US Senate, the Committee on the Judiciary quoted Thomas Jefferson almost from the start. Towards the top of Senator Orrin Hatch’s report it affirms that “the public … Continue reading

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Ten great British history films.

On screenjunkies.com, Honora James made a list of the top ten “English historical movies”, whatever that means.  Not only did Honora list a flick about a Scot as the top “English movie”, but she left out a few of the … Continue reading

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Should we preserve the shameful past?

Hugh Schofeild recently wrote about the recent interest in France’s Atlantic wall for BBC News.  The wall was built under the German occupation in World War II, and so many wanted to forget it. However, one man who was “volunteered” … Continue reading

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