News

Last month the fortieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing, and of Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin's historic moonwalk, was the subject of many hours of TV coverage and commentary, and of innumerable column-inches of articles and op-eds in what remains of...

In the summer of '69 the Beatles were working on what turned out to be ---and what they later claimed they knew would be--- their last album.  Paul had drawn a stick figure sketch of the band walking across a street, demonstrating his idea for the album's cover art.  ...

There is a scene early on in the movie Patton, where the feisty general watches the forces under his command do battle with those led by the legendary German Panzer leader, Erwin Rommel. To prepare for this particular skirmish, “Old Blood and Guts” studied the...

An unexpected turn of events ---a veritable Macaca moment--- has enlivened the already lively Kentucky 2010 Senate race.  Even before Republican incumbent Jim Bunning announced last week that he won't be running for re-election, there were fireworks enough on the...

Tanned, rested, and ready for the 21st Century: John Quincy Adams photographed in 1843. The sixth POTUS ---John Quincy Adams--- has signed up ---and not a moment too soon--- on Twitter.  He will be posting daily entries from his diaries. As Jeannie Nuss reports for...

Last week I posted about Inherent Vice, the new novel by Thomas Pynchon set in Los Angeles during the spring and early summer of 1970 - that is, in the second year of the Nixon Administration. Today the book went on sale nationwide, and to promote it Penguin Press,...

Suggesting that conservatives such as Sarah Palin face political doom, a Daily Kos writer observes: When Richard Nixon won the presidency, the silent majority of Americans was white and conservative. The demographics of this country have changed, and that change is...

Howard Fineman presents one of the better comparisons between RN and the departed Alaskan governor.

Two weeks ago I noted the passing of 113-year-old Henry Allingham, who, besides being the oldest man on Earth, was also the last founding member of the Royal Air Force and one of the last five veterans of "the war to end all wars" still living. At that time...

"Get back, you eight-legged freaks" - actor David Arquette's ad-lib that inspired the title of the 2002 film Eight Legged Freaks, which was called Arach Attack in production There was also the 1990 film Arachnophobia with Jeff Daniels. But both of these...