Occasionally, I’m treated to extended anecdotes via e-mail from my brother. He doesn’t write them, of course, but he agrees with them and passes them on, usually without looking any deeper into them (or even correcting the spelling and grammar).…
Monthly Archives: November 2011
November 30: Mark Twain (1835)
It was on this date, November 30, 1835, that American writer and humorist Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in Florida, Missouri, but brought up in Hannibal, Missouri. Although first encountering writers by apprenticing to a printer, he became…
Posted in Reposting
November 29: Louis XVI Recognizes Protestants (1787)
Religious Toleration It was on this date, November 29, 1787, that King Louis XVI (1754-1793) promulgated an edict of tolerance, granting civil status to Protestants under French law. French Protestants, then called Huguenots, had gained toleration a century before for…
Posted in Reposting
November 28: Sir Leslie Stephen (1832)
It was on this date, November 28, 1832, that the British writer, and first editor of the Dictionary of National Biography (1885-1891), Leslie Stephen was born in Kensington Gore, London. Brought up in a Clapham Sect household of Christians, Stephen…
Posted in Reposting
November 28: Randy Newman (1943)
It was on this date, November 28, 1943, that American songwriter and singer Randy Newman was born Randall Stuart Newman in Los Angeles. In his youth, he spent time in New Orleans with his mother’s family, and was influenced by…
Posted in Reposting
Hammurabi and the 99%
By Ronald Bruce Meyer 11/27/2011 I am not a scholar but a fan of history. I also believe strongly in public support of public education, so that even childless citizens are not compelled to live among morons. So, hearing about…
Tagged with: Babylon, Codex Hammurabi, Hammurabi, lex talionis, Louvre, Modern World History, occupy movement, Shamash, stele
Posted in Rant
Posted in Rant
November 27: Let God Sort Them Out
It was on this date, November 27, 1095, that Pope Urban II declared the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont. The purpose of the Crusade was to answer an appeal for help that Urban had received from the Byzantine…
November 26: Charles M. Schulz
Charles M. Schulz (1922) It was on this date, November 26, 1922, that the creator of Snoopy, Lucy, Charlie Brown and the other characters of the “Peanuts” comics world, cartoonist Charles M. Schulz, was born in St. Paul Minnesota. There…
Tagged with: BC, Charlie Brown, Christian world view, Gospel According to Peanuts, Johnny Hart, Lucy, Peanuts, Religion of Charles M Schulz, Robert Short, Salon Magazine, Snoopy, Sparky
Posted in Artist-Painter, Entertainer, Famous Freethinkers
Posted in Artist-Painter, Entertainer, Famous Freethinkers
November 26: A Secular Thanksgiving (1621-1941)
It was on this date, November 26, 1941, that U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed into law a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Although today this thoroughly American holiday is commemorated…
Posted in Reposting
The Little Old Lady and Her Prayer
My brother treated me to this e-mail today (11/25/11). In church on Sunday, I overheard the little old lady in the pew next to me saying a short private prayer. It was so sweet and sincere that I just had…
Posted in Rant
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