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Southern Poverty Law Center Indicted

MONTGOMERY, Ala.—When there’s news about an indictment, it’s always good to remember that an indictment is not — repeat, is not — a conviction. To oversimplify the matter, the existence of an indictment merely means that a grand jury has found that the criminal case may proceed. It doesn’t mean the defendant will be convicted. It doesn’t even mean the allegations in the indictment are true. Criminal defendants are presumed innocent. Prosecutors must prove each case not by a preponderance of the evidence but beyond a reasonable doubt. * * * With that in mind, ...

Awakening At Night Was Once Normal

Awakening between midnight and 3:00 in the morning used to be an accepted part of life. It was a well-known aspect of being human. People prayed in their beds, or got up and quietly toiled in the kitchen, tended to the fire, wrote letters—-some even went to visit neighbors. Older generations called it “first sleep.” The historical evidence for this is surprisingly rich. The idea of “first sleep” isn’t a fringe theory—it begins to appear everywhere once you know where to look. Historians—most notably Roger Ekirch—have uncovered hundreds of references in diaries, court ...

Sneezing Makes Him Look Like A Party Favor

There was a line delivered in the movie, Major League, where radio play by play character, Harry Doyle (portrayed brilliantly by the late real life legend of Baseball, Bob Eucker), while describing Triple Crown Winner, Clu Heywood (ironically played by real life MLB pitcher Pete Vuckovich), and his iconic mustache, with the quote, “When this guy sneezes, he looks like a party favor.” Due to the VFTB having usually been ahead with articles, and with the amazing schedule of special dates and this year’s extra activities (retirement is a great thing), I had scheduled all my ...

Thinking About The U.S. Navy

Many years ago I was in the United States Navy, a junior officer on the deck of a small ship homeported in Japan. These memories never leave you and have been in my mind now with the recent naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. I can almost guarantee you that enforcing blockades was not a skill taught at Navy Officers Candidate School. Attacking, shelling, ship-to-ship warfare, amphibious landings—yes. Blockade enforcement?—I cannot recall that having ever been taught. Yet, I am not greatly concerned. I found during my 3 ½ years on active duty, including Vietnam, that ...

Ukraine: The Longest Day

Putin’s Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Presidential candidate Donald Trump said at least 53 rimes in 2023 and 2024 that, as President, he would end the war in Ukraine “in one day.” Now well over 400 days since his inauguration as President, Russia’s war against Ukraine continues. Russia’s brutal, illegal war against Ukraine, illegal under international law as partly developed by Jamestown’s own Robert H. Jackson, Chief Prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals, has lasted longer than World War II for the United States (December 7, ...

Feeling Drained?

1+2=3, 3-2=1. Both of these are considered rather elementary equations as a reference to how one can add or subtract a value directed by which mathematical symbol is being applied. In a similar manner, life is a metaphor of “additions” and “subtractions” that shape the world around us by our individual contributions; symbolizing our true values through our positive or negative expressions. Let’s take this a step further and incorporate a plumbing reference for levity and clarity, where you’re either a faucet (positively) pouring value into the world or a drain taking it ...