Discarding Images, a common source of crazy medieval images for me, often labels their images in a very straight-forward manner, such as “Jupiter Castrates Saturn,” which is exactly what it sounds like, and is in no way safe for work. Every once in a while, however, I encounter an imageContinue Reading
Yesterday in history, Edward VI of England died at the age of 16 in 1553 after a rule of 6 years. Child kings rarely leave much of a mark on history, but Edward happened to rule at a pivotal time in English history. Still, most of his impacts were moreContinue Reading
In 1974, the US Postal Service put out a stamp stating “Retarded Children Can be Helped.” The sentiment was certainly one we can relate to: the mentally impaired do not need to be marginalized. This is contrary to a long history of approaches to mental disability, which has included institutionalizationContinue Reading
A few days ago, the following comment showed up on my being-retooled Wicca site: One thing I find very interesting to observe about your postings is that you’re very much a defender of Christianity. And I’m uncertain why that religion gets so much face-time on a site dedicated to Wicca.Continue Reading
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. – US Constitution, 1st Amendment The first amendment was written in a country full of religious refugees (and descendants of the same) who fled fractured Europe where millions of people had died in warsContinue Reading
Syfy recently embraced an unlikely premise: create a TV sequel to a movie few saw and fewer liked. Thus, out of Legion came Dominion. Dominion occurs 25 years after Dominion in a world mostly destroyed by angels. God turned his back on the world, and the angels believe it isContinue Reading
HERE THERE BE A FEW SPOILERS I’ve previously written about how alternative-history needs a basis in history. Other forms of fiction frequently benefit as well, and Game of Thrones is no exception. Dragons and whitewalkers aside, George R.R. Martin wants Westeros to feel somewhat familiar to us. He also wantsContinue Reading
HERE THERE BE SPOILERS. I HAVE NOT READ THE BOOKS, BUT THIS DISCUSSES EVENTS UP TO THE END OF SEASON 4. No matter how much I make up, there’s stuff in history that’s just as bad or worse. –George R.R. Martin All sorts of things influence writers: people they know,Continue Reading
The term War of the Roses wasn’t used until the 18th century and not popularized until the 19th, while the war itself was fought in the 15th. Like many wars, it had no official name at the time of conflict, but it could be described as a series of civilContinue Reading
I greatly enjoyed my trip to Egypt in 2010 just before the Arab Spring. However, our tour guide had the annoying habit of attributing just about everything in Western history to the ancient Egyptians via half-truths, over-generalizations, and periodic nonsense. Several of us responded by creating our own list ofContinue Reading