Free Republic

Marooned On Ug - The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Volume 1 To assist King Jogogle-Zadester in governing, he is given a parliament, the Uggard word for which is gabagab, but its usefulness is greatly circumscribed by the Blubosh, or Constitution, which requires that every measure, in order to become a law, shall have an affirmative majority of the actual members, yet forbids any member to vote who has not a distinct pecuniary interest in the result.  I was once greatly amused by a spirited contest over a matter of harbor improvement, each of two proposed harbors having its advocates. ...

A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern Alabama, looking down into the swift water twenty feet below. The man’s hands were behind his back, the wrists bound with a cord. A rope closely encircled his neck. It was attached to a stout cross-timber above his head and the slack fell to the level of his knees. Some loose boards laid upon the sleepers supporting the metals of the railway supplied a footing for him and his executioners—two private soldiers of the Federal army, directed by a sergeant who in civil life may have been a deputy sheriff. At...

Exclusive! Ambrose Bierce on Terrorism His Own Words interviewed by Don Swaim BIERCE: I knew you'd be back eventually, Mr. Swaim. SWAIM: Mr. Bierce, we beg your counsel. On September 11, the worst terrorist attack in the history of America occurred in New York, and... BIERCE: "Celestial bird," I cried in pain, / "What vandal wrought this wreck? Explain." SWAIM: Precisely, Mr. Bierce, what vandal indeed? Americans need clarity. We must know what sort of people would commit such a deed, flying heavily fueled airliners into tall buildings at the cost of thousands of lives. BIERCE: I always warned against...