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NORMANDY BEACHHEAD, June 16, 1944 – I took a walk along the historic coast of Normandy in the country of France. It was a lovely day for strolling along the seashore. Men were sleeping on the sand, some of them sleeping forever. Men were floating in the water, but they didn’t know they were in the water, for they were dead. The water was full of squishy little jellyfish about the size of your hand. Millions of them. In the center each of them had a green design exactly like a four-leaf clover. The good-luck emblem. Sure. Hell yes. I...

NORMANDY BEACHHEAD, June 17, 1944 – In the preceding column we told about the D-day wreckage among our machines of war that were expended in taking one of the Normandy beaches. But there is another and more human litter. It extends in a thin little line, just like a high-water mark, for miles along the beach. This is the strewn personal gear, gear that will never be needed again, of those who fought and died to give us our entrance into Europe. Here in a jumbled row for mile on mile are soldiers’ packs. Here are socks and shoe polish,...

The mantra of progressivism over the past century has been the unstoppable 'progression' of human society, government, and technology towards a supposed utopian future free from war, disease, and poverty - a future where humans are masters of their own universe, unshackled from anything and everything holding us back and united as citizens of the world. Yet no "progressive" (be they communist, socialist, technocrat, or humanist) stops to ask if this is a possible or even worthwhile goal.  No one of that political persuasion questions whether their philosophical outlook is the right one to have nor why it is justifiable...

Jean-Baptiste Chevance senses that we’re closing in on our target. Paused in a jungle clearing in northwestern Cambodia, the French archaeologist studies his GPS and mops the sweat from his forehead with a bandanna. The temperature is pushing 95, and the equatorial sun beats down through the forest canopy. For two hours, Chevance, known to everyone as JB, has been leading me, along with a two-man Cambodian research team, on a grueling trek. We’ve ripped our arms and faces on six-foot shrubs studded with thorns, been savaged by red biting ants, and stumbled over vines that stretch at ankle height...

If you ever get discouraged about your ability to effect change in a world where one person may not appear to count for much, consider the story of James Oglethorpe. The Georgia Colony of Britain was established by King George to settle the land between the southern border of South Carolina and Spanish Florida "for the settling of the poor persons of London." There were three goals in establishing the colony: to give the deserving poor a chance, to bring trade and wealth to the Crown and to defend the Carolinas from the Spanish. King George named Oglethorpe, the third...

As construction of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture progresses toward its September opening, Museum Director Lonnie Bunch joined CBS “60 Minutes”’ Scott Pelley on a visit to Mozambique in search of a ship that carried hundreds of African slaves to the bottom of the Indian Ocean when it foundered 220 years ago. “The story of slavery is everybody's story,” Bunch explained to Pelley. “It is the story about how we're all shaped by, regardless of race, regardless of how long we've been in this country. We hope that we can be a factor to both...

The weeks between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are also the time for high-school and college graduations, which often involve visits from grandparents. That makes this a time for generations to get together so they don’t make the mistake I made. Here’s my error: From the time I turned an arrogant 13, my father and I didn’t talk much. Looking back now, it seems unbelievable that when I flew from Texas to Massachusetts in 1984 to visit my parents for a week as he was dying of cancer, we didn’t talk for more than minutes about anything important, and I...

Everyone talks about the four consecutive "blood moons," but they were part of a larger story: 11 eclipses falling on Jewish holy days.  Jesus said there would "be signs in the sun, moon, and stars" (Luke 21:25). 1. April 15th, 2014: the first "blood moon," a total lunar eclipse, on the Feast of Passover 2. October 8th, 2014: the second "blood moon," a total lunar eclipse, on the Feast of Tabernacles 3. March 20th, 2015: a total solar eclipse on Nisan 1, the biblical New Year 4. April 4th, 2015: the third "blood moon," a total lunar eclipse, on the...

As debates about guns and gun rights in America rage, truly to understand the gun, one needs to look at its history. The story of the gun is a fascinating and riveting look not only at history, but science, business, politics, justice, and morality as well. Throw in a great deal of ingenuity, a good deal of heroism, and a small dose of romance, and the story of the gun is the world’s greatest tale of human invention.

Space impact 'saved Christianity' By Dr David Whitehouse BBC News Online science editor Did a meteor over central Italy in AD 312 change the course of Roman and Christian history? About the size of a football field: The impact crater left behind A team of geologists believes it has found the incoming space rock's impact crater, and dating suggests its formation coincided with the celestial vision said to have converted a future Roman emperor to Christianity. It was just before a decisive battle for control of Rome and the empire that Constantine saw a blazing light cross the sky and...

It has become the fact in American political talking points, even Mr. Trump insists that what is going on in the Middle East today is the result of the President Bush’s 2003 policy in Iraq that opened the doors to chaos and the creation of ISIS. No one, however, is going back to search for the root causes of the events in today’s complicated and problematic Middle East. The facts are, notwithstanding the forever continuing Palestinian/Israeli war, that the Middle East was kept relatively peaceful and political Islam and its terrorism was kept under control in a secular Iran until...

Winston Churchill arrived in the United States for a long (40 stop) lecture tour in December of 1931, and shortly after his arrival was struck by a car while crossing the street. A cab carried him off to Lenox Hill Hospital where he was treated for a deep gash to the head, a fractured nose, fractured ribs, and severe shock. He spent two weeks in the hospital, where he also developed pleurisy. Six weeks after the accident, he resumed an reduced 14-stop version of the tour, despite his fears that he would prove unfit. Dr. Otto Pickhardt, Lenox Hill’s admitting...

The First Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, being appointed by George Washington, was also President of the American Bible Society. Who was he? John Jay, who died MAY 17, 1829. As President of the Continental Congress, John Jay approved the "Circular Letter from the Congress of the United States of America to their Constituents," September 13, 1779: "Friends and Fellow Citizens... In governments raised on the generous principles of equal liberty... the rulers of the state are the servants of the people, and not the masters of those from whom they derive authority... ...The ungrateful despotism and inordinate...

In a gripping new look at the important relationship between American founders George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, Stephen F. Knott and Tony Williams – authors of the new book Washington and Hamilton: The Alliance That Formed America, tell the story below of the American founding, which would not have been possible without this grand alliance.  While many historians focus on the friendship and alliance of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, Washington and Hamilton reminds us why America would truly not be the prosperous country it is today without this special alliance.Congratulations Stephen & Tony on the paperback release of your new book: Washington and...

In this author's humble opinion these are the 20 clearest signs that the end of the age is quite literally imminent: 1. In a technical sense the Gospel has now been preached to every nation on earth in fulfillment of Mark 13:10.  Some scholars argue that we must interpret the Greek word for "nation" strictly as an individual ethnic group, but even if that is the correct interpretation, this prophecy was likely fulfilled sometime toward the end of the 20th century or the beginning of this century.  There are certainly still several isolated tribes where the Gospel has not been...

A new study reveals that one-fourth of unborn children around the world are murdered - a staggering 56 million children per year.  The study reveals that the number is actually significantly higher than previously thought. From the BBC: One in four pregnancies ends in an abortion each year, global estimates from the World Health Organization and Guttmacher Institute suggest. The report in the Lancet said 56m induced abortions take place annually - higher than previously thought. Researchers acknowledge rates have improved in many rich countries but warn this masks no change in poorer areas over the past 15 years. Experts...

Of all the dozens and dozens of signs pointing to the imminent return of Christ, two clearly stand above the rest: 1. In a technical sense the Gospel has now been preached to every nation on earth in fulfillment of Mark 13:10.  Some scholars argue that we must interpret the Greek word for "nation" strictly as an individual ethnic group, but even if that is the correct interpretation, this prophecy was likely fulfilled sometime toward the end of the 20th century or the beginning of this century.  There are certainly still several isolated tribes where the Gospel has not been preached,...

Last February, archaeologists unearthed a unique rock-carved underground church in Nevsehir, in the central Turkish region of Cappadocia. The church was decorated with never before seen frescoes depicting Jesus’ Ascension, the Final Judgement, Jesus feeding the multitudes, and portraits of saints and prophets.The discovery, made during excavations and cleaning operations in an underground city recently uncovered as part of an urban project in Nevsehir, is located within a castle that might date back to the fifth century. Authorities expect it will make Cappadocia an even more important pilgrimage center for Orthodox Christians. Semih İstanbulluoğlu, the archaeologist who heads the works for...

A braided head of hair found buried beneath a medieval abbey in England has given up some of its secrets, thanks to a scientist's curiosity about the relic, which he first saw when he was a schoolboy. Jamie Cameron, an archaeological research assistant at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, first visited Romsey Abbey, near the city of Southampton, on a school field trip when he was 7 years old. Cameron said he became curious about the abbey's display of a brightly colored and braided head of hair, which had been found in a lead casket buried beneath...

"Hang up the phone." comes from one specific kind of land-line phone that had a kind of hook you'd hang the handset from when you were done. Doing so would pull down the hook that was connected to a switch inside the phone that would disconnect the line. And lots of nautical stuff: Groggy - In 1740, British Admiral Vernon (whose nickname was "Old Grogram" for the cloak of grogram which he wore) ordered that the sailors' daily ration of rum be diluted with water. The men called the mixture "grog". A sailor who drank too much grog was "groggy"....