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When hang means, as it generally does, "to suspend," then hung is the correct past-tense and past participial form of the verb: "Yesterday, I hung a picture on the wall"; "I have hung many pictures on many walls." When hang means "to put to death by hanging," however, hanged is the correct past-tense and past participial form: "We hanged the horse-thieving varmint yesterday"; "We've hanged nigh unto forty horse thieves this year." Given that hanging has become a fairly infrequent means to a fairly infrequent end, you might think that this is an unimportant distinction. But, because of a colloquial...

Taking a quote from Bill Cosby in one of his comedy rotuines, where he says he doesn't know when his honeymoon ended with his wife....."I don't know when it happened...I don't know why it happened....all I know is one day...." (or words to that effect). All I know is I had that experience tonight. Indulge me. I was resting after a long day of work. I do that every now and again as it helps with the bills and the fun tickets (aka money). My daughter asked for help with her American Government class at the local High School. She...

A Warning From Shaker Aamer Col. Mike Bumgarner, warden of Guantánamo Bay. Threats & Responses Go to Complete Coverage » Multimedia The Battle for GuantanamoInteractive Feature The Battle for Guantanamo Enlarge This Image Paolo Pellegrin/Magnum, for The New York Times Since the riot and suicides, guards at Guantánamo have clamped down a bit. Col. Mike Bumgarner took over as the warden of Guantánamo Bay in April 2005. He had been hoping to be sent to Iraq; among senior officers of the Army’s military police corps, the job of commanding guards at the American detention camp in Cuba was considered not...