St. Valentine's Day

The Heart of the Holiday

As Valentine's day is once again upon us, it is time to chill the champagne, dip the strawberries in chocolate, and snuggle up with the one we love. However, missing among the candies, flowers, and cupids, is any mention of the Christian martyrs, medieval texts, or even Geoffrey Chaucer, who all unwittingly shaped the heart of the holiday we celebrate today.  Read more...

2012  - Big Bang or Big Business

It's a date that has caused controversy for decades.  December 21, 2012.  Some feel it will be the end of days, the apocalypse, doomsday.  Others are capitalizing on the clamor and keeping the media hype alive for business purposes.  Now upon us, the 2012 phenomenon comprises a range of various beliefs according to which cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on December 21, 2012. This date is regarded as the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the ancient Mayan calendar.  Various astronomical alignments, numerological formulas, and scientific theories have been proposed  pertaining to this date seeking  to validate it.
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The Year 2011  -  A Look Back 

As another year draws to its close, a time of reflection is signaled;  a time to dwell on the successes and failures of the past year.  2011 will be remembered as a year of bloody fighting, catastrophic tragedy, global triumphs, and historic milestones .  Old enemies were defeated,  but new ones were quick to take their place.   And just as shock and fury raged, a beautiful commoner and her prince gave us hope for a happy ending after all.
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Launching Into History...  The End of an Era

The launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, scheduled for July 8, 2011, will herald the end of an era for the United States.  Mission STS-135 will mark the beginning of the end for the United States Space Shuttle program. With a span of over 40 years, the Shuttle program endured its share of challenges, yet its successes were celebrated with the world. 

Before the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, NASA began early studies of space shuttle designs. In 1969 President Richard Nixon formed the Space Task Group, chaired by vice president Spiro T. Agnew. This group evaluated the shuttle studies to date, and recommended a national space strategy including building a space shuttle. The goal, as presented by NASA to Congress, was to provide a much less-expensive means of access to space that would be used by NASA, the Department of Defense, and other commercial and scientific users.  Continued...

Rest in Peace Dr. Death

The Life of Jack Kevorkian

The world has put to rest one of the most controversial figures of our time.  Whether  you agreed with him or not, he forced the American psyche to consider a topic which we defied with abhorrence. Yet slowly, laws are beginning to change. His name is synonymous with death; let's look at his life.

Jacob "Jack" Kevorkian was born in Pontiac, Michigan to Armenian immigrants on May 26, 2008. His father Levon was born in the village of Passen, near the ancient Armenian city of Garin, and his mother Satenig was born in the village of Govdun, near Sepastia. His father moved from Turkey in 1912 and made his way to Pontiac, where he found work at an automobile foundry. Satenig fled the Armenian Genocide of 1915, finding refuge with relatives in Paris, and eventually reuniting with her brother in Pontiac. Levon and Satenig met through the Armenian community in their city, where they married and began their family. The couple had a daughter, Margaret, in 1926, followed by son Jacob, who later earned the nickname "Jack" from an American teacher who misread the birth certificate, Jack was followed by a sister named Flora. Kevorkian graduated from Pontiac Central High School with honors in 1945, at the age of 17. In 1952, he graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor.  Continued...

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SEAL TEAM SIX

Mission Accomplished

On May 1 and 2, 2011 the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group, also known as DEVGRU undertook a covert operation codenamed Neptune's Spear. Under the CIA's authority, DEVGRU located and killed Osama bin Laden, the infamous leader of the terrorist organization known as "Al Qaeda". The attack at bin Laden's compound, in the affluent Islamabad suburb of Abbottabad, Pakistan lasted 38 minutes. United States forces sustained no casualties.  Continued...