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Book Review: Geoffrey Chaucer of England
You have to love a guy who can laugh at himself. You can be sure he likes people and above all enjoys life. Now imagine that someone is a...
1 day ago4 min read
Book Review: Ben Jonson of Westminster
No one would ever accuse Ben Jonson of modesty—or tact. He took life by the horns, consequences be damned. A bricklayer’s son, he rose to...
1 day ago5 min read
Book Review: Shakespeare of London
Could it be? William Shakespeare—the world’s greatest playwright—was better known in his day as one of the great actors of the London...
1 day ago6 min read
The past is another country -- Budapest and the Carpathian Basin
It was threatening to become an international incident. The United States had the Crown of St. Stephen locked up in the vault at Fort...
Apr 1011 min read
The Velvet Revolution
It was getting near Christmastime, and the communist regime that had held Czechoslovakia in its iron grip for 40 years was letting go. ...
Apr 27 min read
Heaven on Earth
It’s been called the “Pearl of the Adriatic,” “Venice Without Canals,” and “Heaven on Earth.” Pronounced DU-brov-nick, it's the most...
Apr 24 min read
An Embarrassment of Riches
It took a year-and-a-half of waiting in anterooms, of personal humiliations, of lobbying the government for official recognition, and of...
Apr 22 min read
City of Commerce
Imagine a place where the gap between rich and poor is minimal, where the ruling elite govern democratically, and, despite having no...
Apr 24 min read
City of Water and Fire
Hamburg is a city that just won’t be defeated. It’s been flooded, burned, bombed, seen half its population decimated by the plague and,...
Apr 24 min read
Dancing to freedom in Iran
Many famous rights activists over decades have been known for expressing a mental liberation while in prison. Nelson Mandela sang...
Mar 102 min read
A CLASSIC OF ENGLISH LITERATURE--THE KING JAMES BIBLE
By far the most popular English Bible of all time, the King James translation was authorized by James I, son of Mary, Queen of Scots, who...
Feb 202 min read
Botswana's new president is a human rights lawyer on a mission
Few places are as different as the country where Duma Boko was born in 1969 and the one where he became president last November. He...
Feb 144 min read
Vienna Waits For You
Look on the map and you'll see Vienna is exactly in the middle of Europe. Yes, Vienna, as in the Vienna Waltz, the Vienna hot dog,...
Jan 305 min read
PEACE THROUGH COMPASSIONATE JUSTICE*
At the outset of the new year, assessments of global security warn that conflict is spreading across more countries worldwide and a new...
Jan 172 min read
WINNING ELECTIONS WITH VOICES OF TRUTH
As the elected president off Moldova -- one of Europe's poorest countries -- Maia Sandu often uses part of her day to rebut online...
Oct 18, 20242 min read
UKRAINE'S HIGH GROUND INSIDE RUSSIA
After its surprising but effective military incursion into Russia in August, Ukraine has shown why it is not really seeking territorial...
Oct 14, 20242 min read
Book Review: Rivers of Power
Throughout history rivers have been the lifeline of civilization. In "Rivers of Power" author and geophysicist Laurence Smith shows how...
Sep 3, 20245 min read
Stealing from the Saracens: How Islamic Architecture Shaped Europe
Who knew? Who knew that the Gothic Cathedrals of Europe, so deeply associated with christianity, were in fact inspired by Islamic...
May 8, 20246 min read
Forging a New Nation
It was the beginning of new era in the history of mankind. An otherwise ordinary man in ancient Egypt named Moses, had a meeting with...
Nov 29, 20235 min read
Book Review—The Anatomy of Peace—An Antidote to War
While this book is relatively short (224 pages) and easy to read, the ideas are not simple and require thought and ongoing...
Nov 12, 20231 min read
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