American Historical Figure of the Week

Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio.

Sure, he was a radical Republican, a leading figure in Johnson's impeachment saga, and so forth.

But that aside, before the Civil War, in an era when caning politicians was sport, many legislators carried revolvers on their persons. Senator Wade upped the ante - He seems to have customarily carried a sawed-off shotgun under his coat on the Senate floor.

Quote of the week

There seems to be something "hard-wired" with the XY chromosome that leads boys to glance at a small moss-covered branch and immediately see an air-cooled, camouflaged, fully automatic 50-caliber Browning rifle with attachable bayonet.

--Prof. Jonathan Turley (of GW Law), Washington Post Feb. 25, 2007, "My Boys Like Shootouts"

Non commercial plug

My good friend Mr. Krull has been published online recently defending Lewis's place as a thinker in an ecclesiastical era which is after quick, easy answers. If you haven't read it yet (or if you have already read it, but want to help increase the number of hits his article gets ;-), check it out here.

And keep reading good books.

Commercial plug

From Despair, Inc.

Coolness

Anyone know whether these do what they say they do?

Quote of the week

"The things I want to carry can't really be concealed."

--A co-worker of mine, on firearms permits

Quote of the week

From The Lion in Winter:

Prince John: He's got a knife!
Eleanor of Aquitaine: Of course he has a knife. We all have knives. It's 1183 and we're barbarians.

There are two versions of the movie. Though in general, I like the latter better, particularly Patrick Stewart as (a hirsute!) Henry II, King Phillip of France was better played by Timothy Dalton than Jonathan Rhys-Meyers.

It would be a mistake

It would be a mistake when drafting a will to name the testator and executor as the same person.

New favorite motto

(reportedly used by an Oklahoma law firm)

Calcitromus gluteas sordes vilis.

And if you don't like the grammar, sue me ;-)