DISCOVER MARTIN’S BLOGS

Because we just celebrated our nation's 250th anniversary, it is timely to repost "The Origins of American Democracy" from two years ago. Perhaps it will give pause to those who are considering a revolution today. It looks at the most influential ideas that influenced American founding fathers to first break from England, and then create their own unique compact of government, the American Constitution. From Post No. 34, June 2024 Our democracy owes much to British infl

Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery. President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation two years earlier but it was not enforced in the then remote State of Texas. When federal troops arrived in Texas in 1865, the commanding general enforced the law. The last major holdout of slavery was ended. Juneteenth arrives this year a few weeks before the 250th celebration of our nation’s emancipation from British rule. Let’s take a deeper dive into some key events that

Ralph, a short story about a Vietnam Veteran RALPH The images kept coming - unwanted visitors that inhabited Ralph’s head. He tossed and turned on a soft mattress that his wife insisted was just right for him. Shifting side-to-side in a fruitless effort to summon sleep, these ghosts kept appearing, competing for dominance - taking turns to haunt him. He tried to make sense of these vaporous visions - they defied all logic - alien to his senses, mixing up memories like the