Read about Francis Xavier, Buddha, musical satirist Tom Lehrer, the ASPCA vs. Christian animal cruelty, the last execution for witchcraft in Germany, Mahavira – the most famous leader of Jainism, Christopher Hitchens and more …

Arguably a penis is a sex organ and breasts are not. But isn’t it just weird, considering the way the athletes are posed, that their masculinity is missing?

Read about René Descartes, Abraham Maslow, Camille Paglia, early environmentalist John Burroughs, comedian David Cross, philosopher Thomas Hobbes, Mormon church founder Joseph Smith and more …

I’ve heard baseball is a “religion” to some people, but I never thought it was meant LITERALLY! I saw the Orioles, Opening Day, April 5, 2013, defeat the Minnesota Twins 9-5. But… I cannot understand why the Orioles had to turn the 7th inning stretch into a religious observance. The club hired a tenor to […]

It was on this date, April 4, 2008, that the raid on the YFZ (“Yearning for Zion”) Ranch, owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), by Texas Child Protective Services began in Schleicher County, Texas. The largest child protection action in American history, Texas CPS removed hundreds of minor children, […]

It was on this date, April 4, 1964, that American actor and stand-up comedian David Cross was born. Known chiefly for his HBO sketch comedy series “Mr. Show,” and his role as Tobias Fünke in the Fox sitcom “Arrested Development,” Cross was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and after an unsettling childhood began performing stand-up comedy […]

It was on this date, April 4, 1858, that French poet, novelist, and influential critic Remy de Gourmont was born. He earned a bachelor's degree in law at Caen in 1879 and upon his graduation he moved to Paris. From 1881 to 1891, de Gourmont was employed by the Bibliothèque nationale, where he began to […]

It was on this date, April 2, 1947, that American author, teacher, and social critic Camille Paglia was born. She was brought up in New York by Italian immigrant parents and spent her earliest days on a farm before her educator-father moved the family to more urban surroundings. Paglia graduated Harpur College at Binghamton University […]

Read about Harry Houdini, Percy Bysshe Shelley’s expulsion from Oxford, Richard Dawkins, “Typhoid Mary’s” final quarantine, Russian writer Maxim Gorky, Ludwig Büchner’s “Bible of Materialism,” church opposition to anesthesia and more …

It was on this date, March 28, 1750, that Venezuelan soldier Francisco de Miranda was born Sebastian Francisco de Miranda in Caracas into a wealthy family of the Canary Islands. Consequently, Miranda was able to afford the best education and, in 1771, bought himself a commission as a Captain in the Spanish Army. Becoming interested […]