Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Today’s “Must Read” Stories

The debate about Ferguson

Louisana Senator Mary Landrieu claims in an ad that her opponent backed a documentary that claimed slavery was better than welfare. But it didn't.

The divorce surge is over, but the myth lives on

Roundup Top 10

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The Great Paper Caper by Jill Lepore Someone swiped Justice Frankfurter’s papers. What else has gone missing?

Warren Harding and the Emperor Diocletian by Paul Krugman "Harding 1921 'works' only because people don’t know much about it..."

The Country's Most Revealing Memorial to the Sand Creek Massacre Used to Celebrate the Killings by John B. Judis Why, we wondered, have a statue commemorating the soldiers who perpetrated the massacre?

Bush Admin. Spent Billions on an Iraqi Army with 50,000 “ghost” Soldiers by Juan Cole Iraqi Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi announced to his parliament on Sunday that inspectors had uncovered 50,000 non-existent soldiers in four divisions of the Iraqi Army. Their pay was presumably being diverted to the officers in the division.

Russians Invade Afghanistan (Again!), Chinese Fight Iraq War (Again!) by Tom Engelhardt What If It Weren’t Us?

Why America Won’t Pay Ransom to Islamic State by Max Boot France, Germany and others shell out millions to terrorists, ensuring more kidnappings and bankrolling violence. Should we? No, but we have in the past.

Letter to My Friends: Why We Can't Expect to Win a Religious War in the Middle East by William Polk The only strategy that will work is to wait out the fanatics. Eventually, their movement will mature. Radical movements never last.

Five myths about lame-duck presidents by Steven G. Calabresi History shows they can get a lot done.

The Mormon Church backs a revisionist account of Joseph Smith. What it means. by Tim Egan Smith was a man of God, no doubt. But he was also a man, with considerable appetites.

How the Chicken Built America by Andrew Lawler While the eagle landed on the country’s Great Seal and the turkey gets pride of place at our holiday dinners, neither bird can claim to have changed American culture more than their lowly avian cousin, the chicken.

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Louisana Senator Mary Landrieu claims in an ad that her opponent backed a documentary that claimed slavery was better than welfare. But it didn't. The ad, which ran on the radio, says what's worse is that her opponent wants to impeach President Obama.

Riots, Keggers, and the Clap College students and alcohol have mixed poorly for decades.

Historic Ebenezer Creek Property Protected for Future Greenway Dec. 9 marks 150 years since the tragic Ebenezer Creek crossing that led to the “40 acres” proclamation. The site of that event has been permanently protected and will become part of a planned public greenway, natural area, and park connecting to the Savannah River.

The Divorce Surge Is Over, but the Myth Lives On The high divorce rate of the late 1970s and early 1980s is starting to look like a historical anomaly, not a trend.

Most American presidents destined to fade from nation’s memory, study suggests Most are destined to be forgotten within 50-to-100 years of their serving as president.

Iconic Cold War Spyplane May Get A Drone Makeover Based at times in Area 51, the U-2 spyplane tested the very limits of human endurance and Cold War technology when it first flew in 1955.

Chile Is Still Littered with a Dictator's Unexploded Landmines Pinochet, convinced that a ground invasion was imminent, purchased landmines from the US and Belgium and buried them at a feverish pace.

A Long-Sought Fugitive Nazi Is Said to Have Died Four Years Ago in Syria Alois Brunner, Adolf Eichmann’s “right-hand man” and responsible for the deportation of 128,500 Jews to death camps, died at least four years ago, Efraim Zuroff said.

Holocaust survivor reunited with childhood friend who saved her from Nazis It was the first time the women has seen each other since Weglowski’s family hid Wexler on their farm to escape German soldiers in 1942.

What goes beneath clothes? Canton museum explores history of women’s undergarments Visitors will see all manner of devices that have concealed, supported and sucked in parts of the female anatomy over the last couple of centuries.

US cathedral may become museum to the slave trade The museum at the shuttered Cathedral of St. John, a church where slaves once worshipped, would explore how the church benefited from the trade and helped bring it to an end, said Bishop Nicholas Knisely of the Diocese of Rhode Island.

Japan Paper Regrets Use of Term 'Sex Slave' It said non-Japanese people have difficulty understanding the term "comfort women," used in Japan to describe the women.

How the World’s First Computer Was Rescued From the Scrap Heap The ENIAC was a 27-ton, 1,800-square-foot bundle of vacuum tubes and diodes that was arguably the world’s first true computer.

America’s Oldest Political Insult Presidents have always been ‘kings’ to their enemies.

What happened to England's abandoned mansions? Evocative of an aristocratic and glorious history, there are many mansions around England that now stand empty or abandoned. These impressive buildings may look lonely and forlorn but behind every mansion is a story.