Mike Pilewski writes about life, politics and culture in the United States
This is an interesting month from a criminal-justice perspective. Both Batman and the Joker are having their day in court. “The Joker”, in this case, is Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who along with his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, set off the bombs at the Boston Marathon in April 2013. His trial is coming to an end. “Batman” here is James Eagan Holmes, … >>
This column was originally written for Spotlight Online. Today, November 20, is a German holiday that doesn’t really exist, but that still affects us at Spotlight. Buß- und Bettag (Day of Repentance and Prayer) is a Protestant holiday observed in only two parts of the country: in the state of Saxony and in Bavarian schools. Because our offices are located … >>
I’m sure you’ve heard that on Monday afternoon, local time, horrible things happened in Boston. Near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, two bombs went off, killing three people and hitting perhaps 200 more with shrapnel. Doctors have said they “had to finish the work of the bombs”, performing amputations on a number of the injured. Horrible, horrible stuff. … >>
He was only trying to be nice. He wanted to use his language skills. And if he didn’t help them, they would surely die. He was a Native American named Squanto. “They” were the Pilgrims, who’d arrived in Massachusetts in November 1620. Both are examples of the unlikely nature of the American story. The Pilgrims (known in England as the … >>