A Little of This, Some of That

Like most of you, I peruse the news and read those items that pique my curiosity.  Today was no exception. On one of the more popular websites I ran across an article that gave me pause.  Actually two articles and while they seem to be about different 'things' I found them to be particularly similar in the underlying issues. First, an article about the county clerk in Morehead Kentucky who has refused to give out marriage licenses to gay couples.  She did of course spend a few days in jail for contempt and then promised to not interfere with her deputy clerks in granting marriage licenses. I'm sure you are aware that she has in fact defied that court order and has altered the format of the marriage licenses in such a way to cast doubt on the validity of them. Her defense?  It's against God's will for her to issue the license. I'll get back to this in a bit. The other articles (as there was actually more than one) deals with the idea of Islam in the Uni...

I've found that the older I've gotten, the more interested I've become in history. Traveling around the world an making stops in places like Greece, Egypt and more have also served to pique my interest and revisit some of those old history lessons-  (Thanks Magistra for grounding me with more than just the Latin language!) Of course I'm most interested in my own family history and how it relates to the actions and events of the era it stems.  This has also been fueled by my own family's mystery. My maternal grandfather was not raised by his biological parents, rather by an aunt and uncle.  Not an uncommon occurrence in the late 1800's but it does create a hole in my family's knowledge.  My mom, understandably, would really like to know her roots.  And so, I have embarked on a journey of research and exploration. Genealogy researching has really opened my eyes to various items about my family I didn't know;  It wasn't only my maternal grandfat...