It’s Armistice Day, November 11th, in thenation's capital. It is a brisk day at Arlington National Cemetery. Dignitaries stand silently on the third anniversaryof the ending of World War I, watching as a single white casket is lowered into a marbledtomb. In attendance is President Calvin Coolidge,former President Woodrow Wilson, Supreme Court Justice (as well as former President) WilliamHoward Taft, Chief Plenty Coups, and hundreds of dedicated United States servicemen. As the casket settles on its final restingplace in the tomb, upon a thin layer of French soil, three salvos are fired. A bugler plays taps and, with the final note,comes a 21 gun salute. The smoke clears and eyes dry as the UnknownSoldier from World War I is laid to rest; the first unknown soldier to be officiallyhonored in this manner in American history. The United States’ allies in World War I,France and Britain, were the first countries to practice the concept of burying an “unknownsoldier.” World W...
It’s safe to say that I won’t live touse a time machine. And not because I didn’t attend Stephen Hawking’s time traveler party, I have bigger fish to fry than that. No, the reason I know I’ll never use a timemachine is because when I was thirteen years old I sent a letter professing my undyinglove to a girl in my class, only to then blame a friend the moment that she rejected me. And If I ever encountered a time machine,that would not be a memory that I still have. But today’s episode is not about my failed love life. It's about giant letters in a hill. It’s about time. You can’t erase the past. It’s a lesson that's surprisingly hard to learn. They say those that don’t know history are doomed to repeat it but I’d argue that we're doomed to repeat it regardless. Few people really want to look back on history,because that’s where the lessons are, and almost none of us really want to learn a lesson. We’re kind of like Calvin on that camping trip with his father dreading what...