Culture Churches Take Homeschooling in a Surprising Direction A new generation of infrastructure met the Covid moment to catalyze alternatives to traditional schools. (Fabio Principe/Shutterstock) It is hardly news that homeschooling has taken off around the country, especially since Covid. Over the last year alone, according to the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, the number of US homeschooled students has gone from 3.6 million to 4 million—an 11 percent increase.      Less well-known is the role America’s churches have played in not only facilitating the spread of homeschooling but in helping to make it a far more collaborative and even highly structured activity. By providing groups of homeschool families with a space that goes largely unused during the week and a small supervisory staff, many parishes have successfully combined online curricula with an environment more typical of a conventional public or private school.       Sometimes this has been accomplished by letting an outside organization administer the program. In Upper Marlboro, Maryland, for example, the Providence St. John Baptist Church hosts the eXtend Homeschool Tutorial which, under the leadership of its director Kym Kent, educates more than 100 children in everything from third-grade English to high-school chemistry and aviation science. Families can choose from an à la carte menu of inexpensively supervised courses, averaging $350 apiece, or use the curriculum to simulate a fully functioning school.      On the other hand, the Grow Christina Learning Center at the New Life Worship Center, an Assemblies of God church in Worcester, Massachusetts, is very much a project of the congregation. By providing Program Director Elizabeth Lopez with extensive volunteer help, the church enables 85 homeschool students in their largely Hispanic community to get the equivalent of a K–12th-grade private-school education for just $2,400 a year. “From the beginning we’ve all known it was part of God’s plan for us to take on this assignment,” says Lopez.       Exactly how many churches across the country offer such organized forms of homeschooling is hard to say, because only Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Tennessee, and Washington explicitly grant area churches or parochial schools the right to supervise homeschoolers. While parishes in other states can also do it legally, they must navigate the kind of regulatory minefield that causes them instinctively to keep a low profile. (In some states, for example, church homeschools cannot say that their students are “enrolled,” only that they “attend.”)       What is clear is that church-sited homeschools are proving an effective way to help parents overcome what have historically been the three biggest obstacles to homeschooling: the fear of being an incompetent teacher, the reluctance to do it without outside support, and the inability to work full-time while schooling one’s own children. This awareness has led a growing number of nonprofits to provide local houses of worship with guidance on how to make themselves into a full-time homeschool collaborative.       In Massachusetts, for example, the Family Institute posts an online guide to “Church-Based Learning Center Resources” on its website. Designed by Pastor Adam Rondeau of the Bethany Assembly of God church in Agawam, it has already been used to establish 20 Protestant and Catholic programs in the Bay State, including Worcester’s Grow Christina Learning Center. “Everything a religious group needs to get started is right there,” says Institute CEO Michael King.       And in Florida, a local charity known as the Florida Citizens Alliance has divided the state into eight regions, supplying each with an “ambassador” whose job it is to teach interested churches how to start their own homeschool programs. At the same time, the Alliance works with My Father’s World and other religiously oriented publishers of online curricula to develop courses specifically tailored to group homeschooling.      At the national level, the Stanley M. Herzog Foundation (also working with Rondeau) sponsors a specialized training for both clergy and laypeople wanting to establish a church homeschool in their own community. Called the “school box,” it has already launched 13 parish learning centers in five states.      Beyond making homeschooling more accessible, many education reformers believe church programs are an economical way to provide school choice to poor and middle-class families in the 38 states that do not yet subsidize it. To find out, the Children’s Scholarship Fund will this fall give $75,000 in matching grants to poor parents in Massachusetts who want to register their children in one of the state’s homeschooling parishes.      The Reverend Steve Macias, whose Canterbury Christian School in Los Altos, California, offers instruction to local homeschoolers, goes one step further, arguing that the benefit of parish learning centers in non-choice states extends to many affluent parents as well. “If you’re trying to support a family in a place like Silicon Valley, where even ordinary homes cost $3-to-$4 million,” Macias says, “it’s not easy to pay the tuition of a more traditional private or parochial school with after-tax dollars.”      But perhaps it is the Family Institute’s King who has the most sweeping vision of what homeschooling churches can accomplish. He thinks that by combining the availability of unused parish spaces with inexpensive online curricula, they will not only “bypass the legislative roadblocks in states which keep children from getting a more rigorous education,” but create a better future “for both education and organized religion.” The post Churches Take Homeschooling in a Surprising Direction appeared first on The American Conservative.

Culture America’s Unlikely Tennis Star A new American star is rising at the U.S. Open. It was nearly midnight in New York City when Grigor Dimitrov’s hamstring came unglued.  The commentator spoke gravely: “He’s going to dance at his own funeral. Heartbreaking, heartsick. It’s all that.” The 33-year-old Bulgarian had come up limp in the penultimate third set as he and the rising American tennis star Frances Tiafoe battled viciously to wrest control of their quarterfinals match at the U.S. Open late Tuesday night.  Dimitrov valiantly tried to carry on but his leg could not. When all was said and done, Tiafoe met the Bulgarian at center court for a muted celebration.  Tennis fans deserved better. So did Tiafoe and Dimitrov. The pair exchanged the first two sets through fiery, fantastic tennis that climaxed with Dimitrov capturing a second set tiebreak to even the match after nearly two hours of play. By the fourth set, however, Dimitrov could barely move, hobbling around the court with his leg in tow.  And after Tiafoe catapulted to a 4–1 lead in the fourth set, Dimitrov motioned to the chair umpire and then to Frances. It was over. The Maryland-born Tiafoe had secured passage into his second Grand Slam Semifinal—a Friday night, primetime, All-American matchup against the California-born Taylor Fritz. It’ll be a big day for American tennis fans everywhere. An American hasn’t won a Grand Slam tournament in over 20 years, dating back to when 21-year-old Andy Roddick claimed victory at the 2003 U.S. Open. And two Americans haven’t faced each other this deep into a Grand Slam since Andre Agassi beat Robby Ginepri at the U.S. Open in 2005.  Tiafoe’s dramatic ascendancy through the tennis rankings (he’s currently #20 in the world) is the sort of rags-to-riches story that has come to characterize our understanding of the American Dream.  Tiafoe, the son of Sierra Leonean immigrants who escaped civil war, was the last man anyone expected to be celebrating on center stage at Arthur Ashe Stadium in the wee morning hours on Wednesday. But there he was, in one of the grand arenas of tennis. The 26-year-old beamed from ear to ear. An American dream fulfilled. “When I told people that I wanted to grow up to be a tennis player, they laughed at me,” Tiafoe stated in his 2017 profile for Players Tribune. No one was laughing now.  The world of tennis (much like golf) is financially prohibitive by nature, with costly club memberships and even more costly coaches creating a narrow band of players and backgrounds. It’s part of what makes the story of Tiafoe and his parents Alphina and Constant (Frances Sr.) all the richer to contemplate.  None of Tiafoe’s miraculous rise would have been possible without a bit of luck, a new start in Maryland, and the hardscrabble work ethic of his parents. Tiafoe’s father, who immigrated to the DC area in the mid-90s, worked as a day-laborer during the construction of the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Maryland.  It was there that Frances Sr. earned a job as head of maintenance and picked up extra cash by cleaning the clay courts at night. The gig came with a 150-square foot office which doubled as a bedroom when Alphina was busy working overnight shifts as a nurse.    “He’d sleep on the massage table so that Franklin and I could have the couches,” recalls Tiafoe. At the center, Frances and his twin brother Franklin fell in love with tennis. Misha Kouznetsov, then a 24-year old coach, spotted the duo and took interest in their development. Kouznetsov, like Frances, was an outsider, having immigrated from Russia at the age of 15 with only $60 in his pocket and the dream of becoming a tennis pro. That dream ended when the Russian realized he was “too short” to compete at the top levels. Kouznetsov turned to coaching where he hoped to inspire and craft a young player into pro material.  That’s when Kouznetsov saw an 8-year-old Frances walloping balls across the court. The pair’s meeting was the stuff of destiny. “Two hungry guys, and poor,” Kouznetsov said. “That’s why the whole Frances-and-I thing worked out.” Kouznetsov recounts the uphill cultural and socio-economic battles he and Tiafoe fought in those early days. “We’d be laughed at,” Kouznetsov recalls while describing Tiafoe playing with discarded rackets and wearing cargo shorts. But none of the mockery or awkwardness kept Kouznetsov from fostering Tiafoe’s undeniable talent. The young coach helped however he could —with money, with tutoring, and with travel expenses to top tournaments across the country.  When Frances was only 9, Kouznetsov bought him new shoes, an Under Armour tee, and drove the youngster to Washington’s Mall Open where Tiafoe did the rest, winning the tournament. By the age of 15, Tiafoe had his breakthrough becoming the youngest winner in the history of the prestigious Orange Bowl.  “I realized early that I could either sit there and be sad about my situation or use it as a way out,” Tiafoe has said to describe his humble beginnings. “I look at it like this: Your parents are your parents. You came up how you came up. You can’t change that. What I could control though was how hard I worked. I knew I had an ability to help my family and my community in a way that my peers at the academy couldn’t.” Tiafoe has earned a staggering $11 million in his career. He is a global ambassador for Evian, a style icon for Nike, and a new face for watchmakers Tag Hueur. A man of his word, Tiafoe never forgot his Prince George’s County roots. In July of 2023, he presented a $50,000 check to the Junior Tennis Champions Center with his two parents by his side. The former academy trainee also announced he would establish a charitable fund in partnership with the USTA Foundation to broaden access to the sport.  “I’ve wanted to do this for a long time,” Tiafoe said. “It’s something I’ve always been passionate about. I love people. I love helping people. I’m a product of this place. I’m a guy who was given a chance—who wouldn’t have really had one—and look what I was able to do with it.” UTSA Foundation’s Jeffrey J. Harrison championed the work Tiafoe has done to inspire the next generation: “He’s a role model for kids across the country.” Friday’s matchup against Fritz represents arguably Tiafoe’s best chance to reach a Grand Slam final since becoming a pro. Though Fritz is playing some of the best tennis of his career, the San Diego native has never competed in a Grand Slam semifinal and the match is set for a primetime showing in the biggest tennis arena on the planet.  Tiafoe reached the U.S. Open semis once before in 2022, when he became the first black American player to make it to that stage of the competition since Arthur Ashe did so in 1972. He fought Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz bravely that day, even jumping out to an early lead and then battling to extend the match to five sets. After four and a half grueling hours, Alcaraz did what he often does—he put Tiafoe away.  No matter how the match against Fritz ends on Friday, Tiafoe has already achieved a level of success in the sport and his personal life that defied all odds when his parents escaped war-torn Sierra Leone nearly 30 years ago.  Asked earlier in his career what he would want his tennis legacy to be, the young man with a big smile didn’t hesitate: “What if they say, ‘Hey, I want to be like Frances Tiafoe!’ That’s what I want my story to be.” The post America’s Unlikely Tennis Star appeared first on The American Conservative.

Politics A New Quarterback, the Same Broken Playbook The Harris economic plan is both radical and tired. Credit: Phil Mistry via Shutterstock When Kamala Harris accepted her party’s nomination for president at the Democratic National Convention, she didn’t mention food prices or cracking down on “price gouging,” a key component of her recently revealed economic plan to tackle inflation. Yet she was quite proud then as she vowed “to pass the first-ever federal ban” on price gouging on food. Well, technically she spoke about halting “price gauging on food,” which would mean adopting a federal ban on deciding how large a foodstuff is. But cut her some slack. Reading a speech prepared by others, let alone telling the truth, can be a terribly difficult thing to do. Just ask President Joe Biden (see here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. We could list many other instances, but you get the point). To call the Harris plan a set of “populist gimmicks” would leave even Huey Long disappointed. To call the Harris plan “economically illiterate” defames people who can’t read and write. To call the plan half-witted would give it 50 percent more credit than it deserves. Start with price controls. Cap prices by government fiat and, like the night follows the day, supply will drop, and prices will rise. But don’t take my word for it. Here’s what the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis under the Biden-Harris Administration had to say only two years ago about “Why Price Controls Should Stay in the History Books.” As Christopher Neely, a senior economic advisor, explained: “Prices allocate scarce resources” while “[p]rice controls distort those signals, leading to the inefficient allocation of goods and services.” So much for an efficient market. Want proof that price caps don’t work? Consider the gas crunch in 1979: the odd-even system of gas purchases. Gas rationing. Waiting in long lines, but not getting any gas because the tanks were dry. Maybe Harris did not have any personal experience with that phenomenon in 1979 because she was only 15 or 16 years old at the time and might not have been driving yet. But does she not have an economic advisor who was driving then, or maybe just one who actually has a degree in economics? Buyers and sellers, however, won’t treat price controls like the law of gravity. They will seek to evade them either by, as Neely put it, “chang[ing] a good slightly to prevent it from being subject to the same price limit” (for example, selling sandwiches rather than cold cuts) or “by trading illegally in black markets.” Cap food prices, and people will commit crimes to feed their families by paying vendors under the table to get priority status for scarce supplies or by conspiring with delicatessen owners to treat selling two pieces or bread with two pounds of cold cuts as a sandwich. That is a type of baloney we don’t need. “No, no, no,” will be the reply. Harris wants to ban only “price gouging.” That limitation will avoid those harms. Spare me. The term “price gouging” has been around for some time. Yet its meaning, like the legal term “obscenity” was for Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, is in the eye of the beholder. A legally understandable and enforceable definition of that term is like Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. Lots of people have reported seeing it, but no one can offer proof. That’s a problem when it comes to the law. Legal terms that have no definite meaning are not materially different than terms written in a foreign language. Those options are the equivalent of having no law at all, or a smudge where a definition should be. It allows government officials to favor friends, punish opponents, flip a coin, or vent their spleen. In short, it is a charade, an attempt to pass what looks like a law but is contentless and therefore allows bureaucrats to do whatever they please. Anglo-American law has prohibited that strategy since the Magna Carta was adopted in 1215, which barred taking life, liberty, or property except pursuant to the “law” of the land. And no one can define “price gouging” with the specificity necessary to qualify as a “law.” How did this happen? The Democratic Party might have changed their standard bearer from Sleepy Joe Biden (or, Grumpy, if you watched him at the 2024 DNC Monday night) to Dopey (Kamala Harris). But the game plan is the same: Sandersism. In 2020, the Democratic Party nomenklatura saw Vermont’s Senator Bernie Sanders win the popular vote in Iowa and the New Hampshire and Nevada primaries. He was the front-runner to challenge then-President Donald Trump for that office. The DNC politburo (correctly) feared that a man who had spent his honeymoon in the Soviet Union would appear far too obviously to be a fellow traveler with, rather than a shield against, Vladimir Putin. So, the party leadership threw its weight behind former U.S. Senator and Vice President Joe Biden. Why? Biden was a well-known “party man,” someone willing to do whatever it took to endorse the party line and follow the party wherever it was going. Biden’s personal tragedies made it difficult to engender hatred. And Biden wanted to be president so badly that he once even used the life story of Neil Kinnock, British Labor Party leader, when running for president in the 1980s. Worried that Sanders would go home and take his followers (and potential voters) with him, Biden decided to adopt nearly every jot and tittle of Sanders’s policy preferences so that he could get their votes in November 2020. Since then, Biden has ruled more like a mayor than a president, giving everyone whose votes he needs whatever goodies they want without once thinking of what is best for the nation. Now we have the current VP following the same game plan. Bread and circuses, instead of serious, rational, well-thought-out, nation-advancing policies. This is getting old—and dangerous. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect any institutional position for Heritage or its Board of Trustees. The post A New Quarterback, the Same Broken Playbook appeared first on The American Conservative.

‘…they’re using fear tactics to shut us up…’ UTL COMMENT:- The truth is that we are ruled by scum The European Union is a subversive entity The United Nations is a "Trojan Horse " The United States has been hijacked, occupied, infiltrated and degraded by criminal globalist elites as has Great Britain To help support this channel & get exclusive videos every week sign up to Neil Oliver on Patreon.com https://www.patreon.com/neiloliver Rumble site – Neil Oliver Official https://rumble.com/c/c-6293844 Website: https://www.neiloliver.com Shop - check out my t-shirts, mugs & other channel merchandise: https://neil-oliver.creator-spring.com Instagram - NeilOliverLoveLetter: https://www.instagram.com/neiloliverloveletter Podcasts: Season 1: Neil Oliver's Love Letter To The British Isles Season 2: Neil Oliver's Love Letter To The World Available on all the usual providers https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/neil-olivers-love-letter-to-the-british-isles #NeilOliver #RobertFKennedyJr #PavelDurov #elonmusk #censorship #markZuckerberg #Biden #magnacarta #DeclarationofIndependence #Macron #history #neiloliverGBNews #travel #culture #ancient #historyfact #explore

Something to be marvelled at. The post Steven Tyler on the fastest evolution in rock ‘n’ roll: “How great is that?” first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

from Revolver News: The US Supreme Court isn’t perfect, but it hasn’t been completely weaponized… yet. In fact, the court has recently come through on several key issues, voting in favor of truth and justice. One recent ruling, which affirmed presidential immunity, was a huge victory for President Trump—and for the entire country. But don’t […]

  On the evening of April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln sat in a booth in Ford’s Theatre in Washington DC, watching a satirical play called Our American Cousin. He was with his wife, Mary, and two friends.   While enjoying the spectacle, Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth walked up behind the president and leveled a pistol at the back of his head.   What happened next sent shockwaves through the country, completely eradicating the jubilation of Northern victory in the Civil War, which had ended just five days prior.   Who Was John Wilkes Booth? Photograph of John Wilkes Booth. Source: Library of Congress   Born into a family of stage actors, John Wilkes Booth became nationally famous in his own right. He was well known on the stage, not just for his presence, but for being an outspoken Confederate sympathizer and critic of Abraham Lincoln’s policies.   Lincoln had seen Booth on stage, and it was said that he admired the actor. The admiration, however, was not reciprocated. Booth planned to kidnap Lincoln. The driving force behind this was the opposing political viewpoints of each man. Lincoln was the Great Emancipator, a liberator of slaves, while Booth was a zealous crusader for the Confederacy and fully supported the idea of slavery.   Seal of the President of the Knights of the Golden Circle. Source: Wikimedia Commons   In 1860, he became a member of the Knights of the Golden Circle, a paramilitary organization that wished to create a separate country encompassing the Southern United States, Central America, and the Caribbean. Members of this organization wanted to secede from the Union and expand slavery. However, it was dissolved in 1863 before the Civil War had even come to a conclusion.   Booth, however, still aided the Confederacy. A major factor in the Civil War was the Union’s superiority in manpower. When Union General Ulysses S. Grant decided to end prisoner exchanges in a bid to put further pressure on the Confederate manpower shortage, Booth recruited supporters and devised a plan to strike back at the Union. His accomplices would be six other men: Lewis Powell (also referred to as Lewis Payne), Samuel Arnold, Michael O’Laughlen, George Atzerodt, John Surratt, and David Herold.   Booth Plans Lincoln’s Assassination A miniature print of Abraham Lincoln. Source: Library of Congress   In early 1865, Booth was already starting to plan the downfall of Abraham Lincoln. He attended Lincoln’s second inauguration on March 4, 1865, and wrote in his diary that he had missed a good opportunity to kill the president on that day. The plan at this stage, however, was not to kill the president but to kidnap him and take him to Richmond, Virginia, where he would be held with the intent of forcing the Union to release Confederate prisoners.   Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Adapted by author.   Thirteen days later, Booth and his accomplices made plans to kidnap Lincoln as he returned from a play at Campbell General Hospital. Lincoln did not go to the play but went to the National Hotel instead, which was where Booth was staying at the time. Had Booth not headed out to Campbell General Hospital, he may have been able to abduct his target at the hotel.   On April 9, the Confederates surrendered, and on April 11, Lincoln gave a speech in which he promoted the idea of complete emancipation of slaves, as well as voting rights to all men, including formerly enslaved men. Booth and Powell were in the crowd, and Booth became so emotionally charged that he ordered Powell to draw his gun and kill Lincoln on the spot. Powell refused, and Booth swore that he would kill Lincoln. Booth was quoted as saying, “That is the last speech he will ever give!”   Lincoln’s Eerie Premonition Abraham Lincoln and his son Thomas “Tad” Lincoln. Photographed by Alexander Gardner. Source: Library of Congress   Several days before his untimely death, Lincoln reportedly had a dream that acted as an ill portent. He related his experience to his friend and bodyguard, Ward Hill Lamon.    “About ten days ago, I retired very late. I had been up waiting for important dispatches from the front. I could not have been long in bed when I fell into a slumber, for I was weary. I soon began to dream. There seemed to be a death-like stillness about me. Then I heard subdued sobs, as if a number of people were weeping. I thought I left my bed and wandered downstairs. There the silence was broken by the same pitiful sobbing, but the mourners were invisible. I went from room to room; no living person was in sight, but the same mournful sounds of distress met me as I passed along. I saw light in all the rooms; every object was familiar to me; but where were all the people who were grieving as if their hearts would break? I was puzzled and alarmed. What could be the meaning of all this? Determined to find the cause of a state of things so mysterious and so shocking, I kept on until I arrived at the East Room, which I entered. There I met with a sickening surprise. Before me was a catafalque, on which rested a corpse wrapped in funeral vestments. Around it were stationed soldiers who were acting as guards; and there was a throng of people, gazing mournfully upon the corpse, whose face was covered, others weeping pitifully. ‘Who is dead in the White House?’ I demanded of one of the soldiers, ‘The President,’ was his answer; ‘he was killed by an assassin.’ Then came a loud burst of grief from the crowd, which woke me from my dream. I slept no more that night; and although it was only a dream, I have been strangely annoyed by it ever since.”   Lincoln also told his wife, Mary, about the dream. Lincoln was so shocked by this nightmarish omen that upon seeing his son, Tad, playing with a toy revolver, he suggested that it be put away for the time being.   The Assassination Andrew Johnson. Source: Wikimedia Commons   The morning of April 14 was a beautiful Spring Day in Washington DC. Abraham took Mary out on a carriage ride of the city. They spoke of their wishes for the future. Mary wanted to visit the capitals of Europe, and Abraham wanted to see the gold mines of California.   That same morning, John Wilkes Booth stopped by Ford’s Theatre to pick up his mail. While there, he learned that Lincoln was to attend the performance of Our American Cousin that very evening. He then went to John Surratt’s mother’s house/tavern, where he had stashed his weapons, and called for a meeting of his conspirators. Mary Surratt was well aware of the conspiratorial nature of the meetings.   Booth had hoped that Ulysses S. Grant would also be at the theater that night, but Grant had declined the invitation as his wife did not get along well with Lincoln’s wife.   Booth gave orders to his accomplices. There were to be multiple assassinations that night. George Atzerodt was to go to a hotel called the Kirkwood House and assassinate Vice President Andrew Johnson. The plan had gone from kidnapping to murder very quickly, and Azerodt protested this decision. Booth, however, convinced Azerodt to go through with the plan.   The next target was Secretary of State William Seward. Lewis Powell was to go to Seward’s home and kill him there. All three attacks were planned to occur just after ten o’clock in the evening.   The inside of Ford’s Theatre. Source: Photo © Maxwell MacKenzie, Ford’s Theatre   Abraham and Mary arrived at Ford’s Theatre at 8:30 pm. The show had already started and was stopped so the audience could greet their president. The Lincolns were in the company of 28-year-old Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancée, Clara Harris. A police officer, John Parker, was with the president because Ward Hill Lamon, Lincoln’s usual bodyguard, was unavailable that evening.   John Parker had a checkered past in the police force and had been disciplined for many infractions. It was not surprising then that when he discovered that from his seat near Lincoln, he could not see the stage, he moved to a better seat, leaving the presence of the president. At intermission, he went across the road to have a drink at a saloon where John Wilkes Booth, coincidentally, was waiting.   The Martyr of Liberty. Source: Library of Congress   With Parker still at the saloon, Booth made his way into Ford’s Theatre and proceeded to enter the president’s booth. After entering, he wedged the door shut with a stick and proceeded to the next door behind, which was his target. Booth, a stage actor, knew the play well and waited for the right moment. There was always laughter when a specific line was delivered. As the audience erupted into laughter, Booth opened the door, held his Derringer pistol several inches from the back of Abraham Lincoln’s head, and pulled the trigger.   Rathbone jumped from his seat and struggled with Booth, but Booth dropped his pistol, pulled a dagger, and slashed Rathbone on the arm. Rathbone forced Booth to the railing whereupon Booth jumped over and landed awkwardly on the stage before holding his bloodied knife in the air.   What he shouted is a point of debate. Traditionally, it is thought that he shouted, “sic semper tyrannis!”—“Thus always to tyrants,” the state motto of Virginia. However, other accounts had him shouting, “The South is avenged!” and similar statements. Some accounts also leave this part out completely.   Booth on the Stage – After the Act. Anonymous creator. Published by Barclay and Co. Source: Oakland University Libraries via Ford’s Theatre   Amid the screams of Clara Harris and Mary Todd, Booth made his escape, chased by Major Joseph B. Stewart, who leaped through the orchestra pit and onto the stage.   By this time, the audience was realizing exactly what had happened. Clara Harris was calling for water, and the stage filled with officers, policemen, actors, and audience members, trying to figure out what was happening and, at the same time, trying to avert chaos. Some thought the building was on fire or that the Confederates had taken the city. It soon became clear, however, that the president had been shot, and the man who ran across the stage was the assassin.   In the audience, Doctor Charles Leale rushed to the president’s aid, where he found the bullet had entered Lincoln’s head through the back of his left ear and came to a stop behind his right eye.   The Other Assassination Attempts Lewis Powell in 1865, after his capture. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Meanwhile, Lewis Powell and David Herold went to the home of William Seward to carry out their own assassination attempt. Herold sat at the reins of the getaway carriage while Powell went to the front door, pretending to have a prescription for Seward, who was in bed recovering from a carriage accident.   He was denied entry by Seward’s servant, as well as by Seward’s son, Augustus. Powell fought his way in, knocking Augustus unconscious with the butt of his revolver. Augustus also suffered seven stab wounds.   Powell also fought Seward’s bodyguard and managed to get past him to the bedroom where the Secretary of State lay. Powell slashed his throat and stabbed him several times before he managed to make his escape. A jaw splint Seward was wearing likely saved his life by deflecting the blade.   To Powell’s dismay, Herold had already taken off with the carriage. Nevertheless, Powell managed to escape across the Potomac and into Maryland, where he met up with John Wilkes Booth. They then went to hide out in Mary Surratt’s tavern.   George Atzerodt. Source: Library of Congress   Atzerodt, who had been tasked with killing Andrew Johnson, ultimately failed. He went to the Kirkwood House where Johnson was staying, but when it came time to commit the murder, Atzerodt went to the bar downstairs instead and proceeded to get drunk. As he stumbled home, he tossed his weapons into a ditch.   Although Seward was seriously injured, he recovered from his wounds and continued to serve in government for a few more years before retiring. He died in 1872 at the age of 71.   Lincoln’s Death Death Bed of Lincoln, [Brett print], A. Brett & Co. (Printer), Jones and Clark, New York, 1865. Source: Library of Congress   As far as can be ascertained, Lincoln did not suffer, although he was alive a good nine hours after the shooting. He was taken to a nearby house where he was looked after by doctors. It was apparent, however, that nothing could be done for him. He was unconscious the entire time.   His breathing became shallower, but there were no struggling or death rattles. He quietly slipped away at 7:22 on the morning of April 15. Upon his face was a look of serenity.   Between 10 and 11 that morning, Andrew Johnson took the Oath of Office and was sworn in as the 17th president of the United States.   Manhunt The execution of Mary Surratt, George Atzerodt, David Herold, and Lewis Powell. Source: Library of Congress   After meeting up, Herold and Booth proceeded to Doctor Samuel Mudd’s house. Booth had broken his leg when he jumped from the presidential booth to the stage. Mudd made a splint for the leg and supplied Booth with crutches.   The two outlaws made their way further south and into hiding. The manhunt that followed was one of the largest in US history.   They were eventually discovered hiding in a barn. Police surrounded the building. Herold surrendered, but Booth came out firing. He was mortally wounded and died a few hours later.   All other conspirators, with the exception of John Surratt, were apprehended by the end of the month. Surratt fled the country but was eventually captured by a US agent in 1866 in Egypt.   Most of the conspirators were put on trial and sentenced to prison or hanged. Mary Surratt, John’s mother, was the first woman executed by the United States government. The others sentenced to be hanged were Powell, Herold, and Atzerodt. Mary’s son was released after the jury failed to reach a verdict.   After the relief of an end to a war that had ripped the nation apart, the future of the United States looked bright for most. This feeling of victory was soon tempered by the tragedy of Lincoln’s assassination. It shocked the country and prematurely ended the life of a great man who had given his all in the quest for justice across the country.

  It is widely known that George Washington was the first President of the United States. It is also well known that he was a successful general and a statesman who guided the colonies through the Revolutionary War that resulted in the United States’ freedom from Britain under the reign of George III. Washington was therefore a widely popular candidate to stand for president in the first elections. So, when were these elections held, and what happened?   Preparing a New Country The flag of the United States designed by Francis Hopkinson. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Before the United States held its first presidential election, the country was governed by the Articles of Confederation which vested limited power to the Congress of Confederation. Several presidents served as President of Continental Congress, but this station was largely ceremonial, and was very different to the station of the President of the United States which was later established.   After the US Constitution had been ratified by nine states, it came into effect on June 21, 1788. Although several states had not yet ratified the Constitution, for the nine states who had, the laws contained therein were adopted.   The time had come for the fledgling nation to elect its first president. Electors selected by each state would cast their votes and determine who would become president. States had different methods of selecting electors. Some states chose electors via state legislature, while others had some sort of popular vote. Suffrage was only granted to white male landowners. Each elector was able to cast two votes—one for each of their two preferred candidates.    The First Election: 1789 First US presidential election results. Source: Encyclopedia Britannica   The first election in the United States was not contested by different parties, but rather by individuals who were categorized by their political stance. “Federalists” supported the constitution while Anti-Federalists opposed the constitution and its ratification. Of the latter, only George Clinton received electoral votes. Nevertheless, both factions were in favor of George Washington being president. Despite the Anti-Federalist sentiment amongst some, Washington had won the loyalty of those around him—even those who opposed federalization. Washington had been reluctant to re-enter public office, and the campaign was very much a movement to convince him to do so.   From December 15, 1788 to January 7, 1789, the United States ran its first election to select the nation’s president, and on February 7, the electors convened to cast their votes for the president and vice president.   10 states took part, and Washington carried all of them, winning a total of 69 electoral votes. Every elector cast a vote for Washington, making his election completely unanimous. North Carolina and Rhode Island had not ratified the constitution and New York failed to appoint electors, and was declared ineligible.    John Adams won 34 votes and was elected to the position of Vice President. Other candidates were John Jay (9 votes), Robert H. Harrison (6 votes), John Rutledge (6 votes), John Hancock (4 votes), George Clinton (3 votes), Samuel Huntington (2 votes), John Milton (2 votes), James Armstrong (1 vote), Benjamin Lincoln (1 vote), and Edward Telfair (1 vote).    Aftermath of the First Election George Washington print by A Weidenbach after Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828), printed ca. 1876. Source: Library of Congress   The first election was a rudimentary affair compared with the elections that were held subsequently, and the elections that are held today. On April 30, 1789, George Washington arrived in New York from Mount Vernon, and was inaugurated as the first President of the United States. His journey was one of triumph, greeted by red, white, and blue fanfare wherever he went. In 1792, another election was held, and despite his failing health and reluctance to run for office, George Washington was elected again.

  When it comes to notorious unsolved murders, the death of Elizabeth Short, better known as the Black Dahlia, is one that generally tops the list. Prominent for its gruesome details and the death of a beautiful, hopeful young woman, the murder is forever emblazoned on the consciousness of America. While many suspects have been suggested, one name that keeps returning to the discussion is that of Dr. George Hodel. In fact, his own family has even suggested his involvement. Do the accusations against Hodel stand up?   Twisted Genius George Hodel in his 1923 High School yearbook. Source: Steve Hodel   A son of Russian-Jewish parents, George Hodel was raised in California and was born in 1907. He was incredibly intelligent, musically talented, and academically gifted, scoring 186 on an early IQ test. However, he also showed indications of favoring the debauched.   At age fifteen, he began studies at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech). During his tenure, he started a sexual affair with the wife of one of his professors, and as a result, she became pregnant. When the dalliance was revealed, Hodel was expelled from CalTech and moved his focus to interests other than his education for a while.   Becoming Doctor Hodel Dr. Hodel. Source: New York Daily News Archive via Cosmopolitan   During the 1920s and 30s, Hodel took up photography and started a magazine. His first two marriages (there were five in total) occurred during these years, and he had children from both unions.   Eventually, Hodel returned to school, graduating from the University of California-Berkeley with a pre-med degree in 1932. He continued his medical studies and graduated with a medical degree in 1936. Within a few years, he had a thriving medical practice and was soon appointed to lead the county’s Social Hygiene Bureau. In this role, his specialty was venereal disease, but he also performed secret abortions. Many desperate women sought out his expertise, and it was said that Hodel held furtive secrets regarding many locals as a result.   Hodel provides medical services in New Mexico in an undated photo. Source: South Pasadenan   Hodel’s closest companion during this time, besides his respective wives, was his secretary, Ruth Spaulding. In working by his side, she was also privy to a great deal of confidential information about patients and about Hodel himself.   It was rumored that he had engaged in financial fraud in regard to his business. There was also the matter of the illegal abortions that were allegedly performed at the clinic. Spaulding would have been aware of all of these skeletons in Hodel’s closet.   Hodel’s second wife, Dorothy Huston Hodel, worked with him as well, writing scripts for public information programs about venereal disease. Photographed by Man Ray in 1944. Source: Steve Hodel Official Site   In 1945, Spaulding died suddenly. According to the medical examiner, she passed away from a drug overdose, and the matter was ruled a suicide. However, at the time and in the years since, there has been much speculation that Hodel was responsible for Spaulding’s death. He was there when she died and was found to have burned several documents before calling the police to report her death.   Within a few days, he had left for China, volunteering to work with the United Nations for a stint. Since Spaulding’s death was ruled a suicide, there was never an investigation, and Hodel was never officially viewed as a suspect, despite the suspicion of many.   House of Horrors A photo from inside the Sowden House. Troy Gregory photo. Source: Curbed LA   In 1945, Hodel purchased the Sowden House, a Mayan-style structure designed by Lloyd Wright (son of Frank Lloyd Wright). His most recent ex-wife moved to the property as well, along with their children. The unique home soon became a house of horrors under Hodel’s ownership. He physically abused his children in the house’s dark basement and threw twisted, sybaritic parties that were known for involving copious amounts of drugs along with sexual orgies.   Hodel’s 1949 booking photo. LAPD photo. Source: Find A Grave   In fact, Hodel’s daughter, Tamar, ran away in 1949 and was soon taken into police custody. She claimed she ran away after her father and others raped her during a party at the home. Later, she would accuse her father of sexual abuse from the time she was a preteen and of allowing his friends to photograph her nude.   Despite eyewitnesses testifying on her behalf, Tamar was branded a liar, and Hodel was acquitted of incest charges at the end of 1949. In fact, her own mother called her a liar. Tamar was sent to a juvenile detention center after the case.   Tamar maintained that she wasn’t the only woman who suffered at the hands of her father, a claim that would be verified by others who lived in and visited the home. Women were constantly in and out of the home, some willingly, but perhaps, according to witnesses, some not.   The Black Dahlia Elizabeth Short, International News Photo. Source: Rolling Stone   Was one of these women the Black Dahlia, Elizabeth Short? In January 1947, a gruesome sight was discovered by a mother taking a stroll with her child: the bisected body of a young woman. The body was lying just off the sidewalk, completely naked and covered with extensive mutilation. However, the lack of blood at the scene suggested that the murder and maiming had taken place elsewhere.   The Los Angeles police department, in conjunction with the FBI, began an investigation and soon identified the body as Elizabeth Short, a 22-year-old who, like so many others, had moved to California with dreams of becoming a successful actress.   An LAPD bulletin seeking information on Elizabeth Short. Source: FBI   The victim soon became known as the “Black Dahlia,” a spin-off of a popular movie at the time, The Blue Dahlia, in conjunction with her dyed black hair and clothing. The media went wild with the new moniker and the case itself, and it wasn’t hard to see why. Short’s beauty, hopeful dreams, and the violent way in which she died were perfect tabloid fodder.   A Frustrating Mystery Elizabeth Short’s purse is identified at the police station by Robert Manley, the last person believed to see Short alive. Source: Bettmann Archives via Entertainment Weekly   The case was challenging to work from the beginning. Close to fifty people went to the LAPD claiming to be the murderer, hoping for a shot at fame. Tip lines at the station rang day and night. Reporters were even said to withhold evidence in hopes of scoring a big scoop.   Several notorious suspects were named in the case, including Dr. George Hodel. Hodel was questioned, and his home was even wiretapped. On one police tape, Hodel is recorded as saying, “Supposin’ I did kill the Black Dahlia. They couldn’t prove it now. They can’t talk to my secretary [Spaulding] anymore because she’s dead.”   In 1950, a Los Angeles newspaper reported that police were planning to arrest a Black Dahlia suspect, quoting an anonymous source. Imminently, perhaps in response, perhaps coincidentally, Hodel left California, leaving his ex-wives and children behind. He stayed in Hawaii for two years, then moved to the Philippines with a new wife, Hortensia Laguda.   Jefferson Mays played Hodel in the television series I Am The Night. Source: Turner Entertainment Networks   Hodel would spend many more years abroad, save random and brief visits with his sons in Los Angeles. He also made stopovers in Chicago and San Francisco, where he has been posthumously accused of murders during those time frames. In 1990, when he was 83 years old, Hodel permanently returned to the United States with his fifth wife, June Hirano, whom he’d married the year before. He passed away in 1999.   A Son’s Crusade Steve Hodel, left, with his father in an undated photo. Inset is an older photo of the pair from 1943. Source: South Pasadenan   Hodel’s son, Steve Hodel, a former police officer, was tasked with going through some of his father’s things after his death. While looking through an album of photos, he came across some disturbing images among family photos: shots of numerous nude women, including one with black hair that he thought looked familiar but couldn’t place.   Later, when speaking with his half-sister, Tamar, she told him, “You know, Dad was a suspect in the Black Dahlia case,” and the image of the black-haired woman instantly came back to Steve’s mind.   He was disturbed to think that his father may have known Elizabeth Short but believed there was no way he was a murderer. Steve remembered his father as often absent but a “great man.” Other family members call Steve Hodel the “favorite son,” with a stronger attachment to his dad than the other children. He didn’t know many of the details of his father’s sordid side. His first instinct was to prove his father’s innocence.   One of the photos of the black-haired woman found by Steve Hodel in his father’s things. Source: Steve Hodel Official Website   However, Steve soon came to feel that his first impulses were very wrong. After viewing letters that were sent to the police and press by the Black Dahlia’s killer, he was struck by how similar the block printing was to his own father’s. Steve Hodel decided to spend his retirement pursuing the truth behind his father’s involvement in the Black Dahlia case and other potential crimes.   Steve Hodel. Ed Evans photo. Source: Fox News   Steve’s investigation took him throughout Los Angeles, interviewing retired law enforcement agents involved in the case, consulting forensic experts, poring over newspapers, and eventually using the information he gathered to write a book, followed by subsequent titles about his father’s criminality.   Cover art from two books by Steve Hodel. Source: IMDb   The younger Hodel has received some validation for his efforts, with an independent handwriting expert confirming that it is “highly probable” that Dr. Hodel wrote the letters to the police and press. In addition, in 2002, Deputy District Attorney Steven Kay reviewed Steve Hodel’s work and the case as a whole, stating that if George Hodel were alive, he would have no problem filing murder charges against him, confident that he would be convicted.   Steve Hodel speaks to an audience about his most recent book in 2018. Eric Fabbro photo. Source: South Pasadenan   Steve Hodel has continued to research his father’s potential crimes, proposing that he may be tied to the unsolved Zodiac killings in California in the 1960s and others. His family has been generally supportive of his work and agrees with his findings. However, with Hodel’s death, a chance to bring Elizabeth Short’s killer to justice may have also died. Though evidence mounts, the Black Dahlia case will likely remain unsolved. George Hodel was many things: brilliant, abusive, and sick, but whether or not he was a killer remains an unconcluded chapter in his story.