Accused

If someone asked me who wrote the novel Ben-Hur, chances are I’d come up with the author’s name, Lew Wallace. That was the extent of my knowledge of him until today. In an article by Kerry J. Byrne at foxnews.com, details of his extraordinary life are revealed. For one, he was a Union general wrongly blamed for the loss of life at the bloodbath that was the Battle of Shiloh. In 1880 he wrote Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, which is estimated to have sold 50 million copies since then. A lawyer before the war, Wallace sat on the military tribunal that convicted eight conspirators in the plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln, and he led the first leg of the president’s funeral procession. He later governed the New Mexico Territory and served as U.S. ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. He wrote six other novels and three works of non-fiction, including an autobio. He was a father of one, a son. He passed away at 77 in 1905. Here’s the cover of a 2006 bio, photo from Google Images:

From an article by Andrew Mark Miller at FN, in my own words: In April 46-year-old Turkish pop star Gulsen, in concert in Istanbul, joked about one of her musicians, saying his perversions stemmed from attending an Islamic school. The quip only recently made its way to social media and raised an uproar among the usual suspects. She has been arrested for “inciting hatred” and is awaiting trial, despite having apologized. Imagine if this standard were applied to artists is the USA. Hopefully she will find the redemption General Wallace did. Photo from GI:

Headline from FN: “New York stores begin enforcing ban on sale of whipped cream canisters to those under 21.” Why? Because the contents are propelled by nitrous oxide, which some use to get high. First offense: $250 fine, subsequent violations $500. Does anyone believe the law will keep the product away from those under 21? Maybe it will become the target of the looting prevalent these days and lead to a black market on it.

Everything worked out today for the floating book shop except the business end. The perfect parking spot was available as soon as I rolled up, and cloud cover and a nice breeze took the bite out of the humidity. August started strong but has petered out. My thanks to the woman who bought five kids’ books.

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