Trapped in Hell: Shawkan’s Uncertain Future

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

A journalist’s job is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

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The next court appearance for the photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid (“Shawkan”) is December 10 in Cairo, Egypt. It will be the latest chapter in a three-year saga, a Kafkaesque tale that should not be taking place at all. Some background about this tale of a journalist trapped in a story:
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Trick and/or Treat

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

Three years ago, the Martin Prosperity Institute released what it called its “annual survey” of Halloween in America. It was its third annual such survey and it has not produced a sequel to this seminal study of all things Halloween since. My hometown broke it, I guess.

The Institute’s work in the field of Halloween enjoyment, a study not seriously undertaken by most people older than eight, led in 2013 to many national news articles that expressed shock at its conclusion: that the best place for Halloween in the United States of America is Poughkeepsie, New York.
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Today in History: Oct. 31

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

“When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent,’ he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”—Martin Luther, Ninety-five Theses

Martin Luther, a university professor and preacher, sent a long list of propositions to his archbishop against the common practice of selling indulgences—certificates guaranteeing a reduction in suffering in the afterlife for sins committed in this life—on this date in 1517. The Protestant Reformation is considered to have started 499 years ago today.

Legend has it that Luther nailed the document to the door of the All Saints Church in Wittenberg on this date, but there is no evidence that he did so. He may have posted the document on the door, which was a common place to post important papers, in mid-November that year, as citizens in Wittenberg were starting to discuss the Ninety-five Theses without having the argument in front of them.
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