This article is from my book, Ornamentally Incorrect, third edition, Kuxe et Veritas. 

Fowl Play 

In Oban, Scotland in 1896, John Turner sued a distillery for £12 ($1600 2013 equivalent) for allowing intoxicating material to flow into the stream from which his hens drank, causing… Read full post »

From my book, Ornamentally Incorrect, third edition, Luxe et Veritas. 

 The Handwriting on the Wall

The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls"
— Simon and Garfunkel, The Sounds of Silence

Excavation of Pompeii, buried in 20 feet if pumice and ash by Ves… Read full post »

From my book, Ornamentally Incorrect, third edition, Luxe et Veritas. From The Way We Were section. 

Shirt-Waists are for Pantywaists 

Do you remember reading about the horrific Triangle Shirtwaist fire in 1911? The fire in Manhattan killed 146 people, mainly young women garment worker… Read full post »

Since everyone's entitled to my opinion, here's my book plug.

Ornamentally Incorrect 
 Third Edition – Luxe et Veritas

I own a jewelry store in Pompton Lakes, NJ. I send newsletters to my customers 3 times a year. The newsletters were an instant hit when I started them in 1997. Orname… Read full post »

From my book, Ornamentally Incorrect, third editon, Luxe et Veritas

Nut Country 

Nelson Bunker Hunt ran an ad in the Dallas Morning News on November 22, 1963. The ad headlined "Welcome Mr. Kennedy to Dallas", then went on to say "…we free-thinking and America-thinking citizens of Dal… Read full post »

From my book, Ornamentally Incorrect, third edition, Luxe et Veritas 

God Only Knows

My town voted to allow holiday religious displays on public property, all comers allowed — the no establishment of religion thing.

The town put up the standard pagan "Holiday tree" in front of the municipa… Read full post »

From my book, Ornamentally Incorrect, third edition, Luxe et Veritas 

Waste Management

Oh, crap! Another pillar of eternal truth has crumbled. Thomas Crapper did not invent the toilet. Bummer!

Sir John Harington (1561-1612) invented the flush toilet. Harington was a writer, courtier, and godson t… Read full post »

From my book, Ornamentally Incorrect, third edition, Luxe et Veritas. 

President and CEO

Before you cast your vote for the guy who says his business success qualifies him to run the country, consider which presidents were most successful in business.

Herbert Hoover was a very successful mining e… Read full post »

From my book, Ornamentally Incorrect, third edition, Luxe et Veritas. 

Debt for Dummies 

"If Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling by $2.5 trillion that somehow the United States will go into default and we will lose the full faith and credit of the United States. That is simply not true… Read full post »

From my book Ornamentally Incorrect, third edition, Luxe et Veritas 

Shootout at the Circle K Ranch

In early 1974 a shooting contest was held at the Circle K Ranch in Kaufman, Texas, 35 miles southeast of Dallas. The ranch belonged to the Hunt family, oil billionaires. Cowboys competed… Read full post »

From my book Ornamentally Incorrect, third editon, Luxe et Veritas.

Where Have You Gone, Ferdinand Pecora?

 Remember those big-shot bankers being grilled on TV in January? [2010] That was the first hearing of The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission that was set up as part of the Fraud E… Read full post »

From my book Ornamentally Incorrect, third edition, Luxe et Veritas

Requiem for the Middle Class

"There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning." Warren Buffet — The New York Times, November 26, 2006.

"The World is dividing i… Read full post »

From my book, Ornamentally Incorrect, third edition, Luxe et Veritas. 

Oeconomia est, O Asine!*

The current economic crisis has parallels with the panic of 33. That’s 33, not ‘33.

In 32, a company in Alexandria, Egypt lost three spice ships in a hurricane in the Red Sea, an… Read full post »

From my book Ornamentally Incorrect, third edtion, Luxe et Veritas. 

The Debtor Strikes Back

From time to time I report on credit card issues, how they sock it to you and me. But occasionally you can get get even. I’m in pretty good shape on my credit card interest rates, except f… Read full post »

From my book, Ornamentally Incorrect, third edition, Luxe et Veritas. 

Happy Anniversary Osama 

"God bless all the brave men and women in our military and our intelligence services who carried out a successful mission to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice. We thank President Bush for having m… Read full post »

From my book Ornamentally Incorrect, third edition, Luxe et Veritas.

Please read the next 3 articles, The N Word, Truth to Tell, and The Big Lie in sequence.

The N Word
“Adolf Hitler, like Barack Obama, also ruled by dictate."
— Rush Limbaugh, Aug. 6, 2009

“I want to put it… Read full post »

From my book Ornamentally Incorrect, third edition, Luxe et Veritas

It's a Spinthariscope, Kemo Sabe

See genuine atoms split to smithereens inside this Kix Atomic Bomb Ring. For just 15¢ plus a Kix cereal boxtop the Lone Ranger Atomic Bomb Ring could have been yours in 1947.

The ring was ad… Read full post »