Personifications of Death

The concept of death as a sentient entity is found in nearly every society. In Western culture, death is often called the “Grim Reaper” and is depicted as a hooded, skeletal figure that carries a scythe and either guides the deceased to the next world or actually causes the victim’s death—leading to tales that he can be bribed or outwitted. In the Hindu scriptures, the lord of death, Yama, rides a black buffalo and carries a lasso. In Greek mythology, death is Thanatos, the twin brother of whom? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

London Police Kill Commuter, Sparking Furor (2005)

The day before this controversial police shooting, four suicide bombing attempts on London’s transport system failed, sparking a massive manhunt for the escaped bombers. With the perpetrators still at large, commuters returned to the tube. On July 22, police at the Stockwell tube station shot and killed 27-year-old Jean Charles de Menezes, whom they mistook for suspected bomber Hussain Osman. What police protocol for dealing with suspected suicide bombers was criticized after the tragic mistake? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Tisha b’Av

The Jewish Fast of Av is a period of fasting, lamentation, and prayer in memory of the destruction of both the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. When the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the First Temple in 586 BCE, the Jews rebuilt it, but continued the fast day. Then the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE, and a long period of exile began for the Jews. The nine days from the beginning of Av through Tisha b’Av mark a period of intense mourning for the various disasters and tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people throughout history. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Henryk Goldszmit, AKA Janusz Korczak (1878)

Goldszmit was a Jewish doctor and author of children’s literature who wrote under the pen name Janusz Korczak. In 1912, he established an orphanage in Warsaw. When World War II broke out, he refused to flee the Nazis and continued to care for the children even after his orphanage was forced to move into the Warsaw Ghetto in 1940. In August 1942, Nazi soldiers came with orders to take all the children and workers in the orphanage to the Treblinka concentration camp. What happened to Korczak? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Classified Information in the US

The US government has three levels of classification: “confidential,” “secret,” and “top secret.” Each level of classification indicates an increasing degree of sensitivity, which is based upon a calculation of the damage that the release of the information would cause to national security. The classification system has been revised many times. Why do some speculate that there may be a level “above” top secret? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Marie Besnard Charged with Multiple Murders (1949)

Between 1927 and 1947, 13 of Besnard’s family members and friends died under mysterious circumstances, and she became a wealthy woman by inheriting their fortunes. She gave bizarre explanations for some of the deaths, such as claiming that two people had eaten lye they mistook for a dessert. Her second husband remarked that he thought she was poisoning him, prompting the police to investigate his death. When they exhumed his body, they found arsenic. Why was Besnard acquitted of murder charges? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary