The Introverted Detective

Billy the Kid. William Henry Bonney. Brushy Bill. John Miller? Did Billy die in 1881, or not? Let's dive into that. One of the only confirmed pictures of Billy the Kid A short introduction to Billy the Kid is in order. He was born in the slums of New York City. His father died when he was a child, his mother remarried, and he was a straight shooter until he stole laundry at age 14 while working at a hotel. From there he went to jail (and instead of just letting it blow over and get released) only to escape out a chimney. He went to work as a civilian teamster in Arizona and encountered a man who bullied him. He shot him in self-defense during a fistfight. Once again, instead of letting the law acquit him on self-defense, he ran away. From there he eventually ended up in Lincoln County working for John Tunstall, who got killed by a rival rancher. This set him up for being on the wrong side of the Lincoln County War. All this led to Pat Garrett supposedly killing him at Fort Sumner. ...

 Politics can't be avoided these days. Shall we discuss it civilly?  With all this Republican versus Democrat yelling going on, let's first talk about the origin of the political parties that we see every election. Politics is defined as activities associated with governing, especially conflict among individuals or parties having and hoping to achieve power. The Republican and Democrat parties were born in 1820 when settlers had to decide whether their state would be free or slave. Apparently, they have been at each others' throats for a longer time than some of us thought possible, so let's learn how to get along this election. Civil Conversation In some cases, it may be a respectful conversation habit to avoid politics at all times. This depends on the person you are talking to. If you can bring up politics without a chair being thrown across the room you can benefit from this post. To start with, choose your moment to speak on this carefully. Invite the person into t...

Gifted kids. Gifted programs. Problem-causers that frustrate teachers when they get bored. What does gifted mean? That's today's deep dive.  For starters, being gifted does not mean you are a genius by any means. It simply means you are more mature and advanced in one topic or more than your peers are. You are probably also keenly aware of a lot more in your world than your peers. Your peers are not stupid. If you are gifted in any way you are not a superior human; you are simply built and wired differently from those around you. Do not become narcissistic and begin to believe you are superior.  Now that the warning is out there, let's keep going. Being gifted can show up in IQ, but not always, so don't depend on IQ points to show if your child, you, or your peer is gifted. It also has to be noticed over time by several others. One devoted mother/father saying their son/daughter is a young prodigy is not enough to say they are gifted. It takes careful observations and m...

 Today we boldly go where no man has gone before to tell you that Star Trek technology predicted today's devices. Don't believe me? Well, go ask Cortana or Siri to search for Star Trek and think about the fact that a computer just obeyed your voice command. A picture of Transparent Aluminum Here comes your crash course in Star Trek plot, in case you clicked this and never watched the old or new Star Trek movies and TV shows. Captain James Kirk is the captain of the starship Enterprise in the mid 22nd to late 24th century, where the plot then features Captain Picard. Their mission is to explore space. The introduction says it all. Read the narrated introduction below and you pretty much have the gist of the show and movies, give or take smaller plot points. It started with very little budget, and now we still love it, only now it has a budget that makes the costumes look less like the cast all went to goodwill.  "Space, the final frontier These are the voyages of the Starsh...

I was going to do this topic a while back, but I'm doing it now instead. Let's talk about knitting morse code and the role of art in espionage.  Morse Code Shawl example Some think the arts are only for children, others don't, but the spy trade takes all forms. Wars produce espionage. Having to send messages to the other side and infiltrate for information takes unusual methods and unusual people, some of which look perfectly ordinary to the average human. Put simply, a spy should blend into the environment. What is more common than knitting during a World War when women are told to knit gloves and hats for the troops?  Knitting No surprise here, women were a prominent force in the spy world, mostly because knitting for the troops and sitting in the domestic sphere knitting was a social norm. Female spies could blend in and knit knots of morse code into their sweaters for days, all under the enemy's constant view. It was perfect. You give the sweater to your lovable, so...

Ghosthunting and curiosity toward the supernatural are getting more and more popular lately. Is it biblical? Let's dive into that.  First of all, I'd like to define the term "ghost". The Bible does not use it how we do. It is mostly "giving up" the ghost that you see. Short answer, it doesn't refer to a ghost as a being lingering on earth as a soul without a body. The Bible does not support our use of the word "ghost". It is used only to show someone giving up the ghost, or the name Holy Ghost. Christian belief says that no souls linger on earth - there is only Heaven or Hell after we die. So, we do not seek ghosts in ghost hunting.  What are you seeking when you hunt "ghosts"? I hate to tell you all this, but you might be seeking contact with a demon. The use of seances and ouija boards as party games is not anything new to our society - look up the victorian period parties for proof - and it was a dangerous thing to do. It never sho...

Jayhawkers are not just a Kansas sports team. They wreaked havoc in the name of abolition in Kansas and hated Missouri with a passion. Let me introduce you to the Kansas-Missouri border wars. In case you were curious, this was both pre and during the Civil War.  To give you a snapshot of what the border war was, here's a brief history lesson. Kansas is for abolition, Missouri is not. For some, there is still animosity over this period of time, mostly due to the damage done to both states and the number of innocent people killed in the process. The Civil War led people to join a side to repay the other side for its actions during the border war.  The Jayhawkers would use the term "Jayhawker" happily, and the term "redlegs", since they wear red uniforms sometimes. Since some didn't have uniforms early on, it was unknown if they were civilian or military. Jayhawks in verbiage is a cross between hawks and bluejays (so noisy predators). This military abolitionist...