Thomas Hunt

  There's plenty of interesting reading in Informer's 2024 issue, The Treacherous World of Joseph Valachi   (shown in hardcover above - red bow not included).  The issue is available for online purchase in (easily wrapped) hardcover book, paperback book and magazine formats. (Electronic book and magazine editions are available too, but good luck getting a bow to stick to those.) Books are sold through Amazon:  https://amzn.to/3ZxMwR6 Magazines are sold through MagCloud: https://informer.magcloud.com Click here for more information.

(Originally written in 2008.)    I've noticed that our holidays have opposites or anti-holidays. It is sometimes difficult to identify an anti-holiday, as the opposition between holidays can be hidden somewhere beneath their apparent purposes. I'll save you the trouble by outlining the holiday opposite-pairs below.    The most obvious holiday - anti-holiday pair is Memorial Day and Labor Day . I know that Memorial Day is primarily set aside for honoring the great sacrifice of our fallen service men and women and that Labor Day is set aside for recognizing the pains of childbirth. (That was a joke. OK?) There's nothing in those stated purposes that makes them opposites.    However, the holidays have secondary purposes that are indeed polar opposites. Memorial Day is the day we take off from work in order to open up our swimming pools for the summer. Labor Day is the day we take off from work in order to close up our swimming pools for the winter. ...