My parents have always been given to hospitality. They would encourage their children to bring friends “over to the house.” This invitation would enable us, their children, to have an opportunity to share enjoyable times with our friends and allow our parents to become better acquainted with our peers. We, as teenagers lacking the understanding of the physical effects a houseful of youngsters placed on two adults, would invite the “whole gang” to spend the night, and to leave from our home when we would be traveling with a group to an out-of-town event. Good times for everyone, right?

Less than two years after he was appointed head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis made news by acknowledging the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide (2015). Armenians and their supporters welcomed the statement, but it angered Turkish leaders who reject using the label “genocide” to describe the murders of nearly two million Armenians from April 1915 until the end of World War I.

“School days, school days, dear old golden rule days, readin’ and ‘ritin’ and ‘rithmetic taught to the tune of the hickory stick” (1907, by Will Cobb).

The very popular Boston Marathon is scheduled to “run” on April 20, 2015. April 15 marked the anniversary of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. Violent acts and terrorism are the staple topic of today’s world news. When will this marathon of terror end?

“Germany has approved the delivery of the fifth of six promised submarines to Israel—amid claims that the sub will be outfitted with nuclear weapons... The six submarines ordered by Israel several years ago have been and are being built by the German shipyard HDW in Kiel. Four submarines have already been delivered to Israel; the last one, the INS Tanin, was handed over to Israel last September.