Randal A. Burd, Jr.

• Health

  Five Popular Weight Loss Supplements Withdrawn from the U.S. Market

  The following five weight loss supplements were once among the most popular on the U.S. market. But it is all fun and games until someone ends up dead. Found to have deadly side-effects, these supplements were quickly banned or voluntarily withdrawn from the market under the direction of the Food and Drug...

  Randal A. Burd, Jr. June 5, 2014
• History

  Four Time-Ravaged Wedding Traditions

  Weddings are events steeped in tradition, but these traditions have changed or lost their meanings with the ravages of time. Here are four wedding customs that for one reason or another are no longer as they once were.

  Randal A. Burd, Jr. June 2, 2014
• History

  Defunct Victorian Customs Involving Death

  The following traditions involving death were once commonly observed in the United States and elsewhere in the English-speaking world. While you may find the occasional instance of one of these traditions being practiced today, they are mostly relegated to history.

  Randal A. Burd, Jr. May 31, 2014
• Current Events

  Constitutional Rights Include Flashing Your Headlights

  You are driving along a deserted stretch of highway. It is getting dark. In the distance, a car is approaching without its headlights on. You flash your own headlights to remind the other driver to turn their lights on. The other car’s lights come on. Tires squeal as the car turns around...

  Randal A. Burd, Jr. May 30, 2014
• History

  Jesse James: The Legend That Would Not Die

  Growing up in the Ozarks, the James brothers have the added distinction for me of being local legends. Jesse James and his brother Frank were members of Quantrill’s Raiders, a Confederate bushwhacker group during the Civil War. After the Civil War ended, the brothers formed various criminal gangs which engaged in robbery...

  Randal A. Burd, Jr. May 20, 2014
• Entertainment

  Five Movies That Inspire Students and Teachers

  Being an educator these days is a challenging experience. Working in a field which demands an intrinsic desire to help students while trying not to be taken advantage of by a society which does not value its teachers can be a delicate balancing act. Add the negative stereotyping and scapegoating educators must...

  Randal A. Burd, Jr. May 19, 2014
• Odd News

  Todd Davis: Laughing Stock of Lifelock

  When you hear the name Todd Davis, it might not ring any bells right away. But you may remember the CEO of Lifelock from his 2007 advertising campaign, where he included his social security number on billboards and held up his social security card in television commercials to show the public how...

  Randal A. Burd, Jr. May 14, 2014
• Current Events

  Bullying by Example: An Intervention

  Eating lunch at a campus deli on the 20th of April 1999, I looked up from my sandwich to see the crisis unfolding on the overhead television screen. Two high school seniors, apparently quite mentally disturbed, were in the process of carrying out a bloody massacre that would change public education forever....

  Randal A. Burd, Jr. May 8, 2014