Below is a searing essay by Robert Jensen that I felt compelled to share, especially in light of the current situation in the in the US, which is the culmination of a long list of unresolved issues that date to the early days of British Colonial America in the early 17th century. US Americans' inability … Continue reading Founding Rapist: Judging Thomas Jefferson by the Standards of His Time by Robert Jensen
Books
The Legacy of Howard Zinn
Many decades ago, I picked up this book by Howard Zinn. What I read and internalized forever changed my view of the US and the world, past, present, and future. It opened the door for more in-depth reading and exploration. It was a process of deprogramming and jettisoning the baggage of my K-12 schooling. (In … Continue reading The Legacy of Howard Zinn
A New Declaration of Independence from Tyranny
Image generated by Gemini based on the text. On the occasion of US Independence Day and the celebration of the semiquincentennial, here's a repost of a Substack post by Andy Borowitz, a US writer, comedian, satirist, and actor. (Link below.) Andy's understated comment: Good morning, my friends. Sorry there were no jokes in this post, but … Continue reading A New Declaration of Independence from Tyranny
Voices That Remain by Shams Mazen Rajab
Congratulations to Shams Mazen Rajab, a Palestinian writer and poet from Gaza, on the publication of her poetry collection, Voices That Remain. Please consider purchasing a copy. Written during war and displacement, the collection gives voice to memory, loss, resilience, and hope. These poems are not only verses, but a testimony to what remains when … Continue reading Voices That Remain by Shams Mazen Rajab
A Historian Spent 30 Years Interviewing Nazis. He Identified 12 Warning Signs of Fascism. All 12 Are Present in Trump’s America Right Now.
I feel compelled to repost this spot-on Substack essay by Mitch Jackson. Here's a related post about Robert O. Paxton’s book, The Anatomy of Fascism. Tick-tock, fellow US Americans. MAA The evidence is not opinion. It is public record. And it demands your attention before November. Apr 04, 2026 Listen to the audio version A … Continue reading A Historian Spent 30 Years Interviewing Nazis. He Identified 12 Warning Signs of Fascism. All 12 Are Present in Trump’s America Right Now.
Slavery in 1776, 1861, and 2026
What's Past is Prologue (W. Shakespeare, The Tempest,1610/11) I like Heather Cox Richardson's updates about events from US history. She takes a "just the facts, mam" approach that usually speaks volumes. In this case, the focus is on slavery, the main reason for the US Civil War from 1861-1865. I know this dates me but … Continue reading Slavery in 1776, 1861, and 2026
The Five Stages of Fascism
Robert O. Paxton's book, The Anatomy of Fascism, originally published in 2004, is on my list of books to read. Unfortunately, this is not history but a credible description of what's happening in the US. I recently watched a 3-minute 25-second video analysis entitled The Empire Strikes Back by Charles McBryde in which he argues … Continue reading The Five Stages of Fascism
10 Key Lessons from “The Happiest Man on Earth”
These lessons on resilience, gratitude, and hope are from The Happiest Man on Earth: The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor by Eddie Jaku, a Holocaust survivor who was born as Abraham Salomon Jakubowicz in 1920 in Leipzig, Germany. He died in 2021 at the age of 101 in Sydney, Australia. There's nothing original about … Continue reading 10 Key Lessons from “The Happiest Man on Earth”
Vietnamese Higher Education at a Crossroads: Transformation During the Digital Age
I'm pleased to have played a modest role in bringing this project to fruition. (Click on the image to see the publisher's description. The release date was August 8, September 2024.) However, Professors Thanh and Tuan, my co-editors and authors, deserve the lion's share of credit for their research contributions and fine organizational and editorial … Continue reading Vietnamese Higher Education at a Crossroads: Transformation During the Digital Age
Happy Juneteenth!
The past is never dead. It's not even past. -William Faulkner It's still hard to wrap my mind around the fact that slavery was legally abolished in the US less than 100 years before I was born. This 1848 auction of 25 fieldhands, 18 women, six girls, 10 boys, and one female cook and seamstress … Continue reading Happy Juneteenth!
You must be logged in to post a comment.