In a series of articles found on the California Digital Newspaper Archive from U.C. Riverside, here is some of the story of the capture of the American Slaver Wildfire as reported in May, 1860, well before the Civil War. Sacramento Daily Union – 19 June 1860 Capture of a Slaver off the Coast of Africa.— … [Read more…]
By Andrew Crane-Droesch – Washington Post – 10/21/19 … Out of the blue, in August 2018, agriculture secretary George “Sonny” Perdue announced that my agency and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture would relocate from Washington, D.C., to some yet-to-be-determined location. He claimed that this would lower costs and bring us closer to “stakeholders.” … [Read more…]
From the California Digital Newspaper Collection: Sacramento Daily Union 17 September 1868 THE FIRST FIGHT (the Kansas-Nebraska contest) A reader asks us to give some information regarding the Kansas-Nebraska contest and the opinions of the different parties thereto. That fight for liberty was so like the present one in the principles and purposes involved that … [Read more…]
Cultural Comment by Lizzie Widdicombe, New Yorker 10/21/19 For argument’s sake, let’s imagine that Trump’s tweet was wrong, and the “Civil War like fracture in this Nation” doesn’t come to pass. Instead, he and his allies lose the 2020 election. A new Administration comes in, dedicated to helping the nation “work off” its historical crimes, … [Read more…]
In a NY Times obituary today, “President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico announced the death on Twitter, calling Mr. Toledo “a true defender of nature, customs and traditions of our people.” No other details were given.”
‘Scary for democracy’ Adam Gabbatt in Youngstown, Ohio Wed 21 Aug 2019 It was in the late 1920s that the Ku Klux Klan regularly began gathering outside the home of William F Maag Jr in Youngstown. Maag owned the Vindicator newspaper, which unlike others in this once prosperous part of Ohio, had been willing to … [Read more…]
In a New Yorker book review, Elizabeth Kolbert tells us about “Barnum: An American Life” by Robert Wilson. Her review is very interesting in that it brings to the surface the similarities between Barnum and Donald Trump, even if she never actually makes the leap. Embedded in the review are some fascinating details making it … [Read more…]
In the New York Review of Books, this essay Real Americans by Joseph O’Neill is noteworthy. O’Neill reviews two books, This America: The Case for the Nation by Jill Lepore and This Land Is Our Land: An Immigrant’s Manifesto by Suketu Mehta. O’Neill delivers a fine essay covering many points of the current state in … [Read more…]
Yet another reason why you should turn off the TV, it makes you stupid. How trashy TV made children dumber and enabled a wave of populist leaders, Washington Post, Andrew Van Dam July 20. By 1990, 49 out of 50 Italians could watch Mediaset — half of the country had gained access in just five … [Read more…]
Without us noticing, we are entering the postcapitalist era. At the heart of further change to come is information technology, new ways of working and the sharing economy. The old ways will take a long while to disappear, but it’s time to be utopian. Paul Mason Fri 17 Jul 2015