From her 9/11 rally in Alaska (via Blue Texan) "This Statue of Liberty was gifted to us by foreign leaders, really as a warning to us, it was a warning to us to stay unique and to stay exceptional from other countries. Certainly not to go down the path of other countries that adopted socialist policies," Palin said to cheers from … Read More
St. Peterburg: Then and Now
The Siege of Leningrad was one of the most important yet devastating standoffs of World War II. For three years the city of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) stood fast against Nazi troops, suffering immense casualties as they were unable to get almost any supplies of food or fuel. The haunting photos by artist and photographer Sergey Larenkov are current photos overlaid … Read More
Sticking It To The Nazis On Youtube
A Holocaust survivor and his family travel to former concentration camps throughout Europe and dance to Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive". They don't dance well, but that's not the point, really. It's a tribute to the tenacity of the human spirit.
History Lesson of the Day: Map of Nuclear Explosions
Between 1945 and 1998, a total of 2053 nuclear bombs were detonated all over the world.
Bush: The Worst President In Modern History
Every eight years, a couple hundred president scholars are asked to rank the presidents on various scales, including communication, honesty, intelligence, foreign policy achievements, economic achievements, etc. The 2010 assessment is out — you can read the PDF here – but the "headline" results are: In overall rankings, Obama comes in at 15th In overall rankings, Bush 44 dropped from 23rd … Read More
Mark Twain Tells All
Mark Twain left instructions not to publish his autobiography for at least a century. It's now been 100 years since the great American author died, so…. that's right. Mark Twain has a book coming out. Read more.
Rand Paul And The Civil Rights Act
I saw a lot of Rand Paul on TV yesterday. And heard him on the radio. The newly-minted Republican candidate for Senator from Kentucky is facing national criticism because of his stance on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Rand Paul, I honestly believe, is not a racist. He just believes that government should not be involved in business. And … Read More
Drunk History Vol. 5: Fredrick Douglass (and Abe Lincoln)
If you haven't been following Funny or Die's Drunk History series, you're going to laugh when you see what you're missing. Here's how it works: the producers get somebody super-drunk, then have that person tell a story from history. This story is usually completely inaccurate, but hilarious due to the aforementioned super-drunkenness. Then the producers get actors (often surprisingly high-caliber … Read More
Manhattan: 1609 vs. 2009
National Geographic looks at Manhattan when it was discovered by Henry Hudson (in 1609) compared to today: Times Square:
Return To Kent State
Just last week, I noted the 40th anniversary of the Kent State killings, so it's strange that I am back writing about it again, so soon. But this is kind of big. There's much that we all know about Kent State. Students protesting Vietnam. National Guard presence on the campus. The retreat of the National Guard to the top of … Read More
Kent State, 40 Years Ago
The following is a re-post from a post I posted last year, which focussed on Mary Ann Vecchio, the girl in the iconic photo below. For other things Kent State-related, you might want to view this interview with Devo (yes, the two founding members of Devo were present at the shootings), or better still, a recent editorial by Elaine Holstein, mother … Read More
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
First of all, a trailer… for a book? Okay, I'll swing with it, especially for this book (from the same author as Pride and Predjudice and Zombies)
The Kennedy Smear Job
That JFK was unfaithful to his wife is no historical secret. And it is a free country. If someone wants to make a miniseries about Kennedy's extramarital tendencies, that's fine. But there is such a thing as historical fact and historical fiction. The planned miniseries on "The Kennedys" falls into the latter category and does not belong on the History … Read More