And the World called him Satchmo: The Remarkable Louis Armstrong
- Written by: Gregory Boyce
- Category: Culture
A Tribute to Satchmo
At the turn of the 20th Century, music in America was dramatically changing. No longer were tunes from German pianist Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) or American Harvard music professor / pianist, John Knowels Paine (1839-1906) the spark that ignited the fire of a new and rambunctious generation of music loving Americans.
Read more: And the World called him Satchmo: The Remarkable Louis Armstrong
SCALIA -- THE ULTIMATE, LEGAL DRAMA QUEEN
- Written by: Curtis W. Long
- Category: Law
The sudden, Shakespearian expiration of Associate Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, the dominant beast among those powerful, legal lions who prowl the protective den where the precepts of this nation’s laws are stored, is a mark of a true drama queen. That extraordinarily demonstrative distinction of one who dominates the attention of the public -- and which is class-neutral – is manifested thusly:
Terrible Knowledge
- Written by: Christopher Barnet
- Category: History
A text for performance
In memoriam Walter Benjamin
The Towers
My stepfather was an iron worker and as a kid I ran coffee and donuts for his crew. Most jobs were only a few days, but work on the Twin Towers seemed to go on forever. I got to ride the superfast construction elevators that put Coney Island to shame. I saw that incomparable view long before most New Yorkers would. I got to know the ins and outs of the place from the inside out. From my neighborhood in Park Slope, I watched the progress as each new floor was added. While many thought the design "boxy" and "brutal" at the time, they held a special place in my heart from day one, not only because I felt myself part of the crew that built them (slight exaggeration, unless the caffeine and sugar I supplied could be credited) but because they would be the tallest buildings in the world and that fed my young New Yorker pride. Few people then or now, realized how many died during construction, but for me at the time it seemed an almost daily event. This lent a gravitas and solemnity to the buildings importance.
Federal Do Not Call List
- Written by: Tom Hedges
- Category: Law
The text below is a copy and paste directly from the Federal Do Not Call List web site.
If I register my number, will ALL unwanted calls stop?
What exactly are we “celebrating”?
Cristoforo Colombo - Italian, Cristobal Colon – Spanish version, Christopher Columbus - English translation... by any name, was a complicated man.
A genius, a man of and ahead of his time, a great explorer and navigator, the first Conquistador, a murderer, a slaver and a genocidal maniac. Each and every one of those is easily verifiable through the historical record, much in his very own handwriting, as he kept very precise journals.
Slavery was the cause of the Civil War. End of story.
Yes, there were other issues that helped exacerbate the American Civil war. Yes, most white southerners were not slave holders. Yes, the war aims of Abraham Lincoln were based (originally) on keeping the American union together, not abolition. Yes, the northern trade unions feared the glut of labor that emancipation would bring. Yes, as with all wars and especially civil wars, it was complicated and people (on both sides) had their own reasons for believing that civil war was necessary, but there is no doubt caused by anything in the historical record that contradicts the fact that the PRINCIPLE issue was SLAVERY. The economics were between industry and agriculture as they say, but they leave out that the agriculture was wholly dependent on slave labor. The State's right issue was something that few people at the time thought much about except for ONE issue – slavery. Slavery was the one and only "right" that was in true contention. A quick comparison between the U.S. Constitution and that of the Confederate States of America will quickly confirm.
Read more: Slavery was the cause of the Civil War. End of story.
