Pierced Themselves With Many Griefs
Thursday, March 2nd, 2023I think it is safe to say that the modern conservative movement prides itself as the defender of Judaeo-Christian values. Like the Sadducees and the Pharisees in the Gospels they love public displays of religion. Every year professional conservatives stir up fake controversies like the “War on Christmas.” For well over ten years, conservative politicians […]
Keep the Vultures off Social Security and Medicare
Thursday, February 23rd, 2023Maya Angelou said, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” Liberals showed you who they are by creating and defending Social Security and Medicare. Conservatives showed you who they were by opposing and undermining Social Security and Medicare. In 1935 Franklin Delano Roosevelt championed Social Security during the Great Depression. […]
How Much is $3 Million Worth?
Thursday, February 16th, 2023What could you do with $3.3 million? In Texas the median house selling price is $350,000. The state funding for each student in public schools is $5,100. I think $3.3 million is a lot of money. Ken Paxton apparently doesn’t since it isn’t his money – it’s ours. Ken Paxton is the Texas Attorney General. […]
A More Perfect Union
Thursday, February 9th, 2023It shouldn’t surprise you that some reporters, talk show hosts and columnists are lazy. They find a meme and then plug in a detail. The meme today is the phrase “Washington is broken.” This phrase allows the speaker to avoid taking responsibility for a judgment or prediction. It opens the door to the related meme, […]
Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
Friday, February 3rd, 20231) Bake a spaghetti squash. I use a skewer to poke for holes in each end and then microwave it on the fresh vegetable setting. This makes it easier to cut in have before baking in the oven. If you are careful you could skip this step and just split it down the middle. I […]
There Is No Freedom Without Public Education
Thursday, February 2nd, 2023The authors of the Texas Constitution supported public education. They wrote: “A general diffusion of knowledge being essential to the preservation of the liberties and rights of the people, it shall be the duty of the Legislature of the State to establish and make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an efficient system […]
One of These Things
Thursday, January 26th, 2023As a child, and as a parent, I’ve watched enough Sesame Street to have its images and songs drilled into my head. One of the most useful is the categorization song: “one of these things is not like the other.” It prompts a child to do a quick compare and contrast. Comparing and contrasting is […]
Keep Your Nose
Thursday, January 19th, 2023Old sayings are a good way to remind us not to do stupid things. For example, I’ve often heard, “Don’t cut your nose off to spite your face.” This phrase warns us against acts of self-harm. We often act out of anger and end up hurting ourselves. For the last sixty years conservative politicians and […]
Eat Real Food
Friday, January 13th, 2023One of the best parts of my job as a historian is reading. Because I work at a small teaching university rather than a large research university, I take a broad approach to my continuing education. This morning I read a fascinating genetic study about prehistoric dog domestication. It showed that there are five […]
Roots Run Deep
Friday, January 6th, 2023In October of 1929 the New York Stock market crashed and took down the global economy. Conservative President Herbert Hoover chose to keep government help limited. For the next three years the economy remained in free fall. This horrible experience taught voters that something had to change. Millions of people realized that they had the […]
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