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Category: SocialStudious

What Then Must We Do? – Gar Alperovitz

What Then Must We Do? Straight Talk About the Next American Revolution        Gar Alperovitz

The Democracy Collaborative and The Next System Project

I think that few would argue that I country that was once a proud beacon for the world is in good shape. Our political system doesn’t seem to work any more, our economic system only helps the rich get richer  Thoughts of upward mobility among the lower and middle classes have been crushed and it seems that the only people doing well in this day and age are members of the upper upper class. To me it actually seems hopeless. Corporate lobbyists control Congress and the elite and Corporations now control our elections thanks to Citizens United!! And what really pisses me off is that they get all our hard earned money and then they don’t even pay and damn taxes and take away all our jobs to boot!!! It all seems so damn hopeless! But what if there was a better way! A few weeks ago I came across a website and program titled The Next System Project. From their website…. Read More

The Theremin,Ruth Rendell,and Star Wars Day

Monday Explorations: Ruth Rendell, Star Wars Day and the Theremin….

This morning as I was looking over the front page of Wikipedia to see what was new, I noted that author Ruth Rendell has passed away. One would think that as a lover of mystery books I would have read plenty of Ruth Rendell’s works, but somehow I have avoided them and I can’t give you one good reason why!! From Wikipedia: Read More

The Presidents' War – Chris DeRose

The Presidents’ War: Six American Presidents and the Civil War That Divided Them       Chris DeRose (Book 18 of 2015)

 
Through the years,I have read many books about the Civil War. Most of those books center around the battles and the Generals. Until I saw the book The Presidents’ War I never thought or knew about the former Presidents who were alive during the conflict. As a matter of fact, the book’s author Chris DeRose writes in the Acknowledgments of the book
….I had never known of the former presidents who lived to see the Civil War until a visit to Seattle in 2012 and a conversation with my friend.
It was that friend Rob Peck, who inspired the book! Anyway, the point is if Mr DeRose author of two previous Congressman Lincoln: The Making of America’s Greatest President(2013) and Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, the Bill of Rights, and the Election That Saved a Nation ( 2011) and  a visiting Assistant Professor of Law at Arizona Summit Law School, where he teaching Constitutional Law, International Law, and Election Law/Voting Rights hadn’t heard about the presidents alive during the Civil War until 2012, I don’t feel so bad about not thinking about them until after reading his book!!
The five living ex-President’s alive at the start of the Civil War were John Tyler, Martin Van Buren, Millard Filllmore, Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan.  Each of those Presidents faced the underlying causes of the War and did little to avoid the coming conflict. Here’s a little about each of those Presidents from DeRose’s website…. Read More

Seattle Metropolitans win Stanley Cup March 27,1917!

Seattle Metropolitans the first US Team to win the Stanley Cup!

Okay, I am not the world’s biggest hockey fan.Living in the suburbs of Philly,I do follow the Flyers and a couple of years ago attended several games. However, I did not follow any hockey before 1967, when the Flyers entered the league,. In 1967 the NHL doubled in size adding six teams to the original six teams.So when  saw that on March 27, 1912.  The Seattle Metropolitans, of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, defeated the Montreal Canadians and became the first U.S. hockey team to win the Stanley Cup. I said huh?? The Seattle Metropolitans? The Pacific Coast League of Canada and the Stanley Cup?? I needed to find out about this!! Read More

Nowruz – A New Day, A New Year!

Nowruz – The Beginning of a New Year in the Persian Calender!

As I look out my window this morning, I am hopefully looking at the last gasp of winter! Three to five inches of snow is supposed to fall today, and be gone tomorrow, when temperatures climb into the 50s! I read this morning that today Iranians and other countries in areas surrounding Iran are celebrating Nowruz. Since I had no idea what Nowruz was I needed to find out! Read More

Aldus Manutius – the Renaissance's Leading Publisher

Aldus Manutius – Venice publisher who created the first pocket-sized books!

 
This afternoon I saw this post in Twitter feed – A Tribute to the Printer Aldus Manutius, and the Roots of the Paperback.. The tribute is a new show in New York at the Grolier Club in Manhattan, “Aldus Manutius: A Legacy More Lasting Than Bronze,” The show brings together nearly 150 books from Aldine press founded by  Manutius in Venice in 1494. The books are known as Aldines. So who is this Aldus Manutius and what does he have to do with paperback books. I think I need to find out about this…..
At Wikipedia I read….. Read More

Umami – um that's good!

Umami – The reason we love bacon??

 
This morning I was looking through The Costco Connection magazine, when I came across this article Uma-what? Umami is more familiar than you think. Since Uma-what? is actually what I think when I hear Umami. I read the article and then went to Wikipedia to find out more about Umami. Umami is a savory taste and is one of the five basic tastes, the others are sweet, sour, bitter and salt. Umami .translates as a “pleasant savory taste”  which comes from the taste of glutamates and nucleotides. Th use of Glutamate has been around in cooking for a long time according to Wikipedia… Read More