history pragmatic historian reading thought fodder

Reading to Understand the Roots of Racism in the U.S.

I set a goal of reading at least 3 history books this year. The first one I picked up was recommended to me by a friend: “White Trash. The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America.” by Nancy Isenberg. Little did I know how incredibly relevant the book would be in terms of current events in Minnesota when I started reading this at the beginning of May. The killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black…

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history ideas pragmatic historian thought fodder

Ah! That’s Where MK Ultra Comes From!

I’ve been listening to Muse‘s album “The Resistance” (along with several of the group’s other albums), which seems incredibly relevant to today though it was released in 2009. Artists have their fingers on the pulse of society’s trends and movements such that they appear to be prescient. It’s worth a listen to in its entirety (of course I would say that!), but I want to point out a specific song on the album. Track number…

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process thought fodder

Devin Townsend Is Synesthetic and I Have Questions

Devin Townsend, for those who aren’t aware of his work, is a musician of incredible talent and versatility. If you want a brief glimpse into his range, watch his EMGtv performance of the song “Kingdom.” Judging by the bazillion reaction videos to this video, you’re likely to be impressed and/or surprised. He is also prolific, having a discography of 30 albums to date listed on his website. He often creates double albums when heading into…

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ideas thought fodder

PAACA

Does the title of my post intrigue you? Read on … Unusual Online Activity Was thinking about this the other day, the idea that with all of the critical technological infrastructure and the recent attacks from foreign parties in our elections, we need citizens to pay attention to unusual online activity and report it to someone who can track it and deal with it. Here are a few examples of unusual online activity that I…

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A Manifesto for the Sensible Center

The Mini-Manifesto from Gapingvoid Manifestos seem to have been co-opted by the unhinged or extremists, but they are merely public statements of policy aims, beliefs or views. As such, a manifesto is a good way to succinctly state what guides you or your group. In 2006, I wrote a couple of manifestos for my very first blog, Filter & Splice, after reading a challenge from Hugh MacLeod of Gapingvoid to write a manifesto of 500…

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