history observations pragmatic historian

Let’s Not Wait for History to Make Judgements

By Mary | by Mary

Throughout the four years of the T**** regime, as report after report came out about corrupt, unethical, possibly illegal, democratic-norm-breaking behavior, joined by an incessant number of lies, conspiracy theories, threats, and nasty comments, there has been a common refrain on Twitter. “History will not judge these individuals well.” As though merely pointing out how future people will look back on this time, shake their finger, and say, “Tsk, tsk,” and individuals currently engaging in…

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history pragmatic historian writing

Leaving Behind a Written Legacy

By Mary | by Mary

I finished reading a novel called “When You Read This” by Mary Adkins last night. I bought it at Savers thrift store and was attracted to it by the cover and inside flap text. The general gist of the story is that a woman named Iris has died of cancer and has left behind a blog that she wants her boss to publish as a book. The book is written as a series of Iris’s…

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design observations product packaging

Finally! Feminine Hygiene Products Become More Environmentally Friendly

By Mary | by Mary

While grocery shopping at Walmart recently, I found a significant change in the feminine hygiene products section. Can you spot a theme?         There is an entire section of environmentally-friendly feminine products … finally! Of course there were still plenty of the standard products made with all sorts of plastics, but I’ve never seen feminine hygiene products sold on the basis of significant portions of them being 100-percent organic cotton let alone…

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