Category Archives: American History

Stewart Brand and the Nuclear Renaissance that Should Not Be

By Lisa Rumiel Note: Again, the author would like to thank Linda Richards for her helpful comments and suggestions in preparing this article. It is time to stop claiming that a nuclear renaissance is the solution to the current environmental crisis.  I’m talking to you, Stewart Brand.  A sort of Nostradamus of technological and environmental thought, Brand is one of… Read more »

Why “I Used to Love H.E.R,” Why I Still Love H.E.R: Hip Hop THEN, Hip Hop NOW

While Hip Hop’s socio-political consciousness has faded, the examples in this post denote that it is not dead. However, even as some employ its ethos to confront material realities, others invest only it its promise of wealth, power and pleasure. Thus the reason why the time is ripe for this reminder: Hip Hop wields much power, but with that power comes responsibility.

Quite the World, Isn’t It? Why Wisconsin Matters to All of Us

It’s one thing for a political leader to take a principled stance against the power of public employee unions in state and local politics. It’s another thing entirely when you threaten to unleash a military force against them. And in raising the specter of calling out the National Guard in a possible showdown with public employees in Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker has touched one of the most painful scars in American labor history.

The Revolution Will Be Rubbernecked

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While the recent protest movements in the Middle East reveal much about the present state of civic community among the people of those nations — Iran, Tunisia, and Egypt (and a growing list of others) — our reaction to them reveals more about ourselves than we should perhaps find flattering.

Buy Domestic, Buy Local, Buy Union? Historical Lessons for Today’s Consumer Activists

A look at some of the problems with current consumer activist campaigns and some lessons we can learn from the past.

Slavery Affects 27 Million Lives Today: Legal Abolition vs. Effective Emancipation

An analysis of slavery past and present from the Alliance Against Modern Slavery.

WikiLeaks and the End of History?

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An analysis of WikiLeaks, access to information, and the public’s right to know.

Active History on the Grand: Rural Raids and Divided Loyalties – Southwestern Ontario and the War of 1812

Rural Raids and Divided Loyalties – Southwestern Ontario and the War of 1812 is a new documentary in the works that examines little known stories of the American raids on Southwestern Ontario.

The New Huck Finn

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A new edited version of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn will be published with the most offensive terms edited out. What are the merits and problems of this approach to difficult classic literature?