Tag: history

  • Oak Creek shooter connected to white supremacy. Possible connection to Fort Bragg extremism in the 90s

    This morning, authorities identified Wade Michael Page as the shooter who attacked a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, WI, killing seven people before morning services. The shooter may have confused Sikhs with Muslims or targeted people of color regardless of faith. More facts are coming to light about Page. We know that the shooter was involved in […]

  • Frank Herbert is also a great teacher

    The Plowboy Interview: Frank Herbert. Man, the things I learn about my favorite author Frank Herbert, writer of the Dune book series. This excerpt illustrates an experience he provided his students to inspire them to answer questions he often asks in his books. So I hit on the idea of taking them out for along […]

  • Independence Day 2011

    On the lead up to this year’s Independence Day, I traveled to New England with the family. Traveling across Virginia, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania offered interesting insights on how this part of the U.S. expresses its history. For example, a few houses and churches along our trip flew England’s St. George flag along with […]

  • BBC Documentary — Prog Rock Britannia

    YouTube – BBC Prog Rock Britannia (1 of 9). [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt6uWZpIiMY&w=425&h=350] Now I have Procul Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" in my head. I always thought the original was sung by an African-American. After all, the music has a bit of African-American influence. It's funny how an image of the band that you see after you […]

  • YouTube – Obama Vs. Reagan: Who’s More Conservative?

    YouTube – Obama Vs. Reagan: Who’s More Conservative?. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILg1-H6oNuM&w=425&h=350]

  • io9 interview with Ken Macleod

    http://static.bloggingheads.tv/maulik/offsite/offsite_flvplayer.swf This is an interesting discussion, also given that I just finished reading the Cassini Divison from Macleod. It was a good, if a little short, novel on how fleshy humans cope after the technological singularity. A flashback character in Ken MacLeod’s 1998 novel The Cassini Division dismissively refers to the singularity as “the Rapture […]

  • South Park censorship controversy: Not Without My Famous

    Last night’s episode of South Park saw the network  censor a great deal of content in a way not intended by the creators. The action suggests that the network was scared of backlash by radicals. It’s nice to Muslim brothers and sisters taking cartoons seriously. If only they would tone it down a little. Let me […]

  • Jon Stewart delivers a scathing smackdown upon Beck

    The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c Conservative Libertarian www.thedailyshow.com http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:267816 Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform Yesterday’s Daily Show saw Jon Stewart giving Glenn Beck a taste of his own medicine. I wish Jon could have elaborated on the “Li” part of libertarian with examples like […]

  • The Problem With… Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now.” – Dallas Music – DC9 At Night

    The Problem With… Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now.” – Dallas Music – DC9 At Night. I admit, I plugged Hank Williams III in after only listening to a few songs of his. Does anyone know if he’s in fact notable and liked in the country music community? If you would like a history lesson concerning the band’s […]

  • This week In Dallas Music History: A weekly article series on Dallas Observer Stories

    My latest post for the Observer is up: This week In Dallas Music History: Walker, Texas Ranger Finds A Killer On Baboon’s Tail, Kinda. My first cut included a paragraph on how I assumed this episode was a Walker version of a reliable police show trope, the Quincy Punk. In this trope, our noble protagonist immerses […]