Awakened recently at four and then six in the morning by the clanking and booming of salt trucks and snow plows lumbering outside my
Tag: History
An inconvenient comparison: Germany then and the U.S. now
We aren’t supposed to forget the past, and it’s so easy to see the differences between “Germany then” and “the U.S. now” that we
My great grandmother was a Jewish exorcist
As my mother approaches her 101st birthday, her mind is on fire with long-ago memories. Today, she told me the story of her grandmother,
Women’s rights: 94 years and still counting
“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State
Frank Wills: Watergate watchman
Please take a moment to remember that 42 years ago today [June 17], a security guard named Frank Wills called the police when he
The Gettysburg Address mashup
November 19, 2013 marks the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address delivered by Abraham Lincoln. It’s an amazing piece of writing–both for its powerful message
American disunity: I’m finally beginning to understand it
After years, no, decades, of wondering why all American voters don’t think and act the same way I do, I finally found something approaching an
Our twisted nation
One of the property owners along the county road I drive into town flies an American flag high on a bluff. I love seeing
150 years later, would Lincoln be okay with secession?
It was in 1863, during the heat of the Civil War, that 50 counties in the western part of Virginia decided to secede from
NSA data-mining: Not doing anything wrong doesn’t protect you
I’m trying to sort out my thoughts and feelings about the recently revealed NSA data dragnet, in which millions of Americans’ phone and internet