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FRAGILE MEN CLUB? YOU’RE ALREADY SIGNED UP

April 24, 2024 by Leave a Comment

Fragile men had no place in Western American history stories about the savage frontier and cruel hardships. Nor in the early industrialization with mighty oil, steel, and railroad barons casting their deepening shadows across the land. Writers found other virtues to extoll other than common frailties. The western frontier needed stories of valor and sacrifice […]

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BIRTH WATERS: YOUR RIVER, LAKE, OR BAY. OKAY, AND OCEAN

November 6, 2023 by

Birth waters are usually called ‘breaking waters.’ I’ll get back to that. For now let’s say “Birth Waters,” and leave the amniotic fluid for later. Let’s throw in some suspension of disbelief while we’re at it, okay?

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AMERICAN STORIES: MOVING ON TO NEW LAND

July 4, 2023 by

American stories in early Oregon were about pioneers, travel, and hard work. How hard? As hard as it’s ever been clearing land by hand. But first they had to get here. And they’re still coming.

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AMERICAN DREAM — 2023: THE GOLDEN RULE

January 16, 2023 by

THE American Dream remains the same: Be Somebody. Be someone you’re proud of. If you’ve been the good example bringing someone back from the edge, keep it up. If you’re the reason someone was out there, keep reading.

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WAR ORIGINS: WWII ON TWITTER

June 14, 2022 by

War origins bring out the experts on Twitter. With warnings on what to pay attention to, what to ignore. It wasn’t a bad take, just wrong.

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READING HISTORY BOOKS YIELDS MORE THAN BARGAINED FOR

February 3, 2022 by

Reading history books is about more than validating the opinion you already have. George Washington, first president and father of our country, chopped a cherry tree down and confessed because he would never lie? Honest Abe Lincoln never told a lie? No one questioned their honesty? Reading history books could answer those sort of questions, […]

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FOR TEACHING HISTORY, FIRST LEARN HISTORY

December 29, 2021 by

My first awareness about teaching history came during a senior seminar class on the origins of WWI. I was a night school student finishing off history degree requirements; a ‘take classes at noon’ student, a ‘whatever class fits the right time slot’ student. It was the usual schedule for irresponsible college dropouts who get married, […]

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PROBLEM CHILD GETS ALL OF THE ATTENTION

November 4, 2021 by

The problem child is only a problem if they grow up to be problems for others. And themselves. Who wants to be a Problem Adult? No one. And yet, here we are.

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EVIL HISTORY IS TOO PAINFUL FOR STUDENT READING?

July 11, 2021 by

Evil history includes a list of everything you wish you’d never heard of. It’s the story of man’s injustice to his fellow man, and woman, and non-binary person. If you’ve lived long enough, you’ve heard some evil history; add a few more years and you’ve lived some of it, and the aftermath. Everyone has a […]

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MAYFLOWER COMPACT: THE PILGRIMS UNITE ON C-SPAN3

November 29, 2020 by

The Mayflower Compact wasn’t as popular in third grade history as the buckled shoes the Pilgrims wore. It wasn’t a big hit in the college classes I took that resulted in a bachelor’s degree in American History, either. Luckily, C-SPAN3 American History TV cleared the fog that covers the past. International readers: this is an […]

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