President Obama understands what I wrote three and a half years ago, that ending the Israeli Palestinian conflict depends on recognizing that “the solution essentially comes down to understanding the most and least that each side can accept”.We could a…
Continue readingTag: history
bastard.logic: Obama’s Citizenship & Race: Separated at Birth?
It never ceases to amaze me how eager some white liberals are to divorce race from political analysis when it comes to Obama. Bob Somerby of the Daily Howler (who seems to have settled nicely into his blogospheric role as … Continue reading →
Continue readingkirbycairo: Marxism and the Continued Cold-War Rhetoric of the Right. . . . .
Am I the only one who is amazed by the Conservatives who condemn fairly mainstream centrists and mild leftists with epithets such as “Marxist” and “Communist” because they are vaguely critical of the extremes of neo-liberalsim and afraid of the implica…
Continue readingWitnessing The Nearing End Of The Modern Experiment In Democracy
As I wrote previously, a democratic society – whether breathing through a parliamentary system or a republic one – can only bring about and sustain the commonwealth of its citizens so long as said citizens remain knowledgeable, respectful and protectiv…
Continue readingEclecticLip: How Libertarians brought America big religion and bigger lawsuits…
(originally written Nov 2; posted Nov 16)
It looks like the Democrats are going to get clobbered in next week’s tomorrow’s today’s US elections. Economic malaise tends to do this to governing parties, which is one reason currency devaluation is the policy-du-jour: if country A can make its currency cheaper, it becomes more competitive and can […]
Runesmith's Canadian Content: Fun Facts About the Census
I must confess, one of the reasons why I am so engrossed in the issue of the long-form census is that I am a genealogist. And not just as a hobby – I’ve actually gotten paid to do research for others and even compiled a 1,300 page, 5 volume genealogy
Continue readingRunesmith's Canadian Content: Fun Facts About the Census
I must confess, one of the reasons why I am so engrossed in the issue of the long-form census is that I am a genealogist. And not just as a hobby – I’ve actually gotten paid to do research for others and even compiled a 1,300 page, 5 volume genealogy o…
Continue readingRunesmith's Canadian Content: Fun Facts About the Census
I must confess, one of the reasons why I am so engrossed in the issue of the long-form census is that I am a genealogist. And not just as a hobby – I’ve actually gotten paid to do research for others and even compiled a 1,300 page, 5 volume genealogy
Continue readingbastard.logic: Quote of the Day: Bartlett 1, Libertarianism 0.
by matttbastard As we know from history, the free market did not lead to a breakdown of segregation. Indeed, it got much worse, not just because it was enforced by law but because it was mandated by self-reinforcing societal pressure. … Continue reading →
Continue readingbastard.logic: Rand Paul Parties Like It’s 1964
by matttbastard Belated congratulations to newly-minted Kentucky GOP Senate candidate and latest Tea Party ubermensch of the moment Rand ‘Son of Ron’ Paul, for defeating the establishment candidate with Chuck Norris round-house kicks a well-fought insurgent primary campaign. Why, It’s enough to make … Continue reading →
Continue readingredjenny: Early Farmers in the Americas – Farming because they wanted to, not because they had to
This is an interesting article, especially for me, with my interest in indigenous precolumbian agriculture in the Americas.
Three thousand eight hundred years ago, long before U.S. plains rippled with vast rows of corn, Native Americans planted farms with hardy “pioneer” crops, according to new evidence of the first farming in eastern North America.
Because the area appears to have been well stocked with wild food sources, the discovery may rewrite some beliefs about what led people to start farming on the continent, scientists say.
Rather than turning to farming as a matter of survival, the so-called Riverton people may have been exercising “free will” and engaging in a bit of gastronomic innovation, archaeologists say.
This does not surprise me in the least. We always assume ‘prehistoric’ peoples started farming because they had to, as a survival technique, but we don’t ever stop to think that they might be just like us, inventing new things simply because they want to. Did we need the iPod or the car? Was our survival significantly enhanced because of either of them? We grow later to think we can’t live without electricity, flush toilets, and the internet, because they make our lives easier or more enjoyable.
Continue readingAround the world and throughout ancient history, people switched from mainly hunting and gathering to farming as a way to cope with environmental stresses, such as drought—or so the conventional wisdom says.
But the new research “really challenges the whole idea of humans domesticating plants and animals in response to an external stress [and] makes a strong case for almost the polar opposite,” said lead study author Bruce Smith, curator of North American archaeology at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.
Before they began farming, the Riverton people lived among bountiful river valleys and lakes, apparently eating a healthy and diverse diet of nuts, white-tailed deer, fish, and shellfish, the study says.
[…]
But that doesn’t mean farming didn’t give the Riverton culture a practical advantage: In addition to their normal fare, the people may have relied on the crops as a stable source of food—insurance against shortages of wild food sources..
redjenny: Early Farmers in the Americas – Farming because they wanted to, not because they had to
This is an interesting article, especially for me, with my interest in indigenous precolumbian agriculture in the Americas. Three thousand eight hundred years ago, long before U.S. plains rippled with vast rows of corn, Native Americans planted farms with hardy “pioneer” crops, according to new evidence of the first farming
Continue readingredjenny: Early Farmers in the Americas – Farming because they wanted to, not because they had to
This is an interesting article, especially for me, with my interest in indigenous precolumbian agriculture in the Americas. Three thousand eight hundred years ago, long before U.S. plains rippled with vast rows of corn, Native Americans planted farms with hardy “pioneer” crops, according to new evidence of the first farming
Continue readingredjenny: Great Depression Cooking with Clara
Celebrity cooking is HOT and, lately, so is the Great Depression. 93 year old Clara reminisces about the Depression while showcasing cheap, nourishing food. I love this online cooking show. Maybe it’s because I’m a big fan of history, food, frugality, …
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