Browsing All posts tagged under »History«

America’s Jewish Pilots in the Making of Modern Israel

July 5, 2023

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Not too long ago I ran across a documentary movie made by Spielberg, not the guy you are familiar with—Steven—but his sister, Nancy. It was called Above and Beyond. Most American Jews were interested in what was going on in the founding of modern Israel in 1948. Some, as Above and Beyond tells it, did […]

Latin American History 101 or Maduro and AOC in American Life

May 26, 2019

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Latin American History 101 or Maduro and AOC in American Life Since Venezuela is now in the crosshairs of many countries today for enabling a dictator, Nicolás Maduro, to drag the country down to starvation in a socialist dictatorship, let’s look at the big picture. Latin America was a term invented by French historians in […]

The New Hispanic America

December 2, 2018

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A few years ago, I discovered a Hispanic in my home. Awkkk, what’s happening here? The invasion of the Mexican gardeners? Confession: when I first came to Tuscaloosa in 1972 to teach Latin American history at UA, there were hardly any Spanish speakers in town, other than a few odd balls like me and the […]

Surprising Warfare

September 16, 2018

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Surprise has always been one of the determining ingredients in any battle or war. We can go back to Biblical times when David and Goliath met up on the field of battle. The Philistines were most assuredly surprised by the short fight they witnessed between their giant champion and the shrimp Hebrew shepherd boy with […]

Breaking the Rules

June 17, 2018

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We all would like to be good “law-abiding” citizens, not breaking the rules or doing anything illegal. And, for the most part, we know the rules. Just read the Ten Commandments for starters. But there is a part of me that doesn’t mind breaking the rules. Law-abiding though I may be in the main, I […]

Can Morality Be Legislated?

June 17, 2018

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Can we legislate morality? How about any of the great intangibles, like ethics or integrity, that make a culture work right? Martin Luther King, Jr., a giant in the modern civil rights movement, stated quite clearly that “morality cannot be legislated.” But he then added “behavior can be regulated,” implying that behavior can be one […]

On Doing the Right Thing

June 17, 2018

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Not too long ago I read a sweet piece in the WSJ by the distinguished historian David McCullough’s doctor. One quote struck me as so truth-filled that I share it with you. “…things worked out [back then],” McCullough said, “because individuals behaved in certain ways, with integrity and resilience.” I thought, yes, how true. Then […]

Taming the Alligators, Draining the Swamp, Redux

June 17, 2018

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One of President Trump’s campaign goals was to make America great again. Another goal was to tame or throw the alligators out of Washington, by which most of us take that to mean reduce and bring the gigantic federal government down to scale. The “Deep State” is controlling us. According to my instant source of […]

A New Civil War?

April 15, 2018

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As the State of California cranks up its resistance to the federal government’s “interference” it its internal affairs, with respect especially to immigrants and sanctuary cities, it might do us well to remember another period in our history when different states took the federal government to task for interfering in their affairs. Let me take […]

Goodbye, Columbus

November 30, 2017

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Once again, Columbus Day has come and gone and I managed to refrain from writing another column on the great discoverer. I thought I had said everything I needed to say about the real, historical Columbus so much at odds with the Columbus that the modern indigenous community has invented in the past few years, […]