“SLAVERY by Another Name” is based on a book by Douglas A. Blackmon and produced and directed by Sam Pollard. Laurence Fishburne narrates this 90-minute documentary that challenges the belief that slavery in this country ended with the Emancipation Proclamation. It airs Monday, February 13, 2012 at 9:00 PM EST on PBS.
This chart tracks the four-week moving average of initial jobless claims, beginning in January of 2008.
Filed under News
There’s never been a shortage of distinguished German-language writers: Heinrich Böll, Thomas Mann, Herman Hesse, Günter Grass, Elfriede Jelinek and Herta Müller – all winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature. But in the United States, there’s a shortage of German-language readers, and very little German-language fiction gets translated into English. Spanish and French are taught more often than German in American schools – in part because of our proximity to Latin America, but also because of the growing numbers of U.S. immigrants from Spanish- and French-speaking countries. But the literary output of Germany, Austria and Switzerland has had a harder time crossing over. It’s ironic in that, while the U.S. is one of the most ethnically diverse nations in the world, most Americans trace their ancestry to Germany than any other particular country. And although the Chinese were the first to invent the printing press, Germany’s Johannes Gutenberg was the first to invent movable type in Europe. The collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 exposed the world to more of Eastern Europe’s literary greats, and increased Internet usage in the past decade has drawn writers and readers closer. But, German scribes still seem relegated to some antiquitous past. An annual festival in New York City, Festival Neue Literatur, has been trying to change that for the past three years.
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Mimi Alford, who served as a White House intern in 1962, now claims she had an 18-month affair with John F. Kennedy in her new memoir, “Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath.” First of all, you actually have to be known for something significant to write a memoir; a clandestine love affair doesn’t qualify. Second, Kennedy has been dead for almost half a century – even his wife and son are dead – and Alford literally comes out of nowhere to talk about this! Kennedy, a WWII hero and a true American, accomplished more in his short life than most people – including most presidents – do in a lifetime. If you want a more thorough examination of Kennedy’s life, either visit the official JFK web site, or read Chris Matthews book, “Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero.”
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They don’t take the ‘paper-or-plastic’ debate too seriously.
Filed under Curiosities
Television journalist Roger Mudd is 84.
Singer-songwriter Carole King is 70.
Actor Joe Pesci is 69.
Author Alice Walker is 68.
Actress Mia Farrow is 67.
Country singer Travis Tritt is 49.
Filed under Birthdays
1825 – The U.S. House of Representatives decided the 1824 presidential elections, when it selected John Quincy Adams to be president over Andrew Jackson who had won more popular votes.
1870 – Congress authorized the United States Weather Bureau, later renamed the National Weather Service (NWS).
1942 – Congress instituted daylight savings time, then called “war time.”
1963 – The first Boeing 727 took off from Renton Field in Renton, Washington.
1969 – The Boeing 747 made its first test flight at the Boeing plant in Everett, Washington, ushering in the age of the jumbo jet.
1987 – Twenty years after the first woman was admitted to the New York Stock Exchange, the Exchange Luncheon Club decided to install a women’s restroom! Before then, women had to walk down a flight of stairs.
2001 – The U.S.S. Greeneville, a Pearl Harbor-based nuclear-powered, fast-attack submarine, collided with the Japanese fishing vessel Ehime Maru, sinking the fishing boat and killing 9 of the 35 persons aboard. The Greeneville was surfacing when it struck the Japanese ship.
Filed under History
Survivalist Tip: As December 21st approaches, begin stockpiling chocolate. It’s well-documented that chocolate was – and still is – a food of the Mayan deities. It was reserved strictly for Mayan royalty who would use chocolate in various ceremonial practices. They even created chocolate enemas! And, as a result, they were able to chart stars in the night skies and develop complicated math formulas. But, chocolate isn’t just a comfort food; it’s a top antioxidant. Loaded with caffeine, it’s also a good source of energy, which will help you on those long treks across barren wastelands. And, if any member of your posse gets out of hand, just ram a chocolate bar up their ass.
Filed under Mayan Calendar Countdown
Krispy Kreme doughnut cheeseburgers. Where’s Michelle Obama when you need her?!
Filed under News
Chief Writing Wolf 