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Category Archives: History
John Adams: A Life by John Ferling
Before reading this biography, I was like most Americans when it came to their knowledge of John Adams: Second president. First one-termer. First vice president. Pretty short guy, even for the era. His presidency was a bit of a mess … Continue reading
Posted in Books, History, Reviews
Tagged 18th Century, American Presidents, American Revolution
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RIP Evelyn Berezin
Of all the people I’m writing about lately, Evelyn has had the greatest and most lasting impression or effect on me. She is credited with inventing Word Processing! Unless you didn’t know, my father got into Data Processing (an offshoot … Continue reading
RIP Joachim Rönneberg
This incredibly brave man passed away back in October and what he achieved should be celebrated by both the US and Russia. During WWII, Rönneberg led his Norwegian freedom fighters to destroy a Nazi heavy water facility. Without this rare … Continue reading
1918: The Great War ends
Today, at the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, what was the bloodiest and nastiest conflict in known history came to a stop; WWI is the first war in which over 50 percent of … Continue reading
RIP Paul Allen
Paul wasn’t as famous as Bill Gates or Steve Ballmer being the number three guy at Microsoft but he will always remain essential to the history of personal computing. He was also pretty savvy too. Paul left Microsoft in 1982 … Continue reading
Rest in Peace Brian Dyorich
While I was away recuperating, my long-time co-worker and friend Brian passed away during surgery. I received the sad news from our fellow co-worker Troy (he’s the guy on the left in the photo above) while I was headed to … Continue reading
2008: Lehman Brothers ushers in the Great Recession
If you’re into Current Events like me (I have always been long before the Small-Fingered Vulgarian) there has been a flood of stories on the tenth anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and how it was the beginning of … Continue reading
1988: A staple for my first Summer on my own
As the Summer of 2018 winds down, I tried this canned “delicacy” again because it’s what kept me alive most days in the Summer of 1988. I hadn’t eaten this since I was a kid and it was rarely ever … Continue reading
The Death of Stalin: Acquired Taste
My final entry for Marx’s birthday. It’s late but I still want to write about seeing this at the nearby discount theater which never ceases to amaze me in what they carry. Believe it or not, The Death of Stalin is … Continue reading
The Looming Tower, an FBI whitewash
A Hulu miniseries based upon the book by Texas Lawrence Wright is mostly a whitewash to paint the FBI as the unsung heroes in trying to stop what lead to the 9/11 attacks. Whitewash? I call it a whitewash because … Continue reading
RIP Bob Dorough
Sad to see that he passed away earlier this week. I will never be able to thank him enough too. If you grew up watching Saturday morning cartoons in the Seventies, Bob’s idea was mandatory viewing on ABC…more like, those … Continue reading
Posted in Astronomy, History, Math, Music, Science & Technology, TV
Tagged Celebrity Obituary, Seventies
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Germany’s Defeat in the First World War by Mark D. Karau
Let me kick off with a couple quick disclosures regarding this review. Over 30 years ago, I attended Marquette with Mark, the author. I was a year older and we were on different degree tracks but we became friends through … Continue reading
Black History Month is the theme/look
After a dozen years, I’ve remembered to honor Black History Month. I forgot how cool the colors attached to the celebration were. In America, Black citizens have contributed a lot to my country’s success and the story about the US. … Continue reading
1987: My last Maggi-Maier family Christmas
As I kick back, enjoying the much warmer weather down here in Austin, I remember how at this time 30 years ago, the six of us celebrated at Grandma’s (Maier) house for what would be the last time. Starting in … Continue reading
Farewell AIM (America Online Instant Messenger)
Tomorrow we say goodbye to AIM. Twenty years of existence is a millennium given the turnover with technology these days. Until cell phones with SMS messaging became ubiquitous, AIM was the way to communicate with friends and family. Now it’s FaceBook…if … Continue reading