Remembering American Explorers, American Heroes and the importance of the Space Frontier: 28 Years Ago Today and Fallen Heroes.
Modern History
Challenger: 28 Years Later and its Legacy in Space
Categories: Modern History
Tags: Apollo 1, astronuats, Challenger, Columbia, NASA, space program, space shuttle, spaceflight
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History Unshackled
Some people are under the impression that studying history is dull or of no interest. Maybe we can blame the way it’s presented in education: Quick, little bites that don’t get into the personalities, the drama and the earth-changing events. Don’t get me wrong, I had some history teachers that knew their stuff and were great at teaching, but they were always limited by time.
Education shouldn’t end at graduation. That’s a mistake most people make. It’s a mistake that can be overcome. Many authors are gifted with research and telling history that is every bit has exciting as a novel or film.
If Pilgrims arriving on the Mayflower and having the first Thanksgiving is about the extent of your backgrounder on the subject, Nathaniel Philbrick’s Mayflower will unveil a far more exciting and nation-shaping series of events. Similarly, after reading his The Last Stand, the Indian Wars and Custer will never be quite the same. Some parts of history don’t always end well, but we must learn from them just like any other.
If you ever wondered why so much focus has been put on a single battle like Gettysburg, Noah Andre Trudeau’s Gettysburg: A Testing of Courage, told largely through the eyes of those who fought, will show how war reveals the best, and worst, of men.
Everyone thinks of the Cuban Missile Crisis as the close call of the Cold War, but we were at the brink far more times than that. Books like 15 Minutes and The Dead Hand detail the frightening world that few knew existed.
So start stockpiling some books before winter sets in and prepare to fascinated, amazed and shocked. You’ll wonder why you ever stopped learning or thought it dull or unnecessary.
You are in charge of your education. That education didn’t stop years ago. It only barely had begun.
Categories: Books, History, Modern History, Native Americans
Tags: Cold War, Custer, Gettysburg, Mayflower, Sitting Bull, The Dead Hand, The Last Stand
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Is There Anyone Left that Believes the ‘Lone Nut’ Theory?
The depth students get exposed to concerning the JFK assassination usually amounts to answering, “Which presidents were assassinated?” So not surprisingly, the “lone nut” verdict of Oswald killing JFK, and all other theories being labeled crockpot, is the conclusion many people unquestioningly believe. At first, that is. Usually the light starts to turn on like this:
“Guy kills Kennedy. Guy who kills Kennedy, quickly killed by another guy. This guy, in turn, doesn’t live much longer. Very convenient.” And it gets better, even with superficial review. “Magic” bullets that show no evidence of passing through anything. Endless contrary evidence to the “lone nut” theory ignored.
Since the beginning, researchers have been perplexed at the Warren Commission’s incompetence. That, though, is only one of three options.
The second is that they part of the conspiracy itself. This is unlikely as abject incompetence. The third, and most likely, is they were covering up the truth they felt would have led to far worse problems. If paths led back to the KGB, war. If an inside job, the people would have tore down Washington block by block. In either case, they reasoned, why not maintain the illusion of government innocence and caring for a few more decades?
Jerome Corsi’s new book Who Really Killed Kennedy? is the latest attempt to collate and unpack the bits of truth concerning the JFK murder. In a time when trust in government is at an all-time low, this book shows that the problem didn’t start yesterday. It’s a creeping menace that began decades ago. It didn’t even begin with JFK, but JFK’s death set the bar high for what those in power could get away with. Whether you’re new to JFK lore, or neck deep in it, Corsi’s book is one of those you can’t put down until the last page is turned.
And Corsi’s book, in a way, is one of warning and caution, not unlike some of the fiction books discussed here. But are decades of cover-up still needed? Was it ever? The players are all gone. Let us learn from history. Truths, as ugly as they may be, really do set us free in the final analysis. Lies, regardless of their initial justification, never live forever.
Nor should they.
Categories: Books, Critical Thinking, Modern History
Tags: jack ruby, jerome corsi, JFK, lee harvey oswald, truth
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Darrick Dean 