In 7th grade I brought a mug of strong black tea to American History class each morning at 7am, and each morning I’d fall asleep by 7:10am. I just couldn’t handle it. I was getting 8 hours of sleep every night. I wasn’t a partier. It didn’t matter. Test after test I barely passed. I didn’t give a shit about our past.
It wasn’t until after college that I returned to American History. Somehow I stumbled upon Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of The United States, so I ran off to Europe with it and, finally, some of it got through to me. This once-radical revisionist history book, first published almost twenty years ago, tells the stories of the victims of American history. It’s colossally depressing, it’s a heavy, thick tome, and it’s riveting. It carries the weight of millions who died so we could sit on our comfy couches and watch American Idol on FOX. Zinn’s history challenges traditional histories which are so often mouthpieces for the imperialists of yesterday.
Instead of watching the State of the Union Address, I saw Howard Zinn speak the other night at The Cambridge Forum. He was discussing his recent book Artists in a Time of War, among other things. From the Cambridge Forum site:
“A new book from leading American historian Howard Zinn reflects on war, dissent, and the role of the artist, illuminating some of the 20th century’s most celebrated voices of conscience, from Mark Twain to Langston Hughes.
What is the everyday potential of artists and citizens to create social apertures for change?”
What a badass.
Comments
Jan 24 02004 11.49p
The eric Cityhuntr #
Hello sir, I commend you for your great efforts, as obviously you are a great man. However, your great tool, Lost in Translation, is messed up. While it is simply a language-destroying tool, it is heavily important in my life, and great joy will come from your fixing it. Thank you in advance, friend.
Jan 24 02004 11.51p
KOALYAK #
CITYHUNTR IS CORRECT!!!!!!! YOU WILL FIX THIS TOOL QUICKLY!!!!!!!! IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO US!!!!!!!!! PLEASE DO THIS WITH ALL HASTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jan 26 02004 4.35p
phredx #
Isn’t it funny that there is nothing about the format of a forum like this (i.e., Moveable Type) that prevents threads from being hijacked? I mean, I guess as ultimate editor, you get to have control over whether extraneous posts remain in the light of day, but I wonder if some day discussion groups will have spam filters applied to them that rank their relevance to a given thread before the post is verified.
Jan 26 02004 6.09p
The eric Cityhuntr #
How DARE YOU, sir! My request was reasonable and sincere. That other guy who typed in all capitals may have crossed the line, but I am in need of the great tool, Lost in Translation.
If you wish to start a fight, then a fight you will have! On the post titled “I half-quit my job”, you posted a very worthless comment that consisted of the single word, “Cheers!”. A nice comment, except for the fact that it is worthless and not productive, like my post regarding the great tool. You realize that if we apply filters of some sort, such a worthless post like “Cheers!” would be eliminated long before my post would!
Jan 26 02004 6.12p
KOALYAK #
sSUHUJT UP IDIOTS!!!!!!! I DEMAND THAT THE LOST IN TRANSLATION TOOL BE REPAIERD IMMEADIALTEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT IS EXXTRAODINRARILY IMPORTANT!!!!!!!! I WILL FUCK YOU FOOLS UP!!!!!!!!!!!!! FIX IT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jan 26 02004 6.59p
Graue #
I agree with this post!
Jan 26 02004 8.45p
carl #
The problem is that Babelfish banned my site a few months ago (too much traffic?), and I haven’t rewritten it to work on google or one of the other translators. I’ll fix it soon.
Jan 26 02004 9.53p
The eric Cityhuntr #
Oh, thanks for the reply, sir. It is good to know that it is a problem that may be repaired.
Jan 26 02004 9.57p
MKAKAOOLYEK #
IDIOTS!!!!!!!! I WILL FUCK YOU UP!!!!!!! TRULY BY “SOON” YOU MEAN “NEVER” BECAUSE YOU ARE A GAY DICK WHO NEVER DOES ANYTHING!!!!!! I WILL KILL YOU!!!!!!!! ALSO I AM OBVIOUSLY THE ERIC CITYHUNTR DUE TO THE FACT THAT I HAVE POSTED JUST AFTER HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jan 26 02004 10.02p
Graue #
I am obviously MKAKAOOLYEK due to the fact that I have posted just after him. I apologise for my rude comments, and retract my claim that I am the eric Cityhuntr.
Jan 26 02004 10.03p
GFJAEJAJH #
SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!!!! CLEARLY YOU ARE NOT ME AND I DO NOT APOLOGIZE AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND I AM THE ERIC CITYHUNTR!!!!!!!!!! IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jan 26 02004 10.05p
Graue #
Sorry about that last outburst. I have a terrible split personality affliction, you see. I think I’m okay now, though.
Jan 26 02004 10.06p
TEHAGHKGHJJJJJIDotsFUCK #
WRONG SHUT UP I DO NOT HAVE A SPLIT PERSONALITY GRAUE IS FULL OF SHIT I WILL FUCK HIM UP HE IS ALSO TOO GAY TO COMPLETE COOL GAME SSUCH A S THE CHGMAMME CHORR TIRGGER
Jan 26 02004 10.08p
Graue #
God, Chrono Trigger is shit. As you can see, when I get like that, I obviously lose all the intelligence I normally possess. Sorry to be defacing your comments page with all this. I really need to see a psychiatrist, I guess.
Jan 26 02004 10.10p
FUCK YOU SHUT UP #
ASS FUCKERS
Jan 27 02004 12.46p
phredx #
Even a sincere and reasonable request can have its relevance questioned. My two posts on this thread are pretty irrelevant. They’re more like meta-posts than actual posts. And my “Cheers!” comment was in direct response to Mr. Tashian’s recent change in his life, as we’ve been discussing it both on and offline.
If there were a thread for discussing Lost in Translation, that would be an appropriate place to make posts about it. In fact, contacting the maintainer directly might make some sense.
I don’t even know why I’m writing this considering that meaning is clearly not important to whoever’s been posting about LiT.
Jan 27 02004 3.31p
phredx #
So anyway, I sent Whitney up with a copy of A People’s History of the United States to tide her over.