Blogging A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn

This blog entry will be considerably different than others you may find here. I am going to challenge myself to read as much of A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn over the next two weeks as possible. I am guessing that I will not make it through the entire tome in that time, or if I do it will not be a detailed reading (especially if I keep blogging it!). In either case, it became apparent to me in just the opening pages that it will be an interesting read.

Join me in the read if you please. I welcome your comments, corrections, and other feedback. It is my goal to discern Zinn's goal in this book. All histories have a purpose. From Egyptian pharaoh's to Biblical chroniclers to Zinn, anyone who recites a history does so with a goal in mind. A certain narrative is to be served by the telling of certain facts and not others, or by the order of events presented (or omitted). What is Zinn's goal? We shall see.

The comments will appear in chronological order with the newest appearing at the bottom. It was just too confusing to put the newest notes at the top. I will try to keep the comments organized by chapter.

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Ch.1 Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress


This thought had occurred to me a few weeks ago, before beginning this book: what was the last major advancement in technology or economy that did not benefit from exploitation or human rights abuses? Will we ever expand or profit without exploitation? I always return to that kicky little ditty "Kiss Me Son of God" by They Might Be Giants.

I built a little empire out of some crazy garbage
Called the blood of the exploited working class
But they've overcome their shyness
Now they're calling me Your Highness
And a world screams, "Kiss me, Son of God"


I destroyed a bond of friendship and respect
Between the only people left who'd even look me in the eye
Now I laugh and make a fortune
Off the same ones that I tortured
And a world screams, "Kiss me, Son of God"




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Referring to the natives that he encountered on his arrival in the Bahama Islands, Columbus wrote, "They would make fine servants...With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want." And with that the door was opened to the New World.
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Columbus really was incredibly lucky. He set out for Asia--spice routes and what-not. With his supplies, ships, and crew he never would have made it that far. He vastly underestimated the distance. It was really lucky for him (not the natives) that he came upon the Caribbean islands just a quarter of the way to Asia.
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In less than three generations, the Spanish had essentially depopulated Haiti of its native Arawak inhabitants. This genocide was economically motivated, royally funded, and religiously justified.
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This quote from Las Casas' History of the Indies regarding the nature of an oppressive occupying force still has relevance today:
"...our work was to exasperate, ravage, kill, mangle and destroy; small wonder, then, if they tried to kill one of us now and then...The admiral, it is true, was blind as those who came after him, and he was so anxious to please the King that he committed irreparable crimes against the Indians..."
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By page 14 Zinn steps into the narrative to criticize the lack of bloodshed in the school textbook version of Columbus. He goes on to acknowledge that all historians have an ideological interest. Good. Will he identify his own for us and save us the trouble of trying to divine it? It seems he is asking the historian to lay bare atrocities so that we may learn from them and not repeat them. As I ask in the opening to this blog post, has any progress been made without exploitation? If not, then exploitation and atrocities must be told as part of all histories. Zinn asks for balance in telling history from the perspective of the lower classes or working classes and not just from the perspective of the state (contra Kissinger, A World Restored). This narrative interruption by Zinn is precisely what I was looking for, a description of the author's approach to history. Zinn's history is essentially a view of the world from the people being acted upon, not the drivers but the driven, not the masters but the slaves, not the patrons but the clients, not the invaders but the invaded.
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Chapter Two: Drawing the Color Line
Zinn asks how racism in America started and how may it end.
* "The Virginians needed labor, to grow corn for subsistence, to grow tobacco for export." (32)
* Because they were outnumbered, the colonists could not force the Indians to work for them. (32)
* Black slaves were the answer. (33)
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It is incredible to realize anew that millions of human beings were stolen from their homes are sold into forced labor. Because the Indians were on their own land, they had something of an advantage in addition to their numbers. They had the advantage of the home field. Once captured, subjugated, and transported, black slaves lost this advantage. They were made helpless. Brutal force and physical violence were the tools for transforming this population into a subjugated mass. Nothing indirect in this type of domination. At other times and in other places such domination must by hidden behind less obviously noxious methods of domination such as commerce, politics, and religion.
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In seventeenth-century America, all the conditions for black and white were characterized by subordination and money incentive. (my paraphrase)
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Udi's Gluten Free Hot Dog Buns

It pains me to write this review. I'm a big fan of Udi's products and keep many of them on hand at all times. However, if the bag of hot dog buns I purchased at Whole Foods are representative of the product, then I simply cannot recommend them as hot dog buns.

What is a hot dog bun? It is long, typically made of white bread, soft, and a single bun slice lengthwise so that the hot dog can be held in one hand. The ideal bun should remain as a single piece even when cut. If the bun separates into two pieces, it defeats the purpose of the thing. The Udi's buns were dry, crumbly, rough, and easily separated into two pieces. In fact, I could not keep one in tact. Now, having said that, they still did the job of holding the hot dog. But I would be surprised if a young child would be able to manage it. Specifically, I chose not to put down the hot dog once I started eating it because it would have separated into dog and two bun pieces on the plate.

If the bag did not say "Hot Dog Buns", one might guess they were something else, perhaps white baguettes. As such, they work very well as garlic bread. Because the other Udi's products are so good, I will probably give these another chance.

Udi's Hotdog Buns Make Great Garlic Bread!

I stumbled into a great unintended use of the new Udi's gluten free hot dog buns: garlic bread! I was trying Caesar's gluten free gnocchi for the first time and I really wanted some garlic bread to go with it but I didn't have time to make anything from scratch.

Here's the quick fix. Pop your Udi's hot dog bun into your dedicated gluten free toaster. Toast them to your preferred darkness. I used the bagel setting on my toaster, which toasts only the open side of the bread and not the outside. After one and a half toasting cycles I adding some butter and garlic seasoning. Heaven! I was so surprised at how great these things turned out. I only prepared two pieces (using one hot dog bun). I think I could have eaten six.

The Growing Problem of Cleanliness | Triple Helix Online

Is treatment using parasitic worms the next treatment for autoimmune disorders?

The Growing Problem of Cleanliness | Triple Helix Online

Read the full article. Here are a few select quotes:

"...improvements in sanitation and medicine, mortality from infectious diseases in the United States has declined by more than 90 percent since 1900, and the quality of life has drastically improved."

"Although mortality rates from infectious diseases have decreased in recent years, a new type of affliction has arisen in its place. Autoimmune diseases are those in which our body’s own immune system attacks normal and healthy cells. This occurs because the immune system cannot tell the difference between foreign objects and normal body tissues."

"As studies have found, the prevalence of these diseases over the past century has increased."

"The most prominent explanation for this phenomenon looks at the basics of the immune system and its symbiotic relationships with other organisms."

"...a hypothesis, aptly named the 'hygiene hypothesis', states that good hygiene inadvertently causes autoimmune diseases."

"As such, if the hygiene hypothesis is correct, the cure for autoimmune diseases is simple: expose our bodies to organisms that can help properly develop and control our immune system. Currently, the most promising form of treatment for autoimmune diseases revolves around the use of parasitic worm infection."

My Review of Caesar's Pasta Gnocchi

Gnocchi are small Italian dumplings. They can be made from any variety of ingredients. My favorite version is potato gnocchi. The dish is difficult to get right. They should be light and spongy, not dense or sticky. The version from Caesar's Pasta achieves this delicate balance while being gluten free. Their gnocchi dumplings are a combination of rice, tapioca, and other ingredients. Unfortunately, at least for my palate, the rice and tapioca were present in the flavor profile. I tend not to prefer gluten free pasta made from rice. For long noodles I prefer quinoa or corn pasta. However, for gnocchi I prefer potato. Putting aside the flavor, Caesar's manages to present as spongy and light. The dumplings maintained their shape perfectly after about 4 minutes of cooking in boiling water. In the end, they were a very satisfying gnocchi dinner. I would highly recommend Caesar's gnocchi, particularly if you like rice pasta.

I would call Caesar's gnocchi great but not the greatest. The greatest gluten free gnocchi, in my opinion, is from Nuovo. It can be difficult to find. Even though it is gluten free, I have never seen it in a gluten free specialty store. I can only find it at Whole Foods, and there not consistently.

Caesar's can be found online at http://caesarspasta.com/ (as of this writing, the website was under construction).
Nuovo can be found online at http://www.nuovopasta.com/retail.asp?type=pasta

Mangia Italiana!

Tiger in Motion

OMG! This water is wet. GET OUT!

Whew. That was close.

Suburbs Get New Congressional Districts - And One Familiar Candidate

It looks like the the Congressional districts in the Chicagoland area are going to make slightly more sense than they used to, presuming the current proposal passes as presently defined. Previously the districts were very bizarre, with strange tangential isthmuses springing out from central districts. Now they roughly divide the suburbs into large contiguous blocks. There are a few notable exceptions, particularly regarding districts 14 and 11. First, why split Oswego down the middle? The Boulder Hill subdivision is in district 11 and the downtown is in district 14. Further, the far south and northern areas of district 14 could have been excised to districts 11 and 10 respectively. As it stands under the current bill, Antioch and Sandwich are in the same district. Sandwich and Yorkville have much more in common with Oswego and Shorewood than with Antioch and Gurnee. Nonetheless, it seems like a step in the right direction.

I'm happy to see that Bill Foster is tossing his hat in the ring for district 11. We need more scientists in Congress.

Here's the article from Patch.com:

Suburbs Get New Congressional Districts - And One Familiar Candidate: "

Gov. Pat Quinn is expected to sign off on new congressional district maps that will dramatically reshape the western suburbs. And one of the new districts already has its first candidate, one whose name is familiar to local voters.

Democrat Bill Foster, former U.S. Congressman in the 14th District, announced Tuesday that he will run in the newly-configured 11th District, which includes much of Montgomery, Aurora, Naperville, Woodridge, Bolingbrook and Joliet.

Foster, 55, lives in Batavia, which would remain in the 14th District under the new maps. But Congressional candidates don’t need to live in the district they would represent. Foster served two terms as congressman for the 14th, winning both a special and general election in 2008 to succeed Dennis Hastert.

Foster was the first Democrat to represent the 14th since Watergate.

But last year, he lost a close election to Randy Hultgren, the Winfield Republican who currently represents the 14th. In a phone conversation on Tuesday, Foster attributed the election results to “frustration with the slow recovery of the economy,” but said he now sees “buyer’s remorse” among voters.

And the newly-drawn maps may give him an opportunity to jump back in the game.

The Congressional district maps, approved by the Illinois House on Monday and the Illinois Senate on Tuesday, recast the 14th District as a massive swath of land that includes Geneva, Batavia, St. Charles, Oswego and Plainfield, among others, and stretches to the northern border of the state. Hultgren now shares residency in this district with fellow Republican Congressman Joe Walsh, who represents the 8th District.

The new 11th District, on the other hand, has no incumbent currently living within its bounds—it is represented by Adam Kinzinger—and includes many of the areas previously grouped into the 14th, including Aurora, where Foster enjoyed strong support.

Foster said he is happy with the way the lines were drawn, mentioning that the 11th also includes the twin technology jewels of the suburbs: the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, where Foster worked for more than 20 years, and Argonne National Laboratory in Darien.

Republicans, however, have blasted the new maps, which were drawn by Democrats without GOP involvement. Redistricting occurs every 10 years, coinciding with the U.S. Census, and the idea is to even out representation among cities, villages and ethnic groups.

But with Democrats in charge of the state House and Senate, Republicans were not needed to pass the new boundaries.

Republicans have accused Democrats of drawing the maps to benefit their own party, and to erase the results of the 2010 election. The Congressional map passed both houses of the legislature essentially along party lines: 63-54 in the House, and 34-25 in the Senate.

The National Republican Congressional Committee also took aim at Foster in a written statement released Tuesday morning.

“Illinois working families fired Bill Foster last fall because of his unwavering support for reckless spending, higher taxes and bigger government,” wrote NRCC Spokesman Andrea Bozek. “Illinois voters understand that Bill Foster’s tax and spend record was part of the problem and are unwilling to foot the bill again for his big spending agenda.”

Foster is the first candidate to announce in the new 11th District. In fact, he didn’t even wait until the new district maps were approved to throw his hat into the ring.

“I think it’s good to start the campaign as fast as possible,” he said. “I look forward to introducing myself (to voters), and meeting with old friends in Aurora, Oswego and Montgomery areas.”

See the new Congressional district maps here.
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