Published in Kühner Kommentar an Amerika·Oct 3, 2021Member-only“High on believing” a con“A [true] Witch Story” (from 1899) that still resonates. — In 1899, The Newton Enterprise tells us “A Witch Story” that’s apparently true and seems to have some relevance to current events. Chris Detter claimed to be a witch doctor and “represented himself to [Martin Smith] that his sister, an inmate of his house, was bewitched.” …Con3 min readCon3 min read
Published in Kühner Kommentar an Amerika·Feb 6, 2021The Great DisappointmentBy Straight White American Jesus * [A.D. 2021] — And then Metaxas, the Master of Ceremonies, said unto them — every single one of them — from the Flat-Earth pharmacist and Looney Greene and friends to the MyPillow CEO, the grocery store owner, former and current military, police, local and state officials, Thomas Clerk World, America’s Frontline Doctors, Karleen’s…Insurrection2 min readInsurrection2 min read
Published in Kühner Kommentar an Amerika·Dec 4, 2020Back on the snake-oil standard?Pass the green tea, dark chocolates, and muscadine grapes… — “Some of the loudest, most proudly ignorant guessing in the world is going on in Washington today. Our leaders are sick of all the solid information that has been dumped on humanity by research and scholarship and investigative reporting. They think that the whole country is sick of it, and…Journalism4 min readJournalism4 min read
Published in Kühner Kommentar an Amerika·Sep 12, 2020You Want It Darker?Try Bad Moon Rising or just stick with the Tulsa playlist… — “Where words leave off, music begins.” ― Heinrich Heine (as quoted in Peter’s Quotations, 1977) Leonard Cohen’s Estate was “surprised and dismayed” that “Hallelujah” was played at the Republican National Convention in August and suggested that they might have considered approval of “You Want It Darker” instead. …Music2 min readMusic2 min read
Published in Kühner Kommentar an Amerika·Aug 4, 2020What was the “cause so grand” for which Confederates fought?And why are their monuments still standing on public property? — “I think it well…not to keep open the sores of war, but to follow the examples of those nations who endeavored to obliterate the marks of civil strife and to commit to oblivion the feelings it engendered.” — Robert E. Lee, from a letter to David McConaughy of the Gettysburg…American History12 min readAmerican History12 min read
Published in Kühner Kommentar an Amerika·Jul 4, 2020“The Third of July” — just another date that will now live in infamy…“It concerns the years past and the shadows they cast…” — “I believe that a thought has just gotten caught, In a place where words can’t surround it. It concerns the years past and the shadows they cast, And my path as I walk around it.” — John Prine, “The Third of July” (2003) I couldn’t watch much of the dystopian…Fourth Of July2 min readFourth Of July2 min read
Published in Kühner Kommentar an Amerika·Jun 14, 2020Small steps in a larger storyPersonal and historical reflections on this past week — “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you obey Christ.” —Ephesians 6:5 In three U.S. states, his birthday is celebrated as a public holiday. A statue in his honor stands in the National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol, and his Presidential Library…History4 min readHistory4 min read
Published in Kühner Kommentar an Amerika·Apr 22, 2020Walter Ney Keener: Editorials on the “Spanish flu” in Durham (1918–20)Annotated by a third cousin twice removed, with timeline. — “What’s natural is the microbe. All the rest — health, integrity, purity (if you like) — is a product of the human will, of a vigilance that must never falter. The good man, the man who infects hardly anyone, is the man who has the fewest lapses of attention.” …Pandemic15 min readPandemic15 min read
Published in Kühner Kommentar an Amerika·Apr 14, 2020Member-onlyMemories and lessons I learned…as a result of the “Spanish Flu” pandemic!Thanks to my father’s brother by another mother… — “Madame, all stories, if continued far enough, end in death, and he is no true-story teller who would keep that from you.” — Ernest Hemingway (1932) In 1915 my dad’s older brother by another mother, George, was born and my great grandfather (also named George, or “GW” — short for…History4 min readHistory4 min read
Published in Kühner Kommentar an Amerika·Dec 16, 2019Member-onlyDer Belsnickel Cometh Before St. NickWith an important purpose and timely message for us all… — “In theory, there is no difference between practice and theory. In practice, there is.” — Jan van de Snepscheut (1986), “overheard at a computer science conference.” When the “jolly old elf ” made his first appearance (1862) in a Union Army camp during the American Civil War, the modern image…Christmas5 min readChristmas5 min read
