Many Americans think that we play “The Star Spangled Banner” at the start of sporting events because it is our National Anthem. In reality, it is our National Anthem because it was played at the start of sporting events.
Home » 2007 (Page 20)
Yearly Archives: 2007
North America
Between Canada Day and Independence Day in the United States there are few days to contemplate the different histories that together make up the North American experience.
We are all one people in many ways, along with Mexico, bound up by a ruggedness and vastness that typifies our nations. Our people all have a pioneering spirit and sense of getting things done that was born out of the empty spaces that surrounded more genteel notions of civilization. What we value on this continent are the skills that allowed us to survive in spite of constraints from afar.
ex Machina
When people talk to each other, there is a social code of acceptable behavior. When they interact with machines, there is no such code. If there is a machine between two people, the rules seem to not apply as easily, and people often act as if they are dealing with a machine – because that is what they have in front of them.
Catalpa
Stories are all around us. There is a reason behind how things are and why they were arranged the way they were. Sometimes, the stories are alive even as they stand in silence.
My hometown of Saint Paul has many relics of the people who first ventured west to pioneer the end of the Mississippi. Their names live on in the streets around us and in the headstones at Oakland Cemetery. Their values are present in the homes we live in, antebellum Greek Revival structures that call us to believe in Democracy, much like the Greek Revival towns like Utica that they came from.
Blogosphere
I have never understood the purpose of most blogs. I can see that it’s a fun hobby and a way to send friends an update, much like the letter sent with an Xmas card. A lot of people use it as a way to tell the world about their business. But some people treat it as much more than that.
Barataria - The work of Erik Hare 