Category Archives: Uncategorized

A Year in Movies 2021 – Part 2: Chillin’ with Deathtrap and Dickens

Posted on January 21, 2022 by Ralph Hanson

In December of 2020, when it became clear we were not going to be returning to normal life any time soon, we purchased a big honking 55-inch 4K TV and settled in for a year of watching movies at home. … Continue reading →

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Dreary Birthday, Edgar Allan Poe!

Posted on January 19, 2022 by Ralph Hanson

Today is horror and mystery writing pioneer Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday. Born January 19, 1809, he is known for writing the early detective story The Murders in the Rue Morgue, short horror stories (The Cask of Amontillado is my personal … Continue reading →

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Let Freedom Ring on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Posted on January 17, 2022 by Ralph Hanson

Editor’s Note: I originally posted this on Aug. 28, 2017, the 54th anniversary of Dr. King’s “I have a dream” speech. “And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the … Continue reading →

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A Year in Movies 2021 – Part 1

Posted on January 16, 2022 by Ralph Hanson

2021 was a rough year, given a pandemic that kept many of us at home for much of the year. There were also public conflicts over people refusing masks and vaccinations.  In my home, we wondered: Could we go out … Continue reading →

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Looking Back at the January 6th Insurrection – History Has Its Eyes On You

Posted on January 6, 2022 by Ralph Hanson

Update: 1/6/25  — It’s now been four years since this shameful day. One year ago today an angry mob assaulted the United Staters Capitol Building in an attempt to stop the counting of electoral votes and overturn the results of … Continue reading →

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Remembering Michael Nesmith of The Monkees – and so, so much more

Posted on December 10, 2021 by Ralph Hanson

Michael Nesmith, the contemplative, wool-cap-wearing member of the Monkees, has died at 78. He made one of the rock era's first music videos and won the first Grammy Award for video. https://t.co/Ed2OuEMfqr pic.twitter.com/8PssCI3xfu — The New York Times (@nytimes) December … Continue reading →

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For Your Holiday Reading List – Journal articles with news you can use

Posted on December 9, 2021 by Ralph Hanson

There are a lot of of journal articles out there that cover a very narrow theoretical discipline that develop important knowledge for people in that exact area of scholarship. But occasionally there come articles that can actually be used by … Continue reading →

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Guest Blog Post: Olympic Games are great for propagandists – how the lessons of Hitler’s Olympics loom over Beijing 2022

Posted on November 18, 2021 by Ralph Hanson

Editor’s Note: Thanks to my friend Dr. Michael Socolow, University of Maine, for letting me reprint his article from The Conversation.  Dr. Socolow takes a look at China’s repression and human rights abuses and asks whether cheerful media coverage of … Continue reading →

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My Year of Living ‘Strangely’ – Yes, it’s time for the results of my 2021 TS Grand Tour

Posted on November 8, 2021 by Ralph Hanson

(NOTE: Pressed “Publish” instead of “Save.” There’s more to come.) For the last six or seven years, every summer I do a national-scale motorcycle scavenger hunt run by a  motorcycle club out of Minnesota known as Team Strange. Each year … Continue reading →

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What’s The Fuss About Facebook, Inc.? Part I – The WSJ

Posted on October 28, 2021 by Ralph Hanson

Editor’s Note: Facebook and its various properties (Instagram, WhatsApp) have been in the news a lot lately, and not in a good way.  Congress has been holding social media hearings where Facebook is the #1 bad guy, the Washington Post  has had … Continue reading →

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