History - General

Donald J. Trump was the most unlikely political candidate to come down the road of American politics. His bombastic, insulting, and brutally unfiltered demeanor as a presidential candidate in 2016 turned the Republican establishment on its ear. While viewed with outright ridicule, he managed to eliminate every one of his rivals for the Republican nomination, even heavyweights like Jeb Bush, heir apparent to the Republican mantle of leadership. The realization of his nomination caused consternation among Republican Party regulars. Still, there was no denying his ability to capitalize on the deeply felt frustrations of millions of Americans who believed they were getting the short end of the stick at home and abroad from an indifferent and elitist political class. Trump defeated Hillary Clinton, riding a crest of unprecedented discontentment among American voters, to become the 45th president of the United States. Trump, however, was fatally flawed. Once elected, he faced the burdensome and complex task of governing a country of 330,000,000 million people, something he proved woefully ill-equipped to do. This book reflects on some of the critical incidents and people who were part of the day-to-day chaos and dysfunction Trump brought to the White House. It also reflects on how Donald Trump’s defects and inadequacies failed the potent political movement he was instrumental in getting to the forefront of national politics and, if adequately led, destined to remain a seismic force for decades to come.

In the ten essays presented, the author revisits events in American history popularly shaped through the years by bias and misconception. One of the inherent dangers of a society’s claims to “exceptionalism” is the blind and uncritical acceptance of historical narratives that are both incomplete and inconsistent with the reality of actual events. Whether dealing with relations between the Indigenous American peoples and the first European settlers or the enterprise of attempting to engage in nation building in places like Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, history should be viewed and conducted as a cooperative enterprise dedicated to focusing on accurately complete narratives, explanations and interpretations of historical events. The freedom to critically evaluate the conclusions of others is essential for arriving at fair and complete descriptions of the past. The necessity of being prepared to criticize honestly and rigorously reassess oneself is a key component of that exercise.

Mores, customs, beliefs, and rites of the past are examined in a fanciful and humorous way in this book. Events such as fairs are annotated in the light of modern sports and technology; this is also true concerning etiquette and everyday life. Kings, Queens, peasants, and ordinary people are featured in a light and airy way gently satirizing their activities. A total of twelve segments involve marriages, weddings, and love: brides selling ale to pay for the wedding, cake, shoes, cushion dancing, sack posset, and matchmaking figure in bizarre and hilarious circumstances. Other categories include Agriculture, Foods, Holidays, Drinking and Taverns, Entertainment, Sports and Games, and Education.

COCKROACH

A Madagascan hissing cockroach named Pico developed a bad case of laryngitis and instead of hissing, he started alternatively rattling, whistling, clicking and groaning.

The other hissing cockroaches called a meeting and formally informed Pico that their species have to hiss, and if he didn’t, he would be thrown out of the HCA (Hissing Cockroaches Association). Pico didn’t know what to do until a friend took him aside and showed him an ad in the newspaper. The ad was for a physician named Revin who specialized in hiss restoration for Madagascan cockroaches. The doctor operated on Pico and eliminated the rattling, whistling, clicking and groaning. Revin was actually a toucan.

Pico was happy about the surgery and paid the doctor for what seemed to be a very successful operation; he was, however, warned that there might be some side effects. Pico eagerly went out into the jungle looking forward to start hissing again. But, alas, poor Pico ... when he tried to hiss nothing but a scream came out of him.

We all come from immigrants. This country has become the great country it is because of immigrants. Immigrants came to America to seek a better life. Imagine if the original thirteen colonies had closed their doors to future immigrants. However, the word got out and people came from all over the world to see for themselves what this young country had to offer. America is the great experiment that has succeeded and has been fought for because of a government for and by the people. In the beginning America was blessed with leadership by the Founding Fathers who created a new government which has governed us all until today.

We are a melting pot of different people with different cultures unlike other countries that have one main culture as a foundation. We all have our story to tell about how our great grandparents and grandparents struggled and prevailed in those early years when they arrived in America. I humbly attempted to do so in this book. We should not change America by banning immigrants from America. America has to be the land of the free. America has to have open arms and stand by the words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”.

This book draws a parallel concerning architects and architecture with world historic events. Starting with 800 A.D., it covers approximate architectural time eras of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassic, Art Nouveau, Beaux-Arts, Neo-Gothic, and Art Deco. Architects from various countries are included; they are from Italy, England, Scotland, United States, India, Brazil, Spain, Germany, Belgium, France, Austria, Switzerland, and Finland. There is a dual reflection of time eras represented along with cultural, political, and social aspects.

This book concerns time relationships between classical music facts and world history, events, and activities. Historic parallels regarding composers and compositions about music are matched with political and economic information and data about worldwide countries. Music is presented as an integral part of a nation’s history.