Some Things Never Change....

While recuperating from my cold, I had the opportunity to begin reading Twentieth-Century America: Politics and Power in the United States 1900-2000 by M. J. Heale.  When I bought the book, I noticed that the author is a British historian, so I was hoping that his views on American history might differ from those posited by most U.S. historians.  I haven't read enough of the book to be able to answer that query.  What really interested me, at least early in my reading, was this passage from page 10 of the book.

It seemed to many that the tensions that threatened the peace of American society stemmed in no small degree from the malfunctioning of the political system.  Government no longer reflected the will of the whole community; special interests...had insinuated themselves at strategic junctures...generally warping public policies.  Party political machines too had intruded between the citizenry and the government, illicitly perpetuating their own power and promoting the interests of their particular clients...The idea of purifying politics by restoring power to 'the people'...

If one did not know which era the passage referred to, he or she might think Heale was discussing key problems confronting today's society instead of the sociopolitical environment in the the U.S. circa 1900-1917.  Eerily, other issues, including the power of the courts, unlimited corporate donations to politicians, and voter apathy also figure prominently in this period.  Granted, many of the specific problems facing the U.S. in that period, such as bossism, differ from the conundrums current Americans have to deal with.  However, it appears that the meta-concerns are synonymous.  The same thing probably holds true in other countries as well.

My takeaway from my reading is simple.  Many of the underlying issues that divide Americans are not new.  Rather, they go back decades if not centuries.  However, many of us, including myself, tend to forget this fact due to our short lives and even shorter memories.  With this in mind, it might behoove us to peruse through a history book before we try to devise solutions to our problems or to craft compromises on divisive issues.  Perhaps, via our reading, we will be able to identify some approaches that did work or alternatively some schemes that failed (and will fail again if applied to today's situation).

My review of the book brought home for me the meaning of an old cliche, "The past often repeats itself."

Photo courtesy of Barnes & Noble website:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/twentieth-century-america-m-j-heale/1006245698?ean=9780340614075

A Tad under the Weather

Hi All,

I had the misfortune to come down with a cold on Thursday night and am still recovering.  I had planned to create a new entry on Friday or Saturday, but I will probably postpone that project until Tuesday.  I have to spend today and Monday catching up on things like job applications, interview follow-ups, etc.  I apologize for the delay.  I hope that all of you are having a great weekend--free of sniffles and coughs. :-)

Clip art courtesy of Microsoft Office

Why I Hope Genetic Testing Advances Rapidly

Like everyone else (or at least most everyone else), I hope that future advances in genetic testing will help us (and me) both to succeed in preventing diseases and to ameliorate or even cure illnesses when they do occur.  At some point in the future, I would love to be able to take a genetic test and not only learn whether or not I am more susceptible (than average) to getting certain conditions but also to determine whether a certain drug or neutriceutical will work for me.  Heck, I might even one day be able to use my genetic test to help me decide what foods to consume.  However, while I believe all of these (and perhaps other) potential health benefits are important, I am more excited about genetic testing's potential in helping me garner knowledge about my family's past.

To quote an oft used cliche, I have "often wondered where my family came from."  In this case, I am not referring to the last few generations of relatives, as I can trace their histories.  Rather, I am much more interested in determining where my family started out, in say 300 B.C. or even prior to that period, and what path their history took from that point.  I would be happy if I were able to look back a few centuries.  For instance, my paternal grandfather's family were Protestants (probably Anabaptists) who immigrated from German to the U.S. in the 1700s.  It would be nice to trace their ancestry further back.  Did my ancestors migrate from place to place in Germany to escape persecution?  Perhaps they moved from Switzerland or some other area of Europe in the 1500s or 1600s as a result of opportunities (the German population was decimated by the religious wars, especially the 30 Years War)?  It might be possible to answer some of these queries via traditional techniques (ie. looking in baptismal records); however, most of these questions are currently unanswerable.

Both of my grandparents on my mother's side of the family were Lebanese.  My grandmother was born shortly after her parents arrived in the U.S. and my grandfather immigrated to the U.S. when he was between 7 and 10 years old (he was not sure what his birth year was).  Both of their families lived in the mountains/hills surrounding Beruit.  They and their relatives differ from most of the other people living in Lebanon (or elsewhere in the Middle East) in that many of them possess blue eyes or very light brown eyes.  Additionally, they exhibit other features which do not appear to be common to people living in the region.  Perhaps some of my ancestors married Crusaders from Europe or the French (when they controlled the area) or some other visitor from Europe?  At the same time, is it possible that my ancestors migrated to Lebanon within the last few centuries from some other part of Europe/Asia where features like blue eyes are more common?  I would be interested in learning these answers.  I am unlikely to solve these conundrums using traditional methods.

I might be able to answer all of these questions and more if genetic testing comes of age.  I have read reports of research studies that used genetic tests to trace familial lineage to the first few centuries B.C. by analyzing the differences in gene sequences between individuals/families in different regions or via looking at changes in mitochondrial DNA.  Currently, companies like 23andMe can provide some, basic information about genealogy.  However, it will take a lot more work in this area to satisfy my desires.  For instance, researchers, DNA testing companies, and others would have to create massive genomic databases consisting of DNA from people living (and dead) in most regions of the world.  They would then have to isolate specific genes, gene signatures, etc.  However, I feel that these groups will eventually overcome the hurdles necessary to trace personal ancestry back centuries or even millenia.  When that day comes, I might be able to take a DNA test and the results will show that my paternal grandfather's family lived in area A in 500 B.C. and migrated to area B between 100-200 A.D. and then progressed to area C. sometime around 1500 A.D., etc.  That will be a great day!

Photos/Clip Art courtesy of Microsoft Office

Books I Would Like to See Made into Films

I am a huge fan of the fantasy genre.  I read my first fantasy novel in the summer of my 5th grade year and have been hooked ever since.  For a while now, I have been hoping that producers would decide to translate some of the most popular fantasy novels into films.  While Hollywood has turned two of the biggest series (LOTR and Harry Potter) into big budget movies, there are many more, good fantasy novels that could easily be turned into hit movies.  Even people who aren't huge fans of the fantasy genre might agree with me in a few years, as they sit in theaters watching the 5th reboot of the 'Superman' series or the tenth reboot of 'Spider-Man,' etc. 

In an effort to make this blog post more dynamic and to create dialogue (as opposed to a one-sided discussion of the topic), I will only posit one fantasy series that I think would look good on the big screen.  I will let you fill in the remainder.  Feel free to add additional ones in the 'Comments' section (or write anything you'd like in the Comments section).  If you can add pictures in the comments section, even better. :)

The original Dragonlance trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.  

While I don't consider these novels to be literary masterpieces, they are pretty good.  Perhaps more importantly (to movie producers anyway), the trilogy spawned a bevy of other books, including other Dragonlance novels as well as the Forgotten Realms series (whose books once spanned an entire section of the fantasy/sci-fi aisle at my local bookstore).  Millions of readers have either read the Dragonlance series or are familiar with the narrative/world.  As such, anyone who produced this movie would already have, at hand, three good narratives as well as access to a large, captive audience.  The movie would require a large special effects budget; however, I think the money would be worth it.  In saying that, whoever takes this project on must do a better job than the team who created an animated, straight to video version of the first book. 


The book cover is courtesy of Books 'A Million.  You can find the link here: http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Dragons-Autumn-Twilight/Margaret-Weis/Q187887277?id=5283275760604