Not So American History

Posted on April 19, 2026 by Professor Taboo

Back in August 2018 I wrote about more well-rounded, more objective, and more even-handed American history of the late 19^th-century that often is overlooked, intentionally or not, by our modern media, 2-5 minute fast-paced journalism, and in our educational curriculums; curriculums from middle school up to private university standards. What history is that you ask?

It is the shared history, or lack of, our nation’s infancy, growth and expansion by Manifest Destiny and the Dawes Act of 1887, to name just two. It all but ignores a very human side of the cultures and Native American tribes which had already inhabited all of North America, including within the modern borders of the USA, for well over 15- to about 30-millennia before the white man of Europe arrived. Should this portion of authentic American history be stamped in glory and hubris or by some degrees shame and genocide? I know exactly what I label that time in American history. What, why, and how do you or will you label it?

I revisited my blog-post Authentic American History because of Netflix’s new release this past week entitled “Sitting Bull.” As I stated in the August 2018 post:

“I am a big enthusiast of history and personal stories of the past from various perspectives. Why you ask? Because they allow ME to choose where more of the truth and reality of events can be deciphered rather than hearing or reading only one version of those stories and events.”

Normally, I do not care for the History Channel’s overly hyped-up, overly dramatic cinema of actual historical events as they played out. The Channel and its parent corporation, A+E Global Media often go overboard and willingly admit that in order to capture younger audiences—with attention spans of maybe 10-minutes—executives, producers, directors, and actors must hype-up key points of the plot and narrative, sometimes sacrificing the context of historical events. The top corporate executives are fine with “some” cinematic license, or slack-on-facts, to juice-up, fancy-up, grab the younger modern audiences short attention with modern Euro-American music and graphic, bloody battle scenes and not let them rest. Whether it is all pristine, historical, verified facts doesn’t matter so much.

But this particular two-part series had Leonardo DiCaprio as executive director, an A+E Global choice that I would give a long, fair chance and consideration. I was pleasantly surprised.

On top of this fine docu-drama were acclaimed scholars of the American West Era such as Dr. Elizabeth Rule, PhD from Brown and Yale Universities, and none other than Guy Jones whose great-great-grandfather, Chief Gall, fought with Sitting Bull at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Guy Jones shared all of his vast knowledge about Chief Gall, and the Hunkpapa band of Lakota Indians who stood up to and fought against aggressive U.S. westward expansion and the U.S. Army’s atrocities and war-crimes against his ancestors and people.

The entire cast of Sitting Bull is packed with great contributing historians as well, such as Christy S. Coleman, MA – Hampton University, Dr. Douglas Brinkley, PhD – Georgetown University, and Dr. Edward T. O’Donnell, PhD – Columbia University, all providing perspectives surrounding Sitting Bull and the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota tribes. Also featured in the two-part series was Crazy Horse, Red Cloud, and others that played significant roles in the fate of the Sioux nations. I recommend watching this docu-drama series if for no other reason than it tells the true history of these chiefs and peoples of the Great Plains from their perspective and personal, firsthand accounts passed down from generation to generation. They still “live” today along with their traditional customs and beliefs.

*Sitting Bull in Dakota Territory, c. 1883 – photo D.F. Barry, Bismarck, ND*

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However, there was another recognition I gained from watching this excellent docudrama series. It was disturbing to me because the series showed how much appalling history we (white) Americans are repeating or allowing to repeat since the 1850’s and into the 21^st-century today. What is it? Why haven’t we learned once and for all the worst times of human history, the clear behaviors of war-crimes, genocide, and atrocities on non-combatant civilians, even on children?

I hope you will watch the series Sitting Bull because in between the lines I couldn’t help but recognize the similarities, in some cases the identical behaviors, of crimes against humanity committed against the Native Americans. More poignantly I realized how indistinguishable our American white ancestors treated (removed, exterminated) those people they labelled as “savages” and “blood-thirsty barbarians” under the guise of “Divine Ordination” and those behaviors and treatment by the Nazis and SS under the Third Reich.

And now today, inside our own national borders and abroad, what is happening in Gaza, Palestine, Lebanon, and Iran, or what happened in the Caribbean Sea and Venezuela, or how I.C.E. and our current DHS is treating normal U.S. citizens as well as well-behaved legal immigrants in detention and in their court hearings! Are we going backwards toward the Wannsee Conference and A Final Solution, so to speak, of atrocities against humanity all the way back to Sitting Bull, the Sioux nations, and all other Native Americans wiped out? Are we back to that point or nearing it? …

So Americans… it must be asked, have we really evolved for the better after only 150-years and Sitting Bull? If you never learn the painful lessons of deep regret done in history, then how will you avoid repeating them in the future? Have we really progressed past those previous times and eras of sheer brutality, massacres, genocide, and depravation of societal values for other “different” peoples and cultures? I know what my answer is and has been for some time. What is your answer?

Best U.S. States to Reside In

Posted on April 10, 2026 by Professor Taboo

I always follow the U.S. News and World Report annual data compilation of Best States to reside because it offers anyone in America a good, objective litmus test and comparison of how states are ranked in making living, a quality of life, and affordability to live there for U.S. citizens. The final tallies are always very telling. Without further delay here is this year’s 2026 overall rankings:

#1 – Utah

#2 – New Hampshire

#3 – Idaho

#4 – Minnesota

#5 – Nebraska

#6 – Florida

#7 – Vermont

#8 – South Dakota

#9 – Massachusetts

#10 – Washington

My home state of Texas usually, well… almost always ranks in the middle half to the lower one-third of the fifty United States. For 2026 they rank #29, the lower half once again. And once again for 6-10 years running our “economy” is the ONLY category that ranks high compared to the other 49 states, with “fiscal stability” ranking 12th; no surprise. But every other category has always been dismally low or barely average for the last 2-3 decades. It begs the question, What changed in Texas in 1994-1995 to the present? Hmmm. 🤔 It’s pretty obvious.

If you would like to see how all the other states rank and their breakdown of why their ranking status go to: Best States Rankings at U.S. News & World Report for an excellent, unbiased assessment. You might be surprised between what is hype and propaganda about states and what is actual fact(s).

Live Well – Love Much – Laugh Often – Learn Always – Be Objective

U.S. 25th Amendment

Posted on April 6, 2026 by Professor Taboo

There is really not much for me to say that hasn’t already been said by the world’s most sane, by the most reasonable, by the most stoic and diplomatic in foreign affairs, by most unbiased news reporters and journalists, and frankly, most good-hearted, authentically patriotic Americans. But now it has become glaringly obvious that our POTUS is, if he hasn’t already, has lost his marbles, his mind, sanity, and any remaining human decency (if there was any) for We the People of the United States and this nation’s good will. And the dissent now includes lawmakers, on both sides of the congressional political aisles.

Miranda Jeyaretnam of Time Magazine and Time.com perfectly sums up in her article what has gone very, very wrong for our POTUS and his MAGA Republican cabinet, as well as for our entire nation:

“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,” Trump posted on Easter Sunday, threatening once again to bomb Iran’s civilian power plants and bridges. “There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH!”

In his childish tirade early, early this past Easter Sunday morning on his social-media platform for kids, the tantrum-throwing toddler of the United States presidency let loose an ultimatum rant of profanity upon Iran’s ruling regime that would have made Sam Kinison cower in shock. And with each passing day and passing week, as Iran keeps demonstrating repeatedly to U.S. White House officials, Iran’s military leadership, missiles, and will to fight to the bitter end has not wavered, has not been “obliterated back into the stone age,” and certainly shows no signs of further weakening. Those press releases and speeches from the administration are merely half-truths, largely ambiguous, or flat out lies. The bottom-line is that Trump’s war is failing. Period. Time Magazine’s Jeyaretnam continues:

“President Donald Trump’s decision to jointly bomb Iran on Feb. 28 despite internal warnings of retaliation and without a clearly articulated rationale surprised the American public and lawmakers. So have his decisions to rail against American allies, offer varying timelines for American withdrawal, and assassinate dozens of the country’s leaders as well as seemingly target civilians and civilian sites, to which Iran has retaliated by choking off the world’s most important energy corridor, dramatically raising prices around the world. Trump’s possible next move, which he has threatened will come Tuesday, has led some to deem him unfit for office.

Trump set Tuesday at 8 p.m. E.T. as the deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz or face U.S. bombs, despite what he has called “productive” talks towards a cease-fire. Israel has already attacked Iranian civil energy infrastructure, including Iran’s South Pars gas field and oil depots across Tehran, potentially violating international humanitarian law. Trump’s open threat of what could also constitute war crimes has led some lawmakers and critics to call for his Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D, Conn.) posted, “If I were in Trump’s Cabinet, I would spend Easter calling constitutional lawyers about the 25th Amendment. This is completely, utterly unhinged. He’s already killed thousands. He’s going to kill thousands more.”

Therefore America and Americans, including congressional lawmakers, it is now time to seriously examine removing our acting, yet mentally and emotionally unstable Commander-in-Chief, from office. If the U.S. congress members, both parties, do not proceed with preparations for invoking the 25th Amendment on Trump, the consequences come Wednesday, April 8, 2026, could be so devastating that the United States economy, along with the rest of the free world’s economies may not recover for decades. This is no joke people! This is no joke federal lawmakers!

President Donald Trump addresses the nation about the Iran War from the White House on April 1, 2026. *Alex Brandon—AP/Bloomberg/Getty Images*

“Several Republicans and former Trump allies have also called on lawmakers and Trump’s Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment, especially as Trump previously described Vice President J.D. Vance as having a “less enthusiastic” view of waging war on Iran.

Former Congressman and prominent Never Trump Republican Joe Walsh posted, alongside a screenshot of Trump’s threat, “His Easter morning post. And just 2 days ago, one of his ‘religious advisors’ compared him to Jesus Christ. He will forever be a stain on this country. And the world. 25th Amendment. Now.

Anthony Scaramucci, who briefly served as the White House communications director during Trump’s first term but has since become a vocal critic, posted, “It was at this point that our Founders thought the best thing to do would be to remove a mad man who has the executive office. It became more formalized with the 25th amendment, but more people now should be calling for this man’s removal.”

I strongly suggest reading Miranda Jeyaretnam’s excellent article, if for no other reason than to be prepared, to be in the know of what seems likely to happen after Wednesday, April 8th. It will be infamous and history making, no doubt. If what should happen does happen, then there is a very apropos poem president tRump should learn and stick to memory, if that’s even possible for him today. Since he likely has never heard of it (Dunne) or understood its poignant and powerful imagery and meaning, then the school-yard bully should’ve learned it and memorized it by high school…

“No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend’s were.
Each man’s death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.”

— John Donne

I Am Alone – I Didn’t Learn – I Didn’t Listen – I Didn’t Think – I Didn’t Care

Three Sides to Every Story

Posted on March 12, 2026 by Professor Taboo

My late father, who was an agnostic humanist and very well educated in mechanical engineering at the University of Texas – Austin, used to sometimes say to me when there was a controversial narrative being told, or seen on television, heard over FM radio, or inside the theater on the silver screen, that you can’t always believe what you see or hear. His quote that always stayed with me was “Son, there are always three sides to every story, sometimes more than three.” And I have found in today’s 21^st-century hyper-overloaded American tech-media-information market, Dad’s news mantra is never more true than right now. It can be argued that it began in 2000 and has easily grown 6-fold since then.

Did you know as of May 2021 that within the U.S. out of one hundred seventy-four (174) news companies/outlets only forty-seven (47) are non-profit organizations according to Harvard University. In other words, only 27% of all U.S. news media are typically more unbiased than private For Profit news corporations that must heed to private owners’ and/or shareholders’ and a board of directors’ special interests for profits, i.e. biased. And of those 47 non-profit news organizations many of them are under the umbrella of a parent company, such as Frontline PBS under the former CPB. What does all this mean for news consumers, rural and urban viewers inside the United States?

It means most all or a very large majority of our U.S. news is driven by individual owners and boards of directors’ personal interests and/or biases. To be more candid, most all of our news we Americans consume is slanted to some degree, if not to a large degree, and the integrity of our “journalism” is often tainted, polluted, or worse, distorted. How do we avoid the modern traps of (extreme?) biasness? How can we find a more neutral source of news and information?

There are two answers: 1) consume a more varied diverse spread of news agencies, media, and outlets, then compare and contrast all of it to unravel the more objective version of a story. Yes, this is an immensely time-consuming method and every day life gets in the way of such deciphering. But the more diverse the input/output, the better. Or 2) pare down your consumption of news to only the non-profit outlets and digital media platforms. Why is number two (2) a more attractive option? Less time spent is one reason. However, below are sixty (60) reasons why to favor non-profit news outlets because of the “donations” to a political candidate or campaign by GOP-dollars versus Democratic-dollars:

Media Owners/Execs Who Openly Donate

There is where all the biasness saturates our privately owned or publicly traded American news media. And this is why “Three Sides to Every Story” is so critical for U.S. consumers to remember to find fair, more factual, more integrity from their news sources. This is why I often watch Al Jazeera or utilize their website. And right now, with our unprovoked U.S. attack and war on Iran by our fake pretend Commander-in-Chief and his Secretary of War, and the massive ripple-effects it is causing for Americans back home at the gas pumps, grocery stores, utilities, as well as nations and their citizens around the world… we simply cannot rely on this administration’s press releases and conferences (or Truth social X) for any direction or understanding. Right now we cannot obtain or rely on the full truth of:

Why this war was started by him,
Was Iran really an imminent threat to the U.S. homeland,
What is the true status of the war right now, or
How and when will the war conclude.

*Department of War director Pete Hegseth (left) and U.S. President (right), Feb. 2026 explaining war.*

Our POTUS never consulted, brought forth or debated any of these crucial points with Congress (or for Americans) the merit of this Iranian War as our U.S. Constitution dictates he do, and he took a solemn vow again for the second time January 20, 2025, to uphold and abide by our Constitution! Our POTUS breaks this solemn vow, the law all the time while in the White House! How many times will this bogus, idiot Commander-in-Chief get away with so much un-Constitutional, illegal behavior?

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Nevertheless, if your own good conscience wants to have more of the facts and truth about today’s current U.S. administration and what is really happening domestically or around the world, then you have no choice but to take the above two news-consumption methods. If you only watch, browse, or listen to one source of news and (dis-)information, you are NOT getting all or more of the facts. Period. Because privately owned news media or publicly traded news media cannot be wholly trusted to share fairly all the facts and how events and their causes play out. Profits are their bottom-line, every single day.

As my father used to often say, “There is always three sides to every story: yours, mine, and the Sunday morning paper.” And that might not be all points-of-view on the controversy and much of one or two slanted stories might be highly falsified propaganda. Think about it.

One is entitled to their own personal opinion, but no one is exclusively entitled to the facts. The facts are always independent of the narrator(s), including our POTUS. Always.

Live Well – Love Much – Laugh Often – Learn Always – Know Propaganda

Bells for Robert Jordan

Posted on March 7, 2026 by Professor Taboo

**“Heresy is the foe of countenance.”**

During these days since January 20, 2025, four hundred and twelve days (412) to be exact, and counting, America and Americans have been living in a sort of Francisco Franco-esque regime of unprecedented turmoil, domestic and foreign aggression by tariffs, law-enforcement abuses, and foreign military actions, the most radical dismantling of federal government, arbitrarily lacerating the federal workforce, unilaterally demolishing agencies, not to mention the East Wing of the White House, and eradicating critical social, health, medical, and environmental federal programs and services. To say these 412-days have been nothing short of chaos would be a gross understatement.

*“Evacuation” by Helios Gómez, Spain 1939*

It must be pointed out that these last 412-days for Americans were caused by a unilateral antagonist and his following unorthodox agitators. And I realize I am being quite genteel with those terms, bordering on watered down to a fragrant gooey blob. Forgive me. There is some value with decorum and etiquette, yes? I confess, however, that I have vast contention with just how far We Americans and our government officials of all three branches have remained complicit while the nation slips further and further into the dark abyss lead by one single man and his anarchists. Have we forgotten what E Pluribus Unum means and how it applies? Have we turned our back on the virtues of helping and serving each other… not as substrates of one ideology, one brand, or one faction, but just as Americans without exclusion?

“No man is an island,
Entire of itself;
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less,
As well as if a promontory were:
As well as if a manor of thy friend’s
Or of thine own were.

Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.”

— John Donne

The Greatest Generation, coined by Tom Brokaw, showed all of us old enough to learn them and those of us today, young and old alike, to revere and model how it is done now, tomorrow, and beyond. It demands abandoning all preclusions of self-interest, while honoring worthy causes bigger than self, the immense obligatory sacrifices, the sanctity and dedication for the duty of E Pluribus Unum, and perhaps most of all, profound humility.

Have we seen any of these qualities, behaviors, or virtues exhibited these last 412-days in any abundance or degree? Pffft, unequivocally… no. In many ways we’ve seen the opposite done:

Unprecedented efforts to consolidate authoritarian power to one man, one branch, one office — Our POTUS signed more than 140 executive orders in the first 100 days, more than any other president in the same period. Of those, more than 25 were directed at remaking the federal government.
The removal of government watchdogs — Our POTUS fired 17 presidentially-appointed inspectors general, leaving more than 75% of such positions vacant. Historically, inspectors general serve across administrations regardless of when or by which president they were appointed. They play a crucial, independent role to investigate, prevent and eliminate fraud. In 2024, inspectors general saved the government over $70 billion. The removal of these key positions undercut important guardrails that were specifically created to prevent government waste and abuse.
The firing of Senate-confirmed appointees at independent agencies — Appointees to these independent agencies often serve multiple administrations and are generally selected based on their experience and knowledge rather than partisan concerns. Our POTUS’ administrative control of these agencies will undermine their ability to make truly independent recommendations, and instead serve as political tools for the White House to accumulate power and sway decision-making.
Unprecedented Cuts led by the Department of Government Efficiency — Many of the first management priorities of the new administration were ideas originally proposed by Project 2025, a policy document constructed by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank published in April 2023 for all Americans to read about the coming storm. These included significant reductions to segments of the federal workforce and the expansion of presidential powers.
Sweeping cuts to federal personnel — Our POTUS’ administration reduced the federal workforce by tens of thousands of employees—often in sudden and haphazard ways. The administration is still slashing today. The most critical cuts to American’s safety was 28k personnel from the Army, 24k from DHS, 23k from the Navy, 23k from the Air Force, 22k from Defense, 19k from HHS, and shockingly 50k from Veterans Affairs.
The federal government is less transparent and accountable — Can anyone say, “Epstein Files”? That’s just one prolific example. Need I say more?
Federal Appointees No Longer Need Merited Experience, Credentials, or be Highly Qualified — I won’t list all the many people our POTUS has recklessly hired and/or fired, but I will say one name that sums up the sheer chaos in Washington D.C., “Kristi Noem.”

For more extensive breakdowns, examination and factual data go to the Partnership for Public Service.

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There is a lot to be learned and taken to heart by Ernest Hemingway’s acclaimed novel “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” Much of his story and Robert Jordan’s experiences are already playing out again, not in published literature, but in reality at home and abroad.

“What do you want? Everything. I want everything and I will take whatever I get.”

— Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls, 1939–1940

Can the obese Tasmanian Shrew in Mar-a-Lago ever be satisfied? Will his prey remain paralyzed, docile, and blind?

We were warned in the fall of 2016 to January 2021 this treachery could return. We were gifted and warned in April 2023 of the exact blueprint of how this expanded treachery would happen. We were handed the opportunity to stop it in Oct/Nov 2024. Woefully America was naive, complicit, negligent, and utterly lazy in all those repeated alarm bells, or to be more apropos… the repeated Hemingway funeral tolling.

When will we listen and learn? Will we ever learn… before it is too late?