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Joined: 2009-08-30
Columns on STR: 149
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GENERAL INFORMATION

Name: 
Douglas Herman
Sex: 
Male
Country: 
United States

Short bio:

Award winning artist, photographer and freelance journalist, Douglas Herman can be found wandering the back roads of America. Doug authored the political crime thriller, The Guns of Dallas  and wrote and directed the Independent feature film,Throwing Caution to the Windnaturally a "road movie," and credits STR for giving him the impetus to write well, both provocatively and entertainingly. A longtime gypsy, Doug completed a 10,000 mile circumnavigation of North America, by bicycle, at the age of 35, and still wanders between Bullhead City, Arizona and Kodiak, Alaska with forays frequently into the so-called civilized world of Greater LA. Write him at Roadmovie2 @ Gmail.com

Columns by Douglas Herman

The Most Prophetic Rock 'n' Roll Song Ever?
0
Douglas Herman 2018-01-17 01:00
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR Everybody knows pop music was a lot better 40 0r 50 years ago, right? But like most urban legends, this one is both true AND false too. Sprinkle a string of saccharine words and phrases together in any repetitive, random order--Baby, baby, I love you, love me, heart, hurt, tears, smiles, always, forever, never, together, baby--and anyone can devise a hit...
Are You a Precious Snowflake? Or Old Dinosaur? Understanding the Slight Cultural Differences to Lessen the Great Divide
0
Douglas Herman 2017-10-05 09:29
Column by Doug Herman. Exclusive to STR Some snowflakes are directly related to old dinosaurs. Strange as it seems, some actually live under the same roof! Not sure how that is possible, what with global warming and climate change, but they do. Are YOU a snowflake? Or perhaps you’re an old dinosaur, whose extinction is long awaited by his heirs – I mean snowflake relatives. Consider...
Does Michael Moore Matter Anymore? An Open Letter From One Filmmaker to Another
0
Douglas Herman 2017-01-16 09:43
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR “This is the true joy in life – being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one: being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.” ~ George...
Confessions of a Fake News Reporter
0
Douglas Herman 2017-01-04 09:22
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR “A lie can travel half way around the world while truth is still putting on its shoes.”  ~ Mark Twain I write for those so-called “fake news” websites. You know the ones: the 200 odd deplorable websites, the ones Hillary, the Pope and Michael Moore have attacked as threatening to destroy World Peace, Democracy, Facebook and...
When Deplorable Meets Adorable
0
Douglas Herman 2016-12-17 14:39
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR “Why are we in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate measures?” ~ Henry David Thoreau   So I had to meet Miss America again. If someone said to me, 50 years ago when I was a tongue-tied teenager, that one day I’d be hanging out with a former beauty queen for a couple of days, trying not to fall in love with her as...
The Life Story of a Simple Old Chair
0
Douglas Herman 2016-11-16 08:45
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR The fine craftsmen of High Wycombe, in northern England, who made me in 1880 are no longer of this world but of the next. Their young flesh and strong muscles, sinew and tendons turned the pieces, assembled the shaped elm seat to the chair legs, pressed the beech wood rods and rails to the fine figured armrests you see. And then they took their evenings...
Can They Really Say That in a Movie?
0
Douglas Herman 2016-09-28 08:52
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR “But talking about it (freedom) and bein’ it, that’s two different things. I mean, it’s real hard to be free when you are bought and sold in the marketplace. Of course, don’t ever tell anybody that they’re not free, ‘cause then they’re gonna get real busy killin’ and maimin’ to prove to you...
10,000 Miles Alone Around America by Bicycle
10
Douglas Herman 2016-05-19 07:28
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR “A voice said to him, Why do you stay here and live this mean, moiling life, when a glorious existence is possible for you?” ~ Henry David Thoreau   Imagine taking a 10,000 mile bicycle trip around North America today without a cellphone, credit cards or keys. No sponsors or support vehicles either, and never more than $100 in cash....
The First & Last Tabloid Presidential Elections?
10
Douglas Herman 2016-05-05 07:17
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR Our Republic Reels from Absurdity to Obscene in Prez Selection 2016   Maybe I’m getting old. At 66, I certainly don’t recall another presidential election so entertaining in a sleazy, openly corrupt sort of way.  I don’t recall Nixon vs. Kennedy with such rancor and mud-slinging.  I was ten at the time, in 1960. ...
Not Surprised: Thoreau Pissed Off Some New Yorkers
9.5
Douglas Herman 2016-04-26 07:24
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR Years ago, while working in LA as a struggling scriptwriter, I observed that Hollywood is a Moronocracy:  movies made by morons, for morons and about morons.  Rainman, Forrest Gump, Waterboy, Dumb & Dumber, Batman vs. Superman, etc. You see the trend? Intelligent, insightful opinions, subtlety, cleverness, playful and caustic remarks have...
Do You Suffer From Putinitis?
0
Douglas Herman 2015-12-17 09:10
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR Epidemic of National Erectile Dysfunction Strikes America! Experts Point to Putin as Culprit in Incurable Disease.   What Is Putinitis? Do you find yourself not only questioning authority, but pitying all those who do not? Do you drive down the freeway, feeling surrounded by sociopaths on cellphones, most of them madly tweeting and texting, while...
Throwing Caution to the Wind
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Douglas Herman 2015-03-23 08:48
Column by Doug Herman. Exclusive to STR How I wrote, directed and produced a low-budget feature film while driving long hours, defying death, diamond mining and a double-stabbing at the age of 60. A true story. A cautionary tale. “Before you realize it, you have succeeded in completing what seemed originally a colossal undertaking; not by one long-sustained effort but rather by a...
American Sniper: Hero, Psychopath or Mass Murderer?
9
Douglas Herman 2015-02-17 09:04
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } If Chris Kyle and Clint Eastwood Are Your Heroes, Tip a Toast to Occupiers Everywhere.  Especially That Mexican Guy at the Alamo. Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR Chris Kyle is gonna win an Oscar later this month. Or the actor playing his part, Bradley Cooper. More than just a film about a misunderstood warrior, coward, killing machine or patriot...
Dick Cheney and the Dead Pool
10
Douglas Herman 2014-07-07 07:41
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR “It is a universal trend for peoples to unite in a national emergency.” ~ Uri Avnery Dick Cheney rarely reads my columns here at STR. Certainly I’m glad that millions of Winston Smiths over at NSA read my stuff. I want them to read my stuff. I want young and impressionable minds, like Edward Snowden, to read STR and have ideas implanted...
Kindness Generates Kindness
10
Douglas Herman 2014-06-27 07:16
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR “I’d love to change the world But I don't know what to do So I'll leave it up to you” ~ Ten Years After Memorial Day weekend. Mixed emotions. Sunshine and flowers in bloom and flags flying everywhere. Pretty girls and propaganda on TV and more empty, patriotic slogans from those who want to stir up trouble but never served....
Down & Out in Rio de Janeiro
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Douglas Herman 2014-06-11 00:00
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR “Most people go on holiday to escape. They pick a far away destination in the assumption that the further away they are from home, the more rewarding and freeing the trip will be.” ~ Matthew Dawn Sticker shock. Expect to pay a lot. Hellishly hot in the summer and shockingly less sexy than advertised. But the city and local people, called...
Fifty Years After JFK, the Empire Strikes Back
9.5
Douglas Herman 2013-11-04 09:12
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR H3 { margin-top: 0.14in; margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(79, 129, 189); page-break-inside: avoid; }H3.western { font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; }H3.cjk { font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; font-size: 12pt; }H3.ctl { font-size: 12pt; }P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { }“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able...
'Lone Gunman': Suspicious Similarities, Norwegian, Australian, American Shooters
7.2
Douglas Herman 2012-12-17 09:24
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR “We live in a dirty and dangerous world. There are some things the general public does not need to know, and shouldn't. I believe democracy flourishes when the government can take legitimate steps to keep its secrets and when the press can decide whether to print what it knows.” ~ Katherine Graham, Publisher of the Washington...
Why Earth Is ET's Top Rated Reality Show
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Douglas Herman 2012-12-04 08:42
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” ~ William Shakespeare “To predict the behavior of ordinary people in advance, you only have to assume that they will always try to escape a disagreeable situation with the smallest possible expenditure of intelligence.” ~ Friedrich...
Star-Crossed Super Ships: Titanic, Enterprise, America
10
Douglas Herman 2012-03-23 00:00
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR The whole world looked different one hundred years ago.   In 1912, the automobile and the airplane were curiosities. England enjoyed an enormous empire in 1912, served by freighters, tankers, liners and warships. As immigration flooded across the Atlantic Ocean, hundreds of those ships ferried passengers across to America. Shipyards launched bigger...
All My Heroes Died Broke, Broken, Not Beaten
9.6
Douglas Herman 2012-03-08 01:00
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR  “The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure that it will kill you too, but there will be no special hurry.” ~ Ernest Hemingway   Recently I...
Black Swans vs. Canary in the Coal Mine
9.5
Douglas Herman 2012-02-27 01:00
Column by Doug Herman. Exclusive to STR  Not all Black Swans are created equally.     Orchestrated human events are rarely Black Swan events. No matter how surprising to the masses, sudden and spectacular world events are rarely random, or so called Black Swans. Most Black Swans are human creations, created by and for the power elites. Pearl Harbor (1941), followed by the...
They Stole His Money, Her Money & Mine Too
9.6
Douglas Herman 2012-01-24 01:00
Column by Doug Herman. Exclusive to STR  Just before the holidays, I walked into my local Wells Fargo bank to cash a small birthday check one of my sisters gave to me. Imagine my surprise when the teller informed me my small savings account was closed. I told her she was mistaken, and asked her to please check again; I knew I had about $800 in the account and I never use the ATM and don...
Adventures in Silver and Gold, Part 1: Seeking Precious Metal in The Melting Pot of Life
10
Douglas Herman 2011-04-25 03:00
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR Metal, heavy metal is much in the news these days. While heavy radioactive metals are melting down in Japan, the twin precious metals of gold and silver are melting upwards. We are always surrounded by precious metal. It is inside us. Sometimes we sacrifice our more precious mettle inside of us to sweat and sacrifice and finally extract the less valuable...
A Naturalist Looks at Avatar
5.5
Douglas Herman 2010-01-12 04:00
Exclusive to STR Maybe you’ve seen the first billion dollar movie. Maybe you saw it in 3-D, at an IMAX theater, with Dolby Surround Sound. Maybe you saw that movie and wondered what James Cameron was trying to say, if anything, and whether it was just another popcorn matinee movie with little substance behind the special effects.  Avatar might be one of those movies discussed in...
Does the American Empire Deserve to Die?
10
Douglas Herman 2009-11-01 17:00
 Exclusive to STR November 2, 2009 I’m halfway through a reflective book written by an old curmudgeon. Part patriot, part historian, all gadfly, Gore Vidal wrote Imperial America: Reflections on the United States of Amnesia in 2004, just before the upcoming national elections. Almost a time capsule coupled with dire prophecy, the book is a sober,...
Once I Was Your Candy Colored Dream Girl
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Douglas Herman 2009-01-12 17:00
Exclusive to STR I was once the dazzling dream girl of a hundred million beating hearts. All aglow and glittering, I was the sweet little roadster desired by a restless middle class on the move and craving motion. I was the gleaming Buick, Ford or Chevy chariot that blazed across the landscape. I was the gaudy, popsicle-colored Chrysler, Caddy, Pontiac or De Soto that made grown men smile with...
JFK and Obama--Profiles in Courage and Cowardice
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Douglas Herman 2008-12-21 17:00
I became an adult sometime in June, 1968. I was 18 and had just graduated from high school. Upon turning 18, the state demanded I register for the draft. The Vietnam War was more than five years old and LBJ demanded more troops for Southeast Asia. Like millions of other young, American men, I was cannon fodder for an enormous, immoral and wasteful foreign folly.  Three prominent US leaders...
The Confessions of Osama Bin Laden
10
Douglas Herman 2008-11-17 17:00
I confess I did not know then, but I know now, why you Americans stopped chasing me at Tora Bora in October 2001.
Seeing the Maverick$ and Magician$ from Monticello
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Douglas Herman 2008-10-09 16:00
The views from Monticello are spectacular. Thomas Jefferson called one panoramic vista his 'sea view.' I suppose if Jefferson were alive today he would view the ongoing banking scandal with extreme disgust bordering on an outright declaration of war. Seems Thomas Jefferson himself suffered similar swindles first hand. I visited Monticello while in Virginia recently. I toured the house and...
When Weather Changes History in 21st Century America
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Douglas Herman 2008-09-28 16:00
Sarah Palin named her daughter after Bristol Bay. More than a thousand commercial fishing boats gather in Bristol Bay, Alaska every summer to harvest the richest source of wild salmon on earth. Thanks to the skillful management of the resource by the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, enough salmon escape upstream every year to allow tens of millions to return the following years. Bristol Bay...
Deadliest Catch: One Alaska Fisherman to Another
10
Douglas Herman 2008-09-28 16:00
Exclusive to STR September 29, 2008
When Weather Changes History in 21st Century America
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Douglas Herman 2008-09-12 16:00
Exclusive to STR September 13, 2008 When weather changes world history, humans scramble like frightened ants. Consider the storm that sunk and scattered the Spanish Armada. Or the bitter cold and snowstorms that ravaged the ill-prepared German Army at Stalingrad. Or the series of powerful hurricanes that devastated the southeastern United States these last few years.
Shaft the Navy, Stiff the Nation, Start a War?
0
Douglas Herman 2008-09-01 16:00
Dear Senator McCain, (perhaps soon to be Hail-To-The-Chief): I write this letter as a fellow US veteran and fellow Arizonan. With only a few days to go until the big top, I imagine you are giddy with excitement. Like a kid in a candy store with an insatiable craving for sugar. From where I sit, this contest could go either way. Not that I have a pony in this race, so to speak, but I have a vested...
Who Threatens You Most: The President, Congress, Fed--Or Iran?
0
Douglas Herman 2008-07-21 16:00
Some day in the not-too-distant future, someone will pen a book called Who Wrecked America ? If the book is honest, fingers will be pointed at the crooks and liars in Washington DC and Wall Street, at lobbyists (pimps) and Congressmen (whores), at bankers and war toy makers, at AIPAC and PNAC, at presidents, executives and generals. Doubtful that anyone will conclude that Iran had much to do with...
Castaway in Hollywood
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Douglas Herman 2008-06-16 16:00
Exclusive to STR June 17, 2008 'We all live in a little Village . . . . Your village may be different from other people's villages but we are all prisoners.' ~ Patrick McGoohan (The Prisoner) I was sitting on a gold mine. Three top movie scripts and six, really good Reality TV shows, plus one quirky, fictional crime novel that, ironically, came true two years later, a rarity among crime novels...
Faces of Truth vs. Faces of Liars
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Douglas Herman 2008-06-01 16:00
June 2, 2008 'At fifty, everyone has the face he deserves.' ~ George Orwell Perhaps you heard that Norman Finkelstein got arrested. The former professor of disgraced DePaul University traveled to Israel , where authorities without any real authority had him arrested, interrogated and then deported.
The Means and Methods of a Modern Thoreau
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Douglas Herman 2008-05-13 16:00
May 14, 2008 The other day I was talking with my dear friend Annie about Thoreau. We were discussing what it means to be a success in America . Imagine, I said, what his fellow townsfolk must have thought, when they read how Thoreau described himself. 'For many years I was a self-appointed inspector of snowstorms and rainstorms and did my duty faithfully, though I never received payment for it...
Smarter Than a Rothschild or a British Prime Minister?
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Douglas Herman 2008-03-19 17:00
March 20, 2008 "Financially, the US is not an independent country." ~ Paul Craig Roberts Gold surpassed $1000 on Friday, March 14, to the collective silence of the financial advisors and investment columnists of the mainstream US media. When the economic gurus of the MSM missed the predictable, seven year rise of precious metals, their ignorance was obvious.
Truther Long Before It Was Cool
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Douglas Herman 2008-03-02 17:00
March 3, 2008 "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." ~ George Orwell
What Do You Need to Survive?
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Douglas Herman 2008-02-24 17:00
February 25, 2008 'Forewarned, forearmed; to be prepared is half the victory.' ~ Cervantes Ask yourself: what do you personally need to survive in case of an economic meltdown, in case of sudden hyperinflation, a global resource blockade, a sudden declaration of martial law--or a simple nuclear exchange resulting in national panic?
The Controlled Demolition of the American Republic
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Douglas Herman 2007-03-20 17:00
March 21, 2007 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.' ~ Edmund Burke Edmund Burke, an Englishman of Irish birth, anarchist by inclination, is considered the father of Anglo-American conservatism (a defunct, nearly extinct sect) and also one of the earliest anarchist thinkers and supporter of the American revolution. Few such men exist today in Anglo-...
The First Annual Liberty Internet Awards
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Douglas Herman 2007-03-15 17:00
March 16, 2007 "In many ways, what we in journalism need is a spine transplant." ~ Dan Rather The first Oscar ceremony (1927-28) was a modest affair. Now look at it. Hollywood spends far more time and money lavishing praise on itself than making good movies. That gold-plated statuette is as coveted as the crown jewels.
What Was Asked of Us
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Douglas Herman 2007-03-06 17:00
Exclusive to STR March 7, 2007 "I found myself in a highly civilized world ignoring the Vietnam War . . . . Nobody I knew even talked about Vietnam, making it a very difficult situation to return to." ~ Oliver Stone, movie director and Vietnam veteran
Aftermath: Day 2, the War With Iran
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Douglas Herman 2007-01-30 17:00
In the first fierce day of war, when coordinated air strikes on Iranian targets destroyed most of the Iranian air force and navy, the US military appeared invincible again. Wrecking a second-rate military power does that for an imperial war machine. By the second day of the war, however, most American and Iranian citizens wished for peace. Unfortunately, wars are always easier to get into than...
What Is the 'Root' of Evil?
0
Douglas Herman 2007-01-02 17:00
January 3, 2007 'There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.' ~ Thoreau Lake dweller Henry David Thoreau enjoyed an enviable, pastoral life in the pre-industrial age. Living in the woods on the shore of the 60 acre Walden Pond, a mile from the village of Concord, Massachusetts , Henry had ample time to dwell on the topic of good and evil.
Dear Senator McCain: When and Why Did You Sell Your Soul?
0
Douglas Herman 2006-11-19 17:00
Exclusive to STR November 20, 2006
Working Class Hero: 40 Jobs in 40 Years
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Douglas Herman 2006-10-17 16:00
Exclusive to STR October 18, 2006 "A working class hero is something to be." ~ John Lennon
Voting: Placebo Or Drug of Choice?
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Douglas Herman 2006-10-15 16:00
"Choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil." ~ Jerry Garcia So you have a choice, Americans. You can vote and hope your votes get counted, properly recorded by those electronic black boxes. You can vote and convince yourself you have performed your "patriotic duty." You can vote and pick some candidate you know very little about. You can vote and feel really, really, really good...
These Are the Troops I Support
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Douglas Herman 2006-07-24 16:00
'The Republican Party has been reduced to one principle ' its own power. It protects the Bush regime from accountability and covers up its lies and misdeeds. Under the myths and lies that enshroud 9/11, the Democrats have collapsed as an opposition party.' ~ Paul Craig Roberts The US mainstream media, from time to time, projects New York Senator Hillary Clinton and Secretary of State Condaleeza...
These Are the Troops I Support
0
Douglas Herman 2006-05-24 16:00
'Wherever you can look - wherever there's a fight, so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad . . . .' ~ Tom Joad, The Grapes of Wrath I used to think I was the only oddball in the military, the only malcontent, the only dissident, the only 'bad troop,' as they used to say.
Revolt in the Ranks? Be VERY Careful, Neocon
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Douglas Herman 2006-05-14 16:00
A few weeks ago, about the same time those high-ranking US generals were stating-- emphatically--their displeasure with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the conduct of the war in Iraq, Military.com ran a story on the Internet'Wounded Soldiers Left in Debt.
Two Cheers for Immigrants
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Douglas Herman 2006-05-09 16:00
I love immigrants. I hope to marry one someday. Since 100% of Americans are immigrants or descended from immigrants, either legal or 'illegal' ones, I guess that makes me an immigrant too.
United 93: Film Review--Questions, Questions
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Douglas Herman 2006-05-02 16:00
Will we, each of us, live or die heroically? Most of us will never know, right up to the exact moment of our death. We might, however, act exactly like the doomed passengers of United Flight 93, terrorized, dithering, agonizing before finally taking decisive action, according to the recent movie about the hijacked flight.
Vendetta: Heroism, Terrorism or Patriotism?
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Douglas Herman 2006-03-28 16:00
'The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.' ~ Thomas Jefferson Maybe you have seen that movie, V for Vendetta. Surprisingly, if you click on the flags on the website that indicate specific countries, you will notice the movie hasn't opened in many countries.
Young Oliver Stone in Fallujah
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Douglas Herman 2006-03-27 16:00
While you finished your second cup of coffee or morning commute, a young soldier in Iraq recorded 'a world of hurt' as troops used to say in Nam . He recorded them in his mind. He saw so many things that young people just out of high school shouldn't see. He saw them while shouldering a heavy pack and wearing body armor, unaware his mind was recording them. All the things he saw jumbled...
Live Free or Die: Is Liberty an Illusion?
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Douglas Herman 2006-03-22 17:00
No man is free who does not realize he is foremost a prisoner. Imprisoned by unfulfilled desires, as Buddha described, and selfish worldly aspirations. Not to mention bills, bodily functions, jobs, duties, obligations, allegiances, plus hunger and thirst. Diogenes sought an honest man; Jesus explained that no man is good; Marx theorized no one is free until they have cast off their chains.
You Disgrace Your Uniform, Sir!'
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Douglas Herman 2006-03-21 17:00
How many patriots work in the Pentagon? Lots of professional military officers work there--Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines--hurrying along the corridors, good and decent men mostly. Wouldn't it be wonderful to read their thoughts, as they conduct America 's military business?
Whorehouses I Have Known
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Douglas Herman 2006-03-08 17:00
I get wistful whenever I think of Rio de Janeiro . The most beautiful women in the world live in Brazil , many of them what polite society would call working girls. But I get ahead of myself. Now most parents haven't the slightest clue what happens when their little Johnny gets his gun and finishes his training for war. They think the US military might make a man out of him'if it doesn't kill...
The S.O.B. Has to Go--Yeah, But Which One?
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Douglas Herman 2006-02-28 17:00
'Neighbor, how stands the Union ?' ~ Stephen Vincent Benet (The Devil and Daniel Webster) The liveliest writers live on the Net. The best and brightest American essayists flourish not on the printed page, neither in polite college presses nor pulp newsprint but where free thought meets the free form use of the English language. Only on the Net.
Gold, Silver and the Coming Crisis in Iran
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Douglas Herman 2006-02-12 17:00
Some might call it the Deja Vu War, the same war happening all over again. The same accusers and the same accusations, the same threats and the same predictable UN sanctions, the same script and timetable. The same Shock and Awe air attack. The same stalemate. The same wasted lives, wasted resources and squandered billions by the exact same culprit, the state.
A Million Little Pieces
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Douglas Herman 2006-02-05 17:00
Man, I'd love to write a bestseller. Sell a million copies and appear on prime time TV. I'd love to hobnob with Larry King Live and Oprah and Regis. Party at the Playboy mansion, my name printed atop the New York Times bestseller list, and have my book reprinted a zillion times in paperback. Best of all, I'd love to get a million little pieces of US currency stuffed in my wallet. Sure, I'd...
Bumper Stickers I'd Love to See
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Douglas Herman 2005-12-19 17:00
One thing I've noticed about bumper stickers: They piss off adults and amuse adolescents. Motorists stuck behind my slow-moving vehicle are forced to read a dozen or so flippant, provocative or anti-authoritarian messages before can safely pass (see photo). Most of these motorists emerge stony-faced, staring straight ahead, as they speed past me on some country road.
I Broke the Law at Walden Pond--Twice
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Douglas Herman 2005-12-13 17:00
'If I repent of anything it is likely to be my good behavior.' -Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) A lawbreaker once lived here by this little lake. He broke the law, encouraged others to break the law, and inspired millions more who visit Walden Pond every year to resist unwise laws. To bend them, break them, ignore them or question them. I broke...
Worst President Ever? You Might Be Surprised
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Douglas Herman 2005-11-15 17:00
He shut down newspapers, imprisoned editors, and forced reporters to toe the official US government line long before the PATRIOT Act. Then he attacked US cities and burned them to the ground. Who was he? He lied to US voters, sided with one European imperial state against another, and plunged neutralist America into a disastrous war that cost 320,000 American casualties. Who was he?
Heart of Darkness and the Fog of War
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Douglas Herman 2005-11-13 17:00
Heart of Darkness and the Fog of War by Douglas Herman
What Aliens Know About Earth
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Douglas Herman 2005-11-06 17:00
One bit of speculation: Maybe our alien observers are hanging around Earth to observe the expected demise of our planet. Reportedly some scientists have observed a planet-dissolving cloud of cosmic dust, with a penchant for devouring tiny planets and all their inhabitants, nine years away and traveling fast. Maybe, just maybe, the aliens are hanging around, reserving grandstand seats, to witness...
The Two Million Dollar Sportfish
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Douglas Herman 2005-10-31 17:00
Exclusive to STR Water terrifies me. Not the liquid, mind you, but the mystery and inherent power of deep water. What lurks there? Whenever I am caught in a storm at sea I feel the frailty of a man poised before an abyss. Certainly deep water is calmer; storms and tidal surges cause far more damage in shallow water, but it is the deep, dark water that seems most terrifying.
The All-New Devil's Dictionary!
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Douglas Herman 2005-10-16 16:00
Exclusive to STR This is a tribute to the Civil War officer, author and newsman, Ambrose Bierce, who originally compiled The Devil's Dictionary. America. Noun. Former republic, reportedly founded 1776, but which foundered soon thereafter. An exemplary idea, a belief better realized in abstract than actuality. Anti-Semitism. Noun. Mistrust of Jews by non-Jewish people.
Dead White Women: Which Ones Matter Most?
0
Douglas Herman 2005-10-09 16:00
The same media circus over a dead white woman occurred recently with the murder of beautiful Taylor Behl. Another gruesome murder and the mainstream media on the scent like a rabid dog. Sex and abduction and murder. All the news stations carried footage from the crime scene. Over and over again. Beautiful White Woman Murdered In SEX-Related Slaying.
Our Rogue Republic's Dangerous Game of Risk
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Douglas Herman 2005-10-04 16:00
You ever play Risk? The board game of global domination. Fun game.
Cheerful Firebrand: New Job Title
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Douglas Herman 2005-09-25 16:00
Exclusive to STR STR is home to a pretty rich and diverse range of characters. I read the bios at the end of essays with as much interest as the essays themselves. People living their lives as large and expansive as they can, coping with inner doubts, the loneliness of wayward individualism, emotional disconnections, social constraints, government restraints, and the dozens of daily compulsions...
Fear--and the Deep Blue Sea
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Douglas Herman 2005-09-22 16:00
"A man who is not afraid of the sea will soon be drownded, for he will be going out on a day he shouldn't. But we do be afraid of the sea, and we do only be drownded now and again." ~ J.M. Synge A voice said to me: If you go down, there you will die. Or get arrested. Those seemed to be my two choices. Arrested or die. I looked down into the bowl of that extinct volcano, staring at the...
Bodie Ghost Town
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Douglas Herman 2005-09-18 16:00
Hot. Left late in the morning, after hiking around Manzanar "Relocation" Camp. Camped there last night, hoping to hear a ghost but only heard the wind. Slept in my van, along Owens Valley and highway 395. "Your water gone, what's left gives back a muddy azure, like a mildewed mirror," wrote poet BD Love, referring to dried up, lonely places like Manzanar. No lonelier place than the human heart,...
Haunted Waters
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Douglas Herman 2005-09-11 16:00
"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it . . . I am haunted by water." -- Norman Maclean
Sailing Around North America #4--Tinkerbelle
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Douglas Herman 2005-09-06 16:00
"When you come to the fork in the road, take it." ~ Yogi Berra "You've got to be careful if you don't know where you're going 'cause you might not get there." ~ Ibid "We're lost, but we're making good time." ~ Ibid
When Katrina Becomes Our Baghdad
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Douglas Herman 2005-08-30 16:00
When Katrina Becomes Our Baghdad by Douglas Herman
Salton Sea: A Century Old and Dying Young
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Douglas Herman 2005-08-30 16:00
The Salton Sea is a hundred years old today. Young by oceanic standards, prematurely old in actuality, the Salton Sea was spawned in the summer of 1905, gestated for two years, and emerged fully grown and probably destined for an early death.
Smackdown! I Challenge Rumsfeld to a Royal Rumble
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Douglas Herman 2005-08-24 16:00
In a true democracy, (which we do NOT have), an underling like myself might challenge a tribal leader, especially one not elected, like Rumsfeld, and "call him out," force him to prove himself, especially in his chosen field of expertise. Otherwise, what's the point of democracy?
Sailing Around North America: Sandsailor
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Douglas Herman 2005-08-21 16:00
"Not till we are lost, in other words not till we have lost the world, do we begin to find ourselves, and realize where we are and the infinite extent of our relations." ~Thoreau West with the rising sun, west to the distant ocean like some lumbering, migratory bird. West past the low, eroded mountains surrounding Phoenix. West into the zen emptiness, that timeless open space populated by...
Sailing Around North America: Leaving
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Douglas Herman 2005-08-15 16:00
Sailing Around North America: Leaving by Douglas Herman
Ten Good Things About America
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Douglas Herman 2005-08-09 16:00
"Well, I get tired of hearing it's a crummy world and that people are no damn good." ~ Robert Fulghum I flew over the country last October, flying diagonally from Seattle to Miami . Once aloft, the plane passed over the Cascade Mountains. Mount Rainier, Washington, east of Seattle , looked like the top of a snow cone, and I pressed my nose to the window.
Requiem for a Forgotten Hero
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Douglas Herman 2005-07-27 16:00
"Zeal for thine house consumed me." ~ John 2:17 Forty years ago he struck a match and lit a single blow against an immoral war. He fired the only weapon he believed he had in his arsenal: himself. Some called him a madman, a cruel father and heartless parent. Most shook their heads in disbelief: Norman Morrison killed himself to protest a war.
The Shock (and Horror) of Reality
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Douglas Herman 2005-07-25 16:00
Last year I flew up to Kodiak, Alaska, where I work most summers. Once aloft, I pulled a book out of my bag and started reading. Having been a struggling writer for 20 years, I wanted to read about the struggles and eventual success of a fellow writer, hoping to discover a few secrets of successful writing along the way.
Harry Potter and the Princes of Darkness
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Douglas Herman 2005-07-12 16:00
Harry awoke from a sound sleep, rubbed his eyes, and wondered if his dream was only a nightmare. He dreamt that, in a world of witches, warlocks and spells, a dark spell had been cast on two mighty nations. The people of America and England adored diversion, fast food filled with toxins, children's books and childish movies, cosmetic makeovers, brutish sports, mindless millionaires and vacuous...
Suicide Bombers in Hollywood
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Douglas Herman 2005-07-10 16:00
"I'm a soldier of freedom, in the army of man, We are the chosen, we're the partisan, Well, the cause it is noble, the cause it is just, We are ready to pay with our lives if we must" ~ "Ride Across The River" by Dire Straits
My Nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize
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Douglas Herman 2005-06-29 16:00
The Nobel Peace Prize was named after some inventor named Alfred Nobel who invented an efficient way to blow things up. Keeping that spirit in mind, I'd like to nominate a couple of lowly paid young fellows for this year's prize. Despite resistance from all quarters, but with scads of allies and admirers, my nominations also attempt to blow things up.
Count the Bullets: Blow Away All Arguments
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Douglas Herman 2005-06-27 16:00
Count the Bullets: Blow Away All Arguments by Douglas Herman
Legends, Tall Tales, Holy Warriors and Cartoons
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Douglas Herman 2005-06-21 16:00
Did a smoking dragon ever exist in that English tale of Saint George, or was one conveniently invented? Fire-breathing dragons, like shadowy terrorist organizations, exist to create enemies and thus "heroic" forceful responses. Without witches and demons and fiery dragons, no courageous holy warrior could rescue the fair maiden or deliver the peasants from infidels.
Why We Will Lose the War in Iraq
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Douglas Herman 2005-06-15 16:00
Before the war in Iraq began--the covert black operation known as Operation Iraq Freedom--then-Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill predicted a cost of approximately $200 billion for the operation. The media storm that greeted his forecast cost O'Neill his job. Unfortunately, the meter's still running, while the war machine idles at the curb, like an overheated Abrams tank. Now the estimate is $300...
Geronimo, Cochise and Osama bin Laden
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Douglas Herman 2005-05-08 16:00
Geronimo, Cochise and Osama bin Laden by Douglas Herman
The War Lover and the Greatest War
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Douglas Herman 2005-04-17 16:00
The last war on earth will either be a cause for celebration--or signal the likely extinction of that super race of mammals formerly known as "Man." (Some say the world will end before that happens, on December 21.
The Greatest War Movie Ever?
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Douglas Herman 2005-04-06 16:00
War movies are about the closest most civilians'and most servicemen'will ever get to a war. Hollywood, for all of its failings (and there are many), often succeeds in portraying the facsimile of battle, if not the battle itself or the heart-rending interior carnage. But, God bless them, they do try and often attain a measure of success.
Last Living Will and Testament
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Douglas Herman 2005-04-03 16:00
Last Living Will and Testament by Douglas Herman
Nuke the Holy Land--For World Peace
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Douglas Herman 2005-03-29 16:00
"They plunder, they slaughter, and they steal: this they falsely name Empire, and where they make a wasteland, they call it peace." ~ Tacitus "And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and destroy them,--But he turned and rebuked them, saying, 'You do not know your attitude." ~ Luke 9:54-55
Is America the SS Titanic?
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Douglas Herman 2005-03-27 16:00
In 1912 the steamship Titanic was an enormous floating palace with many levels of society enclosed in a single vessel. The upper levels of the ship housed the wealthy and powerful. Below the richly furnished staterooms of the elite, the corresponding levels of society descended to the very bottom of the ship, where the lowest classes lived and worked.
Dispatches of War: A Dozen Questions for Dahr Jamail
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Douglas Herman 2005-03-21 17:00
Recently Dahr Jamail returned from Iraq. A working journalist with an uncanny knack for allowing the average Iraqi to speak and be heard, for putting his reporter's ear to the ground and his finger on the pulse of that country, Dahr agreed to answer a dozen questions for STR.
Serene Outlaw: Henry David Thoreau in His Second Century
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Douglas Herman 2005-03-16 17:00
Sometimes we may take the man on the STR masthead for granted.  The subtle yet powerful influence of Henry David Thoreau probably remains his greatest creation.  The books, journals and manuscripts, his written observations, impressive as they may be, somehow seem secondary to that influence. Instead, his personal life, his unstinting optimism, his highly individualistic code, his...
Sex, Lies and Call Girls: Why the U.S. Media Is a Whore
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Douglas Herman 2005-03-15 17:00
By contrast, the British tabloids sank their teeth into the Profumo affair. What began as an investigation into call girls and party houses became an embarrassing government scandal that cost a prime minister his job. Profumo's mistake, we are told, was to lie in his testimony before the House of Commons. Bush and his stable of journalistic whores seems unfazed by the current scandal; they...
Time and Tides Wash Us All Away
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Douglas Herman 2005-03-09 17:00
Time and Tides Wash Us All Away by Douglas Herman
Iran Time Bomb: Ticking, Ticking
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Douglas Herman 2005-03-02 17:00
I watch a lot of trash TV, too much for my own good. I watched the entire "Fear Factor: Couples," I'm ashamed to admit, simply because I enjoyed watching weird or embarrassing stunts performed by simple folks in pursuit of big bucks. Somewhere in all that weirdness, I'm convinced, is a moral lesson or a telling reflection of 21st Century American values. Plus I wonder where they get all those...
CSI: American Mammoth, R.I.P.
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Douglas Herman 2005-01-30 17:00
The immense woolly mammoth needed a drink badly. The sheen of water beckoned to the mammal but something made her pause, some sixth sense that warned her to beware. One of the largest land mammals that strode the earth, she stood not far from where modern, downtown Los Angeles stands today, breathing deeply the odor of future industrial might. Yet, the smell--pungent, acrid, oily--forced the...
Brothers in Arms
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Douglas Herman 2005-01-23 17:00
These mist covered mountains Are a home now for me But my home is the lowlands And always will be Some day you'll return to Your valleys and your farms And you'll no longer burn To be brothers in arms --"Brothers In Arms," by Dire Straits
Money--Funny, Scary, Paper Money
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Douglas Herman 2004-12-05 17:00
Fifteen years ago I lived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I spent a year there trying to be Paul Gauguin but found instead that I was a lesser artist: myself. At that time--1989/1990--few tourists traveled to Brazil. Rio was considered the most dangerous city in the world, with around 2,000-3,000 murders annually. If that weren't enough, inflation for 1989 was about 1,200% annually, as I recall. Each...
Remember the Alamo--In Downtown Iraq
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Douglas Herman 2004-11-22 17:00
Imagine what the Alamo must have looked like after the battle. Bodies strewn everywhere; the stench overpowering in the Texas heat. Dogs and vultures chewing on the mangled carcasses (before they were burned). Smashed adobe walls; wreckage and rubble smouldering while scavengers picked through the ruins. Now you have a pretty reliable picture of Fallujah today, an Islamic Alamo in historic,...
Resident Evil--1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
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Douglas Herman 2004-11-17 17:00
Some people believe the White House is haunted. I prefer to believe the building is demon possessed. How else to explain the almost continuous flow of evil that channels through the place? How else except a demonic convergence, or porthole to hell itself, to explain the millions of deaths that can easily be attributed to the policies that originate there? Almost like Satan enjoyed a guest...
A Time to Love and a Time to Die
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Douglas Herman 2004-11-10 17:00
How could we have lost this war, they must have asked themselves at home? We have the best soldiers, the best pilots, the best generals. But at the front, where the battle was fought, the gaudy victories gave way to a series of disquieting defeats and then painful retreats. The best army in the world was being destroyed, piece by piece, by an insurgency of peasant soldiers. A Time to Love and a...
Bush "Won"? Wonderful!
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Douglas Herman 2004-11-08 17:00
An irresponsible rich kid wrecks the family car while running a red light and demolishes a store, killing the storekeeper and his family. The parents of the kid try to bail him out, while his siblings and friends stand around and make excuses. The uncontrite kid spews a drunken righteousness for the mess that leaves witnesses wondering, but the family pays for damages--to the car--and returns...
What Ever Happened to Osama bin Forgotten?
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Douglas Herman 2004-10-18 16:00
What ever happened to Osama Bin? Forgotten? Rarely do you hear the name Osama anymore. The talking heads of the media rarely question his whereabouts. The Long Island Light Brigade of Hannity & O'Reilly, the Fat Cracker Brigade of Limbaugh & Hastert; the Wailing Wall Brigade of Perle & Ledeen; the Frantic Fraulein Brigade of Coulter & Parker hardly seem bothered by his fugitive...
Silver: The Precious Metal That Spurred the Conquest of a Continent
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Douglas Herman 2004-10-03 16:00
The Spanish Conquistidors called it--or "plata"--silver plate, and this lusty band of amoral conquerers burst upon the New World for the exact same reason we now burst upon the treasure laden Persian Gulf. If the Spanish could corner the silver mines in Mexico, Bolivia and Peru, they could control an enormous supply of wealth and perhaps the world. Silver was the oil of the Sixteenth...
A Tale of Two AWOLs: Dubya & I
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Douglas Herman 2004-09-27 16:00
"I'm the kinda man likes to get away, like to start dreamin' about tomorrow today" --Marshall Tucker Band: Heard It In A Love Song Dubya and I were reluctant warriors once. Thirty five years ago we were both stuck in Texas at the height of the Vietnam War, he in the Texas Air National Guardat Ellington AFB in Houston, and I at Lackland AFB in San Antonio. Where we each went--when we fled Texas...
Stupid U: College of Criminal Arts
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Douglas Herman 2004-05-27 16:00
Most of us dream of an Ivy-League education. Millions sacrifice to send their children to Harvard, Princeton or Yale, filled with visions of prestige, public service and financial security. Each year, thousands of young adults graduate from these bucolic universities to guide our nation-state--formerly known as a republic some two hundred years ago--along the paths of empire-building as we know...
"Cover Your Ass"
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Douglas Herman 2004-05-18 16:00
"I am no kook, hippie, hawk, or dove. I am just a veteran combat photographer and foreign correspondent who cares intensely about my country and the role we are playing -and assigning to ourselves--in the world of today. And I want to shout a loud protest at what has happened at Khesanh and in all of Vietnam." ~ David Douglas Duncan, I Protest. Recently Special Forces veteran Stan Goff wrote an...
Tabloid America: Myth-Making, Mythology and Sensationalism
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Douglas Herman 2004-05-16 16:00
I'm not making this up, but I wish I was. After my recent STR column Let Us Now Thank Lynndie England went to the top of Google, the fringe element who usually follow the party line of Fox News and talk radio wrote me--shocked, shocked!--that I would resort to mythological or cult icons to make my point. Well, the cult icons who inhabit the select places of power, like large and stupid...
Jimi Hendrix: Anti-War Forever
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Douglas Herman 2004-05-12 16:00
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was a helluva time by any cultural timeclock--but undeniably the music certainly fit those times. The Vietnam War raged, Washington bathed in an orgy of lies, and the rock and pop you heard on the radio--whether AM or FM--carried an edginess rarely approached in music today. Few references to bitches or whores, more lyrics and battlecries,...
Andersonville: Earlier War Crimes "Abuse" Trial
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Douglas Herman 2004-05-11 16:00
"Andersonville, or Camp Sumter as it was officially known, was one of the largest of many established prison camps during the American Civil War," wrote researcher and Georgia historian, Kevin Frye. "It was built early in 1864 after Confederate officials decided to move the large number of Federal prisoners kept in and around Richmond, Virginia, to a place of greater security and a more abundant...
Let Us Now Thank Lynndie England
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Douglas Herman 2004-05-07 16:00
Who is Lynndie England and why-the-hell should we all thank her? Well, Lynndie England is the fall girl in the prison torture flap, the poster girl for the abuses that occurred in Iraq and--hardly ever mentioned--a former honor student from a small town in West Virginia, a town now hanging its head in collective shame over this picture. Hard to believe such a wisp of a girl might bring down the...
Achtung, Nazi!--One Year Later
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Douglas Herman 2004-05-06 16:00
One year after I wrote the controversial, much reprinted column Achtung! Are We the New Nazis?, how much has changed? Have things gotten better or worse in Iraq for "liberating" US troops and the so-called liberated Iraqi people? Sadly, the much-ballyhooed liberation has become the brutal occupation we critics always predicted it would become. But warhawks have now gone from cheerleaders of war...
Hollywood Invasion!
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Douglas Herman 2004-05-03 16:00
Does the Pentagon--the Department of Defense, Joint Chiefs, Rummie, Wolfie--ever watch war movies? I'm sure they do, but wouldn't it be truly worthwhile if our leaders left the theatre with a view of the Bigger Picture? With that idea in mind, I suggest three very good Hollywood war movies that offer the astute moviegoer (and war planner) all the things he should look for in a war film: action,...
Black Walls, Barricades and Tombs
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Douglas Herman 2004-05-02 16:00
Nations are possessed with an insane ambition to perpetuate the memory of themselves by the amount of hammered stone they leave. What if equal pains were taken to smooth and polish their manners? One piece of good sense would be more memorable than a monument as high as the moon. ~ Henry David Thoreau Young soldiers are the blunt instruments of sinister, fraudulent or failed government policy....
Jesus Tortured! News at Eleven!
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Douglas Herman 2004-05-02 16:00
"Forgive them father, for they know not what they do." A coalition of the willing tortured Jesus Christ, it was reported yesterday. A loose coalition of civilian contractors, powerful Judeocons and jackbooted Christian thugs followed a weekend of torture with the murder of an alleged, innocent political prisoner. Denied a fair trial and falsely imprisoned--according to a few of his followers--...
No One Knows the Spam I've Seen
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Douglas Herman 2004-04-26 16:00
Two questions: Who sends this crap and how do we get Ashcroft off his ass to stop it? While I may not believe in most forms of censorship, it would be nice to have the ability to resend the e-mail spam and badly spelled porno blasts back to the morons who sent it, with a double dose of their own dreck. Remember when we were naive enough to think we could simply reply to Heather the porno girl or...
Pat Tillman, Meet Max and Lutz
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Douglas Herman 2004-04-26 16:00
Pat Tillman died for our sins. Like Custer and Jesus, Tillman, the former National Football League star who volunteered to serve in Afghanistan, went to his death for failed, fraudulent government policies. In case you missed the last few days of tributes, Tillman, 27, was the best and brightest, a man with everything to live for, sent to die by the worst and most cynical of men, for cruel and...
Buy Gold--Before They Sell Out
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Douglas Herman 2004-04-19 16:00
Money. Neither a solid nor a liquid but a vaporous gas--impossible for rich or poor and even most economists to grasp--money remains an illusion. Ask yourself: why is the printed paper money in your purse or wallet worth so much more than the newsprint in the trash? Is it human faith or a fabulous con job that makes paper money retain the value that all governments give it? US paper dollars...
The Osama Recruiters
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Douglas Herman 2004-04-18 16:00
"I think that some heads should roll over Iraq," said retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni. "I've been called a traitor and a turncoat for mentioning these things." Everywhere you look, recruiting offices have been set up to enlist fanatics and loyal followers of Osama Bin Ladin. The success rate is difficult to determine, but new recruits flock to the Al Qaida cause in increasing numbers....
"I Wouldn"t Wear That Shirt If I Was You"
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Douglas Herman 2004-04-13 16:00
He didn't look like one of the regular security guards. Dressed in black, like the teenager he confronted, he appeared about 30 years of age. Crew cut and tanned, he sternly chided the kid and his pal in the main room of Broward County Library, here in Florida, and for a while I observed. "I wouldn't wear that tee shirt if I was you," he said. From behind I inspected the black cotton tee worn...
Footsoldier: The Achilles Heel in America"s Quest for Empire
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Douglas Herman 2004-04-11 16:00
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. ~ Sun-Tzu, The Art of War We were always the good guys in old Hollywood movies. We were always the unselfish defenders of freedom,...
Dear Mr. President: Step Down
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Douglas Herman 2004-04-08 16:00
Harry Truman once said: "The buck stops here." Truman acknowledged that the office of the presidency bore the ultimate responsibility--or blame--for whatever political disaster befell the nation. Remember your words, sir, of approximately ten months ago: "Mission Accomplished"? As I recall, you seemed to strut and gloat with personal pride on the deck of that aircraft...
The Star and the Swastika
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Douglas Herman 2004-04-04 16:00
Symbols are decorative propaganda. Artful designs that entangle minds, the colorful symbols, flags and insignias of nation-states conceal a broad swath of crimes. Some flags mimic the double cross of pirate lore or the pagan pentagram, while others weave from humble beginnings into an entire tapestry of sinister patterns and officially sanctioned felonies. Consider Israel. When did the Star of...
An American Samurai: A Special Forces Warrior Speaks of War and Peace
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Douglas Herman 2004-03-30 16:00
Bushido a sense of justice and honesty, courage and contempt for death, self-control, sympathy towards all people, politeness and respect for etiquette, sincerity and respect for one's word of honour, absolute loyalty to one's superior, a duty to defend the honour of one's name and guild. Bushido literally...
Ten Ways to End War
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Douglas Herman 2004-03-28 16:00
(1) The foremost way to end war is to declare yourself to be a No War Zone. When powerful nations attempt to control the airspace above weaker nations, they declare a policy of No-Fly Zones, which reduces the subject nation to subservient status. Powerful governments attempt to do the same to each individual citizen whenever they can. If a state can control the airspace within the mind, dissent...
What Will You Do When They Come for You?
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Douglas Herman 2004-03-18 17:00
"Wherever a man goes, men will pursue and paw him with their dirty institutions, and, if they can, constrain him to belong to their desperate odd-fellow society. It is true, I might have resisted forcibly with more or less effect, might have run 'amok' against society; but I preferred that society should run 'amok' against me, it being the desperate party." ~ Henry David Thoreau, Walden...
A Tale of Two Heroines: Rachel Corrie & Jessica Lynch
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Douglas Herman 2004-03-11 17:00
Life is a series of little deaths followed by a larger, final death. What we do in the interim, how we handle that portion of our adversity--those little deaths--determines how we handle that larger finality. Dignity and courage along the way makes the departure easier, as a few examples show. A friend sent me a bookmark with this epitaph of Jackie Robinson: "A life is not important except...
Shock & Awe One Year Later: The Awful Shock of Reality
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Douglas Herman 2004-03-02 17:00
Where have all the flowers gone? What has become of all the heady predictions of garland-strewn, victory parades in downtown Baghdad one year after the war began? The toppled bronze statue, a media event staged to celebrate the toppling of Saddam Hussein, signaled an end to one phase of the war'The Shock and Awe quick strike phase'and the beginning of the long, hard slog of military occupation....
Ass, Bass & Gas--All Coming to Pass
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Douglas Herman 2004-02-23 17:00
You've seen them before, especially if you live in the Midwest or Southern states. The bumper sticker--Ass, Bass & Gas--an impudent allegiance to a trilogy of needs or pleasures, is usually displayed next to Old Glory, the Star & Bars or the "Proud To be An American" bumpersticker. Not inconsistent with the patriotic slogans, ABG just about sums up the American Dream for a sizable segment...
Bone Collectors Buoyant for 2004
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Douglas Herman 2004-02-15 17:00
Whichever way you roll the dice, they come up snake eyes. They win and you lose. What were the odds that TWO Yale grads and TWO Bonesmen would be vying for the position of president in 2004? Yale University, coincidentally, was the site of the old O.S.S., forerunner of The CIA and for the last forty years--not coincidentally--almost ALL victorious presidential candidates (aside from that Nobel...
A Return to the Scene of the Crime
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Douglas Herman 2004-01-20 17:00
The real power structures are always the invisible ones behind the visible sovereign powers.' ~ Buckminster Fuller Who benefited most by the death of JFK? Who had the most to gain 'in terms of wealth and power' by the death of Kennedy? Forty years after that professional killing, with four decades of evidence, the answer is clear. In October 1963, one month before his death, Kennedy wrote...
Did the War Party Kill Chandra Levy?
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Douglas Herman 2004-01-04 17:00
Gary Condit sues tabloids for $209 million'recent CNN news item It was the Black Dahlia Case without the nude body. But unlike that sensational and still unsolved Hollywood murder case, the unsolved Chandra Levy case probably has more sinister undertones than we shall ever be permitted to know. Gary Condit never killed Chandra Levy. Something bigger than both of them killed her. One year after...
Michael Savage, 9/11 and the Future Destruction of Washington, D.C.
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Douglas Herman 2003-12-18 17:00
Mark 13:1-2 And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples said unto him: Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings! And Jesus answering said unto him: see these great buildings? There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. Michael Savage is an interesting fellow. Like Saul knocked from his horse on the road to Damascus and given the name Paul...
We Had to Destroy the Village to Save It
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Douglas Herman 2003-12-03 17:00
Due to the increasing comparison of the Iraq war to Vietnam , the time has come to brush off the old Orwellian phrases and see how they fit the war in Iraq . Quagmire, 'a soft, wet area of low lying land that sinks underfoot,' was an apropos metaphor for our catastrophic involvement in the river deltas and rain forests of Vietnam . Perhaps our American pundits and wordsmiths--William Safire...
Nightmare on Elm; Dark Day in Dealey
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Douglas Herman 2003-11-13 17:00
No matter what you might think of the Kennedy Assassination, whether you believe one man, Lee Harvey Oswald, acted alone or that a conspiracy brutally killed the president, the fact remains that a shift in America 's perception of itself occurred soon after November 22, 1963 . A subtle mistrust of the government began to fester, compounded eventually by the war in Vietnam , Watergate , Iran /...
Soldier: Just Say No, I Won't Go
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Douglas Herman 2003-10-28 17:00
A phony war, a dangerous assignment, a complaisant nation. And I was caught in the middle. Tough being a teenage male during the largest build-up since Pearl Harbor , during the escalation of Vietnam in 1968. Tougher still not being comfortable with the choices and options. You see, I graduated from high school that year and, being an average student without much family means and the draft...
Deputy Dubya--Gomer on Crack
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Douglas Herman 2003-05-26 16:00
I like Dubya. I really do. I believe that deep down, beneath that persona of God's Chosen Messenger there lurks a loveable, smalltown lug lurching from one good ol' boy malapropism to a possible global meltdown, on the advice or encouragement of genuinely sinister men who surround him. Think of Gomer Pyle with a mean streak addicted to crack cocaine. I like Dubya despite his involvement with...
Death's Head: Piracy, Plunder and Foreign Policy
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Douglas Herman 2003-05-21 16:00
Christopher Moody's Flag, circa 1720 Where is the justice of political power if it executes the murderer and jails the plunderer, and then itself marches upon neighboring lands, killing thousands and pillaging the very hills? ~ Kahlil Gibran Piracy is a poor type of foreign policy. The lawless practice of seizing ships for commercial gain that plagued the coasts of the Americas in the late 17th...
Fossils and Elected Officials
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Douglas Herman 2003-05-18 16:00
One day last fall I windsurfed across the Potomac River in the heart of Washington, D.C . The day was beautiful, sunny and 70 degrees. Peaceful groups demonstrated for ALS awareness, tourists strolled and snapped pictures of the marble monuments, young men filled the playing fields beside the Potomac, bicyclists and joggers passed families ambling along the river's edge while boaters cruised...
Gods & Generals--and Memories
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Douglas Herman 2003-05-12 16:00
On Veteran's Day I slept in the Confederate trenches at Fredericksburg battlefield. As an old vet, I felt it was fitting. That night the autumn leaves rustled under my sleeping bag and I lay awake for a long time in the forest of hundred-year old trees, trying to make some sense of a senseless conflict. Then as now, the night was cold, 26 degrees, and darkness came early, as it did so long ago...
Achtung! Are We the New Nazis? (Soldiers, God and Empire)
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Douglas Herman 2003-05-04 16:00
Gott Mit Uns. I felt a little shock and awe, actually disbelief, seeing the antique belt buckle for the first time. Worn by a Nazi German soldier, the aluminum, World War II era buckle carried the imperial eagle of the Third Reich above the familiar Swastika. Surrounding the eagle and Swastika was the motto, "Gott Mit Uns," or "God With Us." Certainly the Nazi Germans,...
No More Flyboy Foreign Policy
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Douglas Herman 2003-04-20 16:00
Flyboys, we used to call them. Jet jockeys. Thirty years ago we would drive them around the air base where I was stationed in Texas. Confident, cocky, full of good cheer, these Air Force pilots had the world by the tail. Only a couple years older than myself, they seemed like playful Labrador retrievers with a killer streak and, at the time, I liked and admired them. I recall dropping off...
War: Who Goes; Who Stays
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Douglas Herman 2003-04-17 16:00
According to a list provided by our Nation's Oldest Newspaper, a large number of prominent hawks pushing for war with Iraq either dodged the draft at grad school or attained medical deferments while na've guys like me volunteered to serve. Paul Fussell, author and World War II combat vet, defined these disparities well in his best-selling book, Class.
Deadliest Catch: One Alaska Fisherman to Another
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Douglas Herman 2008-09-28 16:00
Exclusive to STR September 29, 2008
The Confessions of Osama Bin Laden
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Douglas Herman 2008-11-17 17:00
I confess I did not know then, but I know now, why you Americans stopped chasing me at Tora Bora in October 2001.
Does the American Empire Deserve to Die?
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Douglas Herman 2009-11-01 17:00
 Exclusive to STR November 2, 2009 I’m halfway through a reflective book written by an old curmudgeon. Part patriot, part historian, all gadfly, Gore Vidal wrote Imperial America: Reflections on the United States of Amnesia in 2004, just before the upcoming national elections. Almost a time capsule coupled with dire prophecy, the book is a sober,...
Adventures in Silver and Gold, Part 1: Seeking Precious Metal in The Melting Pot of Life
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Douglas Herman 2011-04-25 03:00
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR Metal, heavy metal is much in the news these days. While heavy radioactive metals are melting down in Japan, the twin precious metals of gold and silver are melting upwards. We are always surrounded by precious metal. It is inside us. Sometimes we sacrifice our more precious mettle inside of us to sweat and sacrifice and finally extract the less valuable...
Star-Crossed Super Ships: Titanic, Enterprise, America
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Douglas Herman 2012-03-23 00:00
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR The whole world looked different one hundred years ago.   In 1912, the automobile and the airplane were curiosities. England enjoyed an enormous empire in 1912, served by freighters, tankers, liners and warships. As immigration flooded across the Atlantic Ocean, hundreds of those ships ferried passengers across to America. Shipyards launched bigger...
Dick Cheney and the Dead Pool
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Douglas Herman 2014-07-07 07:41
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR “It is a universal trend for peoples to unite in a national emergency.” ~ Uri Avnery Dick Cheney rarely reads my columns here at STR. Certainly I’m glad that millions of Winston Smiths over at NSA read my stuff. I want them to read my stuff. I want young and impressionable minds, like Edward Snowden, to read STR and have ideas implanted...
The First & Last Tabloid Presidential Elections?
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Douglas Herman 2016-05-05 07:17
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR Our Republic Reels from Absurdity to Obscene in Prez Selection 2016   Maybe I’m getting old. At 66, I certainly don’t recall another presidential election so entertaining in a sleazy, openly corrupt sort of way.  I don’t recall Nixon vs. Kennedy with such rancor and mud-slinging.  I was ten at the time, in 1960. ...
10,000 Miles Alone Around America by Bicycle
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Douglas Herman 2016-05-19 07:28
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR “A voice said to him, Why do you stay here and live this mean, moiling life, when a glorious existence is possible for you?” ~ Henry David Thoreau   Imagine taking a 10,000 mile bicycle trip around North America today without a cellphone, credit cards or keys. No sponsors or support vehicles either, and never more than $100 in cash....
Kindness Generates Kindness
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Douglas Herman 2014-06-27 07:16
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR “I’d love to change the world But I don't know what to do So I'll leave it up to you” ~ Ten Years After Memorial Day weekend. Mixed emotions. Sunshine and flowers in bloom and flags flying everywhere. Pretty girls and propaganda on TV and more empty, patriotic slogans from those who want to stir up trouble but never served....
They Stole His Money, Her Money & Mine Too
9.6
Douglas Herman 2012-01-24 01:00
Column by Doug Herman. Exclusive to STR  Just before the holidays, I walked into my local Wells Fargo bank to cash a small birthday check one of my sisters gave to me. Imagine my surprise when the teller informed me my small savings account was closed. I told her she was mistaken, and asked her to please check again; I knew I had about $800 in the account and I never use the ATM and don...
All My Heroes Died Broke, Broken, Not Beaten
9.6
Douglas Herman 2012-03-08 01:00
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR  “The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure that it will kill you too, but there will be no special hurry.” ~ Ernest Hemingway   Recently I...
Fifty Years After JFK, the Empire Strikes Back
9.5
Douglas Herman 2013-11-04 09:12
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR H3 { margin-top: 0.14in; margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(79, 129, 189); page-break-inside: avoid; }H3.western { font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; }H3.cjk { font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; font-size: 12pt; }H3.ctl { font-size: 12pt; }P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { }“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able...
Not Surprised: Thoreau Pissed Off Some New Yorkers
9.5
Douglas Herman 2016-04-26 07:24
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR Years ago, while working in LA as a struggling scriptwriter, I observed that Hollywood is a Moronocracy:  movies made by morons, for morons and about morons.  Rainman, Forrest Gump, Waterboy, Dumb & Dumber, Batman vs. Superman, etc. You see the trend? Intelligent, insightful opinions, subtlety, cleverness, playful and caustic remarks have...
Black Swans vs. Canary in the Coal Mine
9.5
Douglas Herman 2012-02-27 01:00
Column by Doug Herman. Exclusive to STR  Not all Black Swans are created equally.     Orchestrated human events are rarely Black Swan events. No matter how surprising to the masses, sudden and spectacular world events are rarely random, or so called Black Swans. Most Black Swans are human creations, created by and for the power elites. Pearl Harbor (1941), followed by the...
American Sniper: Hero, Psychopath or Mass Murderer?
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Douglas Herman 2015-02-17 09:04
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } If Chris Kyle and Clint Eastwood Are Your Heroes, Tip a Toast to Occupiers Everywhere.  Especially That Mexican Guy at the Alamo. Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR Chris Kyle is gonna win an Oscar later this month. Or the actor playing his part, Bradley Cooper. More than just a film about a misunderstood warrior, coward, killing machine or patriot...
'Lone Gunman': Suspicious Similarities, Norwegian, Australian, American Shooters
7.2
Douglas Herman 2012-12-17 09:24
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR “We live in a dirty and dangerous world. There are some things the general public does not need to know, and shouldn't. I believe democracy flourishes when the government can take legitimate steps to keep its secrets and when the press can decide whether to print what it knows.” ~ Katherine Graham, Publisher of the Washington...
A Naturalist Looks at Avatar
5.5
Douglas Herman 2010-01-12 04:00
Exclusive to STR Maybe you’ve seen the first billion dollar movie. Maybe you saw it in 3-D, at an IMAX theater, with Dolby Surround Sound. Maybe you saw that movie and wondered what James Cameron was trying to say, if anything, and whether it was just another popcorn matinee movie with little substance behind the special effects.  Avatar might be one of those movies discussed in...