If anyone else out there is still mourning the long, slow, painful death of our good friend and benefactor, Freedom, then maybe this beautiful song from Deek Jackson will help to cheer you up.



All the best,
Paul

For the holiday, why not take a listen to Paul's Academy Episode 007, on American Independence?

(1:40) Here's my latest creation, which pretty much speaks for itself.

Well, folks, Paul's Academy is now on indefinite hold, because the Tascam DR-1 digital recorder I purchased last summer as my main recorder, has suffered catastrophic failure, and I'm not seeing any light at the end of the repair tunnel. Please read my addendum to my original review of the Tascam DR-1 for more information.

I honestly have no idea when the show will be back on the air. Please keep the show in your RSS feed for future updates.

All the best,
Paul

While I continue to get this podcast rolling again, be sure to watch this four-part BBC documentary entitled, "The Century of the Self". This concerns the birth of mass human manipulation in the 20th century--one of the main focuses of my own study for the past 20 years.

Hello Everyone,

I figured out where all the noise in my recording system is coming from. It's the pre-amp on my Tascam DR-1 portable recorder (see Review 001 below). Plug a cable into the Mic2 input and the noise is horrendous--even when no microphone is attached.

Hopefully, Tascam will not force me to endure the usual horror of mailing a product item to China or California for 6 weeks, and they'll just fix it quickly without causing even more problems. Until then, I can't produce another episode, unless I can find someone else with a recorder I can borrow.

In the meantime, to help kill the time, why not take a look at THIS.

All the best,
Paul

Sorry folks, no new podcast episode (yet). I'm reconfiguring my systems right now.

In the meantime, if you're interested, check out my MySpace blog post on how tough-talking Obama is being tricked by Congress into raising taxes on around 25% of all Americans who earn less than $250,000--in direct violation of his most significant campaign promise. You'll also learn what you can do to stop it (and I hope you will).

View Blog Post

Don't let the glamour and glitz of the inauguration fool you. It's politics as usual in Washington, folks.

UPDATE (02/04/09) - President Obama signed this bill into law today, officially raising American taxes, and taking yet another bite out of middle class and poor Americans' already insufficient incomes during the "worst economic crisis since the Great Depression." In my view, President Obama's stock plummeted today. I honestly had hoped that we finally had a President with enough intellectual curiosity to do his research before signing bills that are rhetorically manufactured to sound positive, when in fact they harm poor people, and feed the rich. It's going to be another long four years, folks. This President may mean well, but he is driving blind, and we're the pedestrians in the road.

All the best,
Paul

(53 mins). Part 3 explains how the ironclads USS Monitor and CSS Virginia (aka USS Merrimac) were constructed, and offers a play-by-play of the famous naval battle between them.

Please take just a moment to for this show at Podcast Alley. Thank you in advance!

RESOURCES

Monitor (book), by James Tertius deKay

Mariner's Museum Monitor Exhibit

The Monitor Center

Video of Monitor steam engine model

Video of expedition to Monitor wreck

Paper on documentation of the USS Monitor

Other Monitor Class warships

Statue of John Ericsson at Battery Park

(51 mins). Part 2 concerns the political and military intrigue of the American Civil War that  led to the construction of the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (aka, the USS Merrimac).

Please take just a moment to for this show at Podcast Alley. Thank you in advance!

(57 mins). A close look at the history of the first battle between ironclad warships: the battle at Hampton Roads between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (aka the USS Merrimac).

Part 1 concerns the reasons why ironclad warships became necessary, and it uses the career of brilliant Monitor designer John Ericcson to illustrate the problem that great minds typically encounter when they live in a world that's dominated by mediocrity.


Please take just a moment to for this show at Podcast Alley. Thank you in advance!