"Without the carnival, people would go mad"

Haiti has an unbelievably rich history that remains relatively obscure. Beyond the Haitian revolution, few know much about the country's independence debt, the American invasion of 1915 or the reign of Duvalier and his son. — Read the rest

One year ago today

Song of Mitt's Self: The real Mitt Romney stands up and reflects on who he is, what he believes and why he is running for office.

Five years ago today

Howard Zinn's "A People's History of American Empire" graphic novel: A new edition illustrated by Mike Konopacki and aided by historian Paul Buhle. — Read the rest

Howard Zinn's remarkable book, A People's History of the United States tells the underside of American history, the stories of everyday people who were on the losing side of America's prosperity and expansion, from the indigenous people and slaves to the conquered people, conscriptees and refugees. — Read the rest

Howard Zinn's A People's History of American Empire is a fantastic comic-book adaptation of Zinn's classic A People's History of the United States (the best and most important critical history of the life of everyday people in America from 1492 onward), a new edition illustrated by Mike Konopacki and aided by historian Paul Buhle. — Read the rest

Haitian prime minister and president Ariel Henry, who left the country days ago only to be turned away by the Dominican Republican and end up in Puerto Rico, is to resign. 15,000 Haitians are dead in the gang violence there and his last tip is to ask everyone to "remain calm and do everything they can for peace and stability." — Read the rest

In 1980, the historian Howard Zinn published A People's History of the United States, a narrative that centers on everyday people's lives. It is a history from the bottom up, a history from below, that has inspired numerous tomes on People's history themes, while also being banned from curriculums. — Read the rest

San Francisco: It's time again for the always-outstanding annual Kronos Festival, several days of fantastic global and experimental music curated by the seminal avant/classical/global Kronos Quartet. Every Kronos Festival I've attended has turned me on to a spectrum of new sounds, artists, scenes, and regions. — Read the rest

Jesse Brown is a pioneering podcaster whose Search Engine produced some of the best commentary on the intersection of the internet, pop culture and politics; when he struck out on his own to create a new podcasting empire, Canadaland (previously), he hit on a winning formula: analysing and critiquing Canadian politics by analysing and critiquing the Canadian press, with wit, irreverence and a sharp nose for bullshit -- all of which combine to excellent effect in the brand new Canadaland Guide to Canada (Published in America), co-written with Vicky Mochama and Nick Zarzycki.

The Arkansas legislature is considering a bill that would prohibit "any books or other material authored by or concerning Howard Zinn" in its schools, on the grounds that Howard Zinn says means things about America, like, "It has the kinds of censoring, undemocratic state governments that ban all books by and discussions of critics of America and its actions."

One of Frederick Douglass's most famous speeches was his 1852 "The Meaning of July 4th for the Negro."

The latest of The Oatmeal makes a pretty compelling case for hating Christopher Columbus, whose achievements ("discovering" America, sailing from Europe to America, proving the curvature of the Earth) are all BS. More importantly, though, is what Columbus did do: launched a campaign of genocide in order to terrorize indigenous people gold-mining slavery, a program buoyed up by mass slaughter, mutilations, and systematic sexual slavery of girls as young as nine or ten. — Read the rest

Here's part five of the Boing Boing Holiday Gift Guide, a roundup of the bestselling items from this year's Boing Boing reviews. Today's installment is nonfiction books.

Don't miss the rest of the posts: kids' stuff, fiction, gadgets and comics. — Read the rest

Here's part four of our week-long "Best of Boing Boing" holiday gift guide: basically, it's a list of the bestselling items from among the stuff we reviewed this year, reflecting your favorite items from among our picks. Today's list is comics, graphic novels, funnybooks and the like. — Read the rest

A great interview with linguist Alexandra Aikhenvald, in New Scientist:

"If these so-called "exotic" languages die, we'll be left with just one world view. This won't be very interesting, and we'll have lost a vast amount of information about human nature and how people perceive the world.