As everyone who ever read 1984 knows, George Orwell understood the importance of truth. In these times of Trump, it is worth revisiting what Orwell had to say about societies where “truth” is what the government says it is. For some relevant quotations, see George Orwell on truth. Verifiable honesty on the part of politicians is rare. I am old enough to remember . . . → Read More: 1984 Redux
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 Comments are closed  Blog  1960s, 1984, ancestors, Apian Way, Civil Rights, climate change, crucifixion, fossil fuels, George Bush, George Orwell, gerrymandering, gladiator, global mean temperature, global warming, government, political purpose, protests, resistance is futile, Richard Nixon, rising sea levels, Rome, sit-ins, Spartacis, Tennyson, The Borg, Trump, truth, Ulysses, War in Vietnam It’s no longer a matter of living in interesting times. Democracy in the US has always been on a roller coaster. We got started on a big hill by men (women only in the background at that point) who were flawed giants. Their principal flaw was owning slaves, In their defense, we can say that slavery was common at that time, and it hadn’t yet occurred to many that slavery was (and is) an evil institution. The country has had a variety of ups and downs since its founding, we’ve had numerous wars, including the military actions required to complete . . . → Read More: Bad to Worse Comments are closed Blog African-Americans, Carter, China, Civil Rights, Clinton, democracy, economic decline, economy, Eisenhower, George Bush, GOP, Great Depression, Great Recession, greed, Harley Davidson, honesty, housing, industrial base, Interesting Times, Interstate Highway System, laves, mobsters, Native Americans, Nixon, North Korea, Pogo, political decline, presidents, Reagan, Republican, rich get richer, robber barons, Russia, slavery, tariffs, Trump, Vietnam War, War in Southeast Asia, women, WWII If you watch any commercial television, you have surely noticed how much of the advertising is for prescription drugs If you think that the advertising for prescription medication has increased over the past few years, you’re correct. Such advertising is legal in only four countries, with the U.S. being one of the four. Marketing of pharmaceutical products has been “big business” for a long time, of course. Companies making such products trained an army of sales representatives to take samples around to physicians and others responsible for writing the prescriptions. They also initiated a major lobbying effort to persuade . . . → Read More: Ask Your Doctor…. Comments are closed Blog big business, blood and soil, cats, choice points, Civil Rights, commercials, Confederate States, congress, consumers, corporate equivalent, disability, dogs, fast forward, fear-based politics, fossil fuels, Germany, global climate change, Hitler, knowing our present, mark territory, minorities, minority, newspapers, newsweeklies, pharmaceuticals, Pogo, prescription medications, science, scientific method, scientists, self-interest, short-term gains, slavery, something new, television, the less you fear, the more you learn, the States, tribe, vote, Walt Kelly Last year, 2017, ended not with a bang, but a whimper. While how the current year, 2018, will end is still unknown, the world in general and the U.S. in particular, are not on a good trajectory. While some countries are doing reasonably well, most are not. Even in the States, the microcosm of individuals and places doing well, doesn’t change the macrocosm. I am not worried about the planet as a whole. Earth has survived mass extinctions in the past, and life has continued. The life forms, however, changed. It is as though the planet was saying, “Well that . . . → Read More: 2018 Ready or Not Comments are closed Blog 100 years war, 1960s, 2817, affirm life, asteroid, atomic warfare, children, Civil Rights, England, Europeans, France, John Lennon, New Year's Day, not with a bang but a whimper, Pete Seeger, protest music, radical activist, saber rattling, Star Trek, the Beatles, the Fugs, the States, War in Vietnam, WW II The expression, May you live in interesting times, is usually considered an ancient-Chinese curse. Whether it’s true that it is an ancient Chinese curse is doubtful, but the part about the curse definitely seems true. The reason the expression is considered a curse rather than a blessing is that interesting “times” result from political intrigue and wars rather than from peace, happiness, and tranquility. We (and that includes the mass of humanity at this point) are living in interesting times. Charles Dickens begins his great novel, A Tale of Two Cities with the following paragraph: It was the best . . . → Read More: Living In Interesting Times Comments are closed Blog 1960s, Africa, Central America, Charles Dickens, Charlottesville, Chinese Curse, Chinese Revolution, Civil Rights, Civil War, counterculture, deficit hawks, fire or ice, French revolution, Interesting Times, learning from history, marches, mass migration, partnership, peaceniks, protest, Robert Frost, Rock and Roll, Russian revolution, South America, Southeast Asia, T.S. Eliot, Tale of Two Cities, the way the world ends, Vietnam War An English poet named William Butler Yates wrote the poem, The Second Coming, in 1919 not long after the First World War had come to an end. I was thinking about the current political situation in the U.S. when the poem bubbled up into my memory. Here’s the entire poem. As you read it, think not only about the chaos during and after the First World War, but also about our current politics: THE SECOND COMING Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the . . . → Read More: Slouching Toward Bethlehem Comments are closed Blog 1919, beast, Bethlehem, Book of Ezekiel, Charlottesville, Civil Rights, crystal blue persuasion, English, Europe, falcon, First World War, Hitler, Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Carr, passionate intensity, poet, rock & roll, Second Coming, sexual misconduct, Spiritus Mundi, the more things change, The Second Coming, the States, Treaty of Versailles. Germany, US, Vietnam War, widening gyre, William Butler Yates, WWII We have officially entered the “Holiday Season.” I started writing this post on Thanksgiving, which will be followed by Christmas and the start of the New Year. These are supposed to be joyous times. At this point, I have seen a lot of Thanksgivings come and go. For most of my life, it was easy to think of things for which I could truly feel grateful. This year, that’s not the case. Of course, there are things for which I am grateful, but my concerns about the state of our nation have put a damper on my gratitude. This is, . . . → Read More: Thanksgiving, 2017 Comments are closed Blog assassination, Big Enders, Buddhism, Christianity, Christmas, Civil Rights, Donald Trump, global warming, graduate school, holiday season, human history, Islam, Jonathan Swift, joyous times, Korea, Little Enders, Martin Luther King, music, my tribe, New Year, not with a bang but a whimper, political unrest, President Kennedy, range wars, religion, Richard Nixon, Shakespeare, social activism, T.S. Eliot, Thanksgiving, The Hollow Men, Vietnam, Watergate, WWII The term, loose cannon, has been around a long time. Cannons used on sailing vessels were large, typically weighing several tons. To avoid damage from the recoil when they were fired, they were mounted on rollers and secured with rope. The cannon jumped backwards when fired. If you have ever fired a weapon, you are familiar with recoil. The cannons get hot when they are used in battle, and each time a cannon is fired, it jumps higher and rolls farther. If the ropes holding the cannon secure were to break, a loose cannon would roll backwards and crush anything—or . . . → Read More: Loose Cannon on Deck Comments are closed Blog Allies, blood and soil, cannon, Civil Rights, fire and ice, fireworks, flash in the pan, Fourth of July, half-cocked, JFK, loose cannon, metaphor, muzzleloaders, Nazis, North Korea, not with a bang but a whimper, nuclear weapons, Plato, Richard Nixon, Robert Frost, sailing vessels, ship of state, shoot ones wad, T.S. Eliot, the Marshall Plan, U.S.S. Constitution, USS Constitution, Vietnam War, war, World War II Shakespeare’s original use of what has become a common saying, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” was about differences between the families of Vietnam War protests. Even the Charlottsesville, Virginia illustrate just how crazy political life in the States has become. The hostilities seem to have expanded, with election of Donald Trump seems to be proving my cousin right. One of the recent news stories says that the Vietnam War. I was one of those caught up in both the Vietnam War protests and the Civil Rights movement. Many of those I . . . → Read More: We Will All Go Down Together Comments are closed Blog 1960s, Billy Joel, Civil Rights, Civil War, Goodnight Saigon, GOP, hate, Pete Seeger, protests, Republicans, Romeo and Juliet, Rule of Law, Shakespeare, slavery, Trump, War in Vietnam I haven’t posted anything new in a while. I’ve been too busy reading the political news and wringing my hands. My sense is that the world situation is getting worse. We have, of course, had “dark days” in times past. I’m not sure there has ever been a time the planet was without at least one war going on. Most recently, in the States we experienced the World Wars (I and II), the Korean War, the “conflict” in Vietnam, and whatever is currently going on in the Mid-East. We’ve also had Civil Rights challenges, and various other conflicts and difficulties . . . → Read More: Dumbfounded, Discouraged, and Dismayed Comments are closed Blog Ark, be fruitful and fill the world, birth control, Bosnians, Civil Rights, Civil War, climate changer, Cosmic Energy, dark days, earth, economy, fifth extinction, food, gap between rich and poor, global warming, humans, intelligence, Korean Ware, logical consequences, mass extinction, news, Noah, Pogo, politics, Serbians, slavery, Southern Heritage, species, territory, the All That Is, the South, Trump to bring back coal, Vietnam War, Walt Kelly, WWII |
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