We (humans) are doing all sorts of damage to Planet Earth. Humans have always been careless about their garbage. In primitive times, when a tribe accumulated a lot of waste in one location, the tribe simply relocated to a new place. We have, however, run out of new habitable places. We believed, of course, that we had been told to “be fruitful and multiply.” That probably made sense at the time it was originally said, as in those days there was a lot more space than there were people, and life was short and brutal for most people. The best . . . → Read More: No Planet B
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 Comments are closed  Blog  Ancient Egyptians, be fruitful and multiply, build a wall, China, Civil War, epidemics, farmers, France, greed, humanity, infectious disease, Oedipus, planet Earth, politicians, politics, population, poverty, power corrupts, pressing our luck, Pretty Boy Floyd, revolution, rich, Robin Hood, space, starvation, technology, time warp, United States, world population, World Wars I’m old enough to know that the U.S. hasn’t always enjoyed a peaceful political process. At one point, we had a major bell curve, with the right and left extremes representing only a few, and the big bulge in the middle consisting of those with more moderate views. We now seem to have bimodal distribution with the big bulges representing the extremes. The divisions lead to class conflict, which at its worse can become class warfare. Class warfare begins when the division between rich and poor is extreme. The poor outnumber the rich, and when they decide that they . . . → Read More: Civil Unrest Comments are closed Blog 1860, Africa, anger, bell curve, bi-modal distribution, bimodal distribution, Civil War, class conflict, daily news, death, French revolution, left-right split, McCarthy, Middle East, Nazis, political divisions, political process, politics, poor, rich, rich and poor, Russian revolution, tripping point, unrest. migration, WWII Going to Hell in a Handbasket is an old saying typically used to describe a situation heading for disaster. That seems to be the current situation in the United States. In many ways, the States reached its zenith during World War II because everyone—at least nearly everyone—worked together for the common good. This is not to say that everything was wonderful during that time. We unjustly imprisoned Japanese Americans and excessively rewarded those whose companies produced munitions we needed for the war effort. In doing so, we created what has become the military-industrial complex. President Eisenhower, who had been . . . → Read More: The Handbasket to Hell Comments are closed Blog 1920s, 1930s, Allies, banking, butcher, Chine, Chinese Revolution, Civil, Civil War, conservative intellectuals, corporate greed, cuts of meat, earn a living, finance, financial laws, follow the money, France, French revolution, Gordon Gekko, Great Depression, greed, greedy, handbasket, handbasket to hell, Hell, hell in a handbasket, industrial age, Investing, Michael Douglas, Military Industrial Complex, Nineteenth century, political influence, president, repeating history, revolution, robber barons, Russia, Russian revolution, slavery, tax code, tax laws, Teamsters, the States, the wealthy, thumb on the scale, trade unions, Trump, Wall Street, war, wealth, wealthy, WW II, WWII I started being aware of politics in 1950. Truman, a democrat, was president. He instituted the Marshall Plan to facilitate the rebuilding of Europe, which had suffered serious damage during WWII. A major concern at that time was the increasing strength and avarice of Russia and the Communists. The U.S. also had internal concerns about the growing popularity of Communism as a way of life, and we—politicians elected to national office—wanted to make sure that we weeded them out before they could take over in the States. A senator named Joseph McCarthy was charged with rooting them out. He . . . → Read More: Who’s Writing This Script? Comments are closed Blog Bob Dylan, bone spurs, Cherokee Indians, Civil War, Clint Watts, Cold War, Communism, decency, democrat, Europeans, flying monkeys, freedom, French, history, John McCain, justice, Marshall Plan, Masters of War, McCarthy, Messing with the Enemy, Mexico, pivotal point in history, politics, Portuguese, progress, Revolutionary War, Spanish, Tammy Duckworth, Texas, Truman, Vietnam, witch hunt, witches, Wizard of Oz In one way or another, everyone thinks, “God’s on our side.” This has always been the case. In the religious wars between Protestants and Catholics in the Middle Ages, both sides thought that God was on their side. In the U.S. Civil War, both Tap water catches fire and earthquakes multiply. As a rule, those who own and run oil and gas companies do not explore for fossil fuels in their own backyards. Is it worth ruining our environment to exploit fossil fuels when we are currently able to get the power we need from wind and solar energy? . . . → Read More: God’s On Our Side Comments are closed Blog backyards, Bears Ears, Bible, Bob Dylan, Catholics, Civil War, clean energy, commies, culture, despoil the land, earthquakes, ecology, England, environment, exploitation, fossil fuels, fracking, gender, God, Grand Staircase, greed, head of state, hydroelectric power, love of money, Masters of War, matriarchy, Middle Ages, modern world, National Monuments, North, oil and gas, political interests, political strife, politics, Protestants, queens, reality, religion, religious, religious wars, South, Southeast Asia, tap water, tax laws, U.S. Civil War, vested interests, Vietnam, vote, water, water catches fire, wealth, white men The title is based on the song about the “Big Muddy” written by Pete Seeger in 1967. See for a summary of the circumstances. The Vietnam War was in full swing. I was stationed at Ft. Sam Houston, in San Antonio, Texas, in 1969 and was able to hear him perform that song and others at that time. Not too long after that, I received my orders to head to what was then the current “Big Muddy” of Vietnam. Once again we seem to be waist deep in the Big Muddy, in part because the world as . . . → Read More: Waist Deep in the Big Muddy Comments are closed Blog anti-war, Big Muddy, Bob Dylan, Civil War, draft, French revolution, Guess Who, Imagine, John Lennon, let them eat cake, Marie Antoinette, military operations, music, Pete Seeger, resistance, revolution, the Shondells, Tommy James, violence, war, war machine 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 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 One of the TV shows I watch with regularity is Austin City Limits, a PBS show featuring live music. A couple of weeks ago, the featured performer was Cindi Lauper. Although many years have passed since I first heard her sing, she still puts on a good show. One song in particular caught my attention for what it has to say today as we face a future less certain than we have typically known in the past. The song was . . . → Read More: True Colors Comments are closed Blog Austin City Limits, bullies, Charles Dickens, Civil War, coal, Cyndi Lauper, dystopian, election, election cycle, eliminating poverty, global warming, Hard Times, hike, LGBT, military conflicts, news, oil, politics, racial parity, religious conflicts, roads, rural, Snowpiercer, sweetness and light, the future, True Colors, uncharted territory |
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