One of the stories from the French Revolution is about what Queen Marie Antoinette said of the peasants’ inability to buy bread: . . . → Read More: Let Them Eat Cake
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 Comments are closed  Blog  civilization, economies, for, French, French revolution, gain the world, history, history repeats, Jesus, let them eat cake, Marie Antoinette, migration, New Testament, parable of the talents, parables, Planet B, poor, Queen Marie Antoinette, redistribution, refugees, revolution, rich, rich and poor, social welfare, tax breaks, warfare, wealthy 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 I haven’t been consistent with posting to my blog, primarily because I have been depressed about the current state of politics in the States. This morning it occurred to me that our current political situation is a little like going down the rabbit hole in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. We are currently expected to accept “alternative facts” as reality (and some actually do). Nothing is what it appears to be. As one who came of age in the 1960s, I well remember Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit: The year was 1967. I was in the Army and, . . . → Read More: Farther Down the Rabbit Hole Comments are closed Blog 1967, Africa, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Alice, army, Army Chaplain, Asia, Battle of the Greasy Grass, British Empire, Cambodia, Catch 22, Charge of the Light Brigade, Dutch, follow the money, French, French Indochina, George Custer, Grace Slick, Halliburton, Jefferson Airplane, Korean War, Little Big Horn, military failures, movies, news, Pete Seeger, Plains Indians, politics, rabbit hole, SE Asia, video games, Vietnam, Waist Deep in the Big Muddy, War Profits, war-like conflicts, White Rabbit My last blog post was about the so-called ancient Chinese curse of “living in interesting times.” All the problems I cited in that post are not only still with us, but also have been amplified. Donald Trump is now the presumptive Republican nominee for President of the US. Although the nominee for the Democrats has not been finally decided yet, Hilary Clinton is the likely candidate. Although I am still paying attention to US politics, I am doing so with an increasingly heavy heart. Even so, some other things have caught my attention, including website advertising, LGBT concerns and legislation, . . . → Read More: Paying Attention Comments are closed Blog ad blockers, advertising, Agent Orange, antibiotics, atmosphere, auto-start video, bathrooms, Big Ag, Big Pharma, carbon dioxide, Chinese Curse, Crusades, Democrats, Donald Trump, Dr. Sherry Tenpenny, English, fatal events, follow the money, French, George Santayana, history, Interesting Times, invasion, Jesus, LGBT, loss of vision or hearing, Mid-East, Old Testament, opioid epidemic, opioids, plastic in oceans, politics, Portuguese, prescriptions, profit, Republicans, sexual expression, sexual orientation, Sharia Law, Sixth Extinction, Spanish, the good Samaritan, transgender rights, vaccines, Vilfredo Pareto, white and colored, World War II An old story whose origins are unknown to Google is about a relatively newlywed couple who wanted to divide chores evenly having weekly arguments about whose turn it was to mow the lawn. Other household tasks weren’t a problem. The husband had his responsibilities, the wife had hers, and each was comfortable with the assigned tasks with the exception of lawn mowing. They had agreed to take turns but had trouble tracking whose turn it was from week to week. After months of arguing about whose turn it was to mow the lawn, the wife blurted out, “In my family, . . . → Read More: In My Family… Comments are closed Blog air pollution, behavior, beliefs, Christel Nani, climate change, Copernicus, Crimea, disease, Elijah, English, Europe, family, fish, follow the money, following one's path, French, french fries, Galileo, global warming, hammer, heliocentric universe, homeopathic, Hundred Years War, income inequality, Joan of Arc, let there be peace on earth, medicine, nail, Nani, pizza, Pope, poverty, profit, remedies, right and wrong, river, Russa, Sacred Choices, school lunches, settled science, Shiites, States, still small voice, Sunnis, surgeons, surgery, tribes, Ukraine, vaccinations, vaccines, vegetables, war, warfare, water pollution, wealth |
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