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 If you’ve been paying attention to the news, you already know about the conflict between Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump. While the Trump administration seems to be setting a new record for corruption and other “dishonesties” in the White House, this isn’t the first time in U.S. history politicians have yielded to temptation and the abuse of power. As Lord Acton pointed out, power corrupts, and that has certainly been true for U.S. Presidents. As is true today, our Founding Fathers tended to be the rich and powerful. One of the ways they used their wealth and power was . . . → Read More: Stormy Weather Comments are closed Blog agri-business, American Presidents, Belgian Congo, corporations, corruption, Democrats, Donald Trump, earthquakes, fame, Founding Fathers, fracking, French Indochina, Gordon Gekko, greed, Lord Actor, Martin Shkrekli, Mexico, Native Americans, oil and gas, political donations, politics, power, presidents, profit, Republicans, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Shkrekli, slavery, slaves, Stormy Daniels, the Fugs, the Rolling Stones, Vietnam, wars, wealth, White House, White Man's burden, Wide Wide River 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 You can tell a lot about people based on their musical preferences. I borrow my title from a radical group from the ’60s, the Fugs, and one of their old songs: It would be pretty hard to know me well without knowing when and where I grew up and how I had been influenced by the music of my youth. I assume that the same is true for everyone. The concept has been most fully explored by Morris Massey, who wrote about the three main periods in a person’s maturation process: The Imprint Period. From birth . . . → Read More: When the Mode of the Music Changes Comments are closed Blog 4 on the floor, adolescence, African-Amerrican, almost-Democrat, automatic transmissions, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Bill Haley and the Comets, blues, classical music, communication technologies, congress, Count Basie, country music, crystal blue persuasion, curry favor, divide between rich and poor, Duke Ellington, Eisenhower, Elvis Presley, everything changes, folk music, Golden Age of Jazz, I like Ike, Imprint Period, Janis Joplin, jazz, Jefferson Airplane, Lord Acton, mode of the music, Modeling Period, Morris Massey, music, Music from Big Pink, musicians, peace and good brotherhood, politicians, poor people, popular music, power corrupts, rap and hip hop, Republican politics, revolution, Richard Nixon, rock & roll, Rock Around the Clock, self-aggrandizement, sense of community, shared values, Shondells, Socialization Period, stick shift, The Band, the Fugs, Tommy James, tribe, twentieth century, Vietnam War, What You Are Is Where You Were When, WW II |
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