Benjamin Franklin is often given credit for the saying, “Honesty is the best policy,” but the saying is actually older than Ben. The original language was, “Our grosse conceipts, who think honestie the best policie,” and the originator of that phrase was an English politician named Sir Edwin Sandys. I suspect, however, that the actual origins are even older than that, as the desire and need for honesty in relationships are as old as humanity. It has long been believed that the Devil (Satan) is the Father of lies, and it’s easy to see why that’s so. No one likes . . . → Read More: Honesty Really Is the Best Policy
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 Comments are closed  Blog  1968, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, coal, communist, deceive, Democrats, fooling people, honesty, hydro-electric, intimidation, lesser of two evils, Lord Acton, oil, policy, politicians, politics, Republicans, Robert Burns, Robert Ringer, solar, tangled web, technology, the Fugs, two steps forward, vested interests, War in Vietnam, wind, winning I borrow my title from Shakespeare’s Richard III, a play about what happens when a corrupt and power-hungry individual becomes king. Richard III is one of Shakespeare’s tragedies, ending in multiple deaths. As I write this, it is winter in the States, and it is increasingly looking as though we are heading into a national tragedy. The book, Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin’s War on America and the Election of Donald Trump, provides important background details about the last election for President in the States. The details are indeed scary, not only because it shows the connections between . . . → Read More: Winter of Our Discontent Comments are closed Blog Abraham Lincoln, cyber security, cyber threats, democracy, Democrats, dystopian, George Washington, Lord Acton, politics, power corrupts, profit motive, Putin, Republicans, Richard III, Shakespeare, the Fugs, The Second Coming, tragedy, Trump, U.S. Constitution, utopian, Wide Wide River, winter We seem to have been voting for the “lesser of two evils” for a long time. Back in the days of the Vietnam War and the associated political unrest, a musical group calling themselves The Fugs wrote and performed a song entitled “Wide, Wide River.” The song focused on the concept of voting for the lesser of two evils: Two of the musical questions in the song were, “Why must we always be voting for the lesser of two evils?” and “Was George Washington the lesser of two evils.” The person with the best answer to those . . . → Read More: Lesser of Two Evils Comments are closed Blog Chinese Revolution, corruption, Democracy in Chains, democratic society, end game, French revolution, House, Lord Acton, lust for power, medieval, Nancy MacLean, nobles, oligarchy, political systems, politicians, politics, representatives, rich and poor, Russian revolution, self-aggrandizement, Senate, senators, serfs, tax breaks, the Fugs, vested interests, we the people, Wide Wide River 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 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 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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