The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    DOJ: Ferguson Cops a Bitch

    Judging from comments around the web, the usual non-reality based right wing segment of the country is up in arms about AG Holder and the DOJ reports on the investigation of the Ferguson Police Department and the DOJ exoneration of former Officer Darren Wilson, who killed Michael Brown last summer.  Wilson was found not to have violated the civil rights of Brown in shooting him down in the street and Wilson will face no federal charges whatsoever.

    Being Bibi's Bitch

    Wow, simply wow. I was going to title this "The Founding Fathers on Israel" (and briefly "Bibi's Poodle"), since obviously those great men had to foresee the unbreakable bonds we would have with Israel, and recognize the already evident shared values and common ideals.

    And even though Herzl & Co. had courted the Ottomans, Brits and Russia/Soviet Union for this Big Brother role,  it's important that she finally settled on us, the U-S of effin' A. Let's not bicker over who she slept with on the way to the altar - the important thing is she settled on us - and for that reason, she's always been true.

    SleepinJeezus's picture

    Noonan Gravely Accuses Tea Partiers of "Thinking."

    Ah, Peggy Noonan. She is like the bench partner in middle school science class who tears the wings from a living butterfly and then weeps mournfully over its demise. Her latest effort at scientific analysis finds her not only accusing Tea Partiers of "thinking," but also offers her scientific impression that their thoughts are ascendant within the population at large.
    MrSmith1's picture

    Hand-wringing over Hillary ... ?


    Hand-wringing over Hillary ... or has she put herself into the political toaster? 

    The NY Times reports she used a private email account while Secretary of State ... The right wing is already blowing this up into a major scandal.  Is it?

    Is this the "revelation" that allows the GOP to run against McGovern ,,, err, Warren?

    Richard Day's picture

    ETHICS

    I AM VOLUNTARILY PREPARING TO DIE ON MARS.

    WHY NOT?  MY KIDS COULD SAY:

    Hell, my dad died on Mars. Hahahah

    I was a conciliation court judge in my mid twenties.

    A mentor of mine sent me down to sign up.

    The gig was once a month and I received 70 bucks for my time.

    Now you have to remember that in those days an 800 square foot home cost $250/month and being an incompetent that was a lot of money.

    Danny Cardwell's picture

    We Might Need (smart) Black Conservatives

    I firmly believe the two party system, as it currently exists, lacks the ability and will to structurally better the lives of everyday people. Much of my critique revolves around the grotesque amount of money in politics and the corporate media's failure to accurately report on economic, political, and social events. The democratic component of our republic has been circumvented, and we (as a nation) need an intellectual awakening (or reawakening) to recover it. Since it would be virtually impossible to remove money from politics or make the corporate media do it's job, I'm led to believe a few moderate changes could lead us down the road to a higher political discourse. One of these ideas is to embrace "authentic" black conservatives. The "authentic" is an appropriation of a thesis offered by Chidike Okeem (a writer and conservative commentator). Chidike calls for authentic black conservatives to push back against the "artificial" black conservatives who parrot talking points given to them by the conservative media noise machine.

    Regime Change and Precedent

    After all the screaming about Bush's botched trumped-up war in Iraq, looks like the left is getting its own takedown in Libya - with the rise of ISIS, inability to form a stable government, oil wealth not covering all the expenses - our over-optimistic fantasies of the future by overthrowing Qaddafi seem horridly misguided 3 years later. Somalia on the Mediterranean is our new dystopian future. After pride comes the fall.

    A Message to You, Rudy

    Rudy Giuliano is the son of an organized crime enforcer for loan sharks and gamblers who spent time in Sing Sing for felony assault and gambling - as the great Casey Stengel said, "you can look it up".

    How Giuliano then gets to lecture Obama on his Hawaiian upbringing is anyone's guess, but yes, Rudy - Obama wasn't raised like you - his idea of "Family" doesn't equal "Mafia".

    Pass it on.

    Can America reach a new equilibrium?

    If our current political deadlock, amplified by the market forces of technology and capitalism are projected without modification into the future, a world of extreme inequality, overwhelming local taxes and religiously contrived restrictions on personal behavior awaits us. The invention of cheap and home made weapons including drones, 3-D printed guns, and cyber blackouts will make an ever angry electorate turn more violent.

    3-D Printer walks into a bar

     

    "Are you the plumber printer?", Maggie, the bar tender, asked.

    "Yeah, where are the restrooms?"

    "Down the hall, on the left side", Maggie said, "We need four new plungers."

    "They told me two plungers. I've gotta go back to the shop and get more resin."

    As the printer plumber waddled back to his truck Maggie and I looked at each other and laughed at the vestigial human ethos in a manufactured worker.

    "I have to remember that these machines are not real", she said, and touched my arm with the intent of reassurance. Reduced to a life of basic existence in this dystopian society on the banks of the Mississippi we humans latched onto any morsel of feeling or behavior that might remind us of the distant society we had enjoyed prior to the Missouri Printed Gun and Sex Bot Compromise.

    jollyroger's picture

    I am morally humiliated. How 'bout you?

    Chris Matthews says that the American People are morally humiliated when, in Syria, ISIS burns an allied pilot alive, or in Libya a gang not actually part of the Islamic State (but soi-disant nonetheless), beheads 45 Egyptians for being Christian.

    And that's before today's episode in Iraq, where some captured members of the Iraqi government forces were burned alive.

    There is not a moment's introspection into the monstrous hubris this entails.  

    trkingmomoe's picture

    Judge Hanen Has Issued an Injunction Against Obama's Immigration Action

    US Federal Judge Andrew Hanen is of the US District Court in Brownsville, Texas and was appointed by George W. Bush, has issued an injunction against the President until the case has made it's way through court.  Twenty-six states have filed this case stating that the President have over stepped his authority on immigration action.  These are Republican held states. The injunction was just filed yesterday.  

    http://www.scribd.com/doc/255994877/Memorandum-Opinion-And-Order-Texas-v-United-States

    Richard Day's picture

    ADAM'S RIB

    ADAM’S RIB

    State Senator Thomas Corbin a repub from SC DOES NOT LIKE WOMEN MUCH.

    I mean Eve was just a rib, a piece of meat as are all women.

    Is this guy still sexually active or does he just pay for a piece of that meat once in awhile?

    SleepinJeezus's picture

    We Deserve Scott Walker

    (NOTE: I originally posted this as comments accompanying a link submitted to the "In the News" section. But in retrospect, I think this deserves its own blog post.)

    *****************************

    Point to ponder:
    "State taxpayers are footing the bill for this junket, which isn’t doing a damn thing for Wisconsin’s economic prospects but merely making Walker the laughingstock of England."

    Danny Cardwell's picture

    The Biggest Economic Issue Republicans Are Ignoring

    How does a producer decide whether to employ additional units of a resource? This question is posed in the 6th edition of a textbook titled "Economics: Private and Public Choice". We (the collective labor force) have been reduced to "units of a resource".

    Another election cycle is upon us, and the crowded field of Republican candidates are pushing the same truncated arguments from past elections. “It will be different this time." “If we stick to our conservative principles we can't lose.” Tragically, most of the solutions they offer don't address the root cause of many of our socioeconomic problems. The labor force (at all levels) has been relegated to being nothing more than an appendage. That's a systemic problem that no one on the right is going to address.

    trkingmomoe's picture

    President Obama Made an Awesome BuzzFeed Video

    He is really a cool President. He made a BuzzFeed video that came out yesterday.  He has done more to reach out to us on the Internet and pave the way for future Presidents to connect with the people.  Last month he did you tube interview with young you tube stars.  He really looks like he was enjoying himself.  Ha also look like he was having fun last month too.

    The video was about everything everyone does but don't talk about. It is to promote the dead line coming up for signing up for ACA.  Thanks Obama for the ACA.  

    Danny Cardwell's picture

    Raising The Minimum Wage Only Treats Symptoms

    In theory it would be easy to raise the minimum wage and help millions of people in poverty. There is, however, a consequence that comes with doing this: a small percentage of those who need the most help would be hurt as some jobs would be reduced or eliminated. There's enough Prima facie evidence for us to admit that low wages and depressed living standards are a structural part of our economy. Many industries are dependent on a supply of low skilled and immobile labor. I'm not sure if we can untangle the necessity for human suffering from our economic equation.

    Richard Day's picture

    THE EVE OF LINCOLN'S BIRTHDAY

    L.N.Tolstoy Prokudin-Gorsky.jpg

     

    LINCOLN

    http://dagblog.com/reader-blogs/lincoln-and-rebirth-nation-4839

    (I found this quite by accident; a day late and a dollar short!)

    Danny Cardwell's picture

    Articles About Race Part 3 Reality Television and Black Women

    In part two I focused on the psychological war being waged by some inside the black community. I intentionally avoided discussing issues related specifically to black women. The level of disrespect they deal with is deserving of its own discussion. I know black men who have never dated a black woman; they love the women in their family, but look to other races to find a mate. I know black men who show outward animosity, if not contempt, towards black women. I often wonder; If black men don't value black women why should anyone else?

    Richard Day's picture

    ALL RIGHTY THEN

     

     

     

     

    Take me out to the (fixed)ball game

    Imagine a world series which was fixed. Not by the players  ("say it ain't so, Joe") but- much more efficiently-  by the umpires.

    Which is what was happening in the run up to the Financial Crisis.

    That's the conclusion to be drawn from the $1.5 Billion Standard& Poor's settlement.

    GOP Prez Hopefuls: Anti-Vax 'Choice'

    There is no fear Republicans will not incite, no ignorance they will not exploit and no deception, fabrication or figment of their imagination they will not use to rile up The Base or anyone they can hit on for a vote, on topics they have no knowledge or business pontificating upon.

    Danny Cardwell's picture

    Articles About Race Part 2 Black on Black Crime

    If you Google black on black crime you'll be bombarded by statistics detailing inner city violence, pictures of chalk outlines and countless stories about the lives that have been destroyed. What you won't find are many stories chronicling the history of the black bourgeois attacking poorer and less educated blacks. This form of black on black crime is used by reactionaries to validate the criminalization of blacks. The most tasteless form of these attacks are leveled by "elites" who seek to distance themselves from the negative imagery associated with black life. There's a very lucrative conservative media market for blacks willing to denigrate other blacks.

    trkingmomoe's picture

    One in Five Children Are on Food Stamps

    Yesterday the US Census Bureau released a press report on the amount of children receiving food stamps. This is on their annual Families and Living Arrangements  report. The press release is titled "One in Five Children Receive Food Stamps, Census Bureau Reports."

    That is 16 million kids who's families rely on food stamps.  This report came out on the heels of a report by the Southern Education Foundations, which reported that 51% of children in school is living in poverty. These numbers are sobering. What this is telling us that even though wealth has increased since the great recession that a large part of out society has not recovered.  We have more families now in this group then we had in 2007.  

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