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

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Confessions Of A Politiholic

Hi, my name is barefooted and I'm a politiholic.

(Hi, barefooted!)

It's been ages since my last confession but I've been meaning to ... what? Oh, that's a relief, you really don't need to hear all my sins. Some of them would curl your toes. Anyway, where was I? Right. Well, I suppose I should start at the beginning of my sordid descent into political hell ...

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Sign 'Em Up

Let's just agree for the sake of reality that Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee for President in 2016. Other names have been teased, of course, and a sparse few have expressed a vague interest in running against her - Martin O'Malley, Jim Webb and self-proclaimed Socialist Bernie Sanders come to mind. But they know better than anyone else that their chances are nonexistent. Sherrod Brown isn't interested, neither is the only person who would conceivably stand a chance: base favorite Elizabeth Warren.

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Scratching An Itch

I've been feeling the urge to write something lately, and it's really starting to annoy me. I keep waiting for a spark, maybe something in the news or just a moment of personal introspection that demands expression. Anything to grab me and shake the words onto the page until my head hurts. And if it doesn't happen soon I may cease to exist.

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Winter Storm

There's a massive blizzard rapidly approaching the northeast. The worst conditions are expected to impact New York and Massachusetts beginning tomorrow (Monday) morning and continuing through Tuesday. Strong, gusty winds of 35+ mph will accompany snowfall accumulations forecasted to reach up to 36 inches. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has said the impending storm may be "one of the top two or three worst storms" in the state's history.

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Ball Talk

Why are so many people talking about balls all of a sudden? I just don't understand it. Balls have been hanging around for a long time, but now there's all this fuss about how hard they're supposed to be! Did you hear they're even on TV deciding how much balls should weigh? Yes, really!

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Irony

Stop me if you've heard this before: "Some of these images may be disturbing to our viewers". What inevitably follows those words, or some variation thereof, is recorded carnage. Now and then we're even treated to it in real time. Things are blown up, people are murdered, mutilated and terrorized. We see their bloody bodies. We listen to the screams as shots ring out. And we watch those "disturbing" scenes over and over and over because it's news. Just ask every television network that airs them, any online site that imbeds the video or the newspapers that publish the gruesome photographs. It rarely seems to concern these bastions of journalistic integrity that viewing violence might incite violence among those with questionable tendencies. It's the news, so they report it.

But Allah forbid we see satirical cartoons. Some people might be offended.

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Just For Me

I spent a few hours late this afternoon writing a piece for this space. Unfortunately, something happened and it disappeared. I was frustrated, irritated and downright exasperated. My first thought was that it had been a complete waste of time, hours spent for no reason whatsoever. Well, I was wrong. Chances are good that it wasn't particularly worth reading, but that's not the point. I wrote it because I wanted to write, not because I wanted to be read. There's a difference, you know.

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THIS IS ONLY A TEST

This is a test of the Emergency Blogging System. This is only a test.

If there were an actual emergency in the barefooted blogging area, you would not be reading this message.

This concludes this test of the Emergency Blogging System.

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Stay Strong, Ferguson

The Grand Jury decision regarding whether or not to indict Ferguson Police Officer Wilson for the killing of Michael Brown will be announced tonight. Should there be an indictment, the charges levied against him will be included in the statement. The stage has been set for quite some time - the question now is the theatre itself.

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State Of Emergency In Ferguson

No shit.

I have never been one to engage in conspiracy theories, and it is not my intent to start now. But I am starting to feel like we're in a dangerous time warp.

This. Is. Wrong.

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Favorite Quotes

Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have.

~Margaret Mead

I can't breathe.

~Eric Garner

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