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

Blog Posts

Ramona's picture

Julian Assange Lost Big Time. Look Out, Australia!

By Ramona on Sun, 09/15/2013 - 12:35pm | Politics, Media
 
WHEN asked to explain why he was running for a seat in the Australian Senate while holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, Julian Assange quoted Plato: “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” 
 
Plato was “a bit of a fascist,” he said, but had a point.
 
Imagine the chagrin Mr. Assange must feel now, given that not only did he fail to win a place in the Senate in the recent election, but he was less successful than Ricky Muir from the Motoring Enthusiasts Party. Mr. Muir, who won just 0.5 percent of the vote, is most famous for having posted a video on YouTube of himself having a kangaroo feces fight with friends. 
 
Topics: 
Politics
Media
Ramona's picture

9/11/2001. It Will Be With Us Forever.

By Ramona on Wed, 09/11/2013 - 7:21pm | Politics

Today marks the 12th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City.

Topics: 
Politics
Ramona's picture

Three Years ago Julian Assange Lost his Luggage. He Just Now Noticed?

By Ramona on Tue, 09/03/2013 - 8:13pm | Politics, World Affairs
It was a long weekend and I was devilishly busy and exhausted to the point of just plain weary, so you'll have to forgive me if I didn't get this right:
 
I read today that on September 27, 2010--almost three years ago--Julian Assange of Wikileaks fame checked a bag at an airport in Sweden containing three laptops filled with Wikileaks stuff, including some top secret "war crimes" information that, if it hadn't been stolen by some shady government dudes, would have knocked our socks off with revelations of dirty deeds so devastating, if they had ever, ever been revealed, the world as we know it might just stop spinning.  Or heads would roll.  Or Assange would be hailed as the hero he fancied he already was.  Whatever.  Something BIG would happen if ever those revelations saw the light of day.  So, of course, they were stolen by one or more shadowy government dudes who were not about to let that happen.
Topics: 
Politics
World Affairs
Ramona's picture

Labor in America: Those were the Days - (A Repeat)

By Ramona on Fri, 08/30/2013 - 8:29am | Politics, Social Justice
Note:  Labor Day weekend is here once again, and let's enjoy it while we can.  I have a feeling, if things keep going this way, anything that smacks of celebrating labor in this country will disappear. 
 
I guess you've heard that Michigan, my Michigan has become a Right-to-Work state?  Who would have dreamed it would ever happen to Michigan?  Are businesses flocking to our border now, wanting to take advantage of cheap, unprotected labor?  Do I even have to answer that?  (I'm throwing this in because I'm still so mad about the whole damned thing.  I may throw it in many more times in future posts. Because I'll never stop being mad about the whole damned thing.)
Topics: 
Politics
Social Justice
Ramona's picture

I Called Elmore Leonard “Dutch” Once

By Ramona on Tue, 08/20/2013 - 5:41pm | Arts & Entertainment, Personal
 

I woke up to the sad news that Elmore Leonard, our most famous Detroit-based writer, has died.  He was 87 years old but I thought that guy would go on forever.  There was never anything old about him and I doubt I’m the only one who felt that way, but I admit I haven’t seen him in person for almost 20 years.

Topics: 
Arts & Entertainment
Personal
Ramona's picture

George Will ruminating on Detroit: About like Howdy Doody ruminating on the Moon

By Ramona on Fri, 08/09/2013 - 12:21pm | Politics
 

So George Will, highly renowned municipal analyst and wicked good judge of character, has once again set his sights on Detroit. Somehow--don't ask me how--I knew this would happen.  I knew it would happen because the decline of Detroit, our allegedly foremost black and poor city, is in the spotlight, and it's beyond George Will's ability to say no to such delicious news.

Topics: 
Politics
Ramona's picture

Huma Abedin is not Anthony Weiner

By Ramona on Tue, 07/30/2013 - 2:24pm | Politics
 

There is a part of the American feminist movement that drives me nuts.  It's the part where all women who call themselves feminists have to be smart and sassy and so damned tough any public sign of vulnerability or weakness, particularly where men are involved, is reason enough to drum them out of the corps.

Topics: 
Politics
Ramona's picture

Hey, Detroit. It's Only Art

By Ramona on Fri, 07/26/2013 - 8:33am | Politics, Arts & Entertainment



Safe to say that ever since the news broke that the entire city of Detroit was filing for bankruptcy hundreds of thousands of us Detroiters and ex-Detroiters and Michiganders everywhere have been biting our nails, gnashing our teeth, pounding the walls, spending partially-sleepless nights worrying about the fate of the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA).
 

Topics: 
Politics
Arts & Entertainment
Ramona's picture

If Texas cared about Babies, they would take care of the Babies they have

By Ramona on Fri, 07/19/2013 - 11:00am | Politics

The Good Ol' Boys in Texas have decreed that they're in charge of women's reproductive decisions, and the little ladies just gotta take it.  If it was just making abortions more difficult for women that would be one thing. (We expect that sort of thing when privileged men get together to use their power.) But they want to make sure women are ground down even more by setting impossible standards for reproductive clinics, by forcing ultrasounds, and by banning the Morning After pill--a most merciful choice for avoiding unwanted pregnancies.  Why do all that?  Because you just can't punish women enough for having sex with men.

Topics: 
Politics
Ramona's picture

Independence Day: We do Have Something to Celebrate

By Ramona on Thu, 07/04/2013 - 10:09am | Politics, Potpourri
 
"The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence.
Topics: 
Politics
Potpourri

Pages

TypeTitleAuthorRepliesLast updated
Blog entryNational Adjunct Walkout Day (and Why It Matters to You) Doctor Cleveland129 years 10 months ago
Blog entryHow WalMart Fooled The World Michael Maiello159 years 10 months ago
Reader blogI am morally humiliated. How 'bout you? jollyroger119 years 10 months ago
Reader blogADAM'S RIB Richard Day79 years 10 months ago
Blog entryFifty Shades of Mr. D.: The Unwritten Rules of Romance Fiction Doctor Cleveland229 years 10 months ago
Blog entryWe Need Paid Sick Leave Because Workers Are Humans First Ramona89 years 10 months ago
Blog entryA Story from the Crusades Doctor Cleveland109 years 10 months ago
Reader blogArticles About Race Part 3 Reality Television and Black Women Danny Cardwell359 years 10 months ago
Blog entryThe Things We Leave Undone While We Sweat The Small Stuff Ramona39 years 10 months ago
Blog entryTyphoid Mary and the Anti-Vaxxers Doctor Cleveland629 years 10 months ago
Reader blogOne in Five Children Are on Food Stamps trkingmomoe169 years 10 months ago
Reader blogWinter Storm barefooted389 years 11 months ago
LinkWoody Allen's Progressive Legacy Is Worth Saving Michael Wolraich119 years 11 months ago
Blog entryVandals, I Don't Get You. Can We Talk? Ramona189 years 11 months ago
CreativeHeartless Poet Oxy Mora129 years 11 months ago
LinkHow Propaganda Conquers Democracy A Guy Called LULU139 years 11 months ago
Reader blogThe Haikulodeon MrSmith1159 years 11 months ago
Reader blogHERE IS THE STATE OF THE UNION; LIVE BLOG Richard Day559 years 11 months ago
Reader blogAnd now for something completely different Flavius99 years 11 months ago
LinkWhat I saw at Michigan's tea party powwow wabby59 years 11 months ago
Blog entryObama's Middle Class Legacy Michael Maiello119 years 11 months ago
Reader blog51% of Children in School Live in Poverty-Shame on USA trkingmomoe139 years 11 months ago
Blog entryThe Cowardly Liberal Talks About Strength Ramona509 years 11 months ago
Reader blogMuhammad Blogs Muḥammad99 years 11 months ago
LinkTen Things You Should Know About Selma Before You See the Film trkingmomoe189 years 11 months ago

Pages