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

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Back in Michigan but not quite home

By Ramona on Tue, 04/09/2013 - 8:19am | Personal
 

Just to let you know I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. We've been living out of suitcases for almost two weeks now as we worked our way north from our winter digs.  We're in the U.P finally, on the last leg home.  Should get there today and I'm hearing bad news about a snow mound that still needs digging out before we can get to our door.  Should be interesting.

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Personal
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The Walmart Saga: Empty Shelves, Full Exec Pockets

By Ramona on Wed, 03/27/2013 - 6:21am | Business, Personal
 

I've been debating about writing about Wal-Mart for a while now for one very good reason:  If I write as a knowledgeable shopper, people will know I shop at Wal-Mart.  Chicken of me, I know, but some of my best friends, relatives and acquaintances refuse to shop at Wal-Mart, and they don't like to be reminded that I'm not one of them.

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Business
Personal
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News from Michigan, the Nation's First Dictator State

By Ramona on Thu, 03/21/2013 - 10:35am | Politics
 

It could be that with all that's going on in the world you might have missed what's happening closer to home, in the sovereign state of Michigan.  In just over two years, since businessman and venture capitalist Rick Snyder became governor, bringing along with him a Republican majority in the legislature and in most courts (including the Supreme one), with a push from the Tea Party, the Koch Brothers and the

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Politics
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CPAC 2013: Wingers Just Want to Have Fun

By Ramona on Wed, 03/13/2013 - 12:36pm | Politics

Every year around this time Republicans get to let their hair down and show the world that no matter what we've heard otherwise, they do have a silly side.

Doom and gloom and global warming is our problem, not theirs.  Enough about the poor, the pregnant, and the pressures put on them by the peons.  Get those party hats on!

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Politics
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It’s Not Always a Day at the Beach

By Ramona on Mon, 03/11/2013 - 10:55am | Personal

On clear mornings here at the beach I’m out on the balcony waiting, like every other early riser, for the sun to poke up out of the ocean. This morning I woke earlier than usual, while it was still dark except for a thin strand of pink beginning to stretch across the horizon.  I made a quick trip outside, shivering in my summer nightgown, dancing around in my bare feet, leaning over our fourth floor balcony rail to check out where the waves were hitting the beach.

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Personal
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National Grammar Day: Well, La Di Da (or is it “Dah”?)

By Ramona on Mon, 03/04/2013 - 10:10am | Humor & Satire

So I think I told you I’m working on a book.  I’ve changed the title again, so now I’m calling it “Living to Tell About It”.   (The sub-title may or may not be “How to tell your story when it gets to be That Time,” but don’t hold me to it.)

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Humor & Satire
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Will the Real Bob Woodward Please Sit Down?

By Ramona on Fri, 03/01/2013 - 12:46pm | Politics, Media
 

 Once there was a young Washington Post reporter named Bob Woodward who became a celebrity almost overnight by joining with another reporter named Carl Bernstein (remember him?) to expose the inner workings of a seemingly minor break-in at the Democratic Headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington. D.C.

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Politics
Media
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Me at the Oscars: Fabulous or Fizzle, 60 years and Counting

By Ramona on Mon, 02/25/2013 - 12:43pm | Arts & Entertainment

When the first televised Academy Awards ceremony took place on March 19, 1953, I, a bedazzled 15-year-old movie fan, sat in front of our black and white TV set, riveted and no doubt pledging to never forget that moment as long as I lived.   Since then I have never (and I mean NEVER) missed a telecast.

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Arts & Entertainment
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Panera Bread Artisans Knead a Union

By Ramona on Fri, 02/22/2013 - 3:21pm | Politics, Social Justice
 

In March, 2012, just six months after their franchise had been bought up by Bread of Life, a company owned by Manna Development, a former McDonald's franchisee, 18 bakers at six Panera Bakery and Cafes along the I-94 corridor in Southwestern Michigan decided to join a union.

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Politics
Social Justice
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One Billion Rising: Ending Violence toward Women and Girls

By Ramona on Wed, 02/13/2013 - 7:17am | Social Justice

This Valentine's Day blog post is dedicated to ending the abuse of women and girls.  You'll need to go to my blog to get the full effect.  It's the least I could do:

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Social Justice

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Personal Information

Website
http://www.ramonasvoices.com
Favorite Quotes

 

"Leave safety behind. Put your body on the line. Stand before the people you fear and speak your mind - even if your voice shakes. When you least expect it, someone may actually listen to what you have to say. Well-aimed slingshots can topple giants. And do your homework." . Maggie Kuhn

 

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.  Dorothy Parker

"Corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow ... money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands" - Abraham Lincoln

 

It has always seemed strange to me... the things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second.-John Steinbeck

 

The moment you limit free speech it's not free speech. -Salman Rushdie

Biography

Ramona used to write nice feature pieces for newspapers and magazines, along with columns that, yes, got testy once in a while (Ronald Reagan was president. What could she do?) but were basically and overall nice.

But then. . .

. . .then came the hanky-panky and subsequent impeachment of Bill Clinton!  Then Bush v. Gore!  Hanging Chads!  Katherine Harris!  Supreme Court busy bodies! 9/11!  War with Iraq! (Iraq??)  The right wing!  The religious right!  The TEA PARTY, for God's sake!

Whatever she is today is the fault of all of the above.  She is not to blame.

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