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

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Vandals, I Don't Get You. Can We Talk?

By Ramona on Sat, 01/24/2015 - 1:29pm | Media, Potpourri, Social Justice

van·dal

 
noun: vandal; plural noun: vandals
  1. 1.
    a person who deliberately destroys or damages public or private property.
    "the rear window of the car was smashed by vandals"
    synonyms:hoodlum, barbarian, thug, hooligan, delinquent, despoiler, desecrator, saboteur
    "vandals defaced the front steps of the church"
  2. 2.
    a member of a Germanic people that ravaged Gaul, Spain, and North Africa in the 4th–5th centuries and sacked Rome in AD 455.
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The Cowardly Liberal Talks About Strength

By Ramona on Thu, 01/15/2015 - 12:17pm | Politics

About once a year or so I have a confidence crisis.  When it happens I'm able to convince myself that I can't go on writing about politics and hate and fear and unfairness.  This year it was even worse, brought on by the very real fact that the dreaded Republicans swept the elections last November and are now in almost complete control of our lives.

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The Jon Swift Memorial Roundup 2014

By Ramona on Mon, 12/29/2014 - 6:10pm | Potpourri

Hey, Daggers, here is the link to the Jon Swift Roundup, 2014.  As Michael W. told us, this is an annual roundup of the best of the 2014 blogs, as chosen for the most part by the bloggers themselves.  We did things a little differently and held a contest, which Wattree won.  Both Wattree and Doc Cleveland are there representing dagblog. 

I thought you all might enjoy reading some posts from an assemblage of a few bloggers you may or may not be acquainted with.  Good reading!

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It's Hard to Be Merry At Christmas When It's "Merry Christmas" Or Else

By Ramona on Sat, 12/20/2014 - 10:31am | Personal, Potpourri

The last time I wrote about Christmas I thought I was being pretty polite, considering the message I was getting from my friends and relatives and neighbors at the height of the War on Christmas.  To wit:  How DARE you even THINK about not wishing me a Merry Christmas!  Which, of course, led me to respond by pleading "not guilty"--which caused me to tell a lie at Christmas since I didn't feel the least bit guilty. Why would I?

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Say What You Will About Torture, It's Still Torture

By Ramona on Fri, 12/12/2014 - 4:22pm | Politics, Social Justice
 

Last week the Senate Intelligence Committee released their report on the CIA's detention and interrogation program, and, while much of it had already been hashed over soon after the events at Abu Ghraib, there are enough new revelations within the report's 525 page summary to cause us to get stirred up all over again.

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John Kennedy's Death And How It Changed Us

By Ramona on Sat, 11/22/2014 - 8:26pm | Politics
John Kennedy, even with his publicly reported physical frailties, was a man with an almost mythical presence.  He was young and vibrant, he had a beautiful wife and two small children, and, true or not, we perceived him as the peoples' president--as close to being one of us, his wealth notwithstanding, as we were likely to get.  He was the FDR we had been wishing for.
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So It Happened And It Was Bad. No Quitting Now.

By Ramona on Mon, 11/10/2014 - 3:11pm | Politics

It's been almost a week since the mid-term elections and you may or may not have noticed that this space has been empty.  Deserted.  Lights out.  Nobody home.

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On The Internet Mean Streets

By Ramona on Mon, 10/27/2014 - 12:21pm | Politics

There is a picture making its way around the internet of a grossly overweight woman standing in what looks like a cafeteria line.  She is wearing a pair of shorts that are several sizes too small and the fat rolls at her stomach and bottom are pushed up and exposed. I don't know who the woman is or where the picture came from, but from what I can tell, it's a picture that both liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, men and women, Americans and non-Americans, feel perfectly at ease making fun of.

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Playing Hooky

By Ramona on Tue, 10/21/2014 - 1:33pm | Personal

Just wanted you all to know that I had cataract surgery in one eye and will be doing the other eye next Tuesday.  Still having some trouble reading anything longer than a couple of sentences, but that's no excuse for not keeping the headlines up to date.  Sorry about that!  I gave myself the wet noodle treatment so you don't have to.

Working on a blog, too, but it's slow going.  But I must say, the colors are really nice this fall--at least out of my left eye.

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Hey, Democrats, You Want To Win? Try Being Democrats

By Ramona on Sat, 10/04/2014 - 2:12pm | Politics

The mid-term elections are less than a month away and there's a good chance the Republicans will hold the House and possibly take the Senate.  Stunning as that probability possibility is, considering the shoddy business the Republicans have been engaged in ever since their guy, Mitt Romney, lost to Barack Obama, the truth is, it looks like half the country's voters are still more than willing to vote for that particular party.  

You hear that, Democrats? The Republicans could win.  I mean, WIN.

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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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