The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
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Favorite Quotes
"Today the tyrant rules not by club or fist, but, disguised as a market researcher, he shepherds his flocks in the ways of utility and comfort." Marshall Mcluhan
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Petrol

For a long time it was wood and coal that provided the energy that was needed to keep one warm, light the world when dark, run the machines and move people from point A to point B.

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On Obama

I feel I need to make something clear here. I do not dislike Obama at all. He is most likely a very nice person.

But I do feel he is not a very good president.

Then again we have had a very long list of lousy to mediocre presidents and I am kind of wondering if maybe that isn't the whole point.

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Mickey Mouse


Mickey Mouse

adj (sometimes not capitals) Slang
1. ineffective; trivial; insignificant he settled for a Mickey Mouse job instead of something challenging
2. (Music, other) Chiefly US and Canadian (of music, esp that of dance bands) mechanical or spiritless
[from the name of a cartoon character known for his simple-minded attitudes, created by Walt Disney (1901-66), the US film producer]
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How Wall Street Beat The Rap

This whole situation reads like some 1920s gangster novel except for one thing.  In this case the bad guys win and get the whole city to themselves.

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Collapse...it's not just for the Soviet Union Any More

I  was given a LINK to a talk by Dmitry Orlov the other day. It was quite long, over an hour, so I just book marked it for viewing at another time. Well I finally got around to watching it and it was well worth the time I spent. I do not say this lightly because I am more of a doer than a watcher, rarely taking time to watch movies or even television these days. I highly recommend it, it is worth the time. Here is the LINK.

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Neighborhoods



We as humans don't do Big very well and it seems that current and past research bares this out.  This article presents a few of the reasons why this is true.

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Middle America - why they no longer vote Democrat much

The progressive establishment keeps wondering why they keep loosing elections.  I find this incredibly strange. Ever since the late 1960s it has been populated by the better educated, higher payed professionals and semi-professionals. And ever since this influx, the Democratic party has continuously lost elections.  There is a reason for this.

What used to be the Democratic base - the working stiffs.

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Wal-Mart sales down for 7th consecutive quarter.

And if people are not shopping at Wal-Mart (and I know many are not shopping a KMart and Target here), then the economy is doing worse than Washington is saying by a long shot.

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Why don't they get it ?

I have heard over and over on various blogs etc. people on the left - very intelligent people - ask in one way or another "Why don't these people (meaning generally those on the right and some in the middle) Get It ?  How can they be so ignorant ? So naive ? Don't they see what is happening to this country ?

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Taking it to the streets.

This post will undoubtedly piss off a lot of people here. So be it. I hope people do get pissed off but I also hope they direct their anger toward those who are making life miserable.

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Government Social Circles - They're what makes things work in Washington.

I was turned on to this particular analysis from another blog and thought it deserved wider exposure.  One explanation of why congress and the president seem to be ignoring a large part of America.  Matt Yglesias and Kevin Drum seem to think it

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Democracy ain't pretty.

I came upon this article on the AlJazerra English site. A letter to the Tunisians and Egyptians from

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