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

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cmaukonen's picture

When Empires fall....

Empires nearly always fall from within. Sometimes they are brought down by force, the government overthrown. But quite often they are left to crumble by those within. When people begin to feel that they no longer matter. When their needs are not being met. When they feel oppressed and neglected and their voices are no longer being payed attention to, they stop caring about the institutions of which they are apart.  They loose hope for anything better. This is true regardless of the type of government or institution. The political philosophy or economic model.

cmaukonen's picture

Revolution ?...don't think so.

Not going to happen. And here is why. Unlike the very spontaneous, active and sometimes violent protests of the Union and Socialist movements of the late 19th and early 20th century where people were more self reliant and had to live with risks every day and no social safety nets at all, most people are almost totally reliant on the current economic, social and political system for their lively hoods. Their ability to cope with out the services provided by the public and private sector is limited at best.

cmaukonen's picture

Fed up with the Ds and Rs ????

There is another option and Ted Rall's latest book, The Anti-American Manifesto explains it quite seriously and succinctly. Overthrow the present government and establish something else. Something that is fair and just and workable. This is not some 1960s hippy Abbie Hoffman type book. It contains no plans for Molotov Cocktails or pipe bombs or how to rip off bits of the system.  It is an in depth examination of the  reasons for taking down the current oligarchy and replacing it with a real government.

cmaukonen's picture

What?! Sarah Palin again? But wait...this is a bit different.

Who are these people? These so called Tea Party followers of Sarah Palin that support her with so much enthusiasm.  Contrary to the caricature that those on the left and some on the right like to paint them, they are not the ignorant hicks of some back water towns that don't even have television yet.  Or escapees from a lunatic asylum.  They are in fact common folk from  the small towns in the Midwest and parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania and Kentucky.

cmaukonen's picture

Thanksgiving Dinner

I'm making my dinner now. Such as it is. I just got back from visiting my mother. She lives fairly close by. About a 20 minute drive give or take traffic.  My sisters brought over thanksgiving dinner for my mother and brother. My brother is two years younger than me but lives with my mother. He is an untreated schizophrenic.  You cannot force people with mental illness to take treatment unless they are proven to be a danger to them selves or others. Then it's up to the courts to decide. She will not kick him out so he lives there.

cmaukonen's picture

Hurry Hurry Hurry...Get you red hot degrees here ! Guaranteed to make you rich !

One of the people in chat posted this link from Chronicle of Higher Education.  It is very telling but hardly surprising. The cheating that goes on in Colleges and Univeristies especially the Ivy Leagues and the rich kids that attend them.

cmaukonen's picture

No Deficit of Ideas for Lowering the Deficit.

Some people are not fond of Ted Rall but he might have someting here.

cmaukonen's picture

Greed...It's Not Just For Wall Street Any More

This is an old piece but I think needs resurrection to illustrate some points. 

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"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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