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

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Remembering Nixon

By cmaukonen on Sat, 06/09/2012 - 11:35pm |

Bernstein and Woodward have a very good retrospective of Nixon and Watergate in the Washington Post. For most here - those much younger than I - the whole era is but a small chapter in history. However I believe it is good to reflect on how close the country came to not only a constitutional crisis but a total break down in our democratic form of government.

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Economy on a precipice

By cmaukonen on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 11:27pm |

We've all seem them. The iconic scenes of the train wreck or car wreck with the cars hanging off a cliff. Nobody dares move else they cause the whole thing to plummet into the abyss below.

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On The French Revolution and why we keep on fighting the same battles....

By cmaukonen on Sun, 05/13/2012 - 8:02pm |

And by the same battles I am referring to the same or similar complaints that the revolutionaries in France had during this time period.

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Government explained...well almost.

By cmaukonen on Sat, 05/05/2012 - 5:37pm |

If you are not totally confused by this little animation........

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Why Obama Won’t Help Foreclosure Victims

By cmaukonen on Fri, 05/04/2012 - 9:33am |

Probably the best analysis I have seen so far and what I suspected all along. From BAR.

The problem begins at the top. Obama has consistently protected bankers’ rights to deal with homeowners as they please.

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Warm March and little snow and rain = Early and Intense Fire Season

By cmaukonen on Fri, 04/13/2012 - 9:38am |

And according to this report from MSNBC 25 - yes 25 - East Coast States are on Red Flag warning for wild fires.

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Vive la Différence!

By cmaukonen on Sat, 03/31/2012 - 10:03pm |

Brussels Belgium - Flickr

Most people in this country try are totally ignorant of how people outside of it live.  In fact according to this piece from a 2006 Denver Post, “Only about 23 percent of Americans own a passport, and only 10 percent of those actually leave the country.” That’s not very many and I am sure the figure now is much lower. It also does not even specify the destinations. This was not always the case. When the dollar was higher, there was significantly more travel and in the 1950s and 1960s when there was still a military draft, a lager number of service men and service women would be stationed in Germany or France of Greece or some other NATO country for their length in the military.

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America's (not so) liberal past. A brief history lesson.

By cmaukonen on Thu, 03/29/2012 - 9:35pm |

With all the talk of how the political right seems to be heading off a cliff and equated to fascists, I thought I would do a little reminiscing of how wonderful life was here during my childhood in the 1950s.

Lets start with the women first.

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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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