War, Politics, and Life by Bruce Maulden
Another normal early-morning here on California’s north coast — foggy and a bit warm even for the middle of the work week, though, this particular Wednesday is sucking up this nation’s birthday. Friday is the famous July 4 — our Independence Day (with aliens, too, but of the Hispanic variety) — but Arthur might strike…
Despite all my crying and gnashing of teeth last night, it’s Monday morning! Again! And again, cold and clear on California’s north coast with today finally, the deep-cold of the past week might start to end — we’re at about 26 degrees right now on the way to a forecast high of 50, and tonight…
Cold still this Saturday morning on California’s north coast, but there’s much sunshine, and, much observed roof ice. This is the ice, though, that pisses: A former Goldman Sachs trader was sentenced on Friday to nine months in prison for wire fraud by a judge who took sharp aim at both Goldman and the government,…
One snap indication of just how malicious life has become in public discourse was the incident yesterday when a Mitt Romney supporter, 77, gagged a rally protester by shoving a handkerchief into the 25-year-old union worker’s mouth. Just civil rights, that’s all: “He seemed thirsty, so I tried to shove the bottle in his mouth,”…
Chump change: A trivial sum of money, a trivial matter. For example, Dave was sick of working for chump change, he wanted a decent salary, or, ‘Don’t put that on the agenda, it’s chump change.’ This expression uses chump in the sense of “a fool or sucker who should be ignored.” [Slang; 1960s] Also see…
My apologies to one of Forrest‘s most-beloved quips, but US politics has become so much more than stupid talking, it’s mean-spirited pure ugly — especially amongst Republicans. Hence, the supposedly GOP presidential front-runner Newt Gingrich on OWS: “Now, that is a pretty good symptom of how much the left has collapsed as a moral system…
Ralph Waldo Emerson, America’s greatest philosopher, visited Thoreau in jail. Emerson asked: “Henry, why are you here?” Thoreau replied: “Why are you not here?” — In protest of the Mexican War, 1846 In those crackdowns this week on the OWS, a deep, sinking feeling of nefarious, dark workings: Questions about the Department of Homeland Security’s…
Another brick in the wall: In the midst of a seemingly worldwide occupation-movement, science may have confirmed the protesters’ worst fears. Reportedly, about 147 super-connected corporations — out of 43,000 studied in recent research — carry disproportionate power over the global economy. This from NewScientist on research by a trio of complex systems theorists at…
Still kicking, one of the most wonderous of public movements has recharged and re-directed even asshole Republicans, but Occupy Wall Street should hopefully turn its intense focus to the dreadnaught of humanity — climate change. Robert Reich on Wednesday: “I mean the mere fact that we have this occupation of Wall Street movement that is…
Even as the wide-spreading Occupy Wall Street movement enters its second month, a major protest point has been nearly forgotten, or at least hasn’t been placed near/at the top of the list — climate change. The shit on Wall Street is nestled right in with the globe’s quickly-spinning out-of-control climate. A major case in point…