Many Things

I found an interesting article over at Truthdig about perhaps the most notable achievement of President Obama's administration...one that perhaps will remain virtually invisible for generations until some historical perspective can be achieved. I agree that had Obama not acted aggressively on the economy, things would now be much, much worse. Here is an excerpt: The hardest slogan to sell in politics is: “Things could have been a whole lot worse.” No wonder President Barack Obama is having trouble defending his stimulus plan. If governments around the world, including our own, had not acted aggressively—and had not spent piles of money—a very bad economic situation would have become a cataclysm. But because the cataclysm was avoided, this is an invisible achievement. Many whose bacon was saved, particularly in the banking and corporate sectors, do not want to admit how important the actions of government were. Anti-government ideologues try to pretend that no serious interven...

I went with some friends from one of my Meetup.com groups to go on a tour of the Fox Theater. I've been here many times for events, but this tour showed me things I've never seen. Here is one of the photos I took. The rest of them are on my profile in Facebook . This chair was one of a set of two in the women's "powder room" and the guide told everyone not to sit in them. I thought they are very pretty. (Yes we toured two of the "tea rooms" because of ornate features.) The tour is inexpensive and I highly recommend it for a nice Saturday morning outing in Atlanta.

This is a very interesting story about how a killing in 1967 set West Germany on the road to being a progressive nation. East German Stasi Spy Killed Protester, Ohnesorg, in 1967 - NYTimes.com

If you ever get to Rome , don't miss the Pantheon . I've visited the Pantheon on two separate trips to Rome. The first time I encountered it, I was just wandering around Rome, getting kind of lost as I often enjoy doing on trips. Then there was this moment of serendipity, and there it was. Moments such as this can make any trip worth the time and expense. The Pantheon is considered the best preserved monumental building from the Roman Empire, and it is a marvel to enter and experience, perhaps after one visits some of the Roman ruins. Then you can get a better mental image of what Rome may have been like, in terms of architecture, in ancient times. When I visit very old places, I like to think of who may have stood on the very spot where I'm standing. I like to think of the historical events that happened there. Instead of just busily taking photos that will soon be forgotten, I prefer to live in the moment of being in that place. So it was with the Pantheon. The buildi...

I've been wanting to post about the Senate filibuster rule for awhile, but I had to go back and educate myself on the subject first. The rule has changed over time and there is a lot of misinformation about it. If you find I've made an error in this post, please let me know by leaving a comment. The obstructionist filibuster has the effect of preventing a vote on a bill or a nomination unless the Senate invokes cloture , which requires 60 votes (3/5's of the full 100 Senate membership). There is an excellent editorial and series of comments about the filibuster at the New York Times if you are eager to read more. Also, check out this article at American Prospect . As much as I think the filibuster/cloture rule violates the one person/one vote idea of democracy, I believe the rule is here to stay. The fact that Senate rules were changed in 1975 to permit cloture with only a 3/5’s vote versus a 2/3’s vote was a good change, but I think further change is unlikely. As I un...

This is the second of my Strange But True posts. There is not much I can add here that the video doesn't say. Ending the "war on drugs" has long been something I have advocated from an economic, crime, and freedom position. We can tax drugs, regulate their cultivation/manufacture/sale, educate against drug use, and provide free drug rehabilitation to help addicts and thus save taxpayers much money, take the profit out of crime, build fewer prisons, save more lives, and have less government control of our personal lives. We can do this on a gradual basis, if the federal government would stop fighting state laws that are moving in this direction. [ Wikipedia ] Please watch the video and I invite your discussion.

If you have any interest in science and history, you may be interested in a story that hit the papers today about a possible 13,000 year-old extinction event that occurred when there was a human ( Clovis culture ) presence on Earth. Although many scientists disagree with this theory, it is a fascinating read anyway. Here is an excerpt: The scientists, led by University of Oregon anthropologist Douglas Kennett, say their report offers a "smoking bullet"—proof that a comet set off the sudden 1,000-year freeze and wiped out the big animals of the era. Working at multiple sites across the continent, researchers found nanodiamonds—microscopic particles thought to be found on comets—in a 13,000-year-old layer of rich sedimentary soil called a "black mat." Beneath the layer with the nanodiamonds, fossils of the animals are abundant. After that layer, they disappear, West said. "It's extraordinary that tens of millions of animals disappeared synchronously at exact...

Racism outrages me. I grew up under Jim Crowe and had a Georgia little white child's perspective of it. It wasn't pretty and innocent then either. I have recently been outraged by the GOP's supposed attempt at satire by using a song with racist lyrics . While the word, "Negro" is still used by some African American organizations, such as the NAACP and the United Negro College Fund, the word is now more commonly thought of as pejorative in common American usage, especially if used by a non-African American. [ Wikipedia ] When Republicans, in particular, use the term, it is really a "hot potato." Most Republicans are white, whether they like that or not. Many Republicans are Southern, where slavery and Jim Crowe thrived for generations and racism still persists today. Is it any wonder then that some Republicans and most of the rest of us are outraged at a song, which at best is a poor attempt at satire, and at its worst is pandering to racism. The NY Times...

Rachel Maddow says it better than I can. You go grrrrl!!! Expose the TRUE motives behind the Southern plantation Big Daddy Senators: anti-workers, anti-jobs, anti-unions, anti-America. These Senators hate America and are still fighting the Civil War. You lost the war and American voters reject your ideas. Cling to your damn rebel flag, you fucking idiots. (Is that too strong?)

I am starting an occasional posting of items that are "strange but true". These will be sometimes little known stories or facts, and I will research them and include links to various references. My first item is fairly well known, but maybe you don't know this. The Washington Times is Washington's conservative/right wing newspaper. What you may not know is it was founded by and is owned by the Moonies . The Moonies largely work out of the limelight of the Christian conservative movement in the US , and most others in the movement prefer it that way because many Americans believe the Moonies to be a religious cult. Moon, however, likes to take credit for a lot of things, including: Reagan became the president in 1980 through me. Think about it. Five years after the Vietnam War, a conservative, moral, rightwing Reagan could become the President of the United States. Who made that? -- Reverend Moon. [ Source ] The Moonies also bought UPI in 2000. For more, check out t...