CROSSROADS: A Poem Dedicated to a Friend upon Reaching a Milestone in His Life

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro

CrossRoadSign2By Elaine Magliaro

Mike Spindell noted yesterday that he was coming to the milestone of his 70th birthday. I’m just two years younger than Mike. I have never met him in person. We became friends via the Internet. Over the years, I have come to trust his integrity, his intelligence…and his honesty. I have learned much from reading the columns that he has written for Flowers for Socrates and Res Ipsa Loquitor.

At my age, I think a lot about my life, years past, family members and friends who are now gone. I’m fortunate that my “golden years” have been the happiest of my life…and some of the most fruitful. I think that Mike is also enjoying his golden years. I’m happy that he writes for Flowers for Socrates…and shares his wisdom and thoughts with the rest of us. I’m dedicating this poem to him:

An excerpt from Crossroads
By Joyce Sutphen

The second half of my life will be black
to the white rind of the old and fading moon.
The second half of my life will be water
over the cracked floor of these desert years.
I will land on my feet this time,
knowing at least two languages and who
my friends are. I will dress for the
occasion, and my hair shall be
whatever color I please.
Everyone will go on celebrating the old
birthday, counting the years as usual,
but I will count myself new from this
inception, this imprint of my own desire.

Click here to read the rest of the poem.

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Posted in Art, Literature, Poetry | Tagged , | 1 Comment

A Scene from Post Racial America: Halloween “Lynching” Display at Fort Campbell Removed from Yard of Home on the Army Base in Kentucky

Posted on November 1, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro

By Elaine Magliaro

Earlier this week, military officials removed a “horrific” Halloween lynching display that had been set up in the yard of the on-base home of an active-duty soldier at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The “jarring” scene appeared to depict an African American family—two adults and one child—hanging from a tree by their necks. The child was reported to have a knife stuck in its back. According to Salon, there was another child in the display that “appeared to try to help one of the adults.”

Photo Credit: ClarksvilleNow

Photo Credit: ClarksvilleNow

Brendalyn Carpenter, a spokesperson for the army base, said that authorities “removed the display after being alerted to an ‘offensive’ Halloween decoration.” She told ClarksvilleNow.com, “Displays of an offensive nature are not reflective of Army values and the family-friendly environment provided for employees and residents of the Fort Campbell community.”

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Posted in Racism, Society, United States, US Army, US Military | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 61 Comments

Edible Flowers: Gene’s Quick Chili

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Gene Howington

300px-Pot-o-chiliby Gene Howington

Fall is here and it’s chili time.  I like all kinds of it too.  Traditional red, New Mexico red, New Mexico green, with beans, without, so long as it’s rich and warm when the weather turns cool.  But traditional chili recipes take time. That’s not a bad thing either as they develop a depth of flavor that is unmatched.  However, sometimes you don’t have several hours to wait.  When time is of the essence, I make a quick chili that has robust flavor, but the prep time is about 15 minutes and you let it simmer about an hour and a half.  Here it is (with variations):

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Posted in Edible Flowers, Recipes | 13 Comments

Music for Halloween Night

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Chuck Stanley

Lai shreds Pachelbel’s Canon in D for Halloween.  Possibly the best Laotian refugee guitarist in the world.  Any world.

 

Posted in Humor, Music | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Jon Stewart Welcomes Koch Industries as a New Sponsor of “The Daily Show”

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro

By Elaine Magliaro

Last Night, Jon Stewart “welcomed” Koch Industries as a new sponsor of The Daily Show with a funny segment on the Comedy Central network. Stewart showed “a slick new ad” from the company that had appeared during a program commercial break earlier in the week. Brendan James of Talking Points Memo said, “The TV spot featured images of sunny landscapes and beaming factory workers while praising the multinational corporation.” But…Stewart and his team decided to “tweak” the original Koch ad and provided a newer and better version of the commercial that “mercilessly mocks” the robber baron billionaire brothers.

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Posted in Campaign Finance, Fascists/Corporatists, Media, Oligarchy, Politics, Propaganda, Society, United States | Tagged , , , , | 28 Comments

Is Lindsey Graham Joking?

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Gene Howington
Sen. Lindsey Graham, S.C. - (R)

Sen. Lindsey Graham, S.C. – (R)

by Gene Howington

South Carolina Senator and possible Presidential candidate Lindsey Graham has, at best, an odd sense of humor.  Personally, I find him about as funny as red tide but apparently his audience at an all-male Irish Catholic Hibernian Society of Charleston meeting thought he was a hoot when he said, “I’m trying to help you with your tax status. I’m sorry the government’s so fucked up. If I get to be president, white men in male-only clubs are going to do great in my presidency.” Whether it appeals to your particular sense of humor or not, comedy has rules. One of those rules is that it must be grounded in truth.  Why? Because a joke usually relies on exaggeration and/or contrast to provide the funny. So what is the underlying truth here?

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Posted in Campaign Finance, Corruption, Democracy, Equal Rights, RNC, United States | 49 Comments

The Fifteenth Post in the “Oh My Achin’ Head” Series: Louie Gohmert Says the Repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and Massages Will Make the Military “Vulnerable to Terrorism” (VIDEOS)

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro
Rep. Louie Gohmert Texas

Rep. Louie Gohmert
Texas

 

By Elaine Magliaro

It was just a matter of time before Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas became the subject of one of my posts in the “Oh My Achin’ Head” Series. Gohmert—who, Charles Pierce once said, was “perhaps the dumbest mammal to enter a legislative chamber since Caligula’s horse”—is known for his strange speeches and lectures about various and sundry topics on the floor of the House and during committee meetings. Over the years, those subjects have included bestiality, necrophilia, terrorist babies, and the sex lives of caribou.

 

Rep. Gohmert attacks DADT, Hate Crimes bill

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Posted in Conservatives, Homosexual Rights, Politics, Society, United States | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

Smashing Pumpkins: Miles from Ferguson (MO) in a Thug-less Land Far, Far Away Drunken White Revelers Whoop It Up While Trashing a College Town in New Hampshire

Posted on October 26, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro

By Elaine Magliaro

I’ve traveled to Keene, New Hampshire, on many occasions. I used to go there every October to attend the wonderful Keene State College Children’s Literature Festival. I even served on the festival’s advisory board from 2006-2008. Keene is a lovely, quiet, idyllic New England college town. I always enjoyed spending time there during foliage season.

I was saddened and shocked to hear about the recent riot in Keene during its famous Pumpkin Festival. From the multiple reports that I’ve read about what happened last weekend, crowds of drunken—and predominately white—college kids went wild. Inebriated partiers smashed windows, slashed tires, tore down street signs, and overturned cars and Dumpsters. They also threw bottles, beer cans, skateboards, buckets, and pumpkins. At least thirty people sustained injuries—including lacerations and broken bones—and had to be transported to a nearby hospital. Injuries were incurred during fistfights, jumps from rooftops—and from other blunt traumas.

Riots, fires, violence continue in Keene streets Saturday night

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Posted in Crime, Justice, Law Enforcement, Racism, United States | Tagged , , | 50 Comments

My Second Post about Former Bank Examiner Carmen Segarra Who Was Fired by the New York Fed for Doing Her Job

Posted on October 25, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro
Carmen Segarra

Carmen Segarra

By Elaine Magliaro

On October fifth, I published a post titled The Case of the Secret Recordings: A Tale about Bank Examiner Carmen Segarra, the New York Fed, and Goldman Sachs. Segarra is a former bank examiner who once worked for the New York Fed. She was hired by the Fed in 2011 “as part of a group of examiners brought on to monitor systemically important banks in the aftermath of the Dodd-Frank regulatory overhaul.” GoldmanSachsSegarra is the bank examiner who found that Goldman Sachs “lacked an adequate company-wide policy to manage conflicts of interest…” Segarra claims that her superiors at the Fed urged her to change her Goldman Sachs finding. When she refused to comply with their request, she said she was fired.

Investigative journalist Matt Taibbi and Alexis Goldstein of The Other 98% spoke with Ari Melber about Carmen Segarra and the Fed on MSNBC in late September:

SECRET Tapes: NY FED Helping Wall Street BANKSTERS – Matt Taibbi & Alexis Goldstein

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Posted in Corruption, Courts, Crime, Financial, Government, United States, Wall Street | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

In the Case of Michael Brown: Were Recent Grand Jury Leaks and Autopsy Reports a Deliberate Effort to Help “Set the Stage” for Darren Wilson’s “Non-Indictment?”

Posted on October 25, 2014 by Elaine Magliaro
Michael Brown

Michael Brown

By Elaine Magliaro

My curiosity was aroused the other day when I read several news reports about “selective” grand jury leaks and forensic experts’ analyses of Michael Brown’s official autopsy report. Many of the reports were based on information provided in an article that was published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch earlier this week. I didn’t think that the Post-Dispatch article really provided much new information…or evidence in the case. It did appear to me, however, that the article was an effort to give credence to Officer Wilson’s version of what happened on the day he shot Michael Brown and to call into question the accounts of several people who were eyewitnesses to the killing of the unarmed teen.

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Posted in Courts, Crime, DOJ, Equal Rights, Government, Justice, Law Enforcement, Local Government, Media, Missouri, Propaganda, Racism, Society, United States | Tagged , , , , | 133 Comments