In one of our recent blogs, we talked about the books we’ve been reading that have enlightened us about the unconscious assumption that history equals white history and that white history holds the whole truth. Turns out that is so untrue, to find out the rest of the story can be mind and heart shattering. So how can any of us, or each of us, get by our feelings of overwhelming powerlessness regarding the violent instability of our identity as a nation?
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On the CBS This Morning show, September 23, 2016, anchor Gayle King discussed the grand opening of Washington DC’s Smithsonian National African American Museum of History and Culture with her guest and friend Oprah Winfrey.
They were discussing the history of the enslavement of Africans in this country as depicted in the museum, when the TV viewers’ eyes were drawn to a plaque with a quote by Ida B. Wells (1862‑1931), an African American journalist,
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One of our Founding Fathers’ “four foundations of freedom” was Widespread Education. They felt that every generation needed to grow up learning the history of this country so that the origin of and reasoning behind our democracy would be generally and broadly understood by every schoolchild in America. And that by the time each schoolchild became old enough to vote, he (until 1920 anyway) would know who was in politics because of self-aggrandizement and who was in it to fulfill the Constitution’s mission of governing for the general welfare of all the people.
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I agree with Elizabeth Preza, a staff writer for AlterNet, the website that focuses on politics, media, and cultural criticism, when she says, “Donald Trump is a bully without exception.” What’s disturbing about this fact screams from the very lead-in (also called lede) of her excellent June 2, 2016, article, “Trump’s Childish Name-Calling Is a Time-Honored Strategy of Bullying”: “Trump’s insults may seem immature, but there’s a longstanding tradition of elevating bullies to power.” Of course she couldn’t be sure at that point that he would become the Republican candidate for president,
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The title of this post today is actually a trick question. That’s because democracy is a political system and capitalism is an economic system. They’re apples and oranges. Capitalism can operate in almost any political system—monarchy, oligarchy, fascism, communism, or democracy. Democracy can likewise operate in almost any economic system—planned systems, market systems, public systems, or private systems, though some economic frameworks are more conducive to government of the people, by the people, and for the people than others. When capitalism,
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Forbes Magazine, the “other” magazine for the owners of corporate wealth and power (you know, Fortune 500 is the premier one), reports what many have warned us about at least since both Adam Smith and Karl Marx first wrote about capitalism’s dangers. Way back in February of this year, Forbes published “Unless It Changes, Capitalism Will Starve Humanity by 2050,” by contributor Drew Hansen, who goes even further than we did in Political Straight Talk,
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Is it really true that friendship and business don’t mix? That idea is not just counterintuitive to our way of thinking; it is like a flashing caution light. If you’ve been reading our blogs or our book, you know that Kathryn and I feel that having a friendship with someone should enhance a relationship, not hinder it, regardless whether business is a factor or not. And certainly any relationship can fail when the trust and empathy required by love breaks down.
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Way back in February Sean Illing spelled it out for us in Salon.com: “Donald Trump Is a Fraud: Report Confirms the Billionaire’s Presidential Bid Is a Long and Calculated Con Job.”
Illing began his blog by saying, “Everything Trump has done during the campaign is designed to dupe the media into funding his marketing strategy.”
Illing continued: “Donald Trump’s presidential campaign feels whimsical, like a practical joke or publicity tour gone awry. But it turns out that Donald is running a long con.
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As I listened to Donald Trump give his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention last week in Cleveland, Ohio, the old saying the proof is in the pudding came to mind. Then it occurred to me: In this case, the adage is not quite correct. It should be the proof is in the recipe, not the pudding! For, if Congress actually allowed the Republican presidential nominee’s recipe for “curing the ills” of our country to be concocted,
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Good news! KLZ-AM, on Denver listeners’ dial at 560 AM, and online too, has invited John back for another interview! This time around, they’re hoping for a 25-30 minute discussion about the different messages coming out of the conventions. Are you available next Friday (8/5) at 6:30 a.m.? So far that’s the schedule. Checkback here for changes and look for it online here: http://tunein.com/radio/KLZ-560-s33938/.
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