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November 27, 2016

Make America Fail Again?




Is 'do what works' illogical to some people? The majority? Can a society be suicidal, masochistic, self-mutilating?

And can you read numbers? Do you care more for slogans or facts? Here are the last fifteen years:






Finally, one of the great scenes in TV history from 2012:





November 18, 2016

New National Anthem


I'm officially proposing this Tom Petty (and the Heart Breakers) song as our national anthem for the next four years. In part this is due to the objectionable phrase, "the hireling and slave," in the current anthem. Partly because we need reminding every day to stay strong and hold the line against fascism.

While I'm at it, let me show you the cover of Petty's recent album with his old group Mudcrutch. It's a photo taken by my great-grandfather, Louis H. Pedersen, published in the National Geographic in 1916. My cousin Dan writes a terrific blog, and you can find the full story of the bear photo here.
http://pedersenwrites.blogspot.it/2016/06/197-who-will-remember.html



November 15, 2016

Definitions 2



Xenophobe: a person unduly fearful of what is foreign and especially of people of foreign origin.

White supremacist: a person who believes in a racist ideology centered upon the belief, and promotion of the belief, that white people are superior in certain characteristics, traits, and attributes to people of other racial backgrounds and that therefore white people should politically, economically and socially rule non-white people.

Autocrat: a person invested with or claiming to exercise absolute authority. A person who behaves in an authoritarian manner; a domineering person.

Megalomaniac: a person with a mania for great or grandiose performance, which comes from a delusional mental disorder that is marked by feelings of personal omnipotence and grandeur. A megalomaniac will have an unnaturally strong wish for power and control, or the belief that he/she is very much more important and powerful than they really are.

Nationalist: a person with a devotion, especially excessive or undiscriminating devotion, to the interests or culture of a particular nation-state and a belief that nations will benefit from acting independently rather than collectively, emphasizing national rather than international goals.

Authoritarian: favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom. Synonyms include: autocratic, dictatorial, totalitarian, despotic, tyrannical, autarchic, draconian, absolute, arbitrary, oppressive, repressive, illiberal, undemocratic, anti-democratic.

Oligarch: a person who believes that a country, business, etc., should be controlled by a small group of people. The leader of a small group of people who control the government.

Conspiracy theorist: one who expounds a belief that some covert but influential organization is responsible for an unexplained event.

Hypocrite: someone who says they have particular moral beliefs but behaves in way that shows these are not sincere: a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, especially a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.

Nuclear codes:  The Gold Codes are the launch codes for nuclear weapons provided to the Presidents of the United States in their role as Commander-in-Chief of the United States armed forces. In conjunction with the nuclear football, the Gold Codes allow the president to authorize a nuclear attack.

Last but not least:
Conscience: a person's moral sense of right and wrong, viewed as acting as a guide to one's behavior. The complex of ethical and moral principles that controls or inhibits the actions or thoughts of an individual.
See also: a guilty conscience, a question/matter of conscience, to follow the dictates of conscience.

Happy trials, Martin