Links With Your Coffee - Sunday
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Did you know that if you click on the word Archives at the top of the list of monthly archives you'll see a list of all the posts at onegoodmove. There are two ways to search the site. The search box top right and the Google Search at the bottom of the page.
You remember Franks rant about Nestle® I linked to here well Nestle's responded, Frank listened patiently and then issued a challenge, read about it here
Private Schools Better, Not Really
Will Dub call a press conference to announce the results? I don't think so.
The Education Department reported on Friday that children in public schools generally performed as well or better in reading and mathematics than comparable children in private schools.Evangelist, Kent Hovind arrested on federal charges(tip to Peter and David)
Workers and Managers David Mamet (tip to Brenton)
I had despaired, these past five years, of that entity I described to myself as "The American People." This people, to my mind, had elected, re-elected, and suffered the depredations of an unprincipled, ungovernable band of thugs.These had cheapened the dollar, enrolled us in an absurd war, alienated immemorial allies, abrogated rational treaties, drowned the country in debt, and knew neither remorse nor obligation.
How, I wondered, could "The American People" abide this monstrous perversion by the few of the laws and comforts established for all?
One of those pesky missing links the we don't have a clue crowd claims doesn't exist.
Gorbachev: 'Americans Have a Severe Disease'
"We have made some mistakes," he said, referring to recent attacks on Russia's democracy. "So what? Please don't put even more obstacles in our way. Do you really think you are smarter than we are?""Americans have a severe disease — worse than AIDS. It's called the winner's complex," he said. "You want an American style-democracy here. That will not work."
The former Soviet leader had severe criticism for two of the most important people in the Bush administration: Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
"They are just hawks protecting the interests of the military — shallow people," he said.
Comments
Norm, This is two out of two with TypeKey not working. Thank you for the link to "Workers and Managers" post written by David Mamet. I am a big Mamet fan. He is a master of letters! But I must disagree with something he writes. "The force which kept it (US corporate management) honest was the American labour movement." I apologize if I’m getting a bit out of context here but Mamet writes with too much fervour regarding politics, corporatism and labour. Of course, corporations are behind so much ill fated lobbying and social chaos but that is not a predetermined by-product of our system. Then he writes that corporations and the Bush admin are out of control. But a system was put in place to keep it all in check and that system did not break down. What is Mamet’s point? Everything is bad, join a union, it’s Bush’s fault, vote Democrat? Ok... I believe that ignorance and lack of consciousness is the problem. We have become a people that would rather be entertained by WWF and sold miracle hair tonic by PT Barnum. The system of checks and balances that was created by our forefathers that would help us keep it all together did NOT break down! The system was meant to give individuals not just the right but the capability to choose - individually. Election stolen here or there, this was inevitable. As an American the only thing I learned growing up were selfishness and greed – from grade school all the way through college. In order to be a decent person one had to manage all the negatives. What kind of life is that? No, I disagree with Mamet because nothing organized can be good. America, from its inception, was about chaos, greed but most importantly, individuality – everything and all else would be controlled by checks and balances. We are no longer a land of individuals. We didn’t forget who we are but instead gave up a long time ago on who we could be. The system proved that it works and that the people do not. Btw, the PT Barnum hair tonic tastes good, too. –tgs-
Thanks for the heads-up on the David Mamet essay!
Gorbachev is totally right, except that Dick and Rummy are protecting corporate interests more than military interests.
An article in the Alantic Monthly followed Putins rising popularity. Putin apparently is liked because he took away many democratic freedoms--that brought on un-ebbed corruption.
My political science teacher once said governments were like plants. You can't grow a palm tree in Alaska. You can't plant a democracy in certain places in the world.
Here's a 1993 quote from one person responsible for trying to forcibly install democracy in an inhospitable region, Colin Powell:
"Saddam Hussein is a terrible person, he is a threat to his own people. I think his people would be better off with a different leader, but there is this sort of romantic notion that if Saddam Hussein got hit by a bus tomorrow, some Jeffersonian democrat is waiting in the wings to hold popular elections. (Laughter.) You're going to get -- guess what -- probably another Saddam Hussein. It will take a little while for them to paint the pictures all over the walls again -- (laughter) -- but there should be no illusions about the nature of that country or its society. And the American people and all of the people who second-guess us now would have been outraged if we had gone on to Baghdad and we found ourselves in Baghdad with American soldiers patrolling the streets two years later still looking for Jefferson. (Laughter.)"
Here's a 1993 quote from some responsible for trying to install democracy in an inhospitable region, Colin Powell.
If anyone ever sees Powell, give that bastard a good kick in the patella.
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