Global

Celebrate Armistice Day, Not Veterans Day

 

for The Humanist

Do not celebrate Veterans Day. Celebrate Armistice Day instead.

Do not celebrate Veterans Day — because of what it has become, and even more so because of what it replaced and erased from U.S. culture.

Former American Humanist Association President Kurt Vonnegut once wrote: “Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans’ Day is not. So I will throw Veterans’ Day over my shoulder. Armistice Day I will keep. I don’t want to throw away any sacred things.” Vonnegut meant by “sacred” wonderful, valuable, worth treasuring. He listed Romeo and Juliet and music as “sacred” things.

The Columbus area “Nobody is Above the Law” Rapid Resist Rally

Thank you to the hundreds who made it out on a chilly evening--at very short notice--to support the Mueller investigation and the rule of law! And thank you to everyone for your willingness to stand up for our Democracy and our Constitution! Even if you could not attend tonight, your pressure and perseverance is important.

Please join us in pushing for our demands:
- The Mueller investigation must continue unimpeded until its completion.
- Whitaker must recuse himself from the Mueller investigation oversight.
- All documents must be preserved that are related to the Justice Department investigation.

Here are three ways to help:
- Call/Fax Senators Portman & Brown and your member of Congress and ask them to demand Whitaker's recusal. Ask them to commit to protect Mueller’s investigation.
- Write letters to editor calling out Trump's assault on democracy & the rule of law & asking our MoCs to stand up.
- Speak out on social media and to your friends and remain vigilant and firm in defense of democratic principles.

Contacts
Senator Portman: @senrobportman; 614-469-6774; Fax: 614-469-7419

The Issues that won't go away

How much real change manifested itself in the 2018 midterms? How deeply does the outcome reflect the American soul?

Apparently, about 113 million Americans, basically half the electorate, felt compelled to vote in the midterms, revved up either by intense opposition to or support for Donald Trump. This is a lot more than usual for a non-presidential election, but still fairly pathetic for “the world’s greatest democracy.”

How much closer did we move to becoming a nation able and willing to focus on the real issues that threaten the planet?

To the extent that the election was about Trump and Trumpism:

Politicon 2018:

What is Politicon?

 

Politicon is to politics what San Diego’s annual Comic-Con is to comic books and superheroes - a convention geared for news junkies, avid followers of current affairs, talking points and of the talking heads who spew them in the rarefied realm of cable TV, talk radio, ripped-from-the-headlines books, newspapers, magazines, the Internet and beyond. This fourth annual confab has provided Angelenos with another encounter, live and in person, with pundits, commentators, spinmeisters, speechwriters, journalists of the chattering class, etc., who are mostly based in Washington, DeCeit and Manhattan. There weren’t any current candidates or officeholders per se in the various forums, panels, etc. - but rather those who comment upon and cover politicians and politics.

 

A Historical and Psychological Evaluation of an Anonymous Wannabe Dictator who was a Classical Sociopathic, Narcissistic, Egomaniacal, Xenophobic Demagogue

By the time this column is published in the Duluth Reader and also around the world, the mid-term election of 2018 will be over. So, whether there is a blue wave or not, I have decided to update – and actually shorten (!) - a 2016 column that will make important points that might help make sense for future voters, whether they will feel relieved, triumphant, sad or angry - or not. The electorate still needs to understand what really motivates divisive or tyrannical politicians that have sought power and wealth no matter the era or nation. Please read it carefully.

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A sociopath is a person whose behavior is antisocial, often criminally greedy, and who lacks a sense of moral responsibility, empathy or social conscience. Sociopaths never sincerely apologize nor are they capable of exhibiting remorse for wrongs that they have committed.

 

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS THEATRE REVIEW

 

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts’ crowd pleasing production of Agatha Christie’s beloved 1934 Murder on the Orient Express is a highly entertaining combination of murder, mystery, mirth and morality. Stage and screen stalwart Tony Amendola steps into the spats-covered shoes of Christie’s character Hercule Poirot, the quirky Belgian detective previously portrayed by Albert Finney and Kenneth Branagh (sporting the world’s worst mustache) in star-studded 1974 and 2017 movie versions of Christie’s bestseller, and by Alfred Molina and renowned Poirot portrayer David Suchet in 2001 and 2010 TV versions of Orient Express. The iteration currently on the boards is the West Coast premiere of the first stage rendition of Christie’s novel, written by Ken Ludwig (whose comedic Lend Me a Tenor has also been performed at La Mirada’s beautiful venue).

 

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