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Showing posts from November 2, 2014

They broke the mould when he died: William J. Gaynor, the mayor of New York from 1910 to 1913

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      http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/01/the-mayor-of-sarcastic-witty-and-candid-letters/

1922 or 2014 "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose"

New York Mayor John Francis Hylan ‘The real menace of our Republic is the invisible government, which like a giant octopus sprawls its slimy legs over our cities, states and nation. To depart from mere generalizations, let me say that at the head of this octopus are the Rockefeller-Standard Oil interests and a small group of powerful banking houses generally referred to as the international bankers. The little coterie of powerful international bankers virtually run the United States government for their own selfish purposes. ‘They practically control both parties, write political platforms, make catspaws of party leaders, use the leading men of private organizations, and resort to every device to place in nomination for high public office only such candidates as will be amenable to the dictates of corrupt big business. ‘These international bankers and Rockefeller-Standard Oil interests control the majority of the newspapers and magazines in this country. They use the columns

Dreams/Faith/Politics/Humour/Beauty

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Dreams.   My sleep last night (Nov 5th) was very restless.  At one point in my dreams I was trying to find my father (who died in 1974).  I was supposed to meet him in a local motorbike/scooter dealership, (the place where he and I bought my first Lambretta scooter back in about 1964), but all the streets were bereft of street lights, and thus were pitch black.    I never could find Dad or the dealership.   I hated the darkness.     ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   Faith.   Then, in the same (or another) dream I was walking down a road and singing aloud  a gospel chorus from the days of my youth.     "On Calvary, he died for me That I his love might know. To set me free, he died for me. That's why I love him so".       As I sang that song in my dream, I was joined by a father and a son who walked alongside me, and joined in the singing.  It was so beautiful.

For whom the Bell tolls. (Boston and Cambridge mourns)

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      Tom ~ Gone          Tom ~ Gone     Tom ~ Gone

Holding my nose on Florida's election day.

My first vote in a General Election was in 1966 in the U.K.     I voted at the Whitehall (Bristol) Primary School, using  an old-fashioned paper-ballot, and marking my preferred candidate with an "X".   I have been a faithful voter since then (except between 1976 and 1984 - I was a British Subject living in the U.S.A., therefore I could not get home to vote in  U.K.elections, nor was I eligible to vote in the States).   I became a U.S. Citizen in September 1984.  I registered to vote the next day.  Since then I have voted in every election (including Primary elections)  save for one year when I was out of the Country for a Primary and had neglected to seek a Postal vote.   I will vote tomorrow in the so-called mid-terms.  (I could have voted by mail, or chosen "early voting", but I like to vote on the day itself).   There is no contest this time around for the U.S. Senate in Florida.   We get to vote for a Representative in Congress (Florida Di

They say that cats are unsociable.

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"They" say that cats are unsociable, but who are "they"?   "They" are jealous and possessive dogs, who spread this ugly canard for their own self-centered reasons.   Yesterday I reclined on my recliner (as one does).    Junior cat Ada jumped up onto the table next to me chair.  She stared at me.   I patted my thigh.  Ada accepted this invitation. She jumped onto my lap, and then took up  residence with her torso on my belly and her head and front paws on my chest.   Penne, whose bed is under the table, observed this, then arose, ready to leave the room.  I sweet-talked her into staying.   Senior cat Adelaide watched from her perch on a table at the other end of the room. Then she did what  she often does when she is trying to steal Ada's food.  She shimmied along the perimeter of the room, hoping that I would not see her.  (Excuse the double negative, but I never said that cats were not sly!).   Adelaide drew near. I patted