Monthly Archives: March 2013

A breath of fresh air? #194 –Robert M. Shelby, 3-13-13. [354 txt wds]

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was announced new Pope tonight, 3-13-13, at 8:15 p.m. in the Vatican at Rome, to massive cheering and the playing of bands. Taking the name, Francis the First, or Pope Francisco, he spoke plainly and directly with humility and kindness between traditional prayers. The selection of a Cardinal from Buenos Aires, Argentina, […]

Warren, Hedges and Chomsky teach us.  #193   –Robert M. Shelby, 3-12-13  [570 wds]

Listening to Senator Elizabeth Warren grill the bank regulators about their deficiencies in bringing big banking malefactors to trial and punishment, it becomes clear that the criminals are running the country by running away from justice with tiny slaps on the wrist and trampling over us. You would think the country existed only for their […]

Our national illness: part two.     #192          –Robert M. Shelby, 3-8-13.  [548 txt wds]

Underlying and encompassing the Statue of Freedom atop the Capitol Dome in Washington D. C. and the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, is an earlier, statuesque figure of a woman, variously shown in graphic art and on coins, as representing the United States. Her name is unknown by many people and forgotten by […]

Our national illness: part one. #191          –Robert M. Shelby, 3-8-13.  [476 txt wds]

The state of the Union may be strong. Clearly it is healthier than the condition of this country’s unions which grow increasingly imperiled. All considered, the state of the United States is ragged and schizophrenic as are most nations today. Our situation mirrors that of the European Union fairly closely, where a similar struggle goes […]

Skewered shish-ka-babs #190 –Robert M. Shelby, 3-6-13. [452 txt wds]

The late vice president Spiro Agnew (1918-1996), unfortunately, left as his most memorable legacy only a phrase, which he, as Nixon’s running mate and first-term vice president, applied to media persons and Democratic politicians critical of Nixon’s policies and actions. The phrase was, “nattering nabobs of negativity.” It is interesting to see how such partisan […]