And it Continues

Part 2.

As mentioned, Germany was in dire straits after world war 1.

Many German citizens were totally dismayed at the treaty signed at Versailles. Being strong people, they refused to blame the loss on the military, blaming it on the old government. A government of the wealthy, the tycoons and business owners. (Jews?) 

This led to the creation of numerous political groups. Both on the left and the right. Social Democrats, Catholic Democrats, German workers party, Communist party and so on. 

These groups consisted of every day common working German citizens and some former enlisted men who were angry at the government for giving up on their basic values.

One young ex-military man, a man born in Austria on the border of Germany. This young veteran had always thought the area of Austria where German was spoken should be part of Germany. He also thought any lands adjacent to Germany where Germans lived should be annexed to Germany. He did not like the Czechs, Poles, Hungarians, Ruthenians, Serbs and Croats that lived in the Hapsburg empire. He especially disliked the Jews, everywhere the Jews.

As a young teen he had buried himself in reading anti-Semitic literature and soon became a fanatical German nationalist.      

After the war he gained employment as a sort of spy with the army. His job was to attend meetings put on by the various groups forming to gain control of the government. He would report back as to their possibilities for success. The military would handle the situation as required. 

In September 1919 this young man was asked to attend a meeting of the German Workers Party, a small new group who met in the backroom of a tavern. He attended the meeting and thought the group was nothing to bother with. He was about to leave when a professor stood up and suggested an action. The young man was upset so much that he stood and gave an impassioned speech condemning the idea. The professor left the meeting in shame and the rest looked at this newcomer with awe.

The beginning of the rise has taken place!

Watch this spot for more. 😀

PS if you are new here, you may want to browse some of the past blogs. Some of them are good, some not so much. 😂

Germany between the wars

A brief, Cliff notes type of history dealing with Germany between WW1 and WW2

Part 1.

These were tumultuous times for sure. 

Financially, the mark went into freefall after 1920. A major cause of this was the war had been fought on credit, war bonds, treasury loans and printing more money. No taxes were instituted to pay for the war. In 1921 the mark had already fallen to 75 to the dollar the next year it was 400. By 1923 it was at 7000. Germany asked the allies to put a moratorium on reparation payments. They refused and Germany defaulted, resulting in French occupation of Germany’s industrial center. This only exacerbated the downfall of the mark. In November of 1923 it took four billion marks to buy a US dollar. At this point the mark was almost useless. Workers demanded to be paid at the end of the day because tomorrow it wouldn’t be worth as much. They were bringing their days pay home in wheelbarrows.  

This inflationary period could have been controlled by merely balancing the budget, not an easy task but a possible task. Raising taxes could have achieved this, but the government did not dare to tax adequately. Instead of drastically raising taxes on those who could pay the government actually lowered them in 1921.

This drop of value for the mark worked out well for the tycoons, the Army and the state. The masses however, watched their lifetime savings become worthless. This of course, brought much unrest and anger from the masses.

If any part of this reminds you of things that are going on in America today, GOOD that was my intention.

Part 2 will share some of the actions brought on by this unrest and anger. Stay tuned..

• this post is primarily paraphrased from “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” by William L. Shirer

Green Book Wins Best Picture

Having seen Black Klansman, Vice, Roma, Bohemian Rhapsody and a Star is Born, my first thought after hearing Green Book won the award was a cheer. To me this was the best of the good but not award-winning movies offered this year.

My cheer for Green Book came not because the earth-shattering astounding story it told, as neither was evident in this movie. No, my cheer came because of the movies I had seen none had produced a knock your socks off story in any manner.

Green Book however, did have some dialog that perked my ears a bit. A couple instances that come to mind are: 

The talk after Dr. Don Shirley is rescued from a bar in a southern town. Shirley and his driver, Tony (Lip) Vallelonga, are discussing the event. Tony tells Shirley to never go into a bar in this part of the country alone. Shirley responds saying and I paraphrase here, “I would probably receive the same results in your neighborhood bar back home.”

Shirley had two men who accompanied him as he played the piano. Tony was complaining about the company scheduling this tour in the south. The two men told him Shirley could have done the same concerts in the North for more money but he asked to do this southern tour.

Both of these scenarios provoked some deeper thought. 

A word now about the other movies up for the award.

Black Klansman was also a good movie having a humorous bent on a serious issue in our country that continues today, racism. Based on a true story it displays the ignorance of white supremacists and in the end the good guys win. Good and fun to watch but not the best.

Vice, a movie showing Dick Cheney at his evil best. Best scene in movie was the metaphorical display of Cheney catching a trout in the streams of Wyoming while working out an agreement with G.W. Bush to be his vice-president.

Roma, also an enjoyable piece but the need to rely on subtitles throughout dimmed the impact of this movie for me. The young maids giving birth during a political demonstration most memorable scene for me.

A Star is Born, third or forth remake of this memorable film. Well performed by Bradley Cooper and Lady Ga Ga but nothing to make one think.

Bohemian Rhapsody IMHO, this was the best picture. However, it dealt with two issues still on the edge of general acceptance in this world. Homosexuality and AIDS.

In conclusion while to me all the pictures were great, I’m thinking the academy awards people have become too political. This despite the fact I agree with their political bent. I would prefer they went back to just considering damn good movies for this award, to hell with the political repercussions. I just want to see a good movie. A movie that makes me want to discuss it at length with fellow attendees.

This Mess Is World-Wide

The U.S. has an imbecile in the Whitehouse, London has a Brexit dilemma, Venezuela has a leader crisis, Haiti has violent demonstrations going on, with 4 dead and many injured, in protest of President Jovenel Moise. And the list goes on.

Meanwhile in the United States Bernie has officially entered the race for president. This action has lit a fire under the campaign with Bernie raising almost 6 million dollars in the first 24 hours and the detractors coming out in full force from all sides of the political spectrum. It appears to me the oligarchs fear Bernie almost as much as they fear Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

But the most earth-shattering news this week is the disappearance of the world’s insects. “A new study has found that insect biomass- the weight of all bugs on earth combined- is dropping by a staggering 2.5 percent a year, largely because of pesticide use, habitat destruction, and climate change.”

My question is: who is weighing all those tiny creatures?

You more likely than not have read/heard about the concern for the diminishing supply of bees. Bees are essential in pollination. But you most likely have not heard of the diminishing supply of insects in general. Great you say, no more mosquitos, no more icky bugs invading my house. But you overlook the value of this part of nature. Bugs clean up dead carcasses of birds and other animal life forms. Bugs are also a food source for birds and other life forms. As silly as this may sound, bugs are a part of the balance of nature.

So, my friends, take a moment to put aside all the political woes facing the world. Take a moment and hug a bug. 🙂

Thanks for your support in this important issue. 

Quote from Theunis Bates, Managing Editor The Week magazine

http://TheWeek.com

And for your listening pleasure here is a link to one of my many favorite songs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgXNVA9ngx8

A Word to Democratic Power Brokers!

Not all the candidates

STAY THE HELL OUT OF IT!

There are many candidates vying for the nomination to unseat the clown in the Whitehouse. IMHO 5 or 6 of them are serious, with the possibility of winning the nomination. The others are in it for various reasons. Most likely to get their name public exposure for future runs.

In the last election your interference in the primary did us no good. Even the unions were detrimental to our success. 

SEIU spent the year prior to the election going around the country supporting walkouts by workers at various locations in support of a $15 minimum wage. Bernie supported a $15 minimum wage, Hillary not so much.  The power brokers in the SEIU came out in support of Hillary. Hypocrite much? Most likely they assumed Hillary was the best option for beating the clown the republicans were running. How wrong were they? It is obvious the power brokers in the Democratic party had similar thoughts. How wrong were they.

Sorry about making Hypocrite into a verb, just wanted to get a message to you all.

Take your super delegates out of the race. Let the people decide! STAY THE HELL OUT OF THE PRIMARIES! Your only job should be to work on exposing the Russian trolls and bots. Put your expertise and monies into this, it will be much more beneficial to the party and the people.

One quick note to the candidates… Do your best to extol your virtues while avoiding negative talk about your opponents. 

A few links explaining the process and some of the candidates for your consumption.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries

The 10 Dems most likely to win the 2020 presidential nomination

Belles of the ball: Democratic freshmen courted by 2020 hopefuls

Trump’s Cult Celebrates Their Presidents Day!

Throughout the country today trump’s 20-30 percent base are exulting in their president’s day!

As is the custom they begin the day with their one fingered salute to the world.  A gigantic FU to the world, we have our great leader we need you not.

The joy continues as they find small dark- skinned children to lock in cages. Singing “Look at the children’s sad crying faces.” 

Once the pleasure of seeing babies cry for their mothers subsides, the cult then begins on with a hunt for people of color to beat hell out of.  Another joyful experience for sure.

Now comes the great beating of reporters, it’s hard to get a more uplifting feeling than beating a fake news reporter.  This is followed by paying homage to the troops. The troops who have to go without, so funds can be used on the unnecessary wall.

As the day nears it’s end, all will rise and sing the Russian national anthem in honor of the founding father of the cult, Vladimir Putin!

While the cult holds trump in revered honor, they do have similar respect for the few men that have control over trump. Putin, Kim Jong Un and additional treacherous dictators.

Here is a link with pictures of additional supporters. Do you know any of these folks? https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/extreme-donald-trump-fans/

Mankind’s Inherent Evil!

Had a lengthy group discussion this morning about the evils of mankind. Talks including the evilness of wars and the killing of fellow humans via gunfire.  Two different topics in my mind but the presenter decided to put the two together.

The presentation included examples of the atrocities of wars throughout history. Included was a story of how one commander had used a catapult to launch the severed heads of the enemies over the wall into the fort of said enemies. This was a successful venture, the enemy surrendered soon thereafter.

On guns the presenter told stories of how having an armed guard saved lives at various shootings. This came to the point where he suggested to prevent gun deaths all Americans should be armed.

This point was quickly debunked when someone mentioned the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald in a public place where he was surrounded by armed guards. Or the shooting of President Reagan while he was also surrounded by armed secret service men and local police. One participant suggested the only way to end this gun violence would be to arm everyone and let us kill everyone. Sarcasm? I hope so.

There was talk of the 2^ndamendment and the right to bear arms. My response was, “the big problem with this is all the folks that bring up the 2^ndamendment seem to overlook the “A well-regulated militia” part.

The conversation included the evils of mankind with one participant telling us he cannot kill an animal, he has others kill them for him. He may become a vegetarian soon.

Another fellow said. “We have evolved from animals so it is in our genes to be evil.” This brought an instant response from the preacher who said. “Don’t include me in that group, you may have evolved from an animal but not me.”  The next person tempered it a bit by saying. “Genetically speaking our closest relative in the animal kingdom is the chimpanzee.”

As always, this group provides an interesting and stimulating discussion.

Don’t Cry for me Miss Liberty—

The Title can be sung to the tune. Don’t cry for me Argentina, if you wish.

Over 200 years ago our forefathers set about to create a new nation. A nation free from the treacherous actions of an autocratic King George 111 of England. Today, in America, the autocratic dude in the White House pretended to be King. He took it upon himself to declare a state of emergency giving himself powers to do as he pleases with our money. 

 Will not bore you with data and statistics but all factual data shows this emergency exists only in his mind and the minds of his cult.

One can tell the urgency of this emergency by witnessing his actions after spouting his basket full of balderdash on the Whitehouse lawn.  He flew off to Mar-a-largo for a few rounds of cheater golf.  All at taxpayer expense.

Today’s action goes directly against the constitutional rules laid out by our founding fathers. The three branches of government set up to provide checks and balances to avoid one person assuming a kingdom of his making.

Please join me in calling our senators and asking for their help in reeling in this power grab.

(202) 224-3121 this number will ring the capital switchboard where you can be connected to your senator. Thank you

PS another mass shooting today. This one in Aurora Ill. Now this is a real emergency! 

The Cultists

Yesterday my blog talked about believing in ghosts. It questioned the value of beliefs, true or untrue. Closing with a philosophical question regarding beliefs and truths.

Today’s blog discusses the people who still hold trump in high esteem. There is a minority of Americans who do still have these thoughts and feelings.

I call them the cultists. 

Still having communications with a few of them affirms my belief they are cultists. A couple of women with strong religious convictions come to mind. To the best of my knowledge “Thou shall not commit adultery” is still one of the 10 commandments yet, these two Christian women still both idolize trump. When questioned about this they both go silent.???

Had a discussion with a young man last week and called him a cultist based on his blind support of trump. He said no, a cult is a religious group. Had to share this google search with him.

Dictionary result for cult

/kəlt/

noun

1. a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object.

“the cult of St. Olaf”

• a relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister.

“a network of Satan-worshiping cults”

synonyms:

sect, religious group, denomination, religious order, church, faith, faith community, belief, persuasion, affiliation, movement; More

• a misplaced or excessive admiration for a particular person or thing.

“a cult of personality surrounding the leaders” Emphasis mine.

Of course, he went silent.

In conclusion, we have a small number of American citizens who believe the unbelievable. 

Trump has created this group with help from others. (Putin) He has his followers attacking media personalities, he has them not believing America’s premier intelligence agencies. He is taking the path of a fascist leader.

The recent midterm elections lead me to believe we are turning this around, we are heading in the right direction.

Carry on my friends, carry on!

Do You Believe In Ghosts?

That was opening question in last week’s group meeting. Most answered no, as did I.

This was followed by a story of three people who confirmed a ghost occupied a residence they had visited.

Individuals in the group related their personal stories. 

Mine started with me reaffirming my disbelief in ghosts. Then I shared the fact my wife had died 3 years ago. I told them occasionally I have difficulty sleeping and on rare occasions I have heard my wife talking to me. Nothing big, just something simple like “Lar, are you finished with that?”  I swear it was her voice plain as day and clear as a bell. Now, I don’t believe in ghosts so the voice had to be coming from my mind, don’t you think? 

Thinking about this, one has to wonder a couple things. 

There are many things some believe in that have no actual physical evidence or concrete documentation to prove them as being true.     

My question… If you believe in something even though conventional wisdom tells you it very well may not be true, is it indeed true ? 

Give it some deep thought and let me know what you think.