Tag: Historical Events

Constitution Day–17 September

I believe that this day should be a more important holiday than any of our others….this is the day the new US Constitution was approved….the day that America became a functioning entity.

I shall start with my opinion–While I believe the DoI was an important document that set the whole thing in motion….I also think that this document was a rehash of what Paine wrote in Common Sense….the approval of the Constitution set up the framework of a new country….and the as they say the st is history.

A few facts about Constitution Day…..

Constitution Day celebrates the signing of the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787.

What the Day Commemorates
  • The Signing: Delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the foundational document in Philadelphia.
  • The Birth of Government: While July 4th marks independence, September 17th marks the creation of the federal government and framework of laws.
  • Citizenship: It is also known as Citizenship Day, recognizing all who have become U.S. citizens through birth or naturalization.
How It Is Observed
  • Education: Federally funded schools and colleges must hold educational programs about the U.S. Constitution.
  • Civic Reflection: Communities use the day to reflect on the rights, liberties, and responsibilities of American citizenship.
Independence Day
  • Date: Celebrated on July 4th.
  • Meaning: It marks the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, which stated that the American colonies were free from British rule.
  • Celebration: It is a major federal holiday with paid time off, parades, fireworks, and public gatherings.
Constitution Day
  • Date: Celebrated on September 17th.
  • Meaning: It marks the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787, which created the rules and system for the federal government.
  • Celebration: It is a federal observance, also known as Citizenship Day, but it does not include a federal day off work. Schools and government agencies hold educational programs about the Constitution.

How many people know what the 4th of July signifies?  How about the 17th of September?

This is an important day in the history of this country and should get much more attention than it does for without the Constitution Washington, after the war, would have returned to his plantation and oversaw his slaves and crops.

Another thing the debate around the Constitution was public….the Federalist Papers and the ‘Anti-Federalist Papers’ were printed for all to see and know what the delegates were doing….

(This is included for those that are interested enough to check it out)

https://guides.loc.gov/federalist-papers/full-text

The Anti-Federalist Papers

The American public was privy to what both sides were aiming for with the new government.

When was the last time you got to see or read the real debate on an issue by the government…..today we get snippets from different sources that seldom tell the whole story.

These days the Constitution seems to mean very little to politicians and the population….it is used as some sort of dodge to action on some issue mostly not in the interest in the country or its people.

WE have ‘holidays’ for this person or that but the Constitution is not ever in the conversation and that is so sad that they people, especially students, are unaware of the importance of the document.

A few facts about the Constitution….

Constitution Day, also known as Citizenship Day, is an important federal observance in the United States. On September 17th each year, Americans commemorate the signing of the United States Constitution in 1787. This pivotal document laid the foundation for the nation’s democratic principles, rights, and freedoms. While Constitution Day primarily celebrates American history and citizenship, its significance transcends national borders and holds relevance in the international landscape.

Constitution Day’s historical roots can be traced back to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, where delegates from the 13 American colonies gathered to address the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation. The convention, held from May 25 to September 17, 1787, resulted in the creation of the United States Constitution, a document designed to establish a more perfect union and safeguard individual rights.

The U.S. Constitution remains the oldest written national constitution still in use. It has withstood the test of time, serving as a beacon of democracy globally. It outlines the division of powers, ensuring that no single branch of government becomes too powerful, thereby preserving the democratic ideals upon which the nation was founded.

The Constitution’s Bill of Rights guarantees fundamental freedoms such as freedom of speech, religion, and the right to a fair trial. These rights have become a cornerstone of American society, shaping the nation’s identity and inspiring similar rights protections worldwide.

Constitution Day underscores the importance of the rule of law. It reinforces the notion that even the highest authorities in the land are bound by a set of rules and principles, fostering a culture of accountability and justice.

Now let me ask you….does any of that hold true today?

I say that the lack of the Constitution importance to America has been greatly ignored in all aspects of American life….and now we are paying for it.

We should be proud of the accomplishments of the Convention that gave birth to the Constitution instead we are too damn busy hating our neighbors because they do not adhere to some sick ideology.

I believe that this country will continue to sink further into chaos until we all embrace the tenets set forth by the Constitution and that will be a disaster.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Remember The Falklands?

In my reading I come across some stories that make me scratch my head and laugh…..and this one caught my eye.

The Falkland Islands….this is for those too young to know what the Hell I am talking about….this is a nutshell look….

The Falklands War was a 74-day undeclared conflict in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

  • Territorial Dispute: Argentina claimed the islands (which they call Islas Malvinas) based on proximity to South America and a supposed inheritance from the Spanish Crown in the early 19th century. Britain had asserted permanent rule since 1833 and emphasized the right to self-determination of the local population, who wished to remain British.
  • Political Divert: In late 1981, a military junta led by General Leopoldo Galtieri took power in Argentina amid severe economic unrest and sought to use a popular nationalist campaign to unite the public behind the regime.
  • Perceived Weakness: Argentina misjudged British resolve, interpreting recent Royal Navy budget cuts and the withdrawal of patrol vessels as a sign that the UK would not fight to defend the remote archipelago.
    • The Invasion (2–3 April 1982): Argentine forces launched an amphibious invasion of the Falkland Islands, quickly subduing the small local Royal Marine garrison, and followed up by occupying South Georgia. [1, 2]
    • The Surrender (14 June 1982): British troops fought their way across harsh terrain to retake Port Stanley, forcing the Argentine garrison to surrender and restoring British control.British Task Force Response (5 April 1982): Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s government dispatched a powerful naval task force 8,000 miles south to the combat zone. Military Engagements: Fought across air, land, and sea, the war featured significant losses including the sinking of the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano and the destruction of the British destroyer HMS Sheffield by Exocet missiles.
“I would expect the UK to receive special attention because it has so much potential,” the US official told the publication. “We will therefore continue efforts to incentivise and enable the UK to step up in a major way.”

They said that changing America’s stance on the UK’s claim to the Falklands, which the US president has previously considered, was a possibility.

https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/home-news/us-uk-falkland-islands-defence-budget-trump-burnham-b3041416.html

What a an asshat!

I use to think that Donny was a loud-mouth with half a functioning brain and now I think his brain is screwed in his ass and the escaping gas makes his mouth move.

Oh that is right he is an author and game shoe host who better to lead the country than that?

This illustrates what an out of touch clown Donny truly is.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Lefties Must Pay

In my younger years, after Vietnam, I was an anti-war protester and as such I was a target of the government’s program, COINETPRO….a program that targeted protesters….I wrote about the program many years ago….

COINTELPRO: The Ghosts Of Protests Past

Thanks to this government program once I finished college I could get a good job….I settled for shoe store clerk then a bookkeeper the went to work for the state but thanks to the government that did not last long….then there was a string of similar jobs….all because the government used my anti-war stance against me then I got a good job as the manager of a pub that lasted 11 years but all that time I continued my protests against the government on many issues.

Sadly in today’s world the government has many ways of spying on protesters….from social media to phone conversations to face recognition….which makes their job so much easier than in the 70s.

That program never really went away they just used other terms to describe it and now with all the protests that is across the country the government is at it in a big way again…

Newly disclosed records reveal the US government extensively spied on prominent leftwing organizations and on protesters as part of a vast operation into groups opposing the immigration crackdown in Minnesota earlier this year.

Internal investigative reports show the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sent undercover agents to community meetings in the Twin Cities and New York City, infiltrated Signal chats and obtained financial records of mainstream unions and left-leaning non-profit groups.

Nearly 30 internal law enforcement reports were released on Thursday as part of a criminal case the Department of Justice has filed against 15 Minneapolis protesters. The defendants are accused of a “conspiracy” to “impede” US immigration officers during the Trump administration’s surge in the region.

The DHS investigative reports were disclosed by the government and submitted to the court by an attorney for one of the defendants. The records show that in January, DHS launched an inquiry called “Operation Puppet Master” to identify a “network of conspirators” organizing against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The operation came as community organizing against ICE was swelling in the region in response to the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/13/us-government-spied-anti-ice-protesters

Us so called ‘pinkos’ may not be the only targets of our government….you could be ….

The rapid spread of public surveillance cameras represents something far more consequential than a new piece of police technology. It represents a fundamental change in the relationship between the individual and the state.

These cameras allow government agents to record, identify, catalog and retroactively track the movements of people who have committed no crime, are suspected of no wrongdoing and have done nothing to invite government scrutiny. That’s not public safety. It’s an assault upon individual privacy.

Privacy is not a privilege granted by government. It is an aspect of personal liberty that the government exists to protect. It is a natural human right protected from the government in the Bill of Rights. The fact that a person leaves his home and travels upon a public road does not mean that he has surrendered that right.

There is an enormous moral and constitutional difference between a police officer who happens to observe a person in public and government surveillance that automatically and systematically records that person’s vehicle, location and movements; and stores that information for future use.

A free society doesn’t just protect people from crime; it protects them from arbitrary government. The presumption is liberty. Government is the negation of liberty. A person should not have to establish his innocence before the government leaves him alone. The burden always belongs to the government to justify all intrusions into personal liberty. Police cameras reverse that principle. They collect information about everyone the camera views and leave it to individuals to challenge the collections afterward.

A State of Surveillance

Be on your best behavior….Big Brother Is Watching.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

An ‘Influencer’ Under Every Rock

These days there is an influencer for whatever you have on your mind….make-up, dating, fashion, politics, porn, etc etc ….the whole genre have made millionaires out of lazy dickwads that become famous for the shoe they wear….what has our world become….a better question is where did all this begin?

Now there is a question that is right up my historical alley.

To begin influencers have been around for over 200 years….that’s right 2 centuries….

https://theconversation.com/the-worlds-first-influencers-were-french-and-they-emerged-after-the-revolution-286859

There you have it.

DAMN!  I love history.

But wait!  For those that want to be famous for doing nothing, an influencer, there is hope on the horizon…..

Ask a teen what they want to be when they grow up, and there’s a fair chance being an influencer is on their list. Digital media and the people who star in it have been cultural mainstays for teens’ entire lives, so creating social media, video, or podcast content seems a natural, albeit nontraditional, career path. Now they can earn a college degree in that very field. Arizona State University recently launched a new bachelor’s degree in content creation, reports the AP, offered through its Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The curriculum overlaps with that of ASU’s mass communication and media studies degree, with the major departure being a slate of specialized electives on podcasting, studio production and on-camera presence.

ASU’s announcement was met with swift criticism from many sides—from people who feel content creation is not a legitimate profession to those who question the value of a college degree in launching a social media career. But the ASU program is not the first of its kind. Many higher education institutions have started offering classes focused on the burgeoning content creation industry over the past few years, and several have certificate or minor programs. Syracuse University, Quinnipiac University, and Colorado State University offer minors, and St. Bonaventure University announced a content creation major last winter.

To Brooke Erin Duffy, a communication professor at Cornell University, these college programs represent an inflection point. Over the past year, Duffy said, institutions in education and beyond have been acknowledging content creation as a viable career path—even if the term “influencer” itself hits a nerve. The image of a prototypical influencer, Duffy said, is usually a “young girl who is snapping selfies and just reaping in tremendous rewards for seemingly not doing anything.” But that’s not the reality for many content creators, who are working on media production, audience retention strategies, brand partnerships, and business relationships associated with their online presence. “It is a time-consuming, labor-intensive job that often doesn’t pay well—at least in the beginning,” Duffy said. “But a lot of that gets concealed behind … this assumption that it’s a dream job.”

Content creator and actor Sammy Cristerna graduated from Arizona State University this spring with a degree in sociology and political science, but said he “absolutely” would have taken classes in the content creation program and considered the major if it had been available. The courses, Cristerna said, would have been useful in learning how to negotiate brand deals, maximize monetization opportunities, and cultivate and keep an audience. Some of those skills can be self-taught through experience, he added. Still, “it’s nice to have that formal education.” The one thing Cristerna said he isn’t sure will translate in the classroom is personality. To connect on camera, a person needs to have “good energy,” he said. “That’s hard to teach.”

There you now you can become famous for actually nothing.

Sadly this trend of influencers will be with us for a lot longer….it is not a fad it has become a way of life…..something every internet nerd has dreams of becoming.

Sadly I will let knowledge influence my thinking not some pimply face twat with a cute hair-do.

Anything to add?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

That Pesky Waterway

Since I am an old fart and dearly love history and using it show that not much changes over the years….I thought yet another lesson for those that are young and may not be aware of any similarities.

Most by now are familiar with our mash-up with Iran and that the waterway in this conflict, Strait of Hormuz, is a vital route for that flow of black gold….the sticking point is who will control this vital trade route.

Been there before.

The year is 1956, Ike was president and Israel was at war with it’s neighbors (sound familiar)….and it began….

The Israelis struck first on October 29, 1956. Two days later, British and French military forces joined them. Originally, forces from the three countries were set to strike at once, but the British and French troops were delayed.

…

The response of President Dwight Eisenhower and his administration was measured. It warned the Soviets that reckless talk of nuclear conflict would only make matters worse, and cautioned Khrushchev to refrain from direct intervention in the conflict.

However, Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles also issued stern warnings to the French, British and Israelis to give up their campaign and withdraw from Egyptian soil. Eisenhower was upset with the British in particular for not keeping the United States informed about their intentions.

The United States threatened all three nations with economic sanctions if they persisted in their attack. The threats did their work: British and French forces withdrew by December, and Israel finally bowed to U.S. pressure, relinquishing control over the canal to Egypt, which reopened the Suez Canal canal in March 1957.

(history.com)

This all rings similar to the Strait thing that Donny is trying hard to control….without much success….

The Suez crisis provides the clearest example. In 1956, Egypt’s president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, nationalized the Suez Canal Company, displacing the British- and French-controlled corporation that had operated one of the world’s most important commercial arteries. Britain and France regarded nationalization not merely as an economic injury but as a strategic humiliation and, together with Israel, invaded Egypt.

President Dwight Eisenhower refused to support them. After rejecting the Anglo-French invasion, Eisenhower’s administration did not make restoration of British or international ownership a condition for accepting Egypt’s continued administration of the canal. Instead, Washington opposed the invasion and pressed for a diplomatic arrangement that would preserve international access. The applicable legal regime emphasized the canal’s free use by ships of all countries on equal terms, while leaving Egypt responsible for administering and defending the waterway.

Egyptian control was not the same as unrestricted Egyptian discretion. The distinction was crucial. Washington could accept Egyptian sovereignty over the canal while insisting that sovereignty be exercised within rules guaranteeing nondiscriminatory passage. The overriding American interest was not which flag flew over the canal authority, but whether the canal remained open under internationally accepted rules.

A crucial detail that should not be overlooked: Egypt at the time was not an American ally, whereas France and the UK were. Indeed, Egypt was at the time closely aligned with the Soviet Union though not formally allied with Moscow. Washington nevertheless accepted continued Egyptian administration of the canal rather than seeking to reverse nationalization, provided freedom of navigation was preserved.

https://original.antiwar.com/trita-parsi/2026/08/05/before-hormuz-there-was-suez-what-trump-can-learn-from-eisenhower/

Donny needs to open that aging mind to reality….as if….

But nope he decided to do what he always does….act like a buffoon…..

President Trump apparently has a new target for American expansion: one of the world’s most strategic shipping chokepoints. Speaking on Long Island on Friday, the president said, “Pretty soon, I will be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States,” even though the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman is not under US sovereignty. He offered no explanation for how Washington could claim ownership of the passage, which is bordered by Iran to the north and Oman to the south, the Hill reports. He also claimed Iran “is being very badly defeated” at the moment, USA Today reports.

Roughly one-fifth of global oil and gas moves through the Strait of Hormuz, now closed amid a six-month war between the US and Iran that has driven up energy prices. Trump has repeatedly asserted that the US “controls” the strait and has twice ordered a naval blockade there, insisting on American primacy over oil shipments. “No ships get through unless we want them to,” he claimed Friday. Iran has rejected those assertions; its Persian Gulf Strait Authority wrote on X this week that whoever claims ownership “does not change the reality: the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked and will not be reopened until Iran’s conditions are accepted.” Al Jazeera‘s take is that Trump is “overstating” the amount of US control over the strait.

What an arrogant ass.

In case you want to know….the peace deal runs out today….

Oil tankers are staying put as a US-Iran ceasefire runs out of time. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which handles roughly 20% of the world’s oil, slowed sharply over the weekend ahead of Monday’s expiration of a 60-day truce, with no replacement deal in sight, reports CNBC. Only five cargo ships sailed through on Saturday and none on Sunday, down from 31 a week earlier, according to Reuters. Overall traffic is off about 90% from prewar levels.

As for the peace talks, a senior US official describes the situation as “static” to Politico. Key sticking points include Iran’s demand for compensation and the logistics of how ships will transit the strait when the war is over. Iran’s foreign minister said there is currently “not anything like a ceasefire” and no direct talks with Washington, though Qatar and Pakistan are relaying messages. The war of words has continued: President Trump last week suggested he might declare the strait US territory, while an Iranian deputy foreign minister responded that it will remain under Iran’s control.

What will our Dear Donny do?

This is good stuff for us that like to blog.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Some Thoughts On Israel

You guys know that I am a political history buff….so I feel it necessary to include a bit of history from time to time….thanx for indulging me.

We will start with 1948 and Truman….

In 1948, with war raging in Palestine, Harry Truman found himself trapped.

On one side were Zionist lobbyists and the president’s domestic political advisers, who were urging him to support the establishment of a Jewish state in as much of Palestine as possible. On the other were his top foreign policy and national security officials, led by the secretary of state, George C Marshall. Their unanimous recommendation was to prevent the establishment of a Jewish state, which they believed would trigger war in the Middle East and endanger the future of US relations with the Arab and Muslim world.

…

In the mid-1940s, Marshall pushed quietly but steadily against the Zionist movement’s proposals to establish a Jewish state in Palestine. He was concerned that American support would open opportunities for the Soviet Union to exploit Arab anger, put Middle Eastern oil supplies at risk in the event of a war between the Soviet Union and the United States, and require the deployment of unavailable American troops to prevent bloodshed and instability in Palestine. These were, indeed, the strongly held views of virtually all of Truman’s most important military and foreign policy advisers.

Truman was personally and deeply moved by the suffering of Jewish survivors of the Nazi “Final Solution”, but also irritated by and at times furious with the constant hectoring to which he was subjected by campaigners for recognition of a Jewish state in Palestine, including the World Zionist Organization and a host of other Jewish delegations, friends and politicians. Despite his personal exasperation, he could not ignore them. Coming in an election year that would pit him against Governor Thomas Dewey of New York, pressures from the Zionist lobby forced him into an excruciating and embarrassing position.

With Palestine engulfed by civil war, Arab states threatening to invade and the last British soldiers about to leave the country, Truman called a meeting of his top advisers on 12 May 1948. According to Marshall’s own account of the meeting, he warned Truman against adopting the policy strongly advanced by Clark Clifford, his main political adviser, to recognize the state of Israel before it was established.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/aug/02/pro-israel-lobby-presidents

As you can see not everyone was thrilled with the idea of Israel….but things worked out in Israel’s favor.

Now fast forward to the modern day….

The US holds states responsible for their supposed actions, Asad of Syria, Chavez of Venezuela to mention only a few and yet Israel can do as they please with impunity matters not what it is…..killings Americans, devastating Gaza with death and destruction, terrorizing the West Bank, etc. etc.

Why can’t we hold Israel accountable for their actions in Gaza?

The easy answer is money and the media…..

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry released the report on June 23. Titled “The Essence of Childhood Has Been Destroyed,” it was the first to focus on crimes and violations against Palestinian children in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Vijay Prashad at CounterPunch called it an “accusation of extraordinary gravity.” In 100-pages, the investigation documents Israeli security forces’ direct killing, degrading, and inhumane treatment of Palestinian children, including sexual and gender-based violence and torture. The report also documents the destruction of schools and civilian infrastructure and amounts to a gruesome compendium of how Israel is destroying Palestinian childhood and denying the Palestinian people a future and self-determination. As the human rights lawyer Srinivasan Muralidhar, who chaired the UN commission and led the press conference that announced its findings, bluntly summarized, “By targeting children, Israel is attacking the very capacity of the Palestinian people to exist.” This is genocide.

The UN report flatly contradicted the claims made by President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace that conditions in Gaza were improving. The UN report stated that the amount of available aid is woefully inadequate to meet the needs of hungry, wounded people, living in appalling conditions, who are being squeezed into 30 percent of what was once the Gaza Strip. The UN report further noted the admission of one Israeli soldier: “It feels like a game. You can sit in some basement of a house, safe, with your helmet off, scratching your balls, half-dressed, and kill Palestinians.”

https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/08/11/why-cant-we-hold-israel-accountable-for-its-genocide-in-gaza-its-the-media/

The damage done to Palestinian children is just one aspect of Israel’s conflict but there are so many more….

It is time to get this dark money out of our system…..probably not gonna happen considering how deep that well is but it should be attempted.

I Read, I Write, You Know

‘lego ergo scribo”

His Coming Was Foreseen

This is a post I wrote 10 years ago about the coming of Donny into our lives.

A decade ago my granddaughter and I spent a lot of time together and I introduced her to my world of books and thought….none of which she uses much now that she has grown up and got her own values and desires.

Swiss political thinker Rousseau predicted the rise of Donny, well not by name but rather by personality….

How Rousseau Predicted Trump

It is a real shame that we cannot look to our past and see the problems that we are making for our future.

What once was old is new again….and that can be said for a lot of things these days.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

American Socialism–Redux

This is a continuing series that I offer on the post from IST past that cover this hot bed issue of socialism.

With the success and the possibilities of more success on the horizon the fearmongering machine of the GOP has once again started the long sleeping BS about socialism.

First let’s ask….what is a socialist?  A simple enough question yet the answers are anything but simple….

Gertrude Stein famously wrote, “A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose,” meaning everyone knows what a rose is. The same cannot be said of a Socialist.

There are many Democratic politicians who proudly call themselves Socialists or Democratic Socialists, and there are many adversaries who brand those individuals as Socialists. Both sides use the same word, but the word means very different things to the two sides.

https://thefulcrum.us/democracy/socialism-vs-democratic-socialism

Now with that out of the way let’s move on….

Fifteen years ago I posted a history of American socialism and I thought might be helpful for those scratching their heads about the Left turn the voters are trying.

 

American Socialism–A History Lesson

Just my small attempt to show that all the monsters that the Right is predicting is pure fantasy….but if you still want horrors then look at what Trump and his corrupt band of bandits have done to this nation.

We are so much better than Donny and his thugs.

Let’s prove it to ourselves and the world.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Unequal Taxation And Revolution

Most of my regulars know that I have this knack of spreading history every chance I get……and since yesterday was Bastille Day I thought I would look at the French Revolution as it might pertain to today’s America.

Deep inequalities in taxation played a key role in fueling the French Revolution, according to a new study published by the ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin). For the first time, economists have substantiated this with figures. In areas where salt taxes and internal customs duties were particularly high, there were twice as many revolts as in low-tax districts between 1750 and 1789.

“Discontent was also reflected in the ‘petitions’ (Cahiers de doléances) submitted to the king by representatives of the commoners in early 1789. Regions facing higher taxes recorded 72% more complaints about taxes and customs duties in their petitions to the king,” says Marco Tabellini, research fellow at RFBerlin, assistant professor at Harvard Business School and co-author of the study.

The taxes varied dramatically across France. In low-tax districts, households paid 2.5% of their annual income on salt. In high-tax districts, the figure reached 13%.

“This long-standing resentment coincided in 1788 with a particularly dry summer, followed by an exceptionally cold winter, causing bread prices to soar and triggering a wave of hunger riots,” adds Tabellini.

The king, however, wanted to raise taxes in early 1789 because his military support for the Americans in their War of Independence against the British, as well as his lavish spending at the court at Versailles, had ruined the country. France had accumulated substantial debt by 1789, but the king was unwilling to declare bankruptcy.

https://phys.org/news/2026-07-unequal-taxation-fuel-french-revolution.html

I inject this into the reasons why we have a mini electoral revolution taking place here in the US…..taxation is unequal….the working peasants pay their taxes and the wealthy get a free ride…..and as usual the excuse for this inequality is that the wealthy create the jobs…..but they argument falls dead when employment numbers are looking rather dismal.

The masses are looking for people that will act not promise and so far the Dems have done nothing but promise and their actions have been limp and uninspired and not just recently but rather for decades.

The voter always looks for candidates that will improve their economic conditions and after decades of promise neither party has stepped up to do what was promised.

That brings us to today and the popularity of the DSA in elections….the voter has finally decided that since neither party is capable of improving the equality of the people then it is time to look elsewhere…..

We keep hearing the same tired argument from centrist Democrats and Republicans: if we tax the rich, we will lose a valuable source of revenue by displacing them to another state. While research suggests otherwise, Democratic Socialists and the vast majority of Americans who support taxing the rich need not get bogged down rebutting a counterfactual. Instead, we ought to argue that taxing the rich is a core American value because it protects and expands democracy. Taxing the rich is a critical tool that needs to be deployed in earnest at this time of democratic backsliding. As our democracy — the oldest in the world — teeters, the threat to domestic and global stability is of far greater consequence than unfounded parochial concerns deployed to maintain the status quo.

https://democraticleft.dsausa.org/2026/06/08/taxing-the-rich-means-taking-their-power/

Will this trend keep flowing and will we see new blood in the Congress and maybe some new ideas?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Spirit Of The Declaration–Part 1

AS we begin the countdown to the 250th anniversary of the DoI and the founding of this nation I feel that too many people have little knowledge of the document other than the vague stuff they are taught in school.

There was more that went into this document other than Jefferson spending a couple of days in solitude writing the document….

So please let me help those that want to know as much as possible about the founding of this country and the thoughts behind them….

The members of the Continental Congress knew that their Declaration left much unsaid and unfinished. They had heavily edited Jefferson’s draft, though they refrained from adding new sections. In what Jefferson bemoaned as “mutilations” but were really judicious edits, Congress cut about a quarter of the text before adopting the document on the morning of July 4, 1776. In truth, the Declaration was not seen as the epochal event later generations attributed to it. To the delegates in Philadelphia, that step had been taken two days earlier, on July 2, when Congress voted to separate from Great Britain, King George III, and Parliament. Moreover, the Declaration was important insofar as it paved the way for two more important moves: forming foreign alliances, primarily France and Spain, and forming some kind of confederated government to guide relations among the now sovereign States. No public readings, fireworks, or celebrations occurred on July 4, though they would break out in coming days as America’s new citizens listened to the Declaration read on hastily printed broadsheets sent around the country.

By design, the Declaration avoided any discussion, or even suggestion, of the type of government the colonies should establish. Formally, that was the responsibility of Connecticut delegate Roger Sherman’s committee to draft articles of confederation, which ultimately created a uniquely weak central government. The more fundamental questions of governance were to be left to the new States, eight of which would draft and adopt constitutions in 1776 alone. Indeed, for many delegates, the business of writing state constitutions was far more important than Congress’s declaration. Even Thomas Jefferson would rather have been back in Williamsburg working on a constitution for Virginia, a draft of which he had already composed earlier in the year, and parts of which he now re-purposed for the declaration.

https://reason.com/volokh/2026/05/05/the-spirit-of-the-declaration-part-1/

The more history you learn the more care you will take in the votes you put in….there is so much more to our country than the mindless dribble of the MAGA twats…

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”