Jason O'Leary

The land of the free?

This says it all really
.

Black uniformed, faceless police  preventing a peaceful rally at  the Democrat convention, surely the Democrats are supposed to be the good guys? Come to think off it so are the police.

Are they serious?

I was just going to write a brief plea to anyone reading to vote NO to the Lisbon treaty, but having been lazy about looking into it, and having only just read into it a bit, I cannot believe how scary it is, scary in a grab your tinfoil hat, where’s my conspiracy theory trench coat kind of way. I knew it was trouble when all the “money” wanted a yes vote.

Having read a dozen or so blogs, another dozen sites arguing for and against it, I am convinced that they cannot be serious.

I just happen to be covering competition amongst the elite of the late Roman republic and the causes of the Roman revolution at the minute I cannot help but draw comparisons to current events.  The fact that I have also been listening to an audio version of “Confessions of an Economic Hitman” add to my growing sense of “holy sh*t” how are we being manipulated. I read words written over 2000 years ago and I get a shiver as they seem to be so typical of what is happening now.

Mighty kings were vanquished, savage tribes and huge nations were brought to their knees; and when Carthage, Rome’s rival in her quest for empire, had been annihilated (146 BCE) every land and sea lay open to her.

It was then that fortune turned unkind and confounded all her enterprises. To the men who had so easily endured toil and peril, anxiety and adversity, the leisure and riches which are generally regarded as so desirable proved a burden and a curse. Growing love of money, and the lust for power which followed it, engendered every kind of evil.

Avarice destroyed honour, integrity, and every other virtue, and instead taught men to be proud and cruel, to neglect religion, and to hold nothing too sacred to sell. Ambition tempted many to be false, to have one thought hidden in their hearts, another ready on their tongues, to become a man’s friend or enemy not because they judged him worthy or unworthy but because they thought it would pay them, and to put on the semblance of virtues that they had not.

At first these vices grew slowly and sometimes met with punishment; later on, when the disease had spread like a plague, Rome changed: her government, once so just and admirable, became harsh and unendurable. “Handford, S. A.(trans.)(1963) Sallust, The Jugurthine War/The Conspiracy of Catiline, London: Penguin, pp.181–83)

I know it is all very Revelations, but this was Sallust’s idea of how Rome became corrupted by Empire, how the rich and powerful became greedy and wanted more and more. Of course in the late republic when the top few elite tried to subvert constitutional power, they played the fear card, they pandered to the masses, they offered free grain and gladiatorial games. Now although we get the fear card played daily, we have to pay inflated prices for our grain and our entertainments. Veni, vermini, vomui!

Anyway this was an interesting video (produced on a shoestring I’d say, but well done to the lads who put it together as it is very informative)  take a look, it’s long at over an hour and twenty minutes, but worth a look.

And if that is just too much for you to watch here is a clip from Rainbow (a TV show from my childhood) and ask yourself, are they serious?

-- Are they serious?

St. Patrick’s Day…

A big part of St. Patrick’s Day is having white people feel particularly upset at the oppression of their ancestors that has in no way trickled down to them. If you find yourself talking with a white person who tells you about how their great grandfather was oppressed by both the English and the Americans, it is strongly recommended that you lend a sympathetic ear and shake your head in disbelief. It is never considered acceptable to say: ?but you?re white now, so what?s the problem???

- Stuff White People Like This is take from #89 ?St. Patrick?s Day – A highly entertaining, funny and highly recommended website I stubled across today (#90 is great)