When the Gods of Men Die

When the gods of men die there is often a lose of social order. So it is among the people we have called Maya. Once, after witnessing the death of their gods, they dispersed, then managed to build new lives.

I can't tell that story because I do not know it. I can recount a small mosaic of attitudes an bits of information they carried into that dispersal and beyond.

There were among them those with great knowledge of the living of life and the counting of time.

They valued dignity.

They named the new places for what men did there or for the animals found there.

They understood government. Advice they gave governors included the following:

~ Live justly.

~ Listen to the advice of everyone, and follow the best.

~ Do not fear the truth, even if it is bitter.

~ Being kind comes before being just.

~ Remove from your hear all feelings of vengeance.

~ Respect he voice of the gods, but do not be deaf to mankind.

~ Do not despise the poor.

~ Do not confide in the powerful.

They were realistic and reasonable, but were capable of believing a liar.

They found underground places. They found that voices from one cenote could be heard in another cenote.

Flowers were important to them. They were medicine as good as fruit. Flowers were like people. They were like beautiful women, pretty good and not so very bad.

They grew four kinds of beans.

ToGerry Art in Responce to Comment on "Remarks by the President ...."

"Political rhetoric"
If our representatives communicate with us in any other way they are not doing there job.
Political rhetoric is effective government talk, isn't it?

It seems their talk is not effecting you as they hoped it would.

The Legislative Branch | The White House

The Legislative Branch | The White House

What in the h... are they trying to do?

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Readers Show Interest

Readers of these posts have shown interest in a very wide variety of topics. Recent readers have been especially interested in posts related to the following in descending order:

1. this blog
2. American Indians
3. U.S. government
4. jobs
5. other countries
6. world society
7. world history
8. genealogy
9. travel
10. U.S history

SenatorReid's Channel - YouTube

SenatorReid's Channel - YouTube

Learn about your government for fun and profit.

Lake Tahoe.

Defense Intelligence Agency | Committed to Excellence in Defense of the Nation

Defense Intelligence Agency | Committed to Excellence in Defense of the Nation


This is one place to increase your knowledge as a responsible citizen of our nation.

About THOMAS (Library of Congress)

About THOMAS (Library of Congress)

Find out what Congress is up to.

Track Bills and Resolutions.

Check roll call votes to see what your Senator or Representative has just done.

Tap other Government resources.

With deep breaths and calm you can learn here.

Wish it had been available since I was in the Fifth grade!

FCNL: Decoding the Budget Debate

FCNL: Decoding the Budget Debate

Info about the use of your tax contributions.

More Will Rogers Quotes

Mostly about our government:
~ I like to make jokes and kid about the Senators. They are a never ending source of amusement, amazement, and discouragement. But the rascals, when you meet 'em They are mighty nice fellows. It must be something in the office that makes them so ornery sometimes. What you see what they do official, you want to shoot 'em. But when he looks at you and grins so innocently, you kinder want to kiss him.

(Remember, he was writing this stuff in the late 20s and early 30s)

~ Shrewdness in public life all over the world is always honored, while honesty in public men is generally attributed to dumbness and seldom rewarded.

~ The Democrats are having a lot of fun exposing the Republican campaign corruption, but they would have a lot more fun if they knew where they could lay their hands on some of it themselves for next November.

~ So much money is being spent on the campaigns that I doubt if either man, as good as they are, are worth what it will cost to elect them.

~ There is one rule that works in every calamity. Be it pestilence, war, or famine. the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The poor even help arrange it.

~ Big business don't go broke any more. The minute it looks bad for them, they combine with something else and issue more stock.

~ This open-door stuff is a lot of hooey, any door is only open to those that have the best product at the cheapest money.

Will Rogers Quoted

The following writings by Will Rogers look to be related to government and politics.

~ It's going to be hard to make an issue of corruption. It's like the poor. It's always been with us.

~ We cuss the law makers, but I notice that we are always perfectly willing to share in any of the sums of money that they might distribute.

~ ... people so excited over this election that they think the President has something to do with running this government.

~ A president should hold office six years with no re-election. Stop this thing of a President hsving to lower his dignity and go trooping around asking for voters to keep him another term. Six years give him enough time to do something. Then pay the man, when he goes out, one-half his salary for life.

Denmark

Before 4500 BC big things were happening among the Ertebolle folk in Denmark. But, by that time, they were also learning new age stuff from the Danubian people.


More recently the World Gallup Poll published that the Danes are some of the happiest people on earth. Very little is rotten in Denmark. Even so, things aren't perfect there. Just as they feel that they are getting things just about right, the world changes and they begin to readjust.


They have become pretty good a readjusting, in part, because of their politics. You might think that, being a small country of seeming homogeneity, politics would be simple. Not so; there is contention. There seems to be a great variety of political vies among these Norsemen and women.


They have a multiparty system of government. It seems usual to see, what we might call and administration, a government made up of from four to six parties. They define a party much as we used to: a defined group of people with somewhat shared views, who can cooperated enough to to support a platform and representatives. Representation is proportional.


Its a parliamentary system. I'm not an authority on the system, but the main idea seems to be that an 'administration' can't govern against a majority in Parliament(Congress).


Some of the things that Danes seem to truly appreciate in their government are:
~ transparency,
~ openness in action and communication,
~ accountability,
~ knowing who is doing what,
~ knowing what each representative and party is doing for whom,
~ proportional representation,
~ consensus building.


We might benefit by learning a bit more about proportional representation.

Americans

I have traveled a lot.

I enjoyed my travels. I was treated well everywhere.

I found that Americans were generally well liked, but that the America government was not.

I am not surprised that I am well liked. I'm a likable guy. For a time I was surprised that my government was not well liked.

As I traveled, I not only talked a lot, I also listened a lot, and learned to keep my eyes open. I began to learn. I began to understand that even though most people wanted to like the United States, they could not.

I remember being taught that one of the strengths of democracy was its stability. I saw my government supporting anti-democratic government everywhere. We supported those who trusted the people least and who were trusted least by the people. We supported killers, despots, dictators, and cruel exploiters. We supported those interested in the greatest good for the very special few.

My travels began in the days when Americans still referred to the government as 'we' and 'us.' I went to Embassies and Consulates and asked, "Why are we supporting these guys?" When they found that I was serious they explained that it was done in the name of stability! At first I asked, "What about my teachers?" "What about democracy?" I said that I talked to many people who wanted their own democratic government. I said that the people found it confusing that Americans supported their actual point of teaching that government how to suppress them. When I noted How I was being asked, "What people?" and "Which people?" I began to think that I was talking too much.

I began to make my observations a bit more discreetly. My earliest inquiries were mostly in Latin America. I continued observations in Europe, the East and wider.

The major change over these years is that Americans began to refer to their government as they and them.

Who Is Interested In What?

Lately it seems that we have been interested in: government, literature/books, travel, genealogy, education, strikes; and that we have been even more interested in history and health.
Persons from about 30 countries besides the US come to check out these posts often. Persons from South Korea, Russia, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates visit often. People from Estonia, Germany, Malaysia, Denmark, and Canada are visiting even more.
Visitors from outside the US may be more interested in politics, governance, and world affairs then are those of us from the US.

President Barack Obama | The White House

President Barack Obama | The White House

This is the official site for the president United States President.

Click on the link above for plenty of visuals.

Lots of great information and links available here.

democracy

There is a lot to be said for democracy. I'll begin by saying a little of it.


I tend to think of democracy as a target and as a process.


Democracy means 'government by the people at large.' It means rule by the common people. Whoever 'the people' is, democracy is government and rule by all of them.
How might such a thing be done?


I don't know anyone who has seen such a government. Still, I like the idea and believe that it is a good thing to shoot for. I'm not talking about war. I'm just suggesting that it seems a decent way to direct ones civic activities. Directions in ones activities often proves useful.


A democracy does not necessarily call for majorities or votes. It is a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly. It may be carried out in a variety of ways.


Democracy is a way of doing things that keeps power with the people. For some it may be an ongoing process of democratization. For me, it is the measure of my government.

Men

Men who have worked for a pension should not have to sue to get it.
Neither should the government have to sue for them.
Arrangements should be made so that they get their pension in all cases excepting the end of the Earth.
Why haven't men used their collective bargaining rights and their voting rights to do that?
They have used their skills on behalf of their employers and on their need to earn their daily bread.
Why haven't they used their citizenship skills to claim their rights?
Why haven't they used politics, laws, and organisation to claim their rights?
Are they waiting for their children to take up arms?

Designing for Democracy | The White House

Designing for Democracy The White House



Interactive government; what a concept!

By the way, what is big D democracy? I am more comfortable with little d democracy.

Of, By, For

Please tell me main details concerning a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

Corruption

You might say that corruption, in another man's business, is none of your business.

What do you do about corruption in your government?

What most of us have been doing about corruption in our government is closing our eyes, ears, and minds.

Look Good?

Sometimes government by the mob lead by a self-serving rabble-rouser looks good.

Can even the ugliest face of populism look better than we have.