Caligula Unbound

Caligula, Trump… what’s in a name? unconscionable.

Earth Tourist

CALIGULA UNBOUND

alan reynolds

copyright © 2019 alan reynolds
all rights reserved
http://www.alanreynolds.nl

Preface
Some stories need to told and retold. One of them is the story of the notorious Roman emperor Caligula.
Struck by the resemblances between Caligula and current American politics, I tried to capture them in this story of a ruler unchained and dangerously free from restraining, sane, and ethical influences and considerations.
In addition to being available in a print version and as ebooks* the full text of Caligula Unbound is online here.

Alan Reynolds
Monnickendam, 2019

* Please contact me at alanreynolds@gmail.com if you would like the print version or an ebook (either epub or mobi format)

Prologue
Long long ago when times were unenlightened
a madman gained much power. Don’t ask how.
His twitches soon had his own Cabinet frightened.
He cajoled, barked, and bullied trying to cow
those doubting that his dubious advent…

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Lies, lives lost and more blood… America’s legacy will be?

Children in cages never have a nice day.

–

“The government is literally taking kids away from their parents and leaving them in inappropriate conditions. If a parent left a child in a cage with no supervision with other 5-year-olds, they’d be held accountable.” – Michelle Brane, director of migrant rights at the Women’s Refugee Commission

Photo by Bess Hamiti from Pexels

“We will take America without firing a shot…….We will BURY YOU! We can’t expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism. We do not have to invade the United States, we will destroy you from within.” – Nikita Khrushchev

“Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually, they will            believe it.” – Adolf Hitler

“The man is the only animal that can remain on good terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them.”  – Samuel Butler

History keeps repeating itself.

 

Photo by it’s me neosiam from Pexels

 

How many more innocents must die at the hands of this fascist regime? The survivors will be forever scarred. America can no longer call itself the home of the brave. Brave people do not behave like this. They look to help and to heal. What do you see as the future for such a country? Kidnapping, bigotry and child abuse on a grand scale, is this to be the nation’s legacy?

Bisous,

Léa

 

 

It Can Happen Here: Revisited — charles french words reading and writing

Given the horrors of the mass shootings over the weekend, clearly inspired by bigotry, white nationalism, and racism, I decided to use this post again. (https://en.wikipedia.org) In 1935, Sinclair Lewis, in It Can’t Happen Here, spoke to the idea that many Americans held that fascism could not occur in the United States of America. His […]

via It Can Happen Here: Revisited — charles french words reading and writing

Thoughts and Prayers My Ass — This, That, and The Other

I’ve been pretty angry and upset over this whole Tygpress.com thing over the past three or four days. But in the scheme of things, it’s small potatoes compared with what’s going on in the United States. At least 53 people were shot dead and many more were wounded by separate mass shooting incidents in just this past […]

via Thoughts and Prayers My Ass — This, That, and The Other

Crimes Against Humanity, War Crimes, Crimes Against Peace, – You be the judge…

“He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression, for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.” – Thomas Paine

“Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.” – Howard Zinn

“If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America.”  – Nelson Mandela

“If those in charge of our society – politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television – can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves.”              – Howard Zinn

–

 

“If the Nuremberg Laws were applied, every postwar president would have been hanged.” – Noam Chomsky

 

The above quote was made in 1990 and did not include Presidents after Bush Sr. With the criteria, one can easily see to which ones following, the quote applies.

 

His reasoning:

 

Truman for the atomic bomb ( deliberate targeting of civilians as mass murder), plus counter-insurgency work in Greece

 

Eisenhower for his role in the CIA overthrow of the Arbentz government in Guatemala, maybe also an intervention in Lebanon and the role of CIA in Iran

 

Kennedy for Bay of Pigs invasion (“outright aggression”), Operation Mongoose, and his involvement in Vietnam

Johnson for Vietnam escalation

 

Nixon for Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos

 

Ford he acknowledges as tricky but his support of Indonesian invasion of East Timor (“near-genocidal”)

 

Carter as “least violent” but supported the Indonesian government despite atrocities

 

Reagan for “the stuff in Central America,” support of Israeli invasion of Lebanon

 

Bush (Sr.) for his involvement in the Gulf War

 

In making his assessment, Mr. Chomsky uses the Nuremberg principles that follow

 

“The crimes hereinafter set out are punishable as crimes under international law:

 

• Crimes against peace:
• Planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances;

 

• Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the acts mentioned under (I)

 

• War Crimes

Violations of the laws or customs of war which include, but are not limited to, murder, ill-treatment or deportation to slave labor or for any other purpose of civilian population of or in occupied territory, murder of ill-treatment of prisoners of war or persons on the Seas, killing of hostages, plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity

 

• Crimes against humanity

Murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation and other inhumane acts done against any civilian population, or persecutions on political, racial, or religious grounds, when such acts are done or such persecutions are carried on in execution of or in connection with any crime against peace or any war crime”

“There is a voice that doesn’t use words. Listen.”  – Rumi

 

As Rumi said, be still and listen to the voice that comes from within you. Search your conscience and decide if you will now stand against ignorance, war, and hate.

Peace,

Léa

 

 

Do not be fooled! Follow the money trail!

Education for Sustainable Development

by Sven A. Bjorke, Feb 2017

The sail ship era did not end because of a lack of wind, but because better alternatives were found. The fossil fuel era will end when better alternatives are available. It is happening now.

Oil and coal-billionaires, petro-tyrants and extreme Islamists live high on fossil fuels. These men are willing to do anything; start wars and destroy the future of their own grandchildren, to delay the inevitable shift from the fossil fuel paradigm to the sustainable development paradigm.

The world’s largest (1) oil-exporters: President Putin and the Saudi royal family, in close cooperation with US oil executives and the OPEC regimes, are fighting with their backs against the wall. The green shift (2) has begun, and oil prices will never return to the high altitudes (3). After a possible short-lived upturn the next two or three years, the price…

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Pre-election or pre-selection post…

With only a week before elections, I hope each of you will reach deep into your heart and address what you are about and what you are willing to do about it.

Here is a small offering of quotes to ponder and it is my sincere hope that when you do go to vote, your conscience goes with you. Do you listen to all the hype or can you still think for yourself?  It is often the one pointing the finger at others that has the most to hide. There are agendas and there are hidden agendas that you will not be apprised of until the opportunity to have your say is gone. The country has not been so divided since the Civil War and as things continue in the current regime, that seems to be the direction that the country is heading toward. Of course, another possible outcome could be another war. If so, who would be your allies? As things stand now, the administration and conservative media, have alienated allies of the past and left the nation most vulnerable.  They have declared war on the environment. Pushed to the brink, the planet will survive, but will humanity? Yet the administration has trampled every protection for the environment and done all that it could to escalate global warming. I could go on, but I would rather just get to the quotes and hope you take some time, soul-searching.  What kind of world and what kind of life are you bequeathing your progeny? 

 

“The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”               – Edmund Burke

“False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.”          – Socrates 

“The best form of government is that which is most likely to prevent the greatest sum of evil.”  – James Monroe

“The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” – Albert Einstein

“Indifference, to me is the epitome of all evil.” – Elie Wiesel 

“The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones.”       – William Shakespeare

 “Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil.” – Jerry Garcia

“Moral evil is the immorality and pain and suffering and tragedy that come because we choose to be selfish, arrogant, uncaring, hateful and abusive.” – Lee Strobel

“Shall I tell you what the real evil is? To cringe to the things that are called evils, to surrender to them our freedom, in defiance of which we ought to face any suffering.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca

“The secret to happiness is freedom… and the secret to freedom is courage.’ – Thucydides

“Hypocrisy is the mother of all evil and racial prejudice is still her favorite child.”     – Don King

“Apathy is the overrated protection of that rock you’re hiding under.”                            – Laura J.W. Ryan

“Live simply so that others may simply live.” – Mahatma Gandhi

 

While this is merely a minuscule sampling of applicable quotes, I do hope you take time to ponder and search your values. What are you about and what kind of world do you wish to leave to your children, grandchildren, and subsequent generations?

 

Bisous and Peace,

Léa

 

Wednesday’s Words to Ponder

“Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people”.  – Eleanor Roosevelt 

“Justice cannot be for one side, but for both”.  – Eleanor Roosevelt

“You must do things that you think you cannot do”.  – Eleanor Roosevelt

               “Never allow someone who is not allowed to say yes, to say no to you”.                           – Eleanor Roosevelt

“When will our conscience become so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it”.  – Eleanor Roosevelt

      “I once had a rose named after me and I was flattered. But I was not happy to read the description in the catalog: not good in a bed, but up against the wall”.                     – Eleanor Roosevelt

“A woman is like a tea bag –  you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water”.  – Eleanor Roosevelt

–

Eleanor Roosevelt was born on October 11, 1884, in New York City. The niece of Theodore. Roosevelt, who would become president and who married a man who also became president, Franklin D. Roosevelt. Eleanor took on the role of the first lady and made it her own. She wrote her own newspaper column, My Day, advocated for human rights and women’s rights. She held press conferences and after the death of her husband went on to chair the United Nation’s Human Rights Commission.

 

Despite being married to the president, she was not content to sit back idly and smile for the camera. She developed her own public voice while working with the American Red Cross. Eleanor accepted increasing challenges following her husband’s polio attack that would render him dependant on physical assistance for the remainder of his days.

 

As her husband took on the mantle of command of a nation, she forever changed the role of a first lady. refusing to be relegated to a life of domesticity, she gave press conferences and rallied people for causes that she held worthwhile. Among the causes she campaigned for were human rights, children’s causes and issues relating to women. She worked tirelessly with the League of Women Voters. She focused on ways to alleviate the suffering of the poor and against racial discrimination. During WWII she traveled abroad in support of American troops. She continued this role until her husband’s death on April 12, 1945.

 

Despite her plans to fade away from public life, that was not to be. In 1945, then President Harry Truman appointed her delegate to the United Nations General Assembly which she served until 1953 when she became chairperson for the U.N.’s Human Rights Commission helping to create the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, an endeavor she considered to be her highest achievement in a remarkable life.

 

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy reappointed her to the United States delegation to the U.N. and to the National Advisory Committee of the Peace Corps and chair on the President’s Commission on the Status of Women.

 

On November 7, 1962, Eleanor Roosevelt died in NYC of aplastic anemia, tuberculosis and heart failure. She was 78 years old and was laid to rest on the family estate in Hyde Park, NY.

 

Eleanor Roosevelt set a standard for First Lady that has not been equaled. She was a humanitarian of the first order and dedicated her life to fighting for social and political change and committed to bringing the issues that would affect them, to the people.

Bisous,

Léa

“Think of your son. Think of your husband.” #ThrowbackThursday #MeToo

CHRISTINE IS A HERO AND THE FBI ONLY FOUND WHAT THEY WERE ALLOWED TO. THIS GOVERNMENT IS A SCAM AND CORRUPT TO THE CORE.

Barb Taub

“Think of your son. Think of your husband,” Trump continued. “I’ve had many false accusations. I’ve had so many. When I say it didn’t happen, nobody believes me.”—Donald Trump mocks Christine Blasey Ford’s Testimony at Mississippi Rally

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testifying before Senate committee [Image Credit: The Cut]

I sat in front of my computer, riveted to the live feed of the hearings. I watched Dr. Ford’s gut wrenching  testimony and Brett Kavanaugh’s bewildered, infuriated response. And as the tears poured down my face, I remembered…

Events such as this happened to almost every woman of my generation. Lives were ruined, damaged, or simply never realized full potential. Overall, we got on with the business of living despite the memories we didn’t let ourselves think about.

BUT THAT’S NOT WHAT WE WANT FOR OUR DAUGHTERS AND OUR GRANDDAUGHTERS. IT HAS TO STOP.

Sure, decades have gone by since…

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EFFERVESCENT INGREDIENTS – Marilyn Armstrong

SERENDIPITY: SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH

I should be peppy and lively. I should be able to find the ingredients to get the laundry done, to go take a few pictures. Something.

I’m too beat up to find anything remotely effervescent in me right now. It has been a grueling few months. Not always in a bad way, but still exhausting and the crazy humid heat has not helped. I also suspect that my tolerance for extremes of weather is diminishing with the years because I’m far less energetic now than I was even a few months ago.

The combination of personal crises, national calamities, climate change, and a general sense that everything I worked for and cared about is being undone in such a short time, my head is spinning. The best part of the summer has been our winning baseball team. You know life has gotten awfully rough when you cling to sports as…

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