Arran's Alley
Mick Arran
- Location
- Savannah, Georgia, USA
- Bio
- I've done everything from recycling to teaching in a pre-school. Most recently I was for 10 years an acting and theater teacher as well as a pallet builder. I read a lot and I'm an old man who remembers the distant past with somewhat more clarity than this morning's breakfast.
I've been blogging for a decade and I don't do "light". If you're looking for recipes, self-promoting displays of items made for sale, titillating stories about how I was a pimp for an afternoon, or the beauties of toasters, you've come to the wrong place. Check the Front Page.
MY RECENT POSTS
- Imperial Sugar Off the Hook
March 01, 2013 03:10PM - Benedict's Resignation A Ploy
February 13, 2013 02:13PM - MoDo Dodo Catches On
October 03, 2012 05:33PM - Who Counts? Not You
October 01, 2012 06:00PM - Never Admit Govt Helps –
Anybody
August 30, 2012 05:25PM
MY RECENT COMMENTS
- “Yeah, I know. I was
there. But it's still
pretty
invisible.”
April 07, 2013 05:29PM - “Apparently this is the
way it's going to be from now
on. The
corporation you're
w…”
March 01, 2013 03:15PM - “Wanting to control the
direction of the church from
the grave
is typical of
Bened…”
February 13, 2013 02:14PM - “I've had this
conversation so often, Ben, I
could recite it
in my sleep.
I'll spa…”
October 03, 2012 02:51PM - “That's an excellent
idea, Zach, and I don't even
know who
Jill Stein is. As
long…”
October 02, 2012 02:30PM
Mick Arran's Links
- MY LINKS
- Amazon Deals Every Day
- Siren Song
- The Bush Cult
- Dump the Dems
- MY LINKS
- CLICK HERE TO SIGNUP FOR BLUEHOST.COM
- Arranology
- Fact-esque
- mickarran's blog (Savannah Morning News)
- MY LINKS
- Amazon Today's Deals
- Savannah Regional Central Labor Council
- The Sideshow (Avedon Carol)
- Unclaimed Territory (Glenn Greenwald)
- Robert Reich's Blog
- Barbara's Blog (Barbara Ehrenreich)
- Norwegianity
- Crooks and Liars
- Walled-In Pond
Imperial Sugar Off the Hook
A few years ago a sugar refinery owned by Imperial Sugar of Savannah, Georgia, exploded. Fifteen people were killed and dozens were injured, some severely. The explosion was the direct result of a corporate refusal to obey safety rules designed to avoid just this kind of event. OSHA, over a single… Read full post »
Benedict's Resignation A Ploy
People aren't used to thinking of the Papacy as political but like most things people aren't used to thinking this is truer than whatever they do think. The Papacy has been political practically since its inception, and this is one of the most political pontiffs we've had in recent generati/… Read full post »
MoDo Dodo Catches On
You know that it’s all unraveling when even Maureen Dowd is figuring out that the Democrats are just Republicans with less money.
W.’s administration played up Al Qaeda ties, exploiting 9/11 to invade Iraq, which the neocons had wanted to do all along. The Obama administration s
… Read full post »
Who Counts? Not You
OK, so you probably think that at least if you’re a dedicated cheerleader they won’t throw you under the bus even if you’re not their first priority. But you’re being naive.
Regardless of who wins the presidential election in November or what compromises Congress strikes in
… Read full post »
Never Admit Govt Helps – Anybody
One of the easiest adjustments to make as we re-work our psyches to fit the pre- and misconceptions of the New American Oligarchy is the one where we have to re-write history. This has become such a common tactic of the corporate media that it almost goes without… Read full post »
The Crackpot Consensus
One of the most challenging aspects of adjusting to the NAO’s is the fact that so many of them are, well, stupid. Todd Akin’s absurd belief that women have some sort of magical control over their bodies if only they’d decide to use it is just the tip of… Read full post »
Where Have We Seen This Before?
I must admit that I'm having difficulty with this Dominique Whosis thing. On one hand, it does the heart good to see the head of the often-criminal IMF perp-walked in handcuffs and denied bail. 'Bout time somebody in the predatory globalized
Candidate Gingrich Wants a "Conversation" About Medicare
Is Newtie Gangrene actually running for president this time instead of pretending he is as a way of boosting his new book or his lecture fees (which has always before turned out to be his real agenda)? Seems it may be so
A Calm, Rational Conversation
From Digby, who really ought to know better by now.
And once we cut the deficit by doing nothing and everyone has pulled themselves together after this collective panic attack, we can all sit down and have a rational discussion about long term health care costs and fixing that little shortfall
… Read full post »
The Rich Win. Always
It occurred to me when I was reading a book on the beginning of the Civil War that we, us ordinary shlubs, have been under the thumbs of the rich since the beginning of what we are foolishly pleased to call "civilization". From the very beginning of socialized tribal
Socialism - It's Not Just For Crackpots Any More
Socialism. It's scary just to say it, ain't it?
You might think that's a Bad Thing. I mean, hasn't everybody been shying away from terms like "liberal" and "progressive" and "socialist" because we've been taught they represent frightening, evil people and anti-American values? But in fact it's a Go
The Children of Babbitt
A hundred years ago – OK, 89, I rounded it off, so sue me
– Sinclair Lewis wrote a novel called Babbitt, the
first ever
about what our wanna-be-aristocrat upper middle class was really
like. It was a hugely successful book, not least because it
skewered a smug, self-satisfied, arro… Read full post »
IOKIYAR, Meet IOKIYAC
As we are all now well aware, there is a split in the nation's system of law and morality: if you're a conservative Republican , committing fraud is a standard business practice and adultery is justified by your patriotism; if, otoh, you're a liberal Democrat, playing golf is tantamount to treas… Read full post »
Did You Know...?
1) Did you know that Newtie would never have committed adultery if he wasn’t such a damned passionate patriot?
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is in the early stages of a presidential campaign, spoke in an interview with David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network /
… Read full post »
Our Plutocracy: It's Official
In case you had any doubts, this is a plutocracy (Via Avedon):
The financial world is tres concerned that after 30 yrs of outsourcing, globalizing, union destroying, automation, and stock-friendly lay-offs, there isn't much left in the way of employees. (Via FDL's Blue Texan)
Even
Fantasy Politics
I don't suppose I need to ask how this qualifies as "moving to the center". Especially when you consider the latest poll results. It doesn't, of course, except on Wall Street and inside the Village Bubble where life is beautiful all day long and all you have to do is smile.
What seems… Read full post »
S Dak Elimination Solution & Probable Blue Dog Compromise
The Brilliant Minds in S Dak have come up with plan to eliminate all abortions that is breathtaking in its simplicity, almost elegant. Make it legal to kill the doctors who perform them.
… Read full post »A law under consideration in South Dakota would expand the definition of "justifiable homicide" to include k
Randian Libertardianism and Traffic Lights
Since none of us get anywhere these days espousing intelligent, workable, rational solutions to our deadly problems, and seeing as how the Randian views of the batshit crazy Right (BCR) are so much easier to pursue what with their not having to provide any sort of proof that any solution
… Read full post »Atrios: Still in Denial After All These Years
Business First. Also Second, Third, Fourth....
President Barry O, continuing confused on his role wherein he apparently thinks he's president not of a nation but of a corporation that helps other corporations to screw consumers, has decided that with the economy everywhere but Wall Street in free fall and banks foreclosing on homes they don't own
… Read full post »This Will Not Happen
The Myth of Christmas
Reprinted from 12.24.06 – And it will continue to be printed every year until the O’Reilly-originated “War on Christmas” BS ends. There’s no antidote to lies except truth.
This would be the time, if ever there was one, to reflect on the meaning of Christmas, but before w… Read full post »
Panic on Wall Street
The Masters of the Universe on Wall Street are shivering with fear, something M's of the U rarely experience, certainly not more than 3 or 4 times per each 4-hr day. Is this because:
- They have finally realized that the endgame of the economy-theft they've organized will be a/
The Culture of the Rich
So our democracy is finally dead after 235 yrs, replaced by the corporatist plutocracy the rich have always wanted. Our old level-seeking, middle-class-directed economy is no more, replaced by a plutonomy aimed at filling the needs of the rich and ignoring everyone else. Is that as far as it goes? Un… Read full post »
Liberal Ideas Aren't "Fringe"
In 1964, Lyndon Baines Johnson, not the most liberal of liberal FDR Dems, fought the right-wing poor-bashers by saying stuff like this in speeches all over the country (this excerpt comes from a speech he made in North Carolina on May 7):
Right here in North Carolina, the State where I
… Read full post »
Dr Stuart Jeanne Bramhall
Peter K. Harrell
BOKO
RARobertsJr.
Enemy of the State
John George Archer
Salon.com