Category Archives: Colin Powell

06/17/2015
1 Comment
1 Percent, 2014 National Right to Life Convention, 99 Percent, Bloomingfoods, Colin Powell, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush, Racism, Scott Walker, Southern Strategy, Wealth Gap

Hot Air

Choice?

What’s more depressing — the possibility that the 2016 presidential campaign will be between two near-doppelgänger dynasts, Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush, or the fact that a farceur like Donald Trump’s entry into the race is taken seriously enough that the New York Times covers it?

Clinton/Bush

Pick ‘Em

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Me? I’d almost welcome Scott Walker’s nomination by the Party of God because at least he’s an ideologue. He’d offer us a clear choice between him and anybody else in terms of who we want to be as a nation. Then again, I say “almost” because, honestly, I don’t want him to get the nom. I mean, what if he wins the election?

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Race War Vs. Class War

With the meme of Gen. Colin Powell decrying the racism within his Republican Party making the rounds again on social media, my pal, the Lake County Republican, poses the following Q: Why does Powell remain a Republican? Why doesn’t he just quit and join the Dems? Now, while the LCR fully agrees that the racists and chronic racism within the GOP are abhorrent, he believes there’s a greater underlying philosophical reason why the Republicans are the better party. After all, the LCR himself hasn’t quit the GOP.

Here’s the LCR’s explanation:

I think it is because the actions of a few [Democrats] are despicable [and] the ethos of the Democratic Party is even worse. They appeal to the base human instincts of envy and resentment of those better off….

This, among other things, the LCR posits, makes the Dems “even more corrosive to the nation” than the racism within the GOP.

That’s quite a charge. My take: I’ll bet Colin Powell himself can’t fully explain why he remains a Republican. It may be inertia. Powell grew up at a time when the most virulent racists and segregationists were Democrats. Harry Byrd, George Wallace, Orval Faubus, and Lester Maddox all were Dems. That, of course, was before Richard Nixon’s Southern Strategy folded the Neanderthal wing of the Democratic Party into the GOP.

Now then. The LCR’s charge that the 99% appeal (which precious few Dem candidates are embracing in any case) is worse for this holy land than the racism that has torn it apart since the early 1800s. Sheer lunacy, my friend. Peeps aren’t screaming bloody murder because others are successful or “better off.” They’re hollering because the game is rigged. The way the system works now, those who have dough get more at the expense of those who haven’t got it. The plutocracy more and more controls policy and legislation via lobbyists and campaign moneys. Too many Richie Rich’s didn’t earn their dough; they inherited it. And far too many millionaires and billionaires didn’t get that way through hard work and the production of goods and services that somehow benefit, y’know, people. They’ve been degenerate gamblers who gamed the system to rake in their dirty dollars.

Mr. Moneybags

A Crooked Game

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And both the Democrats and Republicans are responsible for this economic world of shit.

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Better Late Than Never

My delayed reaction to Bloomingfoods‘ divorce from long-time GM George Huntington and the subsequent axing of a nearly two doz. mid-level managers at the co-op’s three locations:

Both are good moves, albeit anywhere from two to 10 years too late.

Huntington

Bloom Mag Photo Of George Huntington By Amber Lynn Brown

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My rec. for B-foods’ next good move? Shut down the East Side and the Elm Heights stores before tomorrow morning. Concentrate on the Near West site and make it a viable local alternative to the new Lucky’s Market and the to-come Whole Foods Market.

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12/10/2012
2 Comments
50 Shades of Chicken, 9/11, Aaron Freeman, Bill O'Reilly, Boice Tomlin, Book Corner, Colin Powell, George W. Bush, Heaven Is For Real, Iraq War, Maureen Dowd, Public Opinion Polls, Republican Party, Ryder Film Series, Saddam Hussein, Sam Cooke, United Nations

The Pencil Today:

HotAirLogoFinal Monday

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THE QUOTE

“Who would have ever thought blacks would get out and support the first black president? Who would have ever thought women would shy away from the party of transvaginal probes? Who would have ever thought gays would work against a party that treated them as immoral and subhuman? Who would have ever thought young people would desert a party that ignored science and hectored on social issues? Who would have ever thought Latinos would scorn a party that expected them to finish up their chores and self-deport?” — Maureen Dowd

Dowd

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YOU AND IRAQ

Comic and politico Aaron Freeman has put out a call for anyone who can honestly say she or he was not taken in by the Bush Administration’s rationalizations for the Iraq War in late 2002 and early 2003.

Freeman

Aaron Freeman

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You remember, don’t you? Georgey-boy, Dick Cheney, Condoleeza Rice, and even Colin Powell stood on their heads to implant the images of bloodthirsty brown people, mushroom clouds, and general panic in our imaginations in order to snow us into attacking the Saddam Hussein regime.

Perhaps the saddest moment of the buildup to war was Secretary of State Powell half-heartedly trying to sell the United Nations General Assembly on “evidence” that Hussein and his wild-eyed pals were thisclose to launching a big one against this holy land.

The funnyman — Freeman, not Bush — wonders why anyone would have doubted the word of the Bushies, considering the fact that most highly intelligent people he knew at the time bought the casus belli hook, line, and sinker.

9/11 Panic

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So, take yourself back some ten years to those glory days of yore. Try to remember what you were thinking at the time. And don’t forget we were only a little more than a year past the 9/11 attacks. Be honest and tell us, in the poll below, if you bought the Bush line or you thought, even as we were gassing up our B-2 Stealth Bombers, that he and his gang were full of shit.

Oh, and leave a comment in the box labeled “Other” explaining why you thought one way or the other.

Thanks in advance.

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POLL WATCHING

From phdcomic.com

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THE SHORT OF IT

That’s all for today, kiddies. I been working my fingertips to the bone, trying to get the new Ryder magazine and film series website off the ground, along with publisher Peter LoPilato and developer Boice Tomlin. As a result, I feel lazy today.

Remember to stop in at The Book Corner. A few words of advice, though. Do not buy either of Bill O’Reilly’s bestsellers, “Killing Lincoln” and “Killing Kennedy.” Do not buy “50 Shades of Chicken.” And do not buy any of those I-died-and-went-to-heaven books.

Book Cover

Don’t You Dare!

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Reading should improve your mind, not shrink it.

Otherwise, buy anything you want.

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CHAIN GANG

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10/27/2012
1 Comment
Abortion, Birthers, Business Insider, CNN, Colin Powell, Eric Holder, Gayle Cook, John H. Sununu, Richard Mourdock, Saddam Hussein, Terri Schiavo, United Nations

The Pencil Today:

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THE QUOTE

“Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards.” — Eric Holder

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PICK YOUR PRESIDENT

Get out of bed, splash some water on your face, throw your sweatclothes on, and go vote.

Yup, you can do it today. Special Saturday hours at The Curry Building, 214 W. Seventh St. are 9am-4pm.

Why wait?

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SUNUNU NEWS

Yes, the Republicans are incredibly good at sticking their feet in their mouths.

And even when they’re not misspeaking, their heartfelt utterances are enough to scare the rest of us half to death. For instance, I have no doubt Richard Mourdock honestly and truly believes what he said the other night about rape babies being conceived because god intends it. If I had a womb, I’d be sleeping with the lights on at this point.

But sometimes they speak real truths. It makes me feel all soiled to say it but John H. Sununu’s take on Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama is just such a case.

The Sudden “Liberal”

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Sununu, the first President Bush’s chief of staff and now a spokesmodel for the Romney campaign, told CNN Thursday night that Powell is backing the Prez because they’re both black.

Oh, my side of the fence is going bananas over that one. How dare he say such a thing! the wisdom goes.

To which I say, Bah!

Look, Colin Powell was such a loyal Republican that he allowed himself to be trotted out before the world and the United Nations with the Bush Administration’s flimsy argument that Saddam Hussein was cooking up weapons of mass destruction during the lead-in to our misguided war with Iraq.

Just Trust Us, Okay?

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He served as Secretary of State under a president so divisive and partisan that he made Ronald Reagan look like a professional arbitrator.

Now all of a sudden he’s behind a Democrat who’s so vilified by the Republicans that a significant percentage of them don’t believe he was born in this country and many of their theorists suggest he’s out to destroy the land he presides over.

I don’t buy it. Sununu’s right. Powell’s backing Barack because they share skin color.

Sununu’s mistake was speaking such a harsh truth out loud. We’re the ones who should be embarrassed because we can’t take it.

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FUN WITH NUMBERS

Gayle Cook is now the richest human being in Indiana.

So says Business Insider in the online mag’s feature this week on the wealthiest person in each of the 50 states.

Bill Cook’s widow can spend her days and nights counting 3.4BB bucks, according to BI’s estimate of her wealth.

Let’s pretend she can magically transform all that wealth into so much cash in the snap of a finger. Then let’s say she decides to go on a spending spree. Say she sets a goal of spending $10,000 a day, just for kicks. She can buy anything she wants every day as long as she doesn’t exceed that 10k limit.

Reimagining Gayle As A Drunken Sailor

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She could, for instance, buy sirloin steak for herself and all her friends as well as a decent number of Bloomingtonians today. At about $6.47 a pound, she’d be able to purchase 1545.6 pounds of the juicy stuff. That’s just in a day, I might remind you.

Say instead, she wanted to fill as many people’s cars up at the gas station as her ten grand would allow. Last I checked, gas was going for $3.45 a gallon here in Bloomington. Assuming all her pals’ hot rods need an average of 10 gallons to top off, she’ll be able to make some 299 people deliriously happy.

We’re talking dough, right?

Even at that rate of expenditure, Gayle Cook would need some 931 years to burn through all her cash.

Sheesh.

Here are some other folks who are the richest in their states:

  • Idaho’s Frank VanderSloot is worth $1.2BB. He’s the CEO of Melaleuca, a company that runs a multi-level marketing racket based on an iffy tree oil potion. By the way, VanderSloot has thrown about a million bucks Mitt Romney’s way so far this year.
  • Tennessee’s Thomas Frist is worth $3BB. He helped Harlan Sanders start Kentucky Fried Chicken and then went on to start up the Hospital Corporation of America, the largest for-profit hospital operator on the globe. Daddy-o Thomas’s kid is Tennessee Senator Bill Frist. Remember him? He was the guy who determined celebrity vegetable Terri Schiavo to be taking a nap back in 2001 merely by glancing at some video footage of her.
  • Illinois’ Sam Zell is worth $3.9BB. He purchased the Tribune Company back in 2008. The Tribune newspaper is driving itself out of business and the Tribune’s former property, the Chicago Cubs, are, well, the Chicago Cubs.
  • Michigan’s Richard DeVos, Sr. is worth $5.1BB. He founded the nation’s biggest multi-level marketing racket, AmWay.
  • John Menard of Wisconsin is worth $6BB. He founded the Menard’s home improvement chain and threw scads of money at Gov. Scott Walker to support his union-busting efforts. Menard also counts the Koch Boys as close pals.
  • Oregon’s Philip Knight is worth $13BB. His Nike outfit sells shoes for a hundred dollars-plus a pop even though they’re worth pennies in materials and are manufactured by tots who are chained in galley ships and are whipped by former gladiators.
  • Virginia’s Forrest Mars is worth $17BB. His Mars candy company makes Snickers bars. He’s worth every penny he has.

Nougat, Peanuts, Caramel, Chocolate — Genius!

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  • Nevada’s Sheldon Adelson is worth $20.2BB. He is Satan incarnate.
  • David Koch of Kansas is worth $32.1BB. Oops, I made a mistake. He’s Satan incarnate.

From all I hear, Gayle Cook’s a good soul, as was her husband. Can’t say the same about the rest of them (although Forrest Mars deserves the Nobel Prize in Candymaking.)

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The only events listings you need in Bloomington.

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Saturday, October 27th, 2012

FOOD ◗ City Hall, Showers Building parking lot — Farmers Market; 8am-1pm

VOTE TODAY ◗The Curry Building, 214 W. Seventh St.; 9am-4pm

BENEFIT WALK ◗ IU Memorial Stadium — 2012 Bloomington Out of the Darkness Walk for Suicide Prevention & Awareness; 9am-noon

CLASS ◗ Monroe County Public Library — VITAL English as a Second Language tutor training, 1st of 2 sessions; 10am

STUDIO TOUR ◗ Brown County, various locations — The Backroads of Brown County Studio Tour, free, self-guided tour of 16 local artists’ & craftspersons’ studios; 10am-5pm, through October

POETRY & BOOKS ◗ Various locations around IU campus & Bloomington — Sylvia Plath Symposium 2012, celebrating 50 years since the publication of her “Ariel” collection, Through Saturday, Today’s highlights at IU Woodburn Hall:

  • Theme: 50 Years of “Ariel” and “The October Poems“
  • Karen Kukli on PLath’s archival references to “Fever 103“; 10-10:50am
  • Linda Adele Goodine on the video, “Bee Asana: Healing of Plath,” & the “Seneca Honey Series” photos; 11-11:50am
  • Suzie Hanna & Tom Simmons on the animated film, “Girl Who Would Be God“; Noon-12:50pm
  • Julie Goodspeed-Chadwick on cultural/medico/political aspects of trauma & narrative in “Ariel“; 2-2:25pm
  • Lynda K. Bundtzen on Plath’s “Bee Sequence” poems; 2:30-3:20pm
  • Langdon Hammer 0n Plath’s German “Daddy” & “Lorelei“; 3:30-4:20pm
  • Heather Clark & Anita Helle on Otto Plath’s FBI files & scientific works; 4:30-5:20pm
  • Heather Clark, Langdon Hammer, Anita Helle, & Peter K. Steinberg on archiving Otto Plath; 5:25-5:55pm
  • Linda Gates’ “Mushroom” puppetry & Caroline Harris, Matt Kuyawa, Marek Pavlovski, & Sophie Rich drama dialog of “Blood Jet Is Poetry: The Shared Poetic Language of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes,” discussion led by Laura Passin; 6-7:30pm
  • Book Signing; 7:30pm

LECTURE ◗ IU Swain Hall West — “Mars: Update on the Curiosity Probe,” Presented by IU Geology Department chair Lisa Pratt; 11am-noon

ARTS FEST ◗ Foxfire Park, Nashville — Fall Fine Arts Festival; 11am-6pm

LECTURE ◗ IU Swain Hall West — Physics professor Harold Ogren talks about the Higgs Boson; Noon-1pm

OPERA ◗ IU Musical Arts Center — Indiana District round of Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions; Noon

MUSIC ◗ Muddy Boots Cafe, Nashville — Robbie Bowden; Noon

BENEFIT ◗ Ellington Stables, 680 W. That Rd. — Adoption Day, For Horse Angels Rescue abused & neglected horse care program; 1-5pm

SPORTS ◗ IU Field Hockey Complex — Hoosier women’s field hockey vs. Ohio State; 1pm

LECTURE ◗ IU Swain Hall West — Political science professor Bill Bianco American & Russian cooperation in the International Space Station; 1-2pm

HALLOWE’EN ◗ Haunted Hayride and Stables — Friendly hayrides; 1-7pm

MUSIC ◗ IU Auer Hall — Pre-College Strings Halloween Concert; 1-2pm

STAGE ◗ IU Wells-Metz Theatre — “Richard III“; 2pm

DANCE & BENEFIT ◗ Buskirk Chumley Theater — “Thrill the World 2012,” Dozens dance Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” For Cardinal Stage Company; 2pm

STORYTELLING ◗ IU Art Museum — Spooky Stories in the Gallery, Presented by Bloomington Storytellers Guild; 2-4pm

HALLOWE’EN ◗ Lake Monroe, Paynetown SRA — Ghostly Gathering, party, campsite decorating contest, trick or treat, costume contest, “ghost” hunt; 2:30pm through Sunday at 5pm

FILM ◗ IU Cinema — “Bride of Frankenstein” & “Freaks“; 3pm

MUSIC ◗ IU Ford-Crawford Hall — Pre-College Harp Halloween Recital; 3-5pm

BENEFIT ◗ St. Paul Catholic Center — Great American bake Sale, For Share Our Strength childhood hunger program; 4:30pm

MUSIC ◗ Bloomington High School North — “Symphonic Spooktacular,” Presented by the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra; 5pm

MUSIC ◗ IU Ford-Crawford Hall — Senior Recital: Janessa Reames, soprano; 5pm

BENEFIT ◗ Cardinal Stage Company Building — “Cast a Spell” adult halloween party; 6-10pm

MUSIC ◗ IU Auer Hall — Doctoral Recital: Li-An Chen on piano; 6pm

PERFORMANCE ◗ Rachael’s Cafe — Different Drummer Belly Dancers; 6-8pm

FILM ◗ IU Fine Arts Theater — Ryder Film Series: “All Together“; 7pm

SPORTS ◗ IU Gymnasium — Hoosier volleyball vs. Michigan; 7pm

MUSIC ◗ Muddy Boots Cafe, Nashville — Little Merrie Simmons; 7-9pm

HALLOWE’EN ◗ Haunted Hayride and Stables — Scary hayrides; 7-11pm

HALLOWE’EN ◗ Bakers Junction Railroad Museum — Haunted train; 7pm

HALLOWE’EN ◗ Frank Southern Ice Arena — Skate & Scare, skating, haunted house, cider, trick or treat; 7pm

MUSIC ◗ IU Ford-Crawford Hall — Senior Recital: Cameron Smith on trombone; 7pm

FILM ◗ IU Cinema — Ultra-Low Budget Double Feature: “The Gamers: Dorkness Rising” & “Beverly Lane“; 7pm

STAGE ◗ IU Wells-Metz Theatre — “Richard III“; 7:30pm

FILM ◗ IU Woodburn Hall Theater — Ryder Film Series: “All Together“; 8pm

MUSIC ◗ IU Auer Hall — Faculty & Guest Recital: William Ludwig on bassoon, Kay Kim on piano; 8pm

MUSIC ◗ Rachael’s Cafe — Jerome & the Psychics, Agent Ribbons, The Gypsies; 8:30-11pm

MUSIC ◗ The Bluebird — Jon McLaughlin; 9pm

STAGE ◗ Bloomington High School South — Comedy, “Once Upon a Mattress”; 7:30pm

HALLOWE’EN FILM ◗ Buskirk Chumley Theater — “Rocky Horror Picture Show“; 7:30pm

MUSIC ◗ Cafe Django — Post Modern Jazz Quartet; 8pm

COMEDY ◗ The Comedy Attic — Michael Winslow; 8pm

MUSIC ◗ The Player’s Pub — The Dynamics Halloween Party; 8pm

STORYTELLING ◗ Max’s Place — — “Bone-Chilling Stories,” Presented by the Bloomington Storytelling Project; 8pm

FILM ◗ IU Memorial Union, Whittenberger Auditorium — UB Films: “The Campaign“; 8pm

FILM ◗ IU Fine Arts Theater — Ryder Film Series: “Side by Side“; 8:30pm

HALLOWE’EN ◗ Serendipity Martini Bar — Bloomington Burlesque Brigade’s Halloween Horror Show; 10pm

COMEDY ◗ The Comedy Attic — Michael Winslow; 10:30pm

MUSIC ◗ The Bishop — Players Ball; 11pm

FILM ◗ IU Memorial Union, Whittenberger Auditorium — UB Films: “The Campaign“; 11pm

HALLOWE’EN FILM ◗ Buskirk Chumley Theater — “Rocky Horror Picture Show“; 11:30pm

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ONGOING:

ART ◗ IU Art Museum — Exhibits:

  • “New Acquisitions,” David Hockney; through October 21st
  • “Paragons of Filial Piety,” by Utagawa Kuniyoshi; through December 31st
  • “Intimate Models: Photographs of Husbands, Wives, and Lovers,” by Julia Margaret, Cameron, Edward Weston, & Harry Callahan; through December 31st
  • “French Printmaking in the Seventeenth Century;” through December 31st
  • Celebration of Cuban Art & Film: Pop-art by Joe Tilson; through December 31st
  • “Threads of Love: Baby Carriers from China’s Minority Nationalities“; through December 23rd
  • “Workers of the World, Unite!” through December 31st
  • “Embracing Nature,” by Barry Gealt; through December 23rd
  • “Pioneers & Exiles: German Expressionism,” through December 23rd

ART ◗ Ivy Tech Waldron Center — Exhibits:

  • “Ab-Fab — Extreme Quilting,” by Sandy Hill; October 5th through October 27th
  • “Street View — Bloomington Scenes,” by Tom Rhea; October 5th through October 27th
  • “From the Heartwoods,” by James Alexander Thom; October 5th through October 27th
  • “The Spaces in Between,” by Ellen Starr Lyon; October 5th through October 27th

ART ◗ IU SoFA Grunwald Gallery — Exhibit:

  • Buzz Spector: Off the Shelf; through November 16th
  • Small Is Big; Through November 16th

ART ◗ IU Kinsey Institute Gallery — Exhibits:

  • “A Place Aside: Artists and Their Partners;” through December 20th
  • “Gender Expressions;” through December 20th

PHOTOGRAPHY ◗ IU Mathers Museum of World Cultures — Exhibit:

  • “CUBAmistad” photos

ART ◗ IU Mathers Museum of World Cultures — Exhibits:

  • “¡Cuba Si! Posters from the Revolution: 1960s and 1970s”
  • “From the Big Bang to the World Wide Web: The Origins of Everything”
  • “Thoughts, Things, and Theories… What Is Culture?”
  • “Picturing Archaeology”
  • “Personal Accents: Accessories from Around the World”
  • “Blended Harmonies: Music and Religion in Nepal”
  • “The Day in Its Color: A Hoosier Photographer’s Journey through Mid-century America”
  • “TOYing with Ideas”
  • “Living Heritage: Performing Arts of Southeast Asia”
  • “On a Wing and a Prayer”

BOOKS ◗ IU Lilly Library — Exhibit:

  • “Outsiders and Others: Arkham House, Weird Fiction, and the Legacy of HP Lovecraft;” through November 1st
  • “A World of Puzzles,” selections from the Slocum Puzzle Collection

PHOTOGRAPHY ◗ Soup’s On — Exhibit:

  • Celebration of Cuban Art & Culture: “CUBAmistad photos; through October

PHOTOGRAPHY ◗ Monroe County History Center — Exhibit:

  • “Bloomington: Then and Now,” presented by Bloomington Fading; through October 27th

ARTIFACTS ◗ Monroe County History Center — Exhibits:

  • Doctors & Dentists: A Look into the Monroe County Medical Professions
  • What Is Your Quilting Story?
  • Garden Glamour: Floral Fashion Frenzy
  • Bloomington Then & Now
  • World War II Uniforms
  • Limestone Industry in Monroe County

The Ryder & The Electron Pencil. All Bloomington. All the time.

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