Sunday, January 31, 2010

Free To Be FOX


Today, on ABC, there was a very interesting confrontation between Roger Ailes, the Director of FOX, Arianna Huffington and Paul Krugman. In this clip, Krugman asks Ailes about how he percieves the disinformation and imflammatory language that is the sensationalistic fodder they claim is reporting. At one point in his exchange with Huffington, Ailes, in defending Glenn Beck in his comparison of Obama and Stalin, excuses himself and says he is merely in the business of entertainment.

I think FOX in its own twisted drooling manic way is a tribute the stregnth of Americas Constitution and the fact that America really does enjoy Freedom of The Press. Think about the kind of country America would become if people like Glenn Beck really did have their way. Think about it. FOX would not be allowed to exist.

To put this into real perspective you should get acquainted with an organization called Reporters Without Borders. They monitor the relative freedom of the press in countries all over the world and the plight of reporters who have been arrested, thrown in jail and executed. They have a barometer of press freedom and a continual rating of countries. America has actually moved up on the list in the last few months and is now #20. Denmark is #1. France isn't doing so well, we are #43.

C.C. Rider/Jenny Take A Ride


Yeah, I know it's Lipsynchin" but sometimes it's almost as good as the memory. 1965, Detroit Wheels fronted by blue eyed sould man extraordinaire, Mitch Ryder performing one of their patented medleys, CC Rider and the Little Richard piece, Jenny Take A Ride.
I fell into the rabbits hole of memory tonight and this is what I came up with. This was the the hottest white band in Detroit in 1965 and here they are in all their greasy glory on Robin Seymour's Swingin' Time from Windsor, Ontario. Check out Jim McCarty's lead solo...he was probably one of the hottest American guitarists at the time.

Mitch Ryder is performing still and sounds great after a few decades of dealing with the hell of tax problems and impoverishment caused by crooked ma
nagement. He wasn't the only artist screwed by Bob Crewe.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Phoenix 1901


I don't hear too much French Rock that really excites me. The French Pop Music scene is really small and controlled by the industry so you have to look hard to find something original. Most of the really great French Rock Bands I have heard in the last few years have had to go beyond France to exist.  (I was in a very original French Rock Band that had to come to NYC to exist) I have been hearing this piece since last summer and it didn't really connect until I saw them on Thursday Night on the Show, One Shot Not on the French/German ARTE Network.
These guys take are part experimental, dance and pure pop pleasure. They perform intelligent disciplined music that has a sense of humor and quirkiness.
The song, 1901 seems to be a big international hit from their 3rd recording, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. So far I like everything I have heard them do.

Our Plague Years

Many historians and sociologists trace the end of the middle ages and the rise of our present era to the Black Death, The Bubonic Plague, which wiped out 2/3 of the population of Europe, as well as the known world in the 13th and 14th century.

The Black Death radically changed the way that common man viewed religion, the state and his fixed role on Earth. Many of the laws that were used to supress the formation and existence of the Union movement in the 19th and 20th centuries were formulated in England and France in an attempt to supress the rights of workers who had new found leverage because of the demand for laborers well out stripped the supply.

The Black Death also effectively redistributed wealth and the rise of humanism in religion and philosophy. The discrediting of the  ideas of the feudal world and the church fomented the Renaissance and then culminated in the Reformation.
I would say that at this time we also saw the birth of the humanist impulses we now file under the trademarkl of Socialism.
It is within this consideration of the historical background of the Human organism and its reaction to the stress of disease and plague, that I would like to consider the ideas of the British Epidemiologists, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett.
Wilkinson and Pickett seem to have discovered the modern, insidious and hidden plague of our present captalistic society built on greed.

Wilkinson and Pickett both work as epidemiologists. They study the health of populations, and, over recent decades, pioneering work by Wilkinson has helped reveal the most reliable foundation for good health and long life. Want to live long and prosper? Go live in a relatively equal society.

Over 200 studies since the early 1980s have now documented that people living in societies where wealth has concentrated at the top of the economic ladder live significantly shorter, less healthy lives than people who live in societies that spread their wealth more evenly.

And we’re not talking just poor folks here. All people in unequal societies do worse. Middle-income people in the United States, the world’s most unequal developed nation, have shorter lifespans than middle-income people in Japan, Sweden and a host of other more equal nations.

This same dynamic, Wilkinson and Pickett show in their new book, The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger, is operating on all our most basic yardsticks of social decency. On everything from homicides and teen pregnancies to drug addiction and levels of trust, people living in more equal nations do better — from three to 10 times better — than people in societies where treasure tilts to the top.

And that treasure, in the United States, is tilting top-bound as rapidly as ever. The latest Wall Street bank bonus totals may have no precedent in American history. Seldom — if ever — have so few profited so profusely in the midst of a general economic collapse.

The 32,500 souls fortunate enough to work at Wall Street banking giant Goldman Sachs will pocket an average $498,153 for their labors in 2009. Their total compensation for the year, $16.2 billion, runs $3.3 billion more than the pay that went the year before to the 207,315 teachers who staff New York state’s public schools.

We see this same top-heavy distribution of income throughout the U.S. economy.

Two weeks ago, the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that just a tad over a million U.S. taxpayers will take home over $500,000 in 2010. These one million top-earners will collect $200 billion more in income this year than the 80 million taxpayers who make $40,000 or less.

The data from epidemiologists Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett remind us that gaps like these have consequences: they translate into ever-higher levels of stress and insecurity in nearly every corner of our daily lives. This economic insecurity assaults more than just our household finances. Over time, the chronic stress it causes actually wears down our immune systems. Our epic inequality, in essence, is quite literally killing us.

Last week, on the last day of the Wilkinson and Pickett U.S. speaking tour, Nickel and Dimed author Barbara Ehrenreich joined the two British scientists at an Economic Policy Institute forum in Washington, DC.

Democratic Party politicos, Ehrenreich charged, “have failed to speak to the resentment out there on inequality."

Average Americans will rage, and rightfully so, until they do.

MSF/DWB Haitian Update


Last night, Doctors Without Borders/MSF posted this updated field report:

After enduring delays in receiving urgent medical supplies and equipment, as well as continuous aftershocks that threatened already-damaged facilities, MSF staff are now treating patients inside an inflatable hospital.

This isn't the only inflatable hospital on the scene and not the only facility that MSF is putting up in Haiti. Your donations keep these dedicated professionals in the field today and will assure that they can stay in Haiti for the long run. Donate by clicking the GIF on the side of the blog or learn much more about what they are doing all over the world by visiting the Doctors Without Borders home page here!

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Fascism? We Got An Application For That


This Apple Iphone is displaying an application that is very popular at the Italian Itunes Store called iMussolini. The application features speeches by the Italian fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini.
The developer, Luigi Marino says that he already to fo with a compatible version for the iPad tablet computer wich will be available in Europe shortly.
The developer says that the application is being downloaded in Italy at a rate of 1,000 a day and has been available for the last week.
Marino claims that he developed iMussolini strictly as a historical tool, but he is making a bundle at anout 50 centimes a download.
There has been a rebirth of fascination with fascism in Italy and this is an attempt to cash in on this unhealthy trend. Apple has assured Marino that it will not remove the application from sale, but will monitor "offensive" uses of the product. This was posted originally on the France24 website today, Jan 28.

The Rebuttal


Well, since I haven't done a "Your White Trash Moment" post in quite a while, I am posting this. Why? Because I can................

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Superstition


This song was written by a 22 year old Stevie Wonder in 1972 as he metamorphosed from Little Stevie Wonder into the one man musical genre that has rocked the world since Berry Gordy gave him the keys to the car. Stevie released the Music Of My Mind and then toured with the Stones. He started to work on the grounbd breaking Talking Book record and Jeff Beck played on a few of the cuts. He wrote the song, Superstition for Jeff and Jeff recorded it with his early 70's proto heavy metal band, Beck, Bogart and Appice. Too bad for Jeff, because Wonders' management had him include it on Talking Book which was released first. Supposedly, Beck was peeved...
So it was a wonderful thing that 37 years later, at last years Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Concert, that Jeff performed Superstition with Stevie Wonder.
I have always been a Stevie Wonder admirer, and I have been Jeff Beck fan ever since I heard Evil Hearted You in 1965 by the Yardbirds...
Becks tone and phrasing...beyond sheer technical expertise, there is a synthesis of electronics and sinew, of flesh and wire, the thin line between humor and terror....
still the greatest player of his era.

State Of The Union


Sorry, this has always just felt so right........
and it's, like, so right now!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Father, What's The Church's Attitude Towards Fellatio?


This was in yesterdays Guardian/Observer:
Southern California's Menifee Union school district has banned the Merriam Webster's 10th edition from use in fourth and fifth grade classes, over this salacious definition of "oral sex": "oral stimulation of the genitals".
"It's hard to sit and read the dictionary, but we'll be looking to find other things of a graphic nature," district spokeswoman Betti Cadmus told the paper. While some parents have praised the move - "[it's] a prestigious dictionary that's used in the Riverside County spelling bee, but I also imagine there are words in there of concern," said Randy Freeman - others have raised concerns. "It is not such a bad thing for a kid to have the wherewithal to go and look up a word he may have even heard on the playground," father Jason Rogers told local press. "You have to draw the line somewhere. What are they going to do next, pull encyclopaedias because they list parts of the human anatomy like the penis and vagina?"
This somehow reminds me of the  Rowan Atkinson routine, where a priest shares this with the congregation at a wedding:
It was a couple of years ago, a young attractive bride to be came up to me after the service and asked me just that question. "Father, what is the church's attitude towards fellatio?" And I replied, "Well, you know, Joanne, I'd like to tell you, but unfortunately, I don't know what fellatio is."
And so she showed me.
And ever since, whenever anyone has asked me the question "Father, what is the church's attitude towards fellatio?" I always reply, "Well, you know, I'd like to tell you... but unfortunately, I don't know what fellatio is."

Monday, January 25, 2010

HA HA HA!


Today, I had a visit with my very friendly dentist and said good bye to a loose tooth.
In memory of my tooth,  to which I was very attached , I am posting this great Betty Boop Cartoon by the brilliant Fleisher Brothers from 1934. This cartoon was actually banned when it came out and was recently found and released. I always loved how they mixed live and animation in a their surreal world. Decades before photoshop was even a fantasy, the Fleischers coud make any object do anything they wished!
I feel better already......

Little Lord Billy


Another Democrat Senator shows his inner sissie and succumbs to his insecurities and is now afraid of the big bullies after the Republican win in Massachussetts.

Bill Nelson, Democrat Senator from Florida said today in an interview with ABC News that "The President is going to have to scale back his agenda after we pass health care reform."

This echoes a theme heard in echoing from pundit to pundit as they warn that Obama is too liberal. Sissies like Bayh have said the same thing.
The White House issued a statement that said in effect that the president wasn't "all powerful" and had to scale back his agenda.

Listen, nobody ever gets anything done in Washington by admitting weakness. When the Bush presidency was slugging it out in Florida courts and Cheney was asked on Meet The Press that if they were confirmed, "Would the Bush Administration have to compromise or scale back on its election platform?", Cheney affirmed that they would never compromise their principles. No matter how odious you feel that the Bush administration was, the one thing they never did was to show or admit weakness.

Here are 5 jokes about the eagerness of certain democrats to abandon Health care Reform in light of Browns elctoral victory, that I will give the Republicans to tell about Democrats if this behaviour keeps up! I'm getting disgusted.......



1. A Democratic congressman walks into a bar. The bartender says, “Sorry, we don’t serve your kind here.” The Democratic congressman whimpers, “You’re right, I’m sorry, I never should’ve come in here, it’s all my fault, boo-hoo, please, bend me over, I’ll do whatever you want because I’m a little punk.” The bartender says, “Jesus Christ, you people are pathetic.”
2. What do you call a dead baby with no arms and no legs wearing a sombrero? I don’t know, but whatever you call it, it’s got about 1,000% more fight in it than these jackass Democrats.
3. A member of the House Democratic Caucus goes to the doctor. The doctor says, “I have bad news and good news. The bad news is you have a broken foot. The good news is, you’re a congressman, which means you have health insurance, which means you’ll be able to get treatment without going totally bankrupt, unlike many of your constituents, who you are actively betraying by thinking only of your electoral prospects. And also,” the doctor continued, “I can’t believe you actually broke your foot by jumping off a bridge just because a Republican told you to. What kind of spineless loser are you? Get out of my office. I can’t stand to look at you.”
4. The entire United States Senate is flying on a plane when its engines start to fail. The plane starts falling through the sky. There are 100 senators on board, but only 41 parachutes. The Democrats say, “Let’s give all the parachutes to the Republicans—that way we can just sit on our fat asses and die while the plane crashes because we’re a bunch of self-hating pussies.”
5. Little Johnny Congressman (D) was sitting in class one day. All of a sudden, he needed to go to the bathroom. He yelled out, “Miss Jones, I need to go pee!” The teacher replied, “Johnny, that is NOT the proper word to use in this situation. The proper word is ‘urinate.’ Use the word ‘urinate’ in a sentence correctly, and I will let you go.” Little Johnny thought for a bit, then said, “If a Republican wanted to urinate on me, I would let him because I have no self-respect.”

An Unlikely Way To Die.....



Very conveniently, while the British Governments inquest into the legality of their involvement and support in the American Incasion of Iraq and the complicity of Tony Blair reaches a crucial point, The Governement has decided to seal the records of the controversial death of UK weapons inspector, Dr. David Kelley in 2003.
The article above, which you can click on to enlarge is from 2003 and highlights the actual controversy at the time.
If you remember, Dr. Kelley was the man who made the claim that the Government had "sexed up" the report on Iraqs alleged weapons of mass destruction to justify their support of America.
Dr. Kelley was found dead a few weeks later amid the controversy. The government alleged that it was a suicide. In the subsequent weeks, the BBC was literally disembowled by the Blair Government over their continued investigative reports into the incident and the entire controversy.
Read more in tyesterdays' Daily Mail about this action, which essentially seals any evidence until the year 2073. I would say that this action by the British Government at this time raises more questions and is almost an admission of guilt.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Hey, Corporations Are People, Too.....


If the Decision of the Supreme Court regarding the right of individual Free Speech is to applied consistently, then perhaps we should amend the Bill of Rights to make this position clear, don't you think? Hey, Corporations are people too, even if they have more money than you coud ever dream of and bigger voices that you, a puny individual could ever have.
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the CORPORATIONS peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the CORPORATIONS to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the CORPORATION, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV
The right of the CORPORATIONS to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V
No CORPORATION shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any CORPORATION be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused CORPORATION shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

Amendment VII
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the CORPORATIONS.

Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the CORPORATIONS.

Third Uncle


I've had a particuarly frustrating 24 hours of masonry misfunctions and failed photoshop dreams. The masonry is something I can knock down and redo...
The photoshop frustration is the results of trying to aim too hard. I then remembered a quote by Brian Eno.
“ Instead of shooting arrows at someone else’s target, which I’ve never been very good at, I make my own target around wherever my arrow happens to have landed. You shoot your arrow and then you paint your bullseye around it, and therefore you have hit the target dead centre."
The music is Third Uncle by Brian Eno from his premier solo record from the early 70's, Here Come the Warm Jets. I was in two bands which covered this piece of music, a personal all time favorite

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Earth To Doris/Robot Girl


A little more wasnotwas from the period, around 1992, of the last piece (Wedding Vows in Vegas). Here we see Dave Was doing what he does best....He performed these very special spoken word pieces with the band and Earth To Doris is pretty good...It's obvious that there wasn't anyone who was doing anyting like this then or now...They are still one of my all time facvorite bands.
Robot Girls was huge dance hit at the time and gives a glimpse of the perfect machine that wasnotwas was.............

Wedding Vows In Vegas


I don't know why, but that last post left me in the mood for something mellow...Maybe it was the bubbles and the heartshaped hot tub, or Silvio Berlusconi in the nude...
So, amazingly enough, I found a video of Was not Was performing on the Letterman show in the early 90's. One of their classic televised moments, Wedding Vows In Vegas, with guest vocals by Frank Sinatra Jr....it just seemed so frikin right!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Corporate Bimbocracy


Well, Howdy America and come on down! Welcome to  your new plush corporate bimbocracy with simulated corinthian leatherette upolstery, paneled with the look of real oak and feel that only artificial plasti-chromium plating can give you. Your luxurious bimbocracy is artificially flavoured with an exotic mixture of simulated expensive cheeses that only the most sophisticated chemical synthesists can cheaply duplicate, for your personal pleasure!
We are offering you a selection of specially selected candidates to stimulate your viewing pleasure and to give you the hands on real action feel that make you think that you actually have some kind of real time involvement in the much too complicated and time consuming  world of government, which is best left to us....
You will be handed a list of approved choices at the polling station if you wish to participate, but  remember. voting is just a special way of letting us know how much you love us!

Or so it would seem, after yesterdays Supreme Court Ruling which did away with limits on campaign spending. This would allow lobbyists and corporations to tell candidates in effect, play the game the way we want, or we will destroy you. We already have a media that is in effect a monobloc...yes there is  various shades of  debate, but  on the same day that this decision  was made by th3e Supreme  Court, the  Progressive Media voice, Air America filed for bankruptcy. A controlled debate, a one sided media is the way that Silvio Berlusconi controls Italy.
You can complain about the Supreme Court decision, but actually, they were doing their job, rendering an opinion from arguments that lawyers made based on the interpretaion of the original wording if not the intent of the Constitution. The framers of the Constitution never envisioned a world like the one we live in. If the wording of the Constitution allows loopholes that can be exploited by corporations to control government by spending, spending, spending and our attempts at limiting the influence is deemed unconstitutional, then the document must be amended.

This decision which on the surface seems to empower one party, is actually something that grass root Americans on both sides of the spectrum should and can fight! This decision can unite Americans who might disagree on many other issues to agree that the constitution must be amended to prohibit the control of corporate interests by limiting the money they can donate to campaigns. It's not free speech when money is being used to limit your free speech! I have recieved a few different pleas to sign petitions today to this very end. Here is a very good  one...click here to add you name!


How Fast Can You Set Up A Surgery?


I'm going to try to compress some Haiti Earthquake Relief info here. I made a decision to support Doctors Without Borders/MSF because I know members and have been so impressed by their achievements in the past. So, again, if you want to make a donation to Haitian Earthquake Medical Relief, click on the GIF on the side of the blog.
This is an interview with boingboing.net with MSF:
How do you create a surgery center in a disaster zone in the shortest amount of time possible?
The aid group Doctors Without Borders (aka Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF) has developed what they call a "plug and play hospital," a series of inflatable tents with generators and sanitation equipment designed to be mostly independent from the water and power systems typically unavailable after a catastrophe. They are setting up one of these in Haiti right now: 9 tents, 100 beds, including surgery and intensive care areas. And if you think Windows install kits are heavy? This one weighs 41 metric tons. To learn more, I spoke to MSF Logistics Supervisor Laurent Dedieu in New York and Hocine Bouhabib in Haiti, who is managing the tent hospital setup today in Port-au-Prince.

Boing Boing: There are reports that MSF and other aid groups in Haiti have been frustrated by delays in getting supplies where they're needed. Were your inflatable hospital supplies delayed?

Hocine Bouhabib, MSF, Haiti: Yes, but the tents and technical equipment have finally arrived. The first shipment left Bordeaux, France, last Friday morning and was supposed to land in Port-au-Prince on Saturday, but after one and a half hours flying around Port-au-Prince, we were diverted to another site on the eastern side of the island, in the Dominican Republic. The airport there was not well-equipped, and unloading took us many hours and cost a lot of energy. We drove it in trucks to Port-au-Prince, and have been working nonstop, in 8 hour teams that trade off and go day and night. We hope to start offering medical treatment inside these structures Friday morning, if we can continue setup at this pace.

Boing Boing: As we speak right now, where are you in the setup process?

Hocine, MSF, Haiti: We've set up the plastic tile flooring, and we're connecting them on the floor. The mobile field hospital is 9 tents, and each is about 100 square meters, so the total is about 900 square meters. The land we're using is a former football field, so it's the perfect space for this, nice and flat. Port-au-Prince is very hilly, not much level ground, so we're lucky.

I want to get this ready for medical activity as soon as possible. When you walk through Port-au-Prince and see all the devastation caused by the earthquake, and see all the injured people just sitting in the streets, patients just lying outside, and our medical team operating in very, very bad conditions -- they are waiting urgently for the structure. Our doctors have been doing their best but in a very bad environment.

There is another bit of info, the internet in Haiti has been severly damaged by the earthquake, which cut the sea cables. The internet is being kept alive by one man, Raymond Guerrier, who is operating a fuel powered internet hub. He recieved fuel for one week and is running out. He is operating a hub that goes through the Dominican Republic and is doing the work of a full staff alone.
He has to monitor the euipment, keep it running and defensd the facility from looters or the fragile link with the rest of the world will be gone.
He needs to have his family sent out of Haiti and have more fuel providsed for the generator or he will have to abandon his 24 hour a day mission.
If anyone has any contacts they can use to spread this word, you could help keep this Haitian internet hub up and running for a little longer.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Loving Lieberman


A brainpolice exclusive! We have managed to get ahold of the layout for Joe Lieberman's super top secret Cosmo Magazine nude photo shoot! Joe is in a bit of trouble with his Conneticut electorate and is taking a page from the proven Scott Brown new Republican playbook, he signed a deal with Cosmo to recast him as another solid Republican Hunk!
Another conservative bimbo with unbounded ambition! You go, Joe! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

The Heidelberg Project


Thanks to Laci the Dog for the inspiration to look at the latest video from the
We had been talking about Martin Luther Day on The manwiththemudrakes blog and we all had a common link that involved a few square miles in the center of Detroit. I spent my eary life there. I still have a lot of psychic baggage that links me very securely in an umbilical sense to Detroit.
There is a touchstone that links the civil rights struggle, socially concious political activism and the present situation in Haiti...Detroit is a disaster, but it is a slow motion econimic and social disaster that has been allowed to occur over a space of many years. It is a study in urban decay that has taken on an almost alternate reality dimension.
In many ways it is the tragedy and failure of deregulation and Randian economics.
I know in my soul that Detroit will rebound again, because it there is more real spirit and hope than in any ten cities any where else on the planet!

Melody Nelson



Part 2 of our trip into the world of Serge Gainsbourgh. This is from 1972 and the piece, Melody Nelson was written in anticipation of the birth of his daughter, Charlotte. The womans voice in the sound track is Gainsbourgh's wife at the time, Jane Birkin, the mother of Charlotte.
I've heard a number of recent covers of this piece. It lends itself to sonic atmosperic treatments....Yes, d.b., occasionally, I take requests!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

George Bush Jr.'s Real Haitian Legacy



It was a heartening thing to see, George, Bill and Barack standing together in unity to rally support for Americas' Haitian Earthquake Relief Effort. As I watched Mr. Bush and his subsequent appearances, I couldn't help but remember the true story of the 2004 Coup D'Etat instigated by the Bush administration against Jean-Bertrand Aristede, the legally elected president of Haiti:
 
If a group of dedicated scholars, attorneys, journalists, and activists had tried to generate a comprehensive list of impeachable offenses committed by George W. Bush as president, and only 35 of them had been introduced into Congress, one of the many discarded ones, in rough and overly detailed form, might have read something like this:
In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution  “to take care that the laws be faithfully executed”, has both personally and acting through his agents and subordinates, caused the United States of America to kidnap, imprison, intimidate, coerce, threaten, confine, abduct, and carry away the elected, constitutional President of Haiti, and his wife, a U.S citizen, in violation of United States statutes, to wit:
a. The President, both personally and acting through his agents and subordinates, prevented the security contractors working for Haiti’s elected, constitutional government led by President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from receiving reinforcements at a time when Haiti’s constitutional government was under attack. The removal of the security contractors facilitated the kidnapping of President Aristide:

Read the rest of the story at Global Research here!

Monday, January 18, 2010

Who Would Jesus Shoot?

Today, January 18, ABC News reported that high powered rifle sights provided to the US Army and Marines by the Michigan weapons maker, Trijicon, have encoded biblical references to Jesus.                                                                                               The sights are used by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the training of Iraqi and Afghan soldiers. The maker of the sights, Trijicon, has a $660 million multi-year contract to provide up to 800,000 sights to the Marine Corps, and additional contracts to provide sights to the U.S. Army.
U.S. military rules specifically prohibit the proselytizing of any religion in Iraq or Afghanistan and were drawn up in order to prevent criticism that the U.S. was embarked on a religious "Crusade" in its war against al Qaeda and Iraqi insurgents.

One of the citations on the gun sights, 2COR4:6, is an apparent reference to Second Corinthians 4:6 of the New Testament, which reads: "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
Other references include citations from the books of Revelation, Matthew and John dealing with Jesus as "the light of the world." John 8:12, referred to on the gun sights as JN8:12, reads, "Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
 "It's wrong, it violates the Constitution, it violates a number of federal laws," said Michael "Mikey" Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an advocacy group that seeks to preserve the separation of church and state in the military.

The sights are used by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the training of Iraqi and Afghan soldiers. The maker of the sights, Trijicon, has a $660 million multi-year contract to provide up to 800,000 sights to the Marine Corps, and additional contracts to provide sights to the U.S. Army.
U.S. military rules specifically prohibit the proselytizing of any religion in Iraq or Afghanistan and were drawn up in order to prevent criticism that the U.S. was embarked on a religious "Crusade" in its war against al Qaeda and Iraqi insurgents.

I HAVE A DREAM


Today is Martin Luther King Day in the United States. This is Martin Luther King's
I Have A Dream Speech in its entirety. Most of us still have this dream. The majority of Americans and Humans on this planet have this dream. Maybe someday it will truly become reality.

Good Idea? Bad Idea? Bid Now!


A guy named JohnnyVoodoo has placed a one of kind voodoo doll of Pat Robertson on sale on ebay. Here is the ebay page descrption of this charming little object:
Finally! What you’ve all been asking for! A one of a kind, handmade PAT ROBERSTON VOODOO DOLL.
After an exclusive deal with devil, we are finally able to bring black magic into your very own home! The lucky winner of this auction will attain the soul of Televangelist PAT ROBERTSON in a handheld figurine comprised of the finest straw, cloth, and other organic natural materials!
Ever wanted to cause Pat Robertson a massive headache? give him back pain? jab him in the crotch? Of course you have! Well then BID NOW to own your very own pysical representation of the dark, dark soul of Pat Robertson.
Accessories included with the doll are Pat’s very own “HOLY” BIBLE and BAG OF MONEY taken from real Americans! WOW!
BID NOW!!!!

I was a little leary of using the insane blubbering of a racist theocratic megalomaniac to aid the Haitian People at first, but heck, I have an idea that might be marketable....

What do you think? The real iron pig of
Port-au-Prince piggy bank. I mean, the fundies have gotten so much mileage out of their spook story of the Haitian Pact with the devil and the "Iron Pig Statue" which it turns out existed only in the Spook Stories the Fundies tell around their campfire meetings to scare the bejeezus out of each other...With my nifty little iron pig of Port-au-Prince piggy bank, you can save those pennies and then donte them to Doctors Without Borders or MSF!
There actually was a statue of an iron pig, actually a wild boar in Port-au-Prince. It was a gift from the Italian embasasy during the time of Mussolini, but it disappeared in the early 70's. It was stolen and melted down...........
by the way, the Robertson Voodoo Doll comes fully equipped with pins.

Who Ya Gonna Believe? My Lyin' Lips Or Your Lyin' Ears?


Scott Brown is the Republican candidate for the Senate in the special election for the seat left by the death of Ted Kennedy. He is recieving massive support from Wall Street and he has adopted the conservative opposition to taxing banks to pay back the TARP Bail outs that the President has demanded. He opposed aiding 911 rescue workers, but in the same bill voted for funds for a golf course. He is recieving aid from anti gay groups and the massive amount of money he is mustering for ads are chipping away at the lead of Martha Coakley, the Democratic canidate.

Scott posed nude in a Vogue when he was younger and uses this to his advantage, where as if it had been a woman, or a Democrat, it would have been portrayed as a moral blot.
On the 15th, in a televised interview, he made the snide inference that Barack Obama was possibly born out of wedlock in an off hand attempt to smear the President and curry favor with the teabagger/birther conspiracy fringe.
The transcript of the attempted smear:

BROWN: Barack’s mom had him when she was, what, 18 years old?

GUEST: And married!

BROWN: Well, I don’t know about that.

The record shows, of course, that Obama’s parents were married when he was born. This comment has been widely replayed and has caused Brown to realize that perhaps it was not a smart thing to do.
Brown's campaign just denied Brown saying exactly what he said, on camera. Here's the denial:

He doesn’t believe that. This is more desperate campaigning from Martha Coakley. When she isn’t calling for higher taxes, she’s making things up about Scott Brown.

Lets hope Massachusetts mobilizes to keep Ted Kennedys Senate seat out of the hands of this bounder.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

MSF Has To Move Hospitals By Road from The Dominican Republic

Port-au-Prince/Paris /New York, 17 January 2009
Despite guarantees, given by the United Nations and the US Defense Department, an MSF cargo plane carrying an inflatable surgical hospital was blocked from landing in Port-au-Prince on Saturday, and was re-routed to Samana, in Dominican Republic. All material from the cargo is now being sent by truck from Samana, but this has added a 24-hour delay for the arrival of the hospital.
A second MSF plane is currently on its way and scheduled to land today in Port- au-Prince at around 10 am local time with additional lifesaving medical material and the rest of the equipment for the hospital. If this plane is also rerouted then the installation of the hospital will be further delayed, in a situation where thousands of wounded are still in need of life saving treatment.
Doctors Without Borders/MSF has already treated thousands of victims in their mobile surgical units and need these additional units, personell and supplies to expand their efforts. You can donate safely and securely and claim it on your United States taxes by clicking on the GIF Button at the side of the blog.

China, Iran, North Korea and Italy


In Italy, the Berlusconi Regime has again reinforced its image as an enemy of free speech and popular access to the tools of communication is now floating a proposal to require an "uploaders license" in order to post any "moving pictures" on the internet.
The government claims that this is required as part of the EU's product placement disclosure rules, which is about as ridiculous assertion as I've heard this month.
"The decree subjects the transmission of images on the Web to rules typical of television and requires prior ministerial authorization, with an incredible limitation on the way the Internet currently functions," opposition Democratic Party lawmaker Paolo Gentiloni told the press conference.
Article 4 of the decree specifies that the dissemination over the Internet "of moving pictures, whether or not accompanied by sound," requires ministerial authorization. Critics say it will therefore apply to the Web sites of newspapers, to IPTV and to mobile TV, obliging them to take on the same status as television broadcasters.
"Italy joins the club of the censors, together with China, Iran and North Korea," said Gentiloni's party colleague Vincenzo Vita...
"It's the Berlusconi method: Kill your potential enemies while they are small. That's why anyone doing Web TV -- even from their attic at home -- must get ministerial approval and fulfill a host of other bureaucratic obligations," Gilioli wrote. He said the government was also keen to restrict the uncontrollable circulation of information over the Internet to preserve its monopoly over television news. To learn more about this click here to see the entire article in thestandard.

SUNDAY MORNING CARTOON!


This is possibly one of the wierdest cartoons ever made. I am such a fan of the Fleischer Brothers, the studio was located on Times Square and brought us Betty Boop and the fantastic Popeye cartoons back when Eli Siegal was still around to art direct them.
This is Swing You Sinners! from 1930.
The studio later became a small recording studio, Angel Sound, and I recorded a single there with the band Belle Starr in 1981 and I felt the history of the place.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Under Dog


I feel like this is the Brain Police telethon...it's really a bogathon!
Here's a cut from the British Indie band, Kasabian. They recently released a great cd called West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum and this is called Under Dog.
I saw them on Thursday night and was again struck by the British Pop tradition of writing real songs and allowing eccentricity to exist in the good old tradition of music hall. I keep looking for new young American musicians that have these qualities, but I fear American Pop has entered into a new stage of pre packaged professionalism that discourages the rough edges I so admire. These guys are good, but not in the sense of technical wizardry...
The rough parts make a shape with a soul. Anyone have any suggestions of newAmerican pop music that might disprove my fears?

MSF/DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS SLIDESHOW



More than 2,000 patients have been treated so far at MSF locations, and patients are pouring in. MSF teams are doing their best in terms of administering first aid, but surgery needs are huge. Major impediment have to do with blockages at the airport, challenges to moving people and freight quickly, and damage to pre-existing facilities.
This slide show was put up only a few hours ago. To donate, tax deductable in the USA, to MSF/Doctors Without Borders for Haitian Earthquake relief, click on the widget on the side of the blog.

Le Poinconneur des Lilas


Le Poinconneur des Lilas (1964) was the first "hit" by the French singer, composer, artist, actor...professionally notorious human controversy, Serge Gainsbourgh.

The lyrics of the song are about a subway ticket puncher, at that time, there was a fellow whose job it was to put a little hole (petit trou) in the ticket when you went into the Metro.
The song describes the despair of the repititious monotony of the job. The Poinconneur, in the end, decides to put a petit trou in his head and so he can finally find rest in a petit trou in the ground.

Gainsbourgh went on to become one of the most influential and notorious figures in French pop music and for the rest of the world as well. A musical career that embraced jazz, pop and rock, reggae and finally in the late 80's, Electronica.
He was born in 1928 and died in 1991. He was a Jewish child in occupied Paris and his family was forced to flee. I will post more about him, but this is a good place to start.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Support Smart Innovative Humanitarian Action


On the side of this blog is a widget for Doctors Without Borders Haitian Earthquake Relief. Doctors Without Borders is the American branch of the worldwide organization Medicins Sans Frontieres.

The picture above is one of their inflatable mobile hospitals. The Hospitals are made of lifeboat fabric and a 500 bed facility can be erected in 2 days. They should have a few facilities like this up and running by Sunday. They had 3 hospitals in the Port au Prince area before the earthquake and all were damaged, but one hospital, in the Cite de Soleil is operational and equipped with supplies salvaged from the more damaged facilities.

The staff suffered some casualties, but the professional volunteers, doctors, medical personal, technicians of neccessary disciplines are working in 24 hour shifts.
Stefano Zannini, the head of operations in Haiti spoke a few hours ago and said that the first plane loads of their supplies have landed with more staff and equipment. By tomorrow, they expect to start water purification and have 40 tons of surgical supplies.
The biggest problem is logistics, as the streets are chaotic seas of people heading for the MSF hospitals for any kind of assistance.

Sanitation and the spread of disease from corpses is a primary fear, but Zannini, who has been through the big Hurricane at Goncalves and many other disasters says that he has never really seen this happen if there is clean drinking water made available as soon as possible.
Asked when he thought things would start getting better, Zannini said things "were already getting better as soon as they were able to restore their ability to perform surgery"
for the time being, they have enough supplies on hand and tomorrow, when planes arrive from Bordeaux and Panama, they will have much more staff andmore inflatable hospitals.
Help support smart innovative humaitarian action. Donate to MSF, Doctors Without Borders NOW! Just click on the widget!

Wendy Carlos


Recently, I saw a link on the boingboing site for information regarding color vision research done by the musician, Wendy Carlos.
It's been a very long time since Wendy first became known as one of the ground breaking musicians of our time with her release of the of the record, Switched On Bach.

Switched On Bach was a recording of her multi tracked recording of Bach pieces translated for the then brand new revolutionary instrument, the Moog Synthesizer.

She went on to score the Stanley Kubrick film, A Clockwork Orange and later the Disney film, Tron.
When she first recorded, she was known as Walter Carlos and gradually became Wendy.
Her work has profoundly influenced generations of musicians and she is one of the first real electronic musicians. She is still making and releasing music and involved with working with the Wurlitzer Company in a new generation of orchestral synthesist tools.
I wanted to post some of her music here, but she is very protective over her copy rights and access.

I want to point you in the direction of her website, wendycarlos.com. A fascinating view into the multi talented mind of this human. An obviously gifted musician, she is also a dedicated researcher into the phenomena of vision and how we see color.

She devotes a huge section of her site to her research and experiments which cover a period of almost 50 years. She shares her knowlege and takes you on the personal journey that led to her discoveries. The principles of vision, color and the real physics and psychological phenomena are explained clearly and in depth. Check it out.

Flyin' High


Flyin' High written by Jimmy Bryant
performed by Speedy West & Jimmy Bryant
from the "Hometown Jamboree", KLAC-TV Los Angeles, circa 1953.
Live from the American Legion Stadium in El Monte, CA, here is Cliffie Stone presenting the dynamic duo, Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant!
A little musical diversion...and unbelievable steel guitar pyrotechnics from Speedy!
As Mr. Stone says....Never in my life have I heard anything like this!

Since instrumental have no lyrics, you can call them whatever you want, I guess. This song was later released, on Capitol, as "Cotton Pickin'".

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

First On The Ground....


We are all reeling as the scope of the disaster in Haiti unfolds. We are overloaded with the 24/24 nonstop coverage to the point of sensory numbness.
Most people want to do something and I would like to give you this link to Medicins Sans Frontiers, Doctors Without Borders, the organization already on the ground in Haiti with the infrastructure to deliver the kind of help that the people need the most.
You can be assured that the charity you donate for this disaster will be used solely for this effort and nothing else. I have a few good friends who worked in this organiation in Cambodia, Mali and Ruanda and they can attest to the hands on competence this organization of experts can be counted on to deliver.
They are experts equipped to set up staffed field hospitals any where in any conditions quickly. When the Israelis were bombing Gaza last year, they had instant hospitals set up under the bombs to recieve and give care to the huge number of civilians who were maimed in the bombings.
The latest reports hint at a death toll topping 100,000 in Port Au Prince. If you go to the MSF page, you will see their latest news as they try to locate and scramble the personel on the ground there as they mobilize to move their resources in from The Dominican Republic.

Now that I tried to let you know what I think is a very good way to show your support and help the Haitian people, here is the transcript of  Pat Robertson's demented racist rationalized history on todays 700 Club, showing you the best way to express his hate:

PAT ROBERTSON: And, you know, Kristi, something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, "We will serve you if you will get us free from the French." True story. And so, the devil said, "OK, it's a deal."

And they kicked the French out. You know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other. Desperately poor. That island of Hispaniola is one island. It's cut down the middle. On the one side is Haiti; on the other side is the Dominican Republic. Dominican Republic is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, et cetera. Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island. They need to have and we need to pray for them a great turning to God. And out of this tragedy, I'm optimistic something good may come. But right now, we're helping the suffering people, and the suffering is unimaginable.

UPDATE: Jan 14...12:18 CET

I got so pissed at Pat Robertson, you know the jerk who owns stock in the African slave labor diamond mines, and his christian spook story history of Haiti, that I decided to find the real story of Haiti's Deal with the Devil:

Back in May, the Times Online provided some slightly better insight into Haiti's past. Beyond a vague assumption that Imperialism had probably screwed Haiti somehow, I didn't know much about the country's history. Reading this story has been nothing short of nauseating.
Summary: Haiti was forced to pay France for its freedom. When they couldn't afford the ransom, France (and other countries, including the United States) helpfully offered high-interest loans. By 1900, 80% of Haiti's annual budget went to paying off its "reparation" debt. They didn't make the last payment until 1947. Just 10 years later, dictator François Duvalier took over the country and promptly bankrupted it, taking out more high-interest loans to pay for his corrupt lifestyle. The Duvalier family, with the blind-eye financial assistance of Western countries, killed 10s of thousands of Haitians, until the Haitian people overthrew them in 1986. Today, Haiti is still paying off the debt of an oppressive dictator no one would help them get rid of for 30 years.
The rest of the world refuses to forgive this debt.
So, in a way, maybe Robertson is right. Haiti is caught in a deal with the devil, and the devil is us.

Monsanto Update

Last Wednesday, I posted my reaction to the documentary Le Monde Selon Monsanto which documented the pure profit driven greed with which they have pursued their goal of controlling the worlds agricultural supply. In the pursuit of this, they have distorted and suppressed scientific evidence, bribed, cohereced and engaged in criminal activity on a planetary scale. This has earned them the nomination as Forbes Magazine's Company of the Year.
Yesterday the Company of The Year raised a big protest as the results of a study released by the International Journal of Biological Sciences, analyzing the effects of genetically modified foods on mammalian health, researchers found that agricultural giant Monsanto's GM corn is linked to organ damage in rats.

"Effects were mostly concentrated in kidney and liver function, the two major diet detoxification organs, but in detail differed with each GM type. In addition, some effects on heart, adrenal, spleen and blood cells were also frequently noted. As there normally exists sex differences in liver and kidney metabolism, the highly statistically significant disturbances in the function of these organs, seen between male and female rats, cannot be dismissed as biologically insignificant as has been proposed by others. We therefore conclude that our data strongly suggests that these GM maize varieties induce a state of hepatorenal toxicity....These substances have never before been an integral part of the human or animal diet and therefore their health consequences for those who consume them, especially over long time periods are currently unknown."

Read the entire story in The Huffington Post.....

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The Ecclesiastical Fashion Show


In 1972, Frederico Fellini released his film, Roma, a surreal ode, a sensory travelogue, an alternate history of the psychic aura of the place he loved.
In the film, we travel above ground, below ground,  get stuck in anarchistic traffic jams that turn into open warfare riots viewed from the table of a cafe while calmly having a drink. He opens doors and passages into hidden worlds. One door opens and we are guests at an Ecclesiastical Fashion Show with a soundtrack by Nino Rotti.

Monday, January 11, 2010

un peu vichyesque


In case you hadn't heard, the French Sarkozy Government is forcing the issue of national identity into the forefront.
Who is French? How French should one be if they are to be considered French?
Could I see your papers, please?
How about your parents and grandparents?
People who were born in France of naturalized French citizens are now being made to supply proof of their parents identity before their identity papers can be renewed.
With out your national identity card, you cannot apply or hold a French passport. You are subject to deportation if it is deemed desireable.
On todays news and on the front page of Liberation, there were tragic stories of people who had lived here their entire lives, held national identity cards and passports and suddenly found that they coud not renew them and that perhaps, in the eyes of a zealous bureaucrat, they had never really been French!
Of course, this was more apt to happen if you were dark skinned or of Northern African Origin, or had a non western family name. This is totally new, the wording on the form you must use to renew your card has suddenly changed. But, please, don't get too upset. It's not like this was Germany. It's France.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Snow Time


A picture of me and JJ in the midst of the big snow storm that hit the Correze yesterday.
More snow than we've seen in years! JJ loves the snow, I say I hate it, but once I get out there...well, it's play time!

Pandora's Box Italian Style


In Southern Italy, The Calabrian town of Rosarno has been torn by riots by immigrant workers who have been protesting the persecution and working conditions they have suffered the last few years. The local Mafia branches contol the agricultural industry and have encouraged the immigrants as a for m of cheap exploitable labor.

They protested their treatment by boldly protesting the local "Ndrangheta Mafia" and actually surrounding the house of the local Pesce clan, which even the Calabrians never dared to do.
The results? A reign of terror against the immigrants. Shootings and vigilante mafioso roadblocks and the actual hunting down of stray and "rebellious" immigrants in the streets of Rosarno.

Two days ago, the immigrant community fought back and rioted. The locals of course have been whipped into a racist frenzy and have committed may acts of violence which they justify as self protection.

The video embedded above was posted on YouTube by English white racists, the comments below the video are harrowing. The level of cowardly racist hatred proudly on display, the lack of sympathy or understanding of how the situation developed is depressingly like the blind race hate of the 20th Century Aerican South.

Now, hundreds of immigrant workers are being forced to flee and are being picked up by the police and put into camps. The local people watched and clapped. This is the Pandora's box of racism that the Italians have opened biting them on the ass.

The only black Italian parliament member, Jean-Leonard Touadi, expressed fear that this wouyld be used as an excuse for mass expulsions of all those who are not completely legal.
He said, "African Immigrants need to be helped or the Italian South will this year become like Alabama in the 1920's, just like Rosarno is now."
Read the entire article in todays Guardian by clicking here.
update...
here is a new video from Medicine sans Frontiers that gives a real, honest picture of the conditions that the agircultural workers in Rosarna were protesting...


Saturday, January 09, 2010

Scientists Are Not Trained To Deal With These Kinds Of Attacks....


The dust is still settling from the manufactured fray regarding the stolen Climate Change Emails which were used to torpedo the Copenhagen Climate Talks last month.
I realize that the entire subject is very difficult. The science of climate change, the material which was used to attempt to promote the charge of fraud, what the emails actually said.

What is clear is that there was a highly organized attack against scientists and researchers who were hardly in a position to know how to respond to somethiung like this.
This is a pretty good interview with one of the scientists whose emails were hacked and if you prefer actual facts to the rants of paid demagogues, you might like to read it. You might find some facts to pass along to your wingnut friends...

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Michael Mann switched from physics to climate science back in graduate school because he thought climate offered a better chance to work "on a frontier."

He got his wish, and now, as the director of Pennsylvania State University's Earth System Science Center, he has experienced an aspect of frontier life more like the Wild West - a bounty on his head.

Irate citizens complained to a Pennsylvania state senator, who demanded that the university conduct a probe into Mann's scientific integrity. That inquiry is ongoing.

This is hardly Mann's first review. His work has been the subject of at least two major investigations by outside experts.

And last week, a message went around his department at the university, notifying everyone that a whistle-blower could make up to $12 million by uncovering fraudulent use of federal grants. One blogger gloated that the offer would lead to Mann's having "a very unhappy new year."

Though he has been accused of dodging the press, Mann, 44, agreed readily to an interview on a bitterly cold day last week. The campus was deserted, as almost everyone was away for winter break. Mann was affable and calm as he answered the assertions of his critics.

The hardest part for him, he said, is having his integrity questioned. Scientists, he said, are "not trained to deal with these kinds of attacks."

"My suspicion is, this has been orchestrated at a high level," he said of the hacking.