and just who shall we be today?

 

not one wasted note.

one of the greatest rock albums ever made!

The Lower East Side of Manhattan was my home for almost 30 years.

I do not think that I would ever consider visiting Texas, but NYC, on the other hand!

Every chance that I get!  I Love New York!

I guess it's just too damn hot everywhere.
Here, in the SudOuest it settled in 10 days ago and no real end in sight!
I need a little rain for my vegetable garden. All I do all day long is water.
We see lightning in the east over the Correze at night...
This weekend we are looking at a run of 100 degree plus days....

Strange Fruit

                               

Here's the link to the entire 1963 Documentary, Take This Hammer!

James Baldwin asks the question, "Who Is The Nigger?" Baldwin was probably the most acutely intelligent observer of American society and race in the pre civil rights era. This documentary, Take This Hammer eloquently dissects American racial attitudes and the evolution of the relationship in a way that could have not been done by any other person. Baldwin besides being one of the most eloquent thinkers of the era was uniquely qulaified to comment on the position of being an "outsider" being the "other". He was not only a black intellectual artist, he was gay, so he was ostracized with in his own sub group. Baldwin had to go outside of America for acceptance, yet he manages to present a vision in this documentary that goes way beyond the time he lived in.
Here’s part I of the documentary. I’m astounded by the clothing. The way people dressed back then – everyone in this clip is well dressed, “properly” dressed. It’s fascinating. Part of what’s fascinating is that there’s a discussion in some circles as to whether clothing and mode of dress impacts discrimination (the hoodie example comes to mind, but it’s not the only one). And while this doesn’t disprove that theory, since this is from 50 years ago, it is interesting to note that the African-Americans in this video looked impeccably dressed – what I’d call “preppy” today – but they were still discriminated against.
Here’s some of the more remarkable dialogue:
Young African-American kid: There ain’t gonna be no negro president of this country.
Baldwin: There will never be a negro president of this country. Why do you say that?
Kid: We can’t get jobs, how we gonna be a president?
Baldwin: Exactly. But, I want you to think about this. There will be a negro president of this country. But it will not be the country that we are sitting in now. 

Of course, this is about acquittal of George Zimmerman in the Florida murder case of Trayvon Martin. I have been involved in many on line discussions parsing the law as it is applied in Florida. The ultimate issue is not how the law was applied in this case or the lame verdict of the jury. The real issue is the Stand Your Ground Laws themselves! If you are interested, here is how I perceived the legal issues in the Florida trial and how the jury acted. I published this analysis on the Man With The MuckRake blog out of Northwestern, Ohio yesterday. It took me a few days to get from point A through to the end...and I have to admit that I haven't quite gotten to the end of it yet:
Have you ever served on a jury? I was selected to serve on 3 jury trials involving murder and attempted murders in NYC. The reason? I always answered the attorneys questions as honestly as possible. I expressed my distrust of the police and lawyers in general…I expressed my pessimism as to the effectivity of the American legals system as honestly as I could, naively thinking that this might disqualify me as a juror. Unfortunately, my penchant for honestly expressing my true feelings only seemed to seal my fate. The option of not guilty and acquital is real, but here is the legal breakdown of what options this jury was presented with in this trial and I will admit that under Florida law and the charges against Zimmrman, the jury’s verdict was ultimately a not guilty decision. Do I agree with it? Do I accept it? Simply, No..let me parse the legality of it for you and tell me what you think( warning, this could get tedious):
To secure a second-degree murder conviction, prosecutors had to convince the jury that Zimmerman acted with a “depraved” state of mind — that is, with ill will, hatred or spite. Prosecutors said he demonstrated that when he muttered, “Fuck punks. These assholes. They always get away” during a call to police as he watched Martin walk through his neighborhood.
To win a manslaughter conviction, prosecutors had to convince the jury only that Zimmerman killed without lawful justification.
More on what a lawful justification is below.
The Washington Post notes that the jury was looking at the manslaughter charge, so they dismissed Second Degree murder:
Earlier Saturday, the jury had sent a note to Judge Debra Steinberg Nelson requesting clarification of instructions related to manslaughter, signaling that they were taking a hard look at the lesser of the two charges against the former neighborhood watch volunteer and sending a jolt through the courtroom and the crowd outside. Before starting deliberations, the jury was given a cautionary note by Nelson, who instructed them that “Zimmerman cannot be guilty of manslaughter by committing a merely negligent act or if the killing was either justifiable or excusable homicide.”
Negligence means there was no intent to kill, but you were so sloppy in your actions that you killed someone. You’re negligent when you leave a loaded gun near a child, and the child uses it and harms someone, but you didn’t intend for the child to harm someone.
“Without lawful justification” sounds like you still have to find that there was intent to kill. But if you find intent, in order to convict it has to be an intent that was not lawful – meaning, it wasn’t justified by self-defense, or you weren’t a cop who’s justified in shooting someone. That’s “justifiable homicide” – you intended to kill someone, but you were justified in doing it.
As for the other term, ”excusable homicide,” here’s what it means in the Florida statutes:
782.03 Excusable homicide.—Homicide is excusable when committed by accident and misfortune in doing any lawful act by lawful means with usual ordinary caution, and without any unlawful intent, or by accident and misfortune in the heat of passion, upon any sudden and sufficient provocation, or upon a sudden combat, without any dangerous weapon being used and not done in a cruel or unusual manner.
That’s a long definition. It actually contains 3 independent definitions of excusable homicide – if you can prove any of the three, you’re off the hook.
In order to meet the first definition of excusable homicide you need to meet all of the following four elements:

1. By accident: You drop a vase of water accidentally, it breaks, someone near you slips on the water and breaks their neck; and
2. It also has to be while doing something lawful – meaning, if you accidentally kill someone while committing a crime, it’s not excusable homicide; and
3. You have to be exercising usual caution: You can’t be negligent in doing whatever you did that accidentally led to someone else dying; and
4. You can’t have had any unlawful intent: That one’s interesting. It think it means that if I was intending to kill you, and I accidentally drop the vase, you trip on the water and die – my intent was still unlawful. So even if it was an accident, they might not let me off the hook.

But there’s a second definition that can independently count as “excusable homicide”:

1. By accident; and
2. It was the heat of passion and you were suddenly provoked to a significant degree.

I’m not entirely sure I understand this second defense. I think that may be saying that the other elements in the first definition – that you were doing something lawful, that you were exercising caution, and that you didn’t have an unlawful intent may not be necessary for this second definition of “excusable homicide” if it was the heat of passion and you were suddenly provoked to a significant degree. I wonder if this isn’t the reason the jury found Zimmerman not guilty.
And the third definition of excusable homicide in the law says that you were suddenly in a fight, and no dangerous weapon was used, yet the other guy died – that clearly doesn’t apply to this case, as there was a gun.
The not guilty verdict means the jury of six women found that Zimmerman justifiably used deadly force and reasonably believed that such force was “necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm” to himself — Florida’s definition of self-defense.

Here's what is perhaps the most powerful political song ever recorded in America and the original and definitive version by Billie Holliday, Strange Fruit:

The forces of fascism and fear are rampantly panicking in America and desperately trying to stop reality. Like dinosaurs bellowing at their inevitable oblivion, they are trying to use brute force to halt the clock, to turn back time to segregation and McCarthyism. You can't stop reality.

We Ain't Never Turning Back!

Lester

73 year old legend, Lester Chambers, who I might add is an old friend of the family was viciously attacked on stage at the California Hayward-Russell City Blues Festival on Saturday a few hours before the Trayvon Martin Murder trial verdict was announced by a 43 year old crazed gun freak conservative white power Skank, Dinalynn Andrews Potter who assaulted him using martial arts move to stop his performance of the Curtis Mayfield classic, People Get Ready. He had dedicated it to Trayvon Martin. Potter bruised his ribs, kicked him in the kidneys and caused nerve damage to suppress his free speech and express her hate. Is this the violence that FOX NEWS was predicting over the Trayvon Martin verdict? 

The lead in video is Lester's Kick Starter project for his next recoding. Let's make it happen, follow the link, give him a few bucks. Lester Chambers is one of the big voices of American music! Do you remember the band he had in the 1960's with his Brothers?  The Chambers Brothers? If there ever was a band that crossed over at the right time, they were the guys. They could do it all. Tight soul R&B, Gospel and then generating one of the high water moments of mid 60's Rock, the psychedelic trip that was Time Has Come Today...and it was the voice of Lester Chambers that fueled it!

Lester will be back singing louder than ever. I truly believe it and he will never let us forget that

  TIME HAS COME TODAY! 

One more video, this is an interview with Lester Chambers in which he describes the incident. He mentions that Miss Potter wasn't even held, but charged with assault and released.It's all too easy to imagine what would have happened if the racial roles were reversed!

And now, the star of our show!

I couldn't stop myself from posting this. Neil Aspinal's video for Tomorrow Never Knows....The message never. ever changes, Tomorrow Never Knows!

la Quatorze

Lat night, the horizon was ablaze even here in rural France as villages and towns celebrated our national holiday, Bastille Day! This is a video from last nights display in Paris and of course the real star of the show was La Tour Eiffel! Remember, people make revolutions. The government is all about maintaining the status quo, protecting it's vested interest. A revolution doesn't have to be violent. Today as we can learn from countries like Iceland, it can be a simple as crowd sourcing a new constitution. Pretty much like upgrading the operating system of your computer to protect it from hacking, bugs and

In case you missed it, the rainbow
gay pride tribute sequence!

viruses. That is the flaw of any nobly intent antique constitution. The only people who read it are those intent on interpreting the language to fit  their intent. A government has to be a living organism that reflects the will of the people who it supposedly serves. An organism evolves. It withers and dies when it is encased in a museum under glass. America is the perfect example. What was once "We The People" is now "We The Corporations And It's Lawyers". Maybe though, it's time to take Bill Gates, The Corporate Board of Monsanto, The Texas State Legislature and few other entities that have evolved beyond any definition of "We The People" and take them out in back of the barn and shoot 'em

French etching from 1789 depicting the storming of the Bastille.

The storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris, France on the morning of 14 July 1789. The medieval fortress and prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the centre of Paris. While the prison only contained seven inmates at the time of its storming, its fall was the flashpoint of the French Revolution.

The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed within three years. French society underwent a dramatic transformation, as feudal, aristocratic and religious privileges evaporated under a sustained assault from radical left-wing political groups, masses on the streets, and peasants in the countryside. Old ideas about tradition and hierarchy regarding monarchs, aristocrats, and the Catholic Church were abruptly overthrown by new principles o liberty, equality and fraternity. The modern era has unfolded in the shadow of the French Revolution. The growth of republics and liberal democracies, the spread of secularism, the development of modern ideologies, and the invention of total war all mark their birth during the Revolution.

And of course, in France, The President gives an interview. Here we see our President "Normal" Francois Hollande giving a pretty upbeat message on the economy. When asked about his dismal approval ratings, he was able to joke about the traditional pessimism and depression of the French population even in the very best of times. He did make a very strong statement that while he was president of France, he would never ever consider the possibility of Fraking! Hollande's biggest problem is his public image and ability to manage his diverse coalition and most important, the way they communicate with the media. The right  wing nationalists have such a simplistic, negative message, like the Republicans and the Tea Baggers in America...Hollande inherited Sarkozy's debacle and he has to turn it around. Sarkozy just has to be seen with his ex groupie pop star wife, Carlita Brun brun in public to have his likability ratings go up a notch....

Texas: The Next Romania?

I'm beginning to believe that there are a lot of parallels to be
considered between Romania under Nicolae Ceausescu and
the bizarre fascist teabagger fantasy land that Texas seems so desperately
wants to become. Death To Dictators!
Fuck Fascism!

Overplanned Parenthood:

Ceausescu's cruel law

Nicolae Ceausescu loved nothing better than a monument to himself. But his ministerial palaces and avenues paled next to another of his schemes for building socialism: a plan to increase Romania's population from 23 million to 30 million by the year 2000. He began his campaign in 1966 with a decree that virtually made pregnancy a state policy. "The fetus is the property of the entire society," Ceausescu proclaimed. "Anyone who avoids having children is a deserter who abandons the laws of national continuity."
It was one of the late dictator's cruelest commands. At first Romania's birthrate nearly doubled. But poor nutrition and inadequate prenatal care endangered many pregnant women. The country's infant-mortality rate soard to 83 deaths in every 1,000 births (against a Western European average of less than 10 per thousand). About one in 10 babies was born underweight; newborns weighing 1,500 grams (3 pounds, 5 ounces) were classified as miscarriages and denied treatment. Unwanted survivors often ended up in orphanages. "The law only forbade abortion," says Dr. Alexander Floran Anca of Bucharest. "It did nothing to promote life."
Ceausescu made mockery of family planning. He forbade sex education. Books on human sexuality and reproduction were classified as "state secrets," to be used only as medical textbooks. With contraception banned, Romanians had to smuggle in condoms and birth-control pills. Though strictly illegal, abortions remained a widespread birth-control measure of last resort. Nationwide, Western sources estimate, 60 percent of all pregnancies ended in abortion or miscarriage.
The government's enforcement techniques were as bad as the law. Women under the age of 45 were rounded up at their workplaces every one to three months and taken to clinics, where they were examined for signs of pregnancy, often in the presence of government agents - dubbed the "menstrual police" by some Romanians. A pregnant woman who failed to "produce" a baby at the proper time could expect to be summoned for questioning. Women who miscarried were suspected of arranging an abortion. Some doctors resorted for forging statistics. "If a child died in our district, we lost 10 to 25 percent of our salary," says Dr. Geta Stanescu of Bucharest. "But it wasn't our fault: we had no medicine or milk, and the families were poor."
Abortion was legal in some cases: if a woman was over 40, if she already had four children, if her life was in danger - or, in practice, if she had Communist Party connections. Otherwise, illegal abortions cost from two to four months' wages. If something went wrong, the legal consequences were enough to deter many women from seeking timely medical help. "Usually women were so terrified to come to the hospital that by the time we saw them it was too late," says Dr. Anca. "Often they died at home." No one knows how many women died from these back-alley abortions.
"Celibacy tax": A woman didn't have to be pregnant to come under scrutiny. In 1986 members of the Communist youth group were sent to quiz citizens about their sex lives. "How often do you have sexual intercourse?" the questionnaire read. "Why have you failed to conceive?" Women who did not have children, even if they could not, paid a "celibacy tax" of up to 10 percent of their monthly salaries.
The rebels who overthrew Ceausescu last month quickly rescinded the policy. "I would have killed Ceausescu for that law alone," says Maria Dulce from her bed at Bucharest's Municipal Hospital. The 29-year-old mother of two is recovering from a self-induced abortion. Here eyes are bruised with fatigue. She is among a half dozen women in the dingy hospital room. Dulce says she terminated her pregnancy because of the trauma associated with caring for her second child, an 18-month-old boy. "We had to buy milk on the black market," she says, "and we had to buy a heater just for the baby's room." She had to have an emergency hysterectomy only days before the uprising. "Now that it's possible for a woman to be a woman again I'm mutilated," Dulce says through tears. "And now there is a reason to have a child in this country."

The tile of this article in Todays Guardian Observer says it all, Texas thinks of women as second-class citizens-if it thinks we're citizens at all.....

It's too much to even fantasize that the women of Texas could unite and stand together to "JUST SAY NO!" No more pregnancies, no more births, no more sex until the aging ambitious political hypocrites who are controlling the legislature admit that women are not to be considered breeding stock, property, chattel for them to do with as they please to pander to an aging, dying white minority. What else do they do? They have destroyed the health care system, the food stamp program, the very essential tools that they would need to sustain the birth rate they seem to think will re new their toxic white christian fantasy. Their fantasy will destroy them. This is not wishful thinking, this is reality.

Remember what happened to Ceaucescu, they really did take him out in back of the barn and shot both him and his wife!

technical difficulties

I was having some serious computer burps today trying to install some new photoshop stuff, but I think it's okay now...buurrrpppp!

Forced Feeding

The inmates of the Guantanamo Prison Facility in Cuba have never received due process. The entire situation is an indelible stain on America which can never be made to go away. It has been documented that many of the inmates are there because they were unjustly accused by Afghanis who wanted revenge or to seize their property and saw the opportunity. It's Ramadan and the prisoners who are on a hunger strike because of the seemingly never ending kafkaesque reality they are living are being force fed against their will. Force feeding only assuages the guilt of the oppressors. In reality, it is an even bigger torture than the one the prisoners are trying to escape from.

where no man has gone before...#2 (how's your bird?)

The esteemed Mr. Squatio prodded me into recalling an episode from Star Trek from 1968 that broke a few barriers all at the same time. Not only did it feature real inter planetary sexual action...dig Spock...but it really featured the first really hot inter racial kiss...William Shatner as Kirk and Nichelle Nichols as Uhura...we crossed these lines decades ago and we are ready for the next frontier..so to speak...We are over this. The conservatives and the christian right are trying to drag us back into their own repressed stone age where the only inter specie sexuality they can grasp occurred between a Virgin? and a deified imaginary big bird....

No Smoking

I meant to post this last night...Mr. Hulot's Holiday...1953

Jacques Tati demonstrates why smoking a pipe  might be dangerous in a room filled 

with fireworks...

To Boldly Go...where no man has gone before.....

Primitive Obsession

In the days following the Supreme Courts historic striking down of DOMA decision, the conservative christan and tea brained bigots have all burst flaming from their hate filled closets. It's pretty idiotic of me to even ask "What is it with these guys and gals?" First, we have Kentucky Senator and practicing Aqua Budha Boy, the air head apparent so to speak, Rand Paul being interviewed on Glenn Beck...I guess that says it all the day after the decision::

“I think this is the conundrum and gets back to what you were saying in the opening — whether or not churches should decide this. But it is difficult because if we have no laws on this people take it to one extension further. Does it have to be humans?
“You know, I mean, so there really are, the question is what social mores, can some social mores be part of legislation? Historically we did at the state legislative level, we did allow for some social mores to be part of it. Some of them were said to be for health reasons and otherwise, but I’m kind of with you, I see the thousands-of-year tradition of the nucleus of the family unit. I also see that economically, if you just look without any kind of moral periscope and you say, what is it that is the leading cause of poverty in our country? It’s having kids without marriage. The stability of the marriage unit is enormous and we should not just say oh we’re punting on it, marriage can be anything.”

Of course, when challenged hours later on his statement, he backtracked with the typical...I did not mean what you heard me say and I'll get back to you when my lawyers tell me what I really said...kind of logic.
Ex Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum immediately twitted that this brought back his old "man on dog" days. Pat Roberson, always the voice of moderation on these matters immediately forecast a  heavy rain of fire and brimstone because, well, then, god just might be a little peeved over this, but then again, Robertson makes a lot of "predictions".  Predictably, as well, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council claimed that the Supreme Court decision "Car Jacked" the nation.  Conservative Tea Brains, religious fanatics all seem to be in the same downward spiral in the mental toilet bowl of their collective hate. The collective sputtering and short circuiting of faulty brain synapses is beginning to get pretty confusing. The static howl is beginning to drown out their own arguments! What next?
What next? Don't be silly! We have to ban the future! We have to ban cosmic alien sex! That seems to be the next frontier of conservative sexual paranoiac panic! And conservative christian radio preacher, Kevin Swanson is leading the charge with his claims that the new Star Trek movie, Star Trek:Into Darkness, definitely promotes bestiality, because, you know, Kirk has sexual relations with a green skinned alien hottie and you just know what perverted thoughts that might put into the minds of America's pristine youth! You can read and listen to the actual radio broadcast here!

Sex with the aliens 2013!

But it's not like this hasn't happened before...the old Kirk, William Shatner used to have sex with alien hotties all the time and no body raised an eyebrow!

Sex with the aliens, 1966!

But, Star Trek was always about breaking barriers and instilling dangerous ideas in the consciousness of Americans. Star Trek broke any number of taboos in it's original form. The character, Mr. Spock, Chekov the Russian or Sulu...I'd say George Takei has broken more barriers in his life than any number of so called controversial personalities just by simply being George Takei. The most threatening character, to conservative white Americans, in the original series was of course the character played by Nichelle Nichols, Lieutenant Uhura. A strong African American woman who was in charge, did her job competently and was accepted as just another member of this crew. As evidence as to how dangerous the character she embodied, Lieutenant Uruha really was, I must quote from this NPR interview she did a few years ago talking about an encounter she had with a certain Star Trek fan:

Ms. NICHOLS: I went in to tell Gene Roddenberry that I was leaving after the first season, and he was very upset about it. And he said, take the weekend and think about what I am trying to achieve here in this show. You're an integral part and very important to it. And so I said, yes, I would. And that - on Saturday night, I went to an NAACP fundraiser, I believe it was, in Beverly Hills. And one of the promoters came over to me and said, Ms. Nichols, there's someone who would like to meet you. He says he is your greatest fan.
And I'm thinking a Trekker, you know. And I turn, and before I could get up, I looked across the way and there was the face of Dr. Martin Luther King smiling at me and walking toward me. And he started laughing. By the time he reached me, he said, yes, Ms. Nichols, I am your greatest fan. I am that Trekkie.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Ms. NICHOLS: And I was speechless. He complimented me on the manner in which I'd created the character. I thanked him, and I think I said something like, Dr. King, I wish I could be out there marching with you. He said, no, no, no. No, you don't understand. We don't need you on the - to march. You are marching. You are reflecting what we are fighting for. So, I said to him, thank you so much. And I'm going to miss my co-stars.
And his face got very, very serious. And he said, what are you talking about? And I said, well, I told Gene just yesterday that I'm going to leave the show after the first year because I've been offered - and he stopped me and said: You cannot do that. And I was stunned. He said, don't you understand what this man has achieved? For the first time, we are being seen the world over as we should be seen. He says, do you understand that this is the only show that my wife Coretta and I will allow our little children to stay up and watch. I was speechless.

But as seemingly controversial that Star Trek appeared, the line of inter species kannoodoling had long been crossed utterly and irrevocably many years earlier. I mean, what would the Reverend Swanson have to say about this?