Occasionally my favorite sports columnists--Dan Shaughnessy and Bob Ryan--will fill column inches with tidbits: "cleaning out the desk drawer of the mind," or some such thing, little 2 or 3 line bits which never get developed into full-fledged columns (my father pronounced that word "colyooms"), but are interesting nonetheless. I've got 3 such things today. Maybe more like a novella, a short story, and an anecdote.
I found a piece on the Op-Ed page of last Sunday's Boston Globe entitled "Remove space aliens from Earth's party list." Written by Stephen Kinzer, the column is concerned with the fact that a group of scientists in California has announced plans to "advertise Earth's existence to space aliens, and invite them to visit." For decades, of course, radio astronomers have, through a program called SETI, Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, been listening to the heavens in hopes of hearing some sort of transmission that seems made by another intelligence. Now some want to be pro(radio)active and start a program they're calling METI, Messaging to Extraterrestrial Intelligence. That's all pretty interesting stuff, but what really struck me is the reaction to such a proposal. Kinzer, along with many scientists, feels METI is a terrible idea, which "should terrify anyone familiar with the history of imperialism and conquest." WHAT???!!?
First, let's acknowledge that it's a statistical given that we are not the only planet in the universe which contains life. The odds are totally against us being the only ones. For years, Sci-Fi writers and filmmakers have wrestled with trying to describe or depict alien life forms. Even fantastical imaginations have trouble conceiving something wholly unknown, so most creatures in Sci-Fi have at least some vaguely humanoid traits, or traits and characteristics of other flora and fauna with which we have some familiarity. Woody Allen, in his comic masterpiece Sleeper posited that an alien might have "the body of a crab and the head of a social worker."
Obviously, though, it's not just picturing aliens physically that throws us. We apparently cannot conceive of beings whose behavior would in any way not reflect our worst traits. Bertrand Russell once said that "For aught we know, other parts of the cosmos may contain beings as superior to ourselves as we are to jelly-fish." And, apparently, even to some of our greatest minds, superiority inevitably leads to violence, rapaciousness, conquest: We behave that way, the thinking goes, so how can we expect that any other life form, especially one superior to us, would behave differently. Well, the word "superior" itself would make me think it possible, but I'm no Stephen Hawking, who has said "'If aliens visit us the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans.'" But then Hawking left his first wife, who saw him through the early stages of his disease and pre-fame, for his nurse, so his knowledge of appropriate human behavior is a bit suspect.
So, really, any and all beings existing anywhere in the cosmos would share our most brutal and violent tendencies? But what if, let's just say, what if aliens have already been here, maybe are still here? There is some speculative evidence for that, after all. What if their names are Teresa, Mohandas, Martin, Jesus, Rosa, Squanto, Sacajawea (note: not a white guy among 'em.)? What if they were and are here to show us the way of "superior" beings, to model a real humanity, however alien? What if we are the beasts, and the beasts are the beauties? What does that thought do to the ground beneath you, wheelchair boy? Math is one thing; humanity and interpersonal relationships another. How do you quantify love?
Part Deux: As I write this, at 5:15 pm, EDT on 22 March, 2015 (as the cool Europeans would write it), there have been 20,240 visits to this website, over 118 posts. I know, some people get that many hits per second per second, but I think that's still pretty cool. Of that number, I believe that at least 200 have read more than one sentence; also there have been about 25 responses, which seems like an appropriate number percentage-wise and given the quality of the source, and for which I am very gratified. I have monetized the blog to the tune of $50, which I received as a royalty for being included in a composition handbook, 50 Genres and How to Write Them, written by esteemed composition professor and author Dr. Brock Dethier. But I couldn't have done it without all the little people out there, so I'd like to thank Peter Dinklage, Dolly Parton (stature, folks, not projection), Danny DeVito, Eddie Gaedel (for you oldtimers), Edith Piaf and Charlie Manson, and how's that for a pair--La Vie en Die, Piggies, Die!.
We recently reached a new cultural touchstone, or touch-something: in The New Yorker issue of Feb. 23 & Mar. 2, 2015, Anthony Lane, one of their wonderful and witty film critics, used the term "butt plug." It was in his review of "Fifty Shades of Grey,", and it wasn't part of a quote; the entire sentence read "Pass the butt plug." Kate, I leave it to you to explain it to Craig. So the Rubicon has been crossed, again and in a holely 'nother direction. Eustace Tilley's spinnin', and his top hat's afire.
For a playlist this week, I'll stick with the novella, mostly:
Alien Chris Whitley
Alien (Hold On To Your Dream) Gil Scott-Heron
Alien Invasion David Lindley
The Alien Lounge Steve Tibbetts
The Alien Song (For Those Who Listen) Milla
Aliens Gully Boys
Loving The Alien David Bowie
The Alien Changes The Stick George Duke
UFO Has Landed In The Ghetto Ry Cooder
UFO Tofu Bela Fleck & The Flecktones
Third Stone From The Sun Jimi Hendrix
Rocket Man Elton John
Here Come The Martian Martians Jonathan Richman
Life On Mars? David Bowie
I'm The Urban Spaceman Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
Mr. Spaceman The Byrds
Spaceman Harry Nilsson
Outa-Space Billy Preston
Lost In Space Neil Young
Space Captain Joe Cocker
Space Cowboy Ben Sidran
When Numbers Get Serious Paul Simon
Dirty Butt Blues Sweets Edison and Lockjaw Davis
See you Tuesday, noon till two on WOOL-FM, 91.5, and/or wool.fm, streaming live worldwide.
"Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast...."
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Sunday, March 15, 2015
It Can't Happen Here--Or Is It?
In 1935, as Fascism was on the rise in Europe, Sinclair Lewis wrote a novel, set primarily in Vermont, in fact, called It Can't Happen Here. In it, Lewis lays out in quite plausible detail how Fascism, totalitarianism, could fairly easily come to the US. I'm not going to go into great detail regarding the plot because you should really read the book, but I hope you'll at least go to Wikipedia for a synopsis. Even the brief overview oughta make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, particularly this: a fictional ... populist US Senator...is elected to the Presidency after promising drastic economic and social reforms while promoting a return to patriotism and traditional values. After his election (he) takes total control of the government and imposes totalitarian rule with the help of a ruthless paramilitary force...."
Paranoia, a wise man once said, strikes deep. "Even paranoids," said poet Delmore Schwartz, "have real enemies." What I'm about to say fits into both of those views: it would be fairly easy, I think, to construct a narrative from the last 30-35 years of American history, which would show that such a process, a (relatively) bloodless coup, is exactly what we've been living through without realizing it.
Ronald Reagan, in the early stages of his dementia, began the process of packing the Supreme Court, after campaigning on the promise that he'd only nominate those opposed to abortion and so-called judicial activism. Reagan elevated William Rehnquist to be Chief Justice, and gave us Antonin Scalia, probably the strongest weapon Conservatives have on the court, Anthony Kennedy, often seen as a "swing vote," but one who usually comes down on the Conservative side, and Sandra Day O'Connor.
Bush I gave us "Silent Clarence" Thomas, who once went more than 7 years without asking a question during oral arguments before the Court. What the hell was he doing all that time? Thomas's main function seems to be to serve as Scalia's acolyte and sycophant. From Bush II, to round out the packed lineup, we got new Chief Justice John Roberts and Samuel Alito, both solidly counted on to kowtow to Conservative wishes.
The five Justices appointed by Reagan and Bush I were the five votes who gave the 2000 presidential election to Bush II in a revolution without a shot being fired, despite his having lost by more than half a million votes in the popular balloting. Talk about "activist judges!" We all know what tragedies and horrors befell us under Bush II's "leadership," from his Administration's ignoring warnings about Al-Qaeda and bin Laden, thus making the 9/11 attacks possible, to his lying the country's way into the Iraqi war, to his hideous economic policies and deregulation, which culminated in the Great Recession.
Since then that Court has given us Citizens United, the worst decision in the history of decisions, declaring that "corporations are people," and thus making it easier for shadowy figures to buy or steal elections, and removing more power from the hands of real citizens. Now they're gearing up to try to eliminate the Affordable Care Act, again acting in favor of corporations and at the expense(literally, given the cost of non-subsidized premiums) of the populace at large.
Congress, meanwhile, has had its own role in the silent coup, threatening repeatedly to shut down the government if they don't get their way on economic or social policies. More egregious, perhaps, was John Boehner's recent invitation to Bebe Netanyahu to speak to a joint session of Congress, totally giving the President the finger. Most egregious was the recent open letter to the government of Iran, signed by 47 Republican Senators, including NH's Kelly Ayotte, which in essence was an open attempt to hijack power and usurp the President's standing and authority. Both of these attempts have, thankfully, blown up in Republicans' faces, but the fact that they seemed to be acceptable options speaks volumes to Republicans' notion of and disdain for government and how our constitutional process was designed, and how it used to work. It was predicated on a "loyal opposition," but it's apparent that that loyalty has changed, that it's no longer even grudgingly directed to the government, but to a small group of people's petty policies and megalomaniacal mission.
It's a common axiom that the first thing that dictators want to do is to disarm the citizenry, removing any possibility of a popular armed revolt against their authority. But what if someone were clever enough to see that the opposite approach could be more fruitful? In the last 35 years or so, the NRA has morphed from a fairly sensible organization dedicated to hunter safety and the actual preservation of open public land to hunt on into a rabid, zealous extremist group. Over the objections of police and other law-enforcement agencies, groups you'd think would be the NRA's natural allies, but with the fervent and vociferous support of Conservative Republicans (Department of Redundancy Department, or what?) they've pushed through legislation to continually up the ante on armaments, from armor-piercing ammunition to assault weapons to RPGs to personal tactical nuclear weapons. Okay, maybe not the last, but don't bet against 'em. As we are all too well aware, the American citizenry is armed to the teeth and beyond, and most of 'em put their "X" in the Republican column--the one on the Right--on Voting Day. Gun totin' Lefties like me are pretty rare, I daresay, and pitifully outgunned if there were to be some sort of internecine disagreement. At any rate, there's a powerful, well-armed paramilitary presence in place, ready to enforce any policies their increasingly conservative puppeteers implement.
Wicked far fetched, you say? I've finally and categorically gone 'round the bend? Probably correct, on both counts. But read the book, or the Cliff's Notes version, and look around. Maybe we've been asleep and need to wake up. Maybe, while we've been going about our business and assuming all is proceeding as it always has, within the rules and parameters we've been governed by for 239 years, something else is happening here.
This week's playlist:
Leroy And Bo's Totalitarian Showdown Mark Germino And The Sluggers
All You Fascists Billy Bragg
Fascist Architecture Bruce Cockburn
Children Of The Revolution Violent Femmes
Revolution Bob Marley & The Wailers
Revolution Eric Clapton
Revolution The Pretenders
Revolution's Over Phish
Revolution (Parts 1& 2) Nina Simone
Revolution 1 The Fabs
Revolution Of The Mind Garland Jeffreys
Talkin' 'Bout A Revolution Playing For Change
Revolution Blues Neil Young
Are You Sleeping? Harry Nilsson
How Do You Sleep? John Lennon
I'm Only Sleeping Fabs
I Don't Sleep, I Dream R.E.M.
Sleeping The Band
Sleepwalk Amos Garrett
Awakening Lucinda Williams
Wake Up And Live Bob Marley & The Wailers
The Wake-Up Bomb R.E.M.
Wake Me Jesse Winchester
Wake Me When It's Over Willie Nelson
When You Awake The band
Wake Up The Harpoonist and Axe Murderer
When You Gonna Wake Up Dylan
What Are Their Names David Crosby
For What It's Worth Buffalo Springfield
It's interesting: these "revolution" songs are from the time when I was young, and we thought we were gonna be the ones revolting. And of course lots of people thought we were revolting. Now it looks like it's the other team that might be doing it. I keep waiting for the Pendulum to swing back, but I'm afraid when it does it'll have a big blade attached....
See ya Tuesday from noon till two on 91.5 FM, wool.fm worldwide.
Paranoia, a wise man once said, strikes deep. "Even paranoids," said poet Delmore Schwartz, "have real enemies." What I'm about to say fits into both of those views: it would be fairly easy, I think, to construct a narrative from the last 30-35 years of American history, which would show that such a process, a (relatively) bloodless coup, is exactly what we've been living through without realizing it.
Ronald Reagan, in the early stages of his dementia, began the process of packing the Supreme Court, after campaigning on the promise that he'd only nominate those opposed to abortion and so-called judicial activism. Reagan elevated William Rehnquist to be Chief Justice, and gave us Antonin Scalia, probably the strongest weapon Conservatives have on the court, Anthony Kennedy, often seen as a "swing vote," but one who usually comes down on the Conservative side, and Sandra Day O'Connor.
Bush I gave us "Silent Clarence" Thomas, who once went more than 7 years without asking a question during oral arguments before the Court. What the hell was he doing all that time? Thomas's main function seems to be to serve as Scalia's acolyte and sycophant. From Bush II, to round out the packed lineup, we got new Chief Justice John Roberts and Samuel Alito, both solidly counted on to kowtow to Conservative wishes.
The five Justices appointed by Reagan and Bush I were the five votes who gave the 2000 presidential election to Bush II in a revolution without a shot being fired, despite his having lost by more than half a million votes in the popular balloting. Talk about "activist judges!" We all know what tragedies and horrors befell us under Bush II's "leadership," from his Administration's ignoring warnings about Al-Qaeda and bin Laden, thus making the 9/11 attacks possible, to his lying the country's way into the Iraqi war, to his hideous economic policies and deregulation, which culminated in the Great Recession.
Since then that Court has given us Citizens United, the worst decision in the history of decisions, declaring that "corporations are people," and thus making it easier for shadowy figures to buy or steal elections, and removing more power from the hands of real citizens. Now they're gearing up to try to eliminate the Affordable Care Act, again acting in favor of corporations and at the expense(literally, given the cost of non-subsidized premiums) of the populace at large.
Congress, meanwhile, has had its own role in the silent coup, threatening repeatedly to shut down the government if they don't get their way on economic or social policies. More egregious, perhaps, was John Boehner's recent invitation to Bebe Netanyahu to speak to a joint session of Congress, totally giving the President the finger. Most egregious was the recent open letter to the government of Iran, signed by 47 Republican Senators, including NH's Kelly Ayotte, which in essence was an open attempt to hijack power and usurp the President's standing and authority. Both of these attempts have, thankfully, blown up in Republicans' faces, but the fact that they seemed to be acceptable options speaks volumes to Republicans' notion of and disdain for government and how our constitutional process was designed, and how it used to work. It was predicated on a "loyal opposition," but it's apparent that that loyalty has changed, that it's no longer even grudgingly directed to the government, but to a small group of people's petty policies and megalomaniacal mission.
It's a common axiom that the first thing that dictators want to do is to disarm the citizenry, removing any possibility of a popular armed revolt against their authority. But what if someone were clever enough to see that the opposite approach could be more fruitful? In the last 35 years or so, the NRA has morphed from a fairly sensible organization dedicated to hunter safety and the actual preservation of open public land to hunt on into a rabid, zealous extremist group. Over the objections of police and other law-enforcement agencies, groups you'd think would be the NRA's natural allies, but with the fervent and vociferous support of Conservative Republicans (Department of Redundancy Department, or what?) they've pushed through legislation to continually up the ante on armaments, from armor-piercing ammunition to assault weapons to RPGs to personal tactical nuclear weapons. Okay, maybe not the last, but don't bet against 'em. As we are all too well aware, the American citizenry is armed to the teeth and beyond, and most of 'em put their "X" in the Republican column--the one on the Right--on Voting Day. Gun totin' Lefties like me are pretty rare, I daresay, and pitifully outgunned if there were to be some sort of internecine disagreement. At any rate, there's a powerful, well-armed paramilitary presence in place, ready to enforce any policies their increasingly conservative puppeteers implement.
Wicked far fetched, you say? I've finally and categorically gone 'round the bend? Probably correct, on both counts. But read the book, or the Cliff's Notes version, and look around. Maybe we've been asleep and need to wake up. Maybe, while we've been going about our business and assuming all is proceeding as it always has, within the rules and parameters we've been governed by for 239 years, something else is happening here.
This week's playlist:
Leroy And Bo's Totalitarian Showdown Mark Germino And The Sluggers
All You Fascists Billy Bragg
Fascist Architecture Bruce Cockburn
Children Of The Revolution Violent Femmes
Revolution Bob Marley & The Wailers
Revolution Eric Clapton
Revolution The Pretenders
Revolution's Over Phish
Revolution (Parts 1& 2) Nina Simone
Revolution 1 The Fabs
Revolution Of The Mind Garland Jeffreys
Talkin' 'Bout A Revolution Playing For Change
Revolution Blues Neil Young
Are You Sleeping? Harry Nilsson
How Do You Sleep? John Lennon
I'm Only Sleeping Fabs
I Don't Sleep, I Dream R.E.M.
Sleeping The Band
Sleepwalk Amos Garrett
Awakening Lucinda Williams
Wake Up And Live Bob Marley & The Wailers
The Wake-Up Bomb R.E.M.
Wake Me Jesse Winchester
Wake Me When It's Over Willie Nelson
When You Awake The band
Wake Up The Harpoonist and Axe Murderer
When You Gonna Wake Up Dylan
What Are Their Names David Crosby
For What It's Worth Buffalo Springfield
It's interesting: these "revolution" songs are from the time when I was young, and we thought we were gonna be the ones revolting. And of course lots of people thought we were revolting. Now it looks like it's the other team that might be doing it. I keep waiting for the Pendulum to swing back, but I'm afraid when it does it'll have a big blade attached....
See ya Tuesday from noon till two on 91.5 FM, wool.fm worldwide.
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Ars Hola(s): Vermonters Weigh In On Diversity
When I was a kid, my cousin Keith was my idol. He was five years older than me, and between the ages of 10 and 16 or so, those five years are an eternity: in my eyes, he was practically an adult, and I was the puppy he generously allowed to tag along at his heels, snuffling up all of the pearls of wisdom and insight he dropped. He taught me lots of swears, taught me about anatomy and sex (to the extent of his own limited knowledge), introduced me to (then) cool music, even had me be Best Man at his wedding when I was just 16, and had to make the toast with ginger ale. In short, he treated me as a beloved kid brother, and I was excessively grateful for that.
Keith and his parents--and maybe his older brother, I can't recall--were pretty proficient archers, and used to travel great distances by car from their home in Springfield, VT. to participate in archery tournaments around the country. This was the late 1950's/early 1960's, mind, and auto travel of great distance was no mean feat. I recall him telling me after one trip to Kansas or Arkansas or somewhere faraway and exotic, how one time they pulled into a gas station for a fill-up (in the days of full service) and the attendant, as the gas pumped, idly glanced at the license plate on the car and said "Vermont! What state's that in?"
The answer is finally in, after all these years: Vermont is in the same state of bigotry, hatred, ignorance, fear, xenophobia and stupidity as every other state in the country, and likely everyplace humans live the world over. This little item appeared in The Week in the Feb. 20 issue:
A proposal to add a Latin phrase to Vermont's state motto caused an uproar when some residents mistook the ancient Roman language for Spanish. A state senator proposed adding "Stella quarta decima fulgeat" ("The 14th star shines bright") to the state seal. But protestors took to the internet to declare, "Vermont ain't no Latino area," and "This is America, not Mexico." And those are among the mildest and least-stupid-sounding comments.
But wait, it gets even better: the suggestion for the motto originated with an 8th grader in the Riverside School in Lyndonville, VT., interested in the history of her state. Seems the motto originally appeared on old coins minted in Vermont, and is a sign of the pride Vermonters felt at being the 14th state in the nation. When the story aired on WCAX TV in Burlington, well, the merda, the mierda, hit the fan. Viewers became incensed (um, Vermonters, that means "wicked pissed") and began to spout off idiotically by the dozens in on-line forums (hmm, where does that word come from?). One person actually wrote, in protest, "When in Rome do as the Romans do." A little learning is a stupid thing.
You shouldn't just take my word for it, though. My source for the quotes is a site called BDCwire/vermont motto. It'll make you laugh, cry, swear, shake your head at where we are today, and/or vomit, if you're like me. And for those of you who won't bother to check it out yourselves, here are a few of the surnames of the Vermont "natives" who want to keep the "foreigners" out: Flanders, Zucker, Lamoureux, Lepisto, Salzano, Gauld, Smolnik, Swierczynski and Prevuznak. Yep, we sure need to keep Vermont pure from all them foreigners. And the thing is, of course, that these people have the right to vote (even they can make an "X", I'll bet), and procreate, which I'll wager they do prolifically (means "a wicked lot"), just the same as regular people whose hairlines and eyebrows don't meet and whose knuckles don't scrape the ground when they walk upright (it can be done, through something called "evoluti"--oh, never mind). Vermont currently has a motto, to which the proposed Latin would be appended; wanna guess what it is? "Freedom And Unity." God, irony is such a rich vein, innit? And it just drips and oozes from virtually every word, every syllable, every letter of this story.
Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire are the three least-diverse, whitest states in the nation, each at least 96% caucasian, according to the 2010 census. Ninety-six percent! I knew we were pretty insular if not inbred, but that still amazes me. I've been picking on Vermont in this piece because the impetus for it originated there, but of course neither ME or NH is any different attitudinally, each containing its share of bigots and yahoos I'm sure at least equal to The People's Republic of Vermont. It's nice to know that bigotry and stupidity are equal-opportunity, and that you don't even have to know someone--or some group--to hate them. In fact that probably makes it easier.
I read the article in The Week while I was in Ossining, NY this past week. Ossining's in Westchester County, but put aside your presumptions: Ossining's very diverse, with a large black and Latino population, and I had been thinking how great it was to be among and interacting with people different from me, people of different races, cultures, and ethnicities. If you're there and you're paying attention, you can't help but realize that any differences between people are superficial and that underneath it all we all want and need the same things: love, primarily, along with respect, dignity and safety and security. We all know the code words that whites trying to raise their diversity IQ use, and Joltin' Joe Biden used pretty much all of them in this infamous quote about then-Candidate (and putative Biden opponent) Obama in 2007: "(He's) the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy." Yep, nailed it: "articulate" (the biggie), "clean," "bright;" "Look at me, everyone, I'm open-minded as hell, can't you see?"
I include that last in the hopes it'll mitigate what I'm about to say, which could be taken in that same "Why, they're real people, much like you and me" tone. We were in Ossining to deal with my father-in-law's ongoing life-and-death struggle. The doctor on call on Friday, not his regular Dr. and so largely unfamiliar with his particular circumstances, was Dr. Kwon, a young Korean woman, who spoke very strongly accented English. Although she was unfamiliar with Sandy's case, she was clearly familiar with the disease and its progression, and with human nature. Her manner and affect were fantastic; she was calm, compassionate, careful to explain what she could and to draw the line where she could not. Her air of quiet and unruffled competence, evident in spite of our occasional struggles to understand her English, and the constant demands from her beeping pager, were just what we needed to facilitate decisions and help us on to the next steps. It was almost like she was a real doctor, a white guy; how'd she pull that off?
So, the two words before the colon in the title of this piece are just randomly chosen, or not, one from the real Latin, one from Spanish. I don't even know what they mean, maybe, and why should I: they're not English, so they don't really matter. Anyway, this week's playlist of Latin, Mexican, and Spanish-flavored songs:
Os Iusti Benedictine Monks Of Santo Domingo
Con Sabor Latino Poncho Sanchez
Latin Flute Eumir Deodato
Latin Note St. Germain
Leroy's Latin Lament War
Mexican Home John Prine
Mexican Moon Concrete Blonde
Mexican Cousin Phish
For A Spanish Guitar Gene Clark
Our Spanish Love Song Ginger Baker Trio
Sing Me Spanish Techno The New Pornographers
Spanish Wells William Topley
Spanish Blood Garland Jeffreys
Spanish Bombs The Clash
Spanish Caravan The Doors
Spanish Castle Magic The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Spanish Moon Robert Palmer
Spanish Harlem Leon Russell
Spanish Stroll Mink Deville
Spanish Steps Van Morrison
Spanish Is The Loving Tongue Dylan
Spanish Johnny David Bromberg
Spanish Key Miles Davis
Spanish Suite Stephen Stills
My favorites here, for larger purposes, are "Os Iusti," which translates, with a little extension, as "The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom," (cf the online comments about the motto) and "Mexican Cousin" by Phish, who are, of course, from Vermont. Hope you can join me on Tuesday, from noon till two, on WOOL FM, 91.5, or on wool.fm on the webs, streaming live 24/7. You should become a member, and help keep us on the air.
"Freedom And Unity," man.
Keith and his parents--and maybe his older brother, I can't recall--were pretty proficient archers, and used to travel great distances by car from their home in Springfield, VT. to participate in archery tournaments around the country. This was the late 1950's/early 1960's, mind, and auto travel of great distance was no mean feat. I recall him telling me after one trip to Kansas or Arkansas or somewhere faraway and exotic, how one time they pulled into a gas station for a fill-up (in the days of full service) and the attendant, as the gas pumped, idly glanced at the license plate on the car and said "Vermont! What state's that in?"
The answer is finally in, after all these years: Vermont is in the same state of bigotry, hatred, ignorance, fear, xenophobia and stupidity as every other state in the country, and likely everyplace humans live the world over. This little item appeared in The Week in the Feb. 20 issue:
A proposal to add a Latin phrase to Vermont's state motto caused an uproar when some residents mistook the ancient Roman language for Spanish. A state senator proposed adding "Stella quarta decima fulgeat" ("The 14th star shines bright") to the state seal. But protestors took to the internet to declare, "Vermont ain't no Latino area," and "This is America, not Mexico." And those are among the mildest and least-stupid-sounding comments.
But wait, it gets even better: the suggestion for the motto originated with an 8th grader in the Riverside School in Lyndonville, VT., interested in the history of her state. Seems the motto originally appeared on old coins minted in Vermont, and is a sign of the pride Vermonters felt at being the 14th state in the nation. When the story aired on WCAX TV in Burlington, well, the merda, the mierda, hit the fan. Viewers became incensed (um, Vermonters, that means "wicked pissed") and began to spout off idiotically by the dozens in on-line forums (hmm, where does that word come from?). One person actually wrote, in protest, "When in Rome do as the Romans do." A little learning is a stupid thing.
You shouldn't just take my word for it, though. My source for the quotes is a site called BDCwire/vermont motto. It'll make you laugh, cry, swear, shake your head at where we are today, and/or vomit, if you're like me. And for those of you who won't bother to check it out yourselves, here are a few of the surnames of the Vermont "natives" who want to keep the "foreigners" out: Flanders, Zucker, Lamoureux, Lepisto, Salzano, Gauld, Smolnik, Swierczynski and Prevuznak. Yep, we sure need to keep Vermont pure from all them foreigners. And the thing is, of course, that these people have the right to vote (even they can make an "X", I'll bet), and procreate, which I'll wager they do prolifically (means "a wicked lot"), just the same as regular people whose hairlines and eyebrows don't meet and whose knuckles don't scrape the ground when they walk upright (it can be done, through something called "evoluti"--oh, never mind). Vermont currently has a motto, to which the proposed Latin would be appended; wanna guess what it is? "Freedom And Unity." God, irony is such a rich vein, innit? And it just drips and oozes from virtually every word, every syllable, every letter of this story.
Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire are the three least-diverse, whitest states in the nation, each at least 96% caucasian, according to the 2010 census. Ninety-six percent! I knew we were pretty insular if not inbred, but that still amazes me. I've been picking on Vermont in this piece because the impetus for it originated there, but of course neither ME or NH is any different attitudinally, each containing its share of bigots and yahoos I'm sure at least equal to The People's Republic of Vermont. It's nice to know that bigotry and stupidity are equal-opportunity, and that you don't even have to know someone--or some group--to hate them. In fact that probably makes it easier.
I read the article in The Week while I was in Ossining, NY this past week. Ossining's in Westchester County, but put aside your presumptions: Ossining's very diverse, with a large black and Latino population, and I had been thinking how great it was to be among and interacting with people different from me, people of different races, cultures, and ethnicities. If you're there and you're paying attention, you can't help but realize that any differences between people are superficial and that underneath it all we all want and need the same things: love, primarily, along with respect, dignity and safety and security. We all know the code words that whites trying to raise their diversity IQ use, and Joltin' Joe Biden used pretty much all of them in this infamous quote about then-Candidate (and putative Biden opponent) Obama in 2007: "(He's) the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy." Yep, nailed it: "articulate" (the biggie), "clean," "bright;" "Look at me, everyone, I'm open-minded as hell, can't you see?"
I include that last in the hopes it'll mitigate what I'm about to say, which could be taken in that same "Why, they're real people, much like you and me" tone. We were in Ossining to deal with my father-in-law's ongoing life-and-death struggle. The doctor on call on Friday, not his regular Dr. and so largely unfamiliar with his particular circumstances, was Dr. Kwon, a young Korean woman, who spoke very strongly accented English. Although she was unfamiliar with Sandy's case, she was clearly familiar with the disease and its progression, and with human nature. Her manner and affect were fantastic; she was calm, compassionate, careful to explain what she could and to draw the line where she could not. Her air of quiet and unruffled competence, evident in spite of our occasional struggles to understand her English, and the constant demands from her beeping pager, were just what we needed to facilitate decisions and help us on to the next steps. It was almost like she was a real doctor, a white guy; how'd she pull that off?
So, the two words before the colon in the title of this piece are just randomly chosen, or not, one from the real Latin, one from Spanish. I don't even know what they mean, maybe, and why should I: they're not English, so they don't really matter. Anyway, this week's playlist of Latin, Mexican, and Spanish-flavored songs:
Os Iusti Benedictine Monks Of Santo Domingo
Con Sabor Latino Poncho Sanchez
Latin Flute Eumir Deodato
Latin Note St. Germain
Leroy's Latin Lament War
Mexican Home John Prine
Mexican Moon Concrete Blonde
Mexican Cousin Phish
For A Spanish Guitar Gene Clark
Our Spanish Love Song Ginger Baker Trio
Sing Me Spanish Techno The New Pornographers
Spanish Wells William Topley
Spanish Blood Garland Jeffreys
Spanish Bombs The Clash
Spanish Caravan The Doors
Spanish Castle Magic The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Spanish Moon Robert Palmer
Spanish Harlem Leon Russell
Spanish Stroll Mink Deville
Spanish Steps Van Morrison
Spanish Is The Loving Tongue Dylan
Spanish Johnny David Bromberg
Spanish Key Miles Davis
Spanish Suite Stephen Stills
My favorites here, for larger purposes, are "Os Iusti," which translates, with a little extension, as "The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom," (cf the online comments about the motto) and "Mexican Cousin" by Phish, who are, of course, from Vermont. Hope you can join me on Tuesday, from noon till two, on WOOL FM, 91.5, or on wool.fm on the webs, streaming live 24/7. You should become a member, and help keep us on the air.
"Freedom And Unity," man.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
The Winter Of Our Dissed Continent
A few years ago, I got some (bad) advice from a friend on a stock to buy. I don't at all pretend to know anything about the stock market, but I figured, "what the hell;" the stock was trading at about a buck a share, and my friend said it had a huge upside, as it was a drug for melanoma, and that's gonna do nothing but increase as time goes by, so the stock had to go up, right? My broker guy laughed at me and said "sure, we can buy it, but you have to understand that something like that is really no different from going to Foxwoods" and putting some money on "red," or playing blackjack without Ben Affleck's card-counting skill, or something. I took a flyer, at my friend's urging. By the time I bought, it was up to almost three dollars. Soon after, it went to over six bucks; the smart investor sells then, having doubled his money, and looks for something else, right? I held, just knowing that it was gonna go through the roof--and it did.
If the roof was in a subway tunnel. The stock immediately plunged, and is now trading in the 80 cent range; I still own some, and out of fondness and bemusement I periodically check on line to see how it's doing. It's not doing well, going up a few cents and then down a few, stubbornly holding its place at 80-something cents. And good for it, I say: we all should know our station in life, and not be ashamed of it. Some of us are Xerox or Apple, some of us are Provectus, and it takes all kinds to make up this crazy old stock market world.
The other day, though, when I was checking it just for a laugh--and because I'm not making money from anything else these days, so I hold out hope from pretty much any quarter, or penny--I noticed one of the columns and columnists featured in the sidebar section. Now this is a financial space, remember, so it's not given to featuring or playing to wild-eyed Leftys like me. But this guy named Paul Farrell, who I assume is an economist of some sort, had a piece about how humans' activities have led to, as he put "Earth sinking," and us with no way to save it. In the piece he excoriated Big Oil and The Koch Bros.--as you know, favorite whipping boys of mine--and basically gave credence to what 99% of scientists know, and that we all should believe, but don't.
"This is really cool," I thought (may have even ejaculated it, but that's another story); maybe there's a glimmer of hope after all. Then I made the mistake of scrolling down to read the responses to Mr. Farrell's column. If you've ever followed a trail ("thread," I think the kids call it) of responses to certain Internet stuff--not mine, obviously; who reads or comments on that shit?--then you've seen what happens. People crawl out from under rocks, from the slime, fossils reconstitute themselves to weigh in and let the writer know just what a flaming, idiotic asshole he is for promulgating such ideas. In this case, the most frequently repeated "fact" was that CO2 is not at all harmful and thus has no effect on Climate Change, or the warming of our frail planet ("frail" because of our assaults, not because of its own properties); any idiot, a number of first responders said, knows that it's not carbon that controls Earth's temperature. "It's the sun, stupid." That's a quote from a couple of these geniuses.
So, okay, the sun is just a giant thermostat floating in the sky, orbiting us periodically. Oh, come on, you think these assholes know that we orbit it? So who's controlling it, turning it up or down on, apparently, whimsical and capricious impulse? Is it God? If so, what a Prick: why would a deity do that shit? Maybe it's Satan--yeah, that's it, Satan. Well, Dante notwithstanding (if you get low enough), we know He likes it Hot. Why then would he have dicked around with it, instead of just pegging it at "Max" and calling it good? Probably 'cause those damned Liberals made him, and that must mean that They have the goods on The Prince Of Darkness, know where his bodies are buried, and thus can control him like a marionette.
Well, anyway, before I spiral totally out of control--and, yes, I could keep going, friends--let's get back to the fact that there are some songs, some music, to get between us and this horrible winter, whatever the cause (which climatologists have been warning us of for years), and to make life more bearable by their very existence (antecedent, Mark?). Music is our salvation, and here are a bunch of "sun" songs to get us through this next stretch:
Ain't No Sunshine Rahsaan Roland Kirk
All Around the Sun and the Moon Joy Of Cooking
Although The Sun Is Shining Fleetwood Mac
As Long As The Sun Bill Morrissey
Big Red Sun Blues Lucinda Williams
Blame It On The Sun Stevie Wonder
Blister In The Sun Violent Femmes
Black Hole Sun Paul Anka (fuck you, Soundgarden)
California Sun The Ramones
Colors Of The Sun Jackson Browne
Don't Let The Sun catch You Cryin' Dr. John
Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me Joe Cocker
First Day Of The Sun Darden Smith
Get In The Sun Joan Armatrading
Good Day Sunshine Fabs
Sun Loves Moon Nick Robertson
Sunlight The Youngbloods
Good Day Sunshine Souvlaki
Happier Than The Morning Sun Stevie Wonder
He Likes The Sun Tanita Tikaram
Hello Sunshine Aretha Franklin
Here Comes Sunshine Grateful Dead
Here Comes The Sun/ The Inner Light Fabs
Hunters Of The Sun John Stewart
I'll Follow The Sun Fabs
Lost Her In The Sun John Stewart
Lucky Old Sun John Stewart
Miss Sun Boz Scaggs
Morning Sun Jesse Colin Young
Sitting In The Midday Sun The Kinks
Sun King Fabs
So, anyway, all my life I've been accused of being cynical, acidulous, acerbic, and bilious. Yet listen to the songs: they're "full of moon" (cf Joni Mitchell, "The Last Time I Saw Richard"). Anyway, see ya Tuesday, noon till two, on WOOL.FM, or wool.fm on the webs. And I haven't harangued you for a while: If you're reading this, become a member. Brilliance--or mediocrity--doesn't come free, you know.
If the roof was in a subway tunnel. The stock immediately plunged, and is now trading in the 80 cent range; I still own some, and out of fondness and bemusement I periodically check on line to see how it's doing. It's not doing well, going up a few cents and then down a few, stubbornly holding its place at 80-something cents. And good for it, I say: we all should know our station in life, and not be ashamed of it. Some of us are Xerox or Apple, some of us are Provectus, and it takes all kinds to make up this crazy old stock market world.
The other day, though, when I was checking it just for a laugh--and because I'm not making money from anything else these days, so I hold out hope from pretty much any quarter, or penny--I noticed one of the columns and columnists featured in the sidebar section. Now this is a financial space, remember, so it's not given to featuring or playing to wild-eyed Leftys like me. But this guy named Paul Farrell, who I assume is an economist of some sort, had a piece about how humans' activities have led to, as he put "Earth sinking," and us with no way to save it. In the piece he excoriated Big Oil and The Koch Bros.--as you know, favorite whipping boys of mine--and basically gave credence to what 99% of scientists know, and that we all should believe, but don't.
"This is really cool," I thought (may have even ejaculated it, but that's another story); maybe there's a glimmer of hope after all. Then I made the mistake of scrolling down to read the responses to Mr. Farrell's column. If you've ever followed a trail ("thread," I think the kids call it) of responses to certain Internet stuff--not mine, obviously; who reads or comments on that shit?--then you've seen what happens. People crawl out from under rocks, from the slime, fossils reconstitute themselves to weigh in and let the writer know just what a flaming, idiotic asshole he is for promulgating such ideas. In this case, the most frequently repeated "fact" was that CO2 is not at all harmful and thus has no effect on Climate Change, or the warming of our frail planet ("frail" because of our assaults, not because of its own properties); any idiot, a number of first responders said, knows that it's not carbon that controls Earth's temperature. "It's the sun, stupid." That's a quote from a couple of these geniuses.
So, okay, the sun is just a giant thermostat floating in the sky, orbiting us periodically. Oh, come on, you think these assholes know that we orbit it? So who's controlling it, turning it up or down on, apparently, whimsical and capricious impulse? Is it God? If so, what a Prick: why would a deity do that shit? Maybe it's Satan--yeah, that's it, Satan. Well, Dante notwithstanding (if you get low enough), we know He likes it Hot. Why then would he have dicked around with it, instead of just pegging it at "Max" and calling it good? Probably 'cause those damned Liberals made him, and that must mean that They have the goods on The Prince Of Darkness, know where his bodies are buried, and thus can control him like a marionette.
Well, anyway, before I spiral totally out of control--and, yes, I could keep going, friends--let's get back to the fact that there are some songs, some music, to get between us and this horrible winter, whatever the cause (which climatologists have been warning us of for years), and to make life more bearable by their very existence (antecedent, Mark?). Music is our salvation, and here are a bunch of "sun" songs to get us through this next stretch:
Ain't No Sunshine Rahsaan Roland Kirk
All Around the Sun and the Moon Joy Of Cooking
Although The Sun Is Shining Fleetwood Mac
As Long As The Sun Bill Morrissey
Big Red Sun Blues Lucinda Williams
Blame It On The Sun Stevie Wonder
Blister In The Sun Violent Femmes
Black Hole Sun Paul Anka (fuck you, Soundgarden)
California Sun The Ramones
Colors Of The Sun Jackson Browne
Don't Let The Sun catch You Cryin' Dr. John
Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me Joe Cocker
First Day Of The Sun Darden Smith
Get In The Sun Joan Armatrading
Good Day Sunshine Fabs
Sun Loves Moon Nick Robertson
Sunlight The Youngbloods
Good Day Sunshine Souvlaki
Happier Than The Morning Sun Stevie Wonder
He Likes The Sun Tanita Tikaram
Hello Sunshine Aretha Franklin
Here Comes Sunshine Grateful Dead
Here Comes The Sun/ The Inner Light Fabs
Hunters Of The Sun John Stewart
I'll Follow The Sun Fabs
Lost Her In The Sun John Stewart
Lucky Old Sun John Stewart
Miss Sun Boz Scaggs
Morning Sun Jesse Colin Young
Sitting In The Midday Sun The Kinks
Sun King Fabs
So, anyway, all my life I've been accused of being cynical, acidulous, acerbic, and bilious. Yet listen to the songs: they're "full of moon" (cf Joni Mitchell, "The Last Time I Saw Richard"). Anyway, see ya Tuesday, noon till two, on WOOL.FM, or wool.fm on the webs. And I haven't harangued you for a while: If you're reading this, become a member. Brilliance--or mediocrity--doesn't come free, you know.
Monday, February 16, 2015
"Blow Up Yer TV..."
When I was a carefree lad in collitch in 1971, one of the posters I had on my dorm room wall depicted a creepy little man wearing filthy coveralls, face pressed up against the window which the poster was made to look like, apparently peering into the room. He looked a little like Michael-J.-Pollard-as-Charlie-Manson, if you can picture that. I thought the poster was hilarious, although it looked just real enough to be pretty creepy.
See, once upon a time, that was the only sort of invasion of privacy we really had to fear: the occasional Peeping Tom. It was often just kids being kids, but even when it wasn't it was still more or less harmless. Sure, it could be unsettling, could maybe even get you chased by an angry homeowner or the cops. But there was no real danger to one's person, or one's identity or personal information.
Then, humans being oh-so-clever and inventive, we began to invent new ways to poke and probe into each other's lives, to violate the heretofore sacrosanct right to privacy. Among the innovations were "bugs," tiny microphones which could be easily hidden in a room and enabled someone some distance away to listen in on whatever conversations occurred in that room, and wiretaps, devices placed inside phone receivers to allow conversations to be listened to and even taped, unbeknownst to the caller. Because individual voices mattered back then, there was at least an attempt to regulate and control the use of these devices, to preserve one's right to some semblance of privacy.
Over time, of course, we came up with ever more sophisticated devices and means to gather information on and from unsuspecting citizens. There were remote listening devices, which looked something like hand-held satellite dishes, and gathered sound into an antenna to be recorded without need of even placing a device in someone's home. Things got really good with the advent of cellular communications, of course, wherein any fairly sophisticated electrono-geek could know where anyone using a cellphone or computer was at any given time, and of course we now know that the NSA has been collecting data at will from all of us. If you own an electronic device, you basically can't hide from anyone with the knowledge and technology--and desire--to find you. I heard David Ignatius, columnist for The Washington Post, and thriller novel writer, speak a few years ago. He said that at any meeting of anyone anything near covert, people would not just turn off their cellphones, as they could still be traced then, but would remove the battery.
Now comes word that so-called "smart" TVs are listening to us. Samsung recently issued a warning to customers to be careful about what they say in front of their smart TVs when using the "voice activation" feature. Seems that, when that feature is activated, the TV can "listen" to what is being said. "If your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party," says Samsung (italics mine). The language itself is chilling enough, I think: "captured" and "transmitted;" cold, clinical and possessive, and distributable. But the fact that Samsung won't reveal the identity of the "third party," or what that party might do with the data which will be collected is what I find freakiest. Privacy is gone, friends, like the other dinosaurs a victim of a collision with a heretofore unknown or unforeseen body.
Unless you're smart enough to stay away from all the gadgetry. I have a friend named Dave--no, not you, Dave--who refuses to have a computer, and so never gets these delightful missives from me. I don't know if he has a cellphone, although I doubt it. It's easy to see him as a paranoid or a Luddite, but it's folks like him who stay under the radar as much as it's possible to, today. He may be one of the ones who can elude The Man longer than the rest of us. Ridiculous, you say? Total paranoia? Let's hope so. "Orwellian" is an oft-used, and oft-misused, term, but jeez, it becomes increasingly difficult to ignore its truth. On the up side, maybe we'll make the planet uninhabitable even to the 'bots who'll inherit it.
Some tunes to enjoy, then, from that scientific/technological morass and the stuff we've been enduring climatologically here in New England. Here they be:
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised Gil Scott-Heron
Kicking Television Wilco
Television Man Talking Heads
Marquee Moon Television
Antichrist Television Blues Arcade Fire
Television Eye John Mayall
What Happened To TV? The Greyboy Allstars
Stuff You Gotta Watch Muddy Waters
Watch Your Step Elvis Costello
Watch Your Step Cold Blood
You Better Watch Yourself Dion
Night Watch Fleetwood Mac
Voices Carry 'Til Tuesday
Hush Hush Big Bill Broonzy
Honey Hush Roomful Of Blues
Hush Joy Of Cooking
Hush Deep Purple
Hush Toni Childs
Spanish Pipedream John Prine
The Spy The Doors
Roam And Spy Steve Tibbetts
All Your Secrets Yo La Tengo
(We Have) No Secrets Carly Simon
Secrets Bobby Womack
See ya Tuesday from noon till two, 91.5 FM, wool.fm.
And remember: "We can't talk here...."
See, once upon a time, that was the only sort of invasion of privacy we really had to fear: the occasional Peeping Tom. It was often just kids being kids, but even when it wasn't it was still more or less harmless. Sure, it could be unsettling, could maybe even get you chased by an angry homeowner or the cops. But there was no real danger to one's person, or one's identity or personal information.
Then, humans being oh-so-clever and inventive, we began to invent new ways to poke and probe into each other's lives, to violate the heretofore sacrosanct right to privacy. Among the innovations were "bugs," tiny microphones which could be easily hidden in a room and enabled someone some distance away to listen in on whatever conversations occurred in that room, and wiretaps, devices placed inside phone receivers to allow conversations to be listened to and even taped, unbeknownst to the caller. Because individual voices mattered back then, there was at least an attempt to regulate and control the use of these devices, to preserve one's right to some semblance of privacy.
Over time, of course, we came up with ever more sophisticated devices and means to gather information on and from unsuspecting citizens. There were remote listening devices, which looked something like hand-held satellite dishes, and gathered sound into an antenna to be recorded without need of even placing a device in someone's home. Things got really good with the advent of cellular communications, of course, wherein any fairly sophisticated electrono-geek could know where anyone using a cellphone or computer was at any given time, and of course we now know that the NSA has been collecting data at will from all of us. If you own an electronic device, you basically can't hide from anyone with the knowledge and technology--and desire--to find you. I heard David Ignatius, columnist for The Washington Post, and thriller novel writer, speak a few years ago. He said that at any meeting of anyone anything near covert, people would not just turn off their cellphones, as they could still be traced then, but would remove the battery.
Now comes word that so-called "smart" TVs are listening to us. Samsung recently issued a warning to customers to be careful about what they say in front of their smart TVs when using the "voice activation" feature. Seems that, when that feature is activated, the TV can "listen" to what is being said. "If your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party," says Samsung (italics mine). The language itself is chilling enough, I think: "captured" and "transmitted;" cold, clinical and possessive, and distributable. But the fact that Samsung won't reveal the identity of the "third party," or what that party might do with the data which will be collected is what I find freakiest. Privacy is gone, friends, like the other dinosaurs a victim of a collision with a heretofore unknown or unforeseen body.
Unless you're smart enough to stay away from all the gadgetry. I have a friend named Dave--no, not you, Dave--who refuses to have a computer, and so never gets these delightful missives from me. I don't know if he has a cellphone, although I doubt it. It's easy to see him as a paranoid or a Luddite, but it's folks like him who stay under the radar as much as it's possible to, today. He may be one of the ones who can elude The Man longer than the rest of us. Ridiculous, you say? Total paranoia? Let's hope so. "Orwellian" is an oft-used, and oft-misused, term, but jeez, it becomes increasingly difficult to ignore its truth. On the up side, maybe we'll make the planet uninhabitable even to the 'bots who'll inherit it.
Some tunes to enjoy, then, from that scientific/technological morass and the stuff we've been enduring climatologically here in New England. Here they be:
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised Gil Scott-Heron
Kicking Television Wilco
Television Man Talking Heads
Marquee Moon Television
Antichrist Television Blues Arcade Fire
Television Eye John Mayall
What Happened To TV? The Greyboy Allstars
Stuff You Gotta Watch Muddy Waters
Watch Your Step Elvis Costello
Watch Your Step Cold Blood
You Better Watch Yourself Dion
Night Watch Fleetwood Mac
Voices Carry 'Til Tuesday
Hush Hush Big Bill Broonzy
Honey Hush Roomful Of Blues
Hush Joy Of Cooking
Hush Deep Purple
Hush Toni Childs
Spanish Pipedream John Prine
The Spy The Doors
Roam And Spy Steve Tibbetts
All Your Secrets Yo La Tengo
(We Have) No Secrets Carly Simon
Secrets Bobby Womack
See ya Tuesday from noon till two, 91.5 FM, wool.fm.
And remember: "We can't talk here...."
Monday, February 9, 2015
No Needle, And The Damage Done
Two weeks in a row now I've been able to make reference to that Neil Young song: last week it was in regard to so-called Deflategate, that cataclysmic event which threatened the very fabric of our society, i.e. the National Football League. This time it's about something a little more serious, seriously: the Anti-Vaccination League.
It's hard to believe that we even need to have a discussion in 2015 about the efficacy of and crucial need for vaccinations. And yet I'm sure you've read or heard recently about an outbreak of measles which began in Disneyland, of all places. Maybe it was in "Yesterdayland." Turns out that SoCal is an area ripe for such a thing, as it is a hotbed of the "vaccinations are bad" school of parenting. People who grew up being vaccinated as a matter of course, and thus were protected from a wide range of illnesses, crippling and life-threatening viruses like polio, like measles, rubella, diphtheria, mumps, whooping cough and many others have decided that their children, for some reason, don't need the same protections. Their "reasoning" verges on the unexplainable, if not outright child abuse, to me.
Some of the fears around vaccination may have originated with Jenny McCarthy, MD, PhD, and Playmate of the Year (only one of those titles is real; can you guess which?), who claimed that vaccines caused autism, a claim that has since been debunked by essentially the entire medical community. Another propagator of anti-vaccine nonsense was former Representative and Republican Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann (R-Idiocy), who claimed that the vaccine for HPV caused mental retardation. Among other things, Ms. Bachmann also said that Melissa Etheridge's cancer was caused by her lesbianism, that carbon dioxide is harmless, and that scientists support the concept of Intelligent Design. She, herself, was standing behind the door making up stupid assertions the day the intelligence part was handed out. These are clear instances of Bachmann Turning Overwrought.
It's easy to dismiss people like McCarthy and Bachmann because they're ill-educated, ignorant idiots. But recently, as the Never-Ending Presidential Campaign began to return from dormancy, some from the ASP (Anti-Science Party) began to crank up the vaccine-is-evil rhetoric again. Chris Christie and Rand Paul (who is, in fact, a real MD, albeit an ophthalmologist, not an epidemiologist, and who still can't read the writing on the wall) spoke to the issue, both advocating parental freedom in choosing whether or not their kids were vaccinated. So my kids, and your kids, and every other responsible parent's kids should be put at risk because some few misguided, at best, parents choose not to? Does that make them Pro-Choice? Just askin'.
The amazing thing is that those statements were even too much for John Boehner and Mitch McConnell to tolerate, and they, along with many other Repugnicant so-called leaders repudiated them. Hokey Smokes, Bullwinkle: Some small evidence that Repugs don't universally reject science across-the-board! Some good can come out of any situation, apparently, although Boehner said, while lighting his 33rd cigarette of the day, that "I don't know that we need another law" about the issue, and McConnell described himself as "a big fan" of vaccinations. Man, that's some pretty strong stuff, huh? Can'tcha just see him on the sidelines at a clinic, pleated skirt and pompoms aflutter, leading the "Give me a 'V,' gimme an 'A', gimme a 'C'," etc., cheer? My heart does cartwheels.
This crazy old world just keeps gettin' crazier and crazier. Thank god for music, and for these songs in particular this week:
Soul Vaccination Tower Of Power
The Needle And The Damage Done Neil Young
The Needle And The Spoon Lynyrd Skynrd
The Needle Has Landed Neko Case
Needles and Pins The Ramones
Pushing The Needle Too far Indigo Girls
Silver Threads And Golden Needles Linda Ronstadt
Stick A Needle In My Eye John Prine
Disease Katy Sullivan
Disease Of Conceit Dylan
Down With Disease Phish
Industrial Disease Dire Straits
Social Disease Elton John
Science Tanita Tikaram
Political Science Randy Newman
She Blinded Me With Science Thomas Dolby
Risky Business John Abercrombie
The Risk Warren Zevon
Bad Risk Sly & The Family Stone
As A Matter Of Fact Dirk Hamilton
The Facts Of Life Talking Heads
The Natural Facts Sister Rosetta Tharpe
The Rumor The Band
Rumors Josh Ritter
(Someone's Been) Telling You Stories Dan Fogelberg
Lives In The Balance Jackson Browne
Idiot Wind Dylan
See ya Tuesday, then, from noon til two on WOOL FM, 91.5, or wool.fm on the webs, the best little radio station goin'. Meantime, don't do anything rash.
For a much better view on this business, by a real writer, check out Katie Burns's column in The Concord Monitor from this past Sunday, February 8. I think you'll see why I have an affinity for her work.
It's hard to believe that we even need to have a discussion in 2015 about the efficacy of and crucial need for vaccinations. And yet I'm sure you've read or heard recently about an outbreak of measles which began in Disneyland, of all places. Maybe it was in "Yesterdayland." Turns out that SoCal is an area ripe for such a thing, as it is a hotbed of the "vaccinations are bad" school of parenting. People who grew up being vaccinated as a matter of course, and thus were protected from a wide range of illnesses, crippling and life-threatening viruses like polio, like measles, rubella, diphtheria, mumps, whooping cough and many others have decided that their children, for some reason, don't need the same protections. Their "reasoning" verges on the unexplainable, if not outright child abuse, to me.
Some of the fears around vaccination may have originated with Jenny McCarthy, MD, PhD, and Playmate of the Year (only one of those titles is real; can you guess which?), who claimed that vaccines caused autism, a claim that has since been debunked by essentially the entire medical community. Another propagator of anti-vaccine nonsense was former Representative and Republican Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann (R-Idiocy), who claimed that the vaccine for HPV caused mental retardation. Among other things, Ms. Bachmann also said that Melissa Etheridge's cancer was caused by her lesbianism, that carbon dioxide is harmless, and that scientists support the concept of Intelligent Design. She, herself, was standing behind the door making up stupid assertions the day the intelligence part was handed out. These are clear instances of Bachmann Turning Overwrought.
It's easy to dismiss people like McCarthy and Bachmann because they're ill-educated, ignorant idiots. But recently, as the Never-Ending Presidential Campaign began to return from dormancy, some from the ASP (Anti-Science Party) began to crank up the vaccine-is-evil rhetoric again. Chris Christie and Rand Paul (who is, in fact, a real MD, albeit an ophthalmologist, not an epidemiologist, and who still can't read the writing on the wall) spoke to the issue, both advocating parental freedom in choosing whether or not their kids were vaccinated. So my kids, and your kids, and every other responsible parent's kids should be put at risk because some few misguided, at best, parents choose not to? Does that make them Pro-Choice? Just askin'.
The amazing thing is that those statements were even too much for John Boehner and Mitch McConnell to tolerate, and they, along with many other Repugnicant so-called leaders repudiated them. Hokey Smokes, Bullwinkle: Some small evidence that Repugs don't universally reject science across-the-board! Some good can come out of any situation, apparently, although Boehner said, while lighting his 33rd cigarette of the day, that "I don't know that we need another law" about the issue, and McConnell described himself as "a big fan" of vaccinations. Man, that's some pretty strong stuff, huh? Can'tcha just see him on the sidelines at a clinic, pleated skirt and pompoms aflutter, leading the "Give me a 'V,' gimme an 'A', gimme a 'C'," etc., cheer? My heart does cartwheels.
This crazy old world just keeps gettin' crazier and crazier. Thank god for music, and for these songs in particular this week:
Soul Vaccination Tower Of Power
The Needle And The Damage Done Neil Young
The Needle And The Spoon Lynyrd Skynrd
The Needle Has Landed Neko Case
Needles and Pins The Ramones
Pushing The Needle Too far Indigo Girls
Silver Threads And Golden Needles Linda Ronstadt
Stick A Needle In My Eye John Prine
Disease Katy Sullivan
Disease Of Conceit Dylan
Down With Disease Phish
Industrial Disease Dire Straits
Social Disease Elton John
Science Tanita Tikaram
Political Science Randy Newman
She Blinded Me With Science Thomas Dolby
Risky Business John Abercrombie
The Risk Warren Zevon
Bad Risk Sly & The Family Stone
As A Matter Of Fact Dirk Hamilton
The Facts Of Life Talking Heads
The Natural Facts Sister Rosetta Tharpe
The Rumor The Band
Rumors Josh Ritter
(Someone's Been) Telling You Stories Dan Fogelberg
Lives In The Balance Jackson Browne
Idiot Wind Dylan
See ya Tuesday, then, from noon til two on WOOL FM, 91.5, or wool.fm on the webs, the best little radio station goin'. Meantime, don't do anything rash.
For a much better view on this business, by a real writer, check out Katie Burns's column in The Concord Monitor from this past Sunday, February 8. I think you'll see why I have an affinity for her work.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Who Let The Air Out....
...of our sanity?
On Thursday, Jan. 22, in the Year Of Our Lord 2015, these things happened, among many others: Senate Republicans sought to stop an investigation into CIA torture in Gitmo; a pipeline in North Dakota leaked 3 million barrels of salt water, apparently a by-product of oil drilling there, at a time when Senate Republicans are pushing hard to force the opening of the Keystone XL pipeline; 49 Senate Republicans refused to acknowledge the existence of man-made climate change; two Japanese prisoners were threatened with beheading by ISIS (and have since been killed); it was the 5th anniversary of the Supreme Court's worst ruling (so far), Citizens United. The Koch Brothers (remember when we were talking about The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers?) have recently said that they intend to spend 1 Billion (yes, that's with a "B") dollars to try to buy the next president. I feel like we're just playing out the string: how about you?
It was also, interestingly, the anniversary of one of the Court's best rulings, Roe v. Wade, made during more enlightened times. And as usually happens on that day, along with the usual anti-abortion rallies held in Washington, the new Republican majorities tried to flex their conservative, punitive muscles and pass stricter anti-women's-rights laws, limiting abortion rights further. The law they wanted to pass in this case, in contrast to the usual symbolic stuff, actually would have put tighter restrictions on abortions. The white men in charge were forced to scuttle that plan, though, because enough Republican women legislators (or, as the Republicans call them, "Legislatresses") said they wouldn't vote for such a bill as it was too restrictive, anti-woman and, worst of all would look bad to millenials and anyone else with a brain, who then would be unlikely to vote for the Rs.
My favorite quote from this fiasco comes from Tony Perkins (no, not that one--he daid, although I think we could use him to put a hatchet through somebody's head right about now--maybe even mine), the head of the conservative Family Research Council who said that there were "a lot of misconceptions" about the bill. Words are meaningless, I guess.... That came after Perkins met with Rep. Steven Scalise of Louisiana, who was recently in the news because it turns out he's spoken to David Duke-led white supremacist groups at fund-raisers. But my digressions digress: you go, Republicanettes. Imagine: putting what's right above what's partisan. You just never know what a woman's gonna do, huh?
So, anyway, all that stuff happened, and obviously much more, as or more important. But what was the big story of the day, of the week, the thing that led not just local but national news, for chrissakes? The waggishly-named "Deflategate." A "story" about the amount of air in some footballs used in a playoff game. Reporters fell all over themselves to cover the press conferences held by Dr. Evil and Maxi-Me, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. Press conferences about air. Not the worsening air that we're all breathing, the heated air that's gonna change life on Earth forever, but the air inside--or not-- some footballs. And as the "story" has continued, various and sundry have weighed in on it, from MIT professors to Bill Nye, The Science Guy (who is unabashedly rooting for the Seahawks; there's your scientific impartiality). Belichick even had a second news conference in which he laid out his new-found scientific learnin', although any Right-thinking person knows that science is bad. Thank goodness we have our priorities Right, and how fortunate are we to have the worst problem facing us revolve around a game, albeit The Most Important Game Ever. Dr. Pangloss would rejoice, for we truly must be living in the best of all possible worlds.
So for this week's radio show, although it'll be somewhat anticlimactic (not anticlimatic, like the Koch-swilling GOP) coming post Super Bowl XLAX, or whatever, I'm playing pressure songs, ball songs, squeeze songs, and Mel and Tim's wonderful and overlooked soul classic "Backfield In Motion." The playbook for the week looks like this, then:
Got Me Under Pressure ZZ Top
Heavy Pressure Tanita Tikaram
High Blood Pressure Geoff Muldaur
Inner City Pressure Flight Of The Conchords
Pressure Billy Joel
Pressure Neil Young
Pressure Drop Robert Palmer
Pressure Drop Toots & The Maytals
Pressure Zone Beck
Under Pressure Bowie/Queen
Just Squeeze Me Duke Ellington
Just Squeeze Me Duke Robillard/Herb Ellis
Squeeze Me Maria Muldaur
Ball And Chain Van Morrison
Ball Of Confusion The Temptations
Ball And Chain XTC
Ball Of Fire Ernest Ranglin
Ball And Chain Big Brother & The Holding Co.
Ball Of Fire Tommy James & The Shondells
Let's Have A Ball Ry Cooder
Mudfootball Jack Johnson
Wrecking Ball Gillian Welch
Wrecking Ball Emmylou Harris
Backfield In Motion Mel & Tim
Hope to see you on Tuesday from noon til two on WOOL FM, 91.5, or wool.fm on the webs. And try to remember: it's just an effin' game....
On Thursday, Jan. 22, in the Year Of Our Lord 2015, these things happened, among many others: Senate Republicans sought to stop an investigation into CIA torture in Gitmo; a pipeline in North Dakota leaked 3 million barrels of salt water, apparently a by-product of oil drilling there, at a time when Senate Republicans are pushing hard to force the opening of the Keystone XL pipeline; 49 Senate Republicans refused to acknowledge the existence of man-made climate change; two Japanese prisoners were threatened with beheading by ISIS (and have since been killed); it was the 5th anniversary of the Supreme Court's worst ruling (so far), Citizens United. The Koch Brothers (remember when we were talking about The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers?) have recently said that they intend to spend 1 Billion (yes, that's with a "B") dollars to try to buy the next president. I feel like we're just playing out the string: how about you?
It was also, interestingly, the anniversary of one of the Court's best rulings, Roe v. Wade, made during more enlightened times. And as usually happens on that day, along with the usual anti-abortion rallies held in Washington, the new Republican majorities tried to flex their conservative, punitive muscles and pass stricter anti-women's-rights laws, limiting abortion rights further. The law they wanted to pass in this case, in contrast to the usual symbolic stuff, actually would have put tighter restrictions on abortions. The white men in charge were forced to scuttle that plan, though, because enough Republican women legislators (or, as the Republicans call them, "Legislatresses") said they wouldn't vote for such a bill as it was too restrictive, anti-woman and, worst of all would look bad to millenials and anyone else with a brain, who then would be unlikely to vote for the Rs.
My favorite quote from this fiasco comes from Tony Perkins (no, not that one--he daid, although I think we could use him to put a hatchet through somebody's head right about now--maybe even mine), the head of the conservative Family Research Council who said that there were "a lot of misconceptions" about the bill. Words are meaningless, I guess.... That came after Perkins met with Rep. Steven Scalise of Louisiana, who was recently in the news because it turns out he's spoken to David Duke-led white supremacist groups at fund-raisers. But my digressions digress: you go, Republicanettes. Imagine: putting what's right above what's partisan. You just never know what a woman's gonna do, huh?
So, anyway, all that stuff happened, and obviously much more, as or more important. But what was the big story of the day, of the week, the thing that led not just local but national news, for chrissakes? The waggishly-named "Deflategate." A "story" about the amount of air in some footballs used in a playoff game. Reporters fell all over themselves to cover the press conferences held by Dr. Evil and Maxi-Me, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. Press conferences about air. Not the worsening air that we're all breathing, the heated air that's gonna change life on Earth forever, but the air inside--or not-- some footballs. And as the "story" has continued, various and sundry have weighed in on it, from MIT professors to Bill Nye, The Science Guy (who is unabashedly rooting for the Seahawks; there's your scientific impartiality). Belichick even had a second news conference in which he laid out his new-found scientific learnin', although any Right-thinking person knows that science is bad. Thank goodness we have our priorities Right, and how fortunate are we to have the worst problem facing us revolve around a game, albeit The Most Important Game Ever. Dr. Pangloss would rejoice, for we truly must be living in the best of all possible worlds.
So for this week's radio show, although it'll be somewhat anticlimactic (not anticlimatic, like the Koch-swilling GOP) coming post Super Bowl XLAX, or whatever, I'm playing pressure songs, ball songs, squeeze songs, and Mel and Tim's wonderful and overlooked soul classic "Backfield In Motion." The playbook for the week looks like this, then:
Got Me Under Pressure ZZ Top
Heavy Pressure Tanita Tikaram
High Blood Pressure Geoff Muldaur
Inner City Pressure Flight Of The Conchords
Pressure Billy Joel
Pressure Neil Young
Pressure Drop Robert Palmer
Pressure Drop Toots & The Maytals
Pressure Zone Beck
Under Pressure Bowie/Queen
Just Squeeze Me Duke Ellington
Just Squeeze Me Duke Robillard/Herb Ellis
Squeeze Me Maria Muldaur
Ball And Chain Van Morrison
Ball Of Confusion The Temptations
Ball And Chain XTC
Ball Of Fire Ernest Ranglin
Ball And Chain Big Brother & The Holding Co.
Ball Of Fire Tommy James & The Shondells
Let's Have A Ball Ry Cooder
Mudfootball Jack Johnson
Wrecking Ball Gillian Welch
Wrecking Ball Emmylou Harris
Backfield In Motion Mel & Tim
Hope to see you on Tuesday from noon til two on WOOL FM, 91.5, or wool.fm on the webs. And try to remember: it's just an effin' game....
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