Orange ya glad you got a Queen?

Tonight, I'll be performing at 'Orange Day' a Dutch celebration of thier Queen's B Day. It's not like those Amsterdammers need another reason to party!

I'm having a little trouble singing thier language, but I will muddle through.

In honor of them, I present to you 'Everything is better with a bag of weed!'

Prost!

Dagmar,Twisters, Lucky Dawgz and not so lucky dogs

Pants officially 'on fire'.

When Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn confronted Al Gore with his profiteering from global warming legislation at today’s House Energy and Environment Subcommittee hearing on the Waxman-Markey climate bill, Al Gore said that every penny he ever made from his business activities went into non-profit efforts.




That is a flat-out lie, according to this March 6, 2008 Bloomberg report that indicates that Al Gore invested $35 million of his own money in various for-profit endeavors.

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore left the White House seven years ago with less than $2 million in assets, including a Virginia home and the family farm in Tennessee. Now he’s making enough to put $35 million in hedge funds and other private partnerships.

Gore invested the money with Capricorn Investment Group LLC, a Palo Alto, California, firm that selects the private funds for clients and invests in makers of environmentally friendly products, according to a Feb. 1 securities filing. Capricorn was founded by billionaire Jeffrey Skoll, former president of EBay Inc. and an executive producer of Gore’s Oscar-winning documentary film on global warming.


Kudos to Rep. Blackburn for asking one of the ”10 Questions for Al Gore” and exposing Gore as the fundamentally dishonest operator that he is.

Here’s the transcript from the April 24, 2009 exchange between Al Gore and Rep. Blackburn. Note that not only does Al Gore lie to Rep. Blackburn, he tries to turn the tables by implicitly accusing her of being anti-business.

Rep. Blackburn: …You talked a little about [that] people have to have trust in what you’re doing and I think you know that this bill is going to fundamentally change the way America works and it’s going to effect families. We’ve all talked about how it affects individuals and what it’s going to do to their budgets and… ah… what it’s going to do to jobs in this country. And given the magnitude of those changes, I think it’s really important that no suspicion or shadow fall on the foremost advocates of climate change legislation. So I wanted to give you the opportunity to kind of clear the air about your motives and to set the record straight about your motives for some of your former constituents. And I’ve got an article from [the] October 8 [2008] New York Times Magazine about a firm called Kleiner Perkins… a capital firm called Kleiner Perkins. Are you aware of that company?

Al Gore: Well, yes. I’m a partner at Kleiner Perkins.

Rep. Blackburn: So you’re a partner in Kleiner Perkins. OK. Now they have invested about a billion dollars in 40 companies that are going to benefit from cap-and-trade legislation. So is the legislation that we are discussing here today, is that something that you are going to personally benefit from?

Al Gore: [Sigh]… I believe that the transition to a green economy is good for our economy and good for all of us. And I have invested in it. But every penny that I have made, I have put right into a nonprofit, the Alliance for Climate Protection, to spread awareness of why we have to take on this challenge. And, Congresswoman, if you’re… if you believe that the reason I have been working on this issue for 30 years is because of greed, you don’t know me.

Rep. Blackburn: No, sir, I’m not making accusations. I’m asking questions that have been asked of me. And individuals… constituents… that were seeking a point of clarity. So I am asking…

Al Gore: I understand exactly what you’re doing Congresswoman. Everybody here does.

Rep. Blackburn: Well, are you willing to divest yourself of any profit. Does all of it go to a not-for-profit. Is it an education not-for-profit?

Al Gore: Every penny that I have made has gone to it. Every penny from the movie, the book… uh… from any investments from renewable energy. I’ve been willing to put my money where my mouth is. Do you think there is something wrong with being active in business in this country?

Rep. Blackburn: I am simply asking for clarification on the relationship.

Al Gore: I’m proud of it. I’m proud of it.

Rep. Blackburn: Thank you and I appreciate the answer…

why we learned guitar....

Why I am not a 'BluesMan' ...or on FACEBOOK

Blind Faith is a dangerous thing.

I have noted many times how a small, small minded portion of Atlanta Black Folks still cling to the memory of Mike Vick, and cannot come to the conclusion that he is an idiot, a savage and really, not a franchise QB. I've also noted that as a season tix holder for 8 years, and a former employee of 680 the Fan I have seen the 'man love'(no homo) for Vick and the only reason he is getting defended as such is due to the cities racial heritage and the color of his skin. If Vick was white, these same people would toss him to the curb in a second.


I wrote and spoke about this at length in 2007. There was an ESPN Townhall meeting full of Vick nut huggers that gave this city the blackest eye since the Olympics.

They were booing former Falcons defensive standout Chuck Smith for saying that Michael Vick committed a felony and had to pay the price, and when the moderator asked the audience to show by their applause whether or not dog fighting should be legal, the overwhelming response was that it should! Are these people serious? Dog fighting should be legal?

Oh, we have a real QB now, so good riddance to bad trash.







BUt an interesting thing happened to my buddy Snave. You remember him, he was the guy who did a stretch in a pretty dangerous Venezuelan prison. I bring this up because I asked him about lefty hero Hugo, as he was present while he was shutting down private TV and radio stations, and he was telling me what really went down. Remember, Los Teques prison also houses political prisoners, even MLB baseball stars.

I posted a pic of Obama getting 'punked' by Chavez, in a photo op he ambushed him and gave him a book written in Spanish about how terrible capitalism and US foreign policy was to Latin America....I don't have a big problem with him bowing and scraping to heads of state or foreign royalty, after all, you are in thier house, and should show respect. But, in a Summit of AMERICAS situation, that's partly OUR house too, and that goes BOTH WAYS. You let yourself get photographed accepting the book, that's kinda like giving Helen Keller a camera. It's low class, shows a lack of respect and protocol on Hugo's part. Now he can go back to his table and chuckle it up with the other despots about how he got one over on the ignorant 'Obama'.. To claim otherwise is simply ridiculous.




So Snave posts the pic on his Facebook Wall with a caption 'Whats wrong with this picture'. Remember, he was being held in a prison down there for almost 2 years. I think he might be clued in as to what Chavez is all about moreso then Hollywood actors, Cindy Sheehan, or even Obama.

What follows is a spirited debate with local bluesguy Sammy Blue. I know Sammy, I have played with him before and I don't harbor a grudge if he feels that Obama is the greatest thing since sliced bread, but he is clearly wrong and showing the kind of blind knee jerk reaction that the Mike VBick supporters exhibited and continue to do so. Don't get me wrong: I'm not comparing Vick and Obama, only thier respective 'supporters'.


Snave: 'What's wrong with this picture?"

SammyBlew: "What's wrong with this picture? IT'S OVER DUE!"

Snave: "Care to elaborate? 'cause I know you can't mean what I think you're saying."

SammyBlew: "Do Americans really believe that being arrogant and continuing to make demands of people who we look down on
works. Wake up people. No matter what you think or feel
the world is changing and people outside this country can
see that America is not the beautiful city on the hill. All
countries have problems. All people have problems and misunderstandings. But only the WEAK or ARROGANT are... affriad of diplomacy. America like all the so-called super powers, has had it's way with the world for a very long time.
GUESS WHAT, Now the whole world understands the greed
that is the basis for many of America's actions. After 8 years
of the dummest government ever to steal an election. Stop
whinning! The world will continue to turn. But remember,
being an American doesn't make anyone smarter, kinder,
or more deserving than anyone else on this planet. Picking
on the President is just childish and selfendulgent. Now as
an African American, I hold no faith or trust in government."

Snave:"Sentence by sentence:
1.Is that a question? What arrogance are you referring to?
2.I am awake. Widely so.
3.I agree, and have seen so with my own eyes.
4.True....
5.True...
6.Diplomacy? Are you referring to the country that expelled our Ambassador last September? (http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/04/20/1899873.aspx) Hmm...in that case, it would seem that Hugo is afraid of diplomacy.
7.Yes, naughty America. They all hate us. They love Coca-Cola, Nike, McDonald's, Hollywood movies, MTV, Rock'n'Roll, Blues, Rap, really, just about everything we export...but they hate us.
8.So, can we expect you to give away all your belongings and show us how to live a pure life free of material goods?
9.Sentence fragment...but I think you mean 'administration', not 'government', as we still have the same government we have had for the last 222 years.
10.Sorry, I will never stop winning.
11.Right up until the moment the sun goes supernova in about 5,000,000,000 years
12.This is what's called in debating as a 'gratuitous assertion', which means the opposite also holds true, that NOT being an American doesn't make anyone smarter, kinder, or more deserving than anyone else on this planet as well.
13.Hmm...are you saying that you never 'picked' on W.?"

SammyBlew:"That is to say, I don't trust goverenment no matter who the
president is. But you can't blame Obama for America's current
condition. Or for making an effort to do his job. We can agree
to disagree. But that won't change what George Bush and
his people have done to everyone. Not just Americans, the
whole planet. Freedom of speech is a great tool. But it seems
to make people think their right all the time. Sorry, that's not
really possible! When you alienate others you alienate yourself as well. I suggest that americans become more
knowledgeable about the real world, real people, other
societies. In world terms this country has only existed for
a very short time. Do we really believe that we know what's
best for the rest of the planet and all other cultures?
RIDICULOUSLY ARROGANT!"

Sigh.....Do you see where this is going now?

Snave:"Sammy - I believe you are reading more into what I'm saying than I'm actually saying, and not reading some of the things I AM saying. Let's take your points one at a time again. First, your distrust of government makes you an anarchist, yet you are availing yourself of the liberties that your government provides you, i.e. freedom of speech and thought. Second, I'm not blaming BHO for our current condition - please show me where you got that impression from, because it simply isn't true. I do, however, disagree with how he is handling the situation at the moment. Third, I agree - Americans are rather ignorant, but I have done my best to educate myself and others - and that includes you at the moment. I have lived in Venezuela, and know whereof I speak. Will you listen? Fourth, you close your epistle by saying that it is arrogant to think we know what's best for others, yet your whole message is telling us that YOU know what's best for others. Watch where you point that finger..."


SammyBlew: "Yes I am saying I never picked on George Bush. Do you really
think that Black people in America are impressed by an Idiot?
There is no need to pick on someone who's own actions make them look like greedy fools. Their obvious! Also, as far as I'm
concerned there are plenty of human rights issues right here
in America that have never been delt with. You can ignore
all that's wrong and harmful in this country if you want. That
still dosen't make America better than any one else. As Americans we seem to want to find bad things about other
cultures to elavate and maintain our national ego. When
most of us have never left the country and have no idea
of what the world is really like. One cannot travel and interact
by watching CNN. Obama overstepped! No. Bush,Chaney,Rumsfild,Rove and others destroyed
all crediability for America world wide. And now some want to
bitch about Obama trying to fix it? On a personal note,believe me when I say it's no picnic being black in America."


Snave:"Sammy - I'm going to ignore the obvious set-up you've given me there...

I never said there weren't human rights violations in the US, I'm merely pointing out some things that you may not be aware of. I would never presume to know what it's like to be black in America; why do you presume to know what's going on in Venezuela if you've never been there?

I'm not 'bitching' about Obama trying to 'fix' something, I'm only disagreeing with his methods.

I found a great many good things in Venezuela, but Chavez isn't one of them - and a large number of Venezuelans would agree with me."

SammyBlew:"Do not chage my words, I intended to say GOVERNMENT!See
this is part of the problem. Some people in this country actually believe they know what the truth is. In reality it's
just an opinion. I believe I can tell that no truth will be spoken
here. Only bitching and moaning about a new black President.
I have traveled world wide and never been approached with
hatred. That's because people around the world clearly know
what group of people in the US and world have controled the
earths resources and people for several thousand years.
Look at where we are now. This is just more of the same short sighted non-vison non-responseability thinking that
got us here in the 1st place. Control and power is the game
no matter how ones rationalizes it. I can only conclude that
opinions are like ass holes, everybodies got one and sometimes they smell."

Snave:"Sammy - don't change MY words...you mention that Obama is black. So he is, but where have I stated that it makes any difference?

Please- take your agenda elsewhere. This is a discussion about Obama and Chavez. If you don't care about this issue, there's the door. You want to fix New Orleans, go fix New Orleans. Did you vote? I'll assume that you exercised your franchise as I did. If not, it's not my fault. As a poor agnostic musician, I'm in the same boat as you, so stop preaching to the choir and address the issue at hand: Chavez is a Socialist dictator who is doing his best to ingratiate himself to some of the worst political factions in the world: Cuba, North Korea, China, and Iran - all avowed enemies of America.

The United States of America is a constitutional republic, and has been so ever since the Constitution was ratified in 1787. This is not an opinion, it is an incontrovertible fact.

I disagree with Mr. Obama's handling of the situation. This is my opinion. Feel free to disagree, but take your racial slant elsewhere - you seem to be the only one talking about the amount of melanin in his skin.

Besides, as Cora Mae Bryant always said to me, "I ain't never seen no black man, I ain't never seen no white man"...we're all varying shades of pink and brown.

Except Edgar Winter. DAMN, that boy so WHITE!"

Another side note: One thing bitter racist blues guys hate is when you take a non bitter blues legend's own words to defend yourself...That usually sets them off. And here we go!:

SammyBlew:"You know people don't get it. Government for which people?
By what people? and what kind of people formed this so called
government? Rich Slave owners who didn't want to pay taxes
to the crown. Are you kidding me? There was an still are times
in America when I'm not treated as a human being just becuse
I'm not white. Give me a brake. Venezuela, WHO CARES?
FIX NEW ORLEANS AND THE GULF COAST, Also, the so called
power to vote, women and blacks had to fightand die for it.
Which of us got to vote on the war, the stimulus package
and waterboarding? This is a great country in many ways
but teling the truth is not one of those ways. We still live
in a "Social Class" ( Money ) based scoiety. Christan country,
What a joke! I wonder what Jesus thinks of America! But then
clearly we as "Americans" wouldn't relate to true selflessness
to acheive anything. We seem to think that winning is having
our way all the time. Sorry kids. Get over it.Take my agenda elsewhere. See this is the problem. You actually think you have the right to be critical of others
but can't face the truth. Agenda! Now you want to believe
you have the right or power to silience a citizen. SICK, WEAK
Evasive thinking! PITIFUL. I have watched ignorance and this
type of arrogance devide people since I was a child. But if
you really think or believe that you'll ever be powerful enough
to stop me from expressing an opiinon your blinded by your own prejudices and fears. I've been very nice to about
this. It is your ridiculus assertions that trigger my response.
Frankly I don't care who's President of any country. Just because you can say or write something doesn't make you
an expert or anywhere near correct. As far tell me what to do. You must know where you can stick that!

Government for select people is more correct. And don't bother to truly get me started, you will not win, ever.
Unless you call definding your own selfish agenda winning.Clearly this type of belief system is why your party was voted
out. Your wrong and most of America says so. I don't have
to have an agenda. But go ahead, out smart yourself. show
your true self like Bush, Chaney and the rest. You like to win?
Well you lost. Grow up. Get over it. and don't blame me if I
don't agree with this ridiculus discussion or your little ideal
world came crashing down around you. Reality has finally
set in and you can't take it. You really sound like many in
the R party. Can't do anything but bitch and moan. Your
very sad. How much more wimmpy can you be. Let's see!
I'm not taking my input any where, now what are you gioing to do about it. You neither my mother or Father so once again, you must really know where you can stick this!
Let's also get one thing very very clear. You are not in the
same vote, situation or skin I'm in so don't flater yourself at
my expense. And never never ever imagine that you can tell
me what, when, how or why to be."

Snave:"Sammy, you're welcome to voice your opinion anywhere you want - but know that others have the right to voice theirs as well. Go out to your street corner and shout at the top of your lungs. Do it onstage wherever you play. I don't care...but HERE, I am discussing a dangerous tin-horn dictator, and everyone else here is staying on topic. You have a Facebook wall; use it to discuss your issues. I do not have the power to stop you - indeed, no one does. However, if I came to your forum and disagreed with you, somehow I doubt you would be as accommodating and tactful as I have been.
Actually, I do have the right to be critical of others, as do you. It's called the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. I'm sorry if you don't like it, but you certainly are exercising it, as am I.
Sammy - what's my party? Who did I vote for? Do you know? If so, mister, you're a better man than I, because I can't see through the curtain at the voting booth.
And my friend, I have already won. I may not have convinced you, but that's not the goal here - I have expressed my opinion, and that's how I won."


YIKES! Steeeerike one for Sammy!

SammyBlew:"This just became useless, absurd. I'm done. "In the same vote as me". Now that's a real insult. You couldn't handle my life if you had 200 years to do it and you never aged!
Now I choose to stop wasting my time. If you can't handle the truth don't start a discussion."

Oh no, Sammy's going to take his bitter ball and go home. Boo hoo!


Snave:"In the same BOAT as you...if you're going to quote me, do so accurately. And sir, you have NO idea what I've gone through. But I look forward with hope, not backwards in anger.

This was useless and absurd a long time ago...I tend to think we all pretty much have the same goals in mind, conservative and liberal alike, we just say things differently, mostly."

SammyBlew:"At least we agree on something! I have no anger towards you. I have no reason to quote you. You've not said anything
worthy of being quoted. Your also right about it being useless
and absurb from the very beginning. Politics and religon are
passinate subjects. I hold no Ill will for you or anyone else
because of a difference of opinion. And you have no idea
who or what I am or how I've arrived at any place. I do not
assume anything about you. I've only reacted to old out
dated ideas about the world at large, proven not to be effective thinking. You have a right to your opinion and I
respect that. But that dosen't give you the right to insult
anyone. I also understand that you're an artist and what that
means in real terms. But that in no way means that everyone
has the same journey. It's not you that makes me angry. It's
superficial agenda thinking. I apologize if I needlessly insulted
you. But you asked for it. Sorry, I'm not the one to play mind
or word games with!"

Snave:"1. Look back 3 posts. You quoted me directly. The proof is there in black and white. You obviously felt it was worth quoting, even if you did so erroneously.
2. I have not insulted anyone, except maybe Edgar Winter. You, on the other hand, have done nothing but hurl useless and absurd invective. I was discussing a dangerous South American dictator and my disagreement with how my president is dealing with it, and you dredged up issues that you obviously feel very deeply about, but the rest of us have gotten over long ago.
3. You have assumed plenty about me. You assume I voted for McCain. You assume I voted for Bush. You assume I have never travelled the world. You have assumed wrongly, my friend.
4. Who insulted who? You called me, and I quote: "
whinning...childish and selfendulgent... RIDICULOUSLY ARROGANT! ...SICK, WEAK... PITIFUL...ridiculus...selfish...wrong...wimmpy..." - and you told me to "stick it", not once, but twice. Now go back and see if I insulted you thusly.
5.Yes, you've reacted to "old outdated ideas about the world at large", but you're the one that brought them to the table, so you have no one to blame but yourself.
6. I did not ask to be insulted or belittled by you - you did this of your own free will. This speaks volumes about who you are.
7. Thank you for your acknowledgement of me as an artist; I, too, bow to the same Buddha nature that is within you...but don't presume to know what I've been through. I may not be able to "handle [your] life if [I] had 200 years to do it and [I] never aged", but I guarantee you that you couldn't handle what I've gone through, either. I saw it break bigger men than you, and I still have horrid nightmares about it. I have a good friend who went through the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, and he says what I went through was many times worse, so don't judge until you are in full possession of the facts."












So, do you see what happened here? A simple 'whats wrong with this picture' went all the way to this. And Sammy's a nice guy, and a helluva talent, but if he feels this way about the USA, our history and would get in Hugo's corner first, I'd say he is a little more then 'misinformed'. I'm not angry Obama got punked, but a white dude ought to be able to question it without this immediate racist response.

The way Sammy went after Snave leads me to believe that if Snave was a brother, the tone of the exchange would have been different...And this is one of the reasons I left the 'Blues Community' here in the ATL. There are great blues people like Cora or Mr Frank or Neal Pattman ( all, RIP ) that welcome non black musicians into the fold. Then there are guys like Chick Willis or Theodis Ealy who think white guys either cannot or should not play the 'blues', and I'm wagering deep in his heart Sammy probably feels this too. He may not say it, he may not show it, but the way he brings race into a political discussion where it does not need to be is like bringing race into the Mike Vick fiasco....Which is really too bad.


http://theevanlee.blogspot.com/2007/04/my-buddy-mudcat-sent-me-this-funny.html

But that's okay. Since I'm not a true 'bluesman' I'll just go ahead and keep playing Irish, Cajun and Polka music. Maybe even a little CNW.. At least my skin color wont get in the way.

Rental Property

(CNN) — The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee said Monday that federal funding for affordable rental properties must be increased.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Massachusetts, also warned that a Bush-era policy to help low-income families become homeowners instead of renters contributed to the sub-prime mortgage crisis and, ultimately, the larger economic crisis now confronting the country.

Frank made his remarks during a speech at the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s policy conference in Washington.

"It is in 2003 and after that the percentage of mortgage loans that went to lower-income people spiked and the number who weren’t able to pay spiked, and it’s connected," said Frank, who chairs the committee that oversees all components of the nation’s housing and financial services sectors.

Frank said federal funding for affordable housing had been cut when the GOP controlled both Congress and the White House because of a traditional Republican bias in favor of home ownership. He added, however, that housing policies will change now that Democrats are in the majority of Congress.

"We will do everything legally possible to preserve every unit of affordable (rental) housing," Frank said…





Funny, I have never had any problems renting my unit.

I used to think that I missed the boat, that I could have sold it 2 years ago for an unbelievable profit, but now it looks like I can get an extra 200$ a month for years and years. This house will be paid off within 6 years, and then it's all gravy. It is a safety cushion for my son.

Those poor bastards that waited to buy a house on a 'steal' are going to have to pony up 20% and endure a surgical credit examination. But if you have some $$ set aside and good credit, you would be a complete idiot not to buy a house later this year. The interest rates will be low and so will the prices.

On Earth Day, real esate is just that : REAL. It's the oned thing they aren't making any more of. Gold will continue to be created, as will fossil fuels, but Earth is the ultimate investment.

Venezuela Jails and Snave

I've been hearing alot lately about how Hugo Chavez was in fact, not a 'dictator' but an elected leader 3 times over...How he is not an 'enemy' of the USA. Why, he even offered heating oil for our 'poor people'! Our own Oil companies didn't, did they?

But, I find that the true humanitaran nature of a country can be seen in it's prison system. My good friend, a Mudcat Founding Member and one of the stupidest smart people I've ever met recently was a 'guest of the State' in Los Teques Prison for trying to smuggle coke out of Venezuela.

Interstingly enough, despite the hardships of 18 months in LT Prison, he would prefer that to being held here in our own Fed Prison system.

Down there, if you have $$$ you can survive, get anything you want, instruments, drugs, women... Sure, the food sucks and the scenery is terrible, but it is not 'dehumanizing'.

Here, it's tedium and condescension in an Orange jumpsuit, there it's adventure and an emotional roller coaster, but if you've got the $$$ you'll get by. And I find this Ironic considering the anti-Capitalist sentiments of the 'great elected leader', Hugo.

So without further ado: get a beverage, pull up a chair and prepare to be entertained by this story of suspense, intrigue, and heartbreak. I give you

Snave Goes to Jail!

Weeeeeeee!

Here's the reaction as Achmedinnerjacket says "the United States and Europe had helped establish Israel after World War II and victimize Palestinians under the pretext of Jewish suffering."






My response to that asshole:




I just do not understand 'deniers'.Clearly, by 1942 we had enough technology that if there were decent claims about the numbers of dead being smaller, it would have come to the surface. We have video's of German citizens being forced to dig up the carcasses of the slaughtered Jews. For Christ Sake, enough already. Isreal needsto take out Iran, and Obama better 'shuf his mouf', if you know what I'm sayin.




Now, Obama is helping Chavez sell his propaganda.

Nice, huh?



Bow to Saudi King, shake hands with Chavez, try to be friends with Iraq despite the fact of a threat of a nuclear weapon, cut missle defense after N. Korea tests launch, no longer have war on terror - rename it as overseas contingency operation, cant call the real terrorist a 'terrorist', but issue DHS report grouping American Vets and American citizens with a different philosophy as a potential threat!







Oh well. At least there is some joy in mudville.

Alex Bennett and his failure in Liberal Talk Radio

Recently I wrote about my take on the various talk radio landscape, and how I have been trying to give the other side a chance and tune into some of the 'progressive' talk shows.

Here's a great example of why this stuff will not fly in fly over country.

While discussing the Somali Pirate adventures, Mr Bennett showed sympathy for the 'poor kids' that were being forced to 'take over' these corporate vessels. He explained that it was his opinion that our response to these kinds of scenarios always involves what he called 'the SWAT tactics'. This devolved into A 2ND amendment debate when a Police Officer called in to disagree. Here's a guy ( allegedly )who put's his ass in harms way every day. Surely, Bennett would not disrespect a man such as this, right?




Of course he wouldn't.




And therein lies on the of problems of 'selling' progressive talk nationally.Nobody in Lincoln Nebraska is going to listen to some old fat creep insult the local constabulatory. Not when there is other programming available.

Gordon Schwarzmann, uh, I mean, Alex Bennett is a prime example of why the format fails.

The default position for these guys is a deep seated dislike of 'authority' figures, Alex Bennett just plain does not like cops or soldiers. That's why he sympathizes with Death Row Inmates and shows disdain for the Police. He 'feels' for the pirates and despises the corporations that get attacked, and does not think the military should have solved that conflict.. This is what happens when hippies grow up. Some, see the error of thier younger ways and evolve, others just hide thier biases, but eventually they come out on the air. That might sell in Madison Wisconsin or Berkely California, but here in the ATL even the 'progressive' types show the cops some respect.

Plus, this bitter old man with his 2 queens around him that is too embarrassed by his name and geneology can barely hide his disdain at OPie and Anthony who moved in next door. Listen to him whine about being kicked out of his office and into the broom closet where he belongs:




Pretty sorry, no? What I would love to hear is this old fat creep go head to head with Anthony with that whole 'I dont need a gun in NYC' diatribe. That would be fireworks.

Hypocrit with a capital 'Tea'

As a fellow traveller I have to admit I am a little embarrased about these idiotic 'Tea Parties'.

Listen, does it strike anyone as odd that the conservatives are coming out NOW?

Last time I checked, W had 3 branches of Govt for 6 YEARS! Why didn't you come out on 'Tax Day' LAST YEAR? How about in 2004, when W broke the goddamned spending ceiling?! But now that Obama is in, NOW were going to 'protest'? Really?!

IMHO, this makes us look BAD. It's borderline stupid at best.


Ooooh....Now Glenn Beck is a Libertarian!

How convenient. Too bad he was insulting Ron Paul in the primaries, now that Obama is in, Glenn's in love with the good doctor. This is almost as bad as hearing Rush describe Jerry Garcia as a 'dead doper' the day after he died. While he was hooked on hillbilly heroin.

The thing that bothers me even more is seeing parents with thier 2 or 3 year old in attendance. That's just wrong. First: they don't even have a concept of geopolitics, and it is this kind of brainwashing that I resent on both the left and the right. I hate seeing hippies with thier offspring at a anti-war rally, but I can understand that a little more I guess. They aren't supposed to be that smart. BUt seeing JOe the Dumber with his kid on his shoulder watching this crap is awful. I know, it's not a 'hate Obama' rally, but honestly, look around at the crowds and let's try that again.



Uh huh. Riiiiiight.



Anyone who takes thier kids to a political rally like this is a bad parent. That's not even discussing the possibility that they put thier own kids in a possibly precarious situation that they did not have to endure. This is Georgia, folks. One loud backfire and it's open season. I gay ron tee there were plenty of handguns around, and heated political speech at night downtown. That scares the hell out of me. This is looking similar to Munich circa the Beer Hall Putch.

All of those self important,victimized white folks that think they were doing something 'noble', that think they are 'making a difference', you are fools. We had 6 years to 'protest' but we waited for the new administration to take to the streets.

Kinda like how all the anti war loons were strangely quiet when Slick Willie was lobbing cruise missiles into the Slavs, to start bitching now about Obama after what Bush Jr did ia hypocritical and ugly.

God help us all.

Al Hirt=Master Musician

http://www.snopes.com/risque/graphics/chambers.jpg


RIP.

The History of American Politics part one.

Anyone who is bored enough to view my little rantings here now and then is aware that one of my fascinations is history. I'm the nerd that can't wait to watch one of the numerous 'history' channels, I see a grainy black and white WW2 footage, and I'm hooked.

Sometimes I feel as if I was born in the wrong generation.

And everyday I miss the wise council of my Father, who tried to to 'persuade' my politics, but instead just related political trends he saw in his 84 years.

Recently, I have been worried about the tone and substance of 'entertainment' that spills from my AM or XM radio.

I don't think this kind of thing could have survived in my Father's day, and I'm not sure whether that is good or bad. I listened again to Crazy Mike Malloy, the anti-capitalist talk show host that wants you to buy his podcast again this weekend. Beyond his general rundown of capitalism, I was surprised to hear a passionate defense of the Somali Pirates, as it was explained that the international shipping routes have destroyed the once great 'fishing' area's so the only thing left for the Pirates to do was to take over these ships and demand ransom. I mean,a Pirate's gotta eat, right?

Then there's the equally nutty Glenn Beck, who pours imitation gas on an actor on his show to illustrate how Obama's Illegal Vote Grab is just 'fanning the flames' of 'Joe Six Pack'...Can I offer an opinion here? 'Joe Six Pack' is a douche. He reminds me of another great big placenta, 'Joe the Plumber', uh, I mean Reporter, uh.. I mean 'author'....Wait a minute...

If you've got that guy to be a keynote 'speaker' at your stupid Populist Rage Rally ( read TeaParties ), things have really gotten out of control.


History provides some solace amidst the mealstrom. This too, shall pass.

In my humble opinion, what’s happening on the conservative right looks like a predictable cyclical pattern in American politics — in which an elite (or at least, intellectually grounded) movement rises to power by attracting mass support, only to grow increasingly out of touch with the populist “fringe” elements it has attracted to the cause.

Fifty years ago, the mandarins of the old New Deal left had to deal with the more radical civil rights and New Left activists who challenged their control of the Democratic Party.

Before that, the old Wilsonian Democrats of the Progressive Era were challenged by the urban machines and the unions, who emerged as the big winners in the New Deal.

Before that, the agrarian Populists took on the McKinley-Hanna Republicans, and before THAT, the Whig elites who created the GOP to contend with the nativist Know Nothings.

Now, the conservatism of Russell Kirk and William F. Buckley — has mutated into a populist movement, with all the carny sideshow theatrics and conspiratorial paranoia that American populist movements have traditionally fostered.

Not to worry: If past is prologue, the elites will eventually regain control, after the movement has been in the political wilderness long enough.

The real story is going to be on the left, as the same dynamic begins to generate friction between the Clintonite and Obamanian Democratic establishment and the less domesticated liberal “netroots”.

Hold on folks, it's gonna be a bumpy ride.


Feeling depressed? This should cheer you up:

The real, ugly truth about Talk Radio

Oh, those early 90's....While playing in Mudcat, the bass player suggested we do a 'freebie' for WGST at a local jock's charity golf tournament. I, as a righteous liberal musician patiently awaiting Clinton's rise to power did not feel it was worth it. Playing early in the freezing cold for free, for Talk Radio. It was not even 'music radio'.

Oh, sure, in the late 80's and early 90's I was aware of Rush Limbaugh, but had no desire to listen in.

Years later, I would work in the medium myself, and peer behind the veiled curtain into the yawning abyss of Talk Radio.

I did it all: parody songs and comedy bits, post production and running the boards, sports talk, political talk, on differing frequencies. Occasionally, Mike Rose would let me fill in when he was gone, or run point for a visiting 'guest' host.

It has now been a full decade since a collegue of mine bet me that 'within 10 years, Rush Limbaugh and his brand of hate speech would be replaced by more sane, sensitive talent'. Even my vaunted brother in law weighed in, and I bet him Air America would not even be on the air when he suggested I leave the misery and pittance of Cumulus Radio for the fledgling station opening up here in Atlanta. True to form, 3 years later AM 1690 Air America was no more.

I do not wish to defend or praise Limbaugh. When I was doing stuff for 640am for the Kimmer show ( that came on after Rush ) I parted ways ideologically with Limbaugh after his disgusting use of politics in the Elian Gonzales saga. It was at that point that I could not be a fellow traveller. And, interestingly enough, Mr Gonzales would come back to bite Clinton in the 2000 Florida election circus.

Bill O Reilly was an ass to me when I met him ,refusing to sign some of his books I bought...Dennis Miller relies too heavily on name dropping and obscure movie bytes, although I appreciate his lack of bombasity...

But, the rest of the 'B' Squad, Hannity, Boortz, Ingraham, etc pretty much sound the same.

Glenn Beck is different, because lately he has been turning into Alex Jones. I pine for the good ol days of 'More On Trivia' and busting on Idol contestants. But now, it's armegeddon all the time.

I have had XM for a couple years, and as of late I have been tuning into thier 'Left Talk' channel, just for good measure. I have had my original thesis on why Liberal Talk wont work nationally vindicated.

Thom Hartmann: what a snoozefest. Think of the NPR bits Alex Baldwin used to do on SNL and that gives you an idea.

Mike Malloy: a true loon. The left's 'Micheal Savage'. He has an acerbic wit, and would be pretty decent if he did not openly admit he is a Marxist and buy into 9-11 conspiracies...Once that stuff come out, it's 'click'.

And why is it that the vast majority of 'Truthers' are more 'left on center'? I mean, it's pretty obvious by now.

Randi and Franken, as well as Schultz, just seemed like 'Limbaugh light.' Franken was just awful, like Jerry Springer awful. He could be entertaining, but it usually devolved into a 'point and laugh wonkism' that really is more suitable for Comedy Central then Talk Radio. No wonder he went to be a politician. And, it's pretty ironic that the very same parlor tricks that he accused 'W' of engineering in his 2 terms would be deployed by Franken for his own corrupt bid for power!

I do enjoy Stephanie Miller. I think she is the best of the lot. Better then Alex Bennett, Lionel, and the rest. Because I know her face and voice, I can picture her in my mind's eye, and even if I disagree with her, I can appreciate the humor, similar to Jon Stewart or Colbert. But she couldn't sell in ths market.

The only 'liberal host' that could effectively do a real, nationally syndicated Talk Radio show that would generate $$$ and ratings on a national level is Jon Stewart. He has the 'chops' to deal with the callers off the top of his head, something the pack of liberal talkers cannot do as well. He has a popular show, so he could roll our a radio show ( ala Bill O Reilly ) and HE could compete with the Godfather alone.

All the rest will fail.

Recently, while perusing Paglia's Salon page, this exchange resulted in 19 pages of bile in the hilarious 'comment' section:


As a former lover of talk radio, I too have wondered why programs with a liberal bent have fared so poorly in the free market. There are two specific factors that may be responsible for the disparity.

1) The vast majority of the talk radio audience listens in their car or from home. People driving around during the day and listening to the radio are probably demographically skewed toward the self-employed or people in some sort of sales. Admittedly, there are a large number of service jobs that require drive time, but I would bet those people are not interested in politics. The entrepreneur or six-figure sales professional is far more likely to be a conservative. People listening from home would either be stay-at-home parents or people working from home. These groups would also tend to be much more likely to listen to Laura Schlessinger than Al Franken.

2) The liberal talk shows I've listened to are not really all that entertaining. The jokes tend to be mean-spirited personal attacks and are rarely as clever as what I have heard on Rush Limbaugh's program. I think if the left wants to have a successful talk radio platform, they should be asking people like Jon Stewart for ideas and quit trying to silence the opposition.

And Paglia's response?


Your theories about the talk radio audience are intriguing. The most rewarding aspect of talk radio for me is the callers, whose voices are heard nowhere else in the culture -- the feisty, super-organized home-schooling moms, the gruffly stoical transcontinental truckers, and the fiercely independent and self-reliant small-business owners, outraged by Washington's tilt toward bailing out corrupt, top-heavy corporations.

However, the popularity of conservative radio shows is a round-the-clock phenomenon. There are flamboyant evening hosts as well as night replays of the major daytime shows, extending well past midnight to dawn. Clearly, conservative hosts have an instinctive rapport with AM radio, which I have been arguing for years is a populist medium (an idea that finally seems to have taken wing in its invocation by other commentators).

Salon reader Cecil W. Powell writes: "The failure of talkers on liberal radio is in large part due to an absolute inability to poke fun at themselves." How true! Liberal hosts like to snap and snip and chortle snidely, but they are weighed down by a complacent superiority complex, a paralyzing sanctimony. They mistake irony for wit. The conservative hosts love to rant and stomp and bring down the house. They're doing breakneck vaudeville while liberal hosts are primly stirring their non-caffeine green tea.



via videosift.com

Getting specific in the Pacific

Okay, so let me see if I have this right.

NATO and the UN tell's Kim Jong Il not to test any rockets. KJI then launches a rocket, and claims it is now orbiting the Earth playing patriotic music. Okay.

Obama appears to have done nothing, and our sources say it crashed in the ocean.

Something here doesn't smell right.

Here's what I think happened.

N Korea launched thier missile, and it was rendered useless by a direct hit with a cruis missile loaded with an EMP. It then falls into the sea, to be studied by the Navy and the Japs. No one see's the missile strike so far away, and N Korea monitors the rocket and realizes it was brought down, but what are you going to do about it? They just broke thier agreement, so they have no justification for moving on S Korea, which would be thier only response.

So Kim says to his dear following that the rocket is in space. Obama says ' we did not intercept this rocket, instead, it fell apart into the ocean on it's own'.

Someone is lyin here. And it may be everyone involved.

Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.

The best way to rob a Bank is to own one: By William Black.


Mr Black was on MOyers recently. I'll paraphrase what he said.


Black was litigation director of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, deputy director of the FSLIC, SVP and general counsel of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, and senior deputy chief counsel, Office of Thrift Supervision. He was deputy director of the National Commission on Financial Institution Reform, Recovery and Enforcement.

Black developed the concept of "control fraud" — frauds in which the CEO or head of state uses the entity as a "weapon." Control frauds cause greater financial losses than all other forms of property crime combined. And that's is what the banks committed.

There are too many points, so I will try to summarize (perhaps not all that well) some of them.

1. Where is the investigation of the facts and the story of what really happened? (There isn't any investigation.)

.2. There is a current law in effect, which came as a result of the S&L crisis, which MANDATES that 'Prompt Corrective Action" be taken when a bank is found to be insolvent. All of the big banks probably are, but they won' tell us. Gaithner & Paulson all know this, but lie. And they are not following the law to close them down.

3. "We can't let them fail." So will continue to let them limp along basically in failure mode, or give them the 2 trillion that Gaithner says they "need to survive." Two really bad choices. Japan followed this model in the 90's and had 10 years of stagnation/recession.

4. You can see the secrecy part just from the AIG details, which FINALLY were released on a Sunday evening. Major money went to Goldman Sachs, a major contributor to the problem, but Paulson was their former CEO. Another huge chuck went to UBS in Europe, who the US Govt went to court against, and recently they paid a 700 million dollar fine to the US! They paid it With OUR MONEY given to them by Paulson & Gaithner, and the Company names were never released until well after the fact.

5. This is just a small part of the REAL COVERUP with what has happened to the taxpayers money. They don't want us to know what they really did, or how bad things really are. Most of the largest banks are insolvent. They REFUSE to disclose their assets, Full stop!

6. Obama was, according to the press accounts, really quite stern and ugly with these CEO Bankers. And for good reason. They should all be REPLACED. But they "can't be," because any new CEO would then have to uncover the rocks and find all the fraud, and report on it, so HE wouldn't look bad. Not one of these big bank CEO's has been replaced! But let's go get GM instead. The public just doesn't understand the major fraud ALL these banks committed, how many trillions it will take to get them out of the jam, and NOT ONE CEO has left or faces any grand jury investigation for the FRAUD they knowingly committed.

7. The RATINGS AGENCIES, as I have been railing about now for months on these boards, also went along with this fraud, rating everything AAA, when if act they knew they have been rated as JUNK. NOTHING has happened to any of them. One has to start asking WHY NOT?

8. Gaithner was head of the Fed Reserve Bank of NY, and has as part of its mission statement to "regulate the banks in his district." He didn't do any of that, and didn't do his job, or pay his taxes. I know! Let's make him Treasury Secretary!

9.. Black contends that the meltdown did not have to happen at all. He suggests right now:

A. Replacing ALL the Top CEO'S and top managers at the biggest banks. Their have caused their banks to become INSOLVENT, but they and the government doesn't want us to know that. This is further confirmed by testimony of Elizabeth Warren this week to Congress (She heads the board reporting to Congress on the TARP capers). She can't get Treasury to admit or tell her board ANYTHING, and she is empowered by Congress to get that information. Smart people should be more than wondering...

B. Appoint new people at Treasury who ARE A SUCCESS and have a good track record, with integrity. They won't have any vetting problems with their taxes.

C. Recognize the huge losses and face the music. Instead of just stealing TRILLIONS from WE THE PEOPLE and throwing it into a black hole taking care of their friends, LEVEL WITH US, find the right people, and lead us out of this. STOP TELLING US LIES! (But I guess it's easier to gp after GM and Chrysler & the Unions).

D. Have Congress hold REAL HEARINGS and get out all the facts. We investigate every airplane crash in the most minute detail, but we don't do ANYTHINIG to investigate the worst financial meltdown in the last 80 years! Anyone else wondering why?

10. Obama knows all this, and when you then put the "pitchfork" comment into this perspective, it looks quite different from the way people are reading it, at least to me. Someone has told him, "We can't tell the people how bad it is," and he is apparently going right along with the lies and cover up too.



Wow. Here's a little something From the transcript:

BILL MOYERS: "...his main targets are the Wall Street barons, heirs of an earlier generation whose scandalous rip-offs of wealth back in the 1930s earned them comparison to Al Capone and the mob, and the nickname "banksters."

and

WILLIAM K. BLACK: "Well, the way that you do it [large corporate failures and scandals] is to make really bad loans, because they pay better. Then you grow extremely rapidly, in other words, you're a Ponzi-like scheme. And the third thing you do is we call it leverage. That just means borrowing a lot of money, and the combination creates a situation where you have guaranteed record profits in the early years. That makes you rich, through the bonuses that modern executive compensation has produced. It also makes it inevitable that there's going to be a disaster down the road."

Bwahahahahahaha! *Cough* *Cough* Gasp!* Wheeeze

Larry Jukes said he remembers when he could buy 10 cigarette packs for $2.50.


Coloradan Larry Jukes says he's upset about the hike but doesn't expect it will persuade him to quit smoking.

But he'd now take the days when -- just last month -- he could buy his carton of choice for $49.

Thanks in part to the largest-ever federal cigarette tax increase -- a nearly 62-cents-a-pack hike that starts Wednesday but was reflected in many prices earlier -- Jukes on Tuesday paid more than $58 for a 10-pack carton at the Cigarette Store in Denver, Colorado.

That same store was selling it about $9 cheaper weeks ago. Jukes and other shoppers there said they feel stuck and taken advantage of.

"They're picking on us poor people, the ones that smoke," Jukes, a 65-year-old who has been smoking since he was a teen, said of the government. "They have been for years."


Ah...Good times. Especially since Obama smokes! Too funny.

Methink Thou Dost Protest 2 Much....

G20. Tea Parties. No escalation in Afhanistan.

'Free ( fill in death row inmates name here)'


Ahh, that Universal event for dissaffected youths and thie Useful Idiots.

I was young once too.

I recall as a young man going with my Buddy Danny Mudcat to numerous 'protests' by Greenpeace. Then we would all retire to some hippy chicks house or aprtment, smoke alot of weed, try to get laid and played alot of drum heavy music. I can say for most of the crowd, there were only a handful that truly understood what exactly was going on.

When I worked in Talk Radio, I often went to the early 'No War in Iraq' protests @ Colony Square.

I was not for troops in Iraq, but I was for going into Afghanistan. This was 2003-04 and my Party was having it's convention in ATL, and half the libertarians were strict isolationist ( no war in Afghanistan! ) or supporting trrops there but not in Iraq. It actually split the party and did alot of damage.

Somehow at all these 'protests' there were different messages: at the anti war rally I heard speakers talk about how bad coal is, pro choice statements, and no G20 'Global Currency'. This put me off, as I was there to protest the Iraq War, so I went home.

I always looked at protestors concerning the G20 as a bunch of middle class angst filled kids looking for an excuse to get out of hand. But now it truly does appear that were moving towards a Global Currency. And the crowds are getting more and more violent overseas.

What is equally sorry are these regional 'Tea Parties'. Good grief, folks. Get a clue. All your accomplishing here is making yourselves feel better and improving Lipton's Stock. I know it sounds hypocritical, but the effort would have made more sense to find, train and fund new GOP politicians that hold true to the platform. Not go out in the rain with a bunch of stupid signs and teabags.

But then there are the lunatic fringe of the left protests. Nothing can beat these guys.

For hours of entertainment, check out http://www.zombietime.com/

especially the blog.