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I heard Capsula for the first time during the drive to work yesterday morning.  They are from Buenes Aires, Argentina but now reside in Bilbao, Spain.  They have a new album out titled Rising Mountains, but it’s not available in the U.S. as of now.  You pod people can download the album.  I suggest you do and then burn me a cd.  This song is not from the new album, it’s from an album titled Songs and Circuits.

I’ve been listening to R.E.M. quite a bit lately. Here’s one off their latest album, Accelerate.

And it’s summertime, so you should be listening to the Dandys.

Technorati Tags: Capsula, Dandy Warhols, R.E.M.

When Americans think of national vulnerabilities, their minds turn first to international terrorism or to possible security threats from the likes of North Korea or, maybe, in the future, China.

Yet our real vulnerability has been shown not to be from bombs and missiles, but from an economic recession that has exposed our tattered social safety net as an object that resembles Swiss cheese, and the fact that secure funding for vital public services such as education is a fantasy.

While private sector job losses have hit globally, only America, among leading industrialized nations, is seeing teachers, police and fire and other key public employees being laid off.  This is folly of a high order. It’s bad enough losing private-sector jobs but when we slash public jobs not only are we adding to the pernicious effects of the recession by increasing unemployment, but we are hurting our children and the most vulnerable in our communities who rely on government services the most.  How will slashing teachers and school librarians help our kids to compete with their international peers who are fortunate enough to be living in countries not plagued by such terminal myopia?

It has become clear that the impact of Obama administration’s stimulus package has been to mitigate the cuts in state budgets.  That is not meant as a criticism.  In fact, without the stimulus many more states and would be facing fiscal disaster and their people more pain.

A recent piece on PBS’s News Hour highlighted how the Hartford, Connecticut, school district had been making recent strides in improving test scores with innovative policies, and were looking to federal stimulus money for education to further boost their efforts.  Instead, the governor of the state slashed education funding and the federal stimulus money will be used to “flat line” meaning it will replace the state funds, hopefully without substantial cuts.

And Connecticut is one of the lucky states; in my own state of Washington, the stimulus money will not make up for state cuts, and school budgets are being slashed.  Few state governors have had the courage to propose temporary tax increases to help get us through this terrible spell and avoid damaging cuts in education, health and other social services.

Depressingly, it goes without saying that as more Americans lose their jobs they are also losing their healthcare insurance, thanks to our lack of universal medical insurance.  Americans, in fact, are suffering in this recession far more than people in any other industrialized nation; we seem unable to understand that America cannot be strong abroad when it is weak and vulnerable at home.

President Obama understands this as well as anyone else in the country; it’s really too bad that so many of his fellow citizens don’t.

Technorati Tags: health-care, Obama, stimulus

A frame from the June 16th edition of This Modern World:

Ha that’s funny!  Because like even though some crazy conservatives might actually think that, they wouldn’t actually say it out loud, would they?

Michael Scheuer on Glenn Beck’s show last night:

Transcript:

Scheuer: The only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States. Because it’s going to take a grass-roots, bottom-up pressure. Because these politicians prize their office, prize the praise of the media and the Europeans. It’s an absurd situation again. Only Osama can execute an attack which will force Americans to demand that their government protect them effectively, consistently, and with as much violence as necessary.

Beck: Which is why, I was thinking this weekend, if I were him, that would be the last thing I would do right now.

Why do conservatives hate America so much? Why do they think it must be destroyed before they can save it?

For a whole lot more of Michael Scheuer’s batshit crazy analysis, read this column he wrote for the Washington Post that ends with:

…The Republicans do not have the votes to stop Obama, and the world will not be safer for America because the president abandons interrogations to please his party’s left wing and the European pacifists it so admires. Both are incorrigibly anti-American, oppose the use of force in America’s defense and — like Obama — naively believe that the West’s Islamist foes can be sweet-talked into a future alive with the sound of kumbaya.

So if the above worst-case scenario ever comes to pass, Americans will have at least two things from which to take solace, even after the loss of major cities and tens of thousands of countrymen. First, they will know that their president believes that those losses are a small price to pay for stopping interrogations and making foreign peoples like us more. And second, they will see Osama bin Laden’s shy smile turn into a calm and beautiful God-is-Great grin.

Michael Scheuer is an ex CIA man and he worked again as Special Advisor to the Chief of the bin Laden unit from September 2001 to November 2004.   He now works as a news analyst for CBS News.  I wonder how much longer he’ll have that job…

UPDATE:  Daily Show coverage of this story here.

Technorati Tags: Daily Show, Fox-News, Glenn Beck, Michael Scheuer, Osama-bin-Laden, TMW

I was reading through the June issue of Harper’s Magazine and came across a letter from Ronald Reagan to Michael Jackson that was sent after Michael’s hair was accidentally burned while filming a Pepsi commerical.  I wanted to post the letter here, so I searched for it hoping I would find it and not have to type it myself.  I found it and a whole lot more.

Here’s the letter that started my search:

Dear Michael:

I was pleased to learn that you were not seriously hurt in your recent accident. I know from experience that these things can happen on the set–no matter how much caution is excercised. All over America, millions of people look up to you as an example. Your deep faith in God and adherence to traditional values are an inspiration to all of us, especially young people searching for something real to believe in. You’ve gained quite a number of fans along the road since “I Want You Back” and Nancy and I are among them. Keep up the good work, Michael. We’re very happy for you.

Sincerely,

Ronald Reagan

In addition to the letter, I found this New York Times “The Caucus” blog post that gives a rundown of the relationship between Reagan and Jackson.  There I learned that Jackson visited the White House in May 1984 and also appeared with Reagan at an anti-drunk-driving event.

In September of 1984, Jackson invited Reagan to a “Victory Tour” concert at RFK stadium.  Reagan’s office drafted a letter to decline the invitation and to invite Michael Jackson back to the White House, but this time with his brothers. 

The letter was reviewed by a young associate counsel who objected to Reagan signing the letter.  The associate was John G. Roberts, now Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. 

David Weigel at The Washington Independent got a laugh out of this part of Robert’s rejection:

In today’s Post there were already reports that some youngsters were turning away from Mr. Jackson in favor of a newcomer who goes by the name “Prince,” and is apparently planning a Washington concert. Will he receive a Presidential letter? How will we decide which performers do and which do not?

Prince, the “newcomer,” was touring in support of his sixth album, Purple Rain.

That’s pretty funny, but I thought this part was even better:

Why, for example, was no letter sent to Mr. Bruce Springsteen, whose patriotic tour recently visited the area?

Yes… another clueless Republican who heard only the chorus to “Born in the U.S.A” and never bothered to listen to the verses.  Springsteen’s 1984 tour was not patriotic in any way, and he loathed the Reagan Administration.

Reagan wasn’t a very smart man, but he did recognize a foe when he saw one.  Young John G. Roberts?  Not so smart…

Technorati Tags: Bruce Springsteen, John Roberts, Michael Jackson, Reagan

In the 30 years I’ve lived in this country, I have never witnessed a more shameful and cowardly performance than that of Congress denying the Obama administration funds to move Guantanamo detainees to high security prisons  in the United States.

It’s not like the NIMBY (Not in My Backyard) concept is alien to me; it’s just that I never thought I would see such irrational fear and illogic displayed to the world in a way that was so utterly brainless, gutless and weak-kneed.

America’s prisons house serial killers, rapists, sociopaths and psychopaths and other evil doers to compare with any country in the world. Yet our representatives and senators, not to mention their constituents, are scared shitless at the thought of having some of the prisoners at Guantanamo incarcerated even in US military prisons. It’s hard to know whether their fear is of the detainees escaping en masse to wreak havoc in their communities or the thought that al-Qaida might launch an invasion of, say, Fort Leavenworth to free them.

The city council of Hardin, Montana, hoping to boost a sagging economy, has stepped up to the plate by offering to house some of the detainees in a newly built prison that the state now says it no longer needs. “Over my dead health-care plan” says Senator Max Baucus (or words to that effect anyway), ever the study in political courage.

And then there’s the issue of where to put those detainees who have been determined not to be enemy combatants. These are the people whom we scooped up in the Bush administration’s panic-ridden response to 9/11, held for several years in conditions that most of us don’t want to know about, only to find that they were no threat to us after all. Many of them can’t go home because they would likely be imprisoned, tortured and killed by their own governments.

We had an opportunity to release one such group, Muslim Chinese called Uighurs, into the US. These have no axe to grind against the US but oppose the Chinese government’s policies towards the Muslim population. There are Uighurs in the US already, including a community in the Washington DC area. Had we been willing to bring them to the US we might have had more luck convincing European governments to take other detainees.

But no, jittery politicians and a frightened electorate don’t want to hear about it.  The gutsier souls of Bermuda and Palau have put us to shame and agreed to take in some of the Uighurs.

So my question is this: how is it that a country capable of fielding such valiant and dedicated men and women in its armed forces who serve their country so bravely, can be otherwise so bereft of courage?

Technorati Tags: guantanamo bay detainees, Muslim, terror, Uighurs

White Denim is from Austin, Texas, and this song is from their new album Fits that you can’t buy in the U.S. right now.  

I found about them by reading a review of the new album in the July issue of Mojo Magazine where their sound was described as “Cranium-melting Texan galactic punk/funk” worthy of a four-star rating.  That makes me want to buy the album, but I can’t.

Here’s the video for “I Start to Run.”

Robyn Hitchcock was a favorite of mine back in the eighties.  Here he is performing “Brenda’s Iron Sledge” on a 1985 airing of the BBC program Whistle Test.

Ha Ha Tonka’s video of “Caney Mountain” from their 2007 album, Buckle in the Bible Belt.

Technorati Tags: Ha Ha Tonka, Robyn Hitchcock, White Denim

One might think that a Christian church would be a relatively safe place to visit - that it wouldn’t be full of people carrying guns.  That’s probably true for most churches, but not this one.  The New York Times reports:

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Ken Pagano, the pastor of the New Bethel Church here, is passionate about gun rights. He shoots regularly at the local firing range, and his sermon two weeks ago was on “God, Guns, Gospel and Geometry.”  And on Saturday night, he is inviting his congregation of 150 and others to wear or carry their firearms into the sanctuary to “celebrate our rights as Americans!” as a promotional flier for the “open carry celebration” puts it.

“God and guns were part of the foundation of this country,” Mr. Pagano, 49, said Wednesday in the small brick Assembly of God church, where a large wooden cross hung over the altar and two American flags jutted from side walls. “I don’t see any contradiction in this. Not every Christian denomination is pacifist.”

The bring-your-gun-to-church day, which will include a $1 raffle of a handgun, firearms safety lessons and a picnic, is another sign that the gun culture in the United States is thriving despite, or perhaps because of, President Obama’s election in November.

…

Mr. Pagano said the church’s insurance company, which he would not identify, had canceled the church’s policy for the day on Saturday and told him that it would cancel the policy for good at the end of the year. If he cannot find insurance for Saturday, people will not be allowed in openly carrying their guns.

…

…John Phillips, pastor of the Central Church of Christ in Little Rock.  In 1986, Mr. Phillips was preaching in a different church there when a gunman shot him and a parishioner. Both survived, but Mr. Phillips, 51, still has a bullet lodged in his spine.

In a telephone interview, he said he found the idea of “packing in the pew” abhorrent.

“There is a movement afoot across the nation, with the gun lobby pushing the envelope, trying to allow concealed weapons to be carried in places where they used to be prohibited — churches, schools, bars,” Mr. Phillips said.

“I don’t understand how any minister who is familiar with the teachings of the Bible can do this,” he added. “Jesus didn’t say, ‘Go ahead, make my day.’”

Well that’s his opinion, but the congregation of the New Bethel Church knows:

Seriously though, this story reads like an open invitation to a gun nut with a death wish.  I hope it doesn’t turn out that way but, if it does, no amount of insurance will be enough to cover the damage.

Technorati Tags: Bill-of-Rights, Christianity, guns, Jesus

Go to Achewood and read Ray Smuckles’ emergency essay, “On the Sudden Passing of Michael Jackson” today.

Excerpt:

It’s bad. It’s bad around here. It’s like today was fake. Even the sunlight seems staged. I wish they’d take it away.

When I got the Celebrity Death Beep on my Blackberry, I blew it off as a dumb rumor. That service is good, but I can see it makin’ mistakes. A false headline at, like, The Onion coulda’ triggered it. Michael had an eye on his health constantly. You know that about him. We all know the lengths he went to for health. Dude slept in a hyperbaric chamber. I like my health, but I ain’t gonna go that far, you know? Michael’s health was, to him, a special, magical thing. Something worth machines.

What I think a lotta folks are feelin’ now is a regret. Not regret that a man died; no. They regret that for almost three decades they been mockin’ this guy. This guy who wrote Thriller, and PYT, and Billie Jean. You know who you are, you Michael deniers, listenin’ to your The Cure or Aerosmith. You always considered Michael’s music silly. Not serious. Lame, mainstream. “Popular.”

The rest is here.

Technorati Tags: Achewood, Michael Jackson

I just finished designing and coding my friend’s new website Viva La Jackson.  The site is selling Michael Jackson/Che Guevara mashup T-shirts.  They are really awesome shirts and can’t wait to get my hands on one.  I hear that there are other designs in the works.  Stay tuned.

From the website:

Michael Jackson was the KING of POP, he led the POP REVOLUTION for millions of fans worldwide.

Show the world you’ve joined the revolution with this iconic Michael Jackson/Che Guevara mash-up T-Shirt.

Abortion doctors, law enforcement, even employees of national museums. They’ve been targeted by extremists and their right-wing hatred, fueled by right-wing talk radio feeding off of Republican talking points led by right-leaning cable news and driven by an overwhelming fear of facts, science, and progress.

Now right-wing nutjob Michael Savage is threatening to put on his website the names, addresses, and even photos of the employees of Media Matters for his listeners to do with what they will.

He’s not suggesting any violence. He’s just sayin’, if anybody in this great land deserved to die at the hands of extremists, it’s these guys. Not to encourage illegal activities, you know. Just to say that certain law abiding citizens are sometimes driven by their consciences to act. Not vigilantism, per-se, nor is he advocating the taking of the law into anyone’s own hands. But how could you blame an average Joe if he were to just go out and get him some liberal, commie lynching done? How could you possibly blame a guy? S’all he’s sayin’.

Via Media Matters

Perhaps you’ve already seen the news that Michael Savage (née Weiner), America’s third highest rated radio host, has vowed to post “full pictures and other pertinent information about” Media Matters employees on his website. If not, the following links will help bring you up to speed:

Huffington Post: Michael Savage Issues Fatwa Against Media Matters

Examiner.com: Savage vows to post Media Matters staff pictures and ‘pertinent information’ on website

MSNBC’s The Ed Show: In “Psycho Talk,” Schultz says Savage “is pinning a ‘Wanted’ sign on employees at Media Matters“

Watch their response here: