F.W.I.W. - For What It's Worth

So, did ya miss me? No? Well, I sure as hell missed you. You could say that I've been busy. Too busy to meet a blog deadline? Unfortunately so. Had a rendezvous to keep. Not to be melodramatic or anything, but my spirit and I became separated during the waning months of '07, and we had to get back together before I could go near a keyboard again. More about that at a future date.

In line with that, our church bade farewell to our Pastor, a man of God who helped us each find our way on our spiritual journey. The Scottsdale Congregational United Church of Christ (SCUCC for brevity) is, by all outward appearances, just a modest little neighborhood church. Unpretentious, unassuming, one might be tempted not to give much shrift to a congregation that never numbered over a thousand. Measuring a church by the size of it's congregation is probably the easiest way to miss the jewel lying within the lump of coal. 

As a proud member (a 'Charter' member, if you will) of this congregation since 1960, time and again I've witnessed incredible manifestations of faith and purpose the likes of which could not be matched by churches with 10 times the enrollment. But then I'm reminded of the story of David and Goliath; how the little fellow with only a slingshot felled a giant many times his size. Does size matter? Probably, but there's a thing called 'heart' that sets this church apart. Our Pastor is a full fledged PhD., but that would be hollow, meaningless, without an unshakeable faith that enables him to empathize with one and all who encounter him. Yet, for all his spirituality, he is exceptionally grounded. Now I know that using the word 'grounded' marks this blog as being a little over the top, too touchy-feely for some, but there's just no other way to describe a man who is so loved and respected by his parishoners, men and women, young and old; accolades abound.

Tomorrow:  Moving forward...with gratitude.   

In Praise (?) of Craigslist

Well, unless you've been off the planet for more than five years or just shipwrecked on an uncharted island way out to sea, you've heard of Craigslist. A compendium of personal ads, jobs postings, real estate for sale or rent, community news, chat forums, craigslist has become an online marketplace (supermarket-place?) grande'. A testament to internet entrepreneurship, the reach of Craigslist has become worldwide in what seems like the blink of an eye. 

The popularity of the site is due most likely to a combination of factors, no doubt the ease of use and free availability (supported by revenue from it's real estate listings), which make it affordable for the masses. Online self-policing keeps the site as it should be, a reflection of today's mores, or K.I.S.S.

One of the areas of Craigslist is the area devoted to Net Neutrality. If you haven't heard of it, you should care about the concept at least. Simply put, the large Telecom companies are seeking to control the accessibility of the vast internet for only those with the hefty bank accounts, relegating slower connection speeds to the rest of us. One of the unforeseen consequences of the formation of the world wide web has been a democratization of wealth. This economic superhighway for the common man is about to see construction of toll booths, ironically constructed by the wealthiest in our society to further pick the pockets of what is left of the middle class. Why should you care? Well, for starters, you can be sure that anything you purchase over the internet is going to cost you more. As an avenue of commerce, the internet is poised to virtually explode in accessability; this the Telecoms know, and they want to carve out a giant slice for themselves and the richest among us (and outside this country through proxy ownership).

On to other items of interest: 

As I'm writing this, I'm listening to the latest Bob Dylan album, "Modern Times" and finding myself awestruck at the, what can I say but, genius. Alternately introspective and boisterous, his touch subtle  and persuasive, confident; every time I re-listen to this disk I find more and more depth.

As long as I've digressed tonight, musically, another name I want to pass on is a young lady coming into her own. Regina Spektor (Sire Records) is being seen in three episodes of "CSI - New York"; check your local listings for time. Her albums "Soviet Kitsch" and "Begin To Hope" display this young singer/songwriter's range.

Fairly certain I've mentioned Regina before. That's okay. 

Well, there goes Dylan singing "The Levee's Gonna Break", so yours truthfully is going to bow out for this session.

The Bush Countdown is on hiatus until next post when it returns in different form...hopefully.

One final closing thought; just what's so funny about Peace, Love and Understanding?

FWIW - Beyond the social conservatives

(Originally titled "How the Social Conservatives are ruining America")
A caveat to begin with; we reasoned that the title was just a little too inflammatory, so we dialed it back.
We use as our reference point the movie, "Pleasantville" (c) Newline Cinema 1998, starring Tobey Maguire, Jeff Daniels, Joan Allen, William H. Macy and Reese Witherspoon. If you saw the movie when it first came out and if you remembered the 1950's as I did, growing up in a little bedroom community (New Hyde Park, Long Island, N.Y.), this little gem was amazingly on-target in capturing the flavor of that decade.
For white, middle-class America, Father really did 'know best', the air was clean and sex was dirty. MAD magazine was still in comic book form, yet, even then very subversive, merrily skewering society's sacred cows.
For those who didn't see the movie, Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon are two teenagers who are magically transported back from current day to those days of yore (by a masterfully-played television repairman, Don Knotts; himself, of course as much a symbol of the 50's as hula hoops and 'D.A.' haircuts) to live in that era and reconcile their current-day mores with those of the 50's.
It doesn't take long for the dilemma to become apparent to these two. Of course, TV was black and white, not color, and they have become monochrome as has the town around them. It's a striking metaphor for the either/or frame of reference of those days. Black or White. Right or Wrong. No shades of nuance. You either were with us or agin' us; there was no safe middle ground.
Sound familiar? Well, the social conservatives have done all they can to return us to those halcyon days. Starting in the early 1980's the election of Ronald Reagan foreshadowed the societal division building even then. "Family values", the catch-phrase of the social conservatives, were the code words used to connote that "Pleasantville" ideal. This was the social norm that the conservatives sought to impose on American culture. All the way from Roe v. Wade to 'school choice' (a tactic to allow white households to remain removed from the requirements of integration), legislation that had served to enhance equality under the law was eviscerated slowly and systematically.
In 1993, when FBI crime statistics were released showing an overall decrease in the crime rate, some suggested that there was correlation between the effect of Roe v. Wade traceable to a decline in pregnancies that would have resulted in the births of unwanted children which would then have increased the crime rate. The social conservatives went ballistic. How dare anyone claim that unwanted children were responsible for crime? The social conservative's own political correct-ness kicked in!
It's been said that "...figures don't lie, but liars do figure..." and although we run the risk of offending those social conservatives, there are few other predictors available to dispute the conclusion. After all, the Reagan/Bush administration dissembled and de-funded social programs all over the place; ergo the conclusion must be that there were fewer births recorded for the demographic group (poor, marginally educated) that would be expected to contribute to the pool of unwanteds. And, perhaps that may have been the serendipitous result of such de-funding; fewer births to begin with.
So, perhaps we have hit upon the truth quite by accident; reduce the crime rate by starving the poor to death. Fewer poor people = lower crime statistics. How ingenious!

Next: President Bush's secret agenda: Armageddon!

Today is Monday, April 23rd, 2007. Only 639 days until the end of the Bush Administration.

F W I W - Potpourri, some praise, some scorn

Yes, we've been away for a while. And yes, we've missed you too! We've acquired a 'MAC' (you know, the one you've been seeing in the commercials, the two guys, one who introduces himself as "Hello, I'm a PC" and the other, cooler-looking guy, who says, "I'm a MAC".) And it's been quite a learning experience! Mostly, it has been about un-learning the 'Windows' interface. The "MAC" world is, to say the least, fascinating. Those of you out there who've gone through it know of which I speak. But I digress.
Yes, some praise. Praise for the tech folks at *Google*. Swinging over to the MAC also involved some changes to make it possible for me to post from the new system. We experienced some log-in problems and the tech folks got it resolved for us in less than an hour. On a Saturday, no less! So let's hoist one for the *Googlefolk* and say, "Well done!"
And while we're at it, let's have some praise for Apple, Inc. Their OS X (as in 10) operating system is remarkably facile and highly intuitive; almost like it knows what you want to do before you do it. Spooky, right? We've been told that we'll get used to it.
Next up, a brickbat or two.
Number one to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia for it's recent decision depriving prisoners at Guantanamo Bay of any right to challenge the Bush Administration by upholding the Military Commissions Act. The ACLU maintains that it is a misguided endorsement of the Administration's stance that Guantanamo is a place without law and that the detainees therefore are people without rights. It's very simple really. The United States flag flies over Guantanamo. In international law, wherever that flag of our country flies, it has always been the position that area is considered soverign to the U.S., and is fully subject to the laws of the United States. If anyone were to attempt to enter Guantanamo without clearance, our armed forces would be able to claim the right to respond with deadly force against such an intrusion. You cannot have it both ways, folks. Either an area is subject to all the laws of this country or it is subject to none. The real villain in this piece is the Military Commissions Act. The MCA is an abridgement of the first, fourth and sixth amendments in the Bill of Rights and pertains to any person, citizen or not, in the care or custody of the U.S. It is an abomination that the United States declares that it stands foursquare for Human Rights, yet tramples the very concept of same embedded in our Constitution. As a sidebar, most of the 600+ persons held at Guantanamo have been found to have been innocent of any wrongdoing whatsoever. When returned to their native countries, virtually all have been released immediately.
Number two goes to John McLaughlin, host of "The McLaughlin Group on PBS (Friday night, check your local listings). Presenting a piece of file footage purporting to be Senator Barack Obama responding to charges from the Hillary Clinton campaign group that he was somehow besmirching Hillary. The cited footage was, in fact, shot during his formal announcement for President, edited to appear as slamming Hillary. Shame on you, John. This really is beneath you, sir. We watch "The McLaughlin Group" regularly and other than the fact that it almost always pits one liberal (Eleanor Clift, also a female) against three other conservatives (Pat Buchanan, Tony Blankney and the 'guest chair' on McLaughlin's right), usually comes out fair and square. This was not the case in the instance I've cited. Brickbat Two to John.
I see your eyelids starting to droop, fair reader, so we'll close. But not before we call your attention to an incredible singer. You'll be hearing more about *Regina Spektor* in the months to come. We first spotted her on CBS Sunday Morning a few weeks back in a profile that displayed this young lady's amazing range as well as technical skill at the keyboard. You heard it here first (or maybe second). P.S.-Regina hails from the former Soviet Union; their loss is our gain. More rightly, the U.K.'s gain as she now considers Great Britain her home. Visit her website at: http://www.reginaspektor.com.
Last, but certainly not least is Keith Olbermann. "Countdown" on MSNBC is one of the liveliest, quirkiest, funniest (thanks to segments like 'Oddball' and 'Worst Person in the World') hours on cable. For me to forego "The Newshour With Jim Lehrer", that's something. Check your listings.

Next: The Social Conservative Agenda and the harm it is doing to America.

Today is Saturday, the 24th of February, 2007. Only 697 days until the end of the Bush Adminstration.

F W I W - Thank You For The Music!

n the beginning was the Word. And the word was One word, yet the Word was three words; Rock and Roll. And we saw that it was Good. And the Word was spoken in the beginning by only one man, Alan Freed. And even though Alan Freed spoke the Word first, many there were to come to follow who would also speak the Word. And more and more came to speak the Word until the Word itself became known to all men. And many were that rejoiced in the Word. And there were those who spoke the Word with scorn and with derision, but they were few and they were like ants unto the ocean.

We were blessed to be there at the very beginning. The first born out of a new middle class in America. That new middle class itself born out of the death and destruction of World War II. The so-called G.I. bill, social legislation designed to reward the returning veterans for their sacrifice made it possible for these courageous soldiers to purchase a home or go to college or trade school. This new social class was also the first consumerist class and the economic clout it wielded was awesome. We throw the word 'empowered' around so easily today; it really had it's beginning in the 50's as the economic muscle of industrious Americans who then could fulfill their every material need. And, just as every action brings about an equal re-action, the first of the baby-boomers came into their puberty, the teen (as in between; between childhood and adulthood; the teen-agers) years. This demographic swelled like an oceantide; their numbers were staggering. Given to natural rebellious instincts as they sought to establish their own identity, they were not buying into the social norms of their adults. They sought to make their own way. And by sheer weight of numbers, they succeeded. Movies like "Blackboard Jungle" and "Rebel Without A Cause" sought to depict this boisterous, cocky, defiant, even at times self-conflicted element in our society. It was only natural that these young people wanted their own music, speaking their own language, if you will.

There are those who maintain that "Rock Around The Clock" was the first teen 'anthem', but a song by an obscure group, The Cheers, actually signified the beginning of the Rock era. Titled "A Black Leather Jacket and Motorcycle Boots" it was rushed into production following the movie "The Wild Bunch", starring a young punk named Marlon Brando. The rebellious youth culture had been born.
The convergence of Jazz, Rythm and Blues (also called 'race music), popular ('pop') swing and even country (called 'hillbilly') music were the genesis. Bill Haley and the Comets (who recorded "Rock Around The Clock") were a novelty roadhouse band playing nightly for $25 and tips in the oil-drilling areas of western Pennsylvania when they came to 'instant' stardom.

When Alan Freed moved from Cincinnatti, Ohio to New York to take on the night radio shift at WINS radio, he recognized the instant gut-level power of this new music form. Pounding on a telephone directory in the studio in time with the back-beat, one night he opened his microphone while beating on the directory exulting, "rock and roll", "rock and roll". It wasn't that long a time before the "Alan Freed Rock and Roll Revue" would be happening at the Brooklyn Paramount or Loew's Downtown (Manhattan) theatres. There would be the requisite teen-oriented B-grade movie followed by a dozen or so musical acts like Mother Maybelle, Ruth Brown, The Penquins, The Coasters, The Platters. Those would be followed by headlines such as, "Youth Mobs Dance, Destroy Theatre", or some such. Tearing out entire rows of seats so that they could dance was de jour. And Paramount and the other theatre chains didn't care all that much, their insurance companies paid for repairs while the $20 per seat tickets were equal to three to four day's grosses.

An exhilirating time for a young boy to be alive! Those days are gone now. They've been replaced by yak-yak radio, pre-packaged 'oldies' formats, computer-driven playlists and robot deejays doing totally scripted programming 24/7/365. I guess Elvis (Costello) said it best, "...you either shut up or get cut out; they don't want to hear about it. It's only inches on the reel-to-reel" (from "Radio, Radio" (cr) .

Today is February 1st; just 719 days until the end of the Bush Administration.

Next Up: Here are some links that you should check out.

F W I W - Stop The Presses - Pat II

The regularly scheduled commentary, “Thank you for the music” will not be presented at this time in order that we may bring you the following:
 
We happened to run across some items on the web that we thought would be of interest to you.
 
Item One: How many times have you seen some news item that cites a survey (somewhere) that purports to show how people poll on an issue of interest? Then, you say to yourself, “Gee, nobody asked me about that!”
Or, something to that effect. Now, you can make your beliefs known! Better yet, you can even earn rewards (cash, too) saying how you believe. There is an organization that wants to know how people poll on various issues of importance; it’s known as PollingPoint . Here’s the beauty of the thing. Take as many or as few of their polls as you like, when you like. You’ll earn ‘points’ for each poll you complete. Take a lot of polls, earn more points, take fewer polls and earn fewer points. The points accrue, and, as far as we can tell, they accrue until you decide what premium you want to trade them for. Be advised, the cash ($100) is available in that amount only and you need to accrue 100,000 points. But, if you are highly opinionated, it shouldn’t take you too terribly long.
 
Item Two: We are tremendous fans of comedian Lewis Black. Of course, he has his own website www.lewisblack.com. Lewis is also a contestant on Comedy Central for “Comedian of the Month”. If we can enlist your aid, we would like you to vote for Lewis. Hopefully, you caught the interview on “CBS Sunday Morning” a few weeks back. It appears that Lewis has tapped into that level of frustration that we all feel when confronted with some of the idiocy in today’s world. We can identify with that feeling of, “If somebody doesn’t get this fixed in the next two minutes, I’m going to SNAP”! His take on sportscaster Rick Warren’s sexual fantasy (on-air, no less) about Ashley Judd is one of the funniest we’ve ever witnessed. Don’t know why it isn’t available on Comedy Central. Just thinking about it makes us…(excuse me, I have to roll around on the floor for a few minutes) weak. Please, do us a favor and support Lewis in his quest.
 
Item Three: Okay, we have to get political here (don’t we always?). There’s an item on “Slate”, the online magazine that sheds like on how we (America) could begin to reclaim Afghanistan from the Taliban. Of course, there are those who bristle at the premise of legalizing drugs, and/or supporting those who produce them, but this article makes some real sense. If implemented, it could reduce the money that goes directly to the Taliban, thereby reducing (1) the Taliban’s ability to purchase guns, grenades and other explosives and (2) the Taliban’s growing influence in southern Afghanistan. We urge you to read the article, since the Taliban is the organization directly involved with 9/11, not Saddam Hussein.

Item Four: This may seem a little like deja vu all over again, and you would be right. Actually, this is the entire text of Stop The Presses Part II.
We've been advised by the good people at Blogspot technical support that there were other instances where parts of postings did not upload to the server (computer). We've also been advised that they hope to locate the glitch (technical term for, "hmmmm, why'd that happen?") and fix same as soon as possible. And I believe them. They're really nice folks. We won't belabor the point; just know that we hope to have another posting up later today. Hopefully, it will be the aformentioned "Thank you for the music!"
 
 
Today is January 31st, 720 days left until the end of the Bush Administration.
 
Next Up: Thank you for the music!

F W I W - We're baaaaack!

If the text looks a little strange, it will be because we are converting to a MAC-based system, and as much as we love working with the OS 10 system, we're still a little 'green'.

That said, let's jump right in!

The rest of my last rant will appear as soon as I can migrate it onto this system, edit same and upload.

For our first item, we need to enlist your support. If you've been watching the news lately, you've been hearing a lot about Iran and that country's so-called pursuit of nuclear (or as dubya would say, nucular) weapons. Alas, the little boy is crying 'wolf' once again. The last time he did, we sent troops into Iraq where we were quagmired almost immediately. Now, over three thousand young lives have been lost, countless thousands more are crippled for life and the situation in that country grows worse every day.
Now, the failed policy in Iraq is being debated in the public arena, so to divert attention, Bush and the same cabal of chicken-hawks are trying to make a case for invading Iran. Make no mistake. The Administration wants a pretext, any pretext, to send troops into Iran. And don't believe for a moment the pronouncements of the President's press secretary, Tony Snow.
Unfortunately, all this talk about Iran seeking to develop nuclear weapons is a sham. Big surprise, right? It should be noted that NOT ONE of the other nations in the area are as inflamed about this issue, except Israel. Of course, it is understandable that Israel should be so distressed. Iranian President Ahmed Armedinijad has been calling for the destruction of the Israeli state for years. Now that he has become President, it seems to have climbed to the top of his agenda. But, here's the kicker:
According to Jane's Weapons Systems (the ultimate authority on all war-making systems), Iran WILL NOT, repeat, WILL NOT, have nuclear weapons capability (including a delivery system) for at least FIVE, or possibly as much as EIGHT years! You'd think that Iran would be able to nuke Israel next month to hear the administration's arguments. Nuclear weapons technology is incredibly complex. There are websites out there that claim that the specs are out there and are amazingly easy to obtain. This is a myth. Go ahead, 'google' "nuclear weapons technology" and see what you can find that has the amount of specificity necessary to actually build such a weapon. Here's where you, my dear reader comes in.
I've been emailing Joe Scarborough (on MSNBC.Com) trying to make that case clear to him. He won't reply. Now Joe IS a political conservative, so it could be understandable that he would follow the White House lead on this story. But, it goes deeper than that. If you bring out the truth (in the previous paragraph), basically, there is NO STORY there. And, of course, nuclear weapons is a big story. Make it go away and the staff has to go looking elsewhere to find something to report on. Unfortunately, the only other game in town right now is the Iraq debacle and Scarborough and company are opined that that story is just a tad stale, so to speak. Help me, please! Go on the web to: http://www.joe.msnbc.com. When you get to his page, you'll find a link near the upper right-hand corner that invites you to email Joe. Click the link, then write your own email to him urging him to not be a party to this travesty. Quote this blog if you like, but it's more important that you make him understand that there are people out here who are dedicated to telling the truth, despite the blather that the White House and the commercial networks are spinning. And, don't do this for me. I'm a pretty old guy with fewer days ahead of me than behind. Do it for your children and for their children and your neighbor's children. They're the ones who'll have to live with the consequences of an all-out nuclear conflagration. Invading Iran or striking Iran will be just the spark that will set the middle east aflame and ultimately trigger such a catastrophe.
We're aware that you may have concerns over my credibility. Some weeks ago, we did assert that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf would be assassinated for allowing India to sign a nuclear agreement with the United States without objection on his part. We were, apparently, incorrect on the timing of such an assassination. We do, however, stand by our assertion that he (Musharraf) is living on borrowed time. There have been two such attempts since he ascended to power. Will the third time be the charmed? What do you think?

Which brings me to the next item. My email address has changed. Here it is: rbec4@mac.com
We hope to hear from you with your thoughts. Communication is best when it is two-way and we firmly believe in the principle that Thomas Jefferson espoused; namely that given the choice between a strong government and a weak press and a weak government and a strong press, his preference was for the strong press. Well said, Mr. Jefferson!

Next up: Stop The Presses! - Part II (conclusion)

Today is Tuesday, January 30, 2007; just 721 days until the end of the Bush Administration