Artists, Unite!

In a useful article, writer Tim Kreider, author of We Learn Nothing, tells about his experience with people and organizations who want him to write for free. Despite having written a book and numerous articles for magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times, Kreider still gets requests to write "for exposure." Kreider's experience is similar to my own, though I have been fortunate to get steady work as a musician over the years. Still, the pay has never been exactly wonderful. One of my worst enemies are people with sub-par training who are willing to work for $10, or even for free. Like so many workers these days artists are usually not unionized. Their solitary status thus puts them at a decided disadvantage. Kreider describes all this very well. And, his article includes truth-telling about Wall Street, very uncommon in the mainstream press these days. Highly recommended. Source: New York Times Sunday Review. "Slaves of the Internet, Unite!" October 27, 2013.

Top News of the Week

The top story of the week has to be the allegation that the National Security agency tapped the personal telephones of top world leaders. While the facts are not entirely clear at this point, it does seem obvious that the U.S. government has been spying on the governments of supposed allies. The one allegation I completely agree with is that the national "security" (read: spying) community is out of control. The N.S.A., in particular, has become a rogue agency, making up its own rules and interpretations. For whatever it is worth I, as one American, apologize for the sad state of affairs which would produce a spying program against our own allies. This is just plain wrong! N.B. Please see elsewhere on this blog for information on credible allegations the 9/11/01 attacks may not have been as they appeared.

Lebanon by the Potomac?

In yesterday's New York Times, columnist Thomas L. Friedman compared recent events in Washington to the nation of Lebanon, so war-torn in the late 20th century. With the suitable caveats, Friedman compared the radical Hezbollah to the current U.S. tea party movement. Indeed the similarities are striking. For didn't we all feel the government was coming apart at the hands of a radical faction of the Republican Party? It is now up to we, the people, to make it clear that such tactics have no place in a democracy. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/20/opinion/sunday/from-beirut-to-washington.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1382372153-zCrae1PsLQHi8jUR9k6ixQ

Back After a Break

Work duties have kept me from my duly appointed rounds as an Internet journalist for the last ten days. Now, however, things have settled down enough to do a little posting again. The break was something of a blessing as it gave me something else to think about during the attempted coup against our democracy. Shortly, I will have a link to provide which will provide a useful and provocative viewpoint on that entire shut-down/breakdown situation.

What to Look Forward To

What to Expect in Coming Days -- Here are some items you can expect in coming days: * The Nature of Fascism Light * How the Tea Party take-over was funded * The importance of off-year elections in 2013 I look forward to seeing you here!

If the House Leadership Had Been the Crew on the First Trip to the Moon

Walter Cronkite: We now turn to Mission Control for the final countdown. Mission Control (MC): 10...9...8...7...6...5 seconds and holding. We have a hold at T minus 5 seconds. (silence) We are continuing to hold at T minus 5 here at Cape Kennedy. (silence) The mission communications officer is reporting that the Flight Commander, John Boehner, has activated a manual hold. We are awaiting word on the reason for the hold. Mission Communications officer Andrea Mitchell is indicating that Commander Boehner was quoted as saying moments ago, "Hold it! Hold it! Just hold it! This mission alone is costing millions of dollars while we have a war on. The moon could be made of cheese in which our landing would turn the surface into cottage cheese and our spaceship into a cheese cottage! The American people want us to stop playing games, stop doubting Jules Verne or Ronald Reagan and close down this mission at once!" This quote has not been confirmed at this time as electrical conditions at the launch are known to mess with radio signals and the quote could have been an errant transmission from the Rush Limbaugh Show. T minus 5 seconds and holding... (silence) Half a minute later: This is Walter Cronkite here in the CBS broadcast booth at Kennedy Space Center. We have just had a most unusual communication from Mission Control. While such holds late in the count are not uncommon, one issued by the Mission Commander has never happened before. Here with me is former astronaut Wally Shirra. Wally, have you ever heard of such a thing happening? Shirra: Actually, yes. You may remember Gemini Flight 6A when there was an automatic shut-down. Cronkite: How well I do. I was there. Shirra: And another flight was aborted at the last moment. Cronkite: But to my memory, there never has been an alleged political speech by a Flight Commander. Isn't that right, Wally? Shirra: That's right, Walter. (cross-talk) Cronkite: Here is Mission Control again. Let's listen... MC: This is Mission Control in Houston. Pres. Nixon and former Pres. Johnson have just spoken by phone. The White House has announced that Pres. Johnson informed Pres. Nixon to go right ahead and fire John Boehner (not fire ON him) if that's what he wanted to do. The White House spokesman said that was exactly what has occured. And here are astronauts John Boehner, Eric Cantor, and their chaperone, Nancy Pelosi seen climbing down from the Apollo capsule. Boehner and Cantor are being given tea to fortify them. -- Source: Wickedpedia.satire.us +++++++++++++++++ (c) 2013 The Musical Patriot

Presidential Strategy Paying Off

President Obama's hold-the-line stance is beginning to pay dividends as Republicans desperately search for a way out of their dilemma. It is better to see the President's firmness now rather than not at all. One only wishes he had acted so firmly in the earlier extortionistic crises of 2011 and 2012-13, both also brought on by Republican scheming.

Republican Government Shut-Down Strategy Months in the Making

According to today's New York Times, wealthy front-men for the Republican Party spent months planning the government shut-down which occured almost one week ago. This highly disruptive shut-down was carefully planned by David Koch, Edwin Meese and other big-wigs of the Party of Wealth. I plan to have more on this attack on democracy soon.

Chris Hedges Describes One Way to Organize for Reform

In the article whose link appears below well-known reporter Chris Hedges shares research on the theories of how best to organize for social change. He describes how it may be possible to successfully organize in our time. This is an important article, providing a certain perspective on what works and what doesn't work. There is hope and inspiration here. It's a valuable piece. You may see for yourself here: http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/19127-the-sparks-of-rebellion

American Bridge Fights Back Against Republican Assault on Democracy

An organization called American Bridge, has -- with some humor -- declared Sen. Ted Cruz the de facto Speaker of the House.

Re-districting the Key to Understanding House Repubicans

When you hear members talk candidly about their biggest victory, it wasn’t winning the House in 2010. It was winning the state legislatures in 2010 because they were able to redraw their districts so they had many more conservative voters. The members get heat from the press but they don't get heat from back home. Source: Interview with Robert Costa on today's Huffington Post.

The Assault on Democracy Continues

The House Republicans, in short, are holding the nation itself hostage to their demands. This is not democratic governance. This is extortion, plain and simple. In any other circumstance, this would be criminal conduct. -- Geoffrey R. Stone Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor of Law, University of Chicago on "Huffington Post"

Say Good-bye to Your Statue of Liberty Visit

The Statue of Liberty is under lock and key as the Federal government suffers a partial shut-down which officially began at twelve midnight. There will be no hiking at Yosemite, no alligator-watching at the Everglades National park, and no climbing the steps at the Statue of Liberty, until such time as the Congress becomes functional again. This sad state of affairs has deep roots. The depths of the problem are not being explored by the mass media. For instance, what has been the effect of big money on the development and rise to power of far-right Republicans, including so-called tea party members? Research has shown there was big money behind the funding of the tea party movement. And there was big money behind the effort to bring Republicans to power in state legislatures, which then set to work gerry-mandering Congressional districts in order to ensure Republican victories. So we have come to this sad low point in American history -- again. For this is not the first time Republicans have shuttered federal agencies. The last time was in 1995, and lost services and frustration were the result. I will continue to monitor the situation and will post here as time and necessity dictate.

Federal Health Care Marketplace Now Open

I am currently on the federal Health Care Marketplace web site checking things out. It seems quite simple, at least as far as the home page is concerned. There is some documentation that is required, but only through digital transmission. It is glad to finally see the site live and taking enrollees after all the brouhaha of the last few days.