(from https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/watergate-2-0-trump-s-presidency-may-end-nixon-s-ncna947976?icid=related)
". . . For all the comparisons made between the scandals, much separates them. Nixon’s fall was a classic tragedy. He was a man of substance, with immense political experience and a record of presidential achievement in both domestic politics and foreign policy. His own resentments and paranoia about his perceived enemies propelled him into Watergate. . .There’s no such substance with Trump. His presidency has been one piece of tawdriness after another. To see the Trump tragedy, look to the Americans who are so estranged from the country’s institutions that they seem willing to risk blowing them up in order to be heard. . ."
Other Ray Jozwiak Offerings
(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)
(from https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-approved-government-shutdown-fitting-end-paul-ryan-s-disappointing-ncna951176)
". . . in 2017, (Rep. Speaker of the House, Paul) Ryan led the charge for more tax cuts that the Congressional Budget Office estimated will increase deficits by nearly $2 trillion. The tax bill was arguably one of the biggest special-interest giveaways in modern history. Ryan called it his biggest achievement. . ."
(http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/president-trumps-first-100-days/trump-touts-first-100-days-record-slams-press-campaign-style-n752916)
". . . to the cheers of the crowd, Trump turned his attention from his attacks on the media, to numerous achievements he said he has accomplished in the first 100 days since the inauguration. . .
(the) decision to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, his appointment of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, job creation, a crackdown on immigration and terrorism . . . He implied that he has refrained from labeling China a "currency manipulator" — as he pledged to do so as a candidate — because Chinese President Xi Jinping is helping the United States with North Korea. . . "It's a great thing." . . . (and) that coal mining jobs were returning and that he was reducing federal regulations "clearing up an environment of bureaucracy." He told the crowd Obamacare was dying and would be replaced, the Second Amendment would be protected, and gangs would be removed from the country. . . "
. . . Then, through sources which declined to be identified, he was heard to say, 'And now, I'm tired. I want my milk and my nap.". . .
(from http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2008/01/the_case_against_ hillary_clinton.html by the late Christopher Hitchens)
". . . Seeing the name Hillary in a headline last week—a headline about a life that had involved real achievement—I felt a mouse stirring in the attic of my memory. Eventually, I was able to recall how the two Hillarys had once been mentionable in the same breath. On a first-lady goodwill tour of Asia in April 1995—the kind of banal trip that she now claims as part of her foreign-policy "experience"—Mrs. Clinton had been in Nepal and been briefly introduced to the late Sir Edmund Hillary, conqueror of Mount Everest. Ever ready to milk the moment, she announced that her mother had actually named her for this famous and intrepid explorer. The claim "worked" well enough to be repeated at other stops and even showed up in Bill Clinton's memoirs almost a decade later, as one more instance of the gutsy tradition that undergirds the junior senator from New York.
Sen. Clinton was born in 1947, and Sir Edmund Hillary and his partner Tenzing Norgay did not ascend Mount Everest until 1953, so the story was self-evidently untrue and eventually yielded to fact-checking. Indeed, a spokeswoman for Sen. Clinton named Jennifer Hanley phrased it like this in a statement in October 2006, conceding that the tale was untrue but nonetheless charming: "It was a sweet family story her mother shared to inspire greatness in her daughter, to great results I might add."
Perfect. It worked, in other words, having been coined long after Sir Edmund became a bankable celebrity, but now its usefulness is exhausted and its untruth can safely be blamed on Mummy. Yet isn't it all—all of it, every single episode and detail of the Clinton saga—exactly like that? . . . "
OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak. Please Visit http://www.ohomusic.com
My latest solo offering, Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak, featuring original, instrumental piano music is now available at - Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak
(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)
I know. I've misquoted the line from Field of Dreams but purposely so. The members of Oho frequently discuss art, inspiration and commitment in music. And considering the potential to exploit the business aspects pertaining to your music provided by the current technology, it has become even easier to market your music all by yourself. So should you decide that you have a musical statement to make and that your talent is sufficient to do that, why simply make a recording and stop at that? You really have to put that recording in front of every possible set of ears that you can. That is, of course, unless you really don't need to have your statement heard by too many people. . .
(from http://www.madeforsuccess.com/articles/personal-growth/achievement/seven-steps-to-achieving-your-dream-2/)
1. Dream it
Everything begins in the heart and mind. Every great achievement began in the mind of one person. They dared to dream, to believe that it was possible. Take some time to allow yourself to ask “What if?” Think big. Don’t let negative thinking discourage you. You want to be a “dreamer.” Dream of the possibilities for yourself, your family, and for others. If you had a dream that you let grow cold, re-ignite the dream! Fan the flames. Life is to short to let it go. (Also, check out my article “Dare to Dream Again,” Which has been read by close to a million people in the last 4 months alone. You can see it at the website.)
2. Believe it
Yes, your dream needs to be big. It needs to be something that is seemingly beyond your capabilities. But it also must be believable. You must be able to say that if certain things take place, if others help, if you work hard enough, though it is a big dream, it can still be done. Good example: A person with no college education can dream that he will build a 50 million-dollar a year company. That is big, but believable. Bad example: That a 90 year-old woman with arthritis will someday run a marathon in under 3 hours. It is big alright, but also impossible. She should instead focus on building a 50 million-dollar a year business! And she better get a move on!
3. See it
The great achievers have a habit. They “see” things. They picture themselves walking around their CEO office in their new 25 million-dollar corporate headquarters, even while they are sitting on a folding chair in their garage “headquarters.” Great free-throw shooters in the NBA picture the ball going through the basket. PGA golfers picture the ball going straight down the fairway. World-class speakers picture themselves speaking with energy and emotion. All of this grooms the mind to control the body to carry out the dream.
4. Tell it
One reason many dreams never go anywhere is because the dreamer keeps it all to himself. It is a quiet dream that only lives inside of his mind. The one who wants to achieve their dream must tell that dream to many people. One reason: As we continually say it, we begin to believe it more and more. If we are talking about it then it must be possible. Another reason: It holds us accountable. When we have told others, it spurs us on to actually do it so we don’t look foolish.
5. Plan it
Every dream must take the form of a plan. The old saying that you “get what you plan for” is so true. Your dream won’t just happen. You need to sit down, on a regular basis, and plan out your strategy for achieving the dream. Think through all of the details. Break the whole plan down into small, workable parts. Then set a time frame for accomplishing each task on your “dream plan.”
6. Work it
Boy, wouldn’t life be grand if we could quit before this one! Unfortunately the successful are usually the hardest workers. While the rest of the world is sitting on their couch watching re-runs of Gilligan’s Island, achievers are working on their goal – achieving their dream. I have an equation that I work with: Your short-term tasks, multiplied by time, equal your long-term accomplishments. If you work on it each day, eventually you will achieve your dream. War and Peace was written, in longhand, page by page.
7. Enjoy it
When you have reached your goal and you are living your dream, be sure to enjoy it. In fact, enjoy the trip too. Give yourself some rewards along the way. Give yourself a huge reward when you get there. Help others enjoy it. Be gracious and generous. Use your dream to better others. Then go back to number 1. And dream a little bigger this time!
. . . and truth. . .
. . . from John Kenneth Galbraith
"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. "
"Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite."
"It is a far, far better thing to have a firm anchor in nonsense than to put out on the troubled seas of thought."
"The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.
as a form of employment for economists."
"The salary of the chief executive of a large corporation is not a market award for achievement. It is frequently in the nature of a warm personal gesture by the individual to himself."
"Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof."
"We all agree that pessimism is a mark of superior intellect. "
"Politics is the art of choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable. "
"Liberalism is, I think, resurgent. One reason is that more and more people are so painfully aware of the alternative."
"The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking."
"More die in the United States of too much food than of too little. "
"In economics, the majority is always wrong. "
"Few can believe that suffering, especially by others, is in vain. Anything that is disagreeable must surely have beneficial economic effects."
"In all life one should comfort the afflicted, but verily, also, one should afflict the comfortable, and especially when they are comfortably, contentedly, even happily wrong."
"Wealth, in even the most improbable cases, manages to convey the aspect of intelligence. "
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