Odd, or maybe not. . .

. . . a bowl of french fries for dinner. . .

. . . still smoking cigarettes in this day and age of medical knowledge. . . auburn hair is quite striking. . . music soothes the savage breast. . . 88 keys full of potential and nice tone. . . good bourbon (and lot's of room to talk about cigarettes). . . subtle, tasteful percussion. . . the insecurity, confidence, skill and talent. . . humor, humor and lots more humor; cleverly. . . nice folks all around. . . getting through monday and working towards friday. . . exchanging music, encouragement, sympathy, empathy and MORE MUSIC!!



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Sleight of hand. . .

. . . From CNN Opinion August 19, 2011

Editor's note: Al Franken, a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, is a U.S. senator from Minnesota.

(CNN) -- "Let's hope we are all wealthy and retired by the time this house of cards falters."

"This quote, taken from an e-mail sent by a Standard and Poor's official in 2006, says it all. Just two years after it was written, the house of cards that S and P helped build collapsed and roiled the global economy. And while I welcome the news that the Justice Department has launched an investigation into S and P, I imagine it will conclude what a lot of us have long known: S and P made record profits by knowingly handing out sterling credit ratings to complete junk.

It was the incompetence and corruption by S and P and its peers, Fitch and Moody's, that played a pivotal role in our financial meltdown that cost Americans $3.4 trillion in retirement savings, triggered the Great Recession with its massive business failure and job losses, and consequently caused the explosion of our national debt. . .

. . .And then when Wall Street ran out of subprime mortgages to securitize, it created another market by securitizing bets on those securities, which the Big Three also obediently gave their top rating. The rest is history.

The rating agencies' complicity bred the kind of incompetence that was on full display the day S and P downgraded our government's credit rating this month. Within minutes, Treasury Department analysts identified a $2 trillion dollar error in S and P's calculations. But instead of admitting its error, S and P simply came up with other reasons to justify its downgrade.

Why? Well, the rating agencies have an enormous stake in intimidating the federal government. As Jeffrey Manns, associate professor of law at George Washington University, recently wrote in The New York Times:

"The credit rating agencies are taking advantage of the country's financial problems to increase their own political power. ... The Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law, enacted a year ago but not fully implemented yet, threatened to introduce unprecedented oversight and regulation. . .

. . .Lest you think that this is some kind of big government regulation of the free market, please understand that my colleague, Wicker of Mississippi, is one of the Senate's most conservative members. And it passed the Senate with a large majority, including 11 Republican votes, because it's not a progressive or a conservative idea -- it's a commonsense idea. . .

. . .When the Big Three's house of cards finally collapsed, the rest of America paid the price. Until we rein in the corruption of the credit rating agency industry, we are just asking for it to happen all over again."

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Al Franken.




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My juvenile, novelty displays. . .

. . . of musical ability and my family entertainment concerts and recitals finally led me into the BIG TIME. Well, I do exaggerate. By BIG TIME, I simply mean that I was ready to play some REAL music with some REAL musicians in a REAL band at a REAL venue in front of a REAL audience. . . and all this for some REAL MONEY. I use the term audience loosely since it was not the concert hall for which I was bound. Nor was it a 'listening' room nightclub complete with dim lights and smoky air. No my BIG TIME was the old Harbor Inn (in Baltimore) with two guys from my high school and immediate neighborhood, a mere stone's throw away from our house. The name upon which we (now that think about it, more probably THEY) decided was REFLECTION. Our repertoire included 'Playground in my Mind' (a 'gem' from the 70s); 'Ebb Tide' (a standard by Robert Maxwell from 1953); 'Proud Mary' (quite contemporary yet still overplayed, even at the time); 'Bad, Bad Leroy Brown' (ditto); 'Colour My World' (the Chicago tune that was overplayed but, HEY it's Chicago); 'Taking Care of Business' (rocker by Bachman Turner Overdrive); and, well you get the picture. Our band uniform was a beige, flower patterned, loose, blousey-fitting shirt with 'puffy' sleeves (a la Seinfeld); Bright Yellow 'elephant' pants with cuffs and (dig this)- chocolate brown shoes with three-inch heels. I remember the Mother of our guitarist taking photos before we departed for our first gig but I do not know if they survive and in whose possession they now would be. Would that be a blessing or a curse?





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We're all in this together. . .

. . . so let's make the best of it.

How many times has someone said that to you and in how many different and varied situations?

Joanie has a 'friend' at work (Crissy) with whom she gets along well and may not choose to call her 'best' friend, but generally chooses to call friend. Crissy happens to live right next door to Joanie. Not that this in and of itself happens to be a problem. But the fact that they live next door to each other may very well have played a crucial role in the demise of whatever semblance of a friendship that existed between them.

Joanie has learned over the last five-plus years that Crissy is a little bit unusual, to use a kind word. Crissy has a temper. And she doesn't hesitate to utilize it irrespective of the relationship of the target of that temper to her. Mother, son, husband, friend, neighbor; she is an equal opportunity hot temper. Crissy is also capable of being the sweetest little peach this side of Georgia IF SHE WANTS. No one is really able to accurately gauge which they will encounter any given day.

In the last several months, Joanie and Crissy have learned the the firm by whom they are employed will be making some drastic personnel changes which will inevitably result in many jobs being lost. Crissy has been with the company longer than Joanie. But turns out Crissy was given notice that her position would be terminated and although nothing is certain and the same fate may eventually befall Joanie in the distant future. But nevertheless, both girls know 'the score'. And ever since the announcement was made, Crissy has become more . . . aloof. In fact, sometimes Crissy will gripe that she is losing her job and Joanie is keeping hers while she (Crissy) got Joanie her job in the first place. . . which in truth she DID NOT.

Still, in keeping with her bi-polar-type temperament, on an odd day she will talk amiably with Joanie about one or another trifling, daily matter just as nicely as you please. Now it has been determined at work that Joanie must learn to perform some of Crissy's daily responsibilities. Crissy, as a result (and possibly in an effort to ensure Joanie's failure) is offering as little help as she possibly can in the training of Joanie.

All of this may possibly have been the first straw. But the last (or maybe the two should really be transposed) follows. Crissy's husband Tom casually asked Bill (Joanie's husband) one day if he could hold Crissy's surprise birthday party and Joanie and Bill's house (which to refresh your memory, is located exactly next door to Crissy and Tom). Now Joanie, who has a heart as big as all outdoors (and a reserve of energy to match) has been known to accommodate such things in the past, so Bill told Tom he would discuss it with his spouse and get back to him. Joanie realized that the time-frame of the proposed surprise party was not a good fit to her plans. But in addition, thoughts of the current work situation flooded back into her mind, both resulting in much less than a quick and certain YES of a response.

Inevitably, Crissy's demeanor toward Joanie has markedly changed since all this news has now become known all involved parties. Both couples will attend one party but each will leave as soon as the other arrives. No more friendly, casual greetings are exchanged on Sunday afternoons in the backyard or upon entering the house after a long day's work.

But still, on an odd day, at the office Crissy will ask Joanie if she has seen American Idol the night before, without batting an eye.




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Disturbing??. . .

. . . Yes. But it grows on you if you're honest. The quote below should not be read interpreting the religion-related words in the traditional sense, or 'literally', but in the light of a 'God' which is the 'ground of being' that exists in all human beings. The excerpt goes so much further than a theistic perspective that posits a God as an entity who exists somewhere 'out there' (used to be 'up there') and actually watches over us, individually and collectively. Doesn't that really sound quite 'unbelievable'?

More from John Shelby Spong's "Eternal Life: A New Vision
Beyond Religion, Beyond Theism, Beyond Heaven and Hell. . .

"Jesus was the life in whom a new consciousness appeared. His consciousness called, beckoned and empowered us to be something we could not then even dream of being. Jesus was a human being who was so whole, so free and so loving that he transcended all human limits and that transcendence helped us to understand and even to declare that we had met God in him. That is what the story of the resurrection was all about. Every human limit, including the limit of death, faded in front of Jesus. So he opens a door. . . to walk into the final arena and to walk past the ultimate boundary. . . a life at one with God, at one with [oneself] and a part of eternity. . . "





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Have some Gandhi?. . .

From the Times of India. . .
"Thousands of students skipped classes and took out rallies in support of Anna Hazare as protests against the arrest of the social activist continued for the second consecutive day across the state on Wednesday.

Members of NGOs and elderly persons lent their support to the agitation even as crowds swelled compared to Tuesday. Social activists threw their weight behind the protest for the second day as slogans of `Vande Mataram', `Hum Annake saath hai,' `Save India...boycott corruption' and `Anna Hazare zindabad' rent the air. Forming of human chains, burning of effigies, staging of rasta rokos, rallies and conducing relay hunger strikes marked the day. What caught the attention at the protests was the active participation of students, who turned up in large numbers.

"This is a great opportunity to put an end to corruption. Anna Hazare is leading a movement to weed out corruption but not to topple the government. Arresting him is unjustified," said a senior professor of Palamur University in Mahbubnagar.

Interestingly, the students were not willing to join along with political party agitators during the rallies in the districts. They said the fight was not against any political party but against the system. A large number of girl students participated in a relay hunger strike in Vijayawada. The Palamur University students boycotted classes, while people from all walks of life took to the streets in Achampet, Narayanpet, Wanaparthy and in Kalwakurthy in Mahbubnagar district.

Students at Acharya Nagarjuna University staged rasta rokos on the National Highway in protest against the arrest of Hazare. "Anna is fighting for us. We are here to support him," an M Sc student said. Students formed human chains at Eluru, Tanuku, Bhimavaram, Kakinada and Rajahmundry, while SFI took out a funeral procession of the union government's effigy in Eluru and burnt it later. Prof Venkatnarayana, convener of People's organizations, demanded that the Centre immediately table the Jan Lokpal bill in Parliament Advocates boycotted courts in Guntur, Karimnagar, Adilabad, Nizamabad, Chittoor, Huzurabad, Sultanabad and several other districts, while several others sat on relay hunger strikes at Tenali, Mangalagiri, Repalle, Adilabad, Manchiryal and other towns."




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Little things mean a lot. . .

. . . and he didn't even mention any of the candidates by name.

The following is from MSNBC. Good story. I'm glad they mentioned that very important little fact. Hopefully it will NOT be a personal, name-calling, drag-it-through-the-mud campaign.

". . . Hitting back against an emboldened GOP, President Barack Obama launched a rare direct attack Monday on the Republican presidential field, criticizing his potential 2012 rivals for their blanket opposition to any deficit-cutting compromise involving new taxes.

"That's just not common sense," Obama told the crowd at a town hall-style meeting in Cannon Falls, Minn., as he kicked off a three-day bus tour through Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois.

"You need to take a balanced approach," he insisted.

Obama recalled a moment in last week's GOP presidential debate when all eight of the candidates said they would refuse to support a deal with tax increases, even if tax revenues were outweighed 10-to-1 by spending cuts.

Obama didn't mention any of the candidates by name. . . "




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