Threat? . . .

(from NBCNews.com)
". . . House Speaker John Boehner on Thursday warned that the president will "poison the well" for the new Congress if he takes executive action to address the deportation of undocumented immigrants."I've made clear to the president that if he acts unilaterally on his own outside of his authority, he will poison the well and there will be no chance for immigration reform moving in this Congress," Boehner told reporters at his first news conference after big GOP gains in Tuesday's midterm elections. "When you play with matches, you take the risk of burning yourself. And he's going to burn himself if he continues to go down this path," he said. Boehner also pledged that the House will vote to repeal the president's signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act, despite the fact that repeal legislation would be headed to a certain veto and perhaps failure in the upper chamber. "Now whether it'll pass the Senate, I don't know," he added. "But I know in the House, it will pass." Boehner Warns Obama: Don’t 'Play With Matches' and Get Burned on Immigration. Boehner said that, although he has "a nice relationship" with President Barack Obama, "my job is not to get along with the president just to get along with him." "My job is to listen to my members and listen to the American people to make their priorities our priorities," he added. Other issues Boehner said he wants to address in the new Congress included energy policy, education reform and changes to the nation's tax and legal systems. Republicans gained at least seven seats in the Senate and at least 14 seats in the United States House. . ."


Isn’t there a law against threatening a U.S. President?

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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

My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

Also, be sure to visit:
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Blowin' . . .

. . . in the wind . . .

A false allegation circulated that the song was written by a high-school student named Lorre Wyatt and subsequently purchased or plagiarized by Dylan before he gained fame.

This allegation was published in a Newsweek article in November 1963; while the story left the claims unconfirmed, it prompted much speculation. Several members of Wyatt's school (Millburn High) and community (Short Hills and Millburn, New Jersey) reported having heard his singing the song and claiming authorship a year before it was released by Dylan, or made famous by Peter, Paul and Mary. Wyatt even told his teacher that he'd sold the song for $1,000 and donated the money to charity, when asked why he had suddenly stopped performing it.

The plagiarism claim was eventually shown to be untrue. Wyatt had performed the song at school and elsewhere months before it was made famous, but not before it had been published and credited to Dylan in Broadside magazine. Wyatt finally explained his deception to New Times magazine in 1974. He credited his initial lie to panic that he wasn't pulling his weight as a songwriter in the school's male folk group, The Millburnaires.

Ironically, an early release of the song appears on The Millburnaires' self-published LP album, "A Time To Sing", released in April 1963. On the disk label, the song is credited to Wyatt, not Dylan. The album later was picked up for national release and renamed "Teenage Hootenanny," by The Millburnaires '63. On "Hootenanny," unlike the self-published album, the song is no longer credited to Wyatt. The Millburnaires' version of the song has a slightly different, somewhat less strident, melody from the versions subsequently released by Dylan and by Peter, Paul & Mary, possibly because Wyatt, who had heard Dylan perform it in a New York club, did not remember it precisely when Wyatt introduced it to his schoolmates.

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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

My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

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Fresh . . .

My registered political affiliation is 'non-affiliated' and that's the way I like it. I have learned over many years and through much experience that I just do not make a good club member. This has been true as applicable to the Boy Scouts, Church, Social Clubs and even music-related associations.  It's not a superiority (nor inferiority) complex by any means. It's just that I never feel like I truly 'fit.'

Needless to say neither of the two major (read: MONEY) political parties move me exclusively or sufficiently enough to subscribe.  But I must say, now that the mid-term elections are over, that I have no problem with Republicans taking a majority of the Senate, nor with my home state's replacing its Democratic regime with a Republican.  Three distinct reasons come to mind as to why I feel this way.  They are:

1.  After such a protracted, politically contentious period between the two biggies, I am hoping that some reasonable Republicans (yes, I believe they actually do exist) will step up and help Washington regain its functionality.  Hell, this is a good opportunity for a brand-new hero (or some brand-new heroes) to capture the hearts of the citizenry.

2.  Also, after the gridlock we've seen, possibly some formerly narrow-minded Republicans (or even Democrats, for that matter) will listen, think and learn and even change their minds about SOMETHING for the betterment of her/his constituents.

3.  This is the result of the democratic process and it really is a wonderful thing.  Many countries do not have this.  (yeah, I sound like your high-school civics teacher, right??) The process worked, like it has so many times before and will so many times again.  And if the new majority proves by their actions that they really are not up to the job, there will be another election bringing with it the chance to make another change. 

And although I shouldn't mention a fourth reason, I will anyway. . .should number three become a reality, we'll know exactly where to go to place blame and can take some comfort in the fact that we didn't help put them there.

What do you think?
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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

My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

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Tap It . . .

(fromhttp://www.npr.org/2014/11/03/357428287/tom-magliozzi-popular-co-host-of-nprs-car-talk-dies-at-77)
Tom Magliozzi, one of public radio's most popular personalities, died on Monday of complications from Alzheimer's disease. He was 77 years old.

Tom and his brother, Ray, became famous as "Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers" on the weekly NPR show Car Talk. They bantered, told jokes, laughed and sometimes even gave pretty good advice to listeners who called in with their car troubles.

If there was one thing that defined Tom Magliozzi, it was his laugh. It was loud, it was constant, it was infectious.
Tom (right) and Ray grew up great friends despite a 12-year gap between them. Both graduated from MIT before going into the car repair business. i

Tom (right) and Ray grew up great friends despite a 12-year gap between them. Both graduated from MIT before going into the car repair business.
Courtesy of Car Talk

"His laugh is the working definition of infectious laughter," says Doug Berman, the longtime producer of Car Talk. He remembers the first time he ever encountered Magliozzi.

"Before I ever met him, I heard him, and it wasn't on the air," he recalls.

Berman was the news director of WBUR at the time.

"I'd just hear this laughter," he says. "And then there'd be more of it, and people would sort of gather around him. He was just kind of a magnet."

The Magliozzi brothers grew up in a tough neighborhood of East Cambridge, Mass., in a close-knit Italian family. Tom was 12 years older, the beloved older brother to Ray. They liked to act like they were just a couple of regular guys who happened to be mechanics, but both of them graduated from MIT.

After getting out of college, Tom Magliozzi went to work as an engineer. One day he had a kind of epiphany, he told graduates when he and Ray gave the 1999 commencement address at their alma mater.
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NPR's Holiday Favorites
A 'Car Talk Carol'

He was on his way to work when he had a near-fatal accident with a tractor-trailer. He pulled off the road and decided to do something different with his life.

"I quit my job," he said. "I became a bum. I spent two years sitting in Harvard Square drinking coffee. I invented the concept of the do-it-yourself auto repair shop, and I met my lovely wife."

Well, he wasn't exactly a bum; he worked as a consultant and college professor, eventually getting a doctoral degree in marketing. And Tom and Ray Magliozzi did open that do-it-yourself repair shop in the early '70s. They called it Hackers Haven. Later they opened a more traditional car repair shop called the Good News Garage.

They got into radio by accident when someone from the local public radio station, WBUR, was putting together a panel of car mechanics for a talk show.

"They called Ray, and Ray thought it was a dumb idea, so he said, 'I'll send my brother' and Tom thought, 'Great, I'll get out of breaking my knuckles for a couple of hours.' And he went over and he was the only one who showed up," Berman says.

Berman says the station liked what Tom did and asked him to come back the next week. This time he brought Ray. The rest, as they say, is history.

In 1987 Car Talk went national on NPR. The Magliozzi brothers were a huge success. Listeners loved their blend of humor, passion, expertise and just plain silliness.

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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

My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

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Holy . . .

 . . . tacos . . .


(from http://money.cnn.com/2014/10/29/news/companies/chipotle-labor-lawsuit/index.html?iid=SF_E_River)
Chipotle workers are suing the burrito chain for making them work extra hours without pay. It is the latest example of workers accusing a fast food chain of so-called wage theft. The class action lawsuits filed in Colorado and Minnesota in the last two months allege that Chipotle routinely requires its hourly employees to work "off the clock" without pay. The workers filed written statements describing how the restaurant's time keeping system would automatically punch them out at 12:30 a.m., even though they had to stay later to finish cleaning up. Demarkus Hobbs, who worked at a Chipotle in Minnesota for about a year, said in one lawsuit filed earlier this month that he was not paid for "several hours" of work each week. "If I complained about not being paid for all of the hours that I worked, Chipotle would threaten me with termination or would punish me by cutting my hours," Hobbs said in his statement. . . "

I suspect this happens a lot more than we actually hear about it.

What do you think?
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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

My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

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Plunge . . .

At heaven's door we pick the lock
When all we had to do was knock
Though Alice she rattles her train of chains
The fetters are inward all the same

Take a look as you fall
Passing through another wall
Here is where the corn is cut
The wind comes down
Get off the pot
Get off the pot
Get off the pot

It's your world the way that you live
Eats the smile right off your face          
You're not in Kansas anymore
I am the sheath I cry for more

Biding trends and waves of shock
The turbulence it turns me on
Nonetheless we're born and rocked
By divas, drunks and Barbie dolls

I signed up for high-wired acts
If I lose my balance just cut me some slack
I'm holding out for what can be
EMC squared possibility

Experience to be alive
The abstract now is literalized
You have dreams and nightmares to explore
Get the goods
Get off the floor
Get off the floor
Get off the floor


Plunge
[Recorded 10/31/2014 at The 'Bunker', Catonsville, MD, performed by OHO - Jay Graboski, David Reeve and Ray Jozwiak]




What do you think?
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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

My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

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The Beach . . .

. . . You said he would leave you on the beach.  That's what you said.  But it won't be no beach.

Hawaii is an island.

Like I don't know that. Jessica and Cassandra sent pictures from Hawaii, but they weren't on no beach.

How long he been there so far, bout six months?  July.  Since July.  July Huh?  July til November,  bout five months.

Three months!. July, August, September, October- three  months. July til August is one month.  August to September is two months.  September til October is three months, and we ain't out of October YET!


(then she got nicer. . . )  Where are you gonna have your dinner?

What do you think?
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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

My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

Tweet