(from http://washingtonsources.org/trump-if-soldiers-were-real-patriots-they-wouldnt-take-a-pay-raise/)
". . . Trump spoke to troops at Fort Drum in advance of a signing ceremony for the 2019 national defense authorization, which includes a 2.6 percent pay raise for the troops. . . “We are proudly giving our troops the biggest pay increase in a decade,” Trump said. “I know you don’t want it because you’re very patriotic. You’ll say, just save the money. We’re going to pay down debt.”. . . Then Trump awkwardly launched into what perhaps was supposed to be a joke. Except the crowd didn’t seem to find it funny at all. . .“Does anybody not want it? Please raise your hand,” Trump he said. After scanning the crowd, he added, “What’s going on here? Are these real patriots? I don’t know, General. I don’t know. . . Perhaps Trump should spend less time “joking” about our troops and questioning their patriotism, and more time showing them the respect they deserve. . .”
Imagined only
It truly was
But in its throes
It seemed so real
Desire or will
Whatever you name it
Gave life to a thing
So unreasonably wrong
That now, upon reflection
Seems absurdedly outrageous
(from https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/manafort-trial-judge-snapped-mueller-s-team-because-they-re-ncna900001)
". . . Judge Ellis (presiding in the Paul Manafort trial) is certainly demanding: He is, as I’ve heard him say, “a Caesar in [his] own Rome,” (even if, as he also likes to say, “it’s a pretty small Rome.”) He is also among the best the federal judiciary has to offer. Judge Ellis has impressive credentials, perhaps eclipsing even Mueller’s, having served as a Navy F4 Phantom pilot after graduating from Princeton and adding a degree from Oxford as a Knox Fellow to his resume after graduating from Harvard Law School. . . Over the last 30 years or so on the bench, he has shown the remarkable intellectual acumen necessary to competently preside over cases many lawyers and judges would rightly try hard to avoid. . .While he’s accused of being pro-defendant in this trial, and has certainly held the government to high standards over the course of his career, he’s also been roundly criticized for being very pro-government. . ."
". . . In some pockets of the country, a rising number of parents are delaying shots for their kids or skipping certain ones altogether, citing religious or philosophical exemptions from state laws that require kids to be vaccinated in order to attend school. As a result, there have been recent outbreaks of serious diseases that vaccines had virtually wiped out in the U.S., including measles, mumps, pertussis (whooping cough), and haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), which was once the most common cause of bacterial meningitis in kids under 5. . . Infectious-disease specialists say these cases are due to a breakdown of what's known as "herd immunity." In order for a community to be fully protected against a disease, 80 to 90 percent of its population needs to have been vaccinated, says pediatrician Lance Rodewald, M.D., director of the Immunization Services Division of the CDC. Whenever coverage drops significantly below that level, a school, a church, or a neighborhood becomes susceptible to the disease. Babies who aren't old enough to get the shot yet are at the greatest risk of becoming sick. . ."
". . . radio as I knew it, doesn’t exist,” says Weasel (Jonathan Gilbert), the legendary DJ with a Steve Buscemi voice and marsupial-like eyes that hint at the origins of his nom de air. “Just a handful of cookie-cutter radio stations.” . . . So it is hard for him to fathom that a modern radio station would allow him to play whatever he wanted—and even send a driver for him. . . But sure enough, here Weasel, a living repository of rock ’n’ roll lore, sits in a studio in WTMD’s new digs with a stunning view of Towson Town Center’s white-on-white sign over Dulaney Valley Road. . . There’s nothing nostalgic in the studio— not even the romance of a turntable on this desktop console. “No way I’m carrying around 51 pounds of records,” Weasel says. Then the song ends and you witness what sets him apart from everyone else on the air. Unlike other DJs who sit before the mic, the way dentists sit on those stools, with stiff backs, Weasel hits the mic at side angles, hardly ever straight on. He holds up his notebook with what looks like handwritten track aggregate and discusses the 20-minute playlist with a smattering of historical details that come from a long career that sprang at the dawn of rock radio in 1970. . ."
Gazebo Cover art
Oho has been making great music since the early 70s, seemingly swerving and dodging any typical styles and genres as they avoided the classification game, instead going for whatever direction their muse took them at any point in time. The three founding members O’Connor, Heck, and O’Sullivan (Hence their name OHO) have long left the band (although Mark O’Connor is a guest one one track here), multi-instrumentalist and singer Jay Graboski who had joined by the time of the band’s first album Okinawa in 1974 is still among the members, all through the years guiding the band through their continuous evolution. And still, on their latest album Gazebo, the band still eschews any kind of classification, other than in a very general sense. In addition to Graboski, the current members include Ray Jozwiak (vocals, keyboards, and accordion) and David Reeve (drums, vocals, keyboards and more), the latter having been with the band since the beginning of the 1990s. In addition, no less than twenty guests have contributed to this track or that adding everything from trombone, french horn, saxes, bass, 12 string, pedal steel, percussion, additional vocals and more. The eighteen cuts herein are all listed as group compositions (with the exception of a couple interpretations) but one can sense that the diversity of what’s on offer here shows that ideas are are hatched and developed by individual band members and from that point developed as a group, having a lot of fun along the way. Thus, the tunes represent more of what the members’ interests are instead of trying to shoehorn their sound into any genre. One can find a little bit of everything herein, though everything on offer is played and sung impeccably by a group of experienced musicians who probably don’t care if you like it or not, it’s what they do, and being independent of any record labels, it’s all at their prerogative and pleasure.
“How Is Where We Go” is a great tune, and a catchy one as well, and pretty much exemplifies Oho’s creation process: write and arrange a great tune with thoughtful lyrics, bring it to life with whatever is needed to perfect it (some pedal steel went a long way in this case, plus additional lead guitar, percussion and vocals), and you end up with a tune that meets a number of criteria of excellence and doesn’t really sound like anything you’ve heard before. The opener “Ring in the Brightness” is a tune that is just as vital, a funky and powerful rocker with a horn section featured. The band does a tasteful cover of Randy Newman’s “Baltimore,” perhaps with a bit more of a rock punch than the original, with some great sax soloing from guest Gene Meros, following that up with “Blood Brother,” a good-timey piano tune that sounds like something from another era, with a horn section featured, and different singers taking their tunes as the song proceeds. “Denial” is another great tune with powerful arrangements and great lyrics and harmonies, built on an acousic guitar roadbed with accordion and other arrangements supporting judiciously.
