Where's the Cheer?. . .

. . .That I should feel
Inside my heart
This time of year
While all the
Televisions
Newspapers
And billboards
Count the shopping days
For me

It appears
To me that
I'm the only one
Who doesn't see
The fine and natural
Attraction to what seems
Part race
Part obstacle course
I believe

Long ago I leaned that we
Celebrate this season
Anniversary of the birth
Of someone named Jesus

Through the years
How my perception of it all
Has gone awry
When so much
Manufactured hype
And pressurized requirements
Make it all seem a lie

How I wish
Since it's the
Time of year that
Dreams can come alive
That you and I
See one November when
Without the retail forecasting
Some peace on earth
Goodwill to all arrives

CHEER
©2007 Raymond M. Jozwiak


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On and on it goes. . .

. . . and when it may return nobody knows.

Our gig at this blue-collar hotspot was quite a gravy job. We played four hours, with three twenty-minute breaks, every Friday and Saturday night, beer was free and we were paid $120 ($30 per man). That may sound laughable now (it does to me), but being a twenty-something still in college in 1977, this was one hell of a deal. And to make matters even better, the owner installed a Hammond B3 organ (with Leslie tone cabinet) in the club, or maybe it belonged to the Thursday musician but it was never clarified and was available for our (read: MY) use. Any keyboardist knows well the value of this perk, particularly in pre-digital-sample-lightweight-inexpensive-keyboard times. And yet in spite of all these wonderful things available to us during this period, we (can you believe it?) received an offer of a higher-paying gig (I believe it was $40 per man) at a club with a more convenient location to us all, and in a neighborhood where the probability of chairs being broken over patrons' heads was only slightly less. The owner of this bar actually hired us to 'discourage' the patronage of an 'undesirable' younger element that had begun frequenting the establishment and the owner thought he had found in our band/music, just the thing to accomplish this. Years after these events, other members of the group enjoy fondly recalling the job for which we were hired to 'drive customers away.' Poetic justice indeed!

We did take the job. Ten more dollars and much less mileage were certainly well worth it. Needless to say, it was back to playing my cheesy, or should I say sub-par instrument of economic necessity. If memory serves however, this arrangement did not last very long and we ended up with a long-running, relatively prestigious gig at the local American Legion hall for comparable pay and the only stringent requirement being to play God Bless America sometime during the last set of the evening. Being truly devoted veterans and family members thereof, everyone always stood respectfully as we played it in these pre-nine-eleven days. But the place seemed like home. It was cleaner than just about ANY other place we played, the staff was friendly and the clientele attentive and appreciative.




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Less than one percent. . .

. . . A group of millionaires [200-plus people making more than $1 million per year (including actress Edie Falco and economist Nouriel Roubini, among others] believe that America has been good to them and that it is their duty to give back. "The government provided a foundation through which we could succeed," writes the group on their website. They visited Congress Wednesday to ask for higher taxes. Hard to believe. Well, it happened. Some of the more liberal-bent members actually welcomed them, some conservatives merely tolerated them.

Grover Norquist reportedly said, "If you think the federal government can spend your money better than you can, then by all means" pay more in taxes than you owe. (A real humanitarian, this guy.)

One of the millionaires told Norquist that if he wanted low taxes and less government, he should renounce his citizenship and move to Somalia where they don't collect any tax.

These millionaires want the panel to raise taxes on people who earn more than $1 million, even though most Republicans are committed to NOT DOING just that. So the millionaires tried to meet with ANYONE who would listen. The progressive caucus did meet with them.

Lawrence Benenson, vice president of Benenson Capitol Co., ran into freshman Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., in an elevator. "I'm with the Patriotic Millionaires and we want to pay more in taxes," he told her.

Then it was off, to see Norquist. For his part, Norquist was ready for the group with a lesson from the Torah: Maimonides and his "eight degrees of charity." That's what Norquist says the millionaires are essentially proposing with their tax-me-more pitch.

So Norquist made his colors quite clear. 'Let's stand on ceremony and F*^@k the people' is essentially what he said.

What will it take to make folks like Norquist SEE the light????




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The Bill of Rights, Karl. . .

(from truthout.com)
Karl Rove Flips Out at Protesters: "Who Gave You the Right to Occupy America?"
Wednesday 16 November 2011
by: Zaid Jilani, ThinkProgress | Report

Last night, former Bush official Karl Rove appeared at Johns Hopkins University to speak as a part of the annual Milton S. Eisenhower Symposium. Rove soon discovered that he wasn’t going to deliver his right-wing rhetoric unopposed, as a cry of “Mic Check!” rang out among the audience.

As the world rises up against economic injustice, Truthout brings you the latest news and analysis, free of corporate influence. Help support this work with a tax-deductible donation today.

“Karl Rove is the architect of Occupy Iraq, the architect of Occupy Afghanistan!” yelled the demonstrators. Occupy Baltimore had infiltrated the crowd and began chanting against Rove. “Who gave you the right to occupy America?” asked Rove to the protesters, apparently unaware of the Bill of Rights. As they repeated their slogan, “We are the 99 percent!” Rove petulantly responded, “No you’re not!” He snidely added, “You wanna keep jumping up and yelling that you’re the 99 percent? How presumptuous and arrogant can you think (you) are!”

Get with the program, Karl. You’ve been talking to polite (warranted?) audiences for too long. These people aren’t gonna listen to you drool for an hour or more and wait in line to ask you a question. Do you really expect that, Karl? Who is the BUFFOON here?

Note: And nobody got hurt.

Watch Occupy Baltimore confront Rove:





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Dish it out, baby. . .

The final version of a spending bill in Congress released late Monday will allow tomato paste on pizzas to be counted as a vegetable in school lunches, which the USDA wanted to prevent.

Republicans were concerned about troublesome and costly regulations imposed by the USDA and said (get this) the bill will provide greater flexibility for school districts to improve the nutritional quality of meals.

So, I suppose with this new vegetable, we can expect the appearance of new gastronomical delights like steak and pizza, fried green pizza, pizza soup, maybe split pizza soup too, tossed pizza, caesar pizza, mixed green pizzas, mashed pizza. . .

The Republicans are always trying to bring Ronald Reagan back in some form. This surely takes his ketchup-as-a-vegetable philosophy to new heights.




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"The First Amendment. . .

. . .DOES NOT bar religion from the public square and from government in general. Under the First Amendment, the resulting separation of Church and State puts restrictions on government but does not put restrictions on religion. . ."

(reaction to a recent blog by Howard Bess. See bottom)
The good Reverend seems to hit it on the head on a regular basis. He says that the current crop of republican presidential candidates, as well as the media 'reporting' on them, all miss the boat on their interpretation of the First Amendment. He would like to know how the religion of the candidates informs their views and intentions with regard to the following issues. "As president, would the candidate pursue the teachings of his religion?"

WAR AND PEACE - religions generally favor a path toward peace

POPULATION CONTROL, BIRTH CONTROL, AND ABORTION SERVICES - how long will the earth be able to sustain the needs of this huge (and growing) population so highly encouraged by their right to life 'philosophy'?

FULL RIGHTS FOR GAY, LESBIAN, TRANSGENDERED AND BISEXUAL PERSONS - many/most organized religions do not favor these just and necessary rights

PRESERVATION OF THE INTEGRITY OF THE WORLD’S ENVIRONMENT - what will the candidate do when scientific knowledge directly confronts the teachings of his religion?

PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION - parochial schools have been known to practice discrimination

PROVISION FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE LESS FORTUNATE - entitlements and being 'thy brother's keeper'

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska. His email address is HYPERLINK "mailto:hdbss@mtaonline.net" hdbss@mtaonline.net

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING HIM!




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The poet said . . .

. . . trailing clouds of glory we come and go
What do we really know
Smiling so brightly betraying the years
They have still to try
Those little men
with that glory
Riddles and bedtime stories
Little men
With that glory
In their eyes

Innocence and wisdom coexist inside their minds
Together with appreciation for the the things we miss
In our haste and our big business
Always in awe of the wheels spinning round
With a laugh for the foolish things big men do

The poet said trailing clouds of glory we come and go
What do we really know
Smiling so brightly betraying the years
They have still to try
Those little men
with that glory
Riddles and bedtime stories
Little men
With that glory
In their eyes

Everybody thinks about the world and what the future brings
Who really knows the plan and all its subtleties
We're really smart at least that's what we think
Going our own way in blissful retreat
From the prospect of seeing things too clearly

The poet said trailing clouds of glory we come and go
What do we really know
Smiling so brightly betraying the years
They have still to try
Those little men
with that glory
Riddles and bedtime stories
Little men
With that glory
In their eyes

LITTLE MEN
©1992 Raymond M. Jozwiak


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