Poll position

For all the doom and gloom coming from the media in recent weeks concerning Hillary Clinton's campaign for the Presidency, an aggregate of polls since last March matching Secretary Clinton against republican challengers shows that if the numbers hold Clinton would win by as big of a margin as President Obama did in 2008.

I could live with that.

While methinks the media's reporting might be a wee bit colored by the dollars they will lose if the race is over by Labor Day 2016, there's a part of me that hopes they continue the Clinton is cratering narrative.  Watching the surprise on republicans' faces--a la Mitt Romney in 2012--as they get their asses kicked for the third straight election is just a little too beguiling.

Peace,
emaycee

What goes around comes around

Well lookee here:  a recent Gallup poll shows that Americans' support for Labor Unions is growing with an approval rate reaching almost 60%.

Can't imagine why--other than record breaking income inequality, and being on the losing end of the class war since the Reagan administration, and a shrinking standard of living, and wage stagnation, and Wall Street, and the Koch Brothers, and jobs being shipped overseas, and workplace powerlessness, and corporate welfare, and Citizen's United, and...

Peace,
emaycee

A mountain of bullshit

Republicans in Ohio are absolutely apoplectic because the White House this weekend announced that President Obama had issued an executive order changing the name of Alaska's Mount McKinley (America's tallest mountain) back to its original (and favored in the 49th state) name of Denali.

Why, you might ask, would Ohio republicans be so upset over this change?  Because the mountain was named for Ohio native and 25th President of the United States, William McKinley.  I mean, we're talking about the William McKinley, the one who had a mediocre Presidency and whose main claim to fame is that his assassination paved the way for a truly great American President, Theodore Roosevelt.

One has to wonder if the President really just wanted to punk republicans--frankly 48 other states couldn't give a shit what Alaskans choose to call the mountain, and all the Ohio republicans bitching has done is, once again, make republicans look colossally stupid.

Peace,
emaycee

The least of our brothers

A Michigan appeals court this week ruled against a lawsuit brought by incarcerated teens (Michigan is sixth in the nation in the number of teens in prison--so terribly proud) who claimed their civil rights were violated because state officials failed to provide them proper protection from being raped and beaten by other convicts.  The court said in essence that the teens got the service they deserved.

For all the gnashing of teeth we have here in the Wolverine State by republicans over the funding of Planned Parenthood so all those babies can be protected, don't count on the Michigan legislature to tackle this injustice any time soon.  The prisoners are only getting what they deserve.

Though I'd like to see the passage in their Bible that sanctions the raping of teenagers.

Peace,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. XXXV--Primitive Radio Gods: Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand

Because sometimes life gets in the way, I'm a little late with Friday Night Jukebox this week--as hard as it is to believe, there are things in this world more important than music and politics...

And we have a winner...for longest song title ever on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching #10 (with a bullet!) in 1996.  By my scientific count, there are eleven words in the title, (Actually "Stars on 45" technically has 41 words but it was utter shit and we just don't do shit songs here on Jukebox.)

Every now and again a songs comes completely out of left field and just blows you away.  "Standing Outside a Phone Booth with Money in My Hand" by the Primitive Radio Gods is one such song.  It's exactly what 90% of hit singles are not, and for those of us who waste/embellish our lives with such minutiae, it's pure joy.  Originally released on the soundtrack to The Cable Guy, once it became popular it was released on the Gods' debut album Rocket.  Alas for the Primitive Radio Gods it would prove to be their one moment in the spotlight--while the band remains together, nothing they've released since has any any sort of popular or commercial success.

The song opens with a sample of "How Blue Can You Get" by B.B. King played over an ominous piano and a sibilant back beat.  It segues into the actual lyrics of the song--jumbled nonsense--sung softly over the same piano and backbeat, before striding into the clever chorus--"Do do doo do do"--and seguing back into B.B. King's plaintive howl.  It's almost as if "Standing" is a case of wash, rinse, repeat, until you realize the whole time you're listening to it you're waiting for a bomb to explode or a car crash or at the very least an explosive guitar solo, only it never comes.  And perhaps that's the point of the whole song.

Or perhaps not.

And if you're wondering "Can humans do as prophets say?" I do believe that yes, yes we can--especially with a decent soundtrack behind us.

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee

On Joe Biden campaigning for the Presidency

In a word, no.

Look, I love Joe Biden--he's a great Vice-President (especially when compared to the King of the Oblivious Assholes, Dick Cheney), he's a great Democrat, and his story is inspiring (the loss of his first wife and baby daughter at the age of 30, and the recent loss of his oldest son Beau to brain cancer are not easy tragedies to suffer with grace, and Biden did that and more, all while in the public eye).  He's a Liberal and he has a wealth of experience.

But...we already have a solid Liberal in the race with Bernie Sanders, and one of the few candidates with more experience than Biden, Hillary Clinton.  I just see Biden muddying the race--he really has nothing to add.  While I understand there are concerns about Clinton's e-mail controversy, poll after poll has shown that Americans don't give a rat's ass.  I also know there are those who are concerned about Sanders' electability, but frankly I think they are much overblown because the Electoral map is so much in our favor and Sanders has a message that resonates far and wide.  Factor in that Biden has made two previous runs (1988 and 2008) and made nary a dent with the party faithful, and you have a campaign not ready for prime time.

Plus I have a hunch that of the three who actually have a chance (Webb and Chafee would be worse but neither has a prayer in hell) to win the nomination, Biden is far and away the one the republicans would want to face.  The parallels to Al Gore (another great Democrat) are uncanny--the VP of a successful administration with a propensity to put his foot in his mouth.

Better to smile and wave and go out on a winning note.

Peace,
emaycee

A question of relevancy

There has been much gnashing of teeth because a day after former President Jimmy Carter announced that he had brain cancer, republican Presidential hopeful Ted Cruz took the opportunity to criticize the Carter administration and compare it to President Obama's administration.  While it is pretty much par for the course for today's republican party to show a complete lack of tact (and especially Ted Cruz), I think the episode is very telling as to the biggest problem endemic to their party today:  relevancy.

Jimmy Carter was President more than thirty-five years ago--the changes to our world in that time have been epic.  This apparently has gone over the head of most republicans--probably because arguments about the past are all they have left.  The future is lost to them already.  Frankly, the only Americans alive today who remember the Carter administration are people in their sixties, one of the few remaining voting blocs in this country that republicans can claim.  Further, I would be willing to bet it hasn't gone unnoticed by the Hillary Clinton campaign that Sen. Cruz managed to skip over her husband's administration in his critique.  It's not easy to criticize successful ones, now is it?

Ted Cruz's comments concerning the Carter administration may well have been tasteless in light of the former President's cancer treatment, but they were most assuredly irrelevant, and that will be even bigger problem for the republican party heading into November of 2016 than their overall crassness.

Peace,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. XXXIV--Gladys Knight and the Pips: Midnight Train to Georgia

Kind of goofy factoid:  I've always thought it would be really cool to stand with the Pips behind Gladys Knight (aka, "The Empress of Soul") just once as she sang "Midnight Train to Georgia."  Doing a hand roll, shimmy shimmy shake left, shimmy shimmy shake right, intoning "woo-hoo" as part of the greatest backing vocals ever recorded would be right up there with hitting a home run in the majors.  Alas, I can't sing or dance, and my sense of rhythm is limited at best so the odds of it ever happening are just slightly better than hitting the home run...

Gladys Knight and the Pips (her brother Bubba Knight and their cousins Edward Patten and William Guest were the longest running incarnation of the Pips) formed in 1953 in Atlanta, Georgia  and continued through 1989 when Ms. Knight embarked upon a solo career.  Along the way they enjoyed 21 top twenty singles on the Billboard Hot 100, 12 top forty albums, three Grammys, and an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  And they also recorded one of the most iconic R & B songs ever in "Midnight Train to Georgia."

The song was originally a Country tune called "Midnight Plane to Houston" but a very wise producer decided that a train and the state of Georgia were a better fit..  Released in 1973 on their Imagination album it would hit #1 (most assuredly with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100 and garner the band their very first Grammy Award.  It would eventually end up at #432 (really folks? 432?) on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

The story of a young man who went to L.A. to become a superstar. didn't get far, and headed back to his home in Georgia to pick up the pieces, and, more importantly, the woman in his life who's giving up her life, too, and heading to Georgia with him grabs you right from the get go with the rat-a-tat-tat of drums followed by a rat-a-tat-tat of horns.  There's a back and forth between Ms. Knight's lead vocals and the backing vocals of the Pips, from the minute she begins singing until the end of the song that is utter vocal and lyrical magic.  The words are never forced and the vocals complement each other in a way I've never heard in another song.  Ms. Knight's confident contralto does not waver and you can feel the love from both her and the Pips omniscient backing tracks.  And it closes with one of those soulful crescendos that emaycee loves so much--Ms Knight bares the protagonist's soul and I still get chills forty some odd years down the road as she does it.

And when she sings "For love, gonna board the midnight train to Georgia," I know I've got to get me a ticket, too.

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee

Dear God

Should there turn out to be, after I depart this vale, a God in heaven, I think the first question I will ask Her will be why it was that rich people were always so convinced that our world would be a better place if poor people made less money.

Carly Fiorina this week became the latest ultra wealthy person to proclaim her opposition to the federal minimum wage, saying it didn't make sense to pay people who live in Iowa the same as people who live in New York City.  Fiorina, who failed massively as the CEO of Hewlett-Packard yet walked away with over $100 million (the rest of us get 26 weeks of unemployment pay when we fail at our jobs), seemed not to understand that states were free to set a higher minimum wage and that the federal wage was a starting point, lest our fellow Americans in the South set a minimum wage of a dollar an hour and we have to send even more of our tax dollars to bail them out.

The second question I would have for God, of course, would be if rich people had to spend eternity getting slapped upside the head for being such assholes.

Peace,
emaycee

You've got a lotta nerve

If you're not sure what "chutzpah" means, perhaps this will help:

This week Donald Trump, a billionaire, told The Detroit News that autoworkers, median income $56,000 a year, make too much money.

It's good to see that once again this Presidential election cycle the republican party is lining up candidates who have no idea what it means to be an ordinary American.

And it's a guarantee that when the hammer comes down in November of 2016, they'll be just as clueless.

Peace,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. XXXIII--Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Maps

When the Beautiful Girl and I began to share a home, she brought with her a newfangled contraption called a computer.  One of the things this contraption could do was download music, and after seeing some blurb in Rolling Stone I tested that contraption out by downloading a song from Kaaza called "Maps" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

It was a fortuitous beginning in oh so many ways....

Yeah Yeah Yeahs were formed at the beginning of the century (which sounds kind of cool until you realize it was only fifteen years ago), and in the ensuing years have made quite a name for themselves.  "Maps" made Rolling Stone's list of the top 500 songs ever, was voted the best alternative love song ever by NME, and several of their albums have been voted among both the albums of the year and albums of the decade by numerous music magazines. The song also reached #9 (with a bullet!) on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart.  Not bad for a trio that's basically vocals, guitar and drums.

And that's one of the amazing things about "Maps"--how much greatness is achieved through such simplicity.  Released in 2004 on their Fever to Tell LP, the song is about lead singer Karen O.'s relationship with her then boyfriend Angus Andrews.  It opens with the frenzied ringing of an electric guitar which is joined shortly by the driving beat of the drums...both of which lead to the heart and soul of "Maps" which is Karen O.'s piercing and heartbreaking vocals.  Her singing is reminiscent of The Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde, though filled with a bit more vulnerability than Hynde.  There's a nice power chord bridge in the middle and at the end--and that's about it.  It's literally frenzied guitar, driving drums, and Karen O. plaintively repeating "Wait, they don't love you like I love you..." (thirteen times by my count) while stretching out the word "maps" a few times throughout ("Maaah-aaahhh-aaah-aaahps).  That so much yearning, sorrow, and loss could be packed into such an emotional punch with so little amazes me as much today as it did eleven years ago when I first heard it.  

"Oh say say say..." it's just a beautiful moment in rock and roll.

Enjoy:

Peace,

emaycee

Some advice for the haters

A bar patron recently left a card with the following message upon it for a bartender in Seattle:

Economics 101: As the compensation for your service increases, there is a cost to me as the consumer to pay for that increase. As I have no control over the Seattle City Council's decision to redistribute wealth, I can only exercise the rights left to me.
(1) I can choose to not eat out. (Then who would pay your wages?)
(2) I can choose to be carrion for the City Council's vultures.
(3) I can choose not to tip and explain why and provide a free economics lesson.

As someone who has been in the service industry for over thirty years, let me provide this customer with a free lesson in why it isn't a good idea to be an asshole to service providers:

1)  I've never worked in the food and beverage industry, but I have worked with plenty of people who have.  It's not much of a way to make a living--it's dirty, you often stink of food, drink, and cigarettes, bosses and customers often treat you like shit, and even at $15 an hour (which only a select few make) service employees aren't going to be on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous anytime soon.  Practical advice if you left this card:  do not ever go back to this establishment.  Chances are someone who clears tables, tends bar, or waits tables might recognize you.  If you knew the horror stories I've been told about what food and beverage employees do just to entertain themselves...well, let's just say that someone spitting in your drink is the least of your worries.
2)  If you left this card, the odds are good that you're one of those people who thinks store clerks are your personal slaves and must bow to your every whim because "the customer is always right."  You may well be right as far as the powers that run such companies are concerned (they don't have to swallow your shit so what do they care?), but as someone who has been there, I can guarantee you that you've been fucked by an employee somewhere at least once if not numerous times and you don't even know it.  I've always had a family to support so it's never been an option to me (plus sometimes the powers that be make you call and apologize to such customers--I've apologized for legitimate reasons such as dirty bathrooms or falling merchandise, but I'd rather have a red hot poker stuffed up my bum than apologize to some asshole who thinks I'm their personal Kunta Kinte), but let me give you a few examples of how you've been screwed:

• Paying cash?  You'd be amazed at how many people don't pay the slightest bit of attention to their change.  It's very easy to short a $1 or a $5--even a $20--if they're busy talking on the phone.  You'd be surprised at how many people forget their change.  Assholes don't get reminded.
• Many stores run hourly or daily specials--which oftentimes customers either tune out the announcements or miss the signs explaining the deal of the day.  Assholes often don't get those deals because it's so easy for clerks to conveniently forget.
• Making a purchase with many different items?  While you're blabbing on the phone or scolding your kids, it's really easy to ring an item (or two or...) an extra time.
• Ever get home and after putting your goods away wondered to yourself, "Hmm, I thought I picked up a package of mac and cheese....").  You did!  It's just back on the shelf now because the clerk "forgot" to put it in your bag.

That's just a few--and the best part is, there's not a single one of them that can't be apologized away as simple human error.

There's no need to fret if you're one of those 95% of people who treat sales clerks decently and with a modicum of respect.  There's also no need to worry if you get a decent human being like me who takes his responsibilities seriously and doesn't want the indignity of trying to explain what may appear as an improper transaction.  Most clerks fit into that category, but there's more than a few who are just plain mean or realize how easy it is to find another minimum wage job or just plain get fed up with taking shit from assholes.

And in that case, it's wise to remember the old saying:  "You can catch a lot more flies with honey than you can with vinegar."

Here endeth the lesson.

Peace,
emaycee

To serve and protect

Just when you thought the police in America couldn't get any fucking stupider, the NYPD comes along to prove you wrong:

Seems the Sergeant's Benevolent Association in New York City is encouraging its members to shame the homeless by taking pictures of their various actions and posting them to social media.  How exactly this will reduce homelessness in New York City isn't exactly said, but then as we've seen over the past few years, police officers aren't the brightest of folks.

Also left unsaid is exactly how the NYPD serves and protects the homeless--as public servants paid by the public's taxes, shouldn't all citizens receive the same treatment from the NYPD?  Does this mean the NYPD will start taking photos and post them to Facebook of Papa John's franchisees in New York stealing wages from their workers?  Will they make tweets the next time Wall Street bankers destroy our economy with their Ponzi schemes?

Methinks not.

How anyone can trust the police in America in any shape or form anymore is completely beyond me.

Peace,
emaycee

Jeb! jumps the shark

The powers that be in the republican party may eventually decide that Jeb! Bush gives them the best chance to avoid catastrophe in the 2016 elections but even they have to be wondering these days.  Jeb! is tanking in the polls (down to 5% in Iowa) and seems incapable of keeping his foot out of his mouth.  This past week Jeb! did it again when he said that President Obama and Secretary Clinton were responsible for the mess in Iraq.

I know Jeb! loves his brother and all, but I'm pretty sure that outside of Fox News not even our clueless national media is going to give Jeb! a pass on that one.  Bush the Lesser and his cast of clowns made an epic error going into Iraq and no amount of wishing on the part of republican candidates won't make it so.

Besides, it's my guess that voters in 2016 will be looking a lot more to candidates keeping us out of the mess in the Middle East rather than than those like Jeb! who want to drag us further in.

Peace,
emaycee

A Rand dumb thought

In an appearance on Fox News yesterday, Kentucky Senator and Presidential aspirant Rand Paul blew the Koch Brothers a kiss when he said, "The thing is, income inequality is due to some people working harder and selling more things, so if people voluntarily buy more of your stuff, you'll have more money."

Nicely, my response to Paul's "working harder" supposition can be neatly summed up in three words:  "Fuck you, Rand."

Peace,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. XXXII--Bob Seger: Night Moves

If the Union of Super Songwriters (note:  pretty sure no such organization exists) conducted a poll to find the top ten rock and roll songs ever written--strictly from a lyrical standpoint--and "Night Moves" by Bob Seger made the list, I wouldn't bat an eye.  It is ridiculously well-written.  And, oddly enough, it's the only song Seger ever wrote that I would even put in a top 1000 of songs with incredible lyrics let alone a top ten (not that he didn't have plenty of songs I loved, just nothing that quite captured everything that rock and roll can be quite like "Night Moves").

Admittedly, unlike many critics, I don't pooh-pooh song lyrics--give me a lyric sheet from an album and I'm in heaven.

Seger hails from my adopted city/state of Detroit, Michigan and while he may not be as revered here as much as Springsteen is in New Jersey, he's pretty damn close.  Concert dates sell out in minutes.  New albums (few and far between as he's gotten older) are waited for like a six-year-old waits for Christmas morning.  Seger has had a long and storied career--starting out and spending years as a journeyman rocker, becoming a regional hero throughout lower Michigan, releasing Live Bullet (considered one of the ten best live albums ever--note that I detest live albums and even I think it was a great record) which put him on the map nationally, and following it up with his best selling album ever, Night Moves, which made (and deservedly so) Seger into a superstar.  He would follow it up with multiple platinum selling albums, Grammy Awards, an Academy Award nomination (for a horrible song), all of which would lead to his induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

Not bad for a Detroit boy (and  a la Springsteen and John Mellencamp, he still resides in his home state--bravo!),

As for "Night Moves," it was released in 1976 and eventually reached #4 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  Truth be told, I was not a fan when it first came out--and this may be because I was only 17 and the song is most definitely written about the process and progress of getting older.  It was while driving to work about a dozen years after it was released that I heard it on a local radio station and it dawned on me how great of a song it truly was.  Starting with a lighltly strummed guitar, Seger reminisces with his raspy (and wondrous throughout) vocals that he was "...a little too tall, could've used a few pounds...".  Seger's vocals are neither rose colored nor sad--rather, they remain worldly-wise.  More instruments are added and some beautiful gospelesque backing vocals as Seger winds his way through his highly personal tale of a decidedly sexual teenage relationship, both of them waiting for so much more, until he awakes one night a much older man and the song circles back to the lightly strummed acoustic guitar and the much older man remembers a tune from 1962 and that so much more never came.  And how much different the night moves the older you get.  It closes with Seger rattling off "ain't it funny how you remember" again and again as the backing vocalists scream "night moves" knowingly and hauntingly.  I don't believe a rock and roll song has ever evoked the joy and sorrow of youthful memories quite like "Night Moves."

One last thing:  if you've ever lived in what is known as the American Midwest, you know that spring and summer can bring some thunderstorms that bespeak of the wrath of God.  Early on you are taught that if you see a strike of lightning you can begin counting "One-Mississippi, Two-Mississippi..." until you hear the crack of thunder and each "Mississippi" will tell you how many miles you are from the center of the storm.  I have no idea whether this is true, but when Seger sings "Woke last night to the sound of thunder/How far off I sat and wondered..." know that he has written the quintessential lines for the quintessential rock and roll song of the American Midwest.

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee

Beware wolves in sheep's clothing

One of the things you can count on at tomorrow night's republican debate is for those contending for their party's nomination to try and co-opt the Bernie Sanders/Elizabeth Warren economic populism when it comes to the middle class (they still don't give a shit about the poor).  They'll talk about their policies to lift up the middle class, but truth be told, they don't have any.

They believe in income inequality about as much as they believe in climate change.  They truly believe the minimum wage is not about providing a living wage but about making sure that those beneath them on the social ladder are paid what republicans think they deserve (a dollar a day isn't out of line).  They believe if we cut taxes and regulations on corporations that Corporate America will turn around and give some of that money to us (we've all seen that movie before and it doesn't have a very happy ending).  Their true concern is for the billionaire class, not the middle class.

It'll be an evening of lies, damned lies, and no statistics.

Peace,
emaycee

Another day, another embarrassment for the police in America

Blogger's Disclaimer:  I have a child with ADHD,

A sheriff's deputy in Kentucky is being sued by the ACLU for handcuffing an eight-year-old boy and a nine-year-old girl around the biceps--both children suffer from ADHD.  State law in Kentucky prohibits the restraining of children as either a means of punishment or a means of securing compliance.

Predictably, the Kenton County Sheriff's Office issued a lame statement in support of the officer, claiming he acted appropriately in light of the situation.  This, in a couple of words, is total bullshit.  The officer a) obviously knows absolutely nothing about the symptoms of ADHD (impulsiveness is part and parcel of the hyperactivity), and b) knows even less about how to care for children.  The video at the accompanying link shows a child that at best is less than half the size of the officer--frankly, if the officer can't physically control a subject that small without resorting to violence, or lacks the mental capacity to reason a peaceful solution with a nine-year-old, he has no fucking business being anywhere near children in a supervisory position.

Here's hoping the ACLU wins a boatload of money for the families of the two children and the officer is relegated to cleaning toilets at the local burger joint.

Peace,
emaycee

Thanks, Jeb!

Jeb! Bush today continued his Romneyesque campaign by declaring that he wasn't sure the United States should be spending $500 million on women's health issues.

One supposes the staffs of both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are already planning their TV ads featuring Jeb!, should he win the republican nomination for the general election in 2016, highlighting Jeb! not giving a shit about women's issues.

Hard to believe republicans could do worse with women voters than they did in the past two Presidential elections, but Jeb! is doing his best to make sure they do.

Peace,
emaycee

It sucks to be a republican (not that I care)

Well, well, well--seems the Koch Brothers had a big Please Kiss Our Asses For Money event this weekend featuring the usual republican minions (Jeb!, Rubio, Walker, Cruz, Fiorina) and Donald Trump sent out a tweet that asked, mockingly, if the republican candidates were "Puppets?"

Yes, yes they are.  And what's even worse for the republican party is that they can't even fight back against Trump's comment--they've become so beholden to billionaires that even the traditional media would laugh them off the stage if they even thought about refuting it.

Dangling from those troublesome strings couldn't happen to a nicer group of people.

Peace,
emaycee