Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Does Cain remember Willie Horton???




I was watching this video about Herman Cain and how he believes that Blacks have been brainwashed into not voting for conservatives.  This is about as ridiculous as this idiot (who obviously has business savvy) can get.  I'm so tired of republicans getting mad when their own strategies backfire on them.  At least say that "in the past we pursued a strategy which kept you out.  We are working on it now." Everyone remembers the Willie Horton strategy of the Bush Campaign: scare the white people with the scary big black man coming out of jail, because he was furloughed.  And remember the Reagan hit, about the Cadillac driving welfare queen? You know what color the Aretha Franklin driving lady was even as at that time many, many more whites were on welfare than blacks.

Today's mainstream conservatism is a philosophy that I don't much agree with, but I will concede it is a valid way of looking at governance.  I am in agreement that we should not be taken advantage of by the democrats and there should be a contingent of blacks who vote for republicans.  But don't put sh*t in my face and tell me it's chocolate...

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Cry It Out Method

“We have this fantasy that our interests and the interests of the super rich are the same. Like somehow the rich will eventually get so full that they’ll explode. And the candy will rain down on the rest of us. Like there’s some kind of pinata of benevolence. But here’s the thing about a pinata: it doesn’t open on it’s own. You have to beat it with a stick.” ~ Bill Maher

 I read this quote on facebook and thought it's a funny line. It really has some merit. Ain't nobody want to pay taxes. I didn't want to go to bed when my mother said so or do my homework or go to class or go to my job on monday morning or pay my bills or get up with the kids at 5 am...But we as people do these things because they benefit us in the long run. Rich people and businesses who have worked hard or hardly worked for their money don't want to give up any more than they have to. They have accountants who are paid more money than you and I make in six months to make sure that they only pay the minimum amount.

Now as a a person from a family who works extremely hard for whatever it's got, I understand that you don't want to give uncle sam any more than you have to. But....it's time to go to bed baby, cause if you don't get enough sleep, you'll be cranky in the morning and won't learn a thing at school because you're causing a ruckus and distracting everybody else because...you're tired. You don't understand but if you do what I say, in the long run, you will be better off and more able to do the things you need to do in the future. And as a parent, my job is to tell you that though you don't want to go to bed, you're gonna, even though you don't want to... and you can cry and moan all you like. It's time to go to bed. And it's time for EVERYBODY to pay their fair share, contribute to making this society work...It's time...

Monday, September 26, 2011

Funny find

01 Act Like Ya Know by divablue

Teddy sent me this track that I'd totally forgotten about. We wrote it sometime in the late '90's for a ten year old Japanese artist to sing.  Unfortunately the label thought it was TOO MATURE(!!) for her and passed on it. ah, pure 80s/90s pop bliss.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Cain's Pain

In the republican debate the other night Herman Cain, notably, and the presidential aspirants railed (as per usual) on 'Obamacare'.  And I just want to express this simple (seemingly obvious) point/grudge: Being rich is the best health care policy there is. period. In this country right now the rest of us just have to somehow figure it out. Obama and the democrats have at least tried to address this issue. But what are the republicans offering besides criticisms? Where's their policy for covering the uninsured? (crickets chirping)

Friday, September 23, 2011

Class Warrior??


Just read Paul Krugmans column in the NY Times today about class warfare and what it really is about. He made some great points and I do hope whatever influence his words have will help move the needle of public opinion towards what would seem to me to be obvious. Because I'm going to tell you what warfare means to me: How about health insurance warfare, mortgage warfare, credit card warfare, retirement savings warfare, childcare warfare, food warfare, fix my broken roof warfare, my car is 12 years old warfare, my check don't come until the end of the month warfare and I'm broke warfare...

And these wealthy people are complaining about paying an extra 4% of your income which equals in ONE YEAR the earning power OF MY ENTIRE LIFETIME?! As overweight people say to skinny people who say they need to loose weight,"I'm going to stand here and listen, but don't expect me to feel for you..."

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

What does it mean to be Human?


Been thinking about humanity again.  I've been thinking a lot about humanness. The situations of these past several years, droughts, famine, natural disasters and responses to them.  But re-thinking in the wake of Michelle Bachmann's unthoughtful comments about the HPV vaccine (of which I'm not entirely a fan) make me think again about humanness.  What is human?  Is it just biology? Because we don't always treat people we say are human beings as 'one of us'.  Maybe if aliens landed we would have some sort of moment where we would realize that we all are the same species, but until then we have so many ways to divide and codify who we are - - and who we are not - -  to one another.  If vaccinations don't work, why is there no more polio?  Shouldn't we look at what the world was like before vaccines?  This is not to say I don't have reservations. But it's the same as genetically modified foods: on one hand, certain gm foods could save people's lives by creating seeds and produce that can be grown in areas that have difficulty growing things.  But - - and it's a big but  - - do we want one or two companies owning the seeds that allow us to eat?  Is humanity connected by greed or is it connected by compassion or are both in play depending on who it is, what a person's class status is?  With vaccinations, should an individual who believes vaccinations are bad be allowed to  put others at risk because they refused to vaccinate against measles?  Or are we standing up for our beliefs and individual freedoms by saying "no" because we are unsure of the veracity of statements that drug companies tell us; knowing also that a lot of researchers and doctors don't take time to deal with, learn and research efficacy of "natural" or holistic modalities.  Is nuclear power clean and efficient and thereby safe to be located near people's homes only until a complete Chernobyl type meltdown when, of course, we suddenly acknowledge just how dangerous radiation is?

Though these things may seem like unrelated issues, they feel related to me because they deal with how humans actualize the concept of humanity, or lack thereof, by creating otherness.  Who decides who is worthy for care?  Who decides what is a worthy cause?  Who decides who are the good and bad people, the angels and the derelicts, the family men or the pimps?  Who decides?!  Who is human?  What does the word really mean? 

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Ima Hustla (no, really I'm a hustla...metaphorically speaking of course)


That song I was working on in the hotel on the road in August is really coming together now, it's basically done.  I sent it to teddy and he was into it, but I think on the fence.  So I changed a few things and put some more stank on it...it has to be stankish...gritty, old-man-with-a-licorice-tree-bark-stick-in-his-mouth kind of groove, ala Lamont McCain-on-bass (oh how I miss you Lamont!)  kinda stank. We put horns on it this weekend and I think now it's layin' just right. Greg Boyer from Prince's NPG arranged 'em, how do you like that??! Snippets to come soon!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Green Energy??


The controversy this week about the green jobs company that got special treatment from the Obama administration made me think about how green energy is kind of a bust so far, at least in my own life. I was listening to NPR a week or so ago and they were talking about fracking (sounds like a curse word from Battlestar Galactica)  for natural gas; hopefully allowing the US to be less reliant on fuel from foreign sources.  In thinking about this, there are so many variables because I would love to be more energy efficient, but I can't really afford it.   If there could be natural gas to fuel my car, I would love that since it's about a dollar less per gallon than gas right now.  But, if I bought the car that could run on natural gas, would it be cheap enough to make sense for me to buy it?  Technology that is efficient just doesn't solve my underlying problem of not having enough money to begin with.  I didn't buy a hybrid because I had just bought a car the year before and it had already gone down in value and the hybrid's price didn't make sense in the long run.  It's the same with solar panels.  If you don't have $20K to put them on your roof, they are useless unless they can pay for themselves within a few years, which at this moment, they don't.  So I am not energy efficient.  I'm still just hustling to add $1k per month to my income so I can afford daycare and/or preschool in a minute.  I guess I need to sell some more records :)

Monday, September 12, 2011

Horny?


Did the horn sections for Ima Hustla.  Thanks to my husband, Robert Landham, for setting it up.  I've never been in a horn session before.  Very interesting.  Will be posting video for it soon

Friday, September 9, 2011

Strings??!!

Teddy has recommended we add live strings to a few of the tracks on the new album, first one is Depression. Brilliant! He's using this guy named Christian Howes, who's got a great team of players/arrangers. I'm so excited, the record is really beginning to take shape!!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

On Science...

For those who don't believe in science based reasoning and thought, this is an article that hopefully should change your mind. How anyone can decide which scientific thought to believe in while going to the doctor and using a cell phone, I just don't get.