Where’s the Outrage?

So?  What has happened since 2000?  I just interviewed Stephen Freeman, author of Was the 2004 Presidential Election Stolen?  Well it appears that there is overwhelming evidence that the election was stolen.  Election wasn’t stolen any one matter but instead in multiple different manners.  This occurred not just in one state, Ohio, but several states.  How many votes?  Maybe as many as 9 million votes were stolen.  If this is true, what have we done to improve the system since 2004?  Really, what major changes have been put in place since the year 2000?

Fixing our election system should be a major priority of progressive websites like DailyKos, FireDogLake, Think Progress, Huffington Post and Crooks and Liars. If we don’t fix the crooked system then what’s the point of all this discussion? What’s the point in making campaign contributions and stuffing envelopes for your favorite candidate? If the election is going to be stolen, what’s the point? 

Did you know that the company that was formed by the consortium of the television networks to produce accurate polling has now been disbanded? The television networks are not going to report exit polls anymore. At least this is what has been reported. The major networks have abdicated their responsibility. Someone needs to pick up the ball and run with it. Stephen Freeman and his colleagues are going to try to do exit polling but he’s going to need help. He’s going to need a sophisticated nationwide network. One that can be provided by national progressive bloggers.

It’s just my opinion. Maybe, I should move to Canada.

Tags: Domestic Issues, Election 2006 by ecthompson
3 Comments »

I’m waiting for Elton to write this one up. He is more into jazz than I will ever be. All I can tell you is that this is a great song performed by a great jazz fusion group at their peak. Jaco Pastorius was still with them. He gave the band its bass. Its heavier than heavy, funkier than funky sound.

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Intelligent thoughts from Elton:

Sorry for the delay, just got off a few nights on call. You picked one of the few “jazz fusion” groups I’ve studied and tried to play. Here’s a few comments off the top of my head:

• Jaco Pastorius got such a distinctive sound from his bass because it didn’t have any frets so he could slide his hand up and down the neck without the bumps. He bought it used and liked the sound.
• Jaco was an alcoholic, heroin-addicted, manic-depressive who was killed by a bouncer in a bar fight. Amazing how many jazz greats (and musicians in general) were big time substance abusers.
• DownBeat is the most well-respected jazz magazine out there, and Weather Report is the only artist to win album of the year four years in a row. Birdland is on the album Heavy Weather which was the fourth in that string.
• Nice clip – it looks like it’s from that old “Rock Concert” show that came on Friday nights when I was a teenager. Weather Report was one of the few jazz groups to appear on that show.
• Wayne Shorter made his name in one of Miles Davis’ bands and was one of the founding members of Weather Report along with a keyboard guy whose name I’d have to look up. Shorter is still going strong today – check out his albums alegria and footprints live from a few years ago.
• One of the jazz games I play is “Six Degrees to Louis,” I think this is the trail through Weather Report: Wayne Shorter→Miles Davis→Charlie Parker→Lester Young→Louis Armstrong. Remember, everything in jazz started with Louis, actually everything in all music since 1920 started with Louis, but that’s another blog altogether!

 

 Weather Report - birdland [5:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Music by ecthompson
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