Yet another NDAA / Indefinite Detention Blog. Where I stand.

12.15.11

“I’m not paranoid, I’m just well armed.” Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

Today is:

The 220^th anniversary of the Bill of Rights’ ratification.

The day the National Defense Authorization Act FY 12 (NDAA) goes to the President’s desk.

Prepare yourself for a rant which may lose coherence at times. Along with a deep sadness, and overwhelming confusion, comes no small dose of angst.

MSM had little to say about it, and the blogosphere / social media was exploding with dissent on the matter. “Oh, it doesn’t effect our Bill of Rights…Americans are exempt…it says so right there!” vs. cries of “POLICE STATE!!”

I personally wondered if the very foundation of our way of life had just slid out from under us. I imagined having a conversation with my now 8 year old son, maybe 5 years down the road, and trying to explain what the US had stood for, what life was like once upon a time, while preparing him for life to come under the new regime. After a lot of deep reflection, and a little bit of distance, I feel like I can have a quasi-rational, semi-detached discussion on the matter.

So, what’s the hubbub, bub?

NDAA is a bill which covers a multitude of military / defense expenses. All that aside, it also includes two sections (Sections 1031 and 1032) re: Detainee Matters. The bill has become known as the “Indefinite Detention” bill. Here is the pdf for the whole bill, as passed by the Senate, after House approval: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112s1867es/pdf/BILLS-112s1867es.pdf . I highly recommend you read the sections in their entirety. The sections begin on page 426 of the pdf.

The polarity of opinions on the bill are due to a number of things, and there is much confusion on whether this “indefinite detention” does in fact include US citizens on US soil. If you want to quit reading now, you can. We won’t know the answer to this question for a while, after many court cases, and undoubtedly a Supreme Court show down, or, when, in fact, such detentions begin.

A good deal of this confusion is due to the inconvenience of trying to find exactly what language was passed by both the House and Senate and is, indeed, headed to the President’s desk. I’m pretty fair in the thorough research department, and finding the most up to date, actual bill’s language is inconvenient at best, leaving me frustrated and lacking confidence that I am reading what I want to know.

Every pundit on the planet has weighed in on this. Many, interestingly, have claimed “progressive / left leaning” views, and defended the opinion that the bill is no threat to the Bill of Rights, as it explicitly excludes American citizens. They continue to say that the left is shooting itself in the foot by getting excited about artificial infringements on our rights.

The interpretation that these sections will substantially infringe on our rights claims a total evisceration of the Bill of Rights: indefinite detention without charges, military operating against US citizens, etc.

One side is an ostrich sticking its head in the sand, ignoring any possible expansive interpretations of the sections. The other is chicken little, once again screaming the sky is falling.

For a very balanced opinion from this morning, please see:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/12/16/1046030/-I-Must-Conclude-That-The-NDAA-2012-Bill-Is-Not-The-Constitution-Destroying-Measure-Claimed-By-Many

However direct the headline, this includes a very good roll call of what the author is NOT saying in the final paragraphs. He still sees the specter of abuse lurking in the wings.

So there is the unbiased part of this post, a brief description of the landscape on the issue.

Now, for my humble opinion, I begin by asking you to watch Sen. John McCain, one of the bill’s original sponsors, define the spirit of the sections:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2011/12/2011121643213177164.html

To sum up his comments, “Yes, Americans are protected, BUT…”

BUT: If you are a terrorist, you’re in deep shit.

Here is where the indefinite detention issue makes me nervous. Whether or not you are an “exempt citizen” or an “enemy combatant” is a totally amorphous definition, left to the determination of National Security.

I read George Orwell’s 1984 in the 7^th grade. It changed my perception of the world forever. Mind you, I was an Air Force brat during the height of the Cold War. I read the book through that lens, knowing the Commies were the bad guys.

Now, we have now entered the realm of true Orwellian double speak. “Of course your rights are safe and sound, it says so right in there, we are only going to get the bad guys.” But who those “bad guys” are is not so clear as during the us vs them of the Cold War superpower struggle.

One man’s patriotism is another man’s treason. One man’s patriot, is another man’s terrorist. This is something that is absolutely imperative to understand here.

If anything is for sure, it is that this legislation takes these definitions out of the hands of “We the people”, and puts them in the hands of a national security system.So what makes a terrorist? How do you pigeon hole this individual? Is it someone who takes to the streets for their voice to be heard? Someone who throws a Molotov cocktail?

As I wrote in my blog on 12/2/11 (http://bhg3.blogspot.com/2011/12/12211.html):

1) FACT: Occupations across the country have faced militaristic shut downs, coordinated from the federal level.

2) FACT: Courts across the country have dismissed charges against occupiers on 1st amendment grounds.

3) FACT: The current defense funding bill (approved by the Senate, SB 1867, awaiting House approval) allows for indefinite detainment of Americans on US soil (maybe), without charges. This eliminates relevancy of posse commitatus, severely challenges habeas corpus, and is a total end run on anything which would legitimately protect occupations.

One does not have to be an Einstein to see how 1+2=3. I should say could =3, tho I cannot see past the linkage myself.

Back to the present post.

We have seen petrol bombs lobbed at financial institutions in Western OWS occupations. We have seen tens of thousands in the streets, ports shut down, sporadic events of broken windows. We have seen a whole litany of abuses at the hands of the authorities across the country.

Let’s go abroad for a minute:

In 2011, we have seen MILLIONS of people take to the streets, face bullets meant for aircraft, and peacefully stare down snipers for change, until they could no longer remain peaceful and full scale revolutions erupt. “Oh…but that’s over there”. True, but the people are still coming to the streets, all over the world, where the bullets haven’t started flying yet. China and Russia are the most recent to the party.

We have seen massive protests in Europe, some numbering 500,000 voices. Large scale protests in Greece became street riots as the violent factions began petrol bombing the peaceful, the riot police trying to manage the mayhem between them. In Italy, The Powers That Be (PTB) have received letter bombs, bullets delivered. Italian sources fear the return of violent, internal groups conducting armed resistance.

“Well, ok, it’s not the Middle East, North Africa, or some other failed 3^rd world state, but it’s still over there”.

We have seen London burn. OWS London has been declared a terrorist group.

“Uh…but that’s not here…right?”

“It can’t happen here” – famous last words.

Looking at the letter of the law, the language in Sect. 1031 and 1032, I have not been convinced about the sanctity of or explicit threat to the Constitutional Rights of the US Citizen. I have heard some good arguments on both sides.

Listening to the spirit of the law, the speeches of the proponents, I hear nothing but double speak attempting to veil a very clear message that the PTB will be the ones writing the definitions of “the enemy”. When will the veil definitively fall?

WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!!!

I have been called a fearmonger, a sheeple, and chicken little for “reading between the lines on things,” told to get over it by my fellows, it’s nothing, focus on the real problems – financial inequality, etc, stay on message with OWS.

But, honestly, it isn’t a great leap of logic to see where this is going. The horse may still be in his stall, but the barn door is wide open.

The PTB do NOT want to see the change proposed by OWS, do NOT want things to go any farther than they have. That much should be obvious to anybody with eyes in their heads. Surveillance / infiltration are already facts, ancient history.

“US citizens have nothing to worry about UNLESS you are otherwise determined to be a threat” is the take home message for me.

Another excellent take on the matter, from Matt Tiabbi in Rolling Stone, 12/9/11:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/indefinite-detention-of-american-citizens-coming-soon-to-battlefield-u-s-a-20111209

Let’s take a quick look at who is already on the “potential” threat list, could be a domestic terrorist:

Right wing extremists (ie racial hate groups, Aryan Brotherhood) and Left wing extremists who generally profess a revolutionary socialist doctrine and view themselves as protectors of the people against the "dehumanizing effects" of capitalism and imperialism." (http://www.fbi.gov/news/testimony/the-terrorist-threat-confronting-the-united-states)

From fbi.gov current most wanted list: Members of the Environmental Liberation Front (ELF) and Animal Liberation Front (ALF).

Simply off the top of my head, I can recall homesteaders, preppers, off the grid folks, gun owners, disgruntled veterans…that list goes on forever.

Let’s not forget the homegrown jihadi.

How many of the qualifying boxes on this list can you check off? Share any facebook posts which might show your hand? Take part in any direct actions lately? Own a few guns? Keep a modest supply of food on hand?

Then, a quick look at who stands to benefit the most should the “police state” hypothesis prove out:

Again, it’s our old friends in the military industrial complex, the true 1% who have their talons in policies of the state deep enough to control policy as it benefits their bottom lines.

The militarization of the domestic police force is an exploding market, as evidenced by OWS raids nationwide and spoken of eloquently by many. Often, this legislation has been referred to as “designating the US as a part of the battlefield in the global war on terror”. It’s pretty obvious this is the case. For instance, in my little, benign community of about 2500 souls (and I’m being generous in that estimate) police officers wear body armor, under the shirt, out of sight, of course. From rapidly expanding steel batons to LRAD, the militarized police equipment sales potential is limitless.

Specifically, indefinite detention and the drone war are a match made in heaven. It is just now coming to light the extent of the existing drone presence in places like Iran and Nebraska, it is also widely publicized that the industry is expanding dramatically. Drone use and technology is being compared with the computer industry circa 1980, with nothing but explosive growth ahead. Already, small, commercial versions of unmanned surveillance equipment is out on the public market for less than $20,000 and used widely by MSM.

For anyone who would argue the NDAA flap is irrelevant as a whole, or off topic for the OWS movement, please say your piece, and let’s check in again in a year. As to the applicability to OWS, this, to me, is a front and center example of the 1%’s ways and means. This, to me, is the “real” 1%. Not the wealthy with incomes of $500k, but those who know no bounds in increasing their billions.

We have about reached the threshold of tolerance from the PTB. There will be repurcussions.

SOPA (google it) is not far behind. Will it be the “internet kill switch” as prophesied by the doomsayers? Stay tuned for that, and find out if I fall squarely in that demographic.

As Tiabbi closed his blog, so will I: “I do not see this ending well”.

To Sister Russia:

To Sister Russia:

Praise to you!! You have broken thru the fear and repression of the state with your protests. Please stay the course. Already you have surpassed the democracies of the west in the numbers you have turned out for protests, against the injustices of you electoral system. Tens of thousands, estimates of 20-50,000 are amazing. If that were to happen in America, I feel the security forces would be vying with the media for control of the situation.

Although the US has promulgated a vision of democracy, free and fair for the people, we have not walked the walk which we have talked. Now, the entire world is perched on the knife edge of what was the end of the cold war, except the ideological lines have been erased. The hard lines of political control have remained in place.

In 1984, the world hinged on allegiances. Regarless of the liability of those allegiances, regardless of the implications of those allegiances to world peace or world destruction, however you saw it, these were not valid considerations. It was US VS THEM. It didn’t matter if the conflict was in Vietnam, Latin America, or whatever, the conflict was US VS THEM. The U.S. vs the Soviet Union was the epicenter of the conflict.

As was hypothesized, the end of the cold war, the end of a bipolar political world and bipolar tension in world politics, we have descended into a realization of non-nation states waging war on the remnants of the “super powers”. What this boils down to is anybody with a gun striking out against the state, whatever “the state” means. What that means is an infinite number of combatants vs. a finite number of state factors.

Basically, a nation is used to battling another nation. Front lines vie for advancement a la WWII. We still have not moved passed that paradigm. Now, standard battle protocol means roadside bombs, suicide bombers, and in the case of areas like the middle east/NAME countries, gov’t snipers.

In other words, if you are in a loosely defined “war zone”, you are a target. At present, large cities in Syria are facing massacres only seen under the father of the current ruler, the previous President Assad, who slaughtered 30,000 in one fell swoop, as his son is posed to do now, in Homs.

Back to you in Mother Russia -
Your leaders are not beyond unleashing military might against you. You are a threat. Although we in the OWS movement realize we are a threat to the establishment in the US, we believe, maybe idealistically, that we have the freedom to carry the message to the streets. Whether or not you have that freedom, I pray you have the courage.

I don’t know how many times it has been said, but I believe it is an inalienable human right to have freedom of speech and assembly.

The lens of the world is upon you---The result is not whether you succeed or fail in your pursuits, but your relentless fight for putting your voice out for the people. Your country has been one of the most oppressed, one of the most bled by the powers that be, in the past 100 years, it is time not only to speak up but to succeed.

THE COLD WAR IS OVER. IT IS TIME TO UNITE GLOBALLLY.

Enough of that, the sentiment is expressed. Let’s hold hands, sing kumbayah or whatever needs to be sung, and change the world.

Should I stay or should I go now?

12.12.11

Should I stay or should I go now?

OWS, at least from the superficial view, seems to have hit a rhythm – occupy, actions, arrests, random police violence. What was groundbreaking news, and relatively easy to follow, has now exploded to the point of having a MSM presence all day, every day. So many occupations…so little time.

Under the veneer of organized chaos, OWS is slowly morphing into a national conversation among the various, disparate occupations – coordinated actions, national strategy, email threads with hundreds involved. As winter comes, the question on everybody’s mind is….should I stay or should I go now?

NYC was able to end things on a high note with a monumental police crackdown, leaving them poised to gracefully, strategically retreat and resoundingly claim victory. The conversation is happening everywhere where the winter temps will realistically hit single digits. Nashville falls squarely in this category.

A piece in the national media, from whence I cannot recall, posited that occupiers from across the country may head south for the winter. When this whole hootenanny began, and I was asked the question of winter occupation, I would respond in one of two ways – first, Occupy Key West as a fall back; second, if snow was in the question, I would respond with build an igloo. Our cohorts in Anchorage have no sign of heading indoors and, indeed, have built igloos.

This story highlighted Nashville as a likely destination for the wondering occupier. Although we will see single digit temps, that is usually for a relatively short period of time. My hope is anyone brave enough to weather those kind of elements will be materially prepared to do so. Unfortunately, the camp size will be forced to contract, supporting folks without their own gear will become too much in my opinion.

The article did posit one very good reason to continue the occupation of Music City: our thus far successful 1^st Amendment battle against the state of Tennessee and our Governor, oil man, Bill Haslam. We aren’t planning on going anywhere, the contest of wills between State and ON shows no signs of abating, and that is a “fer piece” better than most can say. I’m sure the State is banking on the fact that Legislative Plaza is a granite expanse which will redouble the unpleasantness of (trying) to sleep there in the coming season.

Should the camp be held for the winter, the tenacity of the movement will be exemplified by the strength of occupiers standing in the face of cold and wet. Our occupation will also continue to shine a light that we, the people, are in the right.

Another very good reason for maintaining the camp at the Plaza is the “in your face” component. Already, the considerable pedestrian traffic cannot ignore our presence. This is significant. Although one might not see the camp from the street, it is tucked in a corner of the Plaza, behind a wall, well above street level, people know we are there. Many must walk past the camp to get where they are going so, like it or not, they know we are there.

Optimistically, some of the good juju of ON will rub off on the passerby. The passerby becomes inquisitive, eventually stops to ask just what the hell this is all about (a question which seems dated at this point to anyone paying attention), and, maybe, like the Vanderbilt Young Republicans, leaves a little more enlightened. This optimism has played out numerous times, though not as numerous as it will take for many to “get it”.

Some of the most hale and hearty occupiers, such as my friend M, of whom I spoke in a previous entry, folks who have been there from early on, have said with resignation that this might be time. Time to call it a day, call it a victory, and gracefully, strategically retreat from our presence on the Plaza. I will be forthright and say much of this resignation comes from “Plaza Drama” fatigue, the never ending mire one must deal with to actually occupy the space.

After having said all of the above, I would proudly stand behind the GA if consensus were reached to close the camp. This is all practical, realistic planning.

BUT: Our presence is a physical representation of a very ephemeral idea. We are there, we cannot be ignored. If we packed up the camp, the public at large will most likely, wrongly, breath a collective sigh of relief, echo internally “Thank God, it’s over, they are gone.” Regardless of whether we are occupying the Plaza, our couches, or foreclosed homes, the Occupation will continue. That is a fact.

However, after much thought, maintaining any semblance of a presence in the Plaza seems mission critical. The legislature returns to session after the first of the year, doing their business, the people’s business, under our feet if we stay. Being there will undoubtedly reverberate throughout.

The legislators, and the lobbyists, will have to see us each and every day. Some will fall into the “optimistic” category, wander over, and maybe encounter the juju, maybe gain some enlightenment. All it will take is 10 tents as a reminder of the weight which will be upon their shoulders when the weather breaks, say late February.

Hell, we could even go eat in the cafeteria, shower there (yes – well kept secret – there is a shower, at least in the men’s restroom). Talk about an “in your face” reality check…we wouldn’t have to do anything dramatic to carve a dramatic presence other than these two simple acts. Need a warm spot, undoubtedly with wi-fi, walk down and perch, have a cup of coffee, in the cafeteria. Let Haslam chew on that one for a while.

So, what is my conclusion?

1) We cannot sustain the presence we have through the winter.

2) We need to sustain a presence, even if it’s only 10 tents, simply to not let it go, maintain visibility through the legislative session.

3) Occupy the Legislative Plaza cafeteria!!! Seriously!!

December 12, 2011

From Three Weeks Ago

For weeks now, I have questioned my loyalty to the movement, questioned the sincerity and depth of my commitment. I have pulled back from interacting on any level for days at a time. I have kept up with the media, the tsunami of information generated by OWS and the issues it addresses, which can consume 6 hours if I give everything its’ due, email included.

The drill is this: websites for cnn, msnbc, and nyt, about 30 minutes, turn on al Jazeera, then 3 hours to work thru Facebook. Mind you, these are only OWS related FB posts. I will read a few of the articles, view some of the vids, as I come to them. However, after a time, I will simply open the link and move on with the FB posts. Today, this took 2.5 hours to cover the posts from the last 20 hrs. I have been defriended by about 75 people since the occupation began, but picked up twice that many. That which is opened and left is then dealt with, consuming another couple hours.

Email is a matter unto itself. I have developed a method to prioritize my consumption of emails.

#1) Press requests. If a media outlet is requesting information, a confirmation of receipt email is immediately sent out. Another email is then distributed to media stating the request has received a response and outlining what needs to be done next.

#2) Media and livestream emails, most of which involve press releases being circulated for editing and approval / objections. This gets very cumbersome, many long email chains which breach the line of comprehension.

#3) Everything else. This category is often not dealt with for days. Sometimes I will skim the emails, see what they are about and deal with them or come back to them later. Increasingly, especially as national strategy conversations are beginning via email, the fluff, the not immediately relevant, falls by the wayside. I simply cannot keep up with the volume and the majority of what comes thru my mailbox goes unopened.

Of course, #s 1 and 2 open to the floodgates to more email which must be dealt with immediately. Such is the nature of the media. Deadlines rule.

Which leads me back to my dark hopelessness, the weight, of the past week. Occupy Nashville has survived and thrived solely because of the overwhelming victories in the media.

Let me be perfectly clear here: this success, these victories, are not the result of a crack media team. Yes the media, livestream and tech teams have done one hell of a job (honestly, we rock) of amplifying and transmitting the efforts of ON as a whole to the public.

That said, let’s do a quick recap of ON’s high points:

Two actions, before the occupation even began, brought out hundreds.

Last I heard, 42 tents full of occupiers in the Plaza, and the weather sucks. Our occupation, which began on October 8 is now over 2 months old.

Two nights of raids by THP result in charges being:

1) Thrown out because the curfew rule resulting in the charges was “changing the rules in the middle of the game” on the part of the state, as ON was several weeks old already

2) Thrown out because “there is no standing in TN law” vs ON or anyone else from assembling at anytime on the plaza. (Aside – we simply got really, really lucky in picking the plaza, it was totally random, decided on the fly, and involved only about 10 people)

Furthermore, a Federal Judge ruled the next Monday (2^nd raid was Saturday AM) in favor of ON, enforcing a temporary restraining order vs the state (Gov, THP) or any other police, stating something to the effect that no one, at any time, can be prevented from their 1^st amendment rights, as practiced by ON, on the Legislative Plaza. She went on to say that Legislative Plaza was the “quintessential” place for such a protest.

Quite honestly however, ON has not seen huge, growing numbers at actions and gas. From my distant perspective, 75 is a good night at a GA, only about 50, from what I understand, showed up to picket RUMSFELD. In other words, we aren’t bursting at the seams with frontline warriors so it’s not our efforts which are gaining anything more than a presence on the periphery of consciousness in the local media. This is no small feat, mind you, but it isn’t what we are doing that is getting the press, it is what is being done to us. Eg:

Nationally, the movement has been buoyed by huge protests (nyc last Thursday, and Oakland strike) and explosive shutdowns. The shutdowns gained far more press as the old rule “if it bleeds, it leads” still prevails.

The crackdowns were linked into the national chain of command, cohering 18 – 40 (Associated Press) mayors into a pat, militarized plan for suppression of 1^st Amendment rights of occupations across the country.

Armaments included the ubiquitous pepper spray, batons of all description, tasers, pepper bullet guns, rubber bullets, flash bang grenades, tear gas, armored personnel carriers, helicopters, hoards of riot cops, LRAD, and lest us not forget horses and police surveillance boxes on 50’ tall scissor lift thingies.

Methods included “kettleing”, beating, spraying, arrest of media, exclusion of media on ground and in the air, raids made in the wee hours, etc.

All this is to say, I have tried to judge the movement by seeking the balance of what we have done and what has been done to us. We began on our path wishing to topple the corporate powers that be, the so called 1%, and specifically those corporations who have hijacked not only the US government, but also the world economy.

We have been reduced to hand to hand combat over rights due every human being – freedom of speech and assembly. Our gov’t has preached this since February, calling on dictators and those barring free elections world wide to stand down and let the people be heard. Now, there will be a bill before congress, tomorrow, which recognizes the US as battleground in re: to militarized responses to national security, extending “extraordinary rendition”, “enemy combatant”, and “indefinite detention without charge” status and consequence to the American people. Goodbye posse commitatus, I think you’re done, for once and for all.

I read an article today which completely changed my thinking. Basically, it outlined why OWS has succeeded (it took protesting to a whole new level thru innovation like occupying) and where it was going. The where is it going question was answered, confidently and with great integrity, with no one knows. We haven’t known where we’re going day to day since the beginning. However, we have had our eyes on the prize since day one. That is one beauty of this whole, wonderful mess we’ve created: we have created a spirit where nothing is impossible, erasing the gouges modern economics have made from top to bottom of the food chain is tangible, patience and persistence, two qualities which I feel I possess in spades, will win the day.

I also read, yesterday, a good article about activist burnout, and watched a video about the levels of spiritual development. I connected with both of them, my feelings of the last week resounding through both.

Today, with a sudden moment of clarity, I found hope, and purpose. What has propelled OWS / ON into the world spotlight has not been progress to our goals but being shat upon by the system, which one can only imagine is scared, angry, and flummoxed all at the same time. Now, ON has a chance to pull off a biggie, an organized, pro-active furthering of our goals.

Nashville will host the first statewide GA next weekend.

12.10.11

12.10.11

What have I learned today?

Russia is up in arms, tens of thousands are in the streets opposing the legitimacy of the recent elections. Estimates range from 15 to 80,000. They, the Putin administration, blame the US Dept of State for funding / organizing the uprising, of course. Regardless of the facts therein, the revolution is now global, for reasons which apply to us all…we the people are getting screwed, and getting fed up with getting screwed. I think the post-Soviet Russians are far smarter than they need to be to figure that one out.

The folks that haven’t experienced all out chaos yet, India and China, will crack soon. India is beginning to call out those at the top. China is struggling to keep the dirt under the rug.

Syria’s president Assad refuses to acknowledge killings of citizens by military. UN says he has gone too far, US says he is out of touch with reality. Over 4,000 have been killed. This, to me, sounds like the same scenario as Libya pre-NATO involvement. If I were to guess, NATO naval and air resources are still in the neighborhood, waiting for a new deployment.

The world economy continues to teeter on the brink of the void.

The Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the largest nations in Africa, and one whose status is watched by the Council on Foreign Relations as critical to national security, for some reason, is in complete upheaval after elections.

Iran has a US drone.

Pakistan has now tightened avenues for US supply convoys to Afghanistan. 40% of US supplies to Afghanistan flow across Pakistani land routes. A drone base in Baluchistan has been ordered closed, and has been evacuated by the US.

On the bright side, I discovered a kick ass bunch of music on Youtube. Dire Straights has long been one of my favorite bands, and tonight, I found their vids from a 1979 German pop TV show “Rockpalast”. By my guess, that was after their first, self titled album was released or just after their second. Number 2, Communique, was released in June, 1979 and the Rockpalast tracks include much of this album (I feel like such an old fart when I use that word). The first album was a huge hit, with “Sultans of Swing” hitting the charts and becoming a standard in Classic Rock radio rotations.

Communique is a much more subtle recording. The songs are far more restrained, until Knopfler takes up some space doing his thing, which is done very well. On the videos, the band is a completely different creature, with a rhythm that doesn’t stop, and this stringy Brit absolutely wailing on the guitar.

The greatest blessing here is a rediscovery of music. I woke up the other day, began my usual perusal of the media and somewhere, probably FB, I discovered a video of Lou Reed giving a brief statement of giving support for OWS. Lou is THE man. There was a video of a song following, which I cannot remember. Point being, it captured my attention.

I am, by default, a music guy. I was on the radio, the uber powerful WUTS – 91.3 FM, the 1000 watt monster, from my first semester ‘til my last in college. Most of my friends had radio shows. Many played guitar. Those who couldn’t play a guitar had radio shows and were most likely the booker of bands for their frats. It was a culture unto itself, during the peak of “college radio”, during the birth pangs of “alternative”. Shit. “Alternative” wasn’t created until 5 years later and then only to commoditize, monetize the talent flowing freely from a ridiculous amount of sources. I won’t even begin to attempt to document the list. Suffice it to say I am listening to a now long forgotten band whose personnel have survived in other incarnations such as Widespread Panic. Hell, the Panic played here, to a frat formal, or 50 people in the street, when I was a student.

I could go on ad nauseum about the music scene when I was in college, couldn’t we all? I won’t though, after I get it out of my system. Bands who played here during my college days in the 80s: B-52s, Violent Femmes, White Animals, Jason and the Scorchers, Love Tractor, REM, Robin Hitchcock, Black Crowes, Widespread…you get my drift. I once saw Crazy Horse’s lead guitarist (ie Neil Young’s Crazy Horse) play, shoved into a corner of the local pizza and burger shrine, Shenanigans. We didn’t screw around when it came to live music.

Since my days in school, the University has hosted NRBQ, Snake Oil Medicine Show, some spin off of Phish’s drummer, etc. Unfortunately, the University doesn’t advertise widely about the shows they put on. It’s no wonder. Some of these artists could draw the kind of hoards which might overwhelm the local constabularies’ capacity to manage them. I doubt this would ever happen, but that is based on the hope and a prayer that a Sewanee audience would behave, whether they were visitors or not and the knowledge that Sewanee PD has a way with handling crowds.

God, listening to Beanland right now takes me back to some booty – shakin’ crazy days.

So, why this trip down music memory lane? Well, the other day, as I said, I woke up and caught some Lou Reed with my first cup of coffee. My next cup was accompanied by Jimmy Cliff, courtesy of some Rolling Stone clips of songs and a brief interview. I got back in the mood of music.

Big picture: I have been so sucked so far into the world’s convulsions (natural disasters, Arab Spring, price of cigarettes) and national contractions (job market, the whole OWS movement) that I haven’t really looked up since about March. Now that I do, I realize I have pretty much missed life-as-normal since before then.

My focus has grown smaller and smaller, excluding all else. First, my purview was the global situation: Arab Spring, international financial issues, etc. Then, it narrowed in on the protests, the patterns between the different countries being razed by the people. Further focus onto the September 17 uprising in Zuccotti Park provided the lens through which I have lived the days since then.

So, what am I trying to say here? I haven’t a clue. A few weeks ago, I looked up, broadened my focus from the OWS lens which had been my only ocular filter for a while. What did I see but absolutely all hell breaking loose. NDAA, SOPA, IP protection, Russia…Arrrgh!! I recently saw a George Carlin piece where he referenced our current state of affairs as the downward spiral often noticed in a toilet bowl…circling faster and faster toward the drain. That is about as close a summation of the international situation as I can come up with right now. Let us remember, he passed away several years ago.

And, somehow, I fell back into my music.

Lou Reed, Eric Clapton, The Talking Heads, Bob Marley have been my salvation. Tunes. Good Vibes. Celebration through the artistry of musicians lifted me above the shit, above the true street fight which our national dialogue has become. Listening to songs about all sorts of off the charts behavior makes the int’l scene look absolutely…well…still pretty shitty.

Funny how the blues sounds better at 2:30 in the morning.