Ringo is finally in the Hall of Fame

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

Here’s the speech Paul McCartney made at the induction ceremony:

OK. Ringo Starr was born in Liverpool at a very early age, and he had a hard childhood. Real hard childhood, but he had a beautiful mom, Elsie, and a lovely stepdad Harry. Both of them had real big hearts, beautiful people, and they loved music. So at some point during this difficult childhood, Ringo got a drum. Ringo got a drum! And that was it. He was now a drummer.

Later on he joined a group called Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. And we saw these guys when we were out in Hamburg, we were playing out there. And Ringo was like a professional musician. We were just like, slamming around and doing stuff, but he had a beard — that’s professional. He had the suit. Very professional. And he would sit at the bar drinking bourbon and seven. We’d never seen anyone like this. This was like, a grown-up musician.

Anyway, we got friendly with him, and he used to come in late night when we were playing, and he requested a couple of songs, so we got to know him. And one night our drummer then, Pete Best, wasn’t available, so Ringo sat in. And I remember the moment. I mean, Pete was great, and we had a good time with him. But me, John and George, God bless ’em, were on the front line singing, and now behind us we had this guy we’d never played with before, and I remember the moment when he started to play – I think it was Ray Charles, “What’d I Say,” and most of the drummers couldn’t nail the drum part, it’s a little bit [sings a bit of it]. It was a little difficult to do, but Ringo nailed it. Yeah — Ringo nailed it! And I remember the moment, standing there and looking at John and then looking at George, and the look on our faces was like, fuck you. What is this? And that was the moment, that was the beginning, really, of the Beatles.

Anyway, then we started this great journey for these four guys from Liverpool who were . . .we just set off on their journey. We did ballrooms and clubs around England, and we got a little work in Europe, and then we eventually came to America. And here we were, we were staying in rooms together. And I wasn’t a sheltered kid, but I just had my mom and dad growing up and my brother. So I was staying in a hotel room with a strange man. This really brought us together. We lived like in each other’s pockets, virtually. But it was a beautiful thing, a wonderful thing. Eventually we got on The Ed Sullivan Show, and we got really famous. It was just so beautiful. As all the other drummers say, he just is something so special. When he’s playing behind you, you see these other bands, they’re looking around at the drummer, like, is he going to speed up, is he going to slow down? You don’t have to look with Ringo.

It’s a great honor for me to be able to induce him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland tonight!

How the corporate media plans to cash in on Clinton scandal book

~ susie ~ 4 Comments

There’s another Clinton scandal book coming out in a few weeks, and the Villagers are all a-flutter. The New York Times gave it the star treatment today in a piece by lazy Times journalist Amy Chozick (she of the similarly spotty Hillary Clinton emails story). Now look. I don’t care what you think about Hillary Clinton,… Continue reading “How the corporate media plans to cash in on Clinton scandal book” →

Playing Monopoly with our lives

~ susie

No way in hell they should approve this, but of course they will:

The staff lawyers at the Justice Department reviewing Comcast’s proposed $45 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable have raised concerns about the merger and are leaning toward recommending that it be blocked, according to a person with knowledge of the deliberations.

The development represents only a preliminary step, and senior Justice Department officials could overrule any recommendation from their staff lawyers.

Oopsie

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building

I don’t trust cops, and I don’t trust our criminal “justice” system:

The Justice Department and FBI have formally acknowledged that nearly every examiner in an elite FBI forensic unit gave flawed testimony in almost all trials in which they offered evidence against criminal defendants over more than a two-decade period before 2000.

Of 28 examiners with the FBI Laboratory’s microscopic hair comparison unit, 26 overstated forensic matches in ways that favored prosecutors in more than 95 percent of the 268 trials reviewed so far, according to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and the Innocence Project, which are assisting the government with the country’s largest post-conviction review of questioned forensic evidence.

The cases include those of 32 defendants sentenced to death. Of those, 14 have been executed or died in prison, the groups said under an agreement with the government to release results after the review of the first 200 convictions.

The FBI errors alone do not mean there was not other evidence of a convict’s guilt. Defendants and federal and state prosecutors in 46 states and the District are being notified to determine whether there are grounds for appeals. Four defendants were previously exonerated.

Stupidity is contagious

~ susie ~ 3 Comments

PPQ Balance

All kinds of data show your family is actually in more danger with a gun in the home, but what do facts have to do with fear?

Americans’ opinions on gun rights have flipped. For the first time, more Americans value gun owners’ rights than they do gun control.

According to Pew research, the percentage of Americans who thought gun rights were more important was only 29-34 percent during the 90s. In the 00s, that number shot up and down between the 32 and 45 percent. Around the turn of the current decade, the numbers were roughly even for several years, but in December 2014 the number of Americans who value gun rights surpassed those who prefer gun control for the first time. The numbers are currently 52 percent and 46 percent.

Another of Pew’s findings was that the percentage of Americans who say that they feel safer with a gun in the home has risen even more steadily. Thirty-five percent said they felt safer in ’00. Today, 63 percent say they feel safer.

This stuff is not new

~ susie ~ 2 Comments

“We believe that certain aspects of Revivalism can bear examination … We believe that everyone has a right to worship according to his conscience, but — Freedom of Religion is not license to abuse the faith of the people!” –Intro scroll to the 1960 film “Elmer Gantry”

“Elmer Gantry” is a classic movie for a reason. If you’ve never seen it (it’s the film adaptation of the Sinclair Lewis novel, back when they actually used to make movies with meaning), you can find the full version on YouTube.

‘Extensive plumbing problems’ to close Walmart store

~ susie

Walmart Strike

Just one of those coinky-dinks that seem to dog Walmarts that see union activity. I’d love to hear them explain why all those workers have been told they will have to reapply after the “plumbing” is fixed:

Some employees accused Wal-Mart Stores Inc on Friday of closing a location in the Los Angeles area for six months in retaliation for workers demanding for better wages and benefits.

The largest U.S. retailer denied the accusation, saying it was temporarily closing five stores in four states to address recurring plumbing problems. The closures include a location in Pico Rivera, California, that has been a center of protests by workers in recent years.

A group of employees backed by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union described the move as “retaliatory” in a statement and said it would hold a news conference on Monday to lay out its case. Wal-Mart had not requested any city plumbing permits for the Pico Rivera store, the workers and city officials said.

Pico Rivera City Manager Rene Bobadilla described the sudden manner in which the company closed the store as “abnormal” but said the city had offered its help to expedite the work needed to be done to get the store open again.

“It’s the first time I’ve encountered this. It is not a normal thing to happen,” Bobadilla said. He declined to comment further on Wal-Mart’s actions. “The only fact is they are saying they have a sewer problem and they are going to be closed for six months.”

Bobadilla said he was focused on helping the 533 employees impacted by the closure to find work and services.

Wal-Mart said in an emailed statement that it made the decision to close the Pico Rivera location and four other stores because they all required extensive repairs.

Vacation fund update

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

chesapeake bay crystal beach

Several of you made donations — which are much appreciated. The total is not enough to go anywhere just yet. (We’re not talking about a trip to Paris, just a quiet week at the beach.) So anything you can donate to help me unwind with a week of peace and quiet near some water would be very, very nice. Thanks!

Oh dear

~ susie

Rand Paul dropping in your TL like... ^#readyforhillary #fuckthesystem #fuckthat #randpaul #logical #anarchyalliance

A criminal investigation inches closer to the inner circle of Rand Paul’s campaign:

In the meantime, Paul World has lawyered up. Ron Paul’s 2012 campaign has shelled out $364,000 in legal fees since August. Reached on his cellphone, Kesari said he wouldn’t comment and hung up; Benton and his lawyer did not respond to repeated interview requests. At least publicly, Rand Paul has said little to suggest he’s worried about the legal headaches that may ensnare Paul World fixtures. In December—before the Justice Department’s latest announcement but after emails showed Jesse Benton’s involvement in the Sorenson deal, prompting Benton’s resignation as Sen. Mitch McConnell’s 2014 campaign manager—Paul defended Benton to the Hill newspaper as an “honest” political operative who would be “welcome” on his 2016 team. “He’ll help us,” Paul said.

But as Rand Paul launches his presidential campaign, questions linger about how long his cadre of advisers and operatives will last under the merciless glare of the national stage. “They are in such a bubble in this Rand Paul universe, and I think the bubble’s going to pop real quick in the heat of the primaries,” says the conservative strategist familiar with the Pauls and their allies. “They are not ready for prime time.”