"So, let us not be blind to our differences - but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal." JFK, June 10, 1963.
The latest issue of German magazine Stern shows Trump making a Hitler salute, wrapped in the American flag, with the caption "Sein Kampf" (His Struggle), a play on the title of Hitler's book Mein Kampf (My Struggle)... "His Struggle: Neo-Nazis, KKK, Racism: As Trump stirs up hate in America"
Billy and I in happier times.... Pitchfork reports that Billy Corgan has a new album coming out in October, produced by Rick Rubin, but not under the name Smashing Pumpkins. Instead, he is using his real full name: William Patrick Corgan. I heard the first song; nothing special. A slow, piano number. There's also gonna be a tour, but you won't hear me talking about it, much less going to it. I was formerly a huge fan of Smashing Pumpkins and went to many of their shows, as well as Zwan and Billy solo shows. But until Billy denounces Alex Jones and his comments to Jones about Bernie Sanders, Socialism, and "Social Justice Warriors", I'm going to assume that Billy is still lost and doesn't need his old fans, or new ones, for that matter. Perhaps he could blame drug and alcohol use or a fall on the head to mansplain his appearance on Alex Jones' Infowars show and his subsequent comments? In light of Charlottesville, we all have to decide where our loyalties lie. Billy, who and what are you loyal to? Oh-oh... I just looked at the track listing for the new album and there's two songs with names of vicious battles from the U.S. Civil War: Shiloh and Antietam.... I smell trouble...
"On July 9, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read for the first time in New York in front of George Washington and his troops. In reaction to what had been read, soldiers and citizens went to Bowling Green, a park in Manhattan, where a lead statue of King George III on horseback stood. The mob of people pulled down the statue, and later the lead was melted down to make musket balls, or bullets for use in the war for independence. Careful records were kept, and it is known that 42, 088 bullets were made..." Teach U.S. History: Pulling Down the Statue of George III
(Is this the Bowling Green Massacre Kellyanne Conway was talking about?)
The riots in Charlottesville over the proposed removal of pro-Confederate statues calls to mind the grand American tradition of removing deplorable statues, such as this removal of a statue of England's King George by patriotic Americans.
William Walcutt, Pulling Down the Statue of George III at Bowling Green, July 9, 1776. 1857, oil on canvas, Lafayette College Art Collection.
We also are reminded of the removal of Soviet-era monuments in Eastern Europe, the toppling of Saddam's statue in Iraq, and so on. Here's an idea: In Hungary they made a special park for the old statues which celebrated pro-Soviet Communist rule. Or there's the path the people in Bowling Green took - making bullets and musket balls out of it to fight the British. The Confederates were deplorable traitors, defenders of racism and slavery, and any memorials to them should be removed immediately. And that damned Confederate flag too... It's high time it was relegated to the trash heap of history once and for all! And while we're at it, might as well throw that Nazi flag on the fire as well...
Pulling Down the Statue Of King George III, New York City by Johannes Adam Simon Oertel
ThisSmallPlanet Editor's Note: RT (Russia Today), in our opinion,should be considered a mouthpiece of the Putin administration, and in general, is NOT a legitimate news source.
ThisSmallPlanet Editor's Note: Roger Waters claims, on RT (Russia Today), a media outlet aligned with the Russian government, that Russia is only "involved" with countries on its' "doorstep", yet fails to note that Syria and the U.S., two countries where Russia has played a very negative role recently, are not on Russia's doorstep at all. Furthermore, countries on Russia's "doorstep", such as Georgia, The Ukraine, and Occupied Chechnya would undoubtedly tell us that not all Russian "involvement" is welcome or benign. While Waters seems to address American and Israeli shortcomings at length, he seems very willing to underplay Russia's and Putin's crimes, while appearing on a media outlet aligned with Putin. Waters also appears to downplay the importance of Americans investigating Russian influence on the Trump campaign and the 2016 U.S. elections. It is vital for Americans to investigate this fully, prosecute any Americans who broke the law, and prevent such foreign interference from happening again.
P.S. Although Roger seemed to be a little soft on Putin in the interview, someone at RT, by accident or design, included footage in the piece from Roger's current U.S. tour, showing that Putin, as well as Trump, is called out as a charade and a pig (below: image of Putin in blue/green holding a puppy under the word CHARADE).
Roger Waters recently appeared on RT (Russia Today - see video below) for a lengthy interview that covered a multitude of topics, including Trump, Putin, the media, world politics, and more, as CoS points out. During the interview, he once again criticized Thom Yorke and Radiohead over their decision to follow through with a concert in Tel Aviv, a decision that was mired in controversy in the months leading up to it. Before the concert took place, Yorke issued a statement on Twitter saying, “ We don’t endorse [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu any more than Trump, but we still play in America.” Waters addressed that comment directly in the new video, saying:
Thom Yorke is wrong about not endorsing the policies of the Israeli government by playing there. Spokespersons of that government have said how excited they are, that this is the best thing that’s happened to their hasbara, which is the explaining to the rest of the world what a wonderful and precious democracy Israel is. And willy-nilly, when they cross the picket line, they are making a public statement that they do endorse policies of the government, whatever they say, because that is what will be reported in Israel and that is what gets reported around the world. That is why Radiohead are being so soundly criticized by anybody with progressive ideas about human rights, because they have taken that step.
Waters continued on to explain that he believes Radiohead performing in Israel is different from the band playing in the U.S. during the Trump administration, citing the existence of the BDS Movement as a key reason for that belief. “The people of the United States have not got together as a civil society and asked performers from the rest of the world not to come and perform in the United States, because they are an occupied people and there is an organized resistance against the occupying army,” he said. “This is something that they started that they have organized, and they have made an appeal to all artists, writers, musicians, actors, directors, anybody in the rest of the world to observe the picket line, which they have drawn.” Watch Waters’ full interview below. Pitchfork has reached out to representatives for Radiohead for comment.
Elsewhere in the interview, Waters compared Trump and Putin, calling the American president “a complete buffoon” before saying, “[Putin] may be power hungry, but at least he’s coherent. At least he can string a sentence together. At least he reads about the political situations in places his countries are involved in.”
New albums from Queens of The Stone Age & Manchester Orchestra... Classic albums and tracks from Glen Campbell, Barbara Dane, Sandy Denny, and Laura Nyro...
New albums:
Villains from Queens of The Stone Age A Black Mile To The Surface by Manchester Orchestra
Classic Albums and Tracks:
Gentle On My Mind: The Best Of Glen Campbell Glen Campbell
"Guess I'm Dumb" Glen Campbell (a Brian Wilson song)
"My World Fell Down" Sagittarius (feat Glen Campbell)
Sometimes I Believe She Loves Me Barbara Dane & Lightnin' Hopkins Barbara Dane & The Chambers Brothers Barbara Dane & The Chambers Brothers HeydayFairport Convention (feat Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, Iain Matthews)
More Than A New DiscoveryLaura Nyro Eli And The Thirteenth ConfessionLaura Nyro Gonna Take A Miracle Laura Nyro & LaBelle
"Stoned Soul Picnic" by The Staple Singers
"Stoned Soul Picnic" by The Magnificent Seven (The Supremes & The Four Tops)
ThisSmallPlanet.com Playlist August 2017: Music For The New Apocalypse (North Korean Remix):
Great new albums by Queens of The Stone Age and Manchester Orchestra!
We're all grieving for Glen Campbell and what better way to remember him (I remember him from his TV show) than to play all his fabulous songs: "Gentle On My Mind", "Galveston", "By The Time I Get To Phoenix"... While you're at it, check out his psychedelic oddity "My World Fell Down" and his take on Brian Wilson's "Guess I'm Dumb". Glen's history with The Beach Boys was extensive, he was practically an honorary Beach Boy and played on many other tracks of other artists in the 60's and beyond, as well as his own work.
We're celebrating Barbara Dane's 90th birthday all year long and here's two of her best: collaborations (or maybe it's better to think of them as co-conspirators) with Lightnin' Hopkins and The Chambers Brothers.
I'm really loving Fairport Convention's Heyday, a collection of BBC performances circa 1968-1969. It features their classic line-up, including Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, and Iain Matthews. The perform a number of enlightened covers by artists such as Leonard Cohen (two songs - "Suzanne" and "Bird On A Wire"), Gene Clark ("Tried So Hard" from his under-appreciated fantastic first solo album - he went solo after writing "Eight Miles High" for The Byrds), Richard Fariña ("Reno, Nevada"), Bob Dylan ("Percy's Song"), and The Everly Brothers ("Gone, Gone, Gone" - popularized by Robert Plant and Allison Krauss on Raising Sand).
And finally.... Laura Nyro's first two albums, her collaboration with LaBelle, and two versions of her classic "Stoned Soul Picnic" feat Mavis Staples and Diana Ross.
Washington Post/Associated Press: 2 members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot briefly detained August 7 at 2:13 PM
MOSCOW — Two members of the Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot were briefly detained Monday after rallying for the release of a Ukrainian filmmaker outside his Siberian prison.
During Sunday’s protest in Yakutsk where Oleg Sentsov is serving his sentence, the band members unfurled a banner on a nearby bridge that read “Free Sentsov!”
Longtime Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina tweeted that she and Olga Borisova were taken to a police station following their detention earlier in the day and faced a court hearing over charges of holding an unauthorized rally.
Borisova later said on Facebook that she and Alyokhina were released after a judge found flaws in the case. It was unclear if the police would refile charges.A Russian military court convicted Sentsov, who comes from the Crimean Peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, of conspiracy to commit terror attacks and sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
In this handout photo taken on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017 and released on Monday, Aug. 7, 2017 by Zona.media, Maria Alyokhina and Olga Borisova, members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, hold flares and a banner on the bridge nearby outside the prison colony in Yakutsk, Russia, Monday, Aug. 7, 2017. Film director Oleg Sentsov of Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, was convicted of conspiracy to commit terror attacks by a Russian military court in 2015 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. (Zona.media via AP/Associated Press)
Sentsov, who made two short movies and the 2012 feature film “Gamer,” denied the charges, which he and his supporters denounced as political punishment for his opposition to Crimea’s annexation.
Pitchfork: Pussy Riot’s Masha Alekhina and Olya Borisova were briefly detained in Yakutsk, Siberia this morning after protesting the detention of Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, The Washington Post reports. Yesterday, the pair had unveiled a “Free Sentsov” banner and set off flares on a bridge near the detention center holding Sentsov, according to the report. Watch video footage from the incident below, via Alekhina’s Facebook page. The group tweeted this morning that “2 pussy riot members are in a police station now,” and later shared a photo of Alekhina and Borisova following their release. The protest was part of an ongoing wave of condemnations of the Russian government, who handed Sentsov a 20-year prison camp sentence in 2015 on controversial terrorism charges. Pitchfork has emailed Pussy Riot’s representative for further details.
Pussy Riot recently announced an eight-week immersive theatre piece at London’s Saatchi Gallery, centering on the “epic ordeal when they were arrested, forced through a flawed judicial system and finally transported to a Russian jail” back in 2012. RELATED ARTICLES:
On May 22, 2016 I was proud that Nassau County signed into Law a piece of Legislation that I sponsored, taking a stand against discrimination and bigotry against Israel. Local law 3-2016 bars companies from doing business with Nassau County if they participate in economic warfare against Israel. My intent in sponsoring this piece of Legislation was simple: embrace the BDS movement and Nassau will not do business with you. There is no room for hatred in Nassau.
Upon hearing that Roger Waters, notorious front-man for the BDS movement and virulent anti-semite was to preform two shows at Nassau Coliseum, a County sponsored facility, I researched the implications of that show under the passed Legislation. In so doing, it became clear that the lease of the Nassau Coliseum requires compliance with all laws. The question of whether Waters’ scheduled performance would, therefore, violate the lease was, at my request, submitted for verification to the County Attorney.
I am pleased to report that the Nassau County Attorney confirms that Roger Waters’ proposed upcoming tour dates at the Nassau Coliseum are indeed in violation of Local Law 3-2016. Allowing Waters, who actively promotes and encourages others to withdraw from commercial relations with Israel and other “BDS” activities as defined by the law to perform at a County owned facility that must comply with all local requirements and governing laws not only violates the law, and the Coliseum Lease, but offends the sense of decency held by our residents.
Accordingly, I call upon NEC to cancel all currently scheduled performances by Waters in order to be in compliance with the law. Moreover, should they decline to do so, I will call upon the County Executive to take any and all appropriate actions to enforce the anti-BDS law.
Nassau County Attorney Carnell Foskey has indeed been quoted by Newsday (Robert Brodsky) as “threatening to take ‘appropriate legal action'” if the concert goes forward.
Nassau County law does indeed limit county contracting with businesses that (among other things) engage in “any action politically motivated and intended to penalize or otherwise limit commercial relations with Israeli owned or controlled businesses,” and lets the county rescind contracts with such businesses. But to the extent that this covers contractors’ speech urging boycott of Israel, such a law clearly violates the First Amendment in this case, and likely many others.
1. The government generally may not discriminate based on political viewpoint in selecting contractors, even for run-of-the-mill services such as trash hauling, see Bd. of Comm’rs v. Umbehr (1996). There may be an exception for specific cases where the government can show that a business’s political speech greatly interferes with the operation of the government entity (an adaptation of the government-as-employer Pickering v. Bd. of Ed. test; but that would require case-by-case decision-making, and the categorical ban in the Nassau County law (if it’s applied to business’s political speech) would be impermissible. Indeed, this ban — again, if it’s read as covering businesses’ speech — is likely unconstitutionally overbroad, in violation of the First Amendment, see U.S. v. Nat’l Treasury Emp. Union (1995).
2. But the First Amendment problem is especially clear when it comes to refusal to allow someone to perform a concert on government property. Such property is likely a “limited public forum,” open to a wide range of speakers for their own speech (though requiring that they pay money for it), see Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad (1975). The government may not discriminate based on speaker viewpoint in administering such property, even if the speaker is planning on expressing that viewpoint right there on the government property. It certainly may not discriminate based on the speaker’s past speech on his own property. It’s not clear to me that the ordinance would even apply to Waters’s concert. But if it did, it would violate the First Amendment.
Fortunately, the Nassau Coliseum is more respectful of the First Amendment than Kopel; according to Newsday (Robert Brodsky):
Jeffrey Gewirtz, chief legal and administrative officer at Nassau Events Center, which has a 49-year lease with the county to operate the arena, said Waters’ opinions are protected speech.
“NEC respects the constitutionally guaranteed rights of all people and therefore intends the Coliseum — under its stewardship — to be a venue that respects the expression and exchange of a wide variety of ideas and viewpoints,” Gewirtz said.
Gewirtz said Nassau’s BDS law does not apply to Waters because he does not have a contract with the county.
This matter has been developing over the past several weeks, but I just learned about it (from a National Coalition Against Censorship newsletter), and I thought I’d mention it. And it seems especially apt given the controversy about the proposed amendments to the anti-Israel-boycott statute: The Nassau County incident helps show that some government officials are indeed quite willing to use ambiguous laws as means to punish or suppress pro-boycott advocacy and not just the boycott itself. I generally support Israel in many respects, and oppose boycotts of Israel; but speech harshly critical of Israel and urging boycotts of Israel is just as constitutionally protected as speech harshly critical of any country or organization.
Roger Waters continued his increasingly reasoned defense of his very anti-Trump live show he’s been touring through the US, with a newly surfaced CNN interview. The network’s Michael Smerconish presses the political issue even further with the legendary Pink Floyd bassist, drawing out some nuggets of wisdom on Katy Perry, the news media, and choosing art over commerce.
Focusing on how the political content of the tour may alienate some of the fans in the states that he’s touring through, Smerconish wonders what it’s like when concertgoers walk out on the highly charged political atmosphere. (Fans in New Orleans booed anti-Trump images on sight.)
“This is no big surprise to me. But I do find it slightly surprising that anybody could have been listening to my songs for 50 years without understanding.” What about people who are searching for escapism? “Go see Katy Perry. Watch the Kardashians. I don’t care. Whatever you want to do. Go escape.”
When asked if going over the top with the show helps Trump’s caused, Waters responded, “I don’t think help or hindering. We need to survive his presidency, because it’s totally unpredictable. I don’t think he knows what he’s going to do…” He goes on to say he’s given up on the mainstream media and all the talking heads in regard to ties to the Russia campaign, calling the situation “irrelevant to the larger picture.” He continues: “The problem is entertainment has been mixed up with news a lot in this country.”
When Smerconish wonders if Waters has lost touch with a potential marketshare by alienating people through politics, he puts his morals to his money.
“In life you have to make your choices, between doing the right thing and the thing that makes you the most money.”
Smerconish even gets in a scold over a performance of Dark Side of the Moon that he ties to 9/11 and Guantanamo Bay.
“I only wish we could sit here and talk about love more,” Rogers concludes the interview. You can watch it below.
Recently, Waters took Thom Yorke to task over a controversial Radiohead show in Tel Aviv; Long Island officials tried to shut down a show there over his criticism of Israel. He’s on tour in the US and Canada through October.
When Observer's Tim Sommer posted a link on Facebook to the newest anti-Waters article in Observer (which he wrote), I challenged him on Observer's link to Kushner and Trump, he responded that "Jared hasn't had anything to do with Observer for ages". That's simply not true. Jared allegedly stepped down from the editorial board in January 2017 - and I wouldn't call that "ages" ago. Furthermore, Observer is still owned by the Kushner family, via a family trust, and the "new" publisher is married to one of Jared's sisters.
Not only did Observer officially endorse Trump in the New York primary in April 2016, but it's also worth noting that Jared, along with Ken Kurson (a former Giuliani flunky and then The New York Observer's editor) helped write Trump's 2016 pro-Israel speech to AIPAC, which was credited with securing major Jewish-American support for Trump.
Tim's article criticizes Roger Waters for his anti-Trump rhetoric in concert, condemning it as empty posturing and "grandstanding". To Tim, Roger is just an old, rich, out-of-touch liberal, spouting off about politics to look cool, but not even providing voter registration booths to affect real change.
He states he would like to urinate on Waters' grave, which sounds very Trumpian to some.
Documentary on the Rise of Trump
Tim is free to state his case against Roger, but it is awfully suspect coming from a Kushner-owned business. It just so happens that Tim's boss also wishes Roger Waters would shut up.
The fact that Observer had published another anti-Waters hit piece earlier in the month really made it seem like overkill. (Although Tim's article doesn't mention the controversy over Roger Waters' anti-Israel activism, there is a link at the bottom of his article to the first article.)
It's an unfair and biased piece. Mostly it's about an equally unfair and biased documentary by Ian Hailperin. The documentary attacks Roger Waters' activism on behalf of Palestinians and against the Israeli government, military, and fanatic settlers, who deny Palestinian rights in the present day, as well as blocking a long-term, two-state solution, which would bring peace and justice to both Palestinians and Israelis. Roger Waters, both with Pink Floyd and as a solo artist, has never backed off political and social commentary. In recent times, he's become one of the most prominent spokespeople for the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement which seeks to change Israeli policy by pressuring Western artists like Radiohead's Thom Yorke to boycott concerts in Israel, the same way artists and athletes boycotted South Africa to isolate it and pressure it to change. I was part of the anti-apartheid movement in the 80's. It worked. According to Hailperin, "To me, an attack on Israel is an attack against the Jewish people.” That's obviously wrong. One can easily criticize the Israeli government while respecting the Israeli people and Jewish people in general, just as one can (and should) criticize the American and Russian governments, while still respecting the American and Russian people. When we protested South Africa, we were protesting against the South African power structure. We were not against the South African people. We wanted to stand in solidarity with them in their struggle for freedom. Washington Post: Nassau County legislator seeks to bar Roger Waters concert from county-owned theater, because of Waters’s pro-Israel-boycott views It's understandable that Jewish people would have strong sentimental feelings about Israel. (Both Hailperin and Kushner are Jewish.) The Jewish people have been victims of many of the most horrible crimes ever committed and we need to "never forget" those crimes. (The Kushner family was directly affected by the Holocaust. Charles' mother escaped a Nazi siege in Poland, but her mother, brother, sister, and other relatives lost their lives to Nazi terror. For more info see here...)(After reading Jared's grandmother's tragic story, I had to wonder what she would think of him working in the White House with the Neo-Nazi S.S. - S. Bannon and S. Gorka.) However, that does not mean that individual Jewish people are eternally immune from criticism, much less institutions like the Israeli government, the Israeli military, and the vicious Israeli settler movement. The Kushner family supports the status quo in Israel. Waters and his allies support radical change to bring about a two-state solution and full Palestinian rights.
Roger has been criticized for having a floating pig with a Star of David, and I agree that it should have been absolutely clear he was referring to the State of Israel's flag (a Star of David with a blue and white background) and not the Jewish faith or the Jewish people. He could have also written other things on the pig, such as: "IDF" (the Israeli Army) or "ILS"/"₪" (the Israeli currency), which would have been better signifiers for the Israeli power structure. Even better, why not an image on the pig of the ultimate Israeli pig, corrupt Prime Minister "Bibi" Netanyahu? Any ambiguity on this issue is unacceptable and Waters, to his credit, made changes to the show in response to such concerns.
Jared has owned and published Observersince 2006. It was allegedly a $10 million "graduation gift" from his father, disgraced New Jersey real estate developer and Democratic Party powerbroker Charles Kushner.
If you think people like the Trumps and Kushners, and especially Ivanka and Jared, are such special, sophisticated people, consider that Charles hired a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law and sent a videotape of the encounter to his own sister, after relations soured with the brother-in-law, a former business partner.
Roger Waters on CNN, July 2017 The lead prosecutor in the case against Charles (for witness tampering, tax fraud, and illegal campaign contributions) was none other then current New Jersey Governor (then U.S. Attorney) Chris Christie. At the time, Christie said this about the case: "It shows that no matter how rich and powerful you are in this state you will be prosecuted for crimes you commit. This sends a strong message that when you commit the vile and heinous acts he has committed you will be caught and punished". I wait for the day Mr. Mueller makes a similar speech to Jared and his father-in-law.
Charles Kushner, Jared's Dad, on trial
Indeed, Charles Kushner is one of the richest men I have heard of who actually went to jail for his crimes (he served 14 months in federal prison before being released to a half-way house to finish his two-year term).
That surely got Jared's attention at the time and probably gives him nightmares to this day.
Of course one of the main reasons Christie went after Charles Kushner is that Charles was a major donor to the Democratic Party and heavily linked to soon-to-be-disgraced Jim McGreevey. (After Jared married Ivanka Trump, he jumped ship to Team GOP... and must have had several very cringe-worthy awkward moments with Christie during the 2016 campaign - which may be the reason Christie was never given a position in the administration despite being a key ally, advisor, and surrogate during the campaign. Charles Kushner, after a lifetime of being a Democrat, gave a large donation to the Trump campaign in 2015.)
The long and twisted tale of Charles Kushner, his dramatic rise and fall, and the deep Shakespearian hatred for his brother and brother-in-law, which directly led to his downfall, is detailed in a fascinating 2009 "New York Magazine" article you can read here...
Daddy buying The New York Observer for Jared was a way to try to rehabilitate the family's reputation and establish Jared in Manhattan as a major player, economically, culturally, and socially.
In April 2016, Observer officially endorsed Trump for the New York Republican primary.
The paper stopped publishing a print edition in November 2016 (the month of the U.S. presidential election), as it seemed Jared would be busier in the immediate future, and became more of a digital enterprise.
In January 2017, with Jared set to enter The White House as a key advisor, it was announced that he would be stepping down from Observer and placing the assets in a "family trust".
This is a dodge, also used by Trump himself, very different from traditional "blind trusts" that other politicians have used.
In a blind trust, usually the assets of a politician are sold and new investments are managed until the person leaves office. Under the aegis of this "family trust", the asset (Observer) was not sold, and Kushner's family members are beneficiaries of the trust (although Kushner says he, his wife Ivanka, and their children are not currently beneficiaries) so it is in Jared's interest for Observer to succeed. Indeed, the new publisher, Joseph Meyer, is married to Jared's sister, Nicole Kushner Meyer, the same sister who recently got in trouble boasting about her connection to Jared and The White House to potential Chinese investors in a Kushner project.
Jared and his sister Nicole
Roger Waters, Jim James, Neil Young Sing Bob Dylan's "Forever Young" at Bridge School 2016
UPDATE: Tim has communicated to me that he had absolutely no discussion with Jared Kushner about this article or any other article and I take him at his word. I still disagree with what he said, and suggested he include a disclaimer (in the interest of full disclosure, stating that Observer is published by the Kushners) on all "political" articles. Of course, I think it would be best if he completely cuts the cord with Kushner and Observer altogether. As long as he is connected with Observer, any criticism of Trump/Kushner critics, and any lauding of Trump/Kushner allies, will be suspect.
I can believe that Jared was "hands off" at Observer, especially as he got more involved in the presidential campaign. I worked for a newspaper in Mexico which had a similar family in charge and they were definitely hand off... unless it was about publishing something harmful to their family, friends, or political allies. That's reality. (I tried to speak to The Boss one time at a company Christmas party and he didn't respond at all, just looked at me as if to say, "Don't you know you're not supposed to talk to me?"... We couldn't ride the elevators the same time as he or his family, always accompanied by security, always fearful of kidnapping. After seeing a story killed from The New York Times which implicated some of the publisher's friends in possible corruption, and an incident where a co-worker was fired and escorted from the building on a whim, I walked out and never went back.)
If you work for Satan and then criticize an anti-Satanic artist, even if it is for different, better, or cooler reasons than Satan criticizes said artist, the fact is you work for Satan and you are helping Satan marginalize the critical artist, and I think it's ok for me to call you out on that.
Through the 70's, I listened to Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here, and Animals extensively. My local radio station WSAN in Allentown, PA. played them all the time. When Pink Floyd's "The Wall" came out in 1979, I was more interested in The Clash, Patti Smith, and The Dead Boys, and didn't come back to listening to Pink Floyd until I met some Mexican hippies while living in Mexico City in the 90's who were WAY into Pink Floyd. They introduced me to early Pink Floyd (enthusiastic shout out here to Syd Barrett's early work with Pink Floyd and his subsequent solo stuff!) and Roger Waters' solo albums, which I had never heard before. "Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking" and especially the amazing "Amused To Death" are great, and I enjoyed seeing him perform Pink Floyd classics and some solo stuff at Madison Square Garden in 2000. I also saw him last year at the (sadly final) Bridge School Benefit with Neil Young in Northern California.
I like Roger's new album too, and am so glad to see him out there fighting Trump and Israeli apartheid.
I remember being into punk rock in 1980 and laughing at the boring classic rockers but I later came to appreciate them again (and lately listen to a lot more music from 1927 - 1977 than 1977 - 2017).
It might be easy or tempting to put down Roger Waters, Bono, or Green Day's Billie Joe as people more interested in talking about politics to look cool than actually doing something, but I know for a fact that all three of these people have done countless things to help people, not all of them well-publicized. There are right-wing artists who should be criticized. Why criticize anti-Trump artists instead?
Bono is low hanging-fruit at best, and I haven't been a fan since shortly after seeing him perform at the US Festival in 1983 (they were good there when they were young and hungry and not yet full of themselves). But many of us appreciated the gesture when he came to the Beastie Boys benefit show in NYC right after 9/11 and sang (unannounced) with Moby and Michael Stipe. And who didn't love Billie Joe trashing Trump and leading the crowd in a chant of "NO TRUMP! NO KKK! NO FASCIST USA!"
We need our artists to speak out now more than ever.
I'm glad Roger Waters speaks out and hopes he continues to do so. He deserves our support, not our criticism. We should focus our criticism instead on Trump, Kushner, and others who make the world a worse place, not the artist who dream of a better dream. First the dream, then the work, then the change...
In this handout photo taken on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017 and released on Monday, Aug. 7, 2017 by Zona.media, Maria Alyokhina and Olga Borisova, members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, hold flares and a banner on the bridge nearby outside the prison colony in Yakutsk, Russia, Monday, Aug. 7, 2017. Film director Oleg Sentsov of Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, was convicted of conspiracy to commit terror attacks by a Russian military court in 2015 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. (Zona.media via AP/Associated Press)
