Sunday, June 21, 2015

Birthdays and Brian Wilson

June 20th is a big day for birthdays which I didn't realize until I looked in the paper Saturday.

It was Nicole Kidman's birthday, Olympia Dukaksis' birthday, Anne Murray's birthday, Candy Clark's birthday (she was brilliant in American Graffiti), Tina Sinatra's birthday, Lionel Richie's birthday, Amos Lee's birthday, Robert Rodriguez's birthday, John Goodman's birthday, Danny Aiello's birthday, Martin Landau's birthday . . .

But it was also Brian Wilson's birthday.

Brian Wilson was the brains behind the Beach Boys.

He fought for the group to survive -- meaning fighting with his father.

He co-wrote some of rock's more memorable tunes but a great deal of his fame rests on SMILE (I'm following 60s rock rules and all capping album titles for this post, song titles will be in italics -- that's how it was done back in the day).

SMILE is the album that never was.

It was supposed to be the modern classic.  It was also supposed to be a sonic breakthrough.

But mental issues and other things meant the album was never released.

What followed was a smaller path for the Beach Boys and for Brian Wilson.

But it's really past time to let SMILE go.

Instead, we should recognize PET SOUNDS which really did set a standard for rock albums.

It pushed the Beatles, the Mamas & the Papas and every other group to work even harder at the craft.  It remains one of the most important albums of the 60s and Wilson produced it and wrote or co-wrote 12 of the 13 tracks (Sloop John B is a traditional folk song).

That means, on PET SOUNDS alone, he can claim credit for Wouldn't It Be Nice and God Only Knows (PP Arnold did a massive cover of that one).

There's a great deal more he can claim credit for including Good Vibrations, California Girls, Surf City and much more.

Surf City was a hit for Jan & Dean and when it comes to hearing a song, I honestly prefer Jan & Dean to the Beach Boys during the group's surf period.  But Brian Wilson's place in history is more than secure.



"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):
Saturday, June 20, 2015.  Chaos and violence continue, the refugee crisis continues, Susan Rice declares the Iraq War an "accomplishment" and much more.



Hillary Clinton is running for president for the year book photo.

Possessing only a blood lust for war, she has no plans to help people.

She also has no real record of success.

She can be elected to office, for example, but she accomplishes nothing of value once in office.

Her last non-campaign 'win' was probably, as Wally and Cedric pointed out, when she bested Barbara Bush in the cookie bake off.


So when it's time to spin success for Hillary, what do you do?

Go to America's biggest liar of all, the woman who lied on not one, not two, not three but four public affairs programs all on the same Sunday.

Yes, Susan I Love The Iraq War Rice.


Dirty Rice talked 'accomplishments' to Bloomberg's Mark Halperin:


MARK HALPERIN: What would you say are the three biggest accomplishments of Secretary Hillary Clinton when she was at State?

SUSAN RICE: Well, first of all, I think you would have to put them in context of the administration's accomplishments.

HALPERIN: Anything that she participated in a meaningful way.

RICE: She participated in everything that we did in the first term in a meaningful way.

First of all, in the first term, we were able to bring to conclusion two long and costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And she was very much involved in supporting those transitions. In the presidents first term also we initiated and now have sustained what we call, the re-balance to Asia, the Asia-Pacific.



There were at least 35 violent deaths in Iraq yesterday, according to Margaret Griffis (Antiwar.com).

Barack is raising the number of US 'trainers' in Iraq to 3,500.

And Lie Face Susan Rice gives a televised interview where she claims as an accomplishment the Iraq War ended.

Only supreme liar Susan Rice could deliver that one with a straight face.

The Iraq War ended?

Who forgot to tell Iraq?

The US government involvement in the Iraq War ended?

Tell it to the State Dept, the Defense Dept, the White House, the US Embassy in Baghdad . . .

Susan Rice, she may go down as the biggest liar in the 21st century.


There's also the refugee crisis which effects Iraq two ways.


First up, there's the influx of refugees from Syria (both Syrians and returning Iraqis who earlier sought asylum in Iraq).





  1. There are almost 60 million refugees in the world, like the Syrians I met in Iraq with                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    



Near the end of last year, Refugees International noted:


As Syria’s civil war has dragged on, the direction of forced migration for many Iraqi refugees has reversed. Tens of thousands of Iraqis who sought refuge in Syria between 2003 and 2011 have returned home, joining about a million Iraqis who were already internally displaced. This year, the advance of the Islamic State group in central Iraq forced more than three-quarters of a million people from their homes, bringing the total number of Iraqi IDPs to roughly two million. 



And at the end of last month, the United Nations Refugee Agency Tweeted:


Iraq: We are deeply concerned about obstacles facing desperate people fleeing

But none of that exists in the world that Susan Rice lives.

In that world of lies, the Iraq War ended.

And it was an accomplishment, no less, according to Susan Rice.


The refugees haven't seen any accomplishment.

Reuters notes that "US and caolition forces targeted the Islamic State on Friday with 16 air strikes in Iraq."

Yet Susan Rice claims that the Iraq War is over and that this is an accomplishment that Barack and Hillary can share.





Lastly, David Bacon's latest book is The Right to Stay Home: How US Policy Drives Mexican Migration.  This is from "PICKING PEAS SHOULD BRING A BETTER LIFE," Rosalia Martinez, as told to David Bacon:


I'm Triqui, from Rio Venado in Oaxaca.  I've been here 7 years, working in the fields all the time.  Right now I'm picking peas.  Other times in the year I work in the broccoli.

The worst part about working in the peas is that you have to work on your knees. After a day on your knees they hurt a lot, and when you stop it's hard to extend your leg.  It hurts, even when they give you a break for 15 minutes every two hours.  I don't take pills for the pain, but I know many people who do.

Sometimes your knees break down.  That's happened to a lot of people.  Their knees go out permanently and they can't work anymore.

Another problem is the dust, which has chemicals in it.  Until two years ago they didn't give you glasses to keep the dust out.  Now they do, but by now most people who work in the peas have problems with their eyes.

What they pay us is not fair.  They want you to pick 130 pounds in ten hours, and the piece rate is 45¢, so we make very little.  The hourly wage is supposed to be $9.50 per hour, but when you're working on the piece rate it's less.  You can make $100 in a day sometimes, but other times it's $80 or $70.  It depends on how much you can pick.