Motley Moose – Archive

I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in “Cheers & Jeers”.

OK, you’ve been warned – here is this week’s tomfoolery material that I posted.

ART NOTES – a multimedia overview of the island’s culture in an exhibition entitled Vodou: Sacred Powers of Haiti will be at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois through April 26th.

MUSIC NOTES – a new Smithsonian-Folkways box-set of recordings by Huddie ‘Leadbelly’ Ledbetter – featuring fifteen unreleased tracks, including one about the 1947 wedding of (then) Princess Elizabeth and the future Prince Philip – will be released in February.

HAIL and FAREWELL to the longtime Jefferson Airplane/Hot Tuna manager Bill Thompson who has died at the age of 70 ….. longtime record producer and manager of the all-female band The Runaways (which launched the career of Joan Jett), Kim Fowley who has died at the age of 75 ….. and the songwriter Ervin Drake – the composer/co-composer of Good Morning Heartache, plus It Was a Very Good Year and who was the focus of a musical profile of mine, showcasing his liberal political views and his work with the folksinger Christine Lavin at this link – who has died at the age of 95.

THURSDAY’s CHILD is a Texas kitteh who had been plucked from the ashes of a house fire (that killed a retiree) … and was revived (by a volunteer firefighter) with a small oxygen mask.

LEGAL NOTES – due to his 2013 conviction being overturned (on technicalities) on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, the 88 year-old former Guatemalan dictator José Efraín Ríos Montt has been arriving at his retrial in a wheelchair.

MUSIC NOTES – in order to celebrate their 50th anniversary, the four surviving core members of the Grateful Dead will perform three final shows: not in their birthplace of San Francisco, but instead at Soldier Field in Chicago (over the 4th of July weekend) … as that is where their final concert took place (twenty years ago in 1995) before the death of Jerry Garcia. They have recruited Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio and their last touring keyboard player (Bruce Hornsby) to complete the line-up.

SUNDAY’s READ is an Op-Ed essay in the NY Times by the popular novelist Jennifer Weiner, describing her Nana entering a nursing home (in her nineties) only to encounter … mean girls …. which she thought wouldn’t have existed there.

FRIDAY’s CHILD is an upstate New York kitteh thrown out of a car (with her six kittens) near a prison, where a guard fed her some scraps … before being rescued by shelter employees.

CONSERVATION NOTES – A surge in illegal logging is devastating native forests in the African nation of Tanzania – with some indigenous woods on the verge of local extinction due to high demand – despite efforts by authorities to prevent deforestation, which would undermine the forests’ critical role in the fight against global warming by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

IF YOU HAVE NOT YET read this politico story about the long-term difficulties of being a woman in the US Senate …. please do so.

BRAIN TEASER – try this Quiz of the Week’s News from the BBC.

SEPARATED at BIRTH – Bloomberg News television anchor Mark Crumpton and the noted astrophysicist (and sometimes TV host) Neil deGrasse Tyson.

   

…… and finally, for a song of the week ………………………… possibly the best intro to one of rock’s greatest guitarists came from Stephen Thomas Erlewine of the All-Music Guide:

While he was as innovative as Jimmy Page, as tasteful as Eric Clapton, and nearly as visionary as Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck never achieved the same commercial success as any of those contemporaries, primarily because of the haphazard way he approached his career. After Rod Stewart left the Jeff Beck Group in 1971, Beck never worked with a charismatic lead singer who could have helped sell his music to a wide audience.

And yet: he has built a solid career based upon the blues, rock and (beginning in the 1970’s) jazz-rock … has won eight Grammy Awards …. was considered to be asked to join two famous rock bands (the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd) …. and is always in-demand as a guest performer. Most biographies simply chalk-him-up to being a free spirit, restless for the next challenge. Not a bad trait.

Born in Wallington (southwest of London) he became a fan of rockabilly guitarists Cliff Gallup (from Gene Vincent’s band) and James Burton (from Ricky Nelson’s band). Later, he followed blues guitarists (such as B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Otis Rush). But perhaps it’s unsurprising that his true role model (after listening as a child to “How High the Moon”) was Les Paul – not just in playing style, but because they both were electronics geeks, always seeking new sounds. Les Paul made an early prototype solid-body electric guitar form part of a railroad tie … and at age 15, Jeff Beck (coming from a poor family) glued cigar boxes and a fence post together. He joined some local bands after obtaining his first guitar, and at age nineteen joined an R&B/blues outfit called The Tridents – which gained him notoriety around the London scene.

So much so that in March, 1965 when The Yardbirds needed a new guitarist to replace the departing Eric Clapton – who was dismayed at the pop direction the band was taking (rather than pure blues) – they were rebuffed by studio guitarist Jimmy Page, but who recommended Jeff Beck …. who proved a worthy replacement. Page later did join the Yardbirds (first as bassist), and when the band split in 1968, it could lay claim to having three guitar heroes pass through its ranks (though not at once). Beck was there for many of the Yardbirds’ hits Heart Full of Soul, Shapes of Things and I’m a Man) before departing in early 1967, somewhat acrimoniously.

He formed the first iteration of the Jeff Beck Group that spring, with his first pairing with Rod Stewart and future Small Faces/Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood (although he played bass in this band). With a revolving door of rhythm section members, they recorded two notable albums: Truth (which reached the US album charts with versions of Greensleeves, Ol’ Man River and Beck’s Bolero – a harbinger of his future instrumental guitar songs – and also Beck-Ola – with versions of All Shook Up and Jailhouse Rock that Elvis Presley had made famous.

Sadly, the group imploded just before it was to appear at the 1969 Woodstock festival. Beck had wanted to form a band with the Vanilla Fudge rhythm section (Tim Bogert on bass, Carmine Appice on drums) …. but a car accident that Jeff suffered in 1969 ended that thought, as Bogert and Appice decided to join the band Cactus during Beck’s year-long convalescence.  

And so Beck formed the second iteration of the Jeff Beck Group: with vocalist Bob Tench, drummer Cozy Powell and pianist Max Middleton. They also released two albums: Rough and Ready as well as The Jeff Beck Group – known as the “orange” album for the appearance of one on the cover – which has a sterling rendition of the Don Nix song Going Down as well as a cover of Stevie Wonder’s I Gotta Have a Song – a performer whose work Jeff Beck would sample more as time went on.

Beck finally did hook-up with the Bogert-Appice rhythm section, and while their one album Beck, Bogert & Appice did have its moments, including a version of Stevie Wonder’s Superstition and the Ray Kennedy-written song Why Should I Care – it suffered from some leaden production, and the group split in early 1974.

It was at this time that he made a conscious decision to move away from vocal-based music towards instrumental rock. It was probably not a coincidence that this was the time of the burgeoning jazz-rock scene (and Jeff Beck joined it from the rock music side). He enlisted the help of former Beatles producer George Martin, and the result was his 1975 album Blow by Blow – for many fans, his best work.  It features an arrangement of Lennon and McCartney’s She’s a Woman and two songs by Stevie Wonder, including Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers – which when performed as instrumental takes on a whole new meaning.

This was followed-up in 1976 with his album Wired – a more jazz-rock oriented album, with a low-volume rendition of the Charles Mingus elegy Goodbye Pork Pie Hat. Joining Jeff on this album is the former Mahvishnu Orchestra keyboard player Jan Hammer – and the two have worked together numerous times over the intervening years. When I had a chance to interview Jan a few years back for a DK diary (at this link) he confirmed that it is a good feeling to know that Jeff often plays a version of Jan’s song Blue Wind to this day, which you can hear at this link – it’s my favorite (instrumental) rocking song of his.

After the band split in 1977, Jeff Beck took the rest of the decade off … and his career has often followed an on-again-off-again pattern ever since (spending a good deal of time in his garage, modifying old Fords).

He returned in 1980 with There and Back … but it was not until 1985 that he tried his hand at an old-style rock album with vocals. Produced by Nile Rodgers, Flash featured several Rodgers songs, along with a noted reunion with Rod Stewart (more on that later). Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop closed out the decade, returning to more instrumental works.

Jeff Beck only released one album for much of the 1990’s; a tribute album to his teenage idol from Gene Vincents’ band (guitarist Cliff Gallup). At the dawn of the new century, he returned to the  studio, releasing Who Else!, an electronica effort in You Had It Coming and his first live album in over two decades. In 2008, he released another live recording, Live at Ronnie Scott’s in London.

His most recent (general) studio album was 2010’s Emotion and Commotion – with songs by Yip Harburg and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, to show its breadth. That same year he released a live album from the Grammy Museum and in 2011 he released a tribute album to Les Paul – with guest performers Brian Setzer and Gary ‘U.S.’ Bonds.

In recent years, Jeff has been eager to showcase the talents of female musicians (often young) either by including them in his touring band or joining for special concerts. One is the Australian bass virtuoso Tal Wilkenfeld – now age 28, but whom Jeff Beck had in his band at only age 21. Someone who was not young but was noteworthy was guitarist Jennifer Batten – his first band with a second guitarist since the Yardbirds – whom he worked with for three years beginning in 1999. He has often performed with the English blue-eyed-soul singer Joss Stone – the first time when she was only age twenty. And this decade, he has often performed with the Irish singer Imelda May – who a one tribute concert was the Mary Ford to Jeff Beck’s Les Paul.

Jeff Beck has a notable boxed set from 1991, has won eight Grammy Awards and has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice – once with the Yardbirds, and once as a solo artist. He was ranked as *#5* in Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time list.

But most of all: look at the list of performers he has recorded/performed with as a guest in his 70 years on this planet. These include: Mick Jagger, Tina Turner, Morrissey, Bon Jovi, Kate Bush, Roger Waters, Donovan, Stevie Wonder, Les Paul, Nicolette Larson, Cyndi Lauper, Brian May, Stanley Clarke, Kelly Clarkson, Brian Wilson, Herbie Hancock and ZZ Top.  If there is a pattern there … I fail to discern it.

Goodness … what to choose for songs? I guess I’ll go with three, to illustrate three facets of his career. One is an instrumental, from the second iteration of the Jeff Beck Group (with Cozy Powell and Max Middleton). Definitely Maybe is a good representation of his instrumental style, with both power and taste. And below you can hear it.

The second is to illustrate the sort of career path he could have chosen (with a strong vocalist, and more commercial success). In 1985, he teamed up with old bandmate Rod Stewart to sing the old Curtis Mayfield tune People Get Ready – the only Jeff Beck single ever to reach the US charts. And below you can hear it.

And finally, to showcase Beck’s love of the blues (as well as his in-demand status) …. three years ago, President Obama hosted a White House tribute to the blues – with such performers as B.B. King, the husband-and-wife team of Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi, Keb Mo, Booker T. Jones as well as Mick Jagger …… and the final song they played was Sweet Home Chicago – which was noted for the president being urged to sing the final chorus (which he finally did).

But just look at who opens the tune here … why, it is one Geoffrey Arnold Beck …… with Buddy Guy and Shemekiah Copeland (the daughter of blues legend Johnny Copeland and now a star in her own right) singing. Quite a journey for a poor English kid to make, huh? And below you can hear it.

Welcome to The Moose Pond! The Welcomings diaries give the Moose, old and new, a place to visit and share words about the weather, life, the world at large and the small parts of Moosylvania that we each inhabit.

In lieu of daily check-ins, which have gone on hiatus, Welcomings diaries will be posted at the start of each week (every Sunday morning) and then, if necessary due to a large number of comments, again on Wednesday or Thursday to close out the week. To find the diaries, just bookmark this link and Voila! (which is Moose for “I found everyone!!”).

The format is simple: each day, the first moose to arrive on-line will post a comment welcoming the new day and complaining (or bragging!) about their weather. Or mentioning an interesting or thought provoking news item. Or simply checking in.

So … what’s going on in your part of Moosylvania?

…

The President’s Weekly Address post is also an Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

From the White House – Weekly Address

In this week’s address, the President recounted the stories of letter writers from around the country who will be joining him when he delivers his annual State of the Union address this Tuesday: Carolyn, who was able to expand her small business through a Small Business Administration loan, and this year raised wages for their hourly employees; Jason, a wounded warrior who served in Afghanistan and is now back home with his wife and first daughter, born in November; and Victor, who affords his student loans with help from the Income Based Repayment Plan, and has health insurance because of the Affordable Care Act.

Stories like theirs are proof of the progress our country has made. The President encouraged everyone to tune in Tuesday evening to hear more about America’s comeback, and the steps we can take to ensure all Americans – not just a fortunate few – benefit from our American resurgence.

Transcript: Weekly Address: State of the Union Is This Tuesday

Hi, everybody.  Every day, we get thousands of letters and emails at the White House from Americans across the country – and every night, I read ten of them.  They tell me about their hopes and their worries, their hardships and successes.  They’re the Americans I’m working for every day – and this year, several of these letter writers will join me at the Capitol when I deliver my annual State of the Union Address on Tuesday night.

Carolyn Reed wrote to me from Colorado to tell me she was able to expand her business, thanks to a loan from the Small Business Administration.  Today, she and her husband own seven Silver Mine Sub Shops – and last year, they raised wages for all their hourly employees.

Victor Fugate, from Butler, Missouri, wrote to tell me that he was unemployed for a while a few years ago, but today he’s earned his degree and found a full-time job.  Victor said that he and his wife were able to afford their student loans because our country offered millions of Americans the chance to cap their monthly payments as a percentage of their income – and, because of the Affordable Care Act, they now have the security and peace of mind of affordable health insurance.

While serving in Afghanistan, Jason Gibson was gravely wounded-he lost both his legs.  When I first met him in the hospital, he was just beginning his long, difficult road to recovery.  But last year, Sergeant Gibson wrote to tell me that with the help of our extraordinary doctors and nurses, he’s making extraordinary progress.  He just moved into a new home, and he and his wife just had a baby girl.

Stories like these give us reason to start the new year with confidence.  2014 was the fastest year for job growth since the 1990s.  Unemployment fell faster than any year since 1984.  Our combat mission in Afghanistan has come to a responsible end, and more of our heroes are coming home.  America’s resurgence is real.

Our job now is to make sure that every American feels that they’re a part of our country’s comeback.  That’s what I’ll focus on in my State of the Union – how to build on our momentum, with rising wages, growing incomes, and a stronger middle class.  And I’ll call on this new Congress to join me in putting aside the political games and finding areas where we agree so we can deliver for the American people.

The last six years have demanded resilience and sacrifice from all of us.  All of us have a right to be proud of the progress America has made.  And I hope you’ll tune in on Tuesday to hear about the steps we can take to build on this progress, and to seize this moment together.

Thanks everybody, and have a great weekend.

Bolding added.

~

Found on the Internets …

Greg Sargent, WaPo: GOP deportation priorities, in the raw

As expected, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives today passed a package of measures that would roll back President Obama’s executive actions shielding hundreds of thousands of DREAMers, and millions of parents of children who are U.S. citizens or legal residents, from deportation.[…]

Today’s action goes further than merely defunding Obama’s recent executive actions deferring the deportation of immigrants brought here as children (the 2012 DACA) and of millions of parents of children who are U.S. citizens or legal residents (the more recent DAPA).

It also defunds the implementation of the 2011 Morton memos. […]

“Republicans just voted against a mainstream law enforcement utilization of prosecutorial discretion,” Frank Sharry of America’s Voice tells me. “Would they instruct enforcement agents to treat a DREAMer, the spouse of a soldier, or the mother of an American citizen as an equal deportation priority to a convicted gang member, a smuggler, or a serious criminal?”

Apparently so. Here is how they plan to solve the sticky wicket of deporting parents of American citizens and the humanitarian crisis created from millions of children left parentless:

A group of hardline conservatives will use this week’s GOP retreat to pressure their colleagues into adopting an agenda that includes bills to end “birthright” citizenship …

Pew Poll

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted Jan. 7-11 among 1,504 adults, finds that Obama’s job approval has risen five points since December (42%). […]

For the first time in five years, more Americans say Obama’s economic policies have made conditions better (38%) than worse (28%); 30% say they have not had much of an effect. And Obama engenders more confidence on the economy than do the leaders of the new Republican majority in Congress.[…]

Currently, 40% approve of Republican leaders’ plans and policies for the future, while somewhat more (49%) disapprove. Shortly after the midterm elections, when Republicans gained full control of Congress, about as many approved as disapproved of GOP future plans (44% approved vs. 43% disapproved).

Now that Americans have caught a glimpse of the future, they appear to be having a bit of buyers remorse.

More …

Yay, West Virginia!!!

Facing Backlash, West Virginia Board Of Education Votes To Make Climate Change Curriculum Scientifically Accurate

The West Virginia Board of Education voted Wednesday to change newly-agreed upon science standards and make them once again available for public comment, an act that came after pressure from parents and others in the state who felt that the standards didn’t accurately portray the science of climate change.

In December, the West Virginia Board of Education approved statewide science education standards that were based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) but which contained altered portions aimed at portraying climate change as a debate. The Board decided Wednesday that the standards will be changed back to their original NGSS versions – with the climate-change-doubting alterations removed – and released for public comment. In March, after the public commenting period is complete, the Board of Education will vote again on the standards. […]

Lisa Hoyos, Director of Climate Parents, praised the Board of Education’s decision to re-issue the standards without the climate-denying additions Wednesday.

“Ensuring students are taught evidence-based facts in their science education is a fundamental principle that the Board affirmed today, after veering off course in December in adopting altered climate science standards,” she said. “Parents by the thousands stood up for accurate climate science education, and we are thankful that the West Virginia Board of Education listened to us.”

Boo, Libertarians!

Senator Says Most People On Disability Don’t Deserve It

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is claiming that there is widespread fraud in the country’s disability system because most people who get benefits merely suffer from anxiety or sore backs.

At a meeting with legislative leaders in Manchester, NH on Wednesday, caught on tape by American Bridge, Paul told the room:

   The thing is that all of these programs, there’s always somebody who’s deserving, everybody in this room knows somebody who’s gaming the system. I tell people that if you look like me and you hop out of your truck, you shouldn’t be getting a disability check. Over half the people on disability are either anxious or their back hurts. Join the club. Who doesn’t get up a little anxious for work every day and their back hurts? Everyone over 40 has a back pain.

Fewer than four in ten applications are approved even after all stages of appeal. Medical evidence from multiple medical professionals is required in most cases to determine eligibility, which means showing that an applicant suffers from a “severe, medically determinable physical or mental impairment that is expected to last 12 months or result in death.” The severity of the disabilities of those who get benefits is underscored by the fact that one in five men and nearly one in six women die within five years of being approved.

The “New” Empathetic face of the Republican Party …

Editor’s Note: Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

From the White House: In the lead-up to the State of the Union next Tuesday, President Obama has been traveling across the country unveiling some of the ideas he’ll be talking about in the address.

On Monday, the president spoke before the Federal Trade Commission and unveiled a series of proposals protecting consumers and families in this digital age:

“Since I’ve only got two years left in the job, I tend to be impatient and I didn’t wait to wait for the State of the Union to start sharing my plans,” the President quipped at the top of his remarks. […]

New actions to protect identities and privacy

The President announced a number of new steps today to safeguard Americans’ identities and privacy:

1. We’re introducing legislation to create a single, national standard protecting Americans from identity theft.

2. More banks, credit card issuers, and lenders are giving customers free access to their credit scores.

3. We’re also introducing a new Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights.

4. We’re working to protect our children’s personal information and privacy online.

“We pioneered the Internet, but we also pioneered the Bill of Rights, and a sense that each of us as individuals have a sphere of privacy around us that should not be breached, whether by our government, but also by commercial interests,” the President said. “And since we’re pioneers in both these areas, I’m confident that we can be pioneers in crafting the kind of architecture that will allow us to both grow, innovate, and preserve those values that are so precious to us as Americans.”

Fact Sheet: Safeguarding American Consumers & Families

Transcript below the fold.

Transcript: Remarks by the President at the Federal Trade Commission

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you so much.  (Applause.)  Thank you. Everybody have a seat.  Well, thank you, Edith, for your introduction.  Edith and I go a long way back.  In law school we served on the law review together.  I will not say who edited who.  (Laughter.)  I will say she looks exactly the same.  (Laughter.)  And I do not.  (Laughter.)  And it’s upsetting.  (Laughter.)

Edith, in your career, you’ve stood up for citizens and communities.  I was proud to nominate you — first as a commissioner, and then as chairwoman of the FTC.  You are doing an outstanding job, as are your fellow commissioners, and we very much appreciate your outstanding efforts.  

And Edith’s story, from the daughter of Mexican immigrants to the head of the FTC, we see a central part of the American story.  And that’s worth remembering at a time when those are issues that we’re debating all the time.  It’s a reminder that what makes this country special is the incredible talent that we draw from all around the world and somehow it all merges into something unique:  America.

To Edith, to the fellow commissioners, to all of you who work at the FTC — thanks for welcoming me.  I’m told I may be the first President to come to the FTC in nearly 80 years, since FDR in — (applause) — first time apparently since FDR in 1937, which is a little surprising.  I mean, you’d think like one of the Presidents would just come here by accident.  (Laughter.)  They ended up in the wrong building, we’re already at the FTC.  (Laughter.)

Anyway, I figured it was time to correct that.  Plus, I know sometimes your name confuses folks.  They don’t always understand what your mission is.  One person who does understand is David Letterman.  (Laughter.)  A few months ago he thanked you for standing up to the companies that were trying to pitch a new weight-loss product — “caffeine-laced undergarments.”  (Laughter.)  I’m actually not making this up.  (Laughter.)  You ruled that these products were “not substantiated by scientific evidence.”  (Laughter.)  So, thank you for saving America from caffeine-laced undergarments.  (Laughter.)  These companies owed consumers a refund.

And that was just the latest example, because, as Edith said, you recently celebrated your 100th anniversary.  And I want to thank you for 100 proud years of protecting American consumers.  I also want to thank some of the members of Congress who are here today and many of our partners from not just government but the private sector, and consumer and privacy and advocacy groups.

Next week, just up the street, I will deliver the State of the Union address.  And it will be a chance to talk about America’s resurgence, including something we can all be proud of, which is the longest stretch of private sector job growth in American history — 58 straight months and more than 11 million new jobs.  (Applause.)  In the speech, I’m going to focus on how we can build on that progress and help more Americans feel that resurgence in their own lives, through higher wages and rising incomes and a growing middle class.

But since I’ve only got two years left in this job, I tend to be impatient and I didn’t want to wait for the State of the Union to start sharing my plans.  So I’ve been traveling across the country rolling out some of the ideas that we’ll be talking about, a little bit of a sneak preview.

And in the 21st century — in this dizzying age of technology and innovation — so much of the prosperity that we seek, so many of the jobs that we create, so much of the opportunity that’s available for the next generation depends on our digital economy.  It depends on our ability to search and connect and shop and do business and create and discover and learn online, in cyberspace.  And as we’ve all been reminded over the past year, including the hack of Sony, this extraordinary interconnection creates enormous opportunities, but also creates enormous vulnerabilities for us as a nation and for our economy, and for individual families.  

So this week, I’m laying out some new proposals on how we can keep seizing the possibilities of an Information Age, while protecting the security and prosperity and values that we all cherish.  Today, I’m focusing on how we can better protect American consumers from identity theft and ensure our privacy, including for our children at school.  And then tomorrow, at the Department of Homeland Security, I’ll focus on how we can work with the private sector to better defend ourselves against cyber-attacks.  And final, on Wednesday, in Iowa, I’ll talk about how we can give families and communities faster, cheaper access to broadband so they can succeed in the digital economy.

But I wanted to start here, at the FTC, because every day you take the lead in making sure that Americans, their hard-earned money and their privacy are protected, especially when they go online.  And these days, that’s pretty much for everything:  managing our bank accounts, paying our bills, handling everything from medical records to movie tickets, controlling our homes — smart houses, from smart phones.  Secret Service does not let me do that.  (Laughter.)  But I know other people do.

And with these benefits come risks — major companies get hacked; America’s personal information, including financial information, gets stolen.  And the problem is growing, and it costs us billions of dollars.  In one survey, 9 out of 10 Americans say they feel like they’ve lost control of their personal information.  In recent breaches, more than 100 million Americans have had their personal data compromised, like credit card information.  When these cyber criminals start racking up charges on your card, it can destroy your credit rating.  It can turn your life upside down.  It may take you months to get your finances back in order.  So this is a direct threat to the economic security of American families and we’ve got to stop it.

If we’re going to be connected, then we need to be protected.  As Americans, we shouldn’t have to forfeit our basic privacy when we go online to do our business.  And that’s why, since I took office, we’ve been working with the private sector to strengthen our cyber defenses.  A few months ago, we launched our BuySecure initiative.  The federal government and companies across the country are moving to stronger chip-and-pin technology for credit cards.   Here at the FTC, you’re working with credit bureaus so that victims can recover their stolen identities faster, and every day you’re helping consumers with IdentityTheft.gov

So today I’m announcing new steps to protect the identities and privacy of the American people.  Let me list them for you.  First, we’re introducing new legislation to create a single, strong national standard so Americans know when their information has been stolen or misused.  Right now, almost every state has a different law on this, and it’s confusing for consumers and it’s confusing for companies — and it’s costly, too, to have to comply to this patchwork of laws.  Sometimes, folks don’t even find out their credit card information has been stolen until they see charges on their bill, and then it’s too late.  So under the new standard that we’re proposing, companies would have to notify consumers of a breach within 30 days.  In addition, we’re proposing to close loopholes in the law so we can go after more criminals who steal and sell the identities of Americans — even when they do it overseas.

Second, I’m pleased that more banks, credit card issuers and lenders are stepping up and equipping Americans with another weapon against identity theft, and that’s access to their credit scores, free of charge.  This includes JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, USAA, State Employees’ Credit Union, Ally Financial.  Some of them are here today.  I want to thank them for their participation.  This means that a majority of American adults will have free access to their credit score, which is like an early warning system telling you that you’ve been hit by fraud so you can deal with it fast.  And we’re encouraging more companies to join this effort every day.

Third, we’re going to be introducing new legislation — a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights.  Working with many of you — from the private sector and advocacy groups — we’ve identified some basic principles to both protect personal privacy and ensure that industry can keep innovating.  For example, we believe that consumers have the right to decide what personal data companies collect from them and how companies use that data, that information; the right to know that your personal information collected for one purpose can’t then be misused by a company for a different purpose; the right to have your information stored securely by companies that are accountable for its use.  We believe that there ought to be some basic baseline protections across industries.  So we’re going to be introducing this legislation by the end of next month, and I hope Congress joins us to make the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights the law of the land.

And finally, we’re taking a series of actions to protect the personal information and privacy of our children.  Those of us with kids know how hard this can be.  Whether they are texting or tweeting, or on Facebook, or Instagram, or Vine, our children are meeting up — and they are growing up — in cyberspace.  It is all-pervasive.  And here at the FTC, you’ve pushed back on companies and apps that collect information on our kids without permission.

And Michelle and I are like parents everywhere — we want to make sure that our children are being smart and safe online.  That’s a responsibility of ours as parents.  But we need partners.  And we need a structure that ensures that information is not being gathered without us as parents or the kids knowing it.  We want our kids’ privacy protected — wherever they sign in or log on, including at school.

Now, the good news is we’ve got new educational technologies that are transforming how our children learn.  You’ve got innovative websites and apps and tablets, digital textbooks and tutors.  Students are getting lessons tailored to their unique learning needs.  We want to encourage that information.  And it also facilitates teachers and parents tracking student progress and grades in real-time.  And all this is part of what our ConnectED initiative is about — connecting 99 percent of American students to high-speed Internet so that we’re empowering students, teachers, and parents, and giving them access to worlds they may never have had access to before.

But we’ve already seen some instances where some companies use educational technologies to collect student data for commercial purposes, like targeted advertising.  And parents have a legitimate concern about those kinds of practices.

So, today, we’re proposing the Student Digital Privacy Act. That’s pretty straightforward.  We’re saying that data collected on students in the classroom should only be used for educational purposes — to teach our children, not to market to our children. We want to prevent companies from selling student data to third parties for purposes other than education.  We want to prevent any kind of profiling that outs certain students at a disadvantage as they go through school.

And we believe that this won’t just give parents more peace of mind.  We’re confident that it will make sure the tools we use in the classroom will actually support the breakthrough research and innovations that we need to keep unlocking new educational technologies.

Now, we didn’t have to completely reinvent the wheel on this proposal.  Many states have proposed similar legislation.  California just passed a landmark law.  And I hope Congress joins us in this national movement to protect the privacy of our children.

We won’t wait for legislation, though.  The Department of Education is going to offer new tools to help schools and teachers work with tech companies to protect the privacy of students.  As of today, 75 companies across the country have signed on to a Student Privacy Pledge.  And among other things, they’re committing not to sell student information or use educational technologies to engage in targeted advertising to students.

Some of those companies are here today.  We want to thank you for your leadership.  I want to encourage every company that provides these technologies to our schools to join this effort.  It’s the right thing to do.  And if you don’t join this effort, then we intend to make sure that those schools and those parents know you haven’t joined this effort.

So, this mission, protecting our information and privacy in the Information Age, this should not be a partisan issue.  This should be something that unites all of us as Americans.  It’s one of those new challenges in our modern society that crosses the old divides — transcends politics, transcends ideology.  Liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican, everybody is online, and everybody understands the risks and vulnerabilities as well as opportunities that are presented by this new world.

Business leaders want their privacy and their children’s privacy protected, just like everybody else does.  Consumer and privacy advocates also want to make sure that America keeps leading the world in technology and innovation and apps.  So there are some basic, common-sense, pragmatic steps that we ought to all be able to support.

And rather than being at odds, I think that much of this work actually reinforces each other.  The more we do to protect consumer information and privacy, the harder it is for hackers to damage our businesses and hurt our economy.  Meanwhile, the more companies strengthen their cybersecurity, the harder it is for hackers to steal consumer information and hurt American families. So we’ve got to all be working together in the same direction, and I’m confident if we do we’ll be making progress.

We are the country that invented the Internet.  And we’re also the pioneers of this Information Age — the creators, the designers, the innovators.  Our children are leaving us in the dust, if you haven’t noticed. (Laughter.)  They’re connecting and they’re collaborating like never before, and imagining a future we can only dream of.  When we Americans put our minds together and our shoulder to the wheel, there’s nothing we can’t do.  So I’m confident, if we keep at this, we can deliver the prosperity and security and privacy that all Americans deserve.

We pioneered the Internet, but we also pioneered the Bill of Rights, and a sense that each of us as individuals have a sphere of privacy around us that should not be breached, whether by our government, but also by commercial interests.  And since we’re pioneers in both these areas, I’m confident that we can be pioneers in crafting the kind of architecture that will allow us to both grow, innovate, and preserve those values that are so precious to us as Americans.

Thank you very much.  And thanks to the FTC — (applause) — for all the great work you do to protect the American people.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in “Cheers & Jeers”.

OK, you’ve been warned – here is this week’s tomfoolery material that I posted.

ART NOTES – a photo/video exhibition entitled Comfort Women Wanted – about the 200,000 young women (known euphemistically as ‘comfort women’) who were systematically exploited as sex slaves by the the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II – is at the Charles B. Wang Center at Stony Brook University on Long Island, ending this weekend …. yet am posting this as the show’s organizer may yet bring this to your town.

HAIL and FAREWELL to some sports heroes who have died: hockey player J.P. Parise, football star Jethro Pugh and baseball pitcher Stu Miller …. plus the only Jewish Miss America, Bess Myerson (who had a noted later career as a consumer advocate), Ray McFall, the former owner of the Cavern Club in Liverpool, England who helped launch the careers of The Beatles … and finally, film star Anita Ekberg – who starred in Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita” – who has died at the age of 83.

HAVING BEEN the first outpost of the “Arab Spring”, the first president chosen in an open, democratic election in Tunisia will be an 88-year-old former minister, Beji Caid Sebsi.

THE OTHER NIGHT yours truly hosted the Top Comments diary with a second look at the heroes from the Rupert Murdoch phone-hacking scandal ….. with some updates since the first report (from two years ago).

THURSDAY’s CHILD is a Maine kitteh who was stuck in a stormwater grate, with only its head above ground (and its body dangling below) … and yet was rescued by police, the head of public works and a veterinarian … all on a cold New Year’s Eve … and has now been adopted.

IN TODAY’S EXCELLENT front-page story by Denise Oliver Velez about how being a newly-elected female black conservative will offer Mia Love a platform (that white conservatives hope she’ll use): two months ago, there was an interesting essay in Slate from staff writer Jamelle Bouie – who sees a difference in South Carolina’s Tim Scott as compared to many other black conservatives who seem to revel in lashing-out at liberals … and are regularly featured on Fox (in general) and Hannity (in particular):  

He (Scott) is not a firebrand. He doesn’t denounce President Obama or indulge the harsh rhetoric of other black conservatives, who win huge applause with attacks on the so-called “big government plantation” of the Democratic Party.

That’s not to say Scott can’t employ the language of Sen. Ted Cruz and other more dogmatic conservatives. He just tends to avoid it. That is a genuine contrast with other black conservatives, like Allen West, who traffic in a movement conservatism untethered from the black community.

Bouie went on to say that Tim Scott will be a reliable GOP vote down-the-line; that party leaders need not worry about him at all. He just may have decided to avoid doing what Mia Love (and other black conservatives) seem determined to do.

FRIDAY’s CHILD is Ted the Hero Cat – an English kitteh whose meowing awoke a woman to smoke entering her home (that was emanating from the house on fire next door) … and who was then able to summon firefighters.

FOR YEARS many in London celebrated its gritty Soho district – which contained everything from its Tin Pan Alley to its red-light section to specialty food shops – but now is becoming gentrified, with complaints ranging from Rupert Everett to Pete Townshend (whose Pinball Wizard lyrics famously said, “From Soho down to Brighton … I must have played them all”).

BRAIN TEASER – try this Quiz of the Week’s News from the BBC.

IT’S a LENGTHY READ – but try it: as it tells-the-tale of an experienced woman hiker, having completed most of the Appalachian Trail northward into Maine, one morning going out on a section of trail (with her husband waiting for her twenty-two miles away, at the end of this section) …. who then disappeared last year, without a trace … and which is dumbfounding the Maine Warden Service to no end.

FATHER-SON? – the late comic and actor Buddy Hackett as well as Ashton Carter – President Obama’s choice for the next Secretary of Defense.

   

…… and finally, for a song of the week ………………………… of all of the tunes in the Motown songbook – and there are dozens worthy of a profile – my favorite is Tears of a Clown – with music by Stevie Wonder and Motown producer Hank Cosby. That is what appealed to me as a child; the driving rhythm underneath made it an early favorite of mine.

Later, it was the lyrics that cemented my appreciation – I mean, what pop song would reference the opera figure Pagliacci (a sad clown)? Well, it would ….. if it were penned by the lyricist William ‘Smokey’ Robinson – who also became a noted performer (and it was he who brought this song to life on record). I have always thought that in terms of rock music’s early singer-songwriters: Chuck Berry’s lyrics were the best for many years, and other than Brian Wilson (whose music I felt was more imposing than his lyrics) Chuck had little competition until Bob Dylan and Smokey Robinson came along. Indeed, there is a tape of Bob Dylan being asked about his favorite poets … and listing Smokey Robinson as being one of them.

The song was recorded on a 1967 Smokey Robinson & the Miracles Make It Happen album, but was not released as a single …. as the label thought it was ‘too odd’ for any chart success. For example: besides the legendary Funk Brothers back-up band performing the music, it also featured …. a bassoon, performed by Charles Sirard of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Then, it hit the big time …. three years later …. in Britain, with an interesting back-story:

Karen Spreadbury was a 21-year-old secretary at EMI Records in London and was also the head of the British fan club for Motown (as EMI was Motown’s distributor in the UK). She was asked by John Reid, the label’s marketing head in the UK (and later Elton John’s manager) to find a hit single on the 1967 album.

That request came because Smokey Robinson and the Miracles had a difficult time gaining chart success in Britain (relative to other Motown performers), hence the label’s “What have we got to lose?” decision to turn to Karen Spreadbury for help:

“I thought: you’re the product managers, that’s your job” she said. “But I said OK, and they tossed me the Make It Happen album.” She was puzzled; the LP was three years old and there had been four(!) Miracles albums released since.

But Spreadbury immediately zeroed in on the LP’s last cut. “It stuck out, it was so different. I actually said, ‘That’s a #1 record.'”

Skeptical, but needing product: EMI scheduled the song as the Miracles’ next single, with “Who’s Gonna Take The Blame,” the most recent U.S. hit, on the B-side. “Tears” entered the UK charts on August 1, 1970 and stayed there for more than three months, reaching number one. Karen Spreadbury telephoned the Motown office in Detroit with the news and the receiver was passed to Smokey. “You’ve got a No. 1!” she shrieked into the line.

Smokey was taken aback for not-so-obvious reasons: he had planned to get off the road and leave the group. Instead they were met with a rush of offers-and growing sales for the song back home.

The song was then re-released as a single on Motown in the USA … and it, too, reached #1 in late 1970. The rest is history, as Smokey Robinson has enjoyed a steady (if not always major) performing career ever since. That is in addition to his responsibilities as a songwriter, producer and VP at Motown from the early 1960’s to its demise in the 1980’s.

Smokey Robinson was inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 as well as the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1990. Just last September he released Smokey and Friends – an album of duets of his most familiar songs, performed with singers as diverse as James Taylor, Mary J. Blige, Randy Jackson, Elton John, John Legend and even Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler.

His current tour includes a stop in Indio, California next week, and at shows in the US, Canada and the UK later this year.

   

As much as I loved the original song: it did end all-too-quickly, as it was meant for AM radio of the time. I would have like to have heard an extended Motown version, but had forgotten about the song for years until I stumbled upon this duet version … not from Smokey’s most recent album, but from a relaxed TV get-together.

Another member of both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is Daryl Hall – who as a member of Hall & Oates was part of the most successful performing duo in rock history: with over 60 million albums sold and dozens of hits (including eight #1 hit singles) throughout the 70’s/80’s/90’s, and most recently 2002’s “Do It For Love.”

Over the past few years, Daryl Hall began a web-only TV show (that later spread to VH-1) called Live from Daryl’s House recorded in the Hudson Valley of New York – which was renewed for the 2014-15 season. It’s a show where Daryl Hall and his house band welcome famous guest artists for some discussion (as well as performing classic tunes).

   

And when Smokey Robinson came-to-town … well, here is the version of “Tears of a Clown” they came up with. No bassoon, nor did it sound like the old Motown Funk Brothers …. and yet: they produced a compelling version, I felt. Have a listen below and judge for yourself.

Welcome to The Moose Pond! The Welcomings diaries give the Moose, old and new, a place to visit and share words about the weather, life, the world at large and the small parts of Moosylvania that we each inhabit.

In lieu of daily check-ins, which have gone on hiatus, Welcomings diaries will be posted at the start of each week (every Sunday morning) and then, if necessary due to a large number of comments, again on Wednesday or Thursday to close out the week. To find the diaries, just bookmark this link and Voila! (which is Moose for “I found everyone!!”).

The format is simple: each day, the first moose to arrive on-line will post a comment welcoming the new day and complaining (or bragging!) about their weather. Or mentioning an interesting or thought provoking news item. Or simply checking in.

So … what’s going on in your part of Moosylvania?

…

The President’s Weekly Address post is also an Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

From the White House – Weekly Address

In this week’s address, President Obama discussed the economic gains we made in 2014, which was the strongest year for job growth since the 1990s.

In the coming weeks, the President will continue to preview his State of the Union address and the agenda he’ll put forward to build on that progress. The President will showcase ways he’s working to help every American get ahead in the new year, like plans he announced this week to make community college free for two years, make mortgages more affordable and accessible for creditworthy families, and support manufacturing.

Transcript: Weekly Address: America’s Resurgence Is Real

Hi, everybody.  About a year ago, I promised that 2014 would be a breakthrough year for America.  And this week, we got more evidence to back that up.

In December, our businesses created 240,000 new jobs.  The unemployment rate fell to 5.6%.  That means that 2014 was the strongest year for job growth since the 1990s.  In 2014, unemployment fell faster than it has in three decades.

Over a 58-month streak, our businesses have created 11.2 million new jobs.  After a decade of decline, American manufacturing is in its best stretch of job growth since the ’90s. America is now the world’s number one producer of oil and gas, helping to save drivers about a buck-ten a gallon at the pump over this time last year.  Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, about 10 million Americans have gained health insurance in the past year alone.  We have cut our deficits by about two-thirds.  And after 13 long years, our war in Afghanistan has come to a responsible end, and more of our brave troops have come home.

It has been six years since the crisis.  Those years have demanded hard work and sacrifice on everybody’s part.  So as a country, we have every right to be proud of what we’ve got to show for it.  America’s resurgence is real.  And now that we’ve got some calmer waters, if we all do our part, if we all pitch in, we can make sure that tide starts lifting all boats again.  We can make sure that the middle class is the engine that powers America’s prosperity for decades to come.

That’ll be the focus of my State of the Union Address in a couple weeks – building on the progress we’ve made.  But I figured, why wait – let’s get started right now.

On Wednesday, I visited a Ford plant outside of Detroit – because the American auto industry and its home state are redefining the word “comeback.”  On Thursday, I traveled to Arizona, a state that was hit among the hardest by the housing crisis, to announce a new plan that will put hundreds of dollars in new homeowners’ pockets, and help more new families buy their first home.  And, I’m speaking with you today from Pellissippi State Community College in Tennessee, a state making big strides in education, to unveil my new plan to make two years of community college free for every responsible student.  I’m also here to establish a new hub that will attract more good-paying, high-tech manufacturing jobs to our shores.

Making homeownership easier.  Bringing a higher education within reach.  Creating more good jobs that pay good wages.  These are just some of the ways we can help every American get ahead in the new economy.  And there’s more to come.  Because America is coming back.  And I want to go full speed ahead.

Thanks, everybody, and have a great weekend.

Bolding added.

~

From the White House: The President Proposes to Make Community College Free for Responsible Students for 2 Years

Today, the President unveiled a new proposal: Make two years of community college free for responsible students across America.

In our growing global economy, Americans need to have more knowledge and more skills to compete — by 2020, an estimated 35 percent of job openings will require at least a bachelor’s degree, and 30 percent will require some college or an associate’s degree. Students should be able to get the knowledge and the skills they need without taking on decades’ worth of student debt.

UPDATE: Fact Sheet: America’s College Promise

“The President’s Plan: Make Two Years of College as Free and Universal as High School”

This is a win-win for the economy and for the next generation. Cash-strapped states (many of which strapped themselves to tax-cut fever which is burning up their seed corn) are cutting back on their funding of higher education. A recent story in NPR reported that tuition now outweighs state aid as the major source of revenue for public colleges. Tuition that is paid for by student loan debt and parent loan debt … or the high cost of which has made it impossible for low-income students to afford college.

Why is a college education important? This:

According to new data, based on an analysis of Labor Department statistics by the Economic Policy Institute, Americans with four-year college degrees are not only equipped for a fulfilling adult and professional life but made 98 percent more an hour on average than those without a degree. And, the wage gap is only increasing, up from 89 percent five years ago, 85 percent a decade earlier, and 64 percent in the early 1980s.

College graduates are also more likely to be employed full-time than their less-educated counterparts, and are less likely to be unemployed, 4 percent versus 12 percent, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center.

More on the presidents program below …

From the White House blog …

The numbers:

If all 50 states choose to implement the President’s new community college proposal, it could:

   – Save a full-time community college student $3,800 in tuition per year on average

   – Benefit roughly 9 million students each year

Under President Obama’s new proposal, students would be able to earn the first half of a bachelor’s degree, or earn the technical skills needed in the workforce — all at no cost to them

The requirements:

   – What students have to do: Students must attend community college at least half-time, maintain a 2.5 GPA, and make steady progress toward completing their program.

   – What community colleges have to do: Community colleges will be expected to offer programs that are either 1) academic programs that fully transfer credits to local public four-year colleges and universities, or 2) occupational training programs with high graduation rates and lead to in-demand degrees and certificates. Community colleges must also adopt promising and evidence-based institutional reforms to improve student outcomes.

   – What the federal government has to do: Federal funding will cover three-quarters of the average cost of community college. Participating states will be expected to contribute the remaining funds necessary to eliminate the tuition for eligible students.

Let’s get it done.

My birthday is Sunday, and it is time to start training for the Hill Country Ride for AIDS, which will be in April. And fundraising for it, too. So for my 50th birthday — can I get the Moose community to donate to my 16th Ride? How many $50 donations can I get? There will be music & stuff below the fold, but if you want to skip that part & just donate, here’s my Hill Country Ride page

I have plans for a really nice day: it’s Sunday so church, then go to a bookstore, then a walk or workout. Yes, I’m working out on my birthday. I’ve got some stuff to train for – wanting to do the 50 mile route on the Hill Country Ride, then maybe the Spa Girl Triathlon on Mother’s Day weekend (it’s expensive, plus a hotel overnight, so maybe not) and the Skeese Greets/Iron Girl Tri in June. So, yes, I’m working out on my birthday.

But — what I really want for my birthday is donations for my Hill Country Ride page. This will be my 16th year doing the Ride (some day I hope to actually ride every mile of it, but that’s a matter for discussion in a weight loss diary) and I would really like to raise a ton of money for this cause that matters so much to me. This ride raises money for services for persons with AIDS in the central Texas area. Food bank, counseling services, legal services, and numerous other ways of assisting our brothers & sisters who are ill. There are people I love dearly who are HIV+ & who need the services AIDS Services of Austin provides, but what’s more important are the people I don’t know. The people I know have people who care about them. What really drives me – what makes me want to raise more money every year, are the people who don’t have anyone. That’s why this is important. I want to help the people I love, but I want people who have no one to have the help they need.

This ride benefits AIDS Services of Austin & other organizations in Austin that provide direct assistance to people with HIV & AIDS. They do things like case management, a food bank, and prevention & education. Everything they do helps people.

The amazing David Smith, our former Ride Director, says that we get a glimpse of the way the world should be on this ride and it is true. If you are close enough to Austin to do this ride, you really should. It is amazing, and the kickoff party later this month will be amazing. But if you’re not lucky enough to live in the Austin area, could you please donate? I know times are tight and lots of other people are asking for money, but this is different. These donations will directly help out people who really need it. Food and counseling and assistance with housing and legal matters — these are real things that people really need. So, for my birthday, please donate to the Hill Country Ride for AIDS. Thanks!

And you know it wouldn’t be a me diary without some U2 youtubes – I wouldn’t want you to think this diary is by an imposter, so here’s the song I play in my head to get me over the hills:

and here’s a newer song that I’ve added to my workout mix. I love the words – there is no end to love: