Motley Moose – Archive

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, in advance of Veterans’ Day, the President paid tribute to the men and women in uniform who have given so much in service of America.

Veterans have risked their lives to protect our freedom, and we need to be there for them when they return from duty by ensuring they get the care they need and the opportunities they deserve. The President asked every American to thank and welcome home the veterans in their lives who, like all who fight for our country, are heroes worthy of our constant gratitude and support.

Transcript: Weekly Address: This Veterans’ Day, Let’s Honor Our Veterans

Hi, everybody.  This weekend, I depart for Asia to advance American leadership and promote American jobs in a dynamic region that will be critical to our security and prosperity in the century ahead.  The democracies, progress and growth we see across the Asia Pacific would have been impossible without America’s enduring commitment to that region – especially the service of generations of Americans in uniform.  As we approach Veterans’ Day, we honor them – and all those who’ve served to keep us free and strong.  

We salute that Greatest Generation who freed a continent from fascism and fought across Pacific Islands to preserve our way of life.  We pay tribute to Americans who defended the people of South Korea, soldiered through the brutal battles of Vietnam, stood up to a tyrant in Desert Storm and stopped ethnic cleansing in the Balkans.  

And we celebrate our newest heroes from the 9/11 Generation – our veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.  For more than 13 years, we have been at war in Afghanistan.  Next month, our combat mission will be over, and America’s longest war will come to a responsible end.  

But the end of a war is just the beginning of our obligations to those who serve in our name.  These men and women will be proud veterans for decades to come, and our service to them has only just begun.  So as we welcome our newest veterans home, let’s honor them by giving them the thanks and respect they deserve.  And let’s make sure we’re there for their families and children, too – because they’ve also made great sacrifices for America.

Let’s honor our veterans by making sure they get the care and benefits they’ve earned.  That means health care that’s there for them when they need it.  It means continuing to reduce the disability claims backlog.  And it means giving our wounded warriors all the care and support they need to heal, including mental health care for those with post-traumatic stress or traumatic brain injury.  Some of the most moving moments I’ve experienced as Commander in Chief have been with our wounded warriors.  Some have to learn how to walk again, talk again, write their names again.  But no matter how hard it is, they never give up.  They never quit.  And we can’t ever quit on them.

Let’s honor our veterans by making sure they get their shot at the American Dream that they risked their lives to defend – by helping them find jobs worthy of their skills and talents, and making sure the Post-9/11 GI Bill stays strong so more veterans can earn a college education.  When our veterans have the opportunity to succeed, our whole nation is stronger.  And let’s work together to end the tragedy of homelessness among veterans once and for all – because anyone who has defended America deserves to live in dignity in America.  

Finally, let’s honor our veterans by remembering that this isn’t just a job for government.  It’s a job for every American.  We’re all keepers of that sacred trust that says, if you put on a uniform and risk your life to keep us safe, we’ll do our part for you.  We’ll make sure you and your family get the support you need.  We’ll have your backs – just like you had ours.  

So this Veterans’ Day, and every day, let’s make sure all our veterans know how much we appreciate them.  If you see a veteran, go on up and shake their hand.  Look them in the eye.  Say those words that every veteran deserves to hear:  “Welcome home.  Thank you.  We need you more than ever to help us stay strong and free.”

Bolding added.

~

President Obama held a press conference yesterday to discuss the mid-terms and his plans for the next two years two and a half months of his presidency, 805 days to be exact. The president has an advantage there, by the way. During those 805 days, if history is any guide, John Boehner’s and Ted Cruz’s Congress will be in session about 200 days … total.

The president also sent a letter to make sure that the important point was not missed because, frankly, the White House press corps’ interests are quite different from the American peoples’. From the White House:

… what stands out to me is that the message Americans sent yesterday is one you’ve sent for several elections in a row now. You expect the people you elect to work as hard as you do. You expect us to focus on your ambitions — not ours — and you want us to get the job done. Period.

I plan on spending every moment of the next two years rolling up my sleeves and working as hard as I can for the American people. This country has made real and undeniable progress in the six years since the 2008 economic crisis. But our work will not be done until every single American feels the gains of a growing economy where it matters most: in your own lives.

While I’m sure we’ll continue to disagree on some issues that we’re passionate about, I’m eager to work with Congress over the next two years to get the job done. The challenges that lay ahead of us are far too important to allow partisanship or ideology to prevent our progress as a nation.

The president was welcome to constructive changes to the Affordable Care Act, he asked for Congress’ help in procuring funds to fight Ebola and authorizing the use of military force against ISIL, and looked forward to working together on the budget, which expires on December 11. He hoped that comprehensive immigration reform could be passed.

But what he did not do is back down on his plans to issue an executive order expanding the deferred action program, giving millions of people who lack documentation a chance to get out from under the dark cloud of deportation.

That’s a commitment I made not just to the American people  — and to businesses and the evangelical community and the law enforcement folks and everybody who’s looked at this issue and thinks that we need immigration reform — that’s a commitment that I also made to John Boehner, that I would act in the absence of action by Congress.

So before the end of the year, we’re going to take whatever lawful actions that I can take that I believe will improve the functioning of our immigration system. […]

But what I’m not going to do is just wait.  I think it’s fair to say that I’ve shown a lot of patience and have tried to work on a bipartisan basis as much as possible, and I’m going to keep on doing so.  But in the meantime, let’s figure out what we can do lawfully through executive actions to improve the functioning of the existing system.

And when asked whether taking this action would somehow “poison the well”, a well that the Republicans have refused to drink from for 4 years, he called bs on the notion that the people upset by his actions are people who have any interest in immigration reform:

I have no doubt that there will be some Republicans who are angered or frustrated by any executive action that I may take.  Those are folks, I just have to say, who are also deeply opposed to immigration reform in any form and blocked the House from being able to pass a bipartisan bill. […]

… if, in fact, there is a great eagerness on the part of Republicans to tackle a broken immigration system, then they have every opportunity to do it.  My executive actions not only do not prevent them from passing a law that supersedes those actions, but should be a spur for them to actually try to get something done.

The president used the phrase “two years” over and over and over again throughout the press conference (I counted 12).

President Obama will not allow the Republicans to nullify the 2012 presidential election with their claims of a mandate from a low turnout mid-term election.  

To which I say, “Thanks, Obama”. 🙂

More …

Transcript. Selected quotes follow.

His focus, post-election:

I think that every election is a moment for reflection, and I think that everybody in this White House is going to look and say, all right, what do we need to do differently.

But the principles that we’re fighting for, the things that motivate me every single day and motivate my staff every day — those things aren’t going to change.  There’s going to be a consistent focus on how do we deliver more opportunity to more people in this country; how do we grow the economy faster; how do we put more people back to work.

And I maybe have a naïve confidence that if we continue to focus on the American people, and not on our own ambitions or image or various concerns like that, that at the end of the day, when I look back, I’m going to be able to say the American people are better off than they were before I was President.  And that’s my most important goal.

On his focus on the American people:

What’s most important to the American people right now, the resounding message not just of this election, but basically the last several is:  Get stuff done.  Don’t worry about the next election.  Don’t worry about party affiliation.  Do worry about our concerns.  Worry about the fact that I’m a single mom, and at the end of the month it’s really hard for me to pay the bills, in part because I’ve got these huge child care costs.

Do worry about the fact that I’m a young person who’s qualified to go to college, but I’m really worried about taking $50,000 a year out in debt and I don’t know how I’d pay that back.

Do worry about the fact that I’m a construction worker who has been working all my life, and I know that there’s construction work that should be done, but right now, for some reason, projects are stalled.

If we’re thinking about those folks I think we’re, hopefully, going to be able to get some stuff done.

On immigration:

In terms of immigration, I have consistently said that it is my profound preference and interest to see Congress act on a comprehensive immigration reform bill that would strengthen our borders; would streamline our legal immigration system so that it works better and we’re attracting the best and the brightest from around the world; and that we give an opportunity for folks who’ve lived here, in many cases, for a very long time, may have kids who are U.S. citizens, but aren’t properly documented — give them a chance to pay their back taxes, get in the back of the line, but get through a process that allows them to get legal.

The Senate, on a bipartisan basis, passed a good bill.  It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but it was a sound, smart, piece of legislation that really would greatly improve not just our immigration system but our economy, and would improve business conditions here in the United States — and make sure that American-born workers aren’t undercut by workers who are undocumented and aren’t always paid a fair wage and, as a consequence, employers who are breaking the rules are able to undercut folks who are doing the right thing.

So we got a bipartisan bill out of the Senate.  I asked John Boehner at that point, can we pass this through the House?  There’s a majority of votes in the House to get this passed.  And Speaker Boehner I think was sincere about wanting to pass it, but had difficulty over the last year trying to get it done.

So when he finally told me he wasn’t going to call it up this year, what I indicated to him is I feel obliged to do everything I can lawfully with my executive authority to make sure that we don’t keep on making the system worse, but that whatever executive actions that I take will be replaced and supplanted by action by Congress.  You send me a bill that I can sign, and those executive actions go away.

On working with Congress:

The fact is that most of my interactions with members of Congress have been cordial and they’ve been constructive.  Oftentimes, though, we just haven’t been able to actually get what’s discussed in a leadership meeting through caucuses in the House and the Senate to deliver a bill.

The good news is that now Mitch McConnell and John Boehner are from the same party; I think they can come together and decide what their agenda is.  They’ve got sufficient majorities to make real progress on some of these issues.  And I’m certainly going to be spending a lot more time with them now because that’s the only way that we’re going to be able to get some stuff done.

And I take them at their word that they want to produce.  They’re in the majority; they need to present their agenda.  I need to put forward my best ideas.  I think the American people are going to be able to watch us and they’re paying attention to see whether or not we’re serious about actually compromising and being constructive.  And my commitment to them — and I’ve said this when I spoke to them — is, is that anywhere where we can find common ground, I’m eager to pursue it.

On the question about why we are not “winning” against ISIL:

Well, I think it’s too early to say whether we are winning, because as I said at the outset of the ISIL campaign, this is going to be a long-term plan to solidify the Iraqi government, to solidify their security forces, to make sure that in addition to air cover that they have the capacity to run a ground game that pushes ISIL back from some of the territories that they had taken, that we have a strong international coalition that we’ve now built, but that they are on the ground providing the training, providing the equipment, providing the supplies that are necessary for Iraqis to fight on behalf of their territory.

And what I also said was that in Syria that’s been complicated and that’s not going to be solved any time soon.  Our focus in Syria is not to solve the entire Syria situation, but rather to isolate the areas in which ISIL can operate.  And there is no doubt that because of the extraordinary bravery of our men and women in uniform, and the precision of our pilots and the strikes that have taken place, that ISIL is in a more vulnerable position and it is more difficult for them to maneuver than it was previously.

On dealing with House and Senate leadership:

[what] I’d like to do is to hear from the Republicans to find out what it is that they would like to see happen.  And what I’m committing to is making sure that I am open to working with them on the issues where they think that there’s going to be cooperation.

Now, that isn’t a change, because I’ve suggested to them before that where they think there’s areas of cooperation, I’d like to see us get some things done.  But the fact that they now control both chambers of Congress I think means that perhaps they have more confidence that they can pass their agenda and get a bill on my desk.  It means that negotiations end up perhaps being a little more real because they have larger majorities, for example, in the House and they may be able to get some things through their caucuses that they couldn’t before.

But the bottom line that the American people want to know and that I’m going to repeat here today is that my number-one goal — because I’m not running again, I’m not on the ballot, I don’t have any further political aspirations — my number-one goal is just to deliver as much as I can for the American people in these last two years.  And wherever I see an opportunity, no matter how large or how small, to make it a little bit easier for a kid to go to college, make it a little more likely that somebody is finding a good-paying job, make it a little more likely that somebody has high-quality health care — even if I’m not getting a whole loaf, I’m interested in getting whatever legislation we can get passed that adds up to improved prospects and an improved future for the American people.

On the Affordable Care Act:

On health care, there are certainly some lines I’m going to draw.  Repeal of the law I won’t sign.  Efforts that would take away health care from the 10 million people who now have it and the millions more who are eligible to get it we’re not going to support.  In some cases there may be recommendations that Republicans have for changes that would undermine the structure of the law, and I’ll be very honest with them about that and say, look, the law doesn’t work if you pull out that piece or that piece.[…]

And despite some of the previous predictions, even as we’ve enrolled more people into the Affordable Care Act and given more people the security of health insurance, health care inflation has gone done every single year since the law passed, so that we now have the lowest increase in health care costs in 50 years, which is saving us about $180 billion in reduced overall costs to the federal government in the Medicare program.

On what President Obama and his administration will be focusing on for the next two years:

I told them this last week and I told them this this morning — we had this incredible privilege of being in charge of the most important organization on Earth, the U.S. government and our military, and everything that we do for good around the world.

And there’s a lot of work to be done to make government work better, to make Americans safer, to make opportunity available to more people, for us to be able to have a positive influence in every corner of the globe — the way we’re doing right now in West Africa.  And I’m going to squeeze every last little bit of opportunity to help make this world a better place over these last two years.

And some of that is going to be what we can do administratively, and simple things like how do we make customer service better in every agency.  Are there things we can do to streamline how our veterans access care?  Are there better ways that we can make businesses understand the programs that are available to them to promote their business or exports?

On why Democratic Party principles are not resonating with the American people:

Part of what I also think we’ve got to look at is that two-thirds of people who were eligible to vote just didn’t vote.  One of the things that I’m very proud of in 2008 and 2012 when I ran for office was we got people involved who hadn’t been involved before.  We got folks to vote who hadn’t voted before, particularly young people.

And that was part of the promise and the excitement was if you get involved, if you participate, if you embrace that sense of citizenship, then things change — and not just in abstract ways, they change in concrete ways.  Somebody gets a job who didn’t have it before.  Somebody gets health care who didn’t have it before.  Or a student is able to go to college who couldn’t afford it before.  And sustaining that, especially in midterm elections, has proven difficult; sustaining that sense of, if you get involved and if you vote then there is going to be big change out there.  And partly I think when they look at Washington, they say, nothing is working and it’s not making a difference, and there’s just a constant slew of bad news coming over the TV screen, then you can understand how folks would get discouraged.

But it’s my job to figure this out as best I can.  And if the way we are talking about issues isn’t working, then I’m going to try some different things.  

On his optimism:

But I’ll close with what I said in my opening statement.  I am really optimistic about America.  I know that runs counter to the current mood, but when you look at the facts, our economy is stronger than just about anybody’s.  Our energy production is better than just about anybody’s.  We’ve slashed our deficit by more than half.  More people have health insurance.  Our businesses have the strongest balance sheets that they’ve had in decades.  Our young people are just incredibly talented and gifted, and more of them are graduating from high school, and more of them are going on to college, and more women are getting degrees and entering into the workforce.

And part of the reason I love campaigning is you travel around the country, folks are just good.  They’re smart and they’re hardworking.  And they’re not always paying a lot of attention to Washington, and in some cases they’ve given up on Washington.  But their impulses are not sharply partisan, and their impulses are not ideological.  They’re really practical, good, generous people. […]

And my job over the next couple of years is to do some practical, concrete things — as much as possible with Congress; where it’s not possible with Congress, on my own — to show people why we should be confident, and to give people a sense of progress and a sense of hope.

In conclusion:

But I think more than anything what I want to communicate over these next two years is the promise and possibility of America.  This is just an extraordinary country.  And our democracy is messy.  And we’re diverse and we’re big.  And there are times where you’re a politician and you’re disappointed with election results.  But maybe I’m just getting older — I don’t know.  It doesn’t make me mopey.  It energizes me because it means that this democracy is working.  And people in America were restless and impatient, and we want to get things done.  And even when things are going good, we want them to do better.  And that’s why this is the greatest country on Earth.  That’s why I’m so privileged to have a chance to be President for the next couple years.

If you harbor any doubt as to how the Republicans prefer to hold onto power in states like Wisconsin, look no further than the comment by Wisconsin State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R):

“… high turnout elections have typically favored Democrats while low turnouts favor the GOP …”

Fitzgerald is correct … but he will never be right. It can never be right to want to govern without the consent of those being governed, to wish that democracy fails so that you can ignore the will of the majority of the people.

Republicans all over the United States, like Fitzgerald, are glad when fewer people vote because they know that most people reject their puny vision of America.

I am reminded of what happened as the result of a low-turnout midterm 4 years ago. In February 2011, Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) fulfilled his secret promises to his campaign donors and ended collective bargaining for public employees. People protested and the Democratic state senators left the state to deny Sen. Fitzgerald a quorum. Those were heady times for small d democracy as Walker discovered that winning an election with 32% of the registered voters of a state (25% of the voting age population) did not give him a mandate. He won the election but he lacked one very important thing: the Consent of the Governed.

Specifically, this consent, from Thomas Jefferson:

“Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

It is time to stand up and be counted as one of the governed who does NOT consent to Scott Walker’s governance, one who rejects his minoritea rule.

There is no excuse to not vote today. No excuse to not take our state back from the special interests and elect a governor who cares about Wisconsin and wants to make life better for Wisconsinites. Mary Burke will have one focus: moving Wisconsin Forward.

In places all over the country, this should be a crawl-over-broken-glass-to-vote election. People have now seen up close and personal the damage that can be done at the state level by governors and legislators elected by a minoritea of voters; voters energized by selfishness promoted as good. Let’s show them what happens when voters energized by caring about the sick and the poor and the homeless … and living wages for the working class … go to the polls.

I offer a prayer of hope today, along with a candle:

A special candle with white light for illumination today. For voters in Wisconsin, Maine, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida … with governors races to take back our bluish states. For voters in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Illinois, Colorado, Connecticut, Arkansas, Rhode Island, Maryland … with governors races in blue states that must stay blue. For voters in Kansas, Georgia, Alaska, Arizona … with governors races in red states, in the hope that they will start a wave of people rejecting the puny vision of teaparty politics. Not a wave that will drown people but a wave that will wash away the old politics of hate and replace that with the politics of caring.

Please. Get out and vote.

       

A look at my favorite musician of all time (who died last week) after the jump ….

I can date my rock-and-roll baptism to Saturday, September 19, 1970 …. I had been a music fan before this (had just turned age fourteen) but on that day I saw (at Madison Square Garden) Led Zeppelin in a 2:00 PM matinée (they also had an 8:00 PM show). Back home at 8:00 PM, I saw the US premiere of a film by Tony Palmer that showed the band Cream’s farewell concert in London nearly two years earlier (November, 1968).

I had liked the band before (as a very young tyke) but that film cemented the work of its bassist as my first musical hero (which he remained to the end of his life) due to his amazing voice, songwriting and bass playing.

And so for those of you whose favorite musicians are no longer alive (i.e., John Lennon, James Brown, Laura Nyro, Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Billie Holiday, Janis Joplin) I can now relate: with the death of Jack Bruce – best-known as the bassist of the super-group Cream from the 1960’s, with Ginger Baker on drums and a 23 year-old Eric Clapton on guitar – who died this past Saturday from liver disease (and there were several diaries on this site announcing it).

This is hitting me harder than I expected it to … after all, he had a liver transplant in 2003, which prolonged his life for another eleven years. Yet in the end … it could do so no longer.

I was away visiting friends in Albany, NY last Saturday (the day of his death) and so it was not until the following day’s newspaper that I learned of it. To quote an old John Mayall song, “When I read the news … night came early in my day”.

Yet he was not a sideman bassist: on the contrary, he wrote and sang much of Cream’s material in their short existence (1966-1968) and often played keyboards on records and in concert. As an aspiring bassist in my youth, I had a cherry-red Gibson EB-3 bass that he used, and along with two other Jacks (Jack Casady of the Jefferson Airplane and later jazz bassist Jaco Pastorius) he provided a role model for me to follow.

If you only know him for the two hit songs he wrote/sang with Cream, Sunshine of your Love and White Room that’s not bad ….. but he was so much more. Let’s have a overview at his career.

   

Born in May, 1943 near Glasgow, Scotland, his family actually moved for a time to Canada … before his father having difficulty holding down steady work (due to his strong left-leaning union politics) forced their return. (In his authorized biography, Jack wondered if they had stayed whether he would have joined forces with Joni Mitchell).

He was an accomplished cellist in his youth (earning a scholarship to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music in Glasgow) before eventually taking-up the acoustic double bass. However, the academy found out he was moonlighting in Jim McHarg’s Scotsville Jazzband (to make ends meet) and gave him an ultimatum – Quit, or leave school. His formal education … ended there. (He was not alone, as this happened to the Greek singer Nana Mouskouri – “I studied classical music at The Greek Conservatory but one day my professor banned me from my exams when he discovered I was singing in jazz nightclubs”).

In 1960, Jack toured Italy with the Murray Campbell Big Band – whose stage attire included kilts and clan tartans – and later joined other Scottish touring bands.

His big break came in 1961 when the Bert Courtley Sextet performed at a college ball with other bands …. when as the sextet’s drummer Ginger Baker put it in his autobiography, a “scruffy young man with a Scottish accent” asked if he could sit in with the band. Baker and bandmate Dick Heckstall-Smith decided to show-up the interloper by choosing a song with numerous chord changes  … only to have Jack Bruce follow right on-cue and “he could swing like mad”.

Heckstall-Smith recommended him to the pioneering British blues bandleader Alexis Korner, who hired Bruce – and later Baker and Heckstall-Smith – to his Blues Incorporated band (photo left below: Korner on guitar, Jack on double bass and sitting-in on vocals a very young … Mick Jagger). Baker and Bruce left in late 1962 (along with the band’s alto saxophonist) to form the Graham Bond Organisation which had two incarnations: the first as a modern jazz quartet (with Jack on double bass and future Mahavishnu Orchestra leader John McLaughlin on guitar) and after McLaughlin left, as an R&B/blues band (with Graham Bond now on Hammond B3 organ) … they are in the photo right below). It was here that Jack Bruce first began playing the electric bass, and also began singing (based on his voice training at the academy). The esteemed journalist/author Chris Welch wondered why the then 21 year-old Bruce wasn’t singing more, writing that “Graham’s idea of singing was to shout himself hoarse every night”. But at 27, Graham was the older and more experienced musician and frontman, and they had become a success in the London blues scene over the next three years.

   

In 1965, Marvin Gaye heard the Organization while touring Britain …. and actually offered Jack Bruce a job in his touring band, as he was that impressed with his playing. Jack declined as he was about to get married to the Organization’s fan club secretary Janet Godfrey – with whom he had two sons before their 1980 divorce – and Janet later wrote lyrics to some of Cream’s early songs (such as “Sweet Wine” and “Sleepy Time Time”).

During this time, Bruce and Baker became a monster rhythm section – one of the best in jazz/blues/rock – yet Ginger had a fiery temper and often clashed with Jack’s more free-playing style. Ginger fired him from the Organization in late 1965, and so Jack spent time briefly with the legendary British blues bandleader John Mayall – where he first played with Eric Clapton. In the foreword to Jack’s biography, Clapton wrote, “My life was never the same”, citing Jack’s innovative ways and “the joy I felt from being able to play over the solid foundation he created”. Here is their recording of Stormy Monday live at the Flamingo Club.  

Jack left to join Manfred Mann and stayed long enough to play on his hit single Pretty Flamingo in early 1966 when fate intervened. Ginger Baker had discussed with Eric Clapton (as the two had jammed together often) the idea of forming a band to which Clapton agreed … on the condition that Jack Bruce be the bassist. Baker had to agree he was the best choice (despite his antagonism) and the rest is history. Just a month ago in this space, I wrote about travelling to London to see the 2005 Cream reunion concerts – and you can read more at this link about the band.

Beginning in 1969 (after Cream’s demise) Jack has often led his own bands. And with the exception of a short-lived (and in hindsight, ill-advised) time in the band West, Bruce & Laing – with Leslie West and Corky Laing from the band Mountain – Jack often chose a less-commercial musical path in life. He once said that – especially due to songwriting credits – that he had “two of everything”. In fact, when Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker formed the (equally ill-advised) band Blind Faith, Jack responded thusly:

After Cream I decided, and it was a deliberate decision, not to continue down that road and when Eric and Ginger were playing at Madison Square Garden with Blind Faith I was playing in a club called Slugs in New York’s East Village which is no longer there. But that was a great experiential jazz club.

Songs for a Tailor and Harmony Row – the latter was a rundown Glasgow tenement (since demolished) that Jack’s family lived in for a time – were early solo albums that contain some of his best solo work.

   

In 1971, he joined John McLaughlin and organist Larry Young in Tony Williams Lifetime – a pioneering jazz-rock band led by the explosive jazz drummer Tony Williams (who had been a standout with Miles Davis).

Some of the performers who have been members of Jack’s bands over the years include former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, former Jimi Hendrix drummer Mitch Mitchell, former Sly Stone keyboard player Bernie Worrell and jazz performers such as guitarist Larry Coryell and keyboardist Carla Bley – it was Bley who asked Jack to appear on her epic-length Escalator Over the Hill recording where Jack sang a short duet … with Linda Ronstadt (recorded remotely).

In more recent years, one of Jack’s mainstays was former “Living Color” guitarist Vernon Reid – and just a few years ago, they formed a tribute band to Tony Williams (named after one of Lifetime’s songs) called Spectrum Road – with the addition of keyboardist John Medeski (of Medeski, Martin & Wood) plus the fiery drummer Cindy Blackman – known today as Cindy Blackman Santana after her marriage to Carlos Santana.

If you are looking for career retrospectives: two I recommend are Willpower (from 1968-1988) which contains much of his best studio work and Cities of the Heart – a 1993 50th birthday party live show, also containing much of his best material.

   

As noted in the other Cream diary: one of the reasons why the Cream reunion came off (after thirty-seven years) was Jack’s aforementioned liver transplant in 2003 – which nearly failed. Jack recuperated enough to perform well at the 2005 reunions and resumed touring … yet the result of his heavy drug use years earlier eventually caught-up with him. Still, I was grateful that I had a chance to see Jack three times as a solo performer, and twice (once in London and once in New York) when Cream reunited for several shows in 2005. That same year, Jack and his long-time lyricist Pete Brown won an award from recording right organization BMI – for their song “White Room”.

       

I was also grateful that he lived to release one final album Silver Rails this past spring, and it is on my CD player as I write. Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker both posted eloquent tributes  …. and Eric Clapton even recorded a short (2-min) acoustic guitar tribute that he posted for free … click the following link to hear For Jack ….

Jack’s family posted this on Facebook …

Jack Bruce’s family would like to thank everyone for the kind words and messages from around the world with friends and fans sharing in their grief. Jack’s private funeral will be held on Wednesday 5th November at 10am, Golders Green Crematorium, London. Jack always liked a good audience, so fans are welcome to cheer his arrival at the final ‘gig’.

And that is what happened …. with many mourners including Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker.

Rest in peace, Jack …. and I’ll leave you with three of his tunes to play-us-out …..

One is my favorite song from his final album Silver Rails entitled Fields of Forever … you can hear that his once mellifluous voice had weakened, but was still vibrant:

Although I have other Jack Bruce favorite songs from Cream (including NSU, “Deserted Cities of the Heart” and the timely “Politician”) … my favorite song from the reunion concerts was, We’re Going Wrong – a song I’ve heard Jack sing with his own band … but hearing Cream perform it was the best.

And finally, perhaps the most elegant song he wrote/performed after his time with Cream. Theme for an Imaginary Western is a ballad that (metaphorically) refers to the pioneering British blues pioneers of the 1960’s, striking out in search of new territory. It appeared on Jack Bruce’s first solo album Songs for a Tailor – which was produced by Felix Pappalardi who had previously been Cream’s producer. Felix then brought it with him to his band Mountain, and others have since covered the song.

After Pappalardi was shot and killed by his wife in 1983, Jack Bruce had subsequently dedicated the song to Felix. And below you can hear it.

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 – an exhibition entitled Warhol On Vinyl: The Record Covers, 1949-1987 is at the Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan through March 15, 2014.

IN A PROFILE of the once (and now present) president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet hopes to remove the last vestiges of the Pinochet dictatorship, while noting that Latin America now has more women in high office than Europe.

WHILE IT’S A LENGTHY read, do have a look at this BBC story about the practice of “contract children” (or verdingkinder) in Switzerland – who were taken from their parents and sent to farms to work, which began in the 1850’s and which did not end until … the 1970’s.

THURSDAY’s CHILD is Linus the Cat – who has ruled the roost at Champlain College in Vermont …. but whose family will soon be moving, to the dismay of many on campus.

IT’S NOT AS DRAMATIC as Scotland’s independence vote: but newly re-elected conservative prime minister John Key has scheduled a binding referendum (in 2016) on changing part of the national flag of New Zealand – removing Britain’s Union Jack and replacing it with a silver fern.

FRIDAY’s CHILD is Sheldon the Cat – a Colorado kitteh who went missing for three years before being identified (by a shelter employee) due to his microchip …. actually a photo, as she recalled a cat with a funny shaped head being reported missing years before.

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

BOOK NOTES – a new book written by the father of the Norwegian far-right mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik – to give his side of the turmoil his son’s actions caused and his sense of responsibility – also says that Jens Breivik believes his son is becoming even more extreme in prison and fears his son will never allow his father to see him again.

MOTHER-DAUGHTER? – film star Priscilla Presley and TV star Tiffani-Amber Thiessen.

   

…… and finally, for a song of the week …………………….. in a busy week, I simply have time to post a brief tribute to the passing of my favorite musician of all time (and whom I will delve into in detail this coming Monday evening in the Top Comments diary).

For those whose favorite musicians are no longer alive (i.e., John Lennon, James Brown, Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Billie Holiday, Janis Joplin) I can now relate, with the death of Jack Bruce – best-known as the bassist of the super-group Cream from the 1960’s, with Ginger Baker on drums and a 23 year-old Eric Clapton on guitar – who died this past Saturday from liver disease. He was my musical hero and an inspiration to me as a bassist in my mis-spent youth.

This is hitting me harder than I expected it to … after all, he had a liver transplant in 2003, which prolonged his life for another eleven years. Yet in the end … it could do so no longer.

Yet he was not a sideman bassist: on the contrary, he wrote and sang much of Cream’s material in their short existence (1966-1968), was an accomplished cellist in his youth (earning a scholarship to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music) and often played keyboards on records and in concert.

If you only know him for the two hit songs he wrote/sang with Cream, Sunshine of your Love and White Room that’s not bad, but he was so much more.

He performed with pioneering English R&B singer Graham Bond (where he first performed with Baker), bluesman John Mayall (where he performed with Clapton), Manfred Mann, West, Bruce & Laing (a trio with 2/3 of the band Mountain), Tony Williams Lifetime (an early jazz-rock band), in bands with former Procol Harum guitarist Robin Trower, and leading his own bands for many years. I had a chance to see Jack three times as a solo performer, and twice (once in London and once in New York) when Cream reunited for several shows in 2005.

   

I was grateful that he lived to release one final album Silver Rails this past spring, and it is on my CD player as I write. More will come in my Top Comments diary this coming Monday … for now, two songs to remember him by.

One is my favorite song from his final album, Fields of Forever … you can hear that his once mellifluous voice had weakened, but was still vibrant:

The other is perhaps the most elegant song he wrote/performed after his time with Cream. Theme for an Imaginary Western is a ballad that (metaphorically) refers to the pioneering British blues pioneers of the 1960’s, striking out in search of new territory. It appeared on Jack Bruce’s first solo album Songs for a Tailor – which was produced by Felix Pappalardi who had previously been Cream’s producer. Felix then brought it with him to his band Mountain, and others have since covered the song. After Pappalardi was shot and killed by his wife in 1983, Jack Bruce had subsequently dedicated the song to Felix. And below you can hear it.

Settle down, Dems pic.twitter.com/VFMyBVe4mo

— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) November 1, 2014

In North Carolina …

North Carolina lines and signs in Cary NC today #KeepCalmVoteDem #UniteBlue @clayforNC @kayhagan VOTE 11/4 pic.twitter.com/utdJa2pVnv

— Music2MyEars  (@M2Meee) November 1, 2014

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Republicans Tried to Suppress the Black Vote in North Carolina. It’s Not Working.

If African-Americans manage to turn out at presidential-year levels-if they’re at least 21 percent of the electorate-Hagan will probably win, says Tom Jensen, director of the North Carolina-based polling firm Public Policy Polling.

That’s why the Hagan campaign, and its coordinated get-out-the-vote organization Forward North Carolina-along with the NAACP, state Democrats, and get-out-the-vote outfits-launched unprecedented efforts this year to mobilize black voters. […]

As of Thursday, 24 percent of early voters in North Carolina were African-American, according to records from the state board of elections. That’s up from just 17 percent at the same point during the last midterm elections in 2010.

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WaPo interviews DSCC director Guy Cecil about  the Senate: “There is a path to victory in every state”

Our job for the next six days is to win this election. It is not to figure out whether somebody should have been more or less involved. I believe that if the DSCC and our candidates and our allies stay focused on that, we have a shot. Despite the map, despite turnout, despite the midterms, we are in a position – doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed; doesn’t even mean it’s the most likely – to hold the majority. […]

We will end up somewhere between $60 and $65 million in our targeted states that is either transfered or raised by the DSCC or our candidates. Last week we knocked on 143,000 doors in Colorado. We have registered tens of thousands of voters in a number of states.

Turnout is required but not sufficient. We must engage in trying to change the electorate.

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This may not be the election that finally turns the tide but we are rapidly approaching that time. Gary Younge in the Guardian:

Republicans should temper their joy is because the Senate races reveal their national vulnerabilities. Of the 10 states considered toss-ups this year, Mitt Romney won seven and Obama won three in 2012. Obama won those races by 6% or less; Romney won all but two of his by more than double digits. Put bluntly, it shouldn’t even be close. But while Democrats are struggling in swing states that are supposed to be tough, like Iowa, Colorado, New Hampshire and North Carolina, Republicans are in trouble in Georgia, which has not voted Democratic in a presidential election since 1992. Meanwhile it has given up on states where they need to be competitive if they are to win back the White House, like Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia. […]

Take Georgia. The party’s core here, as elsewhere, is white men, married white women, evangelical Christians, the elderly and rural voters – only more so because it is in the south. All these categories but one are in decline. In the past decade the proportion of white registered voters in Georgia has declined from 72% to 59%; the Hispanic population here increased by 96% between 2000 and 2010 and Hispanic voter registration in that time increased by 400%; since 1990 the state’s rural population has fallen from 31% to 25%.

True, the population is ageing, but it is also dying out. Three-quarters of active registered voters over the age of 65 in Georgia are white, which is true for just under a third of those under 30. In short, thanks in no small part to their policies on everything from immigration reform to gay marriage, with each election cycle the Republican party needs to get more votes from fewer voters.

Gosh, conservatives, it must suck to be so obviously on losing side of history and feel your cultural & political relevance quickly decaying

— Sally Kohn (@sallykohn) October 28, 2014

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?

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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 highlighted the progress our economy is making, and the commonsense policies that could make it even stronger by ensuring that everyone who works hard has the opportunity to get ahead, especially women and working families.

This commitment has been a core part of the President’s Year of Action and a priority since the start of his administration, which is why he has put forth a range of policies that would help women and working families get ahead, from raising the minimum wage, to ensuring equal pay for equal work, to increasing access to high-quality child care and paid family leave. This week’s address follows remarks the President delivered on Friday at Rhode Island College, where he discussed the importance of harnessing our economy’s momentum by making policy choices that will help women and all working parents fully participate in and contribute to our economy.

Transcript: Weekly Address: It’s Time to Help Women and Working Families

Hi, everybody.  On Friday, I had a discussion with working women in Rhode Island about the economic challenges they face in their own lives — challenges shared by many of you.

Thanks to the work we’ve all put in, our economy has come a long way these past six years. Over the past 55 months, our businesses have added 10.3 million new jobs. For the first time in six years, the unemployment rate is below 6 percent. And on Thursday, we learned that over the past six months, our economy has grown at its fastest pace since 2003.

But the gains of a growing economy aren’t yet felt by everyone. So we’ve got to harness this momentum, and make the right choices so that everyone who works hard can get ahead.

In recent weeks, I’ve talked about these choices, from raising the minimum wage to creating new jobs in construction and manufacturing. Today, I want to focus on what I discussed with those women — the choices we need to make to help more women get ahead in today’s economy.

Right now, women make up almost half of our workers. More women are their family’s main breadwinner than ever before. So the simple truth is, when women succeed, America succeeds. And we should be choosing policies that benefit women — because that benefits all of us.

Women deserve fair pay. Even though it’s 2014, there are women still earning less than men for doing the same work. We don’t have second-class citizens in this country — we shouldn’t in the workplace, either. So let’s make sure women earn equal pay for equal work, and have a fair shot at success.

Women deserve to be able to take time off to care for a new baby, an ailing parent, or take a sick day for themselves without running into hardship. So let’s make sure all Americans have access to paid family leave.

Pregnant workers deserve to be treated fairly. Even today, women can be fired for taking too many bathroom breaks, or forced on unpaid leave just for being pregnant. That’s wrong — and we have to choose policies that ensure pregnant workers are treated with dignity and respect.

New parents deserve quality, affordable childcare. There’s nothing like the peace of mind that comes with knowing that your kids are safe while you’re at work. And the benefits that children get out of early enrichment can pay off for a lifetime. But in many states, sending your kid to daycare costs more than sending them to a public university. So let’s start demanding Pre-K for our kids.

And when most low-wage workers are women, but Congress hasn’t passed a minimum wage increase in seven years, it’s long past time that women deserve a raise. About 28 million workers would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage to ten dollars and ten cents an hour. And more than half of those workers are women. The local businesses where these workers spend their money would benefit, too. So let’s do this — let’s give America a raise.

All of these policies are common sense. All of them are within our reach. We’ve just got to speak up and choose them. Because they’ll build a stronger America for all of us.

Thanks, and have a great weekend.

Bolding added.

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