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 – photographs, drawings and paintings are among works in a Civil War exhibition entitled One Life: Grant and Lee – now at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. through May 15th.

LITERARY NOTES – a year after his death: some later works by the Nobel Prize-winning Irish poet Seamus Heaney are to be published.

ALTHOUGH I have rarely bought my groceries there (as its stores are not quite close-by and I have a membership at a co-op market) I have nonetheless been stunned by the reaction not only locally to the Market Basket resolution – but also the national reaction (to a chain that only operates in three New England states).

I think the key factor was that the other family members (in firing the popular CEO) may have anticipated the employees’ reaction (and assumed they could be crushed). But they probably never dreamed the customer base would rise against them. That doomed any chance they had.

This was similar to Larry Summers’ ouster at Harvard. He had antagonized the faculty, but might have held-on …. since he had won some (surprising) support from the students. But he lost the support of the alumni, according to Alex Beam of the Boston Globe – and that ultimately sunk-his-boat.

CHEERS to the efforts of groups (in western Africa) working diligently to empower young girls to say no …. to childhood marriage.

THURSDAY’s CHILD is Calico the Cat – our family cat growing up (who died circa 1985) and such a fine family pet: that even folks who didn’t like kittehs … made an exception for her.

ONE OF THE PUNDITS I have on my radar screen (besides Digby, Atrios, Charlie Pierce and Kevin Drum) is Ed Kilgore – who has a sober-minded analysis without some of the polemics and one-liners others have …. yet delivers this analysis of an address by Dr. Ben Carson – who complains of American citizens being persecuted for their thoughts:

(On) one level he sounds like Barack Obama circa 2004: we’re letting ideologues divide Americans who actually agree on most of the basic issues; we need to talk openly with each other and try to solve our problems based on what works; we need to see each other as fellow-citizens, not enemies.

But it becomes obvious very quickly that in the world of Carson and the people cheering him the “dividers” are all liberals, the “common sense” real Americans all agree on is constitutional conservatism, and “free discussion” means the right of constitutional conservatives to say things that offend other people without anyone “intimidating” them ….. via complaints or criticism.

THURSDAY’s CHILD is Tigger the Cat – an English kitteh reunited with his family – 17 months after going missing – due to his microchip.

HAIL and FAREWELL to Glenn Cornick – the original bassist in Jethro Tull – who has died at the age of 67 ….. and also Werner Franz – the last surviving member of the crew (a cabin boy) of the German zeppelin Hindenburg (which exploded in 1937) – who has died at the age of 92.

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

SIMILAR TO the upcoming Scottish independence referendum: hopes ran high for an independence from Spain referendum in the northeastern province of Catalonia – but revelations that its long-time leader had secret bank accounts in Switzerland have clouded the picture.

THE OTHER NIGHT yours truly hosted Top Comments with a photo diary of running the Berlin Marathon in 1990 … in the run-up to German reunification. Even though I had to leave before the midnight celebration – I still felt as if I had been a witness to history.

SEPARATED at BIRTH – the (mercifully) former owner of the LA Clippers basketball team Donald Sterling and GOP financier Sheldon Adelson – the Las Vegas casino magnate.

   

……………… and for a song of the week………………………………………………… people who love the blues all have their favorite musicians. Muddy Waters was the energetic star performer of Chicago blues, guitarist Robert Johnson is a Delta music legend (with John Lee Hooker a more modern spokesman), T-Bone Walker exemplified Texas blues, and B.B. King has become the public face of traditional blues. They and many others showcased the blues around the world.

Yet my favorite bluesman is someone not well known to the general public (nor especially known for his performances). But if you came-of-age listening to the British Invasion blues-based bands (or discovered them later) you will have heard many works by Willie Dixon who is truly one of the most important blues figures in general (and along with Muddy Waters, Chicago blues in particular). If all he did was act as Chess Records’ staff producer, arranger, A&R talent scout and in-house double bassist on many famous recordings: his place in history would be assured.

Yet it is his songwriting that endures. If you’ve ever heard a rock band perform “I’m Ready”, “Little Red Rooster”, “Spoonful”, “Back Door Man”, “Big Boss Man”, “I Just Want to Make Love to You”, “You Shook Me”, “I Can’t Quit You, Baby”, “Hoochie Coochie Man”, “I Ain’t Superstitious” and “My Babe” – among 500 others – then you have heard his work. And the tragedy is – like many other performers of his generation – he earned only a fraction of what he was owed until later in life.

The Vicksburg, Mississippi native was born in 1915 and like many from that region made his way to Chicago at age 25. He won the Illinois state Golden Gloves heavyweight championship in 1937, yet left in a dispute with his manager over … being cheated out of his earnings. Eventually he took up the double bass and performed in local bands. But his career stalled when he was imprisoned for ten months, after declaring himself a conscientious objector during WW-II. Military personnel escorted him from the stage of Chicago’s Pink Poodle club, in fact.

He later signed with the burgeoning blues label Chess Records in 1948 yet wound up not as a star performer but, instead: a full-time employee by 1951. His fame began when Muddy Waters had a hit with “Hoochie Coochie Man“, and he produced (as well as played bass with) many of the Chess family musicians such as Howlin’ Wolf, Otis Rush, Little Milton and Koko Taylor. Just to hear his ability as a rockin’ double bassist: have a listen at this link to him in a piano trio; not the way one usually hears him.

Yet all along his salary was not commensurate with his ability, and the lack of royalties resulting from his songwriting for Arc Music (Chess Records’ publishing wing) he became suspicious of when he saw the Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, The Yardbirds and numerous other bands find success with his songs in the 1960’s.

Chess Records was already going downhill when the blues began to fade after 1967, along with the death of founder Leonard Chess (and the subsequent sale of the company). In fact it was Willie who wrote the label’s last big-seller, Wang Dang Doodle that was made famous by Koko Taylor (who passed away five years ago).

Afterwards Willie Dixon began to perform again and had great success in Europe. Eventually, he and his manager began to collect back royalties from Arc Music and still later won a judgment against Led Zeppelin, as Whole Lotta Love was largely based on Dixon’s “You Need Love” …. and if you listen to Muddy Waters sing it at this link – you’ll see why Dixon prevailed in court.

Willie Dixon recorded a 1970 album called I Am the Blues in which he simply sang (with a back-up band) many of the tunes that rock bands had covered (as mentioned before). I would have loved to place a full-page ad in Rolling Stone for it, listing in various scripts the song titles … and then writing:

You’ve heard your favorite rock bands record these songs. Now, hear them sung by the man … who wrote them all.

Willie Dixon’s 1989 biography was also titled I Am the Blues and MCA released Chess Box – a boxed set of many Chess artists who had hits singing Willie Dixon tunes with him on bass. After losing a leg to diabetes, Willie Dixon died of heart failure in January 1992 at the age of 76. Even though it was only a short feature, I was touched that “Entertainment Tonight” mentioned his passing that evening. When he was inducted posthumously into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, the introduction (delivered by Chuck Berry) included this line: “In no small way, he served as a crucial link between the blues and rock and roll“.

In his later years, his most lasting act was to start Chicago’s Blues Heaven – to preserve the blues’ legacy and to secure copyrights and royalties for blues musicians who were exploited in the past. Today it also has a museum, located at 2120 South Michigan Avenue – the home of Chess Records from 1957-1967. His widow Marie Dixon runs it and today they also provide medical care to older musicians, plus workshops (and even a scholarship) to young people.

In December 2008, the film Cadillac Records – based upon the life of Leonard Chess – featured Cedric the Entertainer in the role of Willie Dixon. The former Cream bassist Jack Bruce cites Willie Dixon as one of his idols not only as a bassist – but a total musician.

And as long as bands want to play Willie Dixon songs: his name will endure. Indeed, as to the aforementioned Led Zeppelin song which borrowed from him: BBC Radio named the riff to Whole Lotta Love as the #1 guitar riff of all time. Willie Dixon must be looking down and smiling.

   

If I have to choose just one Willie Dixon tune: perhaps it’s best to choose one that came from his last studio album Hidden Charms from 1988 – especially since the lyrics to the song Blues You Can’t Lose sum-up the life of a bluesman. And at this link you can hear Willie Dixon sing it.

Twenty-four years later: a look at the city of Berlin, Germany just before reunification, after the jump ….  

From my twenties until early fifties (when I suffered a non-running leg injury), I ran several 5-k and 10k races a year. Never a good runner (I always finished in the last quartile for my age group) but it was a great incentive to stay-in-shape, plus I enjoyed the scenery, camaraderie and the chance to visit new towns and cities.

In the 80’s I ran two marathons, including the NYC Marathon in 1985. Both were spectacles I was glad to have run … yet having done them had no desire to do so again, as the amount of training needed was too much for me. And I would not have ….. but for a historical event I couldn’t pass-up five years later. This was the running of the 1990 Berlin Marathon in Germany … which for the first time in its history: would run into East Berlin.

The previous autumn of 1989, millions around the world had watched the Berlin Wall breached … a sight many had not thought they would live to see happen.

And, I believe, history will say to his credit: George Bush the Elder decided that the reuniting of Germany was time to restore full sovereignty to that nation … which Margaret Thatcher (and, somewhat secretly) François Mitterand opposed. Reunification was set for midnight of Tuesday, October 3rd, 1990 … and the Berlin Marathon was held on Sunday, September 30 (just before it).

Yet I probably would not have entered had I not been a subscriber to New England Runners magazine. The then-publisher of the magazine (John McGrath) and his sports nutritionist wife Nancy Clark were hosts of a trip sponsored by Marathon Tours to run this marathon. While the Berlin Marathon normally drew 15,000 runners, interest was so high in this race they had to cap registration at 25,000.

But thanks to a deal arranged by Marathon Tours: any North American who signed-up (and paid) for this trip by June – including airfare, one common evening meal and either hotel or B&B accommodations – were guaranteed a place. The magazine ran several full-page ads for it and the more I thought about it …. the more I wanted to go. This was a chance to see history being made.

Alas, for an accountant: the beginning of the month is normally a no-go-zone (especially at the small office I was then working at, where we had to report results fairly quick). I could see that I could not stay for the actual reunification itself …. but I wanted to run in this event badly. So my boss agreed to do some of my early work for me, if I was back at work on October 2nd.

We took Pan Am out of JFK … as Lufthansa was not allowed to fly into Soviet airspace before reunification. I stayed with a middle-aged woman named Erika Petzhold, who spoke serviceable English (and put-up with my feeble attempts at German). She cooked breakfast for me, even got me a day ticket for the subway (both the U-Bahn as well as the S-Bahn, which stopped near her home). She had an elderly father, whom I helped bring in his groceries … and made a friend. Weeks later I wrote her a thank-you note and got back a reply, saying if I ever returned, she’d give me a nice price-break … which I never availed myself of, alas.      

At the Friday night dinner sponsored by New England Runners I got to meet John McGrath and Nancy Clark, plus runners from across North America. And they were able to clear-up something I saw earlier that day: buses with Polish lettering (as the Polish border is only about 40 miles away) with people bringing many electronics boxes (VCR’s, receivers, etc.) onto the bus with them. Apparently, the old Soviet system did not have “customs” as we knew it (paying duties). But once reunification took place: they would have to pay duties crossing a border .. so this was their “last chance” for duty-free purchases.

I lost some of my photos years ago … but here are some I still have:

Here is the Kurfürstendamm (aka Ku-damm), the main commercial street of West Berlin.

Helmut Kohl was in a (ultimately successful) re-election campaign as Chancellor for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Party. The words “Freiheit, Wohlstand, Sicherheit”  translate as “Freedom, Prosperity and Security”. Kinda bland by our standards today, huh?

Many familiar musical acts were appearing at the time.

The Unter den Linden – “Under the Linden Trees” – a wide boulevard in East Berlin (not unlike Park Avenue in New York or Commonwealth Avenue in Boston).

Here is the Brandenburg Gate – a national landmark in Germany. Note the barriers around its base: it was on the edge of East Berlin and after the fall of the East German state it underwent renovation (as it had fallen into neglect) that was nearly complete when I took this photograph on September 28th. Normally, there is a horse-and-chariot on top: it was taken down for cleaning, and was later restored to it (a few weeks later).

On race day, September 30th – we were the first people (other than the workers and dignitaries) who were allowed to cross underneath the Brandenburg Gate, after renovation was complete. Runners who were wearing jerseys with the red/white/black colors of Germany (2/3 of the runners were natives, the program said) clapped their hands with sheer joy as they passed underneath. I have no such ancestry …. yet I did feel a moment of awe as we crossed into East Berlin.

Below is the Kaiser Wilhelm Church – one of the few structures in Berlin to survive the Allied bombing campaigns, and it was left as intact as possible … to serve as a reminder of the effects of war.

Most of the Wall (Die Mauer) had been taken down by the time of my arrival – but a few sections remained at the time of my arrival (note the strands of steel- reinforced concrete). There were plenty of folding tables set-up, with people selling parts of The Wall (along with surplus uniforms from East Germany’s hated secret police, The Stasi). I made no purchases; it would probably have been cheaper to just buy a claw hammer and pound away.

Below is the Museum of Checkpoint Charlie – the main crossing point from West to East Berlin. Many exhibits told the tale of those who tried to escape, and also spoke of persecution world-wide (in several two languages). Worth seeing if you ever go to Berlin. By the way, on the East Berlin side there was a large security office … whose windows were all broken at the time I arrived there.

A memorial site to those who attempted to cross The Wall … and didn’t survive.

The day before the race, there was a Frühstück Lauf – (Breakfast Run) – a short 2k (1-1/4) mile run from the Charlottenburg Palace to the old 1936 Olympic Stadium (shown below). We were allowed onto the field, where some rolls, coffee, hot chocolate, etc. awaited us. Quite a nice touch.

The address of the venue is Jesse-Owens-Allee (Avenue): honoring the African-American US track star who captured four gold medals while Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goering were in the stands. And his name is also inscribed onto one of the outside walls.

Today this venue is used mainly for soccer matches (the 2006 World Cup final between France and Italy took place there). But standing at mid-field: I was glad I had lost contact (in the rush) with not only some fellow American runners, but also the Danish runner I had spoken with on the last street before entering the stadium. I could not have shared my thoughts with anyone, wondering at the history of this stadium (imagining Hitler in the reviewing stand) …. and how the world was now about to change … once again.

You may not be able to see it well – but in the middle-center of the photo below) was the base of the old Olympic torch … and it was lit for us that day!

Later that day, there was a pasta party (sponsored by the Barilla firm of Italy) for athletes seeking to carbo-load before the next morning’s race. And like the breakfast that morning, all included in our entry fee.

Race-day morning photo, taken just after I got off the U-Bahn stop at Ernst Reuter Platz to get to the check-in area. The day started off drizzly, yet dried-up soon enough. Good day for a race, cool and a tad overcast … and a relatively flat course.

Alas, I could not break the 5-hour mark (as I had on a much more difficult course crossing many bridges in New York five years earlier). After I fetched my gear, I went to see some of the really, really late runners cross the finish line.

Here was the medal anyone who finished the race received: the flip side was dedicated to the Maine runner Joan Benoit Samuelson – who won the inaugural women’s marathon at the 1984 Olympic Games.

   

Incidentally, they set-up makeshift showers in the finish area: basically running garden hoses into large field tents. And as befits the different mind-set of Europeans: they did not segregate by gender, as one saw men and women showering near each other, handing bottles of liquid wash to each other. On the flight home, I recall more than one American or Canadian woman express trepidation over that. I didn’t even shower (as it was cool out, just needed a towel to mop-up and I was just a subway ride away from a hot shower) … but I could have assured them that – while there were a lot of things on my mind after the race – gawking would not have been among them.

Meanwhile, Wertheim Bank had this sign: “We salute all Marathon competitors”.

Although I could not stay for the actual reunification itself … I felt like I had been close-enough. One truly felt the winds of change blowing … and even as an American, the spirit touched me in a way that I still recall, lo these many years later.

Finally, this was not a photo, but a postcard I purchased. This references the long-time East German Communist leader Erich Honecker with these words:

Let’s close with a tune that is quite apropos for this story. At about the 5-mile mark, the race went into East Berlin for the first time in its history …. although it was only for a few minutes, I heard more cheering there than at any other part of the race. This was old hat to West Berliners …. but not there.

And going down one side street: I saw someone had placed their stereo speakers out the window so we could hear them. And wotta choice: playing an old Spencer Davis Group song (with a then-seventeen year-old Steve Winwood singing). I caught a glimpse of someone standing in that window, and just as the song’s title came up: I raised my arms and shouted Keep on Running to him …… quite an apt choice for a historic day.

Welcome to The Moose Pond! The Welcomings diary series 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.

BONUS VIDEO: The president spoke at Laborfest 2014 from Milwaukee WI Monday afternoon.

From the White House – Weekly Address

In this week’s address, the President wished Americans a Happy Labor Day weekend, highlighted the important economic progress we’ve made, and reaffirmed his commitment to accelerate our progress and ensure that our growing economy fuels a strong middle class.

To do this, the President reiterated that Congress should do right by hardworking Americans across the country and raise the minimum wage, and he praised the 13 states and Washington, D.C. as well as employers large and small who have heeded his call and taken action to provide their citizens and employees a fair wage.

The President underscored that America built the world’s greatest middle class by making sure that everyone who’s willing to work hard and play by the rules can get ahead – an economic patriotism worth remembering this Labor Day, and every day.

Transcript: Weekly Address: This Labor Day, Let’s Talk About the Minimum Wage

Hi, everybody.  Whether you’re firing up the grill, fired up for some college football, or filling up the car for one last summer roadtrip – Happy Labor Day weekend.

We set aside Labor Day to honor the working men and women of America.  And this Labor Day, we’ve got more to celebrate.  Over the past 53 months, our businesses have added nearly 10 million new jobs.  Last month, for the first time since 1997, we created more than 200,000 jobs for six straight months.  And for the first time in over a decade, business leaders worldwide have declared, two years running, that the number one place to invest isn’t China – it’s America.

So there are reasons to be optimistic about where we’re headed.  And the decisions we make now will determine whether or not we accelerate this progress – whether economic gains flow to a few at the top, or whether a growing economy fuels rising incomes and a thriving middle class.

Think about it this Labor Day.  The things we often take for granted – Social Security and Medicare, workplace safety laws and the right to organize for better pay and benefits, even weekends – we didn’t always have these things.  Workers and the unions who get their back had to fight for them. And those fights built a stronger middle class.

To build a stronger middle class in today’s changing economy, we’ve got to keep fighting.  We’ve got to fight for the right to affordable health insurance for everybody.  The right to fair pay, family leave, and workplace flexibility.  The right to a fair living wage.

Let me focus on that last one for a minute.  In America, no one who works full-time should ever have to raise a family in poverty.  A hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.  And raising the minimum wage would be one of the best ways to give a boost to working families.  It would help around 28 million Americans from all walks of life pay the bills, provide for their kids, and spend that money at local businesses.  And that grows the economy for everyone.

The bottom line is, America deserves a raise.  But until we’ve got a Congress that cares about raising working folks’ wages, it’s up to the rest of us to make it happen.  And in the year and a half since I first asked Congress to raise the minimum wage, Americans of all walks of life are doing just that.

Thirteen states and D.C. have done their part by raising their minimum wages.  Four more states have minimum wage initiatives on the ballot this November.  And the states where the minimum wage has gone up this year have experienced higher job growth than the states that haven’t.

Business leaders at companies like The Gap are doing their part.  They’re raising base wages for tens of thousands of workers because they know it’s good for business.

Mayors across the country are doing their part.  Mayor Emanuel in Chicago and Mayor Garcetti in L.A. are working to lift their cities’ wages over time to at least thirteen dollars an hour.

I’ve tried to do my part by requiring companies that get contracts with the federal government to pay their workers a fair wage of ten dollars and ten cents an hour.

And earlier this month, the president of Kentucky State University set a great example by giving himself a $90,000 pay cut, so that he could give raises to his lowest-paid employees.  His sacrifice will give more of his workers and their families a little extra money to help make ends meet.

That’s how America built the greatest middle class the world has ever known.  Not by making sure a fortunate few at the top are doing well, but by making sure that everyone who’s willing to work hard and play by the rules can get ahead. That’s the bedrock this country is built on.  Hard work.  Responsibility.  Sacrifice.  And looking out for one another as one united American family.

Let’s keep that in mind this Labor Day, and every day.  Have a great weekend, everybody.

Bolding added.

~

August 28th was the final day of a week-long call to action by Rev. William Barber, his call for a  Moral Week of Action.

The topic was Voting Rights and was marked by a rally encouraging people to vote their dreams, not their fears.

(Note: Reverend Barber speaks at 11:27)

More video from the rally and all 7 days of the Moral Week of Action can be found here: Livestream

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The date August 28th was chosen because it was the date in 1955 that a 14 year old black boy, Emmitt Till, was murdered in Mississippi for speaking to a white woman. His murder galvanized the Civil Rights Movement and inspired Rosa Parks to protest in Montgomery AL and was also the day that Martin Luther King led the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and shared his dream.

Transcript: “I Have A Dream”

More …

On August 28, 2008, another famous black American, Barack Hussein Obama accepted the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party, and 5 years later, as President of the United States, he spoke at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC at the 50th anniversary of the March:

Transcript

Five decades ago today, Americans came to this honored place to lay claim to a promise made at our founding:  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

In 1963, almost 200 years after those words were set to paper, a full century after a great war was fought and emancipation proclaimed, that promise — those truths — remained unmet.  And so they came by the thousands from every corner of our country, men and women, young and old, blacks who longed for freedom and whites who could no longer accept freedom for themselves while witnessing the subjugation of others.[…]

And because they kept marching, America changed.  Because they marched, a Civil Rights law was passed.  Because they marched, a Voting Rights law was signed.  Because they marched, doors of opportunity and education swung open so their daughters and sons could finally imagine a life for themselves beyond washing somebody else’s laundry or shining somebody else’s shoes. (Applause.)  Because they marched, city councils changed and state legislatures changed, and Congress changed, and, yes, eventually, the White House changed. (Applause.)  […]

But we would dishonor those heroes as well to suggest that the work of this nation is somehow complete. The arc of the moral universe may bend towards justice, but it doesn’t bend on its own. To secure the gains this country has made requires constant vigilance, not complacency.  Whether by challenging those who erect new barriers to the vote, or ensuring that the scales of justice work equally for all, and the criminal justice system is not simply a pipeline from underfunded schools to overcrowded jails, it requires vigilance.  (Applause.)

And we’ll suffer the occasional setback.  But we will win these fights.  This country has changed too much.  (Applause.) […]

In some ways, though, the securing of civil rights, voting rights, the eradication of legalized discrimination — the very significance of these victories may have obscured a second goal of the March.  For the men and women who gathered 50 years ago were not there in search of some abstract ideal.  They were there seeking jobs as well as justice — (applause) — not just the absence of oppression but the presence of economic opportunity.  (Applause.)

For what does it profit a man, Dr. King would ask, to sit at an integrated lunch counter if he can’t afford the meal?  This idea — that one’s liberty is linked to one’s livelihood; that the pursuit of happiness requires the dignity of work, the skills to find work, decent pay, some measure of material security — this idea was not new.  Lincoln himself understood the Declaration of Independence in such terms — as a promise that in due time, “the weights should be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance.”  

And Dr. King explained that the goals of African Americans were identical to working people of all races:  “Decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old-age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children, and respect in the community.”[…]

We shouldn’t fool ourselves.  The task will not be easy.  Since 1963, the economy has changed.  The twin forces of technology and global competition have subtracted those jobs that once provided a foothold into the middle class — reduced the bargaining power of American workers.  And our politics has suffered.  Entrenched interests, those who benefit from an unjust status quo, resisted any government efforts to give working families a fair deal — marshaling an army of lobbyists and opinion makers to argue that minimum wage increases or stronger labor laws or taxes on the wealthy who could afford it just to fund crumbling schools, that all these things violated sound economic principles. We’d be told that growing inequality was a price for a growing economy, a measure of this free market; that greed was good and compassion ineffective, and those without jobs or health care had only themselves to blame.

And then, there were those elected officials who found it useful to practice the old politics of division, doing their best to convince middle-class Americans of a great untruth — that government was somehow itself to blame for their growing economic insecurity; that distant bureaucrats were taking their hard-earned dollars to benefit the welfare cheat or the illegal immigrant.[…]

The March on Washington teaches us that we are not trapped by the mistakes of history; that we are masters of our fate.  But it also teaches us that the promise of this nation will only be kept when we work together.  We’ll have to reignite the embers of empathy and fellow feeling, the coalition of conscience that found expression in this place 50 years ago. […]

Everyone who realizes what those glorious patriots knew on that day — that change does not come from Washington, but to Washington; that change has always been built on our willingness, We The People, to take on the mantle of citizenship — you are marching.  (Applause.)

And that’s the lesson of our past.  That’s the promise of tomorrow — that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it.  That when millions of Americans of every race and every region, every faith and every station, can join together in a spirit of brotherhood, then those mountains will be made low, and those rough places will be made plain, and those crooked places, they straighten out towards grace …

~

Recap of the Moral Week of Action event:

This morning driving to work, I heard Frank DeFord say the following on NPR.

But here’s a tip to the White House media office. Never, never again let the president be photographed in a golf cart. What is the wussiest item in all of sports? A golf cart – that electric chaise lounge. A movable divan. Could you ever picture Vladimir Putin in a golf cart? You think Angela Merkel poses in a golf cart? In a pig’s eye.

Really? Nothing else going on the world of sport? You gotta criticize the President for something you wouldn’t think twice about for Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan, Carter, Ford (read the white guys).

Mr. DeFord goes on…

I’m telling the president, just stay completely away from golf courses and get back to your basketball court.

Really? Any dietary advice while you’re at it?  Have you seen the President’s thighs? Any thoughts on swimming?

and, BTW, who’s that chauffeuring President Bush around St. Petersburg?

And, whiskey-tango-foxtrot… say it ain’t so!

From the White House blog:

From our spacious skies and fruited plains to our purple mountain majesties, the United States boasts some of the world’s most breathtaking natural lands. On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson created the National Park Service to formally protect and preserve these lands so people all over the world could experience America’s historic beauty and heritage for years to come.

Today, the National Park Service manages 401 national parks and memorials, which supported 238,000 jobs and pumped more than $26 billion into local economies last year. In fact, for every $1 we invest in our national parks, our economy sees $10 in return.

Take a glimpse at what the National Park Service has been working to preserve for 98 years, and follow the National Park Service and the U.S. Department of Interior on Twitter to see more of what makes America so beautiful.  

The NPS is 98 today! Dir. Jarvis & friends celebrate with new Centennial logo -only 2 years to go! #NationalParks pic.twitter.com/pHV2fFw54E

— NationalParkService (@NatlParkService) August 25, 2014

More Tweets from the National Park Service (@NatlParkService) and the Dept of the Interior (@Interior):

Sunset in Cades Cove in Great Smoky Mountains National Park by Kristina Plaas. pic.twitter.com/TMzGrl7C3X

— US Dept of Interior (@Interior) August 23, 2014

Monday is @NatlParkService 98th birthday & all entrance fees will be waived. Please RT to spread the word! pic.twitter.com/PGXHuWUHve

— US Dept of Interior (@Interior) August 22, 2014

.@SecretaryJewell travels to Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Natl Parks are free Monday & more this week @Interior http://t.co/46P5VxA8Vk

— US Dept of Interior (@Interior) August 22, 2014

What’s the future of rainfall in national parks? Well, it’s complicated: http://t.co/qFUDgvFW7M #ActOnClimate pic.twitter.com/R8G4211Toj

— NationalParkService (@NatlParkService) August 5, 2014

Thank you, President Wilson, and presidents and Congresses since 1916, for preserving and protecting our natural resources. The National Park Service: “America’s Best Idea”.

National Park Service

Since 1916, the American people have entrusted the National Park Service with the care of their national parks. With the help of volunteers and park partners, we are proud to safeguard these more than 400 places and to share their stories with more than 275 million visitors every year. But our work doesn’t stop there.

We are proud that tribes, local governments, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and individual citizens ask for our help in revitalizing their communities, preserving local history, celebrating local heritage, and creating close to home opportunities for kids and families to get outside, be active, and have fun.

Taking care of the national parks and helping Americans take care of their communities is a job we love, and we need-and welcome-your help and support.

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”.

SEPARATED at BIRTH – “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling and TV/film star Felicity Huffman – best known for “Desperate Housewives”.

   

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

ART NOTES – numerous types of work (with one thing in common) are in an exhibition entitled Gold at the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach, Florida through January 11th.

HAIL and FAREWELL to the former Rolling Stone music journalist Charles M. Young – who has died at the age of 63.

HISTORY NOTES – a 93-year-old nun has been questioned regarding the alleged abduction of babies in public and private hospitals in Chile during the military dictatorship (1973-90) of Augusto Pinochet.

WEDNESDAY’s CHILD is Elias the Cat – the winner of Britain’s “Most Caring Cat” award by helping an Army vet consumed by the painful effects of post-traumatic stress disorder.

DEBAUCHERY CENTRAL – three married Swiss couples who were having sex in a van when their driver was stopped by Spanish policemen have been fined ….. for not wearing their seatbelts.

FROM A PROFILE of José Mujica, the outgoing president of Uruguay – someone who spent ten years in solitary confinement has little need for trappings .. which is why he drives an old VW Beetle and has lunch in the bars of his capital city.

THURSDAY’s CHILD is Legz the Cat – the (three-legged) winner of Britain’s “Rescue Cat of the Year” award who rules-the-roost at a pub in London … and has inspired many locals to adopt rescue cats of their own (and even one to begin volunteering for a cat charity).

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

EMPLOYMENT RECRUITING is being changed (at least for professional careers) by LinkedIn – where recruiters are able to spot those who are not actively looking for a new job but are ‘persuadable’ … as well as helping large firms evaluate its own internal talent pool.

FRIDAY’s CHILD is Mr. Chips the Cat – the winner of Britain’s “Better Together” award by helping a man suffering from numerous ailments cope … even bouts of suicidal thought.

HAPPY TRAILS to the youngsters from Chicago, the Jackie Robinson West baseball team … who lost to a team from South Korea in the Little League World Series championship match today.

Chicago had eliminated the Philadelphia team featuring star pitcher Mo’Ne Davis – who was on a recent cover of Sports Illustrated – in order to get where they were today.

AN INTERESTING THEORY was posited in today’s NY Times:

Over the last few decades, residents of many traditionally liberal states have moved to states that were once more conservative. And this pattern has played an important role in helping the Democratic Party win the last two presidential elections and four of the last six.

SEPARATED at BIRTH – “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling and TV/film star Felicity Huffman – best known for “Desperate Housewives”.

   

…… and finally, for a song of the week ………………….. for the past twenty-five years, one of the premiere singer-songwriters has been Sarah McLachlan – whom Chris Woodstra of the All-Music Guide describes as performing ‘atmospheric folk-pop’. Either way, she has not only carved out her own niche but has also championed the work of female musicians and participated in numerous charities (both musical and otherwise) that make her a familiar face around the world.

Born in 1968 in Halifax, Nova Scotia she was an adopted child who studied music from a young age. She began fronting a New Wave rock band called October Game and – after appearing as an opening act at a Canadian university concert – was offered a contract to be a solo performer. She agreed, but on the condition her parents set: complete high school and spend at least one year of college (attending the Nova Scotia School of Design). In her high school yearbook she was voted Most Likely to Be a Rock Star – and while most would not describe her work as being rock music, she did say on a recent CBS Sunday Morning profile that she does have a rock and roll side.

Her 1989 debut album Touch spawned a minor hit single Vox and resulted in her being distributed by Clive Davis’ Arista label. The 1991 followup album Solace was her break-through album in Canada, and was produced by Pierre Marchand – who has been her collaborator ever since (even co-writing a few songs). Songs such as The Path of Thorns and Into the Fire helped begin to generate an audience in the US as well. At this time, she travelled to Cambodia and Thailand to provide material for a Canadian documentary on poverty and child prostitution … which helped shape her future efforts to give back to the community.

Her break-through album worldwide was 1993’s Fumbling Towards Ecstasy – partly on the strength of songs such as Good Enough and one about a stalker, Possession – which spent 62 weeks in the US charts. She also recorded the 1995 theme song for the Brothers McMullen film, entitled I Will Remember You – which enjoyed chart success in North America both in 1995 and 1999.

It was in 1996 that Sarah McLachlan grew tired of being told by both concert promoters (and radio station managers) that featuring two female musicians in-a-row was … not profitable. She booked a tour with singer Paula Cole that sold well, and a show in her hometown of Halifax featured the two along with Lisa Loeb … that bore the name Lilith Fair – after the medieval legend that Lilith was Adam’s first wife.

The next year, she helped organized a Lilith Fair tour – which had some male musicians on-stage, just that each act had to be led by female musicians – that grossed $16 million and generated $7 million for charitable causes. A second and third tour followed in 1998 and 1999 before being discontinued – alas, an attempt to revive the tour in 2010 had to be cancelled 2/3 of the way through due to poor ticket sales.

Meanwhile, in 1997 Sarah McLachlan released her fourth album Surfacing – which remains her best-selling album to-date, with songs such as Building a Mystery and Last Dance (both of which earned Grammy Awards). It also featured perhaps her best-known song Angel – dedicated to the Smashing Pumpkins keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin (who died as the result of a drug overdose) and the song was featured in the film City of Angels in 1998.

Her first live album Mirrorball was released in 1999 just as she was taking a hiatus from touring – for the birth of her first child – although she did put in guest appearances on Sheryl Crow’s 1999 Live in Central Park show, singing the Randy Newman song When She Loved Me – from the Toy Story 2 soundtrack (that earned an Oscar nomination) and also sang on a 2001 Stevie Nicks solo album, among others.

She returned in 2003 with the album Afterglow – which featured singles such as Fallen, Stupid and World on Fire – plus a second live album the following year. In 2006 she released the album Wintersong – featuring traditional Christmas carols as well as other songs of the season (such as Song for a Winter’s Night by Gordon Lightfoot). That same year she sang the Dave Stewart (of The Eurythmics fame) song Ordinary Miracle for the Charlotte’s Web film.

As noted, all along she has been involved in numerous benefit/charity works. Some of these include: performing at a 1997 show for the Leonard Peltier defense fund, at the 2005 Live 8 concert in Philadelphia and also writing a letter (on behalf of PETA) in 2012 to her own prime minister, Stephen Harper – protesting Canada’s annual seal hunt.

In recent years, you have seen her on several public service announcements for the ASPCA – urging the adoption of shelter cats and dogs – over the music of her songs such as Angel and Answer. Some feel the spots are overly maudlin …… and in response: during this past February’s Super Bowl, an ad for Audi featured her in a spoof with a Doberhuahua gnawing on her guitar’s neck. And close to her heart: the Sarah McLachlan School of Music opened in her adopted hometown of Vancouver: providing free music lessons to at-risk children.

In this decade, she recorded the song One Dream as the official theme song of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and released the album Laws of Illusion that same year. In 2011 she performed Angel and I Will Remember You at the 10-year anniversary commemoration of the Pennsylvania crash site of United Flight 93 on 9-11. And just this past May, she released her latest album Shine On – dedicated to the death of her adoptive father – her first release on Verve after having left Arista Records after twenty years.

At age forty-six, Sarah McLachlan has already won three Grammy Awards, eight Canadian Juno Awards, a Kiwanis International award for the founding of her Vancouver music school and a 1998 Elizabeth Cady Stanton award for advancing the interests of women in the music field. She has a 2013 compilation album of note and – having completed a major US tour launches a Canadian tour in October.

   

And while “I Will Remember You” is my favorite song of hers ….. I most enjoy hearing her on a song where she is a duet singer … because the back-story is so powerful.

In 1997, Darryl McDaniels (of the hip-hop group Run-D.M.C) credited Sarah McLachlan’s song “Angel” with steering him away from suicide (for a multitude of problems) and told her so a year later. He didn’t discover (until his thirties) that he was adopted, and devoted his time and efforts into helping adopted child support groups.

And he had an interesting idea for a song: wanting to reprise the Harry Chapin classic Cat’s in the Cradle – but with revised lyrics about being adopted (and this time, with a happy ending). He obtained the blessing of Harry Chapin’s family .. and picks up the story from there:

Then a light goes on in my head. I’mma get that lady. That lady whose record helped me, I’mma get her to help me make a record that’s gonna help somebody else.

She agreed to sing the chorus for him, and here is the resulting record.

Then, once the record was finished: Sarah McLachlan told McDaniels …. that she, too was adopted. McDaniels was floored.

That’s what music is supposed to do. I call up the lady that touched my life and then she tells me we had that in common. That’s miraculous.

And below you can hear their collaboration entitled “Just Like Me”.

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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