Start speadin' the news

Off to NYC

Hey Folks,

Friday I'm on my way to New York City for shows Friday, Saturday, and Tuesday nights.

You can see the Tuesday show on your computer screen - see posting a little ways below.

Pickings here may be sparce for a while (especially the graphics), but I'll be back at it under full steam next Thursday.

Yours - Uke Man

They Keep Killing Kenny

Something from a While Back that Still Applies!!!!

Hey Folks,

Why do we kill? Well, here's what I said a while back. Killing is as American as apple pie!

- Uke Man


Natural Raised Killers


A while back some angry kids went on a killing spree at their school, and the nation went on an hysterical binge. How could children - "good," wealthy, white children for-God's-sake - go on a violent rampage? It was un-American, unthinkable!! Everyone wanted an explanation of the inexplicable. About the best they could do was to lean on the “Goths” and other "misfits" who "obviously" suffered prominence-envy in comparison with their social betters. Here and there around the country diligent up-scale school officials imposed “zero tolerance” and took advantage of the immediately available psychological profiling programs so as to identify and label the potential “killers” and, thereby, provide a sense of security, responsibility, and hope.

Well, forget that. Let's face facts. Americans kill because Americans love to kill. "Columbine" was devastating not because it involved killing, but because it broke the rules. In America proper killing, is more than acceptable; it is honorable. Some of our greatest role models are killers, directly or indirectly. They are the ones (cops, vigilantes, CIA agents, the military)who kill people that "need" to be killed and those (prosecutors, judges, legislators, governors, presidents) who put the “hit” out on those among us who “need” to be killed.

We killed the indigenous people of this continent by the rules. We killed immigrant and native-born workers - by the rules - when they tried to unionize. We killed black Americans - by the rules - whenever they "needed" lynching. Around the world we have killed and continue to kill foreigners - by the rules - whenever it is said to advance American "interests" (regardless of the foreigners' interests); and Americans still kill "criminals" - by the rules - whenever we get the chance.

Heroes? Role models? There are plenty of natural-born killers in our Pantheon. Historically, the list of honored killers is lengthy, as is the list of those who "honorably" ordered killings: the "great" explorers, "kindly" Puritans, "valiant" Indian fighters, “sturdy” pioneers, "romantic" plantation owners, Manifest Destiny politicians, Rockefeller, Carnegie, the B&O Railroad, Pinkerton agents, coal companies, and a myriad of officially "honorable" presidents, congressmen, governors, judges, and mayors - just to mention a few.

Ronald Reagan killed a baby with a missile. George Bush the Elder gratuitously annihilated helpless, fleeing Iraqi troops. Ohio's Governor James Rhodes allowed protesting students to be killed. Bill Clinton ordered bombings that killed foreign civilians. Pat Robertson publicly supported assassination of America’s “enemies.” The current president, George Bush the Younger, proudly defends his home state's record use of capital punishment. Long ago, before any talk of attacking Iraq, ABC News big-wig/bad-wig Sam Donaldson demanded on his ABC Sunday-morning “news” program that Saddam Hussein be killed.
Now hardly a day goes by without some talking head calling for, promising, or congratulating the killing of someone.

None of this even raises a mainstream eyebrow because it is all “by the rules.” We are allowed to kill those who “need” killing. Moreover, it is our duty to kill them, and our stature is increased by doing so. Those few who may argue otherwise are ignored, overwhelmed, or – if necessary – silenced.

At the same time, killing outside the rules is not only illegal but “wrong.” If a foreign head of state killed an American baby (not to mention, a president’s adopted grandchild as was the case in Reagan’s Libyan adventure), it would be unspeakably “evil.” Blowing up American soldiers is called “terrorism.” If some foreign leader advocated the assassination of Pat Robertson or Sam Donaldson, there would be a moral outrage (except, perhaps, on the part of Robertson’s understudy and ABC’s advertising executives ).

One American, the president, can “justifiably” blow up any building in the foreign world, thereby killing the folks who work there and still get his pension. The man who blew up a building in Oklahoma (America), killing numerous people, has been executed.

Clearly, the question of “violence in America” suffers from the old “do as I say, not as I do” syndrome. The obvious reality is that America is not against violence and killing. America sanctions killing, essentially licensing certain people, groups, organizations, and institutions to kill under certain circumstances and in accordance with various rules and procedures.

As a result, the message America sends its children (as well as its adults) is not “violence and killing are wrong,” but “killing without permission is wrong.” The message is not that human life is sacred, but that killing is commendable if the killer is sanctioned, but wrong if he is not. This is a low standard.

As a result, “unsanctioned” killers such as those at Columbine need not wrestle with the question “Is killing wrong?” ; obviously (and officially) it is not. No, the question is, “Am I, somehow, sanctioned to kill?” It seems the latter question is much more subject to rationalization than the former – especially in a nation awash with notions of individuality, self-determination, “intrusive/unresponsive” government, vigilantism, and revenge (as in “I’d pull the switch myself!”).

If America truly valued life, young people and others would have to face a real moral dilemma: breaking a taboo, but as it is, they can emulate presidents, judges, prosecutors, policemen, ministers, and TV “celebrities” by deciding for themselves who should live and die.

In his inaugural speech, George Bush the Younger said, that “no insignificant person was ever born,” but he did not address the relative significance of the 135 people he executed as governor of Texas, nor the significance of those innocent persons who most certainly have died over the years at the hands of sanctioned state executions. Talk is cheap, and cheap talk combined with “zero tolerance,” “outrage,” and “psychological profiling” will not end or even seriously reduce killing in schools, federal buildings, or anywhere else. Only a true respect for life can do that. As long as America has rules that sanction killing, many Americans, when faced with difficulties – real or imagined - will follow their own rules and kill. It’s the American way.

Jason Tagg at the console for M.U.D.

How to Watch the Uke Man on TV via Computer

Hey Folks -

In a few days I’ll be heading to New York for two shows (scroll down to earlier postings for details) and a local access TV program, "Midnight Ukulele Disco." You can check out the show's archives at: http://www.ukuleledisco.com/ (lots of uke videos - I'm among 'em).

But to see the Uke Man LIVE Tuesday Night, May 1, here's what you do:

A bit before 9:00 Go to: http://www.ukuleledisco.com/about

you’ll see: “Live web stream”: http://www.mnn.org/

Click on it. On the next screen, on the left you’ll find:
56/84 http mms (the show is on channel 56)

Click on it, and there you are (on my computer, I also have to click “Launch External Player” when a small screen pops up).

If you can't be in New York for the stage shows Friday and Saturday, tune in the PC tube to NYC on Tuesday!!

See you then,

- Uke Man

Don't cry for these crybabies, Venezuela.

Hey Folks,

The other day driving home I heard an NPR "Market Place" piece purporting to compare the Bush/Gonzales and Hugo Chavez policies on firing government employees. The performance gave credence to the point I've made before: The news is almost always presented from the perspective of the privileged.

Bush's firing of supporters (8 U.S. attorneys) who weren't aggressive enough against Democrats before the election is compared to Chavez' firing of public detractors ("on a much wider scale").

Then four members of the privileged class (2 Venezuelans [government lawyer & a film-maker] and 2 Americans [both capitalistic economists - see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riordan_Roett] ) weigh in with their self-interested, class-freighted comments.

You can listen to the piece at: http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/04/10/PM200704106.html

The transcript is below. I've commented in red.


- Uke Man



KAI RYSSDAL: The House Judiciary Committee sent Attorney General Alberto Gonzales a little note today. Part of it was in Latin, though. The word "subpoena" was right at the top of the page. Congress is looking for more information about the firing of those eight U.S. attorneys as the controversy moves into the political arena.

There is a somewhat similar controversy going on in Venezuela. The politics of the two presidents involved, Chavez and Bush, couldn't be more different. But critics in Caracas say there it's blatant political discrimination happening against some government workers there, and on a much wider scale. The critics are the ones who, before Chavez, blatantly abused 80% of the population for personal gain, and would again if they could eliminate Chavez. From the Americas Desk at WLRN, Marketplace's Dan Grech reports.

DAN GRECH: Rocio San Miguel worked as an attorney for 13 years with the Venezuelan government. In December 2003, she signed a petition to recall President Hugo Chavez, who she felt was abusing his power. And keeping her from abusing hers.

Sorry, folks, but this poor little rich kid can't be too bright. Government jobs are GOVERNMENT jobs. In our country you won't keep your job long if you're signing recall petitions against your boss. And it's worse in the private sector.

The names of those who signed were leaked to a Chavez loyalist, Congressman Luis Tascon, and posted on his website.

[SOUND: Chavez on TV]

Chavez even promoted the site live on national TV. Sort of like having Robert Novak out Valerie Plame.

PRESIDENT CHAVEZ:Doble v doble v doble v punto luis tascon punto com. [www.luistascon.com] Metense alli.

One month after she signed, San Miguel was summoned into her boss's office.

ROCIO SAN MIGUEL [voice of translator]: He told me that, unfortunately, he had to fire me. He said, "How could it have occurred to you to sign against the guy who pays you?"

San Miguel experienced a cascade of emotions.

SAN MIGUEL: Indignation. Impotence. Anguish. I knew right away that something terrible was happening to me. And I began to collect evidence. Hmm. . . just like Wal-Mart employees fired for trying to start a union against their boss's wishes - but that's different.

San Miguel was one of three people in her office who signed the petition against Chavez. All three were fired. Duh!!! Try and recall what Tom Delay pulled regarding corporations hiring ONLY Republican lobyists.

The Venezuelan constitution forbids discriminating against employees for their political beliefs. Nonetheless, according to the Organization of American States, the Chavez administration has shown a growing "tendency to intimidate, harass, and stigmatize" the opposition. Our laws forbid the union-busting activities regularly practiced by outfits such as Wal-Mart, but the laws are never enforced. You don't hear much about THAT around here.

The public employees union in Venezuela documented 780 cases of political discrimination, including 200 firings. There are 25,375,000 Venezuelans. Eighty percent of them (or 20,300,000) are poor, and they have ALWAYS been discriminated against politically and otherwise. If 200 people have to be fired, 200 people who don't like Chavez working to help 20 MILLION people, that doesn't sound so bad to me. It's a lot better than the other way round.

Wesleyan University's Francisco Rodriguez says this amounts to economic blackmail. Sort of like the World Bank applies economic blackmail: "Screw your people over for our gain, or there will be a high cost; you're not going to have an economy; we'll screw all 25,375,281 of you."

FRANCISCO RODRIGUEZ: OK, so you want to become an opponent of Chavez? That's going to have a high cost. You're not going to have a job. All 200 of you!!

Political patronage has always been part of the landscape here in Venezuela. But Riordan Roett with Johns Hopkins University says Chavez has turned ideological discrimination into a science. Hey, Bozo, take a look at Bush & Co. regarding lobbyists, prosecutors, contractors, appointees, CIA and FBI intelligence operatives, the White House press corps, etc. - It's generally recognized that Bush has "turned ideological discrimination into a science."

RIORDAN ROETT: It really has become a monstrous mechanism for placing fear in the hearts of many Venezuelans. Yeah, the former ruling class - the ones who haven't already fled - are justifiably crapping themselves.

Three and a half million people signed a petition against Chavez in 2003. That's about 14% of the total population, and doesn't even include the entire ruling class - 6% short.

ROETT: These people have now been identified as enemies of the state (enemies of the people). Many people have lost their job, others cannot be hired. It's also generated outward migration. People have begun to leave, and in relatively large numbers. What did I say?

Roett says the government is accused of using the list to screen applicants for social programs, scholarships, even credit from state banks. Golly, why shouldn't the wealthiest 20% get first shot at social programs, scholarships, and credit from state banks - instead of the losers in the 80% below the poverty level???

ROETT: And so it really has become a blacklist, almost in the way you had lists in totalitarian Europe in the 1930s. Notice that this American gink compares it to European totalitarianism. Later, the Venezuelan film maker slips up and compares it to McCarthyism (oops!!!).

The difference is this list takes advantage of 21st century technology. A simple computer program, searchable by name or ID number, contains the political preferences of 14 million Venezuelans. It's called the Maisanta program, after Chavez's great grandfather.

Venezuelan Communications Minister William Lara as well as Ambassador to the U.S Bernardo Alvarez declined requests for comment.

[SOUND: Chavez speaking]

Under international pressure, Chavez called for the list to be buried two years ago, saying it had outlived its usefulness.

The problem is, no one can be sure the list is truly buried. To this day, street vendors in Caracas sell the Maisanta program for about five bucks.

Regardless of whether the blacklist is actually being used, many people still think it is. That seed of doubt has infected the entire society. NO IT HASN'T!! There it is again: what affects the small minority that has, had, or would like to again have its boot on the neck of the masses is presented as infecting "THE ENTIRE SOCIETY." What bullshit!!! It never works the other way around.

FRANCISCO MORENO: That's the subtle part. That's the dangerous part. That's the sad part. For him.

Filmmaker Francisco Moreno made a documentary called "The List: A Society Under Suspicion."

MORENO: I could never know if I'm being denied the right to work, or being denied a contract with the government, or being denied a film grant, because those guys know that I signed. It's McCarthy all over again.

After she got fired, Rocio San Miguel has not been able to find work as an attorney. She's taken her evidence to the Venezuelan courts, but they're packed with Chavez supporters (Before Chavez they were packed with lapdogs to the privileged - AGAIN, which is better: law that serves the mass of people? Or law that serves a minority of oppressors??) . She's now waiting on an appeal to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

In Caracas, I'm Dan Grech for Marketplace. And we know that the MARKET is god!!

- Uke Man

From the January Cabaret

Uke Man, Ted, & Jason

New York Ukulele Shows

Hey Folks,

In a few days I’ll be heading out to New York City once again to enlist in the “Ukulele Wars.”

It’s a long story, not worth elaborating upon. Suffice it to say that I and my fellow Bizarro Ukesters will be presenting two shows April 27 & 28, counterposing two shows of the Dark Lord himself, Darth Bulldog.

Information on the second of these shows (April 28), “Ukulele Cabaret” can be obtained at:
http://www.ukulelecabaret.com/ (six videos for your entertainment) (for info on the first show, scroll down a bit).

Or from the pictures below (click on them to enlarge them).

– Uke Man

Circus of Cool !!!

Hey Folks,

Friday night I once again had the pleasure of participating in Circus of Cool, where one reads a Rant or Poem backed by a Jazz Band - a Beat thing!!

Here's the rant and some pictures. There was much more after midnight, but the old guy had to get on down the road for his beauty rest.

- Uke Man

Pogo Shtick


I know these people.

I‘ve known them all my life.
Kiss-ups: self-serving sycophants, knee-padded beggars entreating crumbs in exchange for their honor, cowards taking the “safe” route, disgusting vermin.

I know these people.

Posers: paradigms of prodigious emptiness, icons of Warholian temporality, revered May Fly Royalty quickly caught under foot and swept away, winners at musical chairs, sad little bullet heads.

You know these people too.

You’ve known them all your life.

Snobs who say: “How do you like my new dress?” And “What are YOU doing here?” And “Well, I must be going now.”

They say, “We run this town.” And “MY son is going to PRIVATE school.” And “See you at Rotary?” (do you think they wear beanies with plastic propellers there?)

You know, snobs:

To the manor born, stainless steel spoon in their mouths, careful parents protecting their precious ones from the “undesirable” element, on the school board so Junior can take the LOSING jump shot, class-conscious warriors in the classless Homeland Defense against “class warfare,” puffed up pontificators of their own inescapable worthiness, inexhaustible exhibitionists of self-stimulation, demigods of consumption, tin pot aristocrats with streets named after them, polishing their putters and their silverware, gross toads in tiny cellars.

We know these people.

Lip-twisted Jesus-lovers spewing their racist vomit, their sexist, homophobic, parochial, creationist, censorial bile across the landscape. Moaning “persecution!” at the slightest hindrance of their self-righteous pogrom. Well-healed healers crippling their crippled sheep during the shearing - and in turn – the carnivorous sheep, transmogrified raptors - healed and born again - return the favor to their brethren. Rendering unto Caesar. Rendering the carcass of humanity to grease the wheels of commerce. Burn the witch! Burn the Jew! Pass the plate and the ammunition too!!!

And the bullies! Pushing ahead in line, eating your lunch, establishing the pecking order (enforcers for the long term), attack dogs of the virtual reality, teacher’s pets, quarterbacks, coaches, principals, cops, mayors, editors, clear-channel mouth organs, cable “news” vampires; offal, officially elected; statesmen, patriarchs, the smirking half-wit president of the US of A!!!

We know the bullies.

Home on the hill, sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-suburbanites, gated communitarians. Upper crust bluebloods, thoroughbreds. Orthodontia, acrylic nails, hair transplants, fancy pants; plastic surgeons, eggs of sturgeons; Gucci-Gucci-Gucci.

We know the bullies.

Playgrounders who steal the ball if they can’t win. Self-perpetuating slackers, self-aggrandizing losers, cardboard cutouts, ostrich-eyed/bird- brained incompetents who leave their droppings where they may and delegate the clean-up.

Exploiters who bring good things to life. Engineers and oligarchs; saviors, heroes, icons; holy men and businessers, suits and CEO’s.

Politicians preying and praying (with an “e”-ing and an “a”-ing). War-mongers abandoning vets - who forgive and forget (from their sick bed or their barstool) just BEFORE the next war.

And we know the cowards, you and I. We know them all already, know them all!!

The willow reeds bending with the wind, chameleons blending in, willing wallflowers, self-deceivers, band-wagoners; toadies, informers, collaborationists, company men; narks, snitches, good soldiers, good Germans, apologists; wearers of rose-colored glasses, takers of the easy path.

Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not to me!

Windup parrots squawking of god and country, reciting the provided script, premeditatedly oblivious to hypocrisy and lies and the obvious degradation.

They say, “It is our duty.” “We must support our leader.” “It is the white (and red and blue) man’s burden!

Disgusting slugs sliming the world in their spineless, paralyzed rush to avoid being stepped upon themselves. Oh, what a well-deserved iridescent mess THAT would be, and how luminescently appropriate!

The possum warned us of these ersatz Ishmaels, riding the coffins of others to save themselves for one more day of self-delusion - these “survivors” - wrapped in the armor of self-righteous nonsense, spouting judgmental distractions, propagating emotional calluses, lips eternally puckered, shadow soldiers of the living dead struggling inch by perverted inch down the Primrose Path to the tables down at Morey’s where they pass and are forgotten with the rest.

Krista

The Band

Performance

Friends

Ah, Jazz!!!!

TWO Crazy Nuts !!

The Quipper & the Gipper

Bombs & missles -
two funny guys !!!

Bomb,bomb,bomb,bomb,bomb, Iran

Hey Folks,

If you've heard about it, but haven't seen it, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rNqxn0ynO0&session=PdfBgi9vTPLDNYdwv5gAPj1KVbqf0iatPKe5XQl-qePWqfTf3vME0hQucJ89Nb2nbgKU9CmCgv-J5RDCqI5Nl8C-sB5_a3qnQLI8l1CC0BQMlJASoZJZJnV9TDhoaQuCJijjIERbBs0y3N2-y70Zuo9aDh0FVO0V6VG-9XqtYNp7UlcbHqwuCU7ADm34GxCZXnsaOwm4BfSL5k9EoyWUxJye2GWARB1q

- Uke Man

They Keep Killing Kenny

Listen to this man!!!!

Hey Folks,

I have some ideas as to why things like those at Blacksburg and Columbine happen. After the Columbine incident, I expressed them in an essay which I will soon post here.

Below is Bob Herbert's explanation of the Blacksburg massacre. Perhaps the most striking part of his piece is:

"we still profess to be baffled at the periodic eruption of murderous violence in places we perceive as safe havens. We look on aghast, as if the devil himself had appeared from out of nowhere. This time it was 32 innocents slaughtered on the campus of Virginia Tech. How could it have happened? We behave as if it was all so inexplicable."

When things like this happen, we always hear the same explanations (Hollywood, Rap, video games, the counter culture, etc.). We never face up to the real underlying causes. That takes courage.

Bob Herbert courageously stares into the face of reality!!

- Uke Man



April 19, 2007
A Volatile Young Man, Humiliation and a Gun
By BOB HERBERT
(a ukethanks to Phyll)

“God I can’t wait till I can kill you people.”
— A message on the Web site of the Columbine killer Eric Harris.


In the predawn hours of Monday, Aug. 1, 1966, Charles Whitman, a former marine and Eagle Scout in Austin, Tex., stabbed his wife to death in their bed. The night before he had driven to his mother’s apartment in another part of town and killed her.

Later that Monday morning, Whitman gathered together food, water, a supply of ammunition, two rifles, a couple of pistols, a carbine and a shotgun and climbed the landmark 30-story tower on the campus of the University of Texas.

Beneath a blazing sun, with temperatures headed toward the mid-90s, Whitman opened fire. His first target was a pregnant teenager. Over the next 80 or so minutes he killed 14 people and wounded more than 30 others before being shot to death by the police.

More than four decades later we still profess to be baffled at the periodic eruption of murderous violence in places we perceive as safe havens. We look on aghast, as if the devil himself had appeared from out of nowhere. This time it was 32 innocents slaughtered on the campus of Virginia Tech. How could it have happened? We behave as if it was all so inexplicable.

But a close look at the patterns of murderous violence in the U.S. reveals some remarkable consistencies, wherever the individual atrocities may have occurred. In case after case, decade after decade, the killers have been shown to be young men riddled with shame and humiliation, often bitterly misogynistic and homophobic, who have decided that the way to assert their faltering sense of manhood and get the respect they have been denied is to go out and shoot somebody.

Dr. James Gilligan, who has spent many years studying violence as a prison psychiatrist in Massachusetts, and as a professor at Harvard and now at N.Y.U., believes that some debilitating combination of misogyny and homophobia is a “central component” in much, if not most, of the worst forms of violence in this country.

“What I’ve concluded from decades of working with murderers and rapists and every kind of violent criminal,” he said, “is that an underlying factor that is virtually always present to one degree or another is a feeling that one has to prove one’s manhood, and that the way to do that, to gain the respect that has been lost, is to commit a violent act.”

Violence is commonly resorted to as the antidote to the disturbing emotions raised by the widespread hostility toward women in our society and the pathological fear of so many men that they aren’t quite tough enough, masculine enough — in short, that they might have homosexual tendencies.

In a culture that is relentless in equating violence with masculinity, “it is tremendously tempting,” said Dr. Gilligan, “to use violence as a means of trying to shore up one’s sense of masculine self-esteem.”

The Virginia Tech killer, Cho Seung-Hui, was reported to have stalked female classmates and to have leaned under tables to take inappropriate photos of women. A former roommate told CNN that Mr. Cho once claimed to have seen “promiscuity” when he looked into the eyes of a woman on campus.

Charles Whitman was often portrayed as the sunny all-American boy. But he had been court-martialed in the Marines, was struggling as a college student and apparently had been suffering from depression. He told a psychiatrist that he absolutely hated his father, but he started his murderous spree by killing his wife and his mother.

The confluence of feelings of inadequacy, psychosexual turmoil and the easy availability of guns has resulted in a staggering volume of murders in this country.

There are nearly 200 million firearms in private hands in the U.S., and more than 30,000 people — nearly 10 times the total number of Americans who have died in Iraq — are killed by those guns each year. In 1966 Americans were being killed by guns at the rate of 17,000 a year. An article in The Times examining such “rampages” as the Charles Whitman shootings said:

“Whatever the motivation, it seems clear that the way is made easier by the fact that guns of all sorts are readily available to Americans of all shades of morality and mentality.”

We’ve learned very little in 40 years.

Sonic Uke

The Heart of NYC's Ukulele Consciousness

New York Ukulele Shows

Hey Folks,

In a little more than a week, I’ll be heading out to New York City once again to enlist in the “Ukulele Wars.”

The war’s a long story, not worth elaborating upon. Suffice it to say that I and my fellow Bizarro Ukesters will be presenting two shows April 27 & 28, counterposing two shows of the Dark Lord, Darth Bulldog.

Information on the first of these shows (April 27), “Ukulele Rejects” can be obtained at:
http://www.ukulelecabaret.com/rejects (six videos for your entertainment)

Or from the picture below (click on it to enlarge it).

More later !!!

– Uke Man

Click to Enlarge

So much for Momentum . . .

Hey Folks,

Bob Herbert says below, "Not only is the society still permeated by racism and sexism and the stereotypes they spawn, but we have allowed a debased and profoundly immature culture to emerge in which the coarsest, most socially destructive images and language are an integral part of the everyday discourse."

I believe that the biggest cause of that (and much more) is the Capitalistic system under which we toil. Think about it: the prime directive of capitalism is the accumulation of PERSONAL wealth, and "Competition" is the holy means to that end. Those who "win" increase their hoard; those who fail get what they deserve and should suffer in silence. It's all blessed by the mystical, infallible, Market Deity.

To compete, individuals and entities must, for one thing, sell; and, so, selling trumps everything: ethics, morality, the law, health, the environment, the truth, decency - everything. Racism assists oppressors increase their personal worth in a million ways, as does sexism, classism, and all prejudice and bias. An underclass is an easily exploited class.

Cut-throat competition does not allow for questions of taste and propriety; or the long-term effect on people, the culture, the national heritage and ideals. If it sells, if it makes money; then it WILL prevail. Only if it is a money-loser will it fail. Since the youth market is so big, and by definition youth are immature, it's no surprise that an immature, coarse, lowest-common-denominator culture should emerge and, indeed, be nurtured by those seeking wealth.

In the Imus case, it was the decision by a large number of sponsors that Imus's mouth was a money-loser that caused his firing. It had very little to do with what is right or wrong; it was just a question of how it would affect the accumulation of personal wealth, a question of whether sacrificing Imus or overlooking the racist slandering of innocent young Black women would pay the largest return.

Herbert heroically calls for keeping on the pressure, building momentum, and responding accordingly in the face of future outrages, but as I write this - two days after Herbert's column - all that you can hear or read in the media has to do with the massacre in Virginia.

Violence sells better than day-old racism, and what sells is what it's all about.

So much for momentum.

- Uke Man


April 16, 2007
Signs of Infection
By BOB HERBERT
(a ukethanks to Phyll)

People in positions of great power are the ones who define those who are relatively lacking in power. So when Don Imus, a very powerful radio personality, dropped his disgusting verbal bomb on the members of the Rutgers women’s basketball team, he sent a powerful message across the airwaves: that the young women on the team (the black ones, at least) were crude, ugly and genetically inferior, and that all of the women were whores.

That message, which Mr. Imus insisted was meant to be funny, reinforced views already widely held in our society, which is why I could get the following e-mail from a reader:

“Who woulda thunk that the Imus idiocy and the Duke Debacle would hit home on the same day. Both stories bring to mind what my father told me 60 years ago: Stay away from colored women.”

The attention surrounding Mr. Imus’s very public self-immolation is an opportunity for Americans to acknowledge that we have a problem. Not only is the society still permeated by racism and sexism and the stereotypes they spawn, but we have allowed a debased and profoundly immature culture to emerge in which the coarsest, most socially destructive images and language are an integral part of the everyday discourse.

Gangsta rappers trapped in the throes of the Stockholm syndrome have spent years encouraging black people to see themselves as niggers and all women as whores. Michael Savage, one of the most prominent figures in talk radio, with an audience substantially larger than Don Imus’s, has called Diane Sawyer a “lying whore” and Barbara Walters a “double-talking slut,” according to Media Matters for America, a group that monitors some of the excesses of talk radio.

The culture that has given us such wonders as jazz, blues, baseball, Hollywood, the Broadway musical theater, rock ’n’ roll, and on and on, is now specializing in too many instances in language and entertainment fit only for the gutter or a sewer.

Something has gone completely haywire when young American boys and girls are listening to songs like “Can You Control Yo Hoe” and “Break a Bitch Til I Die,” by Snoop Dogg, formerly Snoop Doggy Dogg, formerly Cordozar Calvin Broadus.

“It’s gotten pretty savage out there,” said Tom Brokaw of NBC News during an on-air discussion of the Imus situation.

Mr. Brokaw, who believes that firing Mr. Imus was the right thing to do, said: “There’s been an absence of civility in public discourse for some time now. The use of language across the racial spectrum, and across the political spectrum, and across the cultural spectrum, has been, in any way you want to describe it, debased to a certain degree.

“The words that you hear used commonly on the street, or on the air, or on radio, or in rap lyrics, are words that in the worst days of segregation in this country, in the worst segregated parts of this country, you would not have heard on radio. Now you hear them commonly.”

The language, of course, is just a symptom. Mr. Brokaw went on to mention, in a tone that sounded a bit sad and somewhat resigned, that Americans had steadfastly refused to face the race issue honestly and head-on. “I had hoped,” he said, “I guess somewhat naïvely 20 years ago, that we would be in a far different place than we are now.”

We should also be in a better place in the way that women are viewed and portrayed in the culture. And one of the first steps in a conversation about how to honestly address these issues should be a discussion of how to get more more blacks, other ethnic minorities and women into positions of real authority in the major news and entertainment outlets.

Another part of the conversation should deal with why the bullying and degradation of other human beings is such a staple of popular entertainment in this country. One of the Rutgers players expressed astonishment Thursday night when Mr. Imus told her that making fun of people was how he’d made his living for many years.

The people who fought back against the racism and misogyny of the “Imus in the Morning” program need to keep the momentum going. Keep the pressure on the companies that sponsor this garbage. Keep the matter before the media.

Imus, Snoop Dogg, Michael Savage — it doesn’t matter where the bigotry is coming from. What’s important is to find the integrity and the strength to see it for what it is — a loathsome, soul-destroying disease — and then to respond accordingly

Don Imus & Mike Wallace

Hmmmmmm . . . is America shockable???

Hey Folks,

We've heard a ton of Imus reporting, and this was written before Imus was fired, but it's worth a look. For my part, I have seen nothing else that showed the problem so clearly.

- Uke Man

April 12, 2007
Paying the Price
By BOB HERBERT
(a ukethanks to Phyll)

You knew something was up early in the day. As soon as I told executives at MSNBC that I was going to write about the “60 Minutes” piece, which was already in pretty wide circulation, they began acting very weird. We’ll get back to you, they said.

In a “60 Minutes” interview with Don Imus broadcast in July 1998, Mike Wallace said of the “Imus in the Morning” program, “It’s dirty and sometimes racist.”

Mr. Imus then said: “Give me an example. Give me one example of one racist incident.” To which Mr. Wallace replied, “You told Tom Anderson, the producer, in your car, coming home, that Bernard McGuirk is there to do nigger jokes.”

Mr. Imus said, “Well, I’ve nev — I never use that word.”

Mr. Wallace then turned to Mr. Anderson, his producer. “Tom,” he said.

“I’m right here,” said Mr. Anderson.

Mr. Imus then said to Mr. Anderson, “Did I use that word?”

Mr. Anderson said, “I recall you using that word.”

“Oh, O.K.,” said Mr. Imus. “Well, then I used that word. But I mean — of course, that was an off-the-record conversation. But ——”

“The hell it was,” said Mr. Wallace.

The transcript was pure poison. A source very close to Don Imus told me last night, “They did not want to wait for your piece to come out.”

For MSNBC, Mr. Imus’s “nappy-headed ho’s” comment about the Rutgers women’s basketball team was bad enough. Putting the word “nigger” into the so-called I-man’s mouth was beyond the pale.

The roof was caving in on Mr. Imus. More advertisers were pulling the plug. And Bruce Gordon, a member of the CBS Corp. board of directors and former head of the N.A.A.C.P., said publicly that Mr. Imus should be fired.

But some of the most telling and persuasive criticism came from an unlikely source — internally at the network that televised Mr. Imus’s program. Women, especially, were angry and upset. Powerful statements were made during in-house meetings by women at NBC and MSNBC — about how black women are devalued in this country, how they are demeaned by white men and black men.

White and black women spoke emotionally about the way black women are frequently trashed in the popular culture, especially in music, and about the way news outlets give far more attention to stories about white women in trouble.

Phil Griffin, a senior vice president at NBC News who oversaw the Imus show for MSNBC, told me yesterday, “It touched a huge nerve.”

Whether or not Mr. McGuirk was hired for the specific noxious purpose referred to in the “60 Minutes” interview, he has pretty much lived up to that job description. He’s a minstrel, a white man who has gleefully led the Imus pack into some of the most disgusting, degrading attempts at racial (not to mention sexist) humor that it’s possible to imagine.

Blacks were jigaboos, Sambos and Brilloheads. Women were bitches and, above all else, an endless variety of ever-ready sexual vessels, born to be degraded.

The question now is how long the “Imus in the Morning” radio show will last. Just last month, in a reference to a speech by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in Selma, Ala., Mr. McGuirk called Mrs. Clinton a bitch and predicted she would “have cornrows and gold teeth” by the time her presidential primary campaign against Senator Barack Obama is over.

Way back in 1994, a friend of mine, the late Lars-Erik Nelson, a terrific reporter and columnist at The Daily News and Newsday, mentioned an Imus segment that offered a “satirical” rap song that gave advice to President Clinton on what to do about Paula Jones: “Pimp-slap the ho.” Mr. Nelson also wrote that there was a song on the program dealing with Hillary Clinton’s menstrual cycle.

So this hateful garbage has been going on for a long, long time. There was nothing new about the tone or the intent of Mr. Imus’s “nappy-headed ho’s” comment. As Bryan Monroe, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, told me the other night, “It’s a long pattern of behavior, and at some point somebody has to say enough is enough.”

The crucial issue goes well beyond Don Imus’s pathetically infantile behavior. The real question is whether this controversy is loud enough to shock Americans at long last into the realization of just how profoundly racist and sexist the culture is.

It appears that on this issue the general public, and the women at Mr. Imus’s former network, are far ahead of the establishment figures, the politicians and the media biggies, who were always so anxious to appear on the show and to defend Mr. Imus.

That is a very good sign.

"The District"

Washer Women

The World's Oldest Capitalists

Hey Folks,

A long time ago, when I was only 20 years old, my highschool and college pal, Jim Gunther, and I went to Europe for two months.

We went on the “$5.00-a-Day Plan,” and – if you subtracted the air fare – it worked. That covered hotels, train and other travel, food, entertainment, and souvenirs. Needless to say, we were on the economy/youth track – no frills for us; wash your clothes in the sink/hang ‘em in the shower to dry; walk a lot; eat a little; splurge seldom.

Once on the French Riviera I ran into a movie theater in my bathing suit screaming “toilette,” “W.C.,” “bathroom” and holding myself because I’d refused to use the pay toilette at the beach, choosing to wait until I’d returned to the hotel. Since I had developed the infamous traveler’s gut (”the runs”) in the first week of the trip, that was a bad decision. Fortunately, someone at the theater deciphered my gibberish and saved me.

Anyway, by the time we got to Amsterdam, washing underwear and socks in the sink and “drying” them over the course of a week became a chore; and other clothes, too, had reached their limit of re-use – even by the standards of college-aged boys.

One evening we got directions at the hotel regarding the nearest Laundromat and set off to do our laundry.

Somewhere along the way, quite unexpectedly, we passed by a large window behind which sat a rather buxom woman dressed scantily in “sexy” fashion. It was a bit startling to two young guys seriously bent on finding the local Laundromat. We had read about “the District” in the tour book; we just didn’t know our hotel was on the outskirts (so to speak) of the place.

We got a number of eye-fulls, but proceeded steadfastly on to reach our destination.

It was closed.

So, we retraced our steps to the hotel, along the way ogling the Ladies once again. In the morning we returned to the now-open Laundromat and did our clothes – right alongside a number of the women we’d seen in the windows the night before. These were the legal professionals mentioned in the story below.

We also crossed paths with a bootlegging prostitute stationed in our cut-rate hotel. Jim and I had seen her; she was no beauty, and I would never have guessed her profession from her looks, but we got the low-down from some young Canadian soldiers staying there.

Professional girls are independent contractors, licensed and inspected regularly, and restricted to the district. Bootleggers follow none of the rules, work for pimps, and troll around in or near the district (our hotel??).

Anyway, the unfortunate woman in question was one night soundly (but far from soundlessly) beaten by her pimp, according to our Canadian friends (I later saw the black eyes myself). It is open to conjecture why he beat her – probably over money, but - honestly – I didn’t see how she could make much money as a siren, not equipped as she was by nature.

According to the story below, the District remains active and popular in Amsterdam, and – like everything else – has a few problems, but I’m glad it’s still in operation. As long as it remains, I’ll know there is one honest spot on earth where hypocrisy is banished !!! (and where goofy young men can do their laundry with advice from professionals as to how best to go at it).

- Uke Man



Visitors flood Amsterdam's red-light district
By Alexandra Hudson Sat Mar 31

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Amsterdam's sex workers came to work early on Saturday to offer a free look at the city's famed red-light district.

Hundreds of wide-eyed visitors queued in the sunshine to enter the dimly-lit sex clubs and peep shows that draw thousands to the city and to snoop around prostitutes' neon-lit boudoirs.

"I think the open day is a great idea," said Love, an erotic dancer at Amsterdam's Banana Bar, who was on hand to answer questions and pose for photographs in fluorescent negligee.

"It is especially interesting for women. If they learn what we do here they will realize it is not a big deal if their husbands or boyfriends want to come here."

Organizers staged the open day to counter bad publicity surrounding the 800-year-old district after harrowing reports of forced prostitution, human trafficking and organized crime.

More than 30 brothels are fighting closure after officials revoked their licenses last year over suspected links to money laundering and drug dealing.

But tourism authorities say the district -- a warren of narrow alleys and canals lined with sex shops, brothels and neon signs - - is as big an attraction as Amsterdam's art museums and coffee shops, where marijuana is freely smoked and sold.

Every night visitors throng the streets, agog at scantily clad women sitting behind huge red-lit windows, and who sell their services for as little as 50 euros ($66.58).

"I am here because my wife was interested in coming along," said 63-year-old Evert Rijnders from Haarlem.

His wife Jos added: "This has been a chance to look behind the scenes, and some things have definitely surprised me."

Organizer Jacco Wanders displayed a typical prostitute's bedroom, usually concealed behind red velvet curtains and fitted with an emergency alarm bell in case a client turns violent.

He laughed as visitors posed in the tall street-facing window or bounced around on the mattress.

"This day is to help break down taboos around prostitution and to create more understanding and respect," he said.

The "open day" concludes with the unveiling of a statue to an unknown sex worker, intended to honor those employed in the industry world-wide, including those without the same protection found in the Netherlands, where prostitution is legal.

Amsterdam's window-prostitutes are self-employed tax payers, hiring their own windows at around 110 euros per night.

"People who work in the sex industry don't get enough respect," said Mariska Majoor, a former prostitute who now runs the red-light district's information center.

"There are millions of them and many are in trouble. Some are abused by clients or pimps and it is important for them to know that they deserve respect."

(Additional reporting by Anna Mudeva)

"As one reads history, one is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

Oscar Wilde

Protesting while Black

Throwing tantrums while Black

Hey Folks,

I wonder why they don't arrest those damned noisy babies on airplanes or the nasty kids dipping thgeir fingers in everything at the buffet. That'd show 'em.

A baby or a 6-year-old can disturb the peace and spread germs "just as much as any other person.”

- Uke Man


April 9, 2007
6-Year-Olds Under Arrest
By BOB HERBERT
(a ukethanks to Phyll)

Avon Park, Fla.

When 6-year-old Desre’e Watson threw a tantrum in her kindergarten class a couple of weeks ago she could not have known that the full force of the law would be brought down on her and that she would be carted off by the police as a felon.

But that’s what happened in this small, backward city in central Florida. According to the authorities, there were no other options.

“The student became violent,” said Frank Mercurio, the no-nonsense chief of the Avon Park police. “She was yelling, screaming — just being uncontrollable. Defiant.”

“But she was 6,” I said.

The chief’s reply came faster than a speeding bullet: “Do you think this is the first 6-year-old we’ve arrested?”

The child’s tantrum occurred on the morning of March 28 at the Avon Elementary School. According to the police report, “Watson was upset and crying and wailing and would not leave the classroom to let them study, causing a disruption of the normal class activities.”

After a few minutes, Desre’e was, in fact, taken to another room. She was “isolated,” the chief said. But she would not calm down. She flailed away at the teachers who tried to control her. She pulled one woman’s hair. She was kicking.

I asked the chief if anyone had been hurt. “Yes,” he said. At least one woman reported “some redness.”

After 20 minutes of this “uncontrollable” behavior, the police were called in. At the sight of the two officers, Chief Mercurio said, Desre’e “tried to take flight.”

She went under a table. One of the police officers went after her. Each time the officer tried to grab her to drag her out, Desre’e would pull her legs away, the chief said.

Ultimately the child was no match for Avon Park’s finest. The cops pulled her from under the table and handcuffed her. The officers were not fooling around. In the eyes of the cops the 6-year-old was a criminal, and in Avon Park she would be treated like any other felon.

There was a problem, though. The handcuffs were not manufactured with kindergarten kids in mind. The chief explained: “You can’t handcuff them on their wrists because their wrists are too small, so you have to handcuff them up by their biceps.”

As I sat listening to Chief Mercurio in a spotless, air-conditioned conference room at the Avon Park police headquarters, I had the feeling that I had somehow stumbled into the middle of a skit on “Saturday Night Live.” The chief seemed like the most reasonable of men, but what was coming out of his mouth was madness.

He handed me a copy of the police report: black female. Six years old. Thin build. Dark complexion.

Desre’e was put in the back of a patrol car and driven to the police station. “Then,” said Chief Mercurio, “she was transported to central booking, which is the county jail.”

The child was fingerprinted and a mug shot was taken. “Those are the normal procedures for anyone who is arrested,” the chief said.

Desre’e was charged with battery on a school official, which is a felony, and two misdemeanors: disruption of a school function and resisting a law enforcement officer. After a brief stay at the county jail, she was released to the custody of her mother.

The arrest of this child, who should have been placed in the care of competent, comforting professionals rather than being hauled off to jail, is part of an outlandish trend of criminalizing very young children that has spread to many school districts and law enforcement agencies across the country.

A highly disproportionate number of those youngsters, like Desre’e, are black. In Baltimore last month, the police arrested, handcuffed and hauled away a 7-year-old black boy for allegedly riding a dirt bike on the sidewalk. The youngster was released and the mayor, Sheila Dixon, apologized for the incident, saying the arrest was inappropriate.

Last spring a number of civil rights organizations collaborated on a study of disciplinary practices in Florida schools and concluded that many of them, “like many districts in other states, have turned away from traditional education-based disciplinary methods — such as counseling, after-school detention, or extra homework assignments — and are looking to the legal system to handle even the most minor transgressions.”


Once you adopt the mindset that ordinary childhood misbehavior is criminal behavior, it’s easy to start seeing young children as somehow monstrous.

“Believe me when I tell you,” said Chief Mercurio, “a 6-year-old can inflict injury to you just as much as any other person.”