Music at the Rally to Restore Sanity: Can it Make a Difference?

Wow. I know, I grew up in the 60's. The era of rallies that could change the country. In the adolescence of rock and roll. I am prone to think that music has the power to put a voice to change. To inspire. To unite people. So consider my reflections on the music at the Rally to Restore Sanity those of a starry eyed child of the sixties. But it was really great to be with literally more people than I have ever had a shared experience with, and have music be a piece of what was emotionally moving for me.

The first thing I loved about the music was the variety. They even had an incarcerated performer. How much more inclusive can you get? Roots opened, and then were joined by John Legend, and it was a great lead in to the afternoon. The next musical performance was more of a skit. Jon Stewart introduced Yusuf, formerly known as Cat Stevens, who played a beautiful rendition of 'Peace Train'. He was interupted by Stephen Colbert, who wanted to foster fear, and brought out Ozzie Osbourne playing 'Crazy Train'--the artists good humoredly started and stopped at the rally host's command, until they agreed on the 'Love Train' as a common theme, and the O'Jays came out and played. It was good music, good religious and ethnic variation, and good theatre.

My favorite performance of the day was Mavis Staples and Jeff Tweedy playing 'You Are Not Alone'. Wow, she still has it, and Tweedy's guitar just amplifies how wonderful her voice is. The sentiment fit the occasion, and while it wasn't 'get up and dance' music it was really nice to hear. Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow, joined by TI from prison, sang what was more of an anthem than rap, and Tony Bennett closed with an a capella version of 'America the Beautiful' and they closed with everyone on stage singing an old Staples Singer's song 'I'll Take You There'. Musical memories are different. They are stored somewhere else in your brain. They seem more primative, and therefore can be more satisfying, and resonate emotionally for longer periods of time. I am still in the good place emotionally that the music at the rally took me to, and I hope to stay there for awhile to come.

Rally to Restore Sanity Redux

The Million Moderate March was a peaceful afternoon that was crowded and entertaining as a first-hand experience, and hopeful as I look back on it. Hopeful in a way that I haven't felt in months. The endless rhetoric of doom is tiresome. The Rally to Restore Sanity was an antidote to the 24/7 onslaught of gloom and doom. As Jon Stewart said in his serious reflections at the end of the rally, "These are hard times, these are not end times." So, as I spent the day shoulder to shoulder with my fellow marchers, I took in what was in my immediate sphere as well as what was going on at the Capital stage.

A rally is a risk. There are things that you can control and there are things that you cannot control. The team of Stewart and Colbert were able to script a three hour program of entertainment that deftly wove the musical, the serious and the absurd together in roughly equal measures in order to hold the crowds attention as well as leave them wanting more. And thinking more. Maybe taking the message back to their communities. Let it infect others. The musicians ranged from hip and hop to soul and crooning. They were black, they were white, they were young, they were old, they were Muslim, they were not. It was inclusive and engaging, and very impressive.

But there are things that you cannot control about a rally, and that is who shows up, and how glad do they appear to be there. My fellow rally mates were the most impressive show of the day. Who we were and how we acted was what made the experience for me. We were all ages. Really. My gray hair didn't stand out, and we were interwoven nicely in the crowd. If they had asked us to count off decades and stand accordingly--a 20 year old next to a 30 year old next to a 40 year old and on up it wouldn't have been more of a mixture than it was naturally. We were all colors. We were from all over. The airport was a continuation of the rally--strangers talking about their experiences all day. As Mavis Staples and Jeff Tweedy so compellingly sang, You Are Not Alone.

Why is She Beating This Horse?

Harrassment becomes a family affair for the Thomas'. Almost twenty years after Anita Hill testified that Clarence Thomas had sexually harrassed her when she worked with him, his wife called and left her this message:
“Good morning Anita Hill, it’s Ginni Thomas,” it said. “I just wanted to reach across the airwaves and the years and ask you to consider something. I would love you to consider an apology sometime and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband.”
Ms. Thomas went on: “So give it some thought. And certainly pray about this and hope that one day you will help us understand why you did what you did. O.K., have a good day.”
Really? She did that? Why?
In a statement conveyed through a publicist, Ms. Thomas confirmed leaving the message, which she portrayed as a peacemaking gesture. “I did place a call to Ms. Hill at her office extending an olive branch to her after all these years, in hopes that we could ultimately get past what happened so long ago,” she said. “That offer still stands. I would be very happy to meet and talk with her if she would be willing to do the same. Certainly no offense was ever intended.”
Olive branch? An olive branch is where you give a little, where you apologize for some part in the process that you have erred. This is stirring things up, pure and simple. The reason for doing so is what remains obscure.
In response to Ms. Thomas’s statement, Ms. Hill said that she had testified truthfully about her experiences with the future Justice Thomas and that she had nothing to apologize for.
“I appreciate that no offense was intended, but she can’t ask for an apology without suggesting that I did something wrong, and that is offensive,” Ms. Hill said.
Indeed. Weird call, sane response.
Their history is not without turbulence, and they are neither acquaintances, nor are they on the same side of any public issue. In her 1998 book “Speaking Truth to Power,” Ms. Hill noted that she had been accused of harboring a romantic interest in Justice Thomas by his wife. “Virginia Thomas and I have never met,” Ms. Hill wrote. “And one can imagine that she is guided by her own romantic interest in her husband when she assumes that other women find him attractive as well.”
Again, the nod goes to Hill. She has shown herself to be measured and cautious in her response to contact, which reiterates that she doesn't seem like a wild eyed false accuser--why would Virginia Thomas want to bring that back to light?

Dear Rutgers: What Punishment Fits the Crime?

University's routinely put strangers together their freshman year of college. Students have no choice about their roommate selection, and it is often contentious. University counceling services report the number one psychological distress freshman year is not academic stress or difficulties related to being away from home. It is living with someone who they do not get along with. In the wake of the tragic events at Rutgers University last month, where a student took his life in response to being publicly humiliated, what should those of us on college campuses across the United States think about and try to learn from this? What should we change so it does not become a pattern?
First, is bullying tolerated at Rutgers? I would say no, not on paper at least. This comes directly from the Student Code of Conduct: "All members of the Rutgers University community are expected to behave in an ethical and moral fashion, respecting the human dignity of all members of the community and resisting behavior that may cause danger or harm to others through violence, theft, or bigotry. All members of the Rutgers University community are expected to adhere to the civil and criminal laws of the local community, state, and nation, and to regulations promulgated by the University."
That sounds entirely reasonable, and pretty standard. How do you inform incoming freshman that they are to adhere to this code of conduct? What are the consequences for failing to do so? Have students been disciplined and expelled for violating this code? Are freshman told about these cases at freshman orientation?
When Dharun Ravi posted to his Twitter account that he was filming his freshman roommate, Tyron Clementi, having a sexual encounter, commenting on the live feed he was streaming from the web cam hidden in their room, through the computer of his high school friend, Molly Wei, he was clearly not acting in a moral and ethical fashion. I suspect that neither Molly nor Dharun would want their sexual encounters publicly broadcast--whether they were with members of the same sex, the opposite sex, or if it were a solo performance. For the perpetrators to label such an aggregous act a "prank" is to make it sound "playful". Their act was about power and control, and while they may have been well liked students in high school, there is nothing nice about them. Nice people do not orchestrate the public humiliation of fellow students for their personal entertainment.
There are two things that I hope result from this. The first is that universities take more seriously the complaints that students have about their roommates, and that they develop a "Plan B" for when these situations are truely untenable. The second is that we have so few opportunities to evaluate the underlying character of people, and for Molly Wei and Dharun Ravi we have the uncontested fact that they perpetrated this invasion on a fellow student. What motivated them is unknowable, but it reflects directly on their character, and I hope that this act follows them into their 20's, 30's, 40's and beyond.
Both of the accused have made a statement, through lawyers, related to the potential charges of a hate crime, and the media response to their action. They feel they have been treated unfairly. How so? Public humiliation seems an appropriate response to their act--they dished it out, but they can't take it? That is so often the case--the mean spirited are the one's least well equipped to manage the consequences, which were tragic in this case. When they are treated in exactly the manner they inflicted on another, they are no better prepared to tolerate what is unleashed. One moment they are laughing at someone else's humiliation at their hands, the next they are running for cover.

Rally to Restore Sanity

I have not marched in a rally in Washington, DC since the Reagan administration.
One of the most disturbing thing about living in the politial climate of the early 21st century is that comedians are the ones who are making the most sense. So here we are, politics in the 21st century. The most appealing rally of the last decade is not so much about a cause, but rather an approach. Stop ramping up the fear, and start doing your jobs. Which are not, by the way, solely to get re-elected.

The Kline boys approached their parental units with this proposal--that we take a 'family vacation' to Washington, that we show cross-generational moderacy. That we revel in the love of what is smart and thoughtful over fear mongering. And that we be able to laugh about it and have fun. The Sane/Not Sane has some wonderful suggested rally posters--one of them: "Learn From History. Education: Not Just for Intellectuals"--which is edgy for this crowd, I admit, but probably closer to where I am.

So off I trundle, offspring in tow (well, they are more towing me), to enjoy Hallowe'en weekend in the nation's capital--hoping to meet a few like minded people, frolic a bit with my children. It is the center of government, the place where decisions are being made that will affect them for decades to come--good to go there and show our support for the business of getting over yourself and moving on with things that really matter.

Enduring Cuba by Zoe Bran

The double entendre of the title is extremely appropriate. Cuba has endured throughout the past 500 years of what is often referred to as the modern era of world civilizations, or the fourth wave, and it will continue to endure. No question about that. The other meaning, that life in Cuba is not easy, and there is an element of it's people enduring hardships, is also appropriate.
I read this Loney Planet publication, a travelogue of sorts, while I was myself in Cuba. I have read (and often chronicled here) many books written about Cuba, set in Cuba, or which have included Cuba peripherally, and while there are not many that I would recommend saving until you are actually in Cuba, this one would fit the bill.
This is no ordinary travel book. It's definitely not a go-here, do-this kind of book. It's a book about the author's travels around Cuba, where she asks "what next?". She chronicles her adventures in Cuba through stories about the people that she meets and the answers they give her, while at the same time speaking of interesting places and events. You get to see the many different faces of Cuba, literally and figuratively. It's about black, white, and mulatto--cultures that are both separate and mixed. Surprisingly it's also a history book (not a lot, but enough to make it interesting). The book both dispels and confirms many of the beliefs that westerners have about Cuba. You get a taste of the struggles that Cubans go through on a daily basis and well as the strength that they all have to continue in spite of the odds. Of course it's also about politics. How could it not be? It's about enduring Cuba, for those that are Cuban, those that choose to live there, as well as for those that travel there. Everyone endures Cuba in a different way and for different reasons.
Too often many of us travel only to go from airport to resort and back to airport again. Que lastima! She often skips the hotels to stay in casas particulares (I hope that is the correct way to make casa particular plural). She entrusts her welfare often with strangers. She goes places that even some Cubans won't go. And she tells us what she learned from all that. She even ends the book well.

Cubano Frijoles Negros

2 c. black beans
8 c. stock
1 onion
8 cloves garlic
1 malanga
Soak beans over night. Put all ingredients in a pot, simmer over low heat until beans are soft. The malanga is the key ingredient for the sweet and nutty flavor that the black beans in Cuba have. It is from the taro family and there is nothing quite like it as a substitute. I have seen people recommend molasses, squash, yucca, sugar, honey. You can try these, of course, but the malanga is amazing.

Cuba Moves to Self-Employment

August 1st President Raúl Castro Ruz announced to the National Assembly the decision to cut the government work force by 25% and to extend the self-employed sector. In the Assembly session it was made known that various current restrictions would be eliminated in order to allow the authorization of new licenses and the marketing of certain products, along with taxation to provide income to the cash strapped government. Whoever contributes more, will receive more is the principle of the new tax regime that will help to increase sources of income to the state budget, and achieve an adequate redistribution of that income to society.
Increasing opportunities for self-employment is one of the decisions which the country is making in terms of restructuring its economic policy, in order to increase levels of productivity and efficiency
Adm. Valhuerdi Cepero, first deputy minister at the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, explained that there will be 178 categories of self-employment, within which 83 may hire additional employees who do not have to be members of the same household or relatives of the business owner. "Authorizations are to be given for 29 new activities that, while they are currently exercised, were not given re-authorization a number of years back." Among them she mentioned food vendors of various categories, winemakers, saw operators, stonemasons, engine and ignition coilers, wreath and flower sellers, panel beaters, sports trainers (except martial arts), refuse recycler, masseurs, etc.

Seven activities have been added to the existing categories, which include bookkeeping, with the exception of accountants and bookkeeping working in that specialty; park and public place restroom attendants; subject revisers, excluding active teachers; casual agricultural workers; roadside stand or cart vendors of agricultural produce in sales outlets or highway kiosks; and travel assistants, referring to those people who organize passengers with private taxis at the terminals.
Valhuerdi also explained that the granting of new authorizations for self-employed work would remain limited for now to nine kinds of work, because there is no licit market for raw materials, although viable alternatives are being studied. They are: auto body workers, marble and granite carvers and vendors; sellers of soap, shoe polish, dyes, ropes and similar items; smelters and blacksmiths; flame cutters; vendors of aluminum items; floor waxers; and vendors of non-iron cast metal items.
Well, speaking as a casual observer with no business background what-so-ever, this seems like a plan fraught with peril. My fingers are crossed for this country.

Have You Ever Seen a Cuban Cow? Do You Hope to See One?

The story of food in Cuba is not a happy one--except that they used to have it, so they can have it again. They jsut have to figure out the right carrot and the right stick to get people back into the fields, planting and harvesting food, so that the rich island can once again feed it's people. So the story of food in Cuba is an unhappy one, but the story of the cow in Cuba is almost tragic. But maybe it is changing, and once real trade with the United States resumes, this will become a thing of Cuba's past.
In 1959 there was a thriving cattle business in Cuba, with ranchers and cows travelling from South Florida to Cuba and back freely. The cow to Cuban ratio was about even at that time. Post-Castro, with all cows now belonging to the government, several things have changed. The first is that there are very few cows in Cuba. As with all things scarce, there is a rampant balck market--whcih in Cuba comes with equally severe consequences. While we were en route back to Havana from Santa Clara, we saw a man taken into custody for selling beef along the highway. If convicted, he will face a 10 year jail term for selling beef. Que lastima!
The issue of cows in Cuba is one where there are solutions that make sense, and for humanitarian reasons it seems reasonable to have trade between South Florida's cattle industry and Cuba--here is an article from 2004 discusisng jus tsuch a deal--involving a long-time U.S. ranching family that had a ranch in Cuba nationalized by Castro. Time to move on, he says. Wise man.
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2004-04-08/news/cows-to-cuba/

Why Golf is not a Cuban Sport

The last time Cuban revolutionaries played golf in Cuba was a long time ago.
Che Guevara shot a 127, besting Fidel Castro's 150 on a par-70 golf course.
So while they were played golf, they were playing it badly--and fatigues and combat boots were not the appropriate attire for the time--nor have they come into vogue since. Their 1961 round a month before the Bay of Pigs invasion was the beginning of the end for golf in Cuba — soon the communist government had eliminated the sport from the island almost entirely.

Why?
Well, it is not exactly a proletariat sport, is it? It is hard to make it even modestly into a team sport, and the huge land mass required for an 18-hole course paired with the manpower required to maintain it make golf the perfect sport for a communist to poke fun at. Add in that most golfers aren't getting much exercise--instead of walking the pristine grasslands of a well-maintained course, they are riding about in golf carts--even if these vehicles were to be replaced with bicycle cabs, could this really be a game of the people?

It would be hard.
There is a remaining 18-hole golf course in Castro's Cuba, the Varadero Golf Club in this beach resort 85 miles east of Havana. But the Cuba of the 21st century, a Cuba that is trying to capture more foreign currency, and knowing they do not truly get what would be appealing to people who spend those dollars, that Cuba is thinking of building more golf courses.