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Today, they both have a common goal: Destruction of the West. They'll worry about the differences between themselves at that time they should succeed in the West's downfall.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Moonbats indignant about Sarah Jane Olson's parole. Their panties are in a wad because she got better treatment than a darker-hued drug dealer would get.

John Cougar Menstrualcramp blames Reagan for the sorry state of the music industry.

I read an article in today’s Norwegian newspaper about a conference in Oslo, where the head of Norwegian Security Services told the audience that terrorism has nothing to do with religion. He also wanted hijab-wearing officers to join the security services and told people that it is the Norwegians that commit hate crimes in Norway.

Shoulder to shoulder against terrorism

The Norwegians, and the rest of the world, will wake up one day and realize that sh-t happens!

This a war against enemies foreign and domestic.

Ban parole not guns

Hezbollah has a very imaginative flag: an erect penis with a duck's beak pointing up ready to accept the semen. All inside the Arabic word for God! I gotta get a hold of their chief graphic designer.

Chairman Zero's Economic Adviser: Fannie and Freddie Need to "Lend Like Crazy.". On the theory that insane lending practices got us into this mess, so insane lending practices will get us out.

Gregory, I would like to address the music biz link you posted. Being someone who spent most of my career in the music biz, JCM makes some good points, and the old suits who bought Reagan's policies were the same men I sat in on meetings with for 12 years in the WEA offices. The "Wall Streeting" of the industry, as well as the lack of keeping up with technology left web savvy music folk jobless, and fat cats getting fatter. Artists like JCM's, Bruce Springsteen,Neil Young, and Rickie Lee Jones left their politics out of it for years, but saw a market for it now...hence their recent revival. Artists like Wilco, Billy Bragg, and R.E.M. survived on loyal fanbase and their message of good rock and roots. Labels don't break artists unless it's paid for, whereas the was a day when small record stores and street representitives did that job. If you are 30+ you may recall MTV did a good job with actual music shows instead T&A unreality crap. No matter how you view Mellencamp's politics, the state of the music biz brought us Ms. Spears and that ilk, and the days of Conservative and Progressive music has gone by the wayside.

Kyle I was in radio from the mid 80's to mid 90's so I can't speak about the insider stuff that went on with th artists but I was there when "Friends in low places" came out and went oh hell. Here we go again another "urban cowboy" movement. Artists want to be heard but if they're willing to sell out some integrity to get their songs on the radio i.e. mainstream their sound then they get no sympathy from me. Some groups stood firm and it paid off handsomely for them. Toby Keith, Queensryche, Queen,etc. Mellonhead is selling out again because there's now a market for moonbat music. Him and the others are just looking for more money and trying to tell people how to live their lives. I for one would welcome the days when they palyed for the joy not the dollar.

But Farmer Ted, being "progressive" and defiant is being against what daddy was back in 1965.

You see, according to Jackoff Mellonhead Menstrualcramp, no one has grown up since 1965 and they continue to rage against something that faded away decades ago. But it still sells, so what the hell keep churning it out even though the message is stale as rotten horse shit, right?

Ted, Well put. I witnessed that era, and I said "oh shit" as well. Point being, while artists of the 60's and 70's promoted social movements and change prior to the current definations of those slogans, others in following decades did as well. What the music industry did was follow a hopeless mentality of greed that helped many different markets land us where we are now.Reagan, Bush, and Clinton policies of de-regulation made this mess. I am now witnessing it again with Pres. Obama's agreement to go along with this toxic asset plan. What I gathered from reading John Mellencamp's piece was that, in industries that "all of us" can agree on suffer from policies that Wall St. buys and pays for has manipulated practices across the board. JM's mention of Reagan rubbed many of you the wrong way, and his politcs are not popular here, but Pres. Reagan's son would likely agree.
This is political unfortunately, as Ted I am sure you can agree from working in radio. If you think about the promotion folk at label, which are nothing more than culture twisting lobbyists...I was one of them for a bit. In the past eight years you have seen artists, even famed Kid Rock not see airplay for his right-wing message, and Eminem for his anti-war message.This in effect has resulted in limited room on the air for good artists in the States. Stream some Canadian radio and you here a world of difference in whats on.

Teen Texting, Sexting, and Suicide II

Please see “Teen Sexting, Texting, and Suicide,” published here on March 11, 2009: http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=906.

The primary subject of that article was 18 year old Cincinnati area girl, Jessica Logan, who had made a grievous mistake, a mistake being made by millions of other teenagers, predominantly by teen girls: She had texted, “sexted” is the popular term, compromising pictures of herself to a boyfriend and, after their breakup, he and/or five of her “friends” forwarded the pictures to hundreds of other girls.

The result for Jessica was a living hell. She was shunned, expelled from parties, taunted and bullied on Facebook and MySpace, and received endless, random phone calls accusing her of being a slut. She ended that hell by resorting to what she felt was her only recourse. Jessie hanged herself in her bedroom last July 3rd.

To her parent’s great credit, only months after that horrific event, they are now speaking out in hopes of forestalling “copycat” suicides by other teens as a consequence of such sexting. Following their daughter’s lead–Jessica had gone public on Cincinnatti television in May, “to make sure no one else will have to go through this again”–Cynthia and Albert Logan have launched a nationwide effort to help curb sexting by children: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090322/NEWS01/903220312/-1/TODAY.

Jessie, an only child, was a typical Ohio teenage girl, vivacious, compassionate, artistic, outgoing, all of which traits were thrown into reverse when she learned that what she had thought were her private pictures had been widely disseminated.

She was subjected to relentless harassment, called a ”slut, porn queen, whore,” quite possibly by many peers who had engaged in similar acts of sexting indiscreet pictures. There is no definitive study on precisely how many teens actually do engage in the dangerous practice. One national estimate says 22%, although some high schools report that up to 50% have “inappropriate” pictures on cell phones. Still other stats suggest that 39% of teens have sexted and 48% admit to receiving such messages: http://www.momlogic.com/2009/03/when_sexting_leads_to_suicide.php.

“Inappropriate” was not defined but many of those pictures evidently go beyond the merely inappropriate and whatever the actual numbers, they are significant and too many. What is definite is that teens are photographing themselves, posting the shots on their cells, then sending the nude or semi-nude pictures on to friends, some of whom post them on the internet.

Knowingly or not, those girls are advertising themselves. . .
(Read the rest at http://genelalor.com/.)

Ah, so commercialism never polluted the music industry until the evil monster Reagan... not previously known to have any interest in rock music... somehow forced the record companies... which until 1981 had been friendly mom-and-pop businesses... to embrace the evils of commercialism.

Because the idea of manufacturing bands for popular consumption never existed to Reagan. (... cough cough Monkees... cough cough Jackson Five... cough cough... Sex Pistols...)

"Lyle at March 23, 2009 9:51 AM"

It's an Arabian saying and the proper quote is:

"The friend of my enemy is also my enemy. The enemy of my enemy is not nessisarily my friend."

I wish Americans understood that trueism.

V, do you have a fever? Open thread right? While Ted and I can offer what Republican and, yes Democratic policies did to a once flourishing biz, you bring in the idea of the Pistols? Please, a band that was nothing more than a metaphorical bondo job by Malcom McDowell who delivered one record. The fact of the matter is, while artists from the 60's and 70's flourished under the radar for creating social movements, and the 80's, while as bad of what most of it was created a thoughtful group of bands that produced college angst for many. The start of the 90's saw a niche mecca...then what? Don't say anything about what the world is facing or get blacklisted like Pearl Jam, don't mention war or politics or else you get Dixie Chick'ed, buy into a system of regurgitated crap and you get to be Kid Rock! Knowing the biz far too well, you can see why I would like to see Bob Ritchie write the songs I know he is capable, he is my fellow Detroiter, and see bands like Wilco get airplay. It is financial policies like the ones advanced since Reagan's era that led us down this path. Dems are just as guilty.

This is a fascinating conversation to hear.

It's educational to see some insiders attempt to explain what is one of the great mysteries of our time: what the hell happened to Rock. I appreciate Kyle trying to make some sense of it all for us.

My 9 year-old plays piano, a little drums, and has no interest in rock whatsoever. In the car it's my kid yelling, "Turn down Zeppelin, Daddy!"

It has made me wonder if the relationship we all had with the great bands of our era, is not possible for kids today. The latter may have the opposite problem that we had. In our case, our parents tried to keep us from rocking too hard and being swept up in the glorious music. But for our kids, that temptation is not even there because there is no more music.

I don't think it has much to do with whoever is in the White House, however. If it does I would be pretty surprised.

Anyone catch BO on Sixty Minutes? I'm no expert, but I think that inapropriate laughing is a sign of an on comming NERVIOUS BREAKDOWN! BO is in over his head and his puppeteers will not be able to stop him from going out of control.

Look, Arab media is more apt to report good news in Iraq than is our MSM here in the states.

http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/03/200932372956625539.html

Air, this will be quick as I am a big enough nerd to bicker with many visitors here, and watch Heroes. You make a very good and thoughtful point about the relationships with music. Is that era over? I don't know..I hope not. For historically speaking, The Who, Bob Dylan, The Replacements, Billy Bragg, and Guthrie shaped me. However, I think the greater question is, was the death of that relationship for a lack of message? While I am amongst Conservatives and Libertarians here, I gleefully wrapped my arms the message in the music. Whether it Woody's pro Union songs or the nerdy lives of Nirvana and Mudhoney. I do not really know bands that delivered a pro conservative message other than the country artists gone awry or Kid Rock's later stuff. The mark John Lennon left was pretty progressive/populist, the Dead were stoned, and Paul McCartney was about the music and the almighty $. Where to from here in an industry that shaped many lives, of every political stripe?

Hilarious. Kyle responds to sarcasm by accusing me of having a fever... then goes off in a left-wing rant.

As though bands like Anti-Flag were victims of a conspiracy, and didn't get ignored because their music just plain sucked.

Meanwhile, what I actually came to say was, Oakland residents jeer and taunt police as they collect evidence at the scene of a cop-killing. Even in a country where the president laughs at people's economic pain, it's still kind of shocking.

No brainer: San Fran 'peace' protest turns violent

President Obama shows his knowledge of all things sciency and technicy to do with cars

Last month, Obama mistakenly called the automobile an American invention, surprising the Germans who claim that mantle. And in a speech in California today, Obama revived an inaccurate jab against the industry that Ford Motor Co.’s original Model T burned less fuel than modern sport utility vehicles. …

“The 1908 Model T — think about this — the 1908 Model T earned better gas mileage than the typical SUV in 2008,” Obama told the crowd. “Think about that — a hundred years later and we’re getting less gas mileage, not better, on SUVs.”

But according to Ford the first Model Ts built in 1908 could go 13 to 21 miles on a gallon, depending on the particular variation. The automaker and Model T clubs say typical Tin Lizzies averaged 15 m.p.g.

What remains unclear is how it makes sense to compare a fabric-roofed, four-seat car to a seven-passenger truck stuffed with high-tech accoutrements.

Those first Model Ts weighed about 1,200 pounds, lacked windows, rode on wood wheels and could ease up to a top speed of 45 miles per hour. A modern SUV tips the scales at 4,600 pounds, hits a top speed of 140 m.p.h. and has to meet a bevy of laws for crashworthiness.

“You couldn’t build a Model T today because the government wouldn’t let you put it on the road.”

Kyle,
That's why I have satellite radio for my vehicles. I can't stand the pigeon-hole garbage that's being passed off as music anymore. Give me some Skynrd, Marshall Tucker,Outlaws, CDB, old Cheap Trick,Zepplin,Floyd,etc. It seems to me that the musice today is all processed just plug and play the flavor of the month.

Anon,
Good point the message loses it's meaning when everyone just spews moonbat bs over and over. Most don't even understand the message but it makes them rich and that's all they care about.

I'm not arguing that music today doesn't suck. I would even say that 90% of music has *always* sucked. For every Lynyrd Skynyrd, there were always a dozen Terry Jacks's or Barry Manilows. Time and nostalgia tend to color our perceptions.

What I think is stupid is blaming this on Reagan. Mellonhead is just a hard-left limousine socialist who was a part of the eighties hate-Reagan celebrity culture. Now that he's washed up, he decides to scapegoat Reagan. Lefties will always scapegoat a conservative instead of taking personal responsibility.

Mellonhead got rich from the same system he now blames for putting out crappy music. Here's a clue, Mellonhead. You got your millions, why don't you start your own damn music company? Then you can highlight and promote all the social protest music you want... instead of whining that everything bad is Reagan's fault.

V,
I can't blame any President because as you said we had the Monkees and god help us the Partridge Family (excuse me while I puke). Ever since Hank Williams record execs have been wringing every penny out of music, but you had to go to Terry Jacks(excuse me while I puke). You know V those pop-tarts I just ate would have been alot better if they had stayed down. :)
If I formed a record company it would go broke because I sure wouldn't be signing any new bands.
Personally I would put the pigeon-holed crap that's been coming out of the music industry at the feet of the music industry. They know the artists have these huge egos so the record companies can pigeon-hole them just to sell records and the over-inflated egos of the artists like it. Now back to some Skynrd.

The funny thing is, my kid wants to start a record company. His plan is pretty modest... to only work in digital formats, and only work on making local bands into regional bands.

His 18th birthday is next week, and what he wanted for his birthday was to rent out a hall and put on a show. So, that's what we're doing.

V,
Tell your son good luck with the show. He's got a good idea to stick to the digital medium it's definately cost effective. Carl Edwards has done the same thing in Missouri but with a bigger budget of course. His record label only features local bands. The genre of music doesn't matter as long as they are local. Encourage your son to cover several genres of music it will help get his feet wet.
Personally I'm a rocker but remind your son not to let his personal musice tastes get in the way he may find a diamond in the rough, good luck.

Somehow I have a feeling Socrates listened to Plato noodling in the Ionian mode and said "Kids these days...their music sucks." I guarantee Melloncamp's parents thought his music sucked. And their parents couldn't believe anyone would listen to ragtime. And their parents couldn't understand why anyone would listen to Brahms. And their parents' parents' parents thought (pretty much correctly) that it all went to shit after Mozart.

Let's do a quick comparison of politics and musical chops.

John Mellencamp: anti-Reagan, limousine leftist.

Johnny Ramone: Reaganite.

Quod erat demonstrandum.

Damnit mandible quit speaking spanish!! ;)