AVONMORE BY BRYAN FERRY

Bryan Ferry's solo albums have always veered between records of new material and of cover versions and of combinations of the two.  Happy to say that AVONMORE is mostly new material except for two weird covers (Send in the Clowns and Johnny and Mary) at the end of the record.  Overall just a dependably enjoyable record of the usual Ferry wall of sound, his trademark since the last Roxy Music album AVALON, well played by an army of musicians including Nile Rodgers and Johnny Marr (who co-wrote Soldier of Fortune a ballad here)and his ever aging fragile voice (which has great authority)....Not as good as his best solo work (nor Roxy Music of course) - OLYMPIA, MAMOUNA, BETE NOIRE, BOYS AND GIRLS but I like it....Standout tracks - Driving Me Wild,  A Special Kind of Guy, and Loop De Li (the first single).

My review of the last Ferry album OLYMPIA can be found here http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2010/10/olympia-by-bryan-ferry.html

THE PROBLEM WITH SAMANTHA POWER

It’s great that Malaysia, New Zealand, and especially Venezuela have won two year seats on the United Nations Security Council. About Venezuela winning a place, Samantha Power, the American ambassador to the UN, had this to say “Unfortunately, Venezuela’s violations of human rights at home are at odds with the (UN) charter’s letter. The United States will continue to call upon the government of Venezuela to respect the fundamental freedoms and universal human rights of its people.” What a load of dung! If you replace the word “Venezuela” with “United States” that would be a better description of reality. The Venezuelan government has been fighting a war against the wealthy 1% of their country who are seeking to overturn the will of the people through thuggery, throwing money around, and influencing the military aided and abetted by the CIA.

Power wrote a book about genocide called “A Problem from Hell” but has shown herself to be an Israeli bootlicker and a servant of empire.  Hell is not a particularly well-written book either.  She ignored the root causes of genocide (US bombing in Cambodia for example or the colonialists pitting Hutus and Tutsis against one another) in favor of general empty verbiage.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard her criticize Israel once even during their recent killing spree in Gaza.  Beware those to who toady to American empire and try to set themselves up as an international agent of conscience.  She is a fraud and an embarrassment!

THE SMEARING OF AHMADINEJAD

One of the most worrisome developments of the Republican takeover of the Senate last week is the renewed sabre rattling at Iran.  Neo-Cons like John McCain are back in control of senate committees and are wasting no time in talking about sanctions and military action.  Obama is kind of on their side anyway and won't have much interest in stopping them.

There are many countries that have been victimized by US imperialism  but Iran is near the top of the list what with coup that got rid of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953 and stuck them with the Shah, an evil corrupt autocrat, for the next several decades

One way the US and its proxy Israel kept the pressure on Iran which has dared to fight back against the American evil empire is to exaggerate up Iran’s nuclear policy into something which is desperately threatening to the West when in effect Iran is not even close to developing a nuclear weapon.

Another way is to demonize Iran’s leadership.  That’s kind of hard with the current president Hassan Rouhani who is somewhat low key but worked well with Iran’s last president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Never mind that much of what was reported were mistranslations. (Deliberate in my opinion as Zionists and their allies control almost all of the Western news media) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sam-sedaei/the-biggest-lie-told-to-t_b_70248.html

Sure he had a big mouth (and voiced a lot of intolerant opinions on gays, women etc. which Christians in the US do too) but much of what he did was trolling Israel and the US and much of what he said about Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians, US imperialism, and the Holocaust as an excuse for a holocaust conducted by the Zionists against the Palestinians.  The holocaust is not unique in the history of the world and treating it as such is used to excuse or minimize other crimes against humanity (such as those committed against Israel).

Ahmadinejad Is back teaching now (he has a PhD in engineering).  Here he is taking the bus to work and standing in his office.

MY STRUGGLE: BOOK ONE BY KARL OVE KNAUSGAARD

The memoir as novel seems truly tapped out, overused by writers who lack the imagination to sit down and come up with a plot and characters.

It is a challenge then for the writer who chooses to work in this medium for one, he must have an interesting and possibly universal story to tell.  For another, he must stylistically be able to tell a story that’s not told in the form of a more escapist completely fictional narrative with the confines of its structure.

The first volume of MY STRUGGLE by Karl Ove Knausgaard definitely satisfies the latter point.  He doesn’t necessarily have a lot to say in the lead off to his multi-volume autobiographical work which has garnered a lot of good reviews and critical attention.

However regarding the overall meaning....

Proust is the most immediate influence that comes to mind but whereas Proust, despite his sloppiness, had a very clear framing mechanism for his remembrances , Knausgaard does not.   Most of the book seems to be about the problematic relationship with his father up to and including his father’s death but I feel that something is missing here. 

As much as I like the way Knausgaard writes, there is nothing ”solid” here , just description without feeling, without force, the intellectual who is too outside his own life. Still the writing is good enough I would read further volumes of MY STRUGGLE.

THE WAR AGAINST NICE GUYS

An unfortunate by product of the rightful outrage by women in the USA for a number of recent issues involving unjust and wrong treatment such as various high school and college sexual assaults incidents that were not handled by administrators correctly and were swept under the rug or ignored altogether, minimizing of sexual assault when it is committed by an athlete or other celebrity, Elliot Rodgers shooting murders, catcalling, gamergate etc. is the attack on “nice guys” by some women.

A nice guy is described as a man who tries to pick up or talk to a woman, finds out she is not interested then responds in some verbally abusive way.  At some point, he either described himself or was described as a “nice guy” – well mannered and not devious or overly forceful in his dealings with women.

I’m not sure how we arrived at this as most of the kind of guys in the behavioral incidents I mentioned above would not classify themselves as nice guys nor would they want to be as they feel this would not help them be attractive to American women who are supposed to be attracted to assholes.

First off, if he’s verbally abusive, he’s not a nice guy so I’m not sure why that description is used except in quotes in an ironic sense.

Second, why is this type of man the priority in discussions about change in male behavior instead of the athlete/frat boy/type A male which is still a bigger problem for most women?

I can only speak anecdotally about my experience as a single man in America - a lot of American women don’t respect a guy who holds doors open nor uses please and thank you not to mention is well mannered when it comes building up to a sexual relationship.   As someone who is somewhat conservative about gender matters and a gentleman on dates, most American women were not that interested in me which was fine as I never had any interest in them and only dated foreign born women (I am married to a Malaysian).  In Asia, the attributes of a gentleman are still prized plus Asian women are much more physically attractive and generally take better care of themselves. 

I don’t however blame American women for this nor work this into some sort of larger narrative about how women are no good.  The problem is capitalism colliding with the puritan based Christianity of the pioneers that settled large parts of the country.  America sexually is screwed up stuck between hypersexual displays that sexualise everything and prioritize sex in a way that is not healthy and a holdover puritanism that still preaches abstinence, homophobia, and restrictions on abortion.

American women are vulgar, materialistic and kind of gross but so is the culture that spawned them (and so are the men that live there).

Also I’d just like to say about the term “friendzone” – Men bring this on themselves. Hanging around with a woman in a platonic friendship hoping she’ll like you is masochistic!  I learned early on that only creates frustration and a phony foundation for a relationship with another person, also it's dishonest.

I SUPPORT ARNOLD ABBOTT

It has become a trend in the US state of Florida to criminalize the feeding of the homeless, many of whom gravitate to that state because of their milder winters.  These laws do nothing to resolve the core problems at the root of homelessness but seek to end it by legislating the homeless out of existence without doing anything to address mental illness or drug abuse or just the lack of work that find people unable to support themselves anymore.

Laws that criminalize giving food to the homeless are sick and evil.  Any society that passes such laws deserves to end up on the ash heap of history.  I consider this part of gentrification - Scumbag rich people - not in my backyard.  Personally I hope their houses all burn down and they find themselves out on the street.

Arnold Abbott is 90 years old and has been feeding the homeless in public parks in Fort Lauderdale through his charitable organization LOVE THY NEIGHBOR.

Abbott, who fought in WWII as a combat infantryman and received two purple hearts and was also active in the 1960's in the civil rights movement, has now been arrested and cited but continues to feed the homeless, the destitute, despite the danger of further arrest....I'm an atheist but I know no other way to say this other than in religious lingo - God bless him! I'm posting about this because this story is a microcosm of everything that is wrong with America....Income equality is the new civil rights struggle and encompasses many other problems (police abuse, homelessness, perpetual war etc.). 

Abbot is a hero in my eyes.  A total badass and here’s how you can support him

His organization LOVE THY NEIGHBOR http://lovethyneighbor.org/

A fund for his legal costs http://www.gofundme.com/gueuaw

A FEW THOUGHTS ON ELECTION 2014

In many ways, this election seemed like a tantrum, perhaps a final tantrum from those who expect the America of the myth to be restored, the American dream, high wages for plentiful jobs, home with two cars,  sending kids to college but that America no longer exists (if it ever truly existed) and its never coming back.

In its place is an America of diminished resources that taxes its depleting assets and morality even further in the building and maintenance of an empire it cannot afford and which much of the world rejects.  This is of course including the endless armed conflicts the US feels the need to inject itself into.

The answer or at least one of the answers is an end to the two party duopoly of power.  Until then, here a few observations on this election.

1.)  Clearly this was a wave election.  Losing the governorship of Maryland  and almost losing (as of this writing) a senate seat in Virginia are examples of losses the Democratic party did not expect.  Whether it be avoiding a run-off in Georgia or retaining the governorship in Florida, the Republicans exceeded their wildest dreams.

2.) I'm not a Democrat but I do think a lot of the Democrats who lost tonight (espc. in senate races) such as Grimes in Kentucky were too quick to run away from the president and their own party in general. What kind of message does that send to the voter?

3.) While there is no doubt that Republicans make efforts to drive down voter turnout from constituencies that vote Democratic (poor, African Americans etc.) and some of these efforts are illegal/unconstitutional, I must say that I do not see the problem with requiring a photo ID for voting - You need one for everything else important and while there may not be widespread fraud now the potential is certainly there. If the argument is some elderly or poor people don't have access to a driver's license then there should be a voter's card given to those who can prove they don't have the resources for obtaining another form of photo ID or even better and easier a national ID card which everyone would be required to present when voting. And no, a student ID is not a valid form of ID. At the university I went to, the foreign students had the exact same ID's as those who were Americans.

4.) One thing I really don't like is when they call a race based on exit polls before even one vote has been counted. I understand a certain result is likely in some cases but it would be nice to see the trend emerging ,at least 20% or 25% of the votes counted perhaps, before calling a winner.

5.) Scott Walker’s re-election which is too bad not just because he's anti-working people, anti-education etc. but because rumor is he is planning to run for the Republican nomination for president 2016 . He will not run had he lost re-election. With his non-threatening demeanor, he could be a formidable national candidate.

6.) Harry Reid (and Nancy Pelosi) need to step down from their leadership positions.  Neither has shown much leadership as of late especially Reid who made no effort to push through contentious legislation nor confront Republicans.  I think we could have had immigration reform had Reid (and the president) been willing to work with the House of Representatives.

7.) Marijuana legalization in Oregon and Washington DC was good news this evening.  I hope this trend continues.