Rumsfeld Rides to Glory (or wherever)

Two amazing things happened today.  (In addition to my making from scratch an Indian cuisine-influenced lamb tikka dish with vegetables from our garden.)  My mother wanted grilled lamb chops, but with the temperature on the patio at 6:30 p.m. at 88 degrees, I opted to stir fry the lamp and make a carbon copy of my previous spaghetti sauce minus the ground beef.  (My supply of garam masala is almost depleted, so I need to toast some herbs, or rather smoke some herbs to get toasted)  Looks like medical weed may be in the works for North Carolina.  The demon Donald Rumsfeld left the building today, and I feel guilty for rejoicing in that man's death.  I am not sure he is in heaven with God, because...  The second watershed event which transpired today was some tough "Black Lives Matter" love at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  After the closed meeting which resulted in a life long secure professorship for Anna Nichol Smith, I mean Nikole Hannah-Jones, the assembled body of activists opted to give two members of the Board of Trustees an earful.  This it turns out was a scathing criticism of support for African-American students pointing out the reality that the university was built by black slave hands.  I don't know if that is true, but having attended UNC-Chapel Hill, I acutely am cognizant of and understand political and financial influence at my alma mater.  The heinous Athletic Scandal which transpired while my high school and college friend Holden Thorp was chancellor never will be forgotten.  Certainly it has changed my support of the university.  Obviously others feel the same about the rather sordid leadership on the Hill.  God gave us instincts for a reason, and although fully I didn't know the facts about UNC's leadership, with fervor that Southern racism and classism radiated from the perimeter of that place.  After four years I could not wait to get out, because I knew your opportunities were nil.  Unless you were a part of that coveted crowd, you would remain a peon.  Funny I have remained a peon despite having been to two other major universities.  It is because I never was interested in, nor knew how to play the political game.  I my entire life spiritually was indoctrinated to produce the best quality music I could.  That didn't include making boatloads of greenbacks.  Consequently I have sizable catalog of written and recorded music works, but they sit either on a shelf or in a file cabinet.  Jeff Lorber didn't receive his first Grammy until forty years after his watershed recordings of the Jeff Lorber Fusion.  Am I ahead of my time musically?  History will tell with the help of the Copyright Office at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.  Each and every work ever I have composed or recorded accurately is recorded officially with this office.  The problem is with their digital conversion process (like the medical profession) they have grown inefficient and bulky.  In addition they charge hefty fees to search and retrieve specific copyright registrations, unless you happen to live in DC.  Then you can just walk into the library and search their card catalog.  With the passing of the demon Donald Rumsfeld and that vituperative discourse after the vote at Chapel Hill, abstractly I feel progress has been made.  Secretary Rumsfeld was a bad man, and when they figured him out on that Hill (Capital Hill, not Chapel Hill) he was given his walking papers.  For thirty-six years I have been waiting for this vindication at Chapel Hill.  I knew it was an Ivory Tower in the Ivy League, and I knew it was not the best system of education, but an education from Chapel Hill still was worth a lot.  I got screwed on the music education program, and happily the man who erroneously was hired to teach my "block" education courses also is deceased.  The irony here is that he was hired to fill the void of the previous Wind Ensemble director who was denied tenure.  Although I didn't know him directly, my sister was in his ensemble for a brief time when she was a Freshman at Chapel Hill.  This man played the tuba, spoke fluent German, and did a great job conducting this all wind ensemble.  Still they decided he was not adequate material to receive that life long position, which really means he doesn't fit in with the rest of them.  To play on the team, you have to be a team player.  The best of the best often are not interested.  Instead they forge their own path, or rather "March to the best of a distant drummer."  (that would be Miles Davis)  James Arrowood was not qualified to teach any education course.  He was a solid conductor, but that was it.  To be on the faculty of a major university, multiple skills are required.  Often you need to teach more than one discipline.  Once I used to tell myself I was such a person.  I do multiple things in the aesthetic of music, but in academia that is not the most important thing.  What is important is paper.  I wish it were "papers."  Being a polished politician is your best tool.  I can't remember my original thread, but I have one pound of less hair to weigh my head down.