Donald Trump, the American Heretic

Some things need to be said.  The first is America's media has yet to tie the "Black Lives Matter" movement to our president, Donald Trump.  In the strangest estrangement racial protests have been raging nightly, but mostly they are aimed at police.  Black men have been killed in an unusually frequent form of brutality by American policemen.  Unfortunately most of them have been criminals, and no matter how much black American shouts you can't erase this truth.  If these men were to abide by the verbal commands police gave them, probably they still would be living.  In a matter of cultural disparity mostly white police officers seem to have difficulty tempering their visceral emotional responses to disobedience.  This is the issue.  Why has deadly force been the tool of these policemen?  It would seem so easy to incapacitate a man with a bullet wound to an extremity.  Defying rational behavior, or more specifically cognitive decision making driven by compassion, humanity, and a sense of self preservation, these police unload on their victims in a seeming fit of passion.  A prosecutor has no recourse but to point out the excessive force being unleashed on these men.  The only way to qualify such aggressively violent behavior is to surmise there is underlying intent.  Years of malevolent turmoil are unleashed in a few seconds of orgasmic ecstasy.  It would seem these specific policemen have a premeditated agenda, thus possibly anachronistic racial tensions of American history bubble to the surface.  The Civil War never really came to an end.  Jesse James and his gang continued to fight America's Civil War long after it was declared over by Abraham Lincoln.  Similarly racial integration never fully was accepted especially in the American South.  It clearly has been documented  in history books culminating in the Civil Rights Movement lead by Dr. Martin Luther King.  His murder along with President John F. Kennedy solidify the deep racial and cultural disparities of Americans.  While we have made large strides in this area, recently this chasm once again has emerged and grown.  My premise again is that our American media have not connected the dots.  They have yet to tie the "Black Lives Movement" specifically to our president Donald Trump.  Their protests are aimed at local police.  Inexplicably no voice has emerged to say Donald Trump is the instigator and leader of this newly unfolded racial discrimination.  Protestors are rioting in the streets all over America, and none have called out Donald Trump.  An election is looming in less than two months, and we are on the brink of civil and/or revolutionary war, and still America's media has yet to define this strife, this coup for what it really is.  It is impossible to rationalize Trump support.  The only way I can is to understand those who support Donald Trump and Mike Pence are unwilling to listen, read, or consider something other than a popularity vote based upon wealth and a somewhat amusing presence as a television personality.  No facts exists to promote Trump's qualifications to be president.  He seems rich, but we never will know until after the November election.  His tax returns will be delayed until then, although they have been successfully subpoenaed by the state of New York.  He has admitted to filing for bankruptcy multiple times.  Do multiple bankruptcies suggest wealth?  Evidently Mr. Trump owns many properties all over the world, but we do not know his liquidity.  The facts we do know are not complimentary.  There is very little about Donald Trump that could have allowed him into our White House, a house he himself said is for whites only.  The summation must be that his platform is as an anarchist.  He mocks everything Americans understand to be just, truthful, and Christian.  This is his platform.  It has been achieved with a tongue in cheek, an attempt to prove humorous or satirical.  His platform today has been elevated to a level where almost everything he says is a lie.  There is some Socratic methodology to his discourse.  If he spent a fraction of his time thinking about the job of the American president, perhaps he could have achieved something.  Landmarks have been achieved, and they are covert.  He admitted to spending two and one half trillion American tax dollars rebuilding our military.  Where else could this money come?  It wasn't his money.  America didn't have and does not have this money.  It is debt accrued.  America's debt never has been higher, and that is because of running out of money to swindle in the private sector he moved on to America.  There is a pattern of this behavior, and I only am old enough to remember the Bush family.  The year I became psychologically depressed was the year George H.W. Bush masterminded America's invasion of Panama.  American military forces from all over the continental United States rallied and descended upon Manuel Noreiga in Central America.  In like fashion Bush senior deployed American troops in defense of oil rich Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.  The Bush cartel used unknowing American military might for their own gain.  Donald Trump has an example for his unpatriotic business regimen.  He is not interested in the well being of common American citizens.  One only has to look at a record of his presidential actions to understand this.  Whether it is separating toddlers from their families at the southern border in a show of tough love, enacting genocide on huge swaths of American citizens who tax the federal economic system with entitlements, or inciting America's second Civil War, seeming wealth and influence through the ownership of properties and a tepid television influence are no proof of his ability to hold the office of American President.  History conclusively will prove him the least capable of any American President.  It is probable that his covert methodology will be of historical note.  I am no conspiracy theorist, but I do understand heresy.  World history is pitted with it, and it is appropriate that Donald Trump is the current American vehicle.  Without him and the test he has summoned, Americans surely would have perished while trying to turn on their security systems with their phones. 

The White House

While America is accosted with "White" lies, perceptions of White Nationalist sentiments by affluent, mostly Republican, Trump demagogues, America once again has become divided.  I don't remember this divide during the Clinton administration, because Multiculturalism was a strong ethos in their platform.  "It Takes a Village" is a far cry from the divisiveness of the Trump Clan's KKK propaganda.  Donning white hoods, spewing racist rhetoric, and further inciting blind allegiance may have worked in fledgling America, but we have evolved.   We are lucky to have MSNBC, Rachel Maddow, Nicole Wallace, and Joy Reid to sort through the muck.  There is so much of it, mostly lies.  They fact check Trump's lie tongue and cheek, because to synthesize it at face value is almost fatal.  The depth, darkness, and debility of our President's vitriol is profound.  It attempts to paralyze my spirit, and consequently it takes active denial to neutralize its false message.  In a nutshell to recount the Republican National "Convention," one must understand that it was not a convention at all.  Startlingly it was a glimpse into the real Trump reality.  While in the presidency for almost a full term, a curtain has been drawn closed surrounding the Trump base.  White supremacist militia members have emerged only at the behest of the president.  Did a seventeen year old Illinois extremists suddenly decide to travel across state lines to defend personal property and lives in the midst of "Black Lives Matter" protests?  Was Kyle Rittenhouse summoned to make this trek and murder two Americans.  How is he different than Dylan Roof, James Holmes, Eric Harris, or Dylan Klebold except that his opportunity was more mainstream.  He choose a volatile, public, civil dispute as a place to interject his opinion.  What did he think he was doing other than playing G.I. Joe?  President Trump effectively is manipulating his base like a competent cult leader.  In the greatest stealth he provokes altercation and seduces those who know no better.  One would think affluent, upper class, business owners would know better.  They know not to kill innocent people in public.  Their murder is clandestine intentional or not.  It unfolds in people's lives behind the scenes in intimate ways which defy public understanding.  Addiction.  Contamination.  Gluttony.  Traps are set and their patrons retreat to have revenue collected by lackeys.  Never must they confront the horror of their wealth.  They are immune from these ills, sheltered in place in their gated communities in Houston, at their country clubs, and at illegal political rallies in the "People's House."  Most insultingly what did President Trump call this house with a smirk on his face leaning on one elbow like he was having sex?   The answer was the White House, because he feels it is for whites.  I can think of no other more profound abdication, insulting of America, and personal cry for help than these words.  It would seem he wants to be put out of his misery as a martyr for evil.   

Southern Ruination

I have been rambling on to my mother about why I left Columbia, South Carolina around 1990.  She turns a deaf ear after trying to listen.  Verbalizing my actions back then helps me understand.  It was a complex and difficult time.  The easy part was understanding my own situation.  I lost a job, and badly I failed to end a relationship by doing what many people do.  I let it ramble not willing to make the decision.  In this situation always it will end badly, but it not always is easy to understand.  It ebbed and flowed, but ultimately it did not return because of distance.  With no protocol for long distance love, it has little chance.  I let it tarry, and it rode in a different direction.  It took long enough to recover from that mistake and regroup for another career direction.  Those were the easy parts.  The difficult part became understanding thirty years later the real reason I left Columbia, South Carolina.  It was political corruption.  The State House in this capital city was the target of an FBI sting which exposed bribery.  Many elected state officials were offered and accepted cash bribes. They were captured on video tape.  As it turns out it was a much bigger deal for me and my conscience.  After watching Nikki Haley speak for the Republican National Party promoting the reelection of President Donald Trump, immediately I knew why I left Columbia.  While Ms. Haley had some moving talking points, and I don't think she is an evil person, it was clear to me she represents the kind of politician from which America has suffered the most.  She is an opportunist.  She may have grass roots, but her motivation is advancement in her career through the procurement of power.  She has suffered from what the rest of the Republican congress has suffered.  She has become brain washed from lobby money.  It was not until I returned to Columbia several years ago, that I realized why I had left.  Columbia was exactly the same.  Nothing had changed.  There was no apparent urban growth.  Things were  cemented in place including their politics.  This is the reason I left.  Driving back into this favorable city thirty years ago in which I enjoyed living, studying, and working for five years, Never did I notice it was white.  I noticed this time, because I have been gone working all over the world.  Columbia reveled in its whiteness.  It is sheltered and immune from the realities of color.  The politics of Columbia only recently became clear to me with the reelection campaign of Donald Trump.  It turns out where I am living is Trump land.  I never knew this before, and it explains my revulsion to this political perspective.  When we played jazz, or rather tried to play jazz in Columbia's notable country clubs, they were not happy.  Often bands were booked on causal engagements with nothing but a jazz repertoire.  These country clubbers preferred "shag" music, music to which they could shag dance.  We had no vocalist, and while I knew many shag songs the small jazz combos did not.  They also had no desire to play this music.  We were confronted by angry patrons unhappy with our musical selections.  These people are Trump supporters.  It has not changed.  They are the affluent, upper class, Southern society which always have existed in here.  Had Abraham Lincoln not ended slavery, I am sure these people would have owned slaves.  They do not understand the fortunes they have, such as the rice industry in Charleson, were built with African American slaves.  They did not toil for their money.  They relegated authority with the aid of an inhumane, unethical, immoral, and now criminal practice slavery.  There is a stark spiritual difference between me these people.  There is something so deep and so strong, that when I am around it I feel physically ill.  This is the way I have felt the last few days.  It is because these are the people involved in the Republican National Convention.  Never have I seen with my own eyes such a distorted, untruthful, and inept depiction of American political life.  Like Donald Jr. is saying, they are going to lose, and they are going to lose huge.  He is afraid Joe Biden will lynch the survivors.  I remain skeptical about the November election, because the Republican Party was able to bribe the electoral college in 2016.  Since several things have transpired.  One is the Republican Party now adopts no platform.  Their platform is, "Whatever the President wants."  They have not taken the time to formulate their ideas of American leadership or policy.  This is how lethargic and  inept the United States Congress has become.  Money has turned them into vampires.  While I do not believe in such figments of the imagination, this the perfect metaphor for them.  Perhaps that is the purpose of such literary imagery.  I never have seen it with my own eyes in the mainstream American media.  While televangelists were close, they only were two bit hack snake oil salesmen.  They scorned God and sealed their own fate with their scams, but none of them was the leader of the free world.  Watching the Republican National Convention I feel as if I am watching televangelism in its hey day.  This is the Trump Clan approach, and it is the first time America is seeing their true colors.  It is an anachronism in the greatest sense.  It is like seeing KKK hoods in the 21st century.  The depression it creates in my soul is staggering.  I am experiencing the death and destruction of America's Civil War now,  today.  Our country never has changed.  Only has it beaten back the evil beast by sheer determination, Christianity, and desperation.  With the able miseducation of the millennial generation and their contemptuous exploitation, this surviving faction of the American South, those who live in Columbia, South Carolina and elsewhere have won the presidency again and almost ruined this country. Truly it is a dark time when you democracy hangs in the balance.  Will it be God or a dead black man which tips the scales? 

The Fungal Tonque of the devil

I have a large palate.  I am lucky to have such a thing, because life constantly is slinging bullshit at you.  I was spared this B.S. while I was cruising.  Maybe this is why I went, because life in America "Ain't What is Used to Be."  "Things Ain't What They Used to Be," sang Count Basie.  Count Basie is an American figure worth remembering.  I can't think of one American figure in the last two decades I want to remember.  Jeff Bezos may be the richest man on earth, and I like Amazon.  They try to coerce you on their website showing only the highest prices, but you can get most anything you want or need via the internet.  This is a great convenience, and it drastically has changed the American economy.  America has forgotten what business is, business which supports and employs those other than its owners.  The encompassing nature of business, not business that moves money around on Wall Street, has been forgotten in America.  The examples we have are Walmart, a company that underpays it employees, so they must collect food stamps.  A representative example of a successful American business is any movie studio in Hollywood during the age of film.  One comparison to today's process for movies, and you will understand what a successful business is.  It is not just an entity which makes money for its private owners, which is what Republicans and Trump supporters think.  For some reason this faction of America feels they owe no debt to the nation in which they live and have made their fortunes.  Inexplicably they feel they must offer no ante to the pot.  They rise from the ashes of those they have burned and offer no token.  America will not and cannot function this way.  While limited government is a valid concept, America has grown away from such an idea.  The reality is the government funds must everyone, and that of itself is a socialist concept.  Often those shouting, "Socialist!" are those taking this money.  It was summarized well on MSNBC the other night, when they said Republicans are folks who have good jobs, live in their little bubble, and condemn those less fortunate.  Someone has to pay the piper.  Someone has to pay Uncle Sam for the freedom America offers.  It is not possible for this fee to come from the embattled middle class or the poor.  It must come from the wealthy, and before Ronald Reagan it did.  Before Ronnie became president the tax on the rich was 70%.  The wealthy forfeited this percentage of their income to Washington.  Now the wealthy including Amazon and Apple pay very little.  Corrupt Washingtonians continue to steal from the only people available, the American people.  They do it through their elected offices in the biggest con on earth.  It is not new, but at least in the past they tried to conceal their intentions.  America will not recover until the example of business which benefits everyone is revived.  That means money must flow from Cayman and Swiss bank accounts into the hands of ordinary everyday workers.  The middle class, newly empowered with value, income, and incentive is upon which America relies when she is functioning.  A movie studio which employs thousands of artists, craftsmen, and workers of all types, promotes a common goal, creates an able commodity, and makes a profit is a wonderful example of a successful American business.  We need more businesses like this, and less like Walmart as economical as it is.  We all adore Walmart, and it does provide a valuable service to America, but businesses which treat employees with respect and dignity and pay them a living wage are better.  Slinging hash, pumping gas, and stocking merchandise are not pinnacles of American capitalism.  America has become soiled with the feces of corrupt lawmakers.  Each day we rise we are surrounded by the stench of evil and corruption, and each day I am becoming more cognizant of what is require to survive.  Truly it has become a fight of existence, not art.  Working in the cruise industry I lived a life that was not real.  I was taught the customer comes first, and you must above all else be friendly to them.  You must be a nice guy, and most of my life I have been.  When I moved to Cowtown, I stayed a nice guy but I had nothing better to do then excel in the field of music.  I tried to be the best I could be, and I had good examples against which to try.  It is easier when you have this example.  Today the examples before us are so twisted, demonic, and unfathomable it is difficult to decide what to do or how to be.  We are the products of authoritarianism, a government predicating our lives without thinking or caring about us.  It is fair time to understand that this rule must be eliminated with force if necessary.  God says, "The meek shall inherit the earth," but with no earth upon which to live we have no choice but to put evil at bay.  We may not be able to defeat it, but we can put it in its place. 

Ridin' with Biden

Now that the Democratic "Convention" is over, things are coming into my mind that need to be addressed.  The common theme or the one point of activism has been "Black Lives Matter."  This is not the only talking point in American politics.  Certainly it and the Covid 19 outbreak are relevant.  Corruption in America's police force is nothing new, but the senseless murdering of black men is an atrocity which needs to be addressed.  It is not the only dire issue of our time.  One only needs to think back a few years, and easily another seemingly forgotten issue may be more dire.  I did not hear it mentioned at the Democratic Convention.  Our memories today are short.  The issue of mass shootings in America, a phenomenon unique only to our great country, should be more pressing.  What could cause American youth to arm themselves and commit genocide against their own citizens?  Is it they do not like America?  Is it they are mentally ill?  Have they been brainwashed?  Are they victims of cultists?  Are they domestic terrorists?  A racist and murderous police force is dire, but our children killing senselessly may be more dire.  It is more dire, because we do not know why.  We do not know why American youth are so deranged that they need to kill innocent Americans and often themselves.  While this issue may pale in comparison to a worldwide pandemic that has killed thousands, in my mind it is the most important issue of American life.  How can we continue to live in a nation which fosters such unexplained violence?  In all likelihood drugs may be a part.  America always has had a drug problem, and this issue also was not present at the Democratic Convention.  It would seem our generation in all of its naivete seems to think we are the only people who have lived on this earth.  The problems which have beset man from his inception still are the same, which Covid 19 has proven.  If we are to perish on this earth it will be from issues related to extreme heat and humidity.  Not unlike a Stephen King novel, an awful green fungus may proliferate and envelope the world.  It all ready has begun.  Every article I read in Wikipedia on medication begins with fungal infection are on the rise and are becoming immune to traditional medications.  I don't think this is true.  I think pharmaceutical companies are weakening their medicines on purpose.  Herbal supplements not regulated by any agency can well you baking soda in a capsule and call it anything they want.  Believe me they do.  Cannabis oil often is nothing more than a fake.  Getting to the root of mental illness in America should be the focus of our time.  Our media is so selective upon which the things it reports.  Mysteriously global terrorism, ISIS, Afghanistan, Iraq, and all have taken a backseat to plague.  It would be wise to keep a keen eye on what is happening in the Middle East and with the United States military.  If Donald Trump is capable of stealing from everyone, he is capable as the Commander and Chief to direct our armed forces into the wrong task.  We have no idea what they are doing with an 800 billion dollar budget.  I would like to know.  It would seem we are shit on our own in America, but Biden is trying to change that. 

America's Exorcism

American popular music used to be a big thing.  American popular music at one time made more money than Hollywood movies.  At one time American music performers were the conscience of popular culture.  It is plausible also they influenced mainstream thought, habits, and consciousness.  American Rock 'n' Roll, of which I missed, apparently was the soul of America.  It was not just the music for young people, it became the heartbeat of America.  We know so little about our own gifts.  2020 perhaps is the most shallow and ignorant generation of all time, but we have had a lot with which to contend.  2020 aside modern cultural ignorance has been in the making since the turn of the century.  I feel 2000 was the turning point.  Shit took a hike at the turn of the century.  Watch a movie made before 2000 and most likely you will see a story and filming of substance.  It will engage you, and often it will enhance your perspective.  2000 was like a lightswitch that got flipped off.  No matter how much I ignore it the issue of "pop" keeps rearing its ugly head.  It is huge.  As I was watching Austin City Limits last night, the label for the band was Texas soul.  Okay.  I understand that.  Then I listened to the bass player.  The sole defining aspect of this Texas soul was what the bass player played, and it was not soul.  It was "pop."  I have defined "pop" before, and I will define it again.  It is not just a shortened version of the word popular.  A more accurate definition would "poppy."  Fluffy.  Fluff.  Onomatopoeia is a good way to define "pop."  Puff.  Pop.  It is fluffy and undefined.  It weakly blows in your ear.  When I first discovered this style of music while working on cruise ships, I discovered that the bass is the major defining element of "pop" music.  It is the rhythmic placement of the bass notes and what comes in between the major pulses or quarter notes.  In essence one can play the "pop" style without having to feel time.  What!  There you have it.  You could play music without having to feel or count the time in your mind, heart, or soul.  There it is.  It is a shortcut or a cheap way of performing what should be authentic music.  If you don't have to internalize a tempo or a feel or groove, then you are not a musician.  You are a hack.  Pop musicians, but not all of them, adhere to this principle.  You can get drunk, get high, and fuck off on stage and make your fingers move in a particular way you have learned by rote.  It is nothing.  I was not particularly waiting to feel any Texas soul, but it was not possible because the bassist was playing the "pop" pattern.  It is a pattern that mimics the strumming of the guitar.  At some point in American popular music, all testicles were castrated, masculinity was discarded, and music was transformed into an insipid, tepid, worthless milieu.  It has been for the last twenty years.  As such the experience, education, and training needed to play popular music with integrity has been forfeited.  Welcome to 2020, the year of....  The year of?  The year the American president lies to the public every time he opens his mouth.  It is the year of fraud.  It is the year of mockery.  It is the year that God no longer can stand what is happening on earth.  The most disconcerting thing is "pop" musicians are like corrupt politicians.  They also will lie to your face.  They will disparage you.  They will build themselves up.  They will slander real music with nary a care in the world.  "Pop" musicians I feel may be the biggest threat on the planet, because they can be in a position to effect societal perception.  I quit complaining about "pop," but it keeps rearing its ugly head.  Jazz 24, the streaming internet radio station, plays quality music, but a good deal of it really is pop jazz.  It, like any music, can be retooled to exist in a "pop" format.  When this happens, the original feel of the music is lost.  The feeling of the music is absent and also impossible, because this simplistic pattern a bassist plays is not capable of producing a rhythmic feel.  It is a string of puffy, square, quantized notes devoid of any human emotion.  It takes no emotion, soul, or energy to create such a line, and that is why they play it.  It is easy.  It is a deception.  I would characterize all music as "soul" music.  Who would want to listen to or experience any kind of music without soul?  It would be called noise, and this is to what we listen most of the time.  It is all over television.  It is in our stores while we shop.  It is everywhere, because businessmen discovered that this worthless concoction of noise makes people buy.  It is so disconcerting and aggravating, people buy things to appease their ill feelings.  What a tool.  The only reason I can assume musicians would adopt such a practice, is because we as Americans have forgotten what real life experience is and feels like.  It is called education.  Education is learning from one's experiences.  You have to experience something to learn from it.  For example I read two wrong wiring schematics on the interent for the Leslie 122 amplifier, and consequently installed a resistor in the wrong circuit.  It blew my fuse and otherwise caused mayhem in my life, but it also was the catalyst for better things such as addressing the real issue that was affecting my Hammond organ.  Without the process of having installed this part and it blowing the fuse, I would not have discovered the real problematic issue.  It takes time for the realization to become known.  You have to be bold enough to make the mistakes, because, "Evil proliferates when good men do nothing."  Instinctively I knew installing this resistor was going to cause a problem, but it also opened an avenue for a better outcome.  I can't watch any band on television these days. First the "musicians" are not playing anything.  They fake it with prerecorded tracks.  Tracks are the basis of the product.  No one seems to mind.  Often times it is one rapper cavorting about to a track.  This is not music.  Jimi Hendrix is music.  John Coltrane is music.  Amy Winehouse was music.  America in my estimation is tired of the fraud.  We are tired of the Donald Trump charade.  America, if she is to sustain, must spew this filth from her mouth and anus.  Those who choose not to participate in this exorcism are no better. 

The American Reckoning

I guess I am just cranky, because I am under surveillance.  My left ear tells me when the plane is near.  They fly in circles around my house.  Sometimes when I go outside at night to turn off the water, it only takes a few seconds for a jet to appear directly over my yard.  On weekends the droning will continue, until I get out of  bed.  Then they skedaddle.  It is old news.  The Federal Bureau of Investigation has multiple shell companies to which the small planes are registered.  They fly with impunity, anytime, anywhere, a retired military pilot making extra money and staying busy.  Sierra Nevada has provided a myriad of surveillance equipment including infrared sensors.  What I know from experience is when this plane is trolling above my house, I feel pain.  Its presence causes me direct physiological pain in my body.  Often it feels exactly like torture, of which the United States military is no stranger.  All ready they possess a microwave non-lethal weapon.  The Active Denial System spews a disturbing crowd with heating electromagnetic energy.  Fully I have come to believe that Covid 19 most likely was engineered in a lab and is being disbursed in the air by aircraft.  They have been antagonizing me for several years.  What other explanation is there?  The explanation is 2012 came in 2020.  The Mayans were eight years off in their prediction that the world would come to an end in 2012.  This is my take on it.  When George W. was coerced into the White House is 2000, the downward spiral began.  At his behest and for revenge for his father, still we are in the longest war in American history.  Dick Cheney is happy.  They are in the money.  It's all about the money.  We dumbed down the American population in an event similar to the Civil War.  The pure bred, strong, and intelligent bloodlines have been killed off, and only the passive and ignorant remain.  Our system of public education purposely has been undermined educating no one.  Tuition has reached epic costs, and graduating seniors have  incurred debt before their lives really begin.  Everything for which America has worked and achieved in the name of enlightenment, happiness, and spirituality has become dark, threatening, and evil.  Turn on the television and you will see it.  The amount of money we pay for the most mediocre cable service is atrocious.  The great men of this country largely are unknown or forgotten.  Harold Rhodes, Laurens Hammond, Leo Fender, George Gershwin, John Coltrane.  The truly outstanding innovative and artistic creations of the twentieth century have been deemed of no value.  Instead Apple, Google, and Amazon have enriched their own assets by claiming the rights to these achievements.  Creators, artists, and producers no longer wield any economic power.  It belongs to the distributors, because the millennial generation is too lazy to put down their iPhones.  It took the act of murder to spark action in some faction of the American public.  It is plausible our electoral college may reelect Trump, because our media is owned and controlled by those who know nothing.  We can't trust them.  In 2000 the networks declared Bush the winner before the vote was confirmed.  There is too much amiss, and I am too old and too tired to pick up an AR-15 and go after the big bad wolf.  I think about it.  I think about shooting at the plane that harasses me day in and day out.  I think about the spineless assholes that torment the good people.  We have had it easy in our lifetime.  Compared to other generations of Americans, it has been a walk in the park.  It would have been nice to have known the reckoning would come in 2020. 

The Wrong Technology

The "Age of Technology" is a misnomer in American history.  Pundits predicted that what would emerge in America over time was an "Age of Electricity."  Whether anyone want to believe it America all ready has created, utilized, and dispensed with her greatest accomplishments.  The greatest of the all has been her "Age of Technology," but this is not now.  It may be difficult to believe in an era of the iPhone, apps which can lock your doors, pay for your purchases, and monitor your homes, the iPhone in no way rivals America's true "Age of Technology."  Without such a device, a miniature personal computer with a state of the art camera and a mobile phone, America sent men to the moon.  The Japanese created cutting edge electronic components.  The Germans produced the most finely engineered and tooled products.  It all has been done before, and it has been done better.  The only thing that is different is that kind of quality takes money.  America has decided these products are not worth it.  Quality costs too much.  We would rather pay peasants a fraction of an American living wage to produce shit, instead of spending the time and resources investing in our own people.  We sold out the American people, and it was called Globalization.  I can think of no product today that comes close to the quality of most things produced in the past.  The best example would be voting machines.  When things required real raw materials, quality craftsmenship, and a skilled and literate work force, you could be assured that the product would work, and it would work well.  It would work for a long period of time.  With the shift from real materials, textiles, furniture, produce, and appliances to the iPhone, things got smaller, more fragile, and less dependable.  Even software was better in its inception.  Today products are diluted, undefined, poorly implemented trinkets of fodder.  They are over priced, they under perform, and they are no reliable.  Will you trust America's voting system on Nov. 3?  We don't even know what it is.  When ATM's first emerged Diebold manufactured a simple and robust machine which efficiently handled mobile banking needs.  Over the years ATM's only have gotten worse in design.  They are not as good as they were in the beginning.  With the iPhone vying for control of everything, we are seeing constant and continual failures of traditional processes which now are reliant upon poorly written computer code.  They are fads.  They are click bait.  They are pop culture, but the iPhone does not deserve a place in the the maintaining of America.  It has no place in the formal processes of governance, education, or justice.  The iPhone is an entertainment device, and this is for what is should be purposed.  America at this moment has no clue how our states will handle the November 3rd election.  Each states is different.  Each states has different processes.  Each state above all suffers from a different level of corruption and bias toward a particular political candidate.  I have just finished watching the HBO film "Recount."  It is telling.  I feel no comfort that our election process is secure.  I feel it at no other time has been less secure, less competent, and more prone to failure than now.  It is because of this "Age of Technology."  When we fail to invest in quality tools, quality products, and quality innovation which are designed for success over the long haul, we will reap the reward.  That reward is failure for America.  America has been lured into the internet, and have have become addicted.  The last place any type of election should exist is on the internet.  No part of the election process should be invested in the internet.  Elections are old school, and unlike what happened in Florida in 2000 all votes must be collected and counted.  The disparities, the irregularities, the loop holes, and suppression have to be recognized and addressed before November.  It nearly is impossible, because those running the system are not transparent.  Bush won Florida because of a token rich Secretary of State who chose to favor him.  Bush also won Florida because his influential family had enough power 
to intimidate the Supreme Court.  Influence from monetary wealth is what rules America.  Our process is pure, but its vulnerability to power is deadly.  The rich are in a position to administer American policies.  It clearly was seen in this film "Recount."  The processes of the American legal system were impressive, but they were controlled by money.  Each time a victory was had, another rung had to be climbed acknowledging yet another richer person or group.  The rich are the rulers not because of their wisdom, ethics, or spirit, because they only know how to win.  They do not know for what they are fighting.  Hell must be an appealing place. 

The Failed Trump Misalignment

America has succumbed to an all new low.  Former President Obama in jest mustered the slang "knee cap" to describe Trump's covert actions to undermine the United States Postal Service.  It is nothing new.  It is the protocol of his presidency.  It is what his peeps do, the Trump Clan.  When no longer can you steal from private markets, you get elected president by bribing the electoral college and steal from America.  It is not unprecedented, although it seems new to America.  Corruption in Washington always has existed, but until now it was not enacted with malice, antagonism, and enjoyment.  This form of corruption, gleefully appointing adversaries to cabinet positions, so they can dismantle an agency from the inside seems particularly cold.  It seems like Vladimir Putin.  There was Benedict Arnold number one Scott Pruitt.  In his short tenure he did irreparable harm to our Environmental Protection Agency.  Previously the Office of Noise Abatement was dismantled allowing noise pollution to proliferate in both rural and urban North America.  Now there is Benedict Arnold Sr., Bill Barr who gleefully smirks while enacting the president's often unlawful and unconstitutional policies.  There is the entire peanut gallery of white, dough boy, spineless Klan members, who don't seem to understand when they are ousted from public office by the voters they will be living in the same country just like Trump.  The popular and wise adage always has been, "Don't shit where you sleep (or eat)."  Trump has shit all over America, so he will be living elsewhere, when he is removed from office on Tuesday November the third.  Louis Dejoy may not understand that living in G-bury once may have been an asset to his political career, but when you  sacrifice your own flock for you own personal gain like his countless predecessors in the American south (Pat McCrory, subliminal messaging) you will be living in the midst of your enemies at your on behest.  Apparently evil has begun to believe that American people have become too ignorant to take politics seriously, as Germans did the Nazi party.  When you have a global pandemic killings hundreds of thousands of people, millions of jobs are disintegrating, and authoritarian oppression is suffocating American freedom the flock will not look the other way into their iPhone screen.  There will be nothing there to save them.  Salvation only will come in the form of the November vote where the masses will rally, present themselves forcibly, and demand Donald J. Trump be relieved of the American Presidency.  The fate of the world is at stake. 

El Banjo, Not El Bano.

Bored again.  A particular Hammond organ parts store on the internet sent me the wrong resistors for my Leslie 122 amp.  Needless to say after I spent the time soldering them in, the fuse blew, and that was it.  No more Leslie 122, at least for the moment.  The most logical train of thought is to think you did something wrong.  Is a resistor polarized?  I tried it the opposite way, and nothing happened.  Turns out the parts guy mistook 470 ohms for 470K ohms.  Not the same thing, so they are sending the correct resistors.  I hope no damage was done to my amplifier, seeing as there really was nothing wrong with it to begin with.  I reckon it will at least get it back up and running.  Frustrating.  I can't play my organ, one of them anyway, the one that uses the Leslie 142.  This is my prized instrument, one I have spent a fair amount of time working on.  It's all cool.  It will work out, but I must be patient.  LeJoy, the Trump appointed Postmaster General, is slowing down the mail on purpose.  My solder pump came to Fayetteville, went to G-bury, and came back again.  It should have been delivered days ago.  DeJoy.  Not, "Oh, Joy."  Another Trump crony making things worse for all Americans.  It commonly is stated that jazz came from ragtime.  Most American only know Scott Joplin.  I'm one of them.  If W.C. Handy is the self proclaimed "Father of the Blues," then Scott Joplin would be the "Father of Ragtime."  It is easiest.  If Maple Leaf Rag was published in 1897, then isn't is easiest to say that is when it began?  I disagree.  I disagree the same way America says Bill Monroe invented Bluegrass.  He didn't.  He may have been crucial in its development over recent years, but he alone did not create Bluegrass the genre.  More accurately the traditionally known instrumentation of Bluegrass, guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and double bass was codified in Bill Monroe's bands.  He also sang in this really high, piercing, nasal voice.  Earl Scruggs banjo picking style also was an important part of this sound, but they decided to leave the Monroe band and embark on their own music tour.  As for the banjo, an African instrument that was brought to America by the slaves, it was influenced by the lute.  They had lutes in Africa.  The most notable thing about the banjo is other than it being a drum on a stick is it has a drone string.  This string is on the top of the neck, and it is higher in pitch than the other played strings.  If one uses the thumb and two fingers pick style, the thumb is what is responsible for plucking this higher pitched drone string.  I didn't know this.  It sounds like another player, and thus the incredible power of the sound of the banjo.  When one hears this picking style on the banjo, easily it is able to understand its influence in ragtime music played on the piano.  It is the same thing, arpeggiated figures of a major chord surrounding a melody to embellish it.  Cool.  Ragtime comes from slaves playing popular tunes of the day from their Scot Irish plantation masters on fiddle and banjo.  I am guessing this is whence swing came.  African polyrhythm from tribal drumming could be a factor, but that was a continent away.  I guess I am going to have to get me a banjo. 
 

America's Popular Music

The majority of my life has been pursuing music.  I have done the requisite study in academia reaching several pinnacles.  With each success comes a predecessorial period of confusion, insecurity, and inactivity.  When purposely you forget what you have learned and begin anew amassing further extending knowledge, always there is a period of "lame duck."  It's not that you can't create.  It's that you choose not to use the same vocabulary which has sufficed before.  Jazz aficionado Miles Davis is a metaphor for this process.  While we may have not seen his periods of inactivity, they were there.  It is not always to do with enlightenment.  Sometimes periods come along that divert you from your chosen path.  Sometimes these diversions are part of the plan.  Instead of becoming stymied by unfathomable unrest, it is better to shift gears and move on.  My creative output is at a low point, because readily I can't feel anything.  My personal expression is mute partly by my choice and partly because of the political and social climate in our country.  I decided that this administration does not deserve my artistry.  Frank Zappa may have had similar sentiments about his musical offerings.  The problem of parasites exists.  When you continue with your creativity driven by your intellect and spirit in the vacuum of crisis, parasites can appear.  Instead of accepting the responsibility to help as say a supporting member of a choir, they just latch on to the leader.  There is no shame in this process, but eventually it is required that able bodied participants must assume some of the responsibility.  "Live in the trenches," Al Pacino says in the film The Devil's Advocate.  Stay low profile.  Listen.  Learn.  Artists by nature have a desire to express their emotions through art.  When this is not possible, they become unhappy or depressed.  It would seem emotional fulfillment, understanding, and purging is a necessary part of the human genome.  Traditionally in American history popular music provided an outlet for this expression.  This avenue for human emotional expression served more than one purpose.  It cleanses the artists to some degree, and it unifies those with similar sentiments.  We could call this "mainstream," or in Obama's words, "Mainstreet."  Either term and what it represents it a unifying form of solidarity.  It helps a nation become and continue to be a nation.  I think we all can agree that for the United States to remain a unified nation, some form of similar sentiment must exist.  In recent years these unifying sentiments have become disguised.  In most likelihood they still exist, but racist, discriminatory, and inflammatory political rhetoric have poisoned us.  When I woke up today I asked myself what was today's "popular" music.  There is such a thing as American Popular Music.  Always it has been a tangible commodity.  The Brill Building, "Tin Pan Alley," on Manhattan Island in New York was a hub for American popular music at the beginning of the twentieth century.  Music at that time, before television and radio, was in high demand.  The huge irony here is that this music was written music.  It was published music.  Written and published music had to be bought and played by someone, so middle classed households were the key.  Those who could afford to do so would  purchase a piano for their homes, and home music making was mainstream.  A few things I have learned in my journey back into American music history is that much of the early music in America was printed.  It was composed.  There was the aural tradition, and perhaps that tradition manifested itself in folk music, a music by the "folks" for the "folks" by people who were not trained.  Education is a plural and common entity.  One can learn many things without going to school, as I am doing now.  Just because you are not formally trained in no way determines your musical ability.  This phenomenon is proven consistently in America's musical artists.  Louis Armstrong began his music making without being able to read music.  There were many others.  This of itself proves the aural tradition is strong, viable, and artistic.  It is a core component.  Many notable schooled academic music composers and scholars chose to study and document these folk musics, including Bela Bartok.  They proved that this historical, cultural, folk music was integral to the life of a nation.  Whether it is a Scot Irish jig, a German polka, or an Acadian ballad, folk music is the blood of the people.  Necessarily it should be infused into a nation's artistic output.  Many American composers did this.  The most notable would be George Gershwin, who although not the first to include African-American influences in his music, was the most visible.  Gershwin's language was sophisticated, and his harmonic vocabulary was influenced by both jazz and European classical music.  My point possibly is that early American music, for it to become "mainstream" needed national exposure and thus distribution.  Music publishing provided this tool, printing presses that produced tangible, sustainable,  paper music.  Since there was no national radio network, the music and traditions were carried by traveling minstrel shows.  Perhaps this was America's first television, but it was live.  Live performance and printed music were the norm in early America.  The invention of audio recording in the 1920's changed how music was consumed in America.  Now music could be recorded for posterity and appreciated by millions in their own homes.  With the onset of the Great Depression, the resulting "recording industry" floundered and radio took its place.  Possibly the strongest, most effective, and widely available unifying element of the twentieth century, radio put the sounds of American popular music in our homes.  The most notable and astounding aspect of American radio is that it was free to its consumers.  I'll say that again.  FREE.  Those responsible for the promulgation of radio were business men who understood how to make it work.  Radio stations were sponsored by businesses which sought to sell their products with the promotions of entertainment.  What a capable, fruitful, and lucrative arrangement.  This was an example of capitalism at its best.  Like most things it became polluted over time, and "Payola" figured out a way to infiltrate the system.  You just pay to have your music available to the masses.  When the process is larger, more diverse, and more complicated, more people could be involved and would benefit.  That is not what we have in America today.  What we have today is a corporate monopoly with a few players calling the shots and reaping the monetary benefits.  It can't be argued that the internet has become the new distributor of American Popular Music.  As such live performance and published music have waned.  They are not extinct yet.  When I woke up today, I asked myself, "What is America's popular music?"  I had no answer.  To be continued.

The "New" Blogger

Before Google and Blogger change this traditional interface for good, I will make my opinion known.  Whenever Microsoft, Apple, or any other software developer and distributor "upgrade" their programs, it has been my experience that the programs get worse.  Why?  When there was little space, and I mean memory on a floppy disk at 1.5 Megs, software writers had to be good.  They were.  Programs were streamlined for efficiency.  Now with ample space available each upgrade seems to make the interface less user friendly.  Okay.  I look at the new Blogger.  Immediately it is more difficult to use.  That is no surprising seeings as Washington wants to break up "Big Tech."  They it seems have been a large part of political corruption in the last few years.  Why make it easier for the individual to express their views?  Instead make it more difficult by making everything smaller.  Decrease the text size, and eliminate clear boundaries and helpful defining graphics.  Why not just make it a blank piece of paper?  iTunes kept getting worse.  More difficult to use.  Smaller icons.  Hidden shortcuts.  Why not make the user jump through hoops instead of spending time on more tangible things?  Not everyone has the eyesight to read cryptic memes on an iPhone.  Immediately I can't see the new Blogger interface, and why should I spend any time trying to learn a new interface?  It is because they have to pay their people to do something.  You can't keep inventing the wheel.  Sometimes you just need to leave it alone and find something new. 

100 Days, not 100 Ways

When I have to summarize the current news for my household, generally I just use my perception of history pitted against what is being reported by our media.  It takes several days and a good nights sleep to synthesize this mess.  What is playing out now as we speak and live is a litmus test for rebellion in America.  I have been writing about politics for a long time, and my opinion is that our current president is guilty of treason.  He forcibly should be removed from office.  I have asked myself this question, "Who or what is the appropriate person or committee to accomplish this?"  Because our federal government is divided into three branches, legislative, judicial, and executive, I would think the judicial branch would be responsible.  In short all ready our president was impeached, meaning he was found to have committed grievous crimes against the nation.  It was proven conclusively he and his team were guilty of treasonous things.  Those guilty were charged,  convicted, and imprisoned.  Our president, using executive power, shortly after commuted the sentences of these convicted felons.  More importantly our Attorney General, proven to be an equally unethical and immoral man, pressured federal prosecutors and watchdogs within crucial government agencies to resign.  The Trump administration diligently has been appointing federal judges with lifetime terms.  These judges will shape America's judicial system for decades to come.  These appointments are politically motivated, and they share sentiments with the Trump administration.  When things do not go Trump's way, such as the presidential election in less than one hundred days, these judges become important shaping political bias in the justice system.  Not unlike how George W. Bush won the presidential election in the state of Florida through their court system,  Trump has something similar in mind.  Although SCOTUS recently ruled that states could require their electoral colleges to follow the popular vote, it is not unfeasible for Trump still to win a majority of electoral college votes.  I don't know off the top of my head which states will and won't, but electors simply are friends of politicians appointed by these politicians.  I am certain that Donald Trump won the 2016 election by bribing these electors.  All of that being said Covid 19 seems to be a great mediator.  Many of Trump's faults have been exposed most importantly that he does not care about the American people.  Stirred into the stew has been a civil rights movement which is proving to be a metaphor for rebellion.  I have been writing that some type of revolt would occur in America, mainly because of disproportional distribution of wealth in American society.  Instead police brutality seems to be the catalyst, and that is a good thing.  It resonates vibrantly with the black community, the lynching of their brothers and sisters.  We have a new civil rights movement in 2020, and the litmus test for rebellion is in the Pacific Northwest.  What is happening in Portland put under a microscope is going to foreshadow possible civil or revolutionary war in America.  While it is important that a treasonous president and Attorney General are responsible for attempting to implement martial law in this situation, what is more important is that militias are getting involved.  Unlike troublesome groups like ANTIFA who are showing up at peaceful protests and inciting violence, now local militias are showing up representing Americas own indigenous security voice.  All of the tenants of our effectively written Constitution are in play.  Most younger people will not know about Kent State, the use of our National Guard, and the killing of innocent protestors.  Rest assured that what will transpire in the next one hundred days, whether it be spotty violence and disparate locations, or a full fledged rebellion either by Trump's goons or Black Lives Matter protestors in solidarity with other ethical American factions, this will shape American history for hundreds of years, if we last that long.  When I ask myself the question again who would be responsible for forcibly removing a treasonous president, I think the answer would be Congress.  That effort all ready has been played on the bridge table, and our Attorney General and Senate chose to leave this president in power.  The majority of the blame for what is happening today lies in the hands of an uncaring, inept, and selfish Senate.  They have failed, again when handed the responsibility of determining a treasonous president's fate.  Therefore a mounting number of insurgents has amassed in our federal rule.  If the Senate fails in its duty to honestly and fairly lead America, what body is responsible for their removal.  I believe those concerned are putting their faith in those interested enough to protest our current police brutality.  It is a miniature coup d'etat, and it is in its infancy.  Determination is building, because Washington has proven itself incapable of providing justice for all American people.  One only has to look at any other nation to understand the pattern.  Whether this rebellion will be peaceful or bloody will be determined in the next one hundred days.  Let it be understood that Donald wants nothing more than to be reelected president.  Only with his electing less than four years ago America has seen the destruction of an evil and divisive president with no other intention than overthrowing a democratic republic and becoming its ruler.  America will not allow that to transpire, but will he accept his fate?  How much violence will ensue, how many more lives are lost, and how honesty, integrity, and justice will be restored to American lives is yet to be seen.  It all is in his hands.  It would seem the masses are prepared for war, and Americans ensured right to form a well armed militia to protect themselves from domestic tyranny is ingrained in our Constitution.  We are ready for this war, because the land upon which you live is the last line to be drawn.  Americans have nothing better to do and nothing to lose.  Donald Trump all ready has lost, and when he steps out of the White House, out of the protection of the Secret Service, and back into public life he had better have a plan.  Most fruitfully for the Trump clan it should be evacuation.  All of those properties all over the world should come in handy come January 2021. 

Hammond, Leslie, Apache, and Kiowa

Dr. Kemp was kind enough to offer a membership to this group, although I am not a professional organ/Leslie technician.  I have learned what I know from owning a Hammond A-100 and Leslie 142.  I am adept at wiring and soldering, but I have no professional electronics bench with an oscilloscope or expensive meter.  I have novice tools, but I have two, almost three college degrees in music.  Once I was a college lecturer.  After the contributions of this group this is what I have deduced about my HUM.  Firstly, "Is the hum coming from the organ or the Leslie?"  Ground the GG terminals to the amp chassis and if the hum goes away, it is the organ.  The benefit of owning an A series organ is unlike the B or C models, which always I have wanted, the A has its own cabinet and amplification system.  There is wide and diverse opinion about the best use of an A series Hammond.  Often they are used as cheaper alternatives to B and subsequently are chopped, cut down into the more portable B cabinet.  Whether  B is actually portable is debatable.  My overall sentiment about my A-100 was if you want to sustain or increase its value, why wouldn't you keep it stock?  This is what I chose, although this opinion has been met with staunch and almost violent opposition, especially from one Hammond dealer in New Jersey whose facility was damaged in the hurricane a few years ago.  Openly he mocked me for keeping the internal amplifiers and speakers.  I was determined to prove him wrong, and that effort began with figuring out how best to utilize an external Leslie speaker and the internal amplification of the A together.  "Pull the tubes!"  "Disconnect the speakers and add resistors."  Instead I was forced to understand Don Leslie's system for switching between the two systems.  Unlike a 147, the 122 amp is a balanced system.  Call it low impedance.  Call it two channel, not a great description.  The 122 amp receives two signals from the organ console, not one.  It comes from the preamplfier, not the signal level output used to drive a 147.  In some respects the 147 is a better solution.  Certainly it is easier, but because our family owned a spinet first which drove our 145, this was the kit we had.  When we purchased the A-100 our technician set it up as easily as possible.  Therefore the "balanced" capability of the A-100 was ignored.  Some people seem to prefer the 147 and its high impedance signal, possibly because the 122 has a reputation for receiving RF interference.  The 122 will pick up certain radio stations if in close proximity.  There are two "death caps" in female amphenol plug in the 122 which are designed to filter this noise.  Evidently fifty plus years later they drift in value and can leak the 120 volts of AC into the chassis of the amp.  Hence they have been nicknamed "death caps."  We have a plethora of both RF and EMF energy around our house.  RF is just a high frequency of EMF energy.  The low stuff is what really causes problems.  Whence does it come?  It would seem I am a conspirator to even mention such a thing, but my almost three college degrees have allowed me to be able to deduce such a thing.  When an arc forms in your home, and you can get shocked by simple 60 Hz 120 volt wall current without touching either side, then you have an arc forming in the air.  This happens from time to time.  It is not good for any kind of electronic equipment, and certainly not for what could be considered primitive.  Drifting caps and growing dendrites, the stuff of lore.  There is no question in my mind that this energy, which can cause our AC to arc, also makes it dirty.  I have bought and installed Furman power conditioners in my stereo system, my musical instruments, and for my computers.  It has helped considerable, but a line level power filter will not filter static electricity in the air, nor will it eliminate EMF's in the low range.  There are expensive ways to insulated your home for such things, and it is involved.  I would rather not live in a government office building with shielded walls and floors, so I must make due the best way possible.  All of this aside my HUM never was a huge issue until now.  My 122 amp has worked well.  Always there was a bit of hum in the organ and the Leslie, but it was not distracting.  Now it is.  The beauty of choosing to keep an A-100 stock is it can operate independently from an external speaker.  While the A-105 actually is better at this than the 100, both can be used as stand alone organs.  It was not until I had both that I could learn the differences.  What are they?  The 105 is a larger cabinet.  It is deeper and thicker and so its internal amplification sounds louder than the 100.  The enclosure is more efficient as a speaker box.  Once  I tried putting a solid plywood back on my A-100, and promptly the bass pedals began to distort.  I worried about the amps overheating, so I removed it quickly.  Eventually it dawned on me that three twelve inch speakers facing the organist would not suffice as sufficient amplification for a room, hence they are best used as monitors for reinforcement of a Leslie.  They provide a small amount of bass frequency on the organist's feet.  What doesn't make sense is a very good sounding reverb amp hidden there as well.  The solution was adding a 1/4 inch plug to the speaker wire, so you can plug in any speaker you like and place it wherever you like.  Wouldn't this be a good idea for the internal speakers as well, if you happen to have an a series organ?  A better designed, more efficient, better sounding speaker enclosure than a box for a tone generator and a bunch of amps?  I put my reverb speaker on top the Leslie, and I was criticized.  "The top panel of the Leslie is supposed to be free to resonate, so placing a cabinet up here impedes its ability to vibrate."  Everyone has an opinion.  The opinions openly which were solicited for my HUM problem are summarized as such.  Again the beauty of an A series Hammond organ is you have a separate system with which to experiment.  If your Leslie becomes possessed for some reason, flip your MEE switch, IF it is wired correctly for the A-100 and a 122, and the Leslie will be ignored.  In this case the HUM is minimal in the organ sound.  When the switch is in the middle position, which is how I choose to use it giving me tube/spring reverb in addition to the dry Leslie sound, the hum is louder in the Leslie.  I didn't discover this until just the past few days.  While I realize a 57 year old preamp could use a rebuilt, it is not causing me any real problems.  What I have been experiencing I believe is from the Leslie.  What is the easiest thing to change on a tube amp?  Of course the answer is tubes.  I received feedback that HUM was not a product of a bad tube, so why was I looking at them?  One member said that eBay auctions often are places to unload junky tubes.  I got two, and both are the 12au7's in my Leslie 122 amp.  I ride my bike to the local 7/11 and use their tube tester.  It seems like a logical choice.  Check your tubes.  I did, and both are crap.  In no way trying to diagnose a loud hum is a bad thing.  Evaluating your amp and its components certainly is necessary.  My amp has been working fine.  Because this excessive external interference is present, I understand the need for good filtering in both the organ and Leslie.  I am inclined to replace the "death caps" with the X Y safety caps Dr. Kemp suggests.  Of course any failing components should be replaced as well, but we must operate in a linear path.  I am inclined to replace the CE can cap with a new one, because filtering is necessary.  As one member suggests something is causing my tubes to fail.  I believe dirty AC was responsible for killing my Space Generator, seeing as the literature in their repair manual state several specific transistors are responsible for protecting others from "static discharge"  Is like pussy discharge?  Pus.  Static energy, energy that manifests itself through the air or more specifically through space.  Air has nothing to do with it?   In terms of a course of action, don't use the 450v can.  They fail.  Wait for two replacement 12au7 tubes and try them first.  See what happens.  If I still have a hum, replace the can at around $55.00.  Then under the hood assessments must begin.  What other than a full rebuild could be appropriate?   In short.  In one of my first posts a member said "microphonic tube."  Yes I have that, but it is not easily discernable.  When I flip my MEE switch to Main, although there is a minimal amount of HUM, the problem is not there.  It is in the Leslie.  The 122 amp has performed well until this snafu.  I don't think cataclismic events have transpired either.  I think we have dirty 60Hz 120V AC and a boatload of low frequency EMF from the military.  In their arsenal of tools less than five miles away are Apache and Kiowa helicopters, drones, the Compass Call Aerial Command jet, and other various aircraft used for surveillence and gunnery.  Many of these have jamming systems which are designed to disable enemy communications.  From this milleau of classified weaponry, how is a musician to discern their effect on vintage musical instruments?  We can't.  Only can we treat their symptoms.  What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. 

The Flames of Hell

It has been a stressful Sunday.  There are days, usually when you do not get enough sleep, that you can't command your mind to obey.  Lack of sleep conveniently is the first step in torture.  Deprive a human being of sleep, and instantly they become walking zombies.  This almost is as convenient as the 9/11 attacks perpetrated by Saudi Arabia.  Saddam Hussein was the convenient scapegoat for this terrorist event, and Dick Cheney was his champion.  Haliburton wanted that oil in the Middle East, but they settled for the contracts to rebuild Iraq.  America obliterated a country under the leadership of George W. Bush.  His reason was 9/11 at the behest of his Vice President Dick Cheney, but the real reason was revenge for the mockery of his pop, George H.W.  W. used to play with Osama Bin Laden on the playground, and with their oil fortunes in their pockets a vendetta was forged early on.  ISIS was created by George W. Bush when Donald Rumsfeld's strategic attack on Iraq destroying their infrastructure failed.  The United States unwittingly destroyed a nation for nought.  That is why we still are engaged in the longest war of American history.  We still are paying the penance for our mistake.  Until we find contrition, apologize, and leave the Middle East the way Osama Bin Laden asked, our fate will be perpetuated.  Trump should grow a conscience.  The ills of the United States will not end until we withdraw fully from the Middle East leaving the spoils to the indigenous people.  Trump can continue his war against America not so cleverly disguised anymore, or he can grow up and take responsibility.  I think that brother is beyond reproach.  He has proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that his own survival is not important to him.  Fittingly in a text book definition of narcissism he would rather become a martyr for evil rather than seek his own salvation through Christ.  I reckon those motherfuckers are going to have wing ding of a reunion in hell.  Hitler.  Mussolini.  Stalin.  Lenin and the rest.  I guess it is fitting company talking about grabbing the pussy and the fifty virgins rather than enjoying it.  Enjoy your sauna bath with the rest of Z Boys.  Your anus may not stand the test of eternity, but then again you and Lindsey chose your own fate.  

Braxton Braggs about his Confederacy

When I complain about the United States military industrial complex, more specifically training at Fort Braxton Bragg, pilots buzz my house.  Maybe you have seen a video clip of the son of an outspoken anti-war activist, who explained that as his mother was holding her baby on the roof of their building pilots would buzz her.  Buzzing the tower is what Maverick, in the film Top Gun, liked to do.  It was not met with approval, and I do not think Gen. Mark A. Milley would approve of the strafing of our neighborhood.  Ironically we consist of capable, worthy, diligent military men.  Lieutenant Colonel Scott White, Major Blake Bowles, and Sgt. Aaron Rabensburg form a perimeter around our home.  Why would I feel threatened in any way?  Not that long ago the yard man working on the Rabensburg's lawn was victimized.  A trolling, dark colored, two door Honda targeted his locked equipment trailer.  While he was away from it working in their back yard, thieves crept up, snipped the padlock, and stole his gear.  He is out of business.  Not that long ago a gold colored, enclosed, O.J. like pick up with a heart sticker on the back window also was trolling our neighborhood streets.  Finally I put the sound of its failing muffler to this offending vehicle, because he was attracted to the sound of music coming from my garage at late hours in the evening.  I looked out, and he was sitting in front of my house with that same rumbling muffler.  I had heard this vehicle for several years and knew instinctively it was problematic for our neighborhood.  With a small amount of effort I was able to identify it, and its sound on Edgewater Dr. was the indicator that this person-of-interest was responsible for their vehicle break ins.  I called the police, and dutifully they said they would stop and question the driver of this vehicle.  Since then I only have seen it once on our street.  Thanks to the Fayetteville Police Department for that service.  With such a military presence and now a remote gunner in our midst, I would think "buzzing our neighborhood" taboo.  Low flying aircraft are a part of the military's core of operations.  Camp Lejeune often has said they want to establish a relationship with those living in close proximity to their base, because low flying aircraft are a critical part of their daily routine.  Having lived in "DaVille" most of my life, I am not unfamiliar with the activity at Fort Braxton Bragg.  I think it would be a breath of fresh air to change the name of the nation's largest military installation.  A qualifying reason to do so, is because Fort Bragg is not the same.   Life in the "The Ville" in the 1980's was a different affair.  This was before Base Realignment and Closure decided to make the post the host of Ground Forces Command.  There are many high profile installations at Fort Bragg including the Special Forces and the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School.  The once active Patriot Missile site near Cliffdale Road now is housing for on duty paratroopers.  Drastically things have changed at Fort Bragg, and it bears little resemblance to its former self.  After 9/11 they upgraded the rail weight from 90 pounds per yard to 110.  Evidently munitions are getting heavier, or is it the locomotives?  Fort Bragg could use a new title, and although covert operations are important, why would anyone feel any threat from a more accurate and descriptive title for the post?  I would think the largest military installation in the nation would be the most secure. We do not have a solid rock mountain in which to encase their operational headquarters.  People began to question the amount of dirt that was being taken out of the post in dump trucks.  One only has to look at a Google map to see the underground ammo dumps, and it has become urban legend that munition trains are being loaded underneath the ground.  So what?  Again I would think this place would be the safest in the country, and maybe it is.  Those who live on the fringes outside its gates, along its perimeter, purposely are kept misinformed to ensure national security.  This did not used to be the case.  Fort Bragg once was open to the public.  There were no issues with security, and this was before 9/11, a convenient foreign terrorist assault on America perpetrated by Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salma, also responsible for the assasination of Jamal Khashoggi.  Is it logical as I sit here and write potentially inflammatory opinions that my life is in be in danger?  This is an extreme statement, and considering our ever present garrison of trained Army officers I feel no threat.  What I do resent is low flying aircraft strafing my yard.  I'll say it again.  Today, Sunday, beginning at 6:30 a.m. a low flying possible Cessna aircraft equipped with a muffler trolls our neighborhood.  Fully I understand that pilots practice "touch and goes" at Grannis Field on Sundays.  What better time could there be than the Sabboth?  Most affluent Fayetteville citizens travel to more appealing destinations for their weekends including the beach and the Blue Ridge Mountains.  The fringe population of "DaVille" is  littered with gang bangers, drug dealers, and murderers.  Could there be other more notable residents?  As the strains of Keith Jarret waft through my room and the temperature scorches the earth outside, I recall the garrison commander at Fort Braxton Bragg was relieved of duty, because he failed to mitigate the housing crisis on the post.  What is a garrison anyway?  I didn't know, but now I understand that a garrison is set of troops assigned to defend a particular locale.  It seems this garrison at Fort Bragg, who is assigned to live on post and protect it from within is not so happy about their housing.  The artillery and its accompanying equipment still flow to the Middle East like wine through Sunny Point.  Because I have lost my thread I will say a more appropriate name would cleanse the image of Fort Bragg, a military installation often that perpetuates violent local crime.  United States Military Headquarters Cumberland County comes to mind.  The name Braxton Bragg in no way signifies the importance or specific role of the Army's presence in Cumberland County.  Instead like America's other confederate war monuments this name casts a long lasting shadow on what should be an exemplary and progressive Department of Defense post. 

Turn Off the Boob Toob

Once upon a time there was this thing called "The American Dream."  Back in the day it was a tangible entity, because Communist and thus fascist oppression were real.  Adolph Hitler's genocide against the Jewish faith was a stark reminder that there are those who wish to kill us.  Get up every day and someone hates your for whatever explicable reason.  Call it evil.  Call it the devil.  Whatever.  The days of this "American Dream" are defunct.  America has succumbed to the same ills as every other country that came before her.  It is inevitable.  Corruption for money seems to be the root evil of man.  As I wrote previously that is the easy route.  Raping, pillaging, domineering, and conquering are the easy tasks.  It is a simple pattern of get for one's self and then enjoy the fruits of your labor.  Necessarily this must be based upon the human vessel, because what you acquire and thus consume and enjoy are human attributes.  Whether it is food, drink, or sex these enjoyments are incumbent upon the senses of the human organism.  If you live in an ivory tower, a Trump mansion, or a king's castle possibly you may be exempt from the brutal reality of the demise of the planet earth.  You can pay for your environment the way affluent Americans once did on the gulf coast of Houston, on Long Island, or elsewhere.  The effects of corporate pollution have become so dire, that it is becoming difficult to block out pathogens.  In an eerily similar scenario to literary depictions,  the pandemic of Covid 19 is predicating the type of lifestyle seen in these predictions.  In Logan's Run society lives in a bubble.  In many science fiction films the future existence of the human race is living in a contained bubble with a controlled environment.  Isn't this what is desired, the controlling of the human species by eliminating God's support system and making us dependent upon the have's to provide for us?  It began years ago with the bottling of drinking water.  When did our tap water become so poisoned that it is unsafe in which to bath and to drink.  Ask Pepsico.  With the bottling of water came the mass production of polyester plastic bottles which are consuming the earth.  The lineage all ready is in place for the eventual extinction of the human race.  It just is a matter of time.  With such things a priority in our daily survival, this "American Dream" necessarily takes a back seat.  How can art be considered meaningful when the brutality of life stares you in the face each day you wake?  As I sit here this early afternoon I found the reason for my sadness is not so much that I am lonely.  It is because that this "American Dream" is no longer.  The reality is no one ever is going to help you achieve anything.  Without using the cliche metaphor of "sour grapes," which I have learned to synthesize, isn't it sad that achievement, that artistry, and the necessary evolution of human consciousness and enlightenment is seen as the enemy?  Hitler saw jazz music as music of the devil, because it empowers the individuality of the human vessel.  The autonomous, independent, and self-actualizing vessel of the human being is the greatest threat to evil.  Only the human mind is capable of saving the earth and the human race.  There are no super computers, no machines, or robots who can save the earth.  In most depictions in science fiction plots, cyborg entities which merge with the human vessels end up self destructing.  If the history of man is perused, easily it can be seen that man has a propensity for the same self destruction.  What could be the motivation?  The answer is the game of war, the sheer activity of rape, pillage, domination, and acquirement is more fun than anything else available to the human being.  Let me rephrase.  It is the simplest choice for human existence.  It is why Donald Trump does what he does.  He is not capable of understanding anything more complex, spiritual, intellectual, philosophical, or scientific to make human live worth living.  It only could be about acquiring.  That is the simple choice, and that is what zealot capitalists mostly who support Trump do.  They care not whence the pay off comes, and ironically the majority of it comes from Uncle Sam.  The same zealots who scream, "Socialism" are the ones responsible for the death of our "American Dream."  This American Dream necessarily embodies spirituality, because when a body of people are faced with genocide the idea of God becomes important.  Who else is capable of saving the human race from human iniquity?  God is the only answer, and also God is the answer for whom is capable of condemning  heathens to eternal hellfire.  In this life as we fight the evil of Donald Trump each day as a metaphor for the devil, we should remember that while our suffering seems great, those of us who accept Jesus Christ as our savior will be transplanted from this earth to a new existence, while those who do not will be left to battle it out on the scorched earth.  It is a brutal and true prophesy in the Book of Revelations.  With all of that being said the sadness of American achievement being quashed by evil is deep and disturbing.  When the understanding that no one ever will help you in any way with your goals, your future achievements, and your visions of artistic excellence, truly this is a disappointment.  All of the advice about mustering your own will and changing the dynamic of America on your own.  Who could accomplish such a thing, a sole vessel unto one's self tasked with daily survival in the midst of such grievous odds?  It could be said that true artistic achievements often are created in response to great adversity.  They are the human solutions to human problems.  Blues was an antidote for the oppression of segregation.  It was necessary.  Today when the human vessel has become so taxed, so overstimulated, and so taken for granted, one only has to watch television to see the effects.  Human being no longer are able to formulate any far reaching ideas.  We are like insects frying in a vat of super heated gas created by corporate America to fill the pockets of the controlling oligarchical contingency.  These people exist in temperature-controlled penthouses shielded from the brutal effects of a deteriorating atmosphere and held in high esteem solely because of their monetary influences.  Mitch McConnell comes to mind.  I see no bigger traitor to the American ideal than him.  In any other science fiction novel this cast of characters necessarily would have been assassinated to assure the longevity of our Republic.  In what horrible fantasy are we living?   The  answer is the erroneous election of the most incapable American president in history.  Not only he is incapable of leading the American people, their submission, subservience, and obedience is what tweaks his ego.  He understands nothing more than that like a bite of cheese for an unthinking mouse. 

Believing is Seeing

The Covid 19 pandemic has exposed most of the short comings of American society and government.  It is uncanny how effective an infectious disease can be realigning the priorities of a nation.  I am sure opponents of public education, the same oligarchs responsible for the original shorting of American education are stewing in their own juices.  Suddenly the well being of our children once again has become a priority.  "Pop" goes my hi-fi system as the airborne electricity in Fayettenam undulates unabashedly.  The frame of our house crackles and pops as the enormous amount of pressure in the air ebbs and flows according to what?  I'm pretty sure Fort Bragg is on TDY.  They are out in the field, sweating, practicing, and playing soldier.  This is whence the heat comes.  No one will say it.  The officer on duty calls Wes Hohenstein each days and says, "It's going to be hot again today."  We have hundreds of vehicles at the Normandy Drop Zone.  Blah. Blah.  He never winces.  He never misses a beat.  He just earns his money and reports the weather with nary a care for the burning of the planet.  It is not normal.  Global Warming is not normal, because twenty years ago it never got this hot 'round these here parts.  What has changed?  Base Realignment and Closure.  Our children's education against the will of oligarchs has become important, because with their education now comes the issue of their mortality.  What more fitting political dilemma could exist except the mortality of our children?  When choosing a president what becomes more important to parents?  Covid 19, whether accidental or intentional, has become the great mediator of American survival.  People are losing their livelihoods.  It won't be long before either a civil or revolutionary war erupt.  People have to live, and to live in America it takes money.  The is predicated by the capitalist system.  Socialism on the other hand seeks equally to provide for everyone.  In a sardonic turn of the screw those openly screaming about the adverse effects of Bernie's democratic socialism will be screaming for Washington to pay their bills.  What a pile of shit to look at each day on television.  We must receive our information from some source, and traditionally newspapers, magazines, radio, and television were our sources.  What has  happened?  Newspapers are dying a vivid paper death.  Magazines all ready died.  Radio was rendered impotent by "them internets," and the conglomeration of cable companies by a small group of owners has reduced television to worthless propaganda.  Talent and thus art left America in a mass exodus championed by David Letterman and Craig Ferguson.  Two of America's most intelligent and trustworthy television personalities abandoned ship at the same time leaving a gaping hole in late night television programming.  While Stephen Colbert gives it the old college try, his talents lie elsewhere.  Being a ventriloquist for Jon Stewart is not his forte.  Like jazz television show hosts need their own personal voice driven from their own upbringing and personal experiences.  Television lacks this like most things in America.  People say what they are told to collect the money.  Truth and honestly play no part in American culture.  All kinds of revolution are taking place, and Trump is doing everything in his power to continue to spin the truth.  "Are you going to believe what you see or what I tell you?" 

Ivy League Influence.

Two things.  One, you can't ignore the military industrial complex.  You just can't.  No matter what you do, how you try, and how well you may disguise its activity, you can't ignore the military industrial complex.  There are too many planes, helicopters, munitions trains, and accompanying jarheads to act like it doesn't exist.  It does.  It is the major hub of the local driver of the economy, when it is working.  Like all socialist entities it just taps the federal bank.  It sucks on the jugular vein of America like the addicted, sociopathic, narcissistic vampire it is.  It is a self-defeating prophesy.  It is unto itself, and largely it is what has bankrupted and destroyed 
our nation.  I am not against the military.  I am against a war economy, and a philosophy of living that trains to kill the enemy on a daily basis.  It is not a healthy way of living.  You can't ignore the military industrial complex.  This is a rant.  It is not a well thought out expression of my clear thoughts, because what we are experiencing every day is the furthest thing from sanity.  We now have this dichotomy.  We have a secondary outbreak of the pandemic, because Trump's followers in a cavalier bacchanal decided to ruffle the feathers of the intellectual community.  In a desperate attempt to extemporize their American freedom, they proved their careless irresponsibility toward their fellow Americans.  This is narcissism at its worst.  This is what America has become.  Only the grown ups are allowed in the meeting, and that meeting should be about whether or not school will and should open in the Fall.  It is a watershed moment.  There is no hedging.  There is no room for mistake.  This decision will affect the future of America for decades to come.  Roy better get it right.  He better consult with the proper professionals, which are difficult to discern, especially while the White House is trying to discredit our nation's top infectious disease specialist.  Who are we to believe?  In tru fashion the weekend evening news interviewed a handful of "top pediatricians" about the reopening of schools in the Fall.  All of them gleefully and in great happiness said they would not hesitate for one moment to allow their own children to go back to school in the Fall.  ???  I am in disbelief.  On the other hand two thirds of polled American parents say they are not in favor of this option.  It should be a parents choice about their on child's health and wellness, not our irresponsible President's choice.  I have not taken the time to process the information, the three options for school in the Fall.  Off the top of my head I don't see any use in a week on, two week off in person system.  What could this achieve?  If you contract the virus during your week on, you have two weeks to incubate or die?  As for learning online, the state of public education all ready is at an all time low.  Our kids aren't learning a fraction of what they should be learning about critical thinking in public school.  The handful of "top pediatricians" were university professors, not practicing doctors.  As such with their secure tenure agreements, they would say whatever is needed to keep their cushy jobs.  That is what academia has become in America, the same as the medical establishment.  They care not for you or your health.  They care about themselves and the children they will in the future bribe into Ivy League schools.  Of course Donald Trump will either pardon them or commute their jail sentences.  Here's the thing.  Maybe we can ignore the racket on the rails, which no longer is just that.  The days of the steam locomotive long are gone, the soothing rhythmic "chuff" of steam escaping from a pioneering, ground-breaking, James Watt invented American icon.  The nostalgia, the sentiment, and the musical connection with the steam locomotive has been smashed into compliance by both General Motors and General Electric.  GE was wise, and like DuPont and Monsanto sold their risky manufacturing to shell companies.  Now we have Wabtech.  They are hard at work trying to capitalize off of the 650 engine, a two stroke turbo-charged monstrosity which should be illegal.  The only reason it isn't is because railroad lawyers have manipulated Washington through the Federal Trade Commission and the Interstate Commerce Commission to allow its use.  Even with this polluting hunk of junk, it can't compete with a military device which uses sound to target its guns.  Acoustical targeting it is called.  One would think such an antiquated, anachronistic, inhuman practice would be illegal.  In steps the world's defense contractors who care not about the average living citizen.  They are more concerned with the annihilation of human kind, because that is what their products achieve.  Mass annihilation.  With trains slogging munitions to and from MOTSP through Pembroke via Leland, there also is another culprit that is more unconstitutional and more invasive.  Every time one of those little planes flies over our house something is amiss.  I feel physical pain in addition to heat.  What could this be?  It is well known that the FBI and CIA uses infrared sensors in small planes to see into your homes.  Add the conspiracy of "5G" to the stew, and there is enough potential electronically produced heat to fry the planet many times over.  As the evening news decries yet another insufferable heat wave that will last for weeks, simply turn your head toward the United States military and their ongoing activity.  Lately when I think a thought, have an honest emotion, or otherwise reject the status quo which is being beset upon my in a myriad of ways, I am met with opposition via the air.  My litmus test?  Tinnitus.  When my left ear relentlessly SCREAMS at me, screams in stereo mocking my civility and my attempts at lucidity, then our military industrial complex is at work frying the planet.  How can the world exist without vegetable oil?