Abraham Lincoln

Why would anyone want to vandalize a monument in memory of the great Abe Lincoln?

Sure, he didn't think that blacks could be assimilated into white society, he rejected the notion of social equality of the races, he thought that blacks were both mentally and physically inferior to whites, Lincoln supported segregation in the North, told darky jokes and used the N-word in public and private and held to the view that blacks should be resettled abroad.

That's right.  As President, he supported projects to remove blacks from the United States.  Phase one was to emancipate them because black slaves were a free labor force and they were taking jobs away from whites.  Abe wanted to prevent slavery from spreading west where there were soon to be new job opportunities and since the government couldn't take the blacks away from slave owners, he needed to free the blacks so they were not considered property.

Phase two after freeing them was to expatriate all the blacks but he didn't live long enough to see that project through.

In June 1862, Lincoln signed a law abolishing slavery in all the federal territories, and in July he read to his Cabinet a draft of the Emancipation Proclamation, which would give the Confederacy 100 days to lay down arms or he would declare all slaves in those states to be free. He issued that threat publicly in September.

Meanwhile, he was signing orders authorizing a project to relocate blacks to Central America. That quickly failed, however, when Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica protested.  Other options in the Caribbean and Texas were explored  but were quickly dismissed as impractical.  Sending the slaves back to Africa would be too costly.

By late 1864, it became apparent that the North would eventually win the war, and in January 1865 the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was passed, prohibiting slavery throughout the United States.

Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered April 9, 1865. Lincoln, meanwhile, continued to search for a way to relocate the nation's blacks, who were now free.  But just five days later, on April 14, 1865, he was assassinated.

Had Lincoln lived, the racial mix, the demographer’s dream, the ethnic rainbow, the gorgeous mosaic that makes and made this country great, would most likely not exist today.

Why would anyone want to vandalize a monument in memory of the great Abe Lincoln?

Now if he were to expatriate all our politicians . . .

Columbus Haiku

So, like, you know, I mean, uhm . . . why does this man get a holiday named after him?

When Columbus and his sailors came ashore, not anywhere near what we call the United States today, the Arawaks ran to greet them, bringing them food, water and gifts. He later wrote of this in his log:

"They . . . brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks' bells. They willingly traded everything they owned . . . They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features . . . .They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane . . . They would make fine servants . . . .With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want."

He later wrote:
"As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts. Thus the eternal God, our Lord, gives victory to those who follow His way over apparent impossibilities." 

On his second expedition he captured several hundred of the natives and chained them up in his ships to return them to Spain.  Most of them died en-route.  Christopher wrote:
"Let us in the name of the Holy Trinity go on sending all the slaves that can be sold."

Many of Columbus' men had roamed the island in gangs looking for gold, taking women and children as slaves for sex and labor.  While trying to put together an army of resistance, the Arawaks faced Spaniards who had armor, muskets, swords, horses. The Spaniards took prisoners, they hanged them, beheaded them or burned them to death. Among the Arawaks, mass suicides began by using Cassava poison. Infants were poisoned by their parents in order to save them from Columbus and his men.

In two years, through murder, mutilation or suicide, half of the 250,000 natives on Haiti were dead.  Happy Columbus Day.

Back in my youth when I erroneously thought that Columbus landed on Plymouth Rock, I wrote this Columbus Day Haiku.  Despite this Haiku's inaccuracies, it still holds truth. 

Out of Spain on ships
Was Christopher Columbus
Exploring new worlds

Hispaniola?  North
Or South America?  Eh,
It’s all the same place

Chris discovered it
Notwithstanding existing
Aborigines

Indigenous race
Crossed from the Bering Land Bridge
Many moons ago

Chris called them “Red Skins”
But they were Cherokee, Sioux,
Shawnee, Iroquois,

Algonquin, Mohawk,
Pawnee, Cheyenne, Apache,
Black Feet, Hopis too

At one with the earth
A proud and noble nation
Filled with the spirit-

Of Waken-Tonka:
Holy Creator Spirit
(An open secret)

Father Mother God
Creates the earth so all may
Live in harmony

Bees make their honey
Black Eyed Susan’s fill the fields
And mind their seasons

Natives farmed the land
They hunted bison for food
We hunted for sport

They shared their land, their
Hunting ground, and, gave us hope
We gave them smallpox

Who stands in the way
Of manifest destiny
And ethnic cleansing?

The savage heathens
They did not worship our God
Exterminate them

Take their land and food
Displace to reservations
HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Ply them with liquor
Live where we tell you to live
Take it or leave it

We all seek the same-
Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jew:
Compassion and love.

Even Jesus said
“The Kingdom of Heaven is
Within you.”  Alas

We too much seek the
Messenger and fail to hear
The message: ”Serve and

Love one another”
To know, and yet, not to do,
Means we do not know

-Malcolm Kogut.

Minnewaska State Park

Minnewaska State Park is a wonderful place to hike, bike or horseback ride.  There are several layered escarpments with a circuitous network of trails layered between them.  The Shawangunk (often pronounced Shongum) Mountains or The Gunks, meaning "smokey air," is a ridge of bedrock in the Catskills. 

For the best blueberry picking, hike (no bikes or horses allowed yet as the recent hurricane made the trail impassible for both) the Hamilton Point Trail beneath the power lines heading toward the Pallmaghatt Kill or between HPT and Castle Point Trail.  The best, biggest and sweetest berries are near the power lines.  Hmmmph . . .

Make sure you visit the stone beach at Awosting Lake.  The Hamilton Point Trail has the most exciting escarpment trail.  For the climber and explorer, there are some exciting scree fields beneath this escarpment. 

My poor front yard

Inundated with invasive flowers;  Trumpet Vine, Rose of Sharon, black Eyed Susan, Delphinium, wild sunflower, Phlox, Hosta, Daisy, and many more.

"Sing" As played by Oscar Peterson

Rye Bread Music Festival

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG8A_vCd_JQ

In Upstate NY there is a little known music festival that has been going strong for 37 years:  Rye Bread.  The festival started out by invitation only and remains small and intimate to this day.  It attracts about 300 people and many of the concert goers have been attending year after year.  The beauty of this festival as opposed to larger ones, such as Bisco, is that the crowd is smaller, it costs only $20 and it is very welcoming to families and pets.  Bad behavior is not tolerated and not only will you be asked to leave but, the person who invited you will also be banned - so I hear.  Over the weekend I did not witness any bad behavior on anyone's part.  This festival is not designed to make money and is very much like a mini Woodstock of peace, love and music.  Even the bands play for free. 

As a hiker, there is a phenomenon called "trail magic," where everyone treats one another on the trail as an old friend and is willing to share food, water, directions and stories.  That same relaxed magic is immediately evident at Rye Bread.  You can be walking by someone's camp and they will invite you in for food or a drink and you will be treated as if they had known you for years.  This was my first time at Rye Bread and I immediately felt at home with everyone I encountered. 

Rye Bread.

Oscar Peterson

Oscar Peterson will be inducted into the Canada Walk of Fame on September 21, 2013 at the Elgin Theater.  ROAD TRIP!  Oscar has had a very distinguished musical career spanning over six decades.  He has recorded over 200 albums, won eight Grammy Awards and received sixteen doctorates from both American and Canadian universities.  He has also won many awards as best jazz pianist. 

Many of my musical friends know that I am a huge fan of Oscar.  Both he and the music of Bach can render me breathless when I listen to them.  Back in the early 80's Oscar had a television show and I taped every episode on video cassette.  Here is a track called "City Lights." I hope after his induction someone will re-release the series in digital format.  My apologies in advance for the quality, hiss and clicks of my recording.

I have a friend who took piano lessons from Oscar.  She had many wonderful stories about him although many of them revolved around racism and the discrimination Oscar faced here in the US.  In Canada where Oscar was from, racism wasn't much of an issue, at least it wasn't spoken.  But, here in the US Oscar experienced it a lot and rarely quailed in the face of prejudice. 

Oscar once went into a barber shop to have his hair cut and the barber said that he was closing.  Just then a white man walked in and sat in the chair and the barber began to cut his hair.  Oscar confronted the barber to no avail and then went to the police station to report it.  They said it was a civil issue, not criminal. 

Another time he went into a store for a pack of cigarettes and all he had on him was a twenty.  The cashier asked him where he got so much money and if he had stolen it.  Oscar said it was legally obtained cash and the cashier threw Oscar's change on the floor.  Oscar was going to confront him but there was a cop standing nearby who said "Pick it up, boy" and placed his hand on his gun.  Oscar left the store and sat in his car waiting for the police officer to leave but his bass player Ray brown convinced him to let it go.

Another time when Oscar was playing the Jazz at the Philharmonic tour, the concert manger, Norman Granz, insisted that the concert hall organizers not segregate the audience by color.  The police were called and three officers went backstage where they discovered some of the black musicians playing cards.  They were all arrested on trumped up gambling charges and were taken to the police station.  Norman paid their bail and immediately called his lawyer who advised him to just pay the fines which I beleive totaled to about $5,000.  One of the musicians was Ella Fitzgerald and she was livid.

Psalm 69 Lord In Your Great Love

Shameless Plug

I am unable to insert a video into Blogger today for some reason so you'll have to follow the link to the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qs_sOT4Ilg

If you are interested in the sheet music or CD:
 

https://www.giamusic.com/search_details.cfm?title_id=4414

"That's Life" as performed by Earl Grant

Earl Grant was an American pianist, organist, and vocalist popular in the 1950s and 1960s.  Earl drew huge crowds at the Copacabana in NY and the Flamingo in Vegas.  He also toured in Europe, Australia and Japan.  During his short life, Grant cut 30 albums for Decca.  This track is from the Decca album "Gently Swinging."

Grant's unique Hammond organ style made use of big block chords and wonderfully percussive staccato glissandi.  Being born one of twelve to a Baptist Minister, Earl cut his teeth playing in church and later honed his skill while serving in the army.

Earl died instantly in a car accident in New Mexico, at the age of 39.  He was driving from Los Angeles to Juarez, Mexico for a gig. His 17-year-old cousin was also killed in the accident.

I first discovered the music of Earl Grant at the age of 14 when I landed a gig playing in a bar two nights a week for several months.  There were several recordings of Earl in the juke box including:  Ebb Tide, Volare and, I Can't Stop Loving You.  Although I never got drunk, I got to sample practically everything behind the bar.  The patrons were very generous in those days.  If only my friends who used to steal from their parents' liquor cabinets only knew.

The bartender and owner were huge fans of Earl's music as were many of the patrons.   One night my school bus driver walked in with his wife.  The whole place lit up as he walked into the bar.  He was the meanest bus driver in the whole district and all the kids hated him but in the bar he was jovial and very much loved.  When he saw me, he screamed my name and came running over with the biggest smile.  It turned out that he too played the organ and loved Earl Grant.  

The bus stop was three tenths of a mile from my house.  After that night, the next day he dropped all the kids off at the assigned bus stop location and told me to stay on the bus, he then drove to my house and dropped me off there.   That continued every day since and he always smiled and dispatched of me with a pop gun gesture as I crossed in front of the bus.    He would often ask,
"Are you going to the bar tonight?"
Sometimes he would hand me sheet music or record albums as I got off the bus.  He also invited me to his house quite often for his family parties and gatherings where we would each take turns playing for them.  He had a wonderful and caring family and these gatherings revealed to me why he was so mean to the kids on the bus.  You know, it's impossible to go through life unscathed. Nor should we want to.  By the hurts we accumulate, we measure both our losses, follies and our accomplishments and, we learn to love, forgive and survive.

I didn't know it then, but I know it now, that that scrawny 14 year old boy I once was, just by being there, helped that man who lost much, to realize that life was worth another chance.  That's life.

Goldilocks and the Three Churches

A friend of mine just moved several states away and relayed to me about her search for a new church to call home.

She said that the first church was close by, in an old strip mall, very non-traditional, no organ, but great music.  They have a rotating music team that does a great job.  They have about 200 people at each service and  it is a little too large for them.  They have three clergy and all three deliver great sermons.

They then visited another church nearby which was very modern, had a big (overpowering) organ, modern stained glass windows and incredibly BORING sermons.

Then they found another church, about 20 minutes away, that was established in 1752.  The building was from 1825 and they have an old tracker organ from 1883 which was recently refurbished.  It is a smaller church and has about 75 in the congregation.  The sermon was great, the organ didn't overpower the congregation, there were very good singers in the congregation and this one pleased them in every way.

What do you look for in a church?

Threats and Enemies of America

Just what we need, more sabre rattling.  Recently Snowden informed the world about a massive, undercover spy program the US was conducting all over the world. Many of our European allies are furious over the revelation but we dismissed it stating that everyone does it so it is okay.  Of course, it is no surprise that Putin and other world leaders would offer Snowden protection.  The rest of the world sees him as a hero.  I am sure we would do the same thing for a Russian whistle-blower if he sought protection in the US.

Many people don't realize that Snowden is the Paul Revere or Thomas Jefferson of our time.  When history books are written, his name will be up there as a liberator of his country from the neo cons.  So now, Snowden is currently seeking asylum from several countries, including Ecuador.

Sen. Chuck Schumer with his Cold War and mobster mentality said this about Ecuador if it gives Snowden political asylum;

"We should cut off the foreign aid we have with them, it's about 10 million.  If Ecuador agrees to Edward Snowden’s request for asylum, there will be serious consequences.  Their economy will pay a very big price.  We will end all foreign aid, repeal trade agreements.  Whatever political benefit the leader of Ecuador thinks he will get by granting Mr. Snowden asylum, it will be far outweighed by the damage done to Ecuador’s economy.”

"Damage?"  Did he say "Damage?"  Will we intentionally damage another country's economy for want of one man?

And, did he say ten million?  It is more like billions.  These trade preferences include items like fruits, coffee, oil, shrimp, gold, vegetables and flowers.  Ecuador is the world's largest exporter of bananas to the US ($936.5 million in 2002) and a major exporter of shrimp ($251 million in 2002). Exports of non-traditional products such as flowers ($291 million in 2002) and canned fish ($333 million in 2002).  If my math is correct, like, you know, that comes out to about 10 million . . . I guess.  I'll take your word Senator Schumer.

Now, FIRST, if we were to cut off ties with Ecuador, what will that do to our own economy when we have to buy our imports from other countries if at all?  Where will we get those export items from and at what additional cost to us?  Is Snowden's freedom worth doubling the cost for some items to US citizens?

Secondly, Ecuador employs at least 50,000 people on about 550 farms across their country and is indirectly responsible for another 110,000 jobs.  Is it fair to to the children, families and innocent workers of that country to punish them because of our own government's ineptitude?   It is always easy to blame the foreign power because the last thing we want to do is admit that the Snowden incident happened because of our secret spy policies and failure to contain them.

Frankly, I think Senator Chuck Schumer has done far more harm to this country than Edward Snowden ever did. In fact, I think Snowden has done the country a great service.  Who does Schumer think he is, a 1950 mobster?  Our own senate is a greater enemy of the Constitution.

Schumer went on to say, “The U.S. should move forward with suspending the thousands of visas we issue to their businesses each year, and let trade preferences expire should they decide to grant Snowden asylum."

Is Schumer willing to mete out his version of justice and ruin thousands of lives to satisfy the letter of the law without considering the damage that will take place both here, there and to countless individuals?

Schumer and his kind dream of preserving Imperial America by endless war and intervention in every conflict. They think this planet is the property of the US and that other nations cannot reside here unless they meet our lease terms.  Do they really want us to be in war with every country?  Are they really willing to impose economic sanctions which can deny food, medicine and housing to hundreds of thousands of innocent people?    Are they willing to punish an entire nation, and ours, over this incident?  Instead of inflicting harm or spewing venom and threats, why don't we just stoop to bribery to get Snowden back?  Money talks.  Everyone will think they win.

In this predominately Christian country, is the church willing to allow such economic sanctions which could starve and hurt thousands of innocent people?  What will be the church's response and demand to all this be?  Is the church a monument or a movement?  Will it sacrifice everything to protect the poor and those persecuted by governments, even if it is their own?   I'm sure its response will be to pray for them. 

You know, Jesus was not the Milquetoast guy our church makes him out to be.  He was a passive aggressive who did not stand down when facing governments, politicians, friends or even his own church.  Those parables about carrying a soldier's cloak for an extra mile and turning the other cheek are not what we think they are about.  Research them. You will be surprised to realize how tough Jesus really was.  The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.  I am not discounting the power of prayer but, in many of our churches today, prayer is the least thing they can do for someone while still getting to grandstand like they are actually doing something.

Back to Schumer, one of the good people.  In 2009 on a US Airways flight from NY to DC, December 13, during the take off, Senator Charles Schumer was repeatedly asked by a flight attendant to turn off his cell phone.  Later, Schumer called the flight attendant a "bitch." He made the comment to fellow New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who was seated next to him, and was overheard by a House aide who was also on the plane.  Schumer, after being outed to the press for his behavior issued an apology (because he got caught).  He said it was an "off-the-cuff comment".  I guess that makes hate speech okay if it is off-the-cuff.  Just ask Paula Deen.   According to the aide who overheard Mr. Schumer, the phone rang again moments after the attendant had told Mr. Schumer to shut it off.  But, everybody does it so it must be okay.

Schumer's comments about damaging Ecuador, their people and their economy (and eventually ours) really perturbed me.  He is a bully, no better and no less than a war criminal, willing to hurt other people with impunity so that our government can save face and get what they want.   And, if they don't get what they want, like a spoiled playground brat, they will take their ball and go home, resolving nothing.   Nobody wins.

Arrogant, ignorant and corrupt career politicians must go! We need term limits!