Rural White Fundamentalist America

This speaks volumes and why American will be at a standstill until rural white America changes its mindset.

http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/rural-america-understanding-isnt-problem

Michael Flynn should resign before he's arrested

First, a chuckle.  This is a headline from today's Huffington Post:  "Donald Trump has full confidence in Michael Flynn, Kellyanne Conway says"

Sorry if you needed to wipe of your screen after that.

Chatter about Flynn's phone conversations prior to the U.S. election with Russia is gaining a sense of urgency.   To put it mildly, this is huge.  What were the nature of those conversations and was anything discussed regarding removing Russian sanctions?

Also, according to the Washington Post this evening, Sally Yates, the Acting Attorney Journal who was fired by Trump for refusing to follow his executive order regarding the refugee ban, warned the Trump administration that Flynn may have been compromised.

If Flynn were to go, one of the names being floated around to replace him is David Petraeus.  I seem to remember all sorts of fuss how Hillary Clinton's server "may" have been targeted for hacking and having national secrets exposed.  Petraeus gave classified information TO HIS MISTRESS!

If there was even any sort of discussion of "back scratching," Flynn should be arrested for suspicion of treason.  That's how serious this is.

Holocaust Denial in the White House

The White House failed to mention the slaughter of Jews on Holocaust Remembrance Day.  This was the same day Trump issued an executive order issuing a ban for 120 days of all refugees from seven primarily Arab nations.  Coincidence?

About That Refugee Ban

The Trump administration just placed a ban on refugees from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.  According to an analysis from the Cato Institute, between 1975 and 2015, not a single American was killed by any refugee from any of these countries.

Also not a single one of the 19 hijackers which participated in 9/11  were from any of these countries.

The Radical Right Runs America, But Democrats Still Don’t Get It

From Crook and Liars.  Author Claire Conner breaks down the Radical Right's agenda.  Imagine taking this country back to the 1900s before those evil liberals started bucking the rich white male power structure.

"Where's the opposition to a cabinet of wealthy plutocrats, military hawks. and radicals who want to destroy the agencies they're going to elad.

Good question.  The Democrats are rolling over promising to work with the Trump administration. Where are the progressives?

Read the entire article here.

From Think Progress - This Week in Trump's America: Week 1

The website thinkprogress.org  has a rundown of the first week of the Trump takeover.  We should all be concerned.  Our civil and human rights are eroding.  resist before it's too late.  

https://thinkprogress.org/trump-week-one-553e77774801#.jowtuyi5s

Fake News? Look no further than Fox News.

There's a lot of talk about fake news these days.  There's fake news, and there's networks who proffer in propaganda and sheer speculation.

Compiled from many more credible sources, the link below lists 403 ways Fox News is the biggest mainstream fake news network   Some favorite headlines include:

     Fox News apologizes for falsely reporting that Clinton faces indictment
     Let's compare the backgrounds of science writers for Fox and NPR
    The Top 5 times Bill O'Reilly has been dishonest with America

Fun and informative.

http://officeofstrategicinfluence.com/issues.php?issue=fox

Excerpt from Obama's last speech to U.S. Troops as Commander-In-Chief

So let my final words to you, as your Commander-in-Chief, be a reminder of what it is that you are fighting for, what it is that we are fighting for. The United States of America is not a country that imposes religious tests as a price for freedom. We’re a country that was founded so that people could practice their faiths as they choose. The United States of America is not a place where some citizens have to withstand greater scrutiny, or carry a special I.D. Card, or prove that they are not an enemy from within. We are a country that has bled and struggled and sacrificed against that kind of discrimination and arbitrary rule, here in our own country and around the world.

We’re a nation that believes freedom can never be taken for granted, and that each of us has a responsibility to sustain it. The universal right to speak your mind and to protest against authority. To live in a society that’s open and free. That can criticize our president without retribution. A country where you’re judged by the content of your character, rather than what you look like, or how you worship, or what your last name is, or where your family came from. That’s what separates us from tyrants and terrorists.

We are a nation that stands for the rule of law, and strengthened the laws of war. When the Nazis were defeated, we put them on trial. Some couldn’t understand that. It had never happened before. But as one of the American lawyers who was at Nuremberg said, “I was trying to prove that the rule of law should govern human behavior,” and by doing so, we broadened the scope and reach of justice around the world. Held ourselves out as a beacon and an example for others.

We are a nation that won world wars without grabbing the resources of those we defeated. We helped them rebuild. We didn’t hold on to territory, other than the cemeteries where we buried our dead. Our greatest generation fought and bled and died to build an international order of laws and institutions that could preserve the peace, and extend prosperity and promote cooperation among nations. And for all of its imperfections, we depend on that international order to protect our own freedom.

In other words, we are a nation that, at our best, has been defined by hope and not fear. A country that went through the crucible of a civil war to offer a new birth of freedom, that stormed the beaches of Normandy, climbed the hills of Iwo Jima, that saw normal people mobilize to extend the freedom of civil rights. That’s what makes us who we are. It makes us stronger than any act of terror.

Remember that history. Remember what that flag stands for. For we depend on you. The heirs to that legacy. Our men and women in uniform, and the citizens who support you, to carry forward what is best in us, that commitment to a common creed, the confidence that right makes might, not the other way around.

David Petraeus is still in the running for Secretary of State.  The job Hillary Clinton used to hold.  Now, who actually did get caught passing along top secret material, to his mistress, while head of the CIA at the time?  Not exactly the best candidate for Secretary of State.  But, this is Trumpland.  Watch this space.

Trump is calling the Green Party's Jill Stein's request for a recall a "scam."  No.  This is an exercise in Democracy.  

Betsy DeVos nominated for Department of Education

She's Erik Princes's brother.  As in Blackwater.  DeVos favors the school voucher system and Charter Schools.  Not a fan of public schools.  A billionaire and donated millions to the Trump campaign.

There are reports that Ben Carson is under consideration for Housing and Urban Development.  No experience in development and an utter fool.

Out of touch or part of the plan?

Anti-Fascism Southern Illinois Style

A new anti-fascist coalition has formed in Carbondale.  Find out more information here.

Trump's pick for National Security Advisor has called Islam a "cancer" and said fear of it is "justified."   He has called Islam a political ideology that "hides behind a religion."

Trumps potential pick for Defense Secretary, James "Mad Dog" Mattis, has publicly stated it's "fun to shoot people" and was strongly against the Iran nuclear deal.  

And then there's John Bolton.  This potential choice for Secretary of State has called for regime change in Iran.

Looks like a war in Iran is in the works.  Be very afraid.  

This is why we should be opposing Steve Bannon as Trump's Chief Advisor.  Straight from the mouth of Andrew Breitbart.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41jcsTh60MM.  We will fight you.

Voice of the Resistance

This space kills fascists.  More to come

Goodbye Anonymity

Back in the "old days" there was some fun in having online anonymity  Mine is Murdale.  Hello.  Good to meet you.  Recently it has become hard to hide behind an online identity. Especially in the last year of so.  This, in my opinion, is a double-edged sword.  On one side I can respect certain online communities in wanting to weed out the trolls and assume control over commentary.  Certain comments and behavior have no place in an adult conversation.

Huffington Post recently followed the protocol of other new organizations.  Leave a comment and you're identified by your Facebook Page.  Last year, the Southern Illinoisan did the same thing.  Okay,  Fine.  I feel however, it's chasing away people who may actually have something to say, but are wary of having their real identity exposed.  Again, I can relate.  

On the other hand, I worry about some of the trolls.  Some of the rhetoric I read makes me wonder if I really want to see my comments linked to my Facebook page.  The reason I say that is I was recently subjected to  bit of potential flaming by one lesser informed lower life form.  It stemmed from a comment I made on Facebook where I questioned the recent botched Oklahoma execution.   Without going into too much detail, I opined the botched execution along with the death penalty to me seemed barbaric.

In an adult conversation, this would have been a lively exercise in discussion.  However, that was not to be.  I received some diatribe about what the convicted had done to deserve the death penalty.  This however soon degraded to the point where I was accused of spitting on the graves of our service members, etc. I was even called a "liberal."  The clincher was when my Facebook name was copied in a post for all to see.  That crossed a line.

It was an invasion of my privacy.  We all have opinions.  Some get rather shrill.  But when you do something like that, it opens all sorts of doors.  It also lets people know who you are.  If you post on comments on the Southern Illinoisan you will show the world who you are, access to your friends and, at times, your various affiliations or ideologies that could be used to bully you.

That is the new bully pulpit.  In this age of NSA surveillance, Facebook and Google, a lot of people, some of them a bit warped, can now see you and yours.  Be careful. 

Welcome.

 I began this blog 5 years ago after the May 8 derecho which shut down life in southern Illinois for almost five days. 

Now here it is 2014 and I want to use this blog as an avenue of self expression as well as to let everybody know what's hot and what's not in this beautiful region. 

I also hope to reexamine my roots as a music journalist.  Before I moved up here in 1998, I was a scribe among many other things.  My focus was the San Antonio hard rock and metal scene.   I was proud to serve at one time as a music columnist, a booking agent, a club DJ and a credible spokesperson. 

What brought me up here is a long story.  It involved a fortunate coincidence of career advancement and the opportunity to discover my roots on my father's side of the family.  A lot has changed since then. 

So, what can you, the reader, expect?  A lot of discussion about the southern Illinois music scene.  I'll begin by focusing on some of the people I've had the pleasure to meet and be involved in, especially over the last four years.  Some occasional salutes to old friends and acquaintances from San Antonio and Austin.   Some photos, but no cute kitty photos.  Well, maybe a few. 

I'll try not to get too much into politics as not to offend certain parties.  When it comes to certain issues. such as fracking and climate change, that's another story. 

Enjoy.  

Reflections of the May 8 Storm: Final comments

As the storm gets further and further away in the past, some additional reflections.

1. Everyone should keep plenty of batteries on hand. As a habit I now buy a pair of CC or DD batteries every time I go out shopping.

2. The radio stations did an excellent job in covering the disaster. Both the Withers Group and Mississippi River Radio stations performed professionally and expertly in relaying life stories and perhaps some life-saving information.

3. The next time you hear sirens, forget about any debates on how far the activity is. Seek shelter immediately.

I'm going to start blogging regularly now on various things going around this stretch of wilderness I like to call Murdale. Hope you enjoy the variety.

Reflections of the May 8 storm, part 3 - the ride home

I decided to leave work around 2:00. I had WDDD on the radio. April and Wes were relaying reports of the devastation. This was the first chance I had heard how bad and widespread the storm was. There were power outages all over southern Illinois. People were in a panic. Some were cut off from family members and children. I had my own family members to worry about.

I took McCafferty to Chatauqua. There were two huge trees blocking the way. I manages to slowly get through that mess. At the corner, I made a decision. Instead of turning right then left onto Greenbriar, I'd go left further down Chatauqa to Tower Road. But when I got there it was much the same. Huge trees were blocking the area. Traffic was at a standstill. I had to detour over toward Sunset. Finally, I managed to make it to the other side of Tower to Old 13. There was no way in hell I was turning left toward Murphysboro. Instead I turned right toward 13.

The road was pretty clear. I could see a lot of downed power lines. I passed by Grandma's place and thought about going in. Instead I headed for home. The street behind me was blocked. I could not get into my driveway at all. There were fallen trees all over the place. Power lines were down. I had to park over by some nearby offices. I got to the alley and had an exchange with a lady who lived down the block. I told her I lived in the big white house on the corner. Her reaction was "ohh!" I didn't like the sound of that.

The driveway was totally blocked by a fallen tree which fell on top of the telephone line. I had to pass through my neighbor's yard to get to my back porch. A few large branches from next door ended up on the deck just missing the house. My garden trellis was totally destroyed. Several trees were down. I checked the house then went to check on Grandma.

Reflections of the May 8 Storm, Part 2

Chelsea took charge and suggested everyone go to the basement immediately. No objection there. About 10 of us were clustered in the basement. We could here objects hitting the building. About 15 minutes later we took a peek outside. There were downed trees all over the place. the wind had to have been blowing at a constant 60 miles and hour. There was some rain and it was blowing horizontally from the north.

A large tree blew down at the south end of the building. A gigantic tree was down behind the building across the street. Every once in a while a large branch would roll by. Some trees had fallen down in the parking lot. One fell very close to my truck. Another fell right on top of a parked car. Luckily there was no damage.

Employees were trying to get off campus but the area bordering Campus Lake was cut off due to flooding. The side streets leading to Chatauqua and Pleasant Hill were also blocked. For at least an hour after the storm hit, we were totally cut off. Pow er was out all over the place. I didn't realize just how bad it was until I tried to drive home.

To be continued.