Jun 30, 2015

Joan Hamburg's Saturday Radio Show

English: Mary Higgins Clark at the Mystery Boo...
English: Mary Higgins Clark at the Mystery Bookstore in Los Angeles (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
T. Williams (1965)
T. Williams (1965) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Seriously, I love this lady......she is really nice and she has good information......just that simple.

That would be Saturday 11-1 PM on WABC News/Talk Radio New York City.

This Saturday we had  the privilege of listening to Joan's friend, author Mary Higgins Clark talk about her new book involving a Countess and a Bernie Madoff type figure.  In The Melody Lingers On
the mystery surounds  the disappearance of this former financial guru and the money.  Where did they go.........


It was really fun to hear Mary Higgins Clark chat about her history as a writer and her tales of getting started and sharing time in a The Monkey Bar frequented by Tennessee Williams.  Finally a friend suggested Tennessee Williams might like to read her book and help her get a break in the literary world.  After reluctantly giving in Tennessee told Mary Higgins Clark he had many friends that were constantly bugging him and they wrote much better than she did.

Actually, Joan Hamburg had a  very informative political guest this weekend, also..........political strategist Ron Christie gave us his take on the republican party line-up and the reality of the bombastic Donald Trump ever making it to the presidency.

Ron Christie told  us that in fact Trump had not even filled out the mandatory paper listing his address in  order to run for the highest office in our country.  Ron said he felt Trump and fellow big talker Chris  Christie would not be  a  threat to the dems.

Actually, I listen to the show on my comp--it was so easy in those chrome book days gone by.....just  by the simplicity of the thing......but any computer works well to hear Joan.

At the end of the day it is fun to hear Joan any time for just plain pleasant listening to a nice and interesting lady......on the podcast, on the comp or in real time.  Joan has the best ideas for shows to see and where to get a  bite to eat in New York City......it just sounds so fun.

I would love to take a trip and see Joan Hamburg's New York City..............

Thanks, Joan--good listening and well-done.

.....................................

Art Bell is coming back to the radio and the net scheduled to launch July 20........I love George Noory but it would be so refreshing if he could  just lay off the one sided politics.


Your take.....comments welcome....agree or disagree.

Please go to the WABC website and listen to Joan's show on the podcast......let me know what you  think.


here is a link to the podcast page of Joan Hamburg:

http://www.wabcradio.com/2015/03/26/hamburgpodcasts/


Ronnie-------rather plow through the chromebook cord than go around

Jun 27, 2015

Larry Hancock Talks Conspiracy Peter Dale Scott's Deep Politics and The Kennnedy Assassination

New post on Larry Hancock

Conspiracy

by Larry Hancock
Over the past twenty five years I have studied, researched and written about three murders, the practices of “political” assassination, the investigative practices of the FBI and various police departments and national security practices relating to deniability – both in regard to operations security for cover/clandestine actions and the protection of sources and methods (and careers via CYA) after the fact. Generally I’ve found career and political CYA to be as significant a historical factor as true security.
One of the things I’ve learned in those 25 years is that the blanket term “conspiracy” is very overused, actually explains little and because of that true conspiracies don’t receive the attention they deserve. My friend Peter Dale Scott, a poet by heart and nature, understands intuitively understands the value of words while I wrestle with them in the more clinical context of historical and cultural analysis/synthesis. In an effort to address the problem, Peter coined the term “deep politics”, an immensely important term which describes the interrelationship between commercial/private interests and government decision making – especially at the highest political levels. Deep politics is the way the world works and has always worked, it would be naïve to think that personal and corporate financial interests do not consistently attempt to drive government policies based on their self-interests – and commercial concerns.
Stu Wexler and I visited areas of deep politics and their influence on various presidencies in Shadow Warfare. In doing so I began to get a much clearer picture of the fact that deep politics are “complemented” by what I would call “deep crime” and “deep money”. Just as respectable businesses and moneyed individuals try to drive national policy to their own agendas (and yes that includes various “complexes” from the much discussed military/industrial complex to newer associations such as “big pharma” or “big healthcare”) there are groups engaged in illegal activities and individuals engaged in questionable global business transactions who actively suborn individuals and “game” legitimate activities. While “deniability” is key to their activities, it’s really all about making or investing money, rather than manipulating long term national policy or strategic military/trade positions.
Personally I’ve found using the term “conspiracy” to be increasingly unproductive – to some extent because a great number of folks have begun to use it as if it were synonymous with “government conspiracy”. While I have a healthy respect for the ability of both administrations and agencies to engage in deniability and media management, I think calling that sort of activity “conspiracy” not only obscures its actual practices and methods but can cover up actual conspiracies. Unfortunately I don’t have a good phrase to describe it – or not one nearly as good as Peter’s “deep politics” - so I generally fall back on simply calling it “damage control” when I think it’s truly security related or “CYA” when I think it’s primarily career or political. Which is why I write about the Kennedy assassination conspiracy separately from the national security level damage control and agency CYA that prevented a true investigation of the crime. Stu and I made the same distinction when evaluating the MLK and RFK murders; both which involved true conspiracies and were followed by activities at the national and local law enforcement levels which prevented exposure of the actual conspiracy.
All of which leads me to the point that there are very real and very dangerous conspiracies that need attention. And for what it’s worth that does not include radical Islamist attacks, which would be better termed and addressed as warfare rather than individual acts of terror. What I’m talking about is very real domestic conspiracy, which Stu and I tried to address in The Awful Grace of God and which Stu has gone on to pursue and write about in his new book on the subject. If you want a look at what real conspiracy looks like I encourage you to read the following:
http://www.salon.com/2015/06/24/behind_dylann_roofs_race_war_the_highly_motivated_secret_white_supremacy_movement_working_toward_the_battle_of_armageddon/#comments
Larry Hancock | June 27, 2015 at 3:11 pm | Categories: Everything else | URL: http://wp.me/p1DeOb-9Z

Jun 25, 2015

Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor: A prime influence on the Pittsburgh Band Hawkeyes' sound.

copied from triblive.com.............

2 Pittsburgh bands to share stage at Hartwood Acres for free concert


The Bastard Bearded Irishmen are Jimmy “Bastard” Smerecky, left, Dan Stocker, Danny Rectenwald, Ben Jaber, Mike Hall and Paul Dvorchak.

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Wednesday, June 24, 2015, 5:24 p.m.Updated 18 hours ago
Two of Pittsburgh's more popular live bands offer quite different sounds.
While the Bastard Bearded Irishmen band incorporates traditional Irish instruments, with an edge, the Hawkeyes' music might remind you of the Rolling Stones' old “Sticky Fingers” album.
Singer-songwriter Bill Deasy described the popular local groups as “different, yet somehow complimentary.”
Both bands will perform at 7:30 June 28 at Hartwood Acres Park in Hampton. Admission is free.
Pittsburgh Magazine named the Bastard Bearded Irishmen the “best bar band” of 2014. All in their 30s, five of the band's six members first met as students at Keystone Oaks High School in Dormont. They cite The Pogues, a Celtic punk band, among their major influences.
Vocalist Danny Rectenwald of Avalon — who also plays banjo and mandolin — likened the Irishmen's sound to “Irish music on speed.”
“It's a combination of the traditional Irish instruments — mandolin, banjo and accordion — with electric guitar, bass and drums,” said Rectenwald, who has a master's degree in guitar performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music.
“It's definitely party music,” Rectenwald said. “We want to be the band that people can get lost to and just have a good time.”
Other members of the Bastard Bearded Irishmen are drummer Dan Stocker of Dormont; singer-guitarist-banjo player Jimmy “Bastard” Smerecky of Castle Shannon; violist Paul Dvorchak of Swissvale; singer-bassist Ben Jaber of Dormont; and accordion player Michael Hall of Finleyville, Washington County.
“Our live shows, I think, are definitely one of our strongest points,” Rectenwald said. “There's a lot of dancing.”
At Hartwood, the Bastard Bearded Irishmen expect to perform some of their newest songs, including “Whiskey Ginger” from a forthcoming third CD to follow up “Bastard Bearded Irishmen” and “Rise of the Bastard.”
“It's a song about the drink — whiskey and ginger ale — but also it could be interpreted as whiskey and a ginger, like a person, like a red-headed, fair-skinned person,” Rectenwald said.
Like the Bastard Bearded Irishmen, the Hawkeyes take pride in winning many new fans at their live shows.
“We like to call ourselves the hardest-working band in Pittsburgh,” said Jay Wiley, 35, of Ellwood City, Lawrence County, the band's lead singer and guitarist.
Wiley cited one-time Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor as a prime influence on the Hawkeyes' sound.
“We are guitar driven,” said Wiley, a self-taught guitarist.
His dad, Jeff Wiley, played bass in the touring Christian rock band Rama in the 1980s.
“I didn't pick up a guitar until I was 16,” Jay Wiley said.
A graduate of Penn State University, Wiley decided to make music full time after he tried teaching for one year at Sto Rox Middle School.
“I hated it,” he said.
Other members of the Hawkeyes are drummer Colin Bronnenkant of Etna; bassist Brian Chalmers of Hopewell, Beaver County; and guitarist Michael Grego of New Castle, Lawrence County.
Deborah Deasy is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-772-6369 orddeasy@tribweb.com.


Read more:http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yournorthhills/yournorthhillsmore/8585919-74/bastard-band-irishmen#ixzz3e5RbaNK1 
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Jun 22, 2015

Mick Taylor Fondly Remembers Bobby Keys.......




The Rolling Stones are playing in Nashville tonight.
I hope they'll dedicate the show to Bobby - and spare a thought for his children Amber and Huck.
It's interesting how Bobby and I entered the band at the same time, when we were called in to record 'Live With Me' in May 1969. We were both out of favour with them for a number of years, and even lived and worked together in Miami in the 90s. He was meant to do the postponed dates in Australia/NZ with us for the 14 On Fire tour, but sadly he didn't make it to Adelaide. Unfortunately it would also turn out to be my last time going on the road with the band.
I think this is a wonderful photograph of Bobby Keys. Alan Messer took this in April 2011, backstage at the Mercy Lounge in Nashville.

copied from the facebook page of Mick Taylor
and here is a link to that page:







Watching True Detective Unless It Goes SciFi Blacklist Style........

'True Detective' recap: Bizarre murder threatens to derail land scheme


The torture-murder of a corrupt and kinky city official threatens to derail a lucrative land scheme in “The Western Book of the Dead” (Episode 201), the Season 2 premiere of HBO’s “True Detective.”
This eight-part anthology series, written and created by Nic Pizzolatto, is set in fictional Vinci, a small industrial city south of downtown Los Angeles.
Living and working in this grimy landscape is Ray Velcoro (Colin Farrell), a divorced, burned-out detective serving two masters.
Ray draws his salary from a rotten-to-the-core administration headed by Mayor Austin Chessani (Ritchie Coster). And Frank Semyon (Vince Vaughn), a career criminal aiming to become a legitimate entrepreneur, controls Ray behind the scenes.
This manipulation includes ordering Ray to pummel newspaper reporter Dan Howser (Stevin Knight) after he writes an expose on exorbitant salaries, extortionary tactics and other dirty dealings at Vinci City Hall.
Frank has risked his ill-gotten wealth on vacant property adjacent to the California Central Rail Corridor, a massive transportation project budgeted at $68 billion. Government grants will support commercial developments along the route, Frank emphasizes at a presentation, “and the feds have guaranteed cost overages.”
In other words, a taxpayer-funded gravy train is speeding toward Vinci.
Frank’s grand ambitions are jeopardized, however, when the mutilated corpse of his business partner -- City Manager Ben Caspere -- is discovered. Ben’s eyes were burned away with acid and he bled out from a severe pelvic wound.
Compounding Frank’s anxiety is the reluctance of a presumed investor, European mobster Osip Agronov (Timothy V. Murphy), to finalize a critical land deal.
“I thought we already had an agreement,” Frank protests, trying to mask his desperation.
“You know you have my complete confidence,” Osip replies. “But our organization has very old rules. Checks and balances. I have to perform my due diligence.”
Ray, meanwhile, is assigned by his superiors -- Police Chief Holloway (Afemo Omilami) and Lt. Kevin Burris (James Frain) -- to investigate but perhaps not solve the city manager case. Despite Ray’s objections, he is partnered with sleazy Det. Teague Dixon (W. Earl Brown).
When they enter Ben’s ransacked home, Ray and Teague realize a computer is missing but see there’s no shortage of erotic art and sex toys.
“I had no idea he was so ... adventurous,” Teague observes.
Because the victim’s body was dumped in Ventura County, Ani Bezzerides (Rachel McAdams), a Sheriff’s Department detective, is put in charge of the probe. And unlike the Vinci Police Department, Ani wants to figure out who killed the city official and why.
Just like most characters on “True Detective,” Ani is beset with personal problems. Besides being a heavy drinker and gambler who’s unable to form long-term relationships, Ani is mad at the world and suffers from a false sense of entitlement. This according to her estranged father (David Morse), a long-haired religious guru.
Ani’s rebellious sister Athena (Leven Rambin) also has issues. Athena kicked her drug habit, apparently, but now she’s involved in the online porn business, performing live sex acts via webcams for paid subscribers.
The final member of the murder investigation team is Paul Woodrugh (Taylor Kitsch), an emotionally and physically scarred motorcycle officer with the California Highway Patrol. Paul found Ben’s body at a rest stop.
This lurid homicide case provides a chance for Paul to redeem himself after being accused of accepting sexual favors from a headline-seeking actress, Lacey Lindel (Ashley Hinshaw), in exchange for not issuing her a reckless driving citation.
But Paul would much rather patrol Pacific Coast Highway than collaborate with detectives.
“It suits me,” Paul says of his adrenalin-inducing motorcycle duties. “I am no good on the sidelines.”


copied from the LA Times