Saturday 7 March 2020

Artists Don't Compromise

"To live outside the law you must be honest."

Bob Dylan

I just wasted an hour watching Bill Maher tell Democrats to take corporate money.

He doesn't get it.

Bernie Sanders is a bigger rock star than anybody making music today. Why? BECAUSE HE SAYS NO!

Being a rock star is all about credibility, which is why there are no financial rock stars, and very few tech rock stars. Rock stars don't do market research, they hew to their own tuning fork, they don't do what is expedient but what is right. And all this draws an audience to them.

Did you read that Justin Bieber had to scale down some of his dates? Yup, switch them from stadiums to arenas. Pop acts? Live by the hit, die by the hit. And nitwit Justin who has been in the spotlight for most of his life doesn't even know right from wrong, he tried to game the system and got busted for it, further depreciating his credibility while releasing stiff music to boot. Come on, that single? One listen told me it wasn't gonna go. You don't need a Berklee degree to know which way the song blows.

But there are acts that haven't had a hit in eons who can go clean at every gig.

Take a look at the Eagles. Hipsters like to rag on them. But the fans keep paying exorbitant prices to see them. Why? Well, first and foremost the songs, second Don Henley is really that guy. He stands by his choices. Stands up to the man. And this makes people believe in the music. Your identity is intertwined with your music, compromise either and you're toast.

People like to say it's different today. It sure is, no one's got a backbone, no one is willing to hang it out there. They won't take a stand because it might potentially alienate a fan. But if you appeal to everybody, you're Donny Osmond. He tried to regroup but it was too late, he was branded.

So today you go on a TV singing show, even though no one has made it from "The Voice" in America ever, and TV has less credibility in music than it ever has. Used to be being on Letterman was a breakthrough, now late night TV has such anemic ratings you're better off staying home, better off investing in social media. Just say no to TV.

And just say no to multiple songwriters. It isn't about the hit. You can make it without hits at all. It's about what's coming straight from your heart. The audience wants to believe it's coming directly from you, that you're that person.

Sure, you can have a few hits and still play the lounge in Vegas when you're in your seventies, but that's commerce, not art.

People can tell the difference.

Everybody's a sausage-maker today. Analyzing the landscape, molding their product for consumption, even though breakthroughs always come from rugged individuals on the outside. Like Steve Jobs. There hasn't been a techie like him since, except maybe Elon Musk, who unfortunately overpromises and underdelivers. Meanwhile, the press and the short-sellers couldn't stop ragging on Tesla, and then the stock price went through the roof! In other words, the media and the street were out of touch with the public, the investors. Kinda like Ford calling their new SUV a Mustang. What next, a moped called a Camaro?

It's so hard to make it today that everybody wants to sell out, not realizing that everything builds slowly, most people are not interested in you, and if you hang in there long enough, and are good enough, you can make hay out of your career. Come on, all those people coming to the show to buy CDs and vinyl when they don't have the equipment to play them on?

But purity is history in America today, even though it's purity we are looking for.

We want Mr. Smith, and we want him to go to Washington, even though they don't make movies like that anymore.

You've got to have the goods.

Bernie Sanders spends a lifetime in politics, Mike Bloomberg, a billionaire, comes along and expects to buy votes with saturation advertising. But it turns out it only worked in American Samoa! You see people are just not that dumb.

That's what everybody keeps saying about the public, that people are dumb.

But they've got the same streaming channels, the same smartphones, the same internet as the rest of the country, why should they be so ignorant?

I'm not talking about being in their own silo. You're in your own silo too. In a world where everybody knows more than they ever did, one individual knows less of the total world than he or she ever did. But the old swinging dicks, the reporters, the TV talking heads, talk down to us, like they know, WHEN THEY DON'T!

Art is instinct.

If a person is winning at the corporation, they're probably not an artist. The aforementioned Steve Jobs couldn't work for anybody, he brought on Sculley and immediately got blown out. Artists are leaders, not followers.

And artists have doubts, but they continue to forge ahead.

All of today's metrics are wrong. The number of followers... Hell, we're not running for school office here, we're wondering about influence, and it turns out most of these influencers don't have any, they're just cottage industries that always go broke when the perpetrator finds out they're working 24/7 and are burned out. And are they missed? An artist is missed if they don't produce. Can you say Tool? Their absence made their fans grow fonder.

All we keep hearing about is selling. That's what music advice has turned into. How to market yourself, use social media, get on playlists, with everybody going the same way don't you think it'd be those who walk the road less taken who would stand out?

There's not enough money in music to always say yes. Leave some money on the table. But in a world where the insider business person has a longer career than the act, these lifers just tell the acts to sell out and they do, to their detriment.

Maybe you just want some fame and some cash, some notoriety, the ability to cut the line.

That's cool, but you are not an artist.

They hate Bernie Sanders because he didn't play it their way. If you're a student of the game, if you read all the media and watch all the TV, you'll find it's a full court press to eliminate Bernie.

I don't care whether he wins or not (actually I do, but that's not the point), but the truth is by staking out positions that are not focus-grouped, and sticking with them, he's raised more money than any other Democratic candidate...now that's support!

And who does he have to answer to? HIS FANS!

And what do the fans want? FOR HIM TO KEEP ON DOING WHAT HE'S DOING!

Actually, you see it on Patreon. It's all niche. You haven't heard of most of the acts and never will, but they're concerned with being themselves and speaking to their audiences without any middleman.

Well, that's not completely true, they're all selling stuff to stay alive, Patreon's a bastion of merch, but they are happy serving their base, and I'm cool with that, just as long as they don't complain they're not bigger.

Not everyone deserves to be bigger, not everybody is a rock star, not everybody is an artist.

An artist captures lightning and distills truth for the rest of us.

That's what we're all looking for, truth and insight.

And pop music has never delivered this, whether it be in the forties or today. Usually art is too dangerous, too different for the pop chart. But sometimes the noise is so loud the art invades the bastion. Like in the late sixties, when Cream invaded AM, Janis Joplin and others too.

But what happened after that?

AM died. Because all the action was on FM. AM was for losers. Ignore the charts from that era, singles meant little, albums meant everything.

And now the establishment keeps going on about albums. An artist would forge a different direction, but all the supposed "artists" just want a return to the past.

Picasso and Braque went totally abstract with cubism.

But Picasso kept changing and Braque kept repeating himself and it's Picasso who is the legend.

Kinda like David Bowie. We don't have artists like this today, who are willing to go in completely new directions, not caring about the audience's expectations.

Artists don't give people what they want, but what they need.

And there are very few artists out there.

And some of the best have been killed by the crowd. Let's start with Lenny Bruce.

It takes courage to go the other way.

In this completely sold out culture we now inhabit, where facts are fungible and everybody is selling you something, it's truth we want.

We're waiting...


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Friday 6 March 2020

Biden/Sanders/Trump

How many anti-Trump voters are there?

Turns out this primary season was not about the candidates, but Trump. And after the marginal candidates dropped out, after Biden exceeded expectations in South Carolina, the mainstream media spread fear and most Democratic primary voters lined up behind Biden.

This has got nothing to do with what Biden stands for, it's just that the word has been spread that he's the best person to beat Trump. That's what all that "electability" conversation was about over the past year.

In other words, ultimately it hasn't mattered what anybody has said, the DNC and the mainstream media want to play it safe.

It's not only the "Times," but MSNBC too. The channel has moved to the right under Andy Lack, Mr. Rootkit, and all over the web people are agitated about its bias against Bernie Sanders. Which was even referenced today in the "Times" article about Bernie finally going on the channel: https://nyti.ms/3aD2dKG

But it all doesn't matter. Hell, it doesn't even matter if Bernie or Biden is ultimately the candidate, because the media and the pollsters don't have a handle on the mood of the country.

All you read about are the Trump supporters, his approval rating.

But not only were the polls wrong in 2016, but on Super Tuesday too.

In other words, the 24 hour news channels are too deep into it. The minutiae don't matter, turns out most people hate Trump, and he's gonna lose in a landslide.

Huh?

The left has let the right define the debate for decades now. Which is how we ended up with Bumbling Biden. You see after 2016 the left is so scared of the right that it's afraid to take a risk, it's afraid to fail, there's no big thinking allowed, the media and the corporations and the wealthy are spreading this fiction that Trump is an indomitable force, when really he's a doofus most people abhor. Furthermore, they don't understand that their failure to stand for anything other than a return to the status quo will bite them in the ass in the future. But for now, any Democrat can win.

Come on, Biden is seen as history, a man who can raise no money, who was disgraced in New Hampshire, but suddenly he cleaned up on Super Tuesday? The man didn't change, the spin did. The media and the DNC rolled up the African-Americans and other people of color and stated that they'll only come out for Biden, and if you're scared of Trump, vote for him.

None of the polls predicted this.

And now in the news it's a fait accompli that Biden is the candidate.

And yes, Biden will be terrible in the debates, Ukraine will haunt him, his right wing compromises will surface, but it all doesn't matter, because people hate Trump just that much.

Oh, don't go deep on me, don't make it about Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, never mind Florida, people hate Trump EVERYWHERE! And they can't wait to vote against him. Which is why Biden did so well on Tuesday with very little money. The Democrats circled the wagons and said THIS IS OUR GUY!

And now they're dealing with Sanders like he's passe, but they still don't get it, this election is about Trump, plain and simple.

But the Democratic wankers in Congress, at the DNC, are so caught up in history and polls that they can't see it. Don't they understand they've got Trump on the run? That Mueller and impeachment and Barr are all set-up for the big fall? The mishandling of the coronavirus wouldn't be such a big deal for Trump if it didn't come after the foregoing and Puerto Rico and now you've got that Republican judge bringing down Barr? I've got to say it one more time... How do you lose a Presidency? Very slowly, then all at once.

That's today's world. Things either happen slow or fast. Try breaking your record, good luck, it took Lizzo two years on the same damn album for anybody to notice. But Biden wins in South Carolina and the whole primary season changes. You can't measure these events, you can't even predict them, they're about emotions, feelings in a world of facts. If you want to know what is going on in this world, pull back, the insiders live for the action and suddenly it's not about the action, and it's not about the details, it's about one thing and one thing only...TRUMP!

Oh, you'll get some advisors saying that's a bad tack, to go after the man. But when Bozo is wearing no clothes and bouncing off the walls why would you ignore him when everybody notices him?

You've got the right wing nutjobs who voted for Trump. The evangelicals who are twisting the Bible, the gun nuts. But you also had people sick and tired of the system. They wanted to put a stick in the spokes. They wanted change.

And Trump did not deliver it.

All we keep hearing about is the economy. The average person doesn't worry about the economy, but they're damn worried about losing their job because of the coronavirus.

You've got to give the DNC and the media credit for one thing, after South Carolina they got organized. I'm not saying they were right, if they were they'd stop denigrating Sanders's policies which in truth people want. But they scared the public and made it about Trump, to their credit.

Between the environment and China and Iran Trump is sinking his own ship. All the media does is write about those who agree with him, but most people DON'T!

And if the media had taken Trump seriously back in 2016, there's no way he would have won, too many voters became complacent, Hillary was gonna win, there was no reason to vote.

I wish there was someone internet-savvy who could run for President, someone who knows how the younger generation really thinks, and how it acts. It wasn't Buttigieg...the guy who endorsed Sanders in the past and then excoriated him when it became expedient, someone who couldn't even run his own small town. No, this calls for someone familiar with YouTube, and social networks, someone who really understands how to build consensus amongst a populace that tunes out day to day affairs.

Youngsters have no respect for the game, none. They think D.C. is a joke. And they don't need a Mueller report to teach them about hacking and privacy and the power of bad actors. Come on, Nigerians are trying to scam them EVERY DAMN DAY!

You're your own policeman. If you don't practice good computer hygiene, your computer will soon be overrun with viruses and become unusable. As a matter of fact, I personally know a couple of boomers experiencing this. They've given up on their laptops, it's all phone all the time.

And everybody knows the tech world is run on the iPhone. But that's not the story we read online, it's all about finances. But when all the movers and thinkers are on one platform...

If you use an Android and know how to configure it, customize it to your preferences, more power to you, I see no problem in you using this device. But this is a vocal minority, most Android users buy these devices because they're cheap, or think that a smartphone is really just a phone, quite a dumb one at that. Which is why despite having only a sliver of the market, the iPhone generates all the revenue, in sales, the App Store.

Yes, we find these truths to be self-evident. And there are a zillion truths, which the political industrial system is ignoring as it continues to adhere to business as usual, employing the same damn theories they did in the sixties and seventies, as if tomorrow Bob Seger is gonna rule the charts via vinyl!

No way!

Trump changed the paradigm, he went directly to his base, via Twitter. How brilliant is that! Biden probably thinks Instagram is a way to get candy delivered the same day you order it. In other words, Trump knows more about today than anybody at the DNC and those in punditworld. Trump understands everything is instant, and what is said today is forgotten tomorrow, and that if you don't cross over the edge now and again no one will ever pay attention to you!

Screw a return to normalcy. You can't wear jeans to school and your skirt has to cover your knee and your hair must not go over your ears??? God, things change, and you've got to change with them!

People don't care if Bernie went to Russia, if he praises some good things dictators have done. That stuff doesn't stick anymore! The media is all about canceling people whereas the public forgives, it's all grist for the mill.

Like the cancellation of Woody Allen's book. This looks insane to the hoi polloi. The guy is an octogenarian who was vindicated in a court of law but Michael Milken gets a pardon?

I don't like that Woody married the adopted child of Mia Farrow, but we're talking about child molestation here, and if we can't trust a court of law...

It's just like the Republicans. They've made the law irrelevant.

On many levels the Democrats are just as bad. The people fighting these issues ignore the rank and file, who are worried about putting food on their plate and sexual harassment at work. Sure, it's great that they got rid of the news anchors, but how about my boss?

I mean if you really want to protest Woody Allen's book, print it and implore people not to buy it. But Hachette is blown sideways by insiders, afraid to offend anyone, meanwhile Trump doesn't care what anybody thinks and offends people every damn day!

So if these one issue voters can compromise for Biden, how many other people can overlook his faux pas just to get rid of the Orange Menace? MANY!

Make it about Trump. Don't allow the right to quote polls and talk about the economy, they're switching the subject.

The real subject in the United States today is how you can't make it here, which is what Bernie and Elizabeth have spoken about.

But the elites couldn't cotton to this.

Okay, so let's play their game, let's make it very simple, it doesn't matter who the Democrats nominate because he's gonna win, because most people want to get rid of Trump!

If you turned off the camera and stopped pontificating and listened you'd know this.

But insiders are always the last to know, they're too busy protecting their fiefdoms.

Trump is history... BELIEVE IT!


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Thursday 5 March 2020

Andy Grammer-This Week's Podcast

That's right, Mr. "Honey, I'm Good." You've got to listen to this if you're a recording artist, even if you have no idea who Andy Grammer is. We dig down deep into what it's like to be an artist in today's niche-focused world. Grammer is a deep-thinker, and he's also a participant, someone who writes a hundred songs to get two good ones. Andy busked on the Third Street Promenade for years before his breakthrough. Listen to find out how he made it.

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast/id1316200737?i=1000467528927

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5TajqZ3pnPY5HUMku6IU3N?si=F3mWTWbaQRmf_mGFapESyQ

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/tunein/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast


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The Caramel Macchiato Bar

https://bit.ly/38tFxL4

Why does everything taste better with coffee?

I was at the Burton U.S. Open and in the village, there's always a sponsor village at sporting events catering to the younger generation, there was a Clif Bar booth.

I cannot resist free food.

I also cannot throw out food. Yes, I grew up in the era wherein children were starving in Europe, our parents really said that, and to put more on your plate than you could eat was a crime.

But my father was into gourmet foods, and he loved to fress, whenever there was a buffet, at a bar mitzvah, a wedding, he couldn't resist.

I guess I'm my father's son.

And I rarely get too full. And there's no such thing as too rich. I only stop eating when my brain says so, not when my stomach sends me a message.

So my father found real estate for Friendly Ice Cream. Back when Friendly was seen as a breakthrough, do you remember the Big Beef and the Awful Awful? (Awful big and awful good, but because of a trademark dispute they had to rename it the Fribble.) And every time my father went to a location he brought home half-gallons. That was the size back then, you never bought pints, that arrived with the super-premium ice cream of the seventies, Haagen Dazs, then Ben & Jerry's.

There was always ice cream in the freezer. Chocolate Marshmallow was my favorite, yum. And there was Toasted Almond Fudge...

And Mocha Almond Chip.

There's that coffee.

I am not a coffee drinker. I want no artificial stimulants ever. I want no buzz, no illegal drugs, I have a hard enough time keeping myself on the straight and narrow, and I want to have all of my faculties 24/7.

As for the Starbucks phenomenon... I'm not sure if it's really about the coffee. It's kind of like a Rolex, owning it/using the product labels you, it signifies that you're too good for the old Maxwell House.

But when I finally went into one, after being overwhelmed by the descriptive lingo, wondering how anybody managed to order, I found out what they're really selling are milkshakes, with coffee, calorie-laden drinks that you can rationalize because you got them at Starbucks and they've got a hint of coffee and you need your buzz.

And it's the coffee that gives it its bite.

That's what coffee provides, a zing you can't get anywhere else.

Like that McConnell's ice cream with the coffee grounds mixed in. A winner!

So, at this Clif Bar booth they're handing out samples, which they've baked in a toaster oven.

Now I don't ever foresee toasting my energy bars, but I'm game.

It tasted DELICIOUS!

Now my nutritionist is anti-Clif Bar, because they're full of carbohydrates and contain little protein, they're almost like cakes. So I never buy them. Oh, I eat one now and again when I get one for free, and they've got their Builder's edition which tastes nowhere near as good but speaks to the balance...

That's my energy bar of choice, the Balance Bar. But it seems to have lost the war, you've got to be number one or you're no one, and now they're hard to find and they've reduced flavors. So, for a while there I ordered them in bulk on the internet, but then I realized I was devouring them like candy bars and I went cold turkey, except for when I go skiing, when I really might need a boost.

But that's another thing my nutritionist told me, it's not real protein, the bars are not real food.

But they had a whole table of these Caramel Macchiato bars and roaming women giving them away for free, actively pushing them on people because the event was just about to conclude, so I took two.

And tried not to eat them.

But yesterday I broke down, I was starved, and when I broke the foil and took a bite it was so satisfying, far beyond any other Clif Bar, and that's when I realized...IT'S THE COFFEE!

I just ate the second, I'm not gonna buy any, I'm part of the resistance. But will I break down now and again?

Maybe.


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Wednesday 4 March 2020

Re-The Generation Gap

I so agree with much of this. My 25 year old son wouldn't even vote for Hillary ( he left it blank) and will definitely not vote for Biden. Joe is not gonna energize the youth and though I will hold my nose and vote for Biden I don't think he'll win.

The younger generation is not going to come out and vote for him. To them, it's just more of the same, and really, it is. Bernie would've beaten Trump in 2016.

Cheers
Deborah Holland

_______________________________________

Millennial here, none of my most politically active friends will ever vote for Biden. Bernie gets millennials out of the house to vote. Biden doesn't stand a chance against Trump. Bernie might not either, but he's the best chance we have. Watching the DNC flip-flop from who they're backing, from Biden, to Buttgieg, to Bloomberg, and now to come full circle back to Biden has been at least the very least, entertaining. It shows that they don't want Bernie full stop. And they're delusional if they think anyone else stands a chance against Trump. Bernie's exciting, Biden is boring (and creepy to boot!)

Matt

_______________________________________

Hey Bob good letter. I saw my mom Sunday and she said her friends are all for Bloomberg or biden and against Bernie. I'm a republican but I want Bernie to win because I think our system needs some integrity and honesty to balance out where we are today.

See you around
Andrew Einhorn
(my nephew)

_______________________________________

To a lot of us millennials and zoomers Bernie feels like our last chance to at least attempt to mitigate climate change and help our fellow Americans get ahead a bit. That's the fucking joke - boomers and talking heads acting like we want free shit. No, we don't want to see other human beings struggling when they shouldn't have to. We don't want our parents to have to eat dog food in their old age and work as Walmart greeters so they can afford said dog food. We'd like to maybe have a chance at saving what's left of the planet. Oh, and it would be cool to not have to be worried about getting shot at school, the mall, concerts, etc.

Enjoy another 4 years of Trump if this is how the boomers and DNC wanna play it. We're totally fucked.

Harry Metzler

_______________________________________

Biden feels like Hillary Part Deux. Ugh.

Joe Weinstein

_______________________________________

Real simple for me Bob on November's coming election. If the DNC AGAIN screws Bernie Sanders from the nomination...I'm voting for Trump! My kids who would have voted for Bernie also feel the same way. "No politics as usual" is why Hillary lost! It will be the same for Biden. Start singing "4 more years" if Bernie gets screwed again!

David Wolnik

_______________________________________

couldn't agree more. The Democrats think going for a "moderate" candidate will catch most votes when in reality that's the recipe for failure in this election.
It's depressing to see they have a candidate like Sanders but are too afraid to take a stand and use their only chance of winning against Trump.
Yeah, if Biden gets the nomination people will still vote for him because anything is better than Trump but the problem is, *not enough* people will
vote for him in order to win the election - exactly for the reason you've outlined. Young people have had enough and they're tired of always having to vote for
the lesser of two evils. But DNP doesn't get that.
As said, it's depressing.
Best,
Frank Baach

_______________________________________

God I so wish you were wrong but everything about this reads so RIGHT to me.
I am no millennial and all I can think is why cant more of the oldsters think like us? How are so many people getting it so wrong?

Angie Banicki

_______________________________________

Thanks for telling it like it is Bob. Brilliant!

Ted Lindsay

Burlington, Ontario

_______________________________________

So I voted for Bernie; not b/c I'm on board with his Unicorns and Rainbows Revolution but b/c I wanted to support the kids and their aspirational vision. It's their future, not mine.
I showed up for them. Doesn't look like they're showing up for him tonight. At least not in sufficient numbers for the revolution to be televised.

Randi Swindel

_______________________________________

Did you hear what was playing at Bernie's 'Super Tuesday' rally before his half-time speech? John Lennon singing 'Power to the People'.

Right on!

Stephanie Zill

_______________________________________

Your writing is always insightful but the below just absolutely crystallized my feelings. I'm incredibly fearful that Biden will not deliver a victory over Trump. That said, I hope that the "negative partisanship" will be enough to deliver a defeat to Trump regardless who the nominee is.

Robert Mitchell

_______________________________________

Truth on two things. One, the phone for calls is a thing of the past. Or at least a specialized use. Only grandma wants to talk to her daughters for an hour every day. I don't even keep the ringer on in my office phone. And I only use it for teleconferencing. Meetings with staff and colleagues who WFH. No one I know wants to be interrupted in the middle of what they're doing to chat. Silly.
Two, The Beatles were actually real.

zekmoe

_______________________________________

Well said Bob, as someone watching from abroad with the usual mixture of interest and fear (whatever happens in the US has direct, potentially violent, consequences for the rest of us) and it's sad to watch. Sanders has the youth, the future, Biden has the old vote, but it's the middle-aged dads, the ones who don't yet have children old enough to explain to them how fucked their futures look, who are going to win this for Biden, they still think it's the 1990s and capitalism will save them. As I read elsewhere, there will never be a Gen X President, it's a lost generation politically.

John L

_______________________________________

But what i learned is there is no difference between the Democrats and Republicans... the youth are angry... and they will only get angrier and more prevalent.

Todd Devonshire

_______________________________________

I remember when Hubert Humphrey was the great Democratic hope in 1968 against the evil genius Dick Nixon. I was facing the draft and being sent to Vietnam.

All the Hump had to say was he would end the f??king war and I would have turned out for him. But no he couldn't say that. He was a centrist.

And that bland bag of BS lost. Not by a lot. But he lost. Just like Al Gore. And Hilary.

I guess as we get older we come to like bland oatmeal and stewed prunes. Why is that?

Maybe we should think again. And KICK OUT THE JAMS MOTHER F??KER!!!

Mike Hugos

_______________________________________

"Now I'm really scared of Joe debating Donald."

Bernie, on the other hand... Like it or not, he exudes authenticity and passion, and his New York comebacks to Trump's nasty, childish, pathetic snipes we take the roof off any debate venue. These qualities even turn his age into an asset. How many people his age have the energy to campaign like that? The Guardian just published an article about rockers in their 70's having to leave the road for health reasons! Bernie appears to be willing to kill himself to win. ...and that's a good look.

The Dems are worried about Trump destroying Bernie for his past behaviour, statements, etc.?? What?! Bernie could whip out ten jabs at Trump's (and his family's) sordid past for every one thrown at him. Meanwhile the Dem leadership only seems to be able to criticize Sanders because he refused to play ball or fit in with them. Good. Typical Dem fatalism and whimpiness. By the way, his votes against firearms legislation the Dems fret about (and I disagree with) will be a vote-getter.

Robert Bond

_______________________________________

You're speaking a lot of truths here.
MSM selling fear, check.
Electing Biden won't solve anything, check.
Biden's son got a sweetheart deal, check.
Biden stands for nothing, check.
The Dem elites, the limousine libs, want the status quo, so the fix is in (just like HRC in 2016), check.
Biden is innocent, not so much.
Check the tape, Bob!

Cheers!

Larry Allen

_______________________________________

Thanks for being real , Bob.

I believe when Bloomberg bombed the debates, the establishment panicked and made some calls to Powerpoint Amy and Mayor Pete, telling them to drop out and endorse Biden. It guaranteed the delegate-rich state of Minnesota to Biden and further divided the party against the biggest evil. Not Trump!!! But Bernie Sanders. Yup. That's the biggest threat to mainstream politicians.

Joe Biden is senile. Did you catch his Declaration of Independence flub? That's the least of it. False valor, claiming he got arrested with Nelson Mandela?!?!? If Bernie falsely claimed such a thing, NYT WaPo and Politico would be up his ass. With Biden? Head in the sand. Crickets. Only the millennial channels (aka the internet) focused on such a glaring red flag.

How senile are boomers to think Biden can defeat Trump? Because Obama needed them to feel better about electing a man who didn't look like former presidents, ole' familiar Joe will do! Coattails and False Valor won't win this one.

Yet Bernie, the candidate who has stood for the same humane and common sense policies his entire 30-year career is auto-demonized. "Don't say the S___ word." I didn't live through the cold war, but we need to get real that Bernie would NEVER be able to pass half of what he would like to through the Senate.

I will vote blue. But many of my generation won't as they see the inevitable coming, the establishment anointing Joe. Who can barely remember is middle name.

What a transparent display of corporate fuckery. Obama makes some phone calls and Joe suddenly surges.

Hmmmm...........

Dylan Muhlberg

_______________________________________

The only presidential campaign I've donated to is Bernie, because he takes no corporate cash. He is also the only authentic candidate running for the democrats, as was Trump in 2016 for the republicans. But one of them is a good guy and the other not so much.

If it comes down to Trump and Biden...I like Joe and hate Trump, but I love our country so I'll vote for Trump. (actually I won't vote at all as I don't want anything to do with the current broken system)

Trump and Bernie our outsiders...they push back on the deep state...the deep state is just entrenched do-good career bureaucrats that unfortunately don't stand up to special interests and corporate lobbyists...they are part of the problem...and when they get no push back for decades they too become corrupt.

Four more years of Trump will be like fingernails dragged along a chalkboard, but 4 years of going back to the status quo and turning the entire nation into a Sleepy Joe supporting endless wars and the corporate ownership of our democracy is not the direction we need to head. Trump gave Sanders a big boost, but not enough to get him over the finish line due to the work of corporate owned MSM and the democratic mafia...perhaps we will get a transformational candidate after 4 more years of the Orange Man...less likely after 4 years of Sleepy Joe.

There is hope as you point out...the young people see it. Let's hope they don't do what we did as baby boomers, marched in the street in our 20s but quickly sold out by our 40s.

Ed Kelly

_______________________________________

"The mainstream media is selling fear"? Well, duh. It's what they do. Whether it's weather, health, politics, etc they always "sell fear". Having worked in or next to radio and TV newsrooms for 50 years I can assure you that the one singular mantra that they understand and adhere to is this...FEAR DRIVES RATINGS. Always keep that in mind when watching the hysterical talking heads on any subject.
Meantime, I've been saying for a while that this election reminded me a lot of 1972. I'm now thinking it's shaping up to look more like 1996. An incumbent president that the opposition party was rabid in their hatred and opposition to him. The GOP wound up nominating an old, long time loyal soldier who everyone liked but no one was really excited about and Clinton buried them. I thought at the time that the Dole campaign slogan should have been "because it's his turn". My singular memory of the Dole campaign was seeing him in a stump speech yelling "where's the outrage" talking about Clinton. It was sad. The GOP overlooked the obvious shortcomings of Dole who had no chance of matching up with Clinton and put him at the head of the ticket. Nominating Biden seems as if it will be much of the same in 2020.

Chuck DuCoty

_______________________________________

I don't think Biden can triumph over Trump. I think he's getting voted as the "safe" bet, and that won't cut it in November. I think the best hope is Sanders who has a radical new way of thinking. An agenda that can pull us up into the circle of many countries who already care about the environment, sustainability, and most of all...its citizens. It's crazy to see the Dems playing it so safe, when 2016 was taken storm by a maniac so far out of the usual lines.

Til next time,
Hunter Reece

_______________________________________

PREACH BOBBY PREACHHHHHHHHHHHH

to see Biden sit on the sidelines all election season until now, when all other candidates (sans sanders) drops out? It's as if none of them debated him. Dear god somethings gotta change.

I've worked full time or more every day of my life since I was 16 to fend for myself. Still hoping we can get Bernie in there and make sure no one else has to go through that.

Here's to hoping

A 27 year old who's ready to revolt.

ok, tyler
artist, producer, songwriter, actor

_______________________________________

I couldn't agree more and I'm a boomer.
Bernie's rise is about hope and the desire for change - for a chance at a fair shot for all.
Biden's "comeback" is the result of a pretty blatant/transparent effort from the powers that be in the DNC to retain control. Two candidates drop out and suddenly find the love for Biden just ahead of (in time for) Super Tuesday? It worked for them in 2016. They forced their "anointed one" onto the ticket and dismissed the desire of the people for real change and hope. And we got Trumped. It appears they are using the same playbook again. Bernie's rise is driven by, and funded by, the people. While we want to move ahead the DNC has worked overtime to fire up the way-back machine. So .... who got promised what positions (VP?) for falling in line?

Billy Goodness

_______________________________________

If Biden wins, Trump wins. Didn't anyone learn anything from the impeachment?

Trump controls the narrative and owns Biden. Have you heard Biden lately? He can't remember anything and he reminds me of Reagan in his final days, lost and confused.

M1

_______________________________________

' If Biden gets it, I'm checked out. It will just be like Hillary. Cringe worthy clip after clip, debate after debate. The guy is a joke. And if he wins we still lose. He won't put any change in, everyone will be so relieved they don't pay attention and probably more fucked up shit will happen under his watch. Just more lip service.

I'm a very strong Bernie democrat. If the party doesn't evolve there, I gotta take a hard look at things. Probably coincidence but my life got better under trump. Hate him; but if we are truly in a dystopian society like I think we are; I happen to be someone that works for rich people. And they clam up under dems.

And that would be fine if dems got shit done; but they don't. We see 98 votes in the senate for these big pharm bills, they sneak the stuff through. Joe will try to "reach across the aisle" when they don't give a fuck about that when they are in power. And it becomes a lose lose. We don't get the improvements we want, and the rich clam up on their money while the government is blue. So fuck it.

Millennial, 38, came of working age in 2008, only known anything but uncertainty and struggle. Despite a good education and well off parents. I bust my ass and have never known security. If it's joe, I know I don't actually live in democracy and I will check out, try to live the best life I can. Maybe look at other countries. I'm starting to see how dems sold us all out, lip service to narrow groups, but don't do shit for anyone really. They just play the same game from their side, and they laugh all the way to the bank. They claim they would let us pick our candidate and are literally repeating 2016. We deserve another 4 years of trump.

They said trump would plunge us into economic chaos; didn't happen. War, didn't happen. Companies are actually genuinely rethinking china. It's a damn shame it had to come at the cost of all these conservative judges. All I know is at least we are aware of how fucked this is under him, under Biden we will fall asleep again. Bernie at least gives us hope and maybe we can have a small piece back for us in the form of healthcare and education.

It's absolutely affordable, they afford everything else with no problem. They universally passed a 138 billion dollar military bill in days that went to shit no one discusssed on a single news network, and was for more weapons we don't even need. Just slid it through, supported by both parties. If we need even a few hundred million to educate children people lose their shit.

Thanks for acknowledging the Hypocrisy of the 60's movement and what you see that generation leaving us with now. Fucking disgusting how the average boomer turned out. No offense. I probably shouldn't judge too hard, if the hippies became what they are over time, god help the human race if we age that way.

Leland Elliott

_______________________________________

"It appears Joe Biden is having a very good night, but can he beat Donald Trump?"
No. He can't.
And he won't.

I'm a Gen X'er, the lost generation apparently as all anyone talks about is boomers and millennials. That X feels more and more appropriate the older I get.

The fact is that the coastal MSM (hate that term, but...) is focussed on the discord of the Dem's completely neglecting these truths:
- Trump is still wildly popular in the midwest. (Why are the comedians the only ones pointing this out?)
- You're correct, millennials (and many X'ers) don't get the news from MSM so they don't GAF about what those dinosaurs are saying, ergo Bernie. (What is the corporate MSM agenda anyway? I gotta wonder.)
- The only two candidates who have a CHANCE at beating Trump are Sanders and Warren. (Warren is down for a seven-count, probably out.)

You're right, a debate between Biden and Trump will be a f'ing disaster. Shame on the other Dem candidates because NOT ONE FELLOW CANDIDATE held Biden's feet to the fire about his Crime Act, his bankruptcy bill, his vote for war (ok, on that they did a little) and all the other missteps he's made after being in Congress for 45+ years...they may have danced around the subjects, but does anyone think Trump is gonna hold back? He sure as hell isn't gonna dance around it, regardless of truth (which is bad enough) Trump'll go for the kill. And Biden will be unable to defend himself.

Gird your loins, we're getting four more years of that lying orange walking disaster and knucklehead.
Donald Trump CAN be beaten...just not by Joe Biden.

If Democratic leadership (and Bloomberg's millions) had an iota of brains and an ounce of testosterone, they'd accept the defeat here and focus on the state level and try to keep the House and overturn the Senate. The ONLY hope if Biden gets the nod, is creating a lame-duck presidency.

Trump is a monster now...take a moment and think what he would be like in a second term, with control of both the House and the Senate?
Be afraid.
Be very afraid.
====
Keith R. Higgons

_______________________________________

Reflecting on your comments spurs me to recall the Letter from Birmingham City Jail, by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., where he had been imprisoned for a peaceful protest. The letter was in response to white religious community leaders who had written, and in their writing stated now is not a good time to "peacefully demonstrate", i.e. it is "unwise and untimely"...in other words "wait" ...

In his letter, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. presents extremism as being a desirable quality found in the greatest thinkers and leaders of Western culture, which not only turns the label into a term of praise but also positions him alongside individuals who successfully changed the way people see the world. Bernie Sanders is being painted as "extreme".

In comparison, I suppose Trump is extreme, (perhaps on the surface) as compared to his predecessors, as some pundits believe explains his previous electability. He has resurrected a way people see the world (a view I recall as "old school").

Thank god for the youth...we need them, always have and always will..."Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has" -Margaret Meade.

I do recall a keynote you delivered I believe in Nashville years ago, including the advent of the streaming industry...it has taken some years to get here, but we are here!

Even a portion of the Bernie Sanders vision, carried by the young adults we will soon pass the torch to (which is inevitable), would be better than duplicating the same, with slightly different packaging...

Have a great day!

Best regards,

Kevin Meyer


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The Stranger

I turned on Netflix and found out there was a third season of "Babylon Berlin." I didn't even know there was a second!

Used to be you didn't know a band was playing in town, then you didn't know they put out a new album. Do you realize James Taylor released his covers album last week? I saw it on the homepage of Spotify, or Amazon, otherwise I wouldn't have known. I mean I knew the album was in the pipeline, but how many more albums are gonna be released this week? I love that JT covered Felice's father's "Moon River," but the real surprise is the closing track, "The Surrey With The Fringe On Top." If you're a boomer, you grew up with the show tunes. I remember making my mother play all the Original Cast albums until I found "With A Little Bit Of Luck," I could hum the tune but I couldn't remember the title.

Now we're waiting for "Ozark." I could watch "Ozark" every day! But it doesn't come back until the end of the month.

So we were looking for a new show to watch, and I remembered Harlan Coben's e-mail, about his new show on Netflix, "The Stranger."

Now it's not "Babylon Berlin," with a deeper meaning. I always recommend "Babylon Berlin," but I've got to warn you you won't know what's going on, that's a feature, not a bug, and it drives many people away. As for the subtitles, if they bug you you can stop reading right now.

"The Stranger" is a tale, made from a genre book.

And I don't read the mysteries, because there's always a twist at the end that you can't foresee, that seems irrational, and you feel ripped-off after the investment of time. Of course there are exceptions, like "Gone Girl," the book, not the movie, but "The Woman In The Window" made me want to throw my Kindle out the window.

Now I've never read any of Coben's books, but as I've said previously, I love the film "Tell No One," maybe only the French truly know how to elevate this kind of material, Americans get all caught up in production values and stars and the story is overlooked.

And then I watched Coben's "The Five" on Netflix.

And in this window before "Ozark," I decided to pull up "The Stranger."

Now it's about secrets. Should they be revealed?

That's the deeper meaning, assuming you see one.

But that's not really the plot.

The twists and turns all make sense. And Stephen Rea is fantastic. As are all the other actors. "The Stranger" was made in the U.K., where everything is in service to the story.

You might recognize Richard Armitage, who is attractive, but his looks do not overpower his performance.

You'll definitely recognize Siobhan Finneran, who was so great in my number one Netflix recommendation, "Happy Valley."

And it turns out Hannah John-Kamen has appeared in all these genre flicks I never see, like "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," and "Tomb Raider" and "Ready Player One," so she was new to me.

And, of course, there's Jennifer Saunders, from AbFab.

So, do you want to know your spouse's secrets? Or does that upset your vision of your life too much?

It's kind of like affairs, worse than the stepping-out is the fact that you've got to reconstruct everything you thought happened. Where were they really? You put together the pieces and find out the life you were living wasn't real.

So, are the good people bad?

And what does it take to find out the truth? Coincidence? Legwork?

And does the truth ever really come out?

I haven't told you much, because I don't want to ruin the ride. You'll watch an episode and get hooked, you'll find yourself staying up late, unable to turn off the TV as you devour episode after episode.

It's a journey far superior to the mysteries on the big screen. The characters are developed, the story can go through so many twists and turns.

But it's all believable. At no point do you say this is too hokey and you need to turn it off.

To a degree it's empty calories.

Then again, we all live our lives, wondering what is true and what is not.

Watch this.


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Tuesday 3 March 2020

The Generation Gap

"in the seven states where polls have closed so far, Sanders has led by a median 37 points among 17-to-29-year olds and 20 points among 30-to-44 year olds. But Biden has led by 24 among 45-to-64-year olds and by 33 among seniors."

"Stark generational divide appears in early exit polls": https://wapo.st/3cDE9ZU

It appears Joe Biden is having a very good night, but can he beat Donald Trump?

Sanders polls better against Trump but that is not the story being sold. The mainstream media is selling fear.

I got an interesting e-mail from my newly empty nester friend Liz Nowak:

"The MSM snark against Bernie pro Biden is lost on the millennials. Most don't have cable and get their "news" from other sources. That is why I feel Bernie has so much of their support."

I don't mind voting for Old Joe, I'd like a return to normalcy, wherein I don't have to think about politics 24/7.

And maybe hatred of Trump runs so deep that Biden will make it.

But his election won't fix the underlying problems in this country. A vote for Joe is a vote for the status quo, and that's not working so well for the millennials.

If you've been following the mainstream media, they've been throwing a Hail Mary pass ever since Saturday night. Buttigieg and Klobuchar folded, the oldsters rallied around Joe and are hoping that everything's now fine.

But the mainstream media continues to miss the story of unrest amongst today's youth, who worry about climate change and college debt and the minimum wage and so much stuff that gets back-burnered by the baby boomers as they continue to rape and pillage this country so they can live exorbitant lifestyles which they catalogue online.

Now I'm really scared of Joe debating Donald. On his best days, Biden misspeaks. And no matter what the liability might be, the truth is Joe's son got a sweetheart deal in Ukraine, and the Republicans have done a good job of painting Joe with it, in a negative way.

Don't give me the facts. Of course Biden is innocent, but what is the PERCEPTION!

There's this fiction amongst the Democratic elite that it's about turning those who voted for Trump last time, the so-called independents. But the truth is they're gone, because the Democrats abandoned them, and the intelligentsia rallying around Biden to deliver him the nomination are not changing these people's minds, this is what they hate about the Democrats, that all power comes from the top, the elite, and the rank and file are given lip-service at best, told just like Deborah Dugan that change must be gradual, that you cannot upset the apple cart.

But the youth have been upsetting the apple cart for twenty five years now. These early adopters killed the CD...only oldsters still buy them, they connected on social media first, it's the youth that have pushed the envelope. Sure, the boomers pick up the scraps, try to imitate the youth, with their expensive smartphones and posting on Facebook, but the truth is the youth have contempt for this generation, which denigrates them at every turn. Yup, the millennials have a short attention span and they're addicted to their devices. This must be stopped, just like Bernie!

You see the new is the devil. Downsides are focused on. Despite students of the game knowing that something is always lost in the march forward, at least at first, like low-res MP3s and vent windows in automobiles. Hell, you can't pick up the paper without reading anti-electric car articles, but isn't it interesting that Volkswagen posted amazing numbers while our American SUV manufacturers are on shaky ground. You see VW woke up, after Dieselgate, they've given up on that fuel, VW is second only to Tesla in the electric car world. You see VW cast aside the old wood and prepared for the future. If you think Joe Biden is preparing for the future, then you've just been convinced by the mainstream malarkey.

Where is the vision?

Our tech titans were full of it. And there have been negative consequences. But has Congress instituted any change? NO! As for the article above, I found it on the maliciously maligned Twitter. Yup, that's where tastemakers get their info. Sure, there's hogwash on the site, but it's immediate, and millennials know that news can change hourly, they want to keep up, baby boomers are just overwhelmed.

Everything the kids stand for the oldsters hate. Streaming music, hip-hop, the list goes on and on. Isn't it interesting that rock was killed by the internet. Rappers gave it away for free with mixtapes and Soundcloud postings and when streaming hit its stride, rock was nowhere to be found. Youngsters were never exposed to the rock revolution, they live online, where rock was absent. And at this late date rockers constantly bitch about Spotify payments, even country outstrips rock on streaming services.

And all the mainstream can talk about is the success of Disney+ and the coming of Quibi.

Disney+ gave it away for free, at least to me, with my Verizon unlimited plan, and every millennial has an unlimited plan, to pay by the megabyte is like watching network TV in the era of cable. Sure, tens of millions signed up, but what about beyond that? Netflix keeps making new shows and all the oldsters can say is the company is spending too much money, focusing on the bottom line not knowing the lesson of tech, which is you strive for primacy, kill all comers and continue to innovate, because he not busy being born is busy dying. Remember the boomers going insane when Netflix said it was switching from DVDs by mail to streaming? They want those DVDs! And you know how I can tell you're a boomer? You send me an MP3, that's what people did twenty years ago, today you link to a streaming site, which oldsters can't even do. As for Quibi...youngsters are gonna pay all that money in the era of Tik Tok, where the posters are the stars?

And youngsters abhor e-mail, because of spam, so-called "legitimate spam," you know, the endless offers you get if you buy anything.

And youngsters leave their voicemail boxes full, or turned off completely, they don't want to return calls, they don't want to talk on the phone at all!

No one under thirty ever tells me they want to speak on the phone.

Yet oldsters go on and on about the connection... Well, these youngsters are connecting all day long, this is what the internet has wrought, and it's much better than the old days when you had to wait for a phone call.

It's like the sixties all over again, and the fascinating thing is those who actually lived through the sixties don't get it, they're too busy protecting what they've got. The boomers are narcissism on parade, it's the youth that care about their brothers and sisters.

Now I'm not sure if Biden gets the nomination that Sanders supporters will vote. Because they will be convinced that their voice does not matter, that the system trumps people, as George Carlin said, the owners of this country don't want to hear from them, you can vote, but it doesn't make a difference. Come on, Biden, from Delaware? Everything you hate about corporations emanates from that state, do you really expect Biden to stand up to them? NO WAY!

And the bitch about Bernie is he's not integrated in the system.

But neither was Shawn Fanning.

Change always comes from outside. And those inside never see it coming. Just read Clayton Christensen's "The Innovator's Dilemma."

And isn't it funny that the press lauded Jack Welch when it turned out he cooked the books to show steady earnings and left GE dependent upon financial services and it got killed in 2008. If only the company had still been diversified.

Which is the same thing I can say to the Democratic Party. You've left too many people out. You think you're winning, but you're not.

I will vote for Joe Biden if he gets the nomination. And I hope he wins, but I'm fearful he'll lose. Because Biden stands for nothing. He's a compromiser from another era who wants us to return to that time.

You've got to give the people hope, that's the only way you win.

Biden is just the anti-Trump.

And you wonder why the youngsters and those who voted for Trump lost hope.

I've lost faith in the "New York Times." A biased publication that did its best to make Bernie Sanders look like a loser, even when he won.

I've lost faith in MSNBC, which is speaking to the monied elite.

I've lost faith in the pollsters. We've learned in the past month that no one can predict the future, as hard as they might try.

I only have faith in me. Yoko and me, Felice and me, isn't that what John Lennon said?

Lennon spoke the truth, he said the Beatles were bigger than Jesus, and they were! It was the Beatles who changed society. They paid their dues and they spoke to us. And they were constantly pushing the envelope...an album without a picture on the cover, not even a drawing?

As for those who burned their albums...what were their names again?

Be prepared, the youth are in revolt. And if you think controlling the government gives you power over them...

You're probably still listening to those damn CDs.


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Monday 2 March 2020

More History Of The Beatles-SiriusXM This Week

From "I'm Looking Through You" to "Strawberry Fields Forever."

Tune in today, Tuesday February 4th, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.

Hear the episode live on SiriusXM VOLUME: siriusxm.us/HearLefsetzLive  

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app: siriusxm.us/LefsetzLive 


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Recording Academy Fires Deborah Dugan

Bloomberg is excoriated for secret settlements with women at his firm, but...

The Recording Academy fires a woman and gives her no settlement and...

It's clear that those attacked by Dugan want to skate. Primarily the attorneys.

Come on, you employed two firms to make independent investigations... If Dugan's behavior was really that bad, why not release these results, obviously they would support your action.

But probably they wouldn't.

No one is making the Academy bend to the reports. They can dismiss them entirely. They're not binding. Hell, it looks like the reports were cover-ups. Now, Joel Katz can keep his job and his reputation and the awards nomination process can continue to be opaque.

Yup, we have not heard anybody at the Academy defend the insane payments to attorneys. Hell, Dugan should be lauded for bringing these expenses to light. Think of all the money the Academy could save with in-house counsel! We hear nothing about the hiring of full time attorneys, because the truth is Joel Katz has his fingers everywhere. It's a business of loyalty. You got me a good deal, I'm gonna stand up for you. Wasn't the head of the Academy represented by Katz? Harvey Mason, Jr. looks like Bill Barr as opposed to the whistleblower, stonewalling so Katz and Ortner can get away scot-free.

And the optics are terrible!

Everyone knows you pay and the person signs a confidentiality agreement and you put out a press release with some kumbaya rubbish and all is forgotten.

But NO, the Academy is so stupid that it believes the issue is about Dugan herself, as opposed to its credibility.

Come on, Neil Portnow tells women to step up and now a woman is clandestinely pushed down?

As for standing up for herself... Only men can do this, when women do this it's out of bounds. As for bullying... Even if she did it, since when do they fire CEOs for this behavior? Hell, that's easy to paper over, we wouldn't have even known about it if the Academy wanted to solve the problem. But it didn't, it just wanted Dugan out, and she says the behavior never even happened. Who you gonna believe, a woman who worked for RED, got along with Bono and the rest of the billionaires, or nincompoops sucking at the tit of the Recording Academy. It's not like Katz and Ortner would starve if they lost this account. As for the good old boy network wherein the Grammy is passed around and people like Clive Davis can trump the process... That's why they couldn't eliminate the endless Grammy categories, because these nobodies in irrelevant categories want to win and put it on their resumes, as if they're something special, which they are not.

Now what?

It's not like a Grammy performance means what it used to. Hell, the show was eclipsed in the ratings by the Democratic debate in Vegas.

Careers are built online, not on television.

And the Academy lives on CBS's largesse, which is not forever. These companies pivot, did you see today that AT&T is now focusing on internet TV, putting a stake in the heart of its satellite business in the wake of so many disconnections?

As for firing Dugan without a settlement...the Academy has just ensured that this fracas, this cloud on the empire, will not disappear. Dugan will sue, more will come out, and then months, even a year later, the Academy will end up paying her anyway, so even more heinous behavior will not be revealed.

It takes decades to get Harvey Weinstein, but the Academy learns no lessons, keeps info private and stonewalls and says it's innocent. How come there was no publicity around the accusation of rape against Neil Portnow? That's kept quiet, he's not even put on leave, but they accuse Deborah Dugan of bullying and she's got to go? Who cares whether Neil did it or not, this says so much about the Academy processes. In a negative way.

As for trusting the reports...

I'm not trusting a single thing the Academy says. So far, Dugan is winning. She revealed bad behavior and she was fired, just like Vindman. You can't even speak the truth in the record business, or the big bad man will get you?

Yup, if you're a woman you've got to act like a man, you can't be yourself. And you have to get at the end of the line and pay your dues, just like the guys in front of you. You can't be an upstart, you've got to keep quiet and play by the rules when the entire game should be blown apart.

Women should boycott the Grammys. Teach this bastion of male supremacy a thing or two. Just like you couldn't play Sun City, you can't play the Grammys.

And if the awards ever meant anything, they mean almost nothing now.

So, the Recording Academy said it won the battle, when in truth it lost the war. Everybody in business knows you pay to make the problem go away, unless you can prove truly bad behavior. And so far, the Academy is batting zero on this with Dugan. She wanted change, it was too fast. When she was pushed out she spoke the truth. See how well that plays in the "Wall Street Journal."

And you wonder why the nation is in turmoil. The billionaires, those already in power, don't want to sacrifice one iota. They want to continue pulling the strings, and they want you to be afraid of speaking up, never mind running against them.

If the Academy brass had any balls...

Harvey Mason, Jr. and the executive committee should resign.

As should Katz and Ortner.

To give the image of propriety. To try and cleanse the Academy's image. To give the Academy a chance to rebuild with the imprimatur of honesty. Hell, they should at least appoint an ombudsman.

And what woman in her right mind would now take this job? Who would go into the hornet's nest where it's been established you've got to play by the boys' rules and change can't happen fast, it has to be gradual, and certain things are sacrosanct and can't be touched, like attorney payments and the Grammy nomination process. Hell, if someone took this job they'd be afraid of being sued for bad behavior, i.e. not doing their job. The Academy head has a responsibility to the members, not the brass. And right now, the members are mighty pissed off.

The music business has been the canary in the coal mine for digital disruption.

And now this same industry didn't even get the message of the #MeToo movement.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.


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Sunday 1 March 2020

Buttigieg Bails

Next comes Warren.

And shortly thereafter Klobuchar.

Mayor Pete was the great centrist hope, after Biden faded in Iowa and New Hampshire. Pete was gonna bring us together, the overeducated reasonable one who was the voice of the future. But then instead of being warm and fuzzy he was mean and superior in the debates and then he got trounced in South Carolina. I mean come on, the guy's only been the mayor of South Bend and there were huge racial issues there, did he think he could outrun this, did all the prognosticators believe this wouldn't come up, that it would be forgotten if known at all?

As for Warren, she's gonna get trounced in Massachusetts, her home state, she's got to throw in the towel after that. Maybe, like Richard Nixon losing the governorship of California, she licks her wounds and then comes back four years from now, especially if Bernie doesn't make it. She'll only be 74, which is a spring chicken in today's world.

And did you see the video of the Sanders rally in Boston today?

https://bit.ly/3aikDzZ

The youth are on Bernie's side. And they're only minting more of them. As for the canard that young people don't vote, that was yesterday, and now it's a new day.

Did you read the story about income inequality in today's "Times"? The guy paid a grand for a Yankee ticket but still was excluded from the club, because he wasn't sitting in the first row.

"When It's This Easy at the Top, It's Harder For Everyone Else - America has always known haves and have-nots. But what was a tiered system is morphing into a caste system": https://nyti.ms/3cm14sr

It's not the same world we grew up in. Never mind the sixties, how about the economic run-up in the nineties? When Clinton cut welfare after believing everybody was moving to the center.

But all were not. Those with money did. How do they put it? "I'm socially liberal, but fiscally conservative."? How many times have you heard that uttered by Democrats who've got too much money and don't want to part with any of it. Or "independents" who say they'd vote for a Democrat but never do, because of the left's fiscal policies.

Anybody with any money hates Bernie Sanders.

And most of the youth have no money and no opportunity.

As for Klobuchar, she'll do well in Minnesota and hang on for a while, but then she'll cave too.

Which will leave us with the three "B"'s:

Bernie, Biden and Bloomberg.

Let's start with Biden. He did well in South Carolina. But the state is dominated by an older African-American demo, and Sanders showed he could get people of color in Nevada. In other words, is all the hoopla of the last twenty four hours irrelevant?

Young people have no time for Biden, they don't want to return to a past where they're left out, or given crumbs.

So, Biden did a bit better than he did in the polls, he gave his candidacy some legs, at least in the eyes of the media and the DNC. But in the eyes of the people? No one is enthusiastic about Joe, they're just afraid of Bernie, and so far fear has not played well in this primary season. Buttigieg tried to scare us about Bernie, the guy he used to laud, and that didn't work.

As for Bloomberg, like Biden the polls are not in his favor.

But it gets worse, Bloomberg is not only tone-deaf in debates, but in public appearances too.

Read this article:

"Michael Bloomberg, a Billionaire Learning on the Job - He joked to a crowd in Denver that he would rather be at his house in Vail, and told people he was excited for 'Super Bowl Tuesday." But Mr. Bloomberg is getting a little better at this": https://nyti.ms/2TxP8eJ

The more he talks, the more out of touch he looks. And despite his advertising campaign, he's gonna have to talk more, and every time he opens his mouth his numbers go down.

Bloomberg was the candidate of the rich, of the whites of New York City, now that America has gotten a look at the man they just cannot understand what all the hoopla is about. Irascible billionaire who rolls his eyes when he doesn't hear what he wants to, who said inappropriate things to women, who enforced stop and frisk...if you think this is a winning strategy, you're one of those socially liberal, fiscally conservative Democrats I mentioned above. And the more that comes out, the worse Bloomberg looks. Come on, the rank and file are gonna support someone who endorsed Howdy Doody, aka George W. Bush? People's memories are not that short, they remember Bush and his henchman Cheney, they want no part of that. Once again, Bloomberg's pitch is he built a business and became a billionaire, so he can run the country. Why does everybody believe if you're rich your skills translate into political acumen. No one believes a doctor makes a good lawyer, or an accountant makes a good hockey player, but somehow billionaires are jacks of all trades?

The math favors Bernie. And he's gonna do well in California. And the truth is most people are not paying attention to the media, which evidences Bernie hatred every single day, for fear that they too will lose if Bernie gets elected.

Everybody's protecting what they've got. How about those who haven't got anything? The people who are a paycheck or two away from homelessness, those afraid to go to the doctor to see if they've got the coronavirus because they can't fathom the bill. Come on, you read about that guy who went to the hospital, fearful he might infect others, and it turned out he didn't have the coronavirus, but he did have a $3270 bill: https://nyti.ms/2PEAroL

Timing matters.

Right now, Medicare for all looks mighty damn good.

As for the stock market, not only has that tanked, most of the economic run-up did not trickle down to the hoi polloi.

But the media keeps telling us Trump will win because of the economy.

But George H.W. Bush won a war and lost his job the following fall.

All these rules... This is just how the pundit class justifies its jobs. If the past is prologue at all, it's Trump's victory in 2016 that is illustrative. People were sick and tired and they wanted a change. But somehow this can't happen on the Democratic side?

I don't care if Biden wins the nomination, I'll vote for him.

But really, he ain't gonna make it.

And Bloomberg is toast, he's just so busy spending money he doesn't realize it yet.

Maybe Sanders won't cross the delegate threshold to win the nomination. But Sanders is so many people's second choice, so after everybody drops out, sure, the center will be solidified, but Sanders' numbers will burgeon.

Of course I can be wrong. This is why you play the game.

But Buttigieg lost the game, as did Steyer with all his money, and Warren and Klobuchar are so far back they seem to be running in a different race.

The truth is, whomever is the President, the problems of this nation will not go away instantly.

And if it's a Democrat and it's not Bernie...what are you gonna say to all those young 'uns? I wouldn't think there'd be a third party, but when you're pissed and all the doors have been closed you throw the long ball, that's how Trump got elected to begin with.

If you want to know what is going on in this election, talk to the people, don't pay attention to the media spin.

And be sure to talk to some young 'uns. Ask them if they plan on buying a house, if they even plan to have kids. Ask who is paying attention to them.

When you hit an inflection point, you cannot have one leg in the past and one in the future, you've got to go all in. This has been the story of the past twenty five years, radical change, breakthroughs. It's finally caught up with politics but the usual suspects are denying it.

Ask anybody in the music business. They've seen this movie.

But the rest of the world has no time for the music industry, it's seen as the dumb and dumber, nitwits on parade, who should be ignored. But music trumps cable news, print news, books, it even affects more people than television.

Wake up and smell the coffee.

Or to put it another way, you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.


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Re-Coronavirus

If the virus gets virulent this summer, will Trump declare martial law and cancel the November election?

Not my best of thoughts today...

Rick Turner

_________________________________________

"There will be economic consequences."
There already are. I follow a couple of world wide sports-cycling and Formula 1 auto racing. Cycling is in the UAE for the Tour Of The UAE. The last two stages were cancelled and all teams and all media were locked down in their hotels. As of 5:30pm Saturday they were finally released. There are two big cycling races scheduled for the next two weekends in northern Italy. The scuttlebutt is they will be cancelled.
The Formula 1 Grand Prix Of Australia is in 2 weeks. There are questions if Pirelli-the tire supplier-and Ferrari will be allowed in because of the flare up in northern Italy. Likewise Japan for Honda. If you watch NHK news you will see that parts of Japan are ghost towns.
And the Swiss have banned gatherings of more than 1000 people, which means that Baselworld-the huge watch trade show-is cancelled. If the Swiss are cancelling the watch show you know it's serious.
And it's going to keep going. The Olympics are in Tokyo.
Phil Brown


Bob. I was in Costco today and it was like a winter blizzard was on its way. The shelves were empty. I asked one of the workers what was going on and she said "it's that virus...people are crazed". Do you think SXSW should really keeps its date. I know 9/11 crushed CMJ. Could SX survive a cancel so close to the event?

Best
Terry Tompkins

_________________________________________

Don't Panic!

Having lived through SARS in Asia and now this one we are clearly all fully qualified virologists! What I do know for sure is that during SARS there was fear but no panic. BUT there was no social media and that, as you correctly point out, is fanning the flames and making people do strange things, like stockpiling toilet roll.

The event business, along with all hospitality or retail is being severely affected. Companies need to pivot, and fast.

In HK offices have been closed for a month with people working from home. Schools have been closed since January and remain so until after Easter to stop any spread. It's ridiculous but we haven't allowed it to disrupt us. In Singapore we're operating a Team A/Team B where one is in the office each week, the others working remotely. Again minimal disruption.

Facemarks are useless other than stopping you touching your face but undoubtedly, if you are in a risk group - elderly or unwell - then you absolutely have to take precautions.

Maybe we should all avoid licking church doorhandles in South Korea too. But, again, the message from Asia to our American cousins is "DON'T PANIC".

Please?

Stay well
Jasper

Jasper Donat
CEO, Branded

_________________________________________

Just came back from the UK where I was visiting my son who is studying at Cambridge. My nonstop BA flight from LHR to SFO was practically empty. Both airports felt less than busy as usual. I was surprised that there weren't more people wearing masks.

There is already a huge economic impact happening.

Maria Hoppe

_________________________________________

Not just concerts alone, but conventions and conferences are already getting canceled, many of which bring in bands for their attendee parties...

https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/2/27/21156676/coronavirus-facebook-f8-canceled-major-tech-conferences-covid-19
https://gdconf.com/news/important-gdc-2020-update
https://sfist.com/2020/02/27/facebook-cancels-its-biggest-event-of-the-year-the-f8-developers-conference-over-coronavirus-concerns/

Alan Ralph

_________________________________________

The USA haven't even started testing people for it yet. Less than 500 people have been tested here. Over 35,000 have been tested in South Korea. Hospitals in the US are sending people home with flu like symptoms as if business as usual. No test because no one has test. Wait until they start testing. It's going to be crazy here. Imagine what the stock market will do on the day they announce 1000 cases in California.

Joe Buchanan

_________________________________________

I'm in the 'live' business too - a speaker, on stage around the world at about 40 events a year worldwide. I'm represented by the top speakers bureaus worldwide.

I've witnessed my business collapse in the last two weeks as conferences are cancelled. It's not just concerts. Same ripple effect.

I'm not standing still.

I've fired up my home broadcast studio, have lined up my overseas producer, and next week launch a series of events on 'how to innovate during a recession' etc.

People still want insight. We'll probably just do it in a different way for a time.

https://jimcarroll.com/2020/02/covad-19-moving-meetings-online-im-ready-to-go-are-you/

Jim Carroll

_________________________________________

Funny. I was just wondering what (if any) effect this will have on this year's SXSW?

Leigh Lust

_________________________________________

I just came back from 8 days in Taiwan visiting my son who's doing a semester there through Minerva college in SF. Everyone there is calm. Chris Botti was in fact cancelled last week as an isolated cancelled event but about half people are not wearing masks in Taipei and are not panicking at all. Business as usual. Outside of Taipei where we were masks were barely seen. And they're much closer to it all geographically with 32 locals in isolation. Perhaps we can take the cue from them and not assume the worst will happen and go down the path of slowly shutting down the music business. If that happens oy vey! Remember, it's still MUCH MUCH more likely you'll die from the flu or in a car accident than from Coronavirus.

Best,

Hillel Wachs

_________________________________________

Greetings from Japan! People wear masks here all the time for various reasons but now they're everywhere. From my understanding, it's not airborne so masks wouldn't be effective however it can be passed if someone with corona sneezes near you. So a mask is a good preventative measure.

label mondial

_________________________________________

I'm from a small Southern Illinois town. My family came in the early wagon trains. The Spanish flu was real. The Trail of Tears was real too. Sigh...

dw davis

_________________________________________

Try Home Depot- you want a n95 mask- like they use for painting- it blocks 95% of airborne particles...

Wallace Collins

_________________________________________

Always going to the dark side, Bob. We call this paranoia "broad jumping" in my family. Yes, there are a lot of holes in our national infrastructure, but extrapolating to the dark side of empty shelves and long gas lines is very premature, as well as not really helpful.

David Dennard

_________________________________________

I travel very often. Wiping down those surfaces shouldn't be the result of a pandemic (?). Don't forget the seat buckles and window shades. How often do you think those get cleaned? I mean really cleaned and disinfected? Come on people. I got tired of having the flu or a cold every time I came home from an air travel trip and I changed my behaviour. What if we all changed our behaviour on a grand scale? That's what we need to do and you know it.

Sean Taylor

_________________________________________

There have been economic consequences already.

Stock markets down almost 14% in one week and the global economy has tanked to the tune of 5 trillion dollars.

I fear that this is but the tip of the iceberg.

Best regards,

Jim Smith, CTIE

_________________________________________

Jesus this was depressing

Jimmy Risk

_________________________________________

So Coronavirus is about paranoia? Will you feel the same if you and/or your loved ones catch it? Pretty ignorant, Bobby.

Aaron Campbell

_________________________________________

This is not helpful Bob.

Robert Steven Williams

_________________________________________

Jesus Christ, no one talks about the FLU and there's TONS that die of it each year. Calm down Bob.

T J

_________________________________________

https://mobile.twitter.com/peterbakernyt/status/1233793655695200258

Edward Ryan

_________________________________________

Sorry Bob but isn't this the absolute definition of fear mongering????

Doug Gillis

_________________________________________

Bob, I really hope you aren't subscribing to all this hysteria around covid 19. Only 2% of folks who get the virus will die. With healthy american populations including young healthy concert goers (non smokers. FYI half of Chinese men are smokers!) it's more like .01-.02%. So let's stop acting like this is the bubonic plague. I love how the moment some white American people got infected it was a big deal for the stock market. Americans don't fear poverty, gun violence, and they don't care about folks during all over the world every day. But they are shook up over this coronavirus because it doesn't discriminate against rich or poor, white or black, suburban or city! Coughs have no name tags! They are coming after all humans! So be ware of the poisonous sneeze from the Far East and the person next to you on the subway or Starbucks! Let's be honest this is simply a new story finally more popular, infectious and scary than our greatest public health crisis, our crazy president!

Jeremiah Younossi

_________________________________________

If you have never read about the 1918 pandemic, it's worth your time. Young people caught it and died, which defied the standard influenza cases. You got auburn spots on your face. Then your face/ears turned blue. Then the rest of you turned blue. Then you were dead. Sometimes within HOURS. Cyanosis. You drowned in your own fluids.
And the government of 1918? Forget about it. They made it worse.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/journal-plague-year-180965222/

Bill Seipel

_________________________________________

Wow, Bob! Get a grip!

Enjoy the flowers that are still blooming!

Mary M.

_________________________________________

Science is going to kill Americans. Maybe then someone will start believing in it. All your president believes in is money.

Pinhey

_________________________________________

I've heard several interviews with top tier communicable disease specialists the last three days. The consensus to a woman was that masks are important...to health care providers. They are the ones who need to be protected from the daily parade of infectious cases. They use different masks which are really respirators and form fitted. The N-95 mask is semi useful for smoke are particle laden air but with viruses it only makes sense if YOU are infected and want to spare other people around you the exposure. These masks are also only effective for short periods of time and need to be constantly replaced.

Otherwise it is folly to think the mask will offer some protection. What you can do is wash your hands with sanitizer several times a day. Yes, wipe down the tray tables (the most germ ridden part of the plane). I get it that with a compromised immune system you have to be extra careful so wash, wash, wash. Stay home when in doubt until things settle down, but most masks will make no difference.

John Brodey

_________________________________________

A nice clean room at Trump Towers is probably safe.

Buskr

_________________________________________

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/green-day-asia-tour-coronavirus/

Green Day postpones tour and I saw that Neil Young is putting a hold on his Barn Tour as well.

As for vaccines, they wont have one for the Corona Virus for 1.5 years, but in general the problem I have is you look at the statistics and it doesn't make sense if your a reasonably healthy individual. The other effects of vaccines outweigh the individual benefits. The general public is protected at the expense of the .1% of the people that have serious, life threatening side effects that are often permanent. Will 300,000 people die from the Corona virus in the USA? If your not the .1% then no big, but 300 million X .01 = 300,000 people that according to the CDC, can have:
4. Risks of a vaccine reaction from DTaP
• Long-term seizures, coma, lowered consciousness, or permanent brain damage happen extremely rarely after DTaP vaccination.
As with any medicine, there is a very remote chance of a vaccine causing a severe allergic reaction, other serious injury, or death.
Vaccine Information Statement (Interim)
DTaP (Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis) Vaccine
8/24/2018
42 U.S.C. § 300aa-26
Department of Health and Human Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Alan Fenton

_________________________________________

Bob - You are a light in the dark times. Stay healthy and check out this book on mindfulness practice called Full Catastrophe Living.

Thank you for sharing your insights over the years. It has been very insightful to many.

Best wishes,
Chris Schuman

_________________________________________

I agree, we're not sure how this is playing out. I'm in a band (Ace of Cups). broads from the 60's we're still going....but it's different. I feel your words. I was vibe-ing that our band may stop through no fault of mine! The money just stops. Things stop. Wow that would be something....the money stops. What do I really need now? Am I praying for that? No, but I have thought mightily that things couldn't go on as they have been - printing money and making deals. I'll await your next Post. I thought the train thing was awesome.
I don't watch too much T.V. Or news. Only sometimes.

Mary Alifiler

_________________________________________

News flash - you don't have to freak out or spread fear to all your readers.

Everything will be just fine

https://www.technologynetworks.com/neuroscience/videos/what-actually-happens-if-you-get-coronavirus-331164

KJ Sawka

_________________________________________

Read Fantasyland by Kurt Andersen. We've been here before. America is the grand experiment in the viability of magical thinking and rejection of reason. Sometimes it comes with costs.

Tim Brunelle

_________________________________________

Gee Bob, thanks for the downer on a Saturday.
Seriously, I get it. Paranoia has struck deep. Meanwhile, this year's death toll from the flu will exceed 15,000 just in the US.
The fragile nature of International trade and our over dependency on China for most consumer goods is being exposed. And then we have tRump blaming it all on the Democrats!
Yes, these are interesting times that we live in...
Burke Long

_________________________________________

" There will be economic consequences."

This is the only sentence in that entire diatribe that makes sense. The rest is a very scary look into how the human mind can work. (!!)
Get a grip, Bob. Better yet, get a flu shot.

Mark Terry

_________________________________________

Bob, you sure went down a rabbit hole there. Sounds disastrous. But look on the bright side, it's NOT Ebola.

Linda Baker

_________________________________________

Paranoia
The destroyer
Oh yeah

-Ray Davies

Best,
Larry Blumenfeld

_________________________________________

You're so full of crap. The Democrats have no vision. They hate Trump because he has hd success and cares about America. So Sanders wants to take us to the future —- communism? Really??? I don't think so.

Jeff Payne

_________________________________________

You probably get all kinds of advice to save you from ruin...

I feel morally obligated to share a couple tips.

My wife's ob-gyn told her that about 12 days before she has to fly to start taking a couple of drops of liquid Echinacea a couple of times per day to boost her immune system. https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-981/echinacea

I did a video shoot with a husband and wife who are both psychiatrists at Columbia University -- Brown and Gergarg. https://www.breath-body-mind.com/rhodiola-rosea They study herbal medicine. They stressed that it is important to buy supplements from quality manufacturers. One of their books gives a list of good manufacturers. I buy my supplements from the ones they recommend. They are both advocates of the herb Rhodiola Rosea. They claim it helped cure Dr. Gerbarg's debilitating case of Lyme Disease. They claim Russian cosmonauts take it while on the Space Shuttle because the herb is an "apdaptogen", which means that because it grows at high elevations in harsh conditions it has learned to adapt to higher levels of radiation exposure that plants at lower elevations are exposed to. That would be useful for cosmonauts. Hell, that would be useful even for airline pilots and passengers.

I don't know if the following homeopathic method actually works, but it makes sense and it doesn't cost anything... Take a hot shower. Then at some point turn the hot water completely off and turn the cold water on. Let the cold water hit you on the face and chest. This will be a shock to your system. This mild shock will cause your immune system to be jumpstarted in response to the shock. It sounds reasonable.

Stay well!

John Swetye

_________________________________________

Bob I live in Italy and I can't start telling how how much this idiocy is going to destroy the economy this year.
For music,
For tourism,
For just about anything!

People don't care to look deep into things.
But a question arises in my mind: have you looked deep into the whole vaccination business?
Because judging by what you wrote I'd say you haven't. And that's the problem of this world: people are too eager to have an opinion about everything rather than looking into the real deal.
We're all too busy googling the first page of anything and deciding that as a result we're top scientists about what we skim red.

BULLSHIT.

That's why we're all going down the pan mate, and that's why media wins over anything..

A normal
Flu kills over 300.000 people a year on the world.. Corona virus less than 3.000 so far. What the fuck is wrong with people? Epidemics? Yeh then I'm father xmas!
It's just a fuckint flu!!! And what's worse is that it's not even that bad.
Of course we should take precautions but as usual NOBODY says on tv the most important thing:
The most important thing to do is not to wear a stupid mask but to boost your immune system. How to do that? With grandma's approach: eat fresh organic fruit and veg, drip the sugar the alcohol and the junk-fried food. Start doing exercise. Eat very little in the evening to give your body time to put energy into the body rather than digestion over night.
In 2 weeks you can recoup immensely.
Sure also avoid crowded places and stay home more if you can as a precaution.

As for vaccinations: I'm not anti vax but I ain't dumb.
Have you ever wondered why vaccinations are made from companies who's sole purpose is to make a profit?
And what do you think would happen if we all got cured? THEY'D MAKE NO MORE MONEY!

1. Vaccinations should be made by gov companies with the sole purpose of healing us
2. There should be appropriate screening to check the child's immunity system BEFORE giving a vaccination
3. Vaccination in a very young child's body should be only made if necessary and in areas of risk, otherwise it'd be best writing for when a child's immune system is strong (after a year and a half at least).
4. Sure we should vaccinate but one vaccine at the time, not a bunch together (in Italy now the first one is 6 viruses in one go so the vax company makes more money... again NOT in the interest of our safety).

I could go on...
And my info is coming from very well
Documented years of study.. not from the first page of google

Marco Spiezia

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Bob,

The people believe that much of their news is fake and for good reason...there are only 53 labs in the world with the highest rating BLS 4. They are allowed to work on the deadliest substances, including the coronavirus...there is only 1 in China...and they acknowledged they were working on the coronavirus...any guess where it was located? If you think the folks are unhappy now, just wait. Why isn't this in the news?

The people believe that much of their science is fake and for good reason...big food and big pharma industries is the cigarette industry of the past...nothing to see here...the country grows richer but folks are obese and sick...would you like cheese on that?

The people believe much of what politicians say is fake and for good reason. Investors are expressing their concerns about CV-19, while US politicians are telling us not to worry. Who do you believe?

Don't look to DC for help, not only because it's an election year and all they're interest in is scoring political points, rather in the US it's the responsibility of state and local public health departments to handle the crisis. You'll find vast differences in expertise and funding in the states. As like sanctuary cities, they can decide to enforce or not enforce federal dictates. This will not help fighting epidemics, like Ebola back in 2014, as noted in the Atlantic...

"Panic set in as political leaders squabbled and it became clear that there was no single, national plan to follow. State and local health officials are the final authority on what preventive measures to take within their jurisdiction. With this setup, having an effective national strategy when one is needed is complicated if not impossible."

Now that COVID-19 is spreading here, let the fights begin between political leaders and public health officials... Politicians will squabble over who has the utlimate authority.. And the folks will see a higher level of incompetence of the folks they've hired to run the government.

TIME TO PREPARE IS NOW
Buy Essentials. (Do it now, don't wait for the panic. The stuff you buy now can easily be replenished...if you wait there will be greater shortages when factories close and supply lines are compromised). Buy the stuff you'd normally buy at the grocery store and will use anyways...you don't want to be in line behind a lot of sick people later... the items you'd hate to run out of. I was in Costco and bought toilet paper, rice, and a lot of canned goods and water. And medicines to fight the flu including Elderberry syrup known to cut the duration and severity of the flu in half as it boosts your immune system.

Limit Travel. Don't risk traveling somewhere that you may not be able to get back. Quarantines are coming.

Cash is King. You don't want to be lined up at the ATM behind a lot of folks with bad coughs…

Hunker Down. Prepare to spend a lot of time at home, so figure out how to occupy yourself, your kids and grandkids... and perhaps even your spouse? How about getting those home projects done…get to Home Depot by what you need to build those stocking shelves for canned goods in the basesment…a wine cellar ain't going to do you much good…I kid, the wine cellar is the first defense.

If you wait until a politician tells you to prepare it's too late…listen to investors...

And you can't act fast enough...the speed of this virus is the beauty...it will arrive fast but it will be gone quickly as well.

Something else politicians and MSM are not covering...the speed of this virus and when it will hit and when it will leave...the power of compounding tells the story clearly...

Einstein was credited with stating, "compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe. He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn't, pays it."

If you're following the growth of the Coronavirus outside of China, where the data is most reliable, you will notice that the infection count has doubled every 4 days. Going from 1,000 (2/19) to 2,000 (2/23), to 4,000(2/27), and it will reach 8000+ by tomorrow (3/2). At that pace, which is incredibly fast given the heads-up the rest of the world received from China over a month ago, the number of infected will approach 2 Million by the end of March, 250Million by the end of April and the remaining 4 Billion+ outside of China by mid May. It's math!

Hopefully we can slow down the pace, Japan announcing it will close schools for a month...that is a start...what about offices in Japan, have you seen their subway system that employs workers to physically push/squeeze riders into the cars..And if it's moving this fast in the developed world how fast do you think it will move in parts of Africa and Latin America? We will know the answers to these questions in weeks...

Pray for a cure and prepare for the worse...this virus is moving quick...very quick...don't wait for the panic, prepare now...

And for you Bob, do whatever you can to improve your immune system...sleep, exercise and a lot of fresh organic fruits and veggies...skip all animal products/ processed foods, now until June...

Good Luck!

Ed Kelly

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Apt Analysis of the undereducated cult following of the right! However bad CV was going to be, Trumps fantasy that it will go "poof" and the "economy" ( read Stock Market) will rebound by April Fools Day..is an insane conclusion! Simply proving that he, the "fuck science " president who puts ignorant loyalists in charge of a potential pandemic is the village idiot most of us loathe and want gone.

The only silver lining is maybe, after the piles of shit hit the fan soon, the moderates and marginal 2016 Trump voters feel a bit different ( like the AIDS pandemic during the Grandpa America Reagan years), when their parents, grandparents, friends and family become the infected or mortalities. Maybe then there will be organized backlash.

Perhaps The Gates Foundation, The Obama's, Oprah, Ellen, AOC, Bezos, Tim Cook, Willie Nelson, Elton, Sir Paul, Neil Young, Mellencamp- known, rational activists with organizations and devoted followers — plus any others with ACTUAL REACH and power will USE THEIR INFLUENCE to finally dent or crush the now radical cult of Trump.

As for music? If everyone is gonna stay home perhaps Spotify should create a premium video lane that actually pays artists fairly for exclusive video content. House concerts , a deal with Daryls House, videos NOT Licensed for YouTube and ruthlessly prosecuted ala Prince to take free content down...

Giving consumers paid access to a post - MTV music channel . Netflix has the muscle to do this as well. Don't trust 20,000 at the Staples Center or MSG not to infect and kill you? Stay home and binge on slickly produced concerts FOR SALE or rent that pay artists fairly, not Silicon Valley geeks stealing content for pennies versus dollars to the copyright owners. Just a thought .

Since MTV is not doing music and YouTubes paid app is overpriced ( and competing with its free lane), perhaps Apple, Spotify, Netflix, Bezos, Elon Musk, or any non-label company ( like Viacom, BMG, Universsl, Sony and others majors with their heads up their asses) will make lemonade out of the lemons of cancelled concerts and see a medical panic as an opening to bring the concert experience into the sterile safety of your home (or bunker lol) where you are happy to be hosting the family or block party to watch The Stones, Billie Eyelish, Gaga, Phil Collins, and festivals via "screened audience" ( think MTV unplugged) productions.

Now that "the crowd experience" might become immune system Russian Roulette, a "best on the block" home theater could be the next big thing. Instead of Super Bowl parties with your friends and family, have a Stoned, Eyelish, Red Rocks or Hip Hop party ( sans gangs and guns common to many urban clubs). I'm far more interested in where Warren Buffet and Elon Musk will put their money or market focus . Cause this is going to affect car sales, mass transportation usage , the NBA, NHL, NASCAR, and the entire ticketed events industry...

Hosting a house concert or watch party?

Just be sure to take everybody's temperature on the way in the door ...

Best,
Zannman Minneapolis

_________________________________________

Good morning,
I'm a Historian and a music industry specialist from Athens, Greece. I've been following closely the development of COVID19 since the first death was reported in January 2020 in Wuhan. Based on my observations and reading between the lines I've decided to cancel my business trip to Washington DC in early February. I knew back then that this would turn into a pandemic, it was obvious. Since last week Greece has (already) reported 7 mild cases. The problem with the US is its under reporting for many different reasons. but the virus has been certainly, circulating undetected for the past 6 weeks in Washington State.

I stay calm, I' m not reading/ spreading misinformation and that's one of the reasons I've decided to follow certain scientists on twitter who are doing a great job. I also wash my hands, do not touch my face, I avoid crowded places and I'm careful about my daily media consumption.

I know you have a twitter account and if I may I would suggest you follow some people who are currently working on vaccines and/or giving valuable information as far as the virus' chain of transmission.

Last but not least, not a single country's health system (except maybe Singapore's?) will be able to meet the demands of its serious/critical cases. So what I've been saying to everybody that I know of is "protect yourself with the these 4 (above mentioned) health/mental practices". That's the only way so far to slow down the outbreak.

I don't follow leaders, I never did, So I don't really have the time or the will to put the blame on any government or country especially now. Virus knows no borders. I hope when this ends we will all understand (even for a short period of time) that mother earth is the real rock star of our times and we should treat her as such.

Take care, there's no reason to panic with things you cannot control because then you forget how to protect yourself.

Kafka

_________________________________________

oh bob, you're right about the music stuff and i'm not gonna question your stance on politics or the virus but i am an expert on vaccines. if you wanna know why educated people mistrust vaccines i can explain it better then you might expect...it aint because of jenny mcarthy or google. i know you watch fox to check out the other side, gimme 5 min of your time and catch a glimpse into the rationale for those questioning vaccines.

you mentioned facts and science, here are a few to consider.

pharmaceutical companies push junk science. they told you vioxx was safe remember? and opioids weren't addictive. and cigarettes were fine during pregnancy. they create the studies that show their products to be safe and they grow their wealth on the "safety" proven by those studies. introduce regulatory capture and payola and their products get approved by FDA and CDC.

the journal of the american medical association claimed in a feb 5th 2007 report that medical doctors kill, injure and infect 15 million people per year in the US alone. in 2012 the institute of medicine said
doctors defraud the american people of about 750 Billion with unnecessary treatments and prescriptions.
who do you think is behind that, your doctor? bad med schools? i'm no detective but i can easily ask qui bono and follow the money. leads us right to the most profitable industry in the US and the most powerful lobby in washington.

beginning in the 1970's vaccine manufacturers were getting sued into the red when healthy people died or got damaged from shots. mostly kids. so they asked the government for protection. in 1986 the supreme court ruled that vaccines were "UNAVOIDABLY UNSAFE" and needed special legal protection. now if you get injured from a vaccine you go to special vaccine court and get paid by taxpayer dollars.
they've paid out over 6 BILLION dollars since then. again, their products are legally labeled "UNAVOIDABLY UNSAFE"! that should be enough right there to make everyone sit up take notice.

imagine i made cars and people kept suing me for making shitty cars. i go to the gov't and say "well people need to travel so i gotta make these cars but they'r unsafe inherently. you gotta protect me." then that same govt turned around and FORCED YOUR KIDS to ride in my unsafe car. you'd have a problem with that

we now have corporations with zero liability and zero incentive for transparency manufacturing products that are mandated to the public!
furthermore there have been no double blind, randomized, saline placebo controlled studies conducted on any vaccine nor are they tested for their carcinogenic or MUTAGENETIC effects. this should gross you out knowing there is mammal DNA in every shot, some of it human. i shit you not.

kids today get many many more vaccines by the age of 2 then you've ever gotten in your whole life. and the reason isn't safety or "herd immunity", it's profit.

vaccines didn't end measles, or eradicate polio or any such thing. viruses are cyclical. natural ones anyway, not the man made ones used in the bio-tech industry (hint, hint)..
wild type viruses bring down immune systems that are already compromised and that happens largely in the poorest populations without access to sanitation, clean drinking water, refrigeration and sterilization. by the 1950's the mortality rates for these wild viruses had drastically decreased due to advancements in the standard of living (water, sanitation etc..) and THAT'S when the vaccine was introduced.
just like the flu shot. influenza kills almost no one in america today as apposed to 100 years ago and they just introduced the flu shot. in 50 years Merck will claim that they "eradicated the flu" with the vaccine.

jeremybackofen

_________________________________________

i could go on and on and on with reasons to question vaccine "science" and the ingredients of vaccines but you should take an hour and investigate it yourself. watch Vaxxed. or Trace Amounts. books by suzanne humphries, sherry tenpenny or many others.

we have the facts on our side and we have the science to back it all up. WE are speaking truth to power and exposing greed and corruption in the largest us corporations. we may not win but we have the truth on our side. they have the corporate mockingbird media.

thousands of parents across the world all have the same story, "my child was fine, then got the shot and now they're all fucked up"

autism is 1 in 36!

oh right, the tv said shots dont cause autism..... notice how they never actually give you studies...? they just say words like "science" and "settled".

well here's some actual science that clearly shows otherwise.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3878266/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21623535

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25377033

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24995277

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12145534

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21058170

there are many more studies.

at the present rate autism will cost the US 24% of GDP by 2025. that's more then cancer or alzheimers. actually that's a bigger budget then the defense dept.

and you've never heard a politician talk about "autism prevention".

fuck the corona virus. Autism is going to bankrupt the US and NOBODY IS TALKING ABOUT IT!

those are just a few of the reasons we question vaccines. there are hundreds more.

thanks.
-jer.

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For the real truth about where the infections are showing up, who's infected, who's dying, and who's recovered from it, this is the Johns Hopkins live/real life interactive map.

Johns Hopkins is using four (4) different sources to map this, including the WHO, which is only using their own (with their map).

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

Steve Cossaboom

_________________________________________

The upcharge has already started! click through to the buying options…I only came across this because the drug store is completely out of hand sanitizer:

https://www.amazon.com/Purell-Advanced-Sanitizer-Portable-Included/dp/B07RRYTJLL/ref=sr_1_8?crid=1JU9ZKX0YSJ39&keywords=purell+jelly+wrap&qid=1583025004&sprefix=purell+jell%2Caps%2C197&sr=8-8


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