An Open Letter to Congress

I sent the following to my congressional representatives:

I write to condemn the Congress for its failure to properly oversee the CIA, allowing the CIA to continue to torture its prisoners, men who are by definition innocent of any crime, for they received no trial. I am sickened by this whole affair. The only CIA agent brave enough to speak out against the program, John Kiriakou, was imprisoned and silenced.

The hypocrisy of those who defend the CIA torture program is revolting and turns my stomach. How can anyone speak of the bravery of our military forces when we know they inflict degrading punishment on the powerless and the weak? How can we debate the practical effectiveness of torture when we know its moral effects on the torturers and tortured alike? How can anyone try to excuse it by claiming that Americans were afraid of another terrorist attack? We’re Americans, bravery is one of our highest ideals. The men of Massachusetts who died at Gettysburg to end the torture of African Americans slaves knew there was no excuse for brutalizing another human being. They mastered their fear and faced down the torturers in battle.

I look to you, as my congressional representative, to have the courage not simply to speak out against this program, but also to do everything in your power to end it, and to bring justice to its victims. Failure to do so makes you morally complicit in torture committed in the name of your nation and on your behalf. 

Ireland: Great Music, Great Scenery: Lunasa Video

The Telegram and Gazette's Letters from Idiots

I love reading the T&G's letters section online, because it is filled with choice, uninformed opinions that would be depressing if they weren't so genuinely stupid. Especially worth noting are the comments to news stories left by idiots. These folks all have in common a worldview that divides the world into good and bad (policies, presidents, teachers, students, people in general). It's as thought they must ascribe blame to someone, all the time.

A recent event at Wachusett High School spawned a long list of letters about kids involved in a beating. It was a nasty beating, and it was caught on video and put on Youtube for all to see. The opinions mostly fell into the category of "kids these days are spoiled rotten; punish them and they will improve."

Many of the comments on this story fell back on the "bad kid, bad family" explanation; others asserted that school choice was bringing bad Worcester kids in to mix with those really nice kids from Holden, who never get into trouble (I'd love to hear the vice principal of Wachusett address that one!).

One of the kids who was a perp in the beating is well known to me; I've watched him grow up. His folks are hard working, decent people. His father had him involved in all kinds of sports, at which the son usually excelled, because he's a gifted athlete. They sought out the best education for their son, which is why he was involved in school choice. In spite of this, their son is a mixed-up kid who has gotten involved with some serious trouble. He's under house arrest and has been expelled from school -- his parents did not attend the hearing (perhaps because they agreed he should be expelled for what he did; I don't know) -- and will certainly face legal consequences that might include jail time.

He's not a bad kid; his parents are not bad parents. People are not good or bad, unless you happen to view them that way. And if you do, you are at least half blind.

Worcester Jazz

My musical partner, Rich Falco, got a gig for us playing jazz every other week in Oxford, at a place called Oxford's Casual Dining. Rich indulges me, perhaps because bassists are in short supply, so I'm happy to do the gig with him, since I learn more by playing with him, and we make some pretty good music. Click http://www.gigmasters.com/hear_audio.asp?rowid=20202&sequenceID=1 and listen.

Playing regularly anwhere is difficult, because any slow night might mean that the owner could cut you loose. So I do like to promote these gigs, andI post on Craigslist and Socialweb and hope to gain the attention of the local press.

It's the latter that's proved difficult. We can't really advertise; we're too poor. Tyra Penn has included us on WICN's club updates, bless her. But the Worcester press, which in most other instances stresses the local angle, tends to pay the most attention to jazz acts from out of town. Articles and items featuring local rock acts are common, too, most of whom aren't even paid musicians. But not jazz. And not us.It seems odd that more attention is paid to amateur musicians in rock clubs than experienced professionals who ALREADY know how to play. Call it the American Idol phenomenon.

I don't want to sound bitter. Rich is already well-known in the area's jazz community, so I can understand that local press might feel that he doesn't need more press, and people might not be interested in finding out more about him. But look at the "jazz scene" in Worcester right now. Java Hut closed, so there's no jam session there. There is no club in Worcester that features jazz, nor any restaurant that hires jazz musicians to play regularly. Oxfords Casual Dining is pretty much it, from what I can tell. Yet OCD (not a pretty acronym, but I'll use it) is not even in club listings, even though jazz is a regular feature there, and it's the ONLY JAZZ IN TOWN! You'd think that alone would be news.

Old Medicine for New Ills

The recent crisis in the financial markets outed not only a Francophonic fraud, but also Republican rigidity. When banks need to “write down” their loans because assets securing the loans have lost value, money disappears from the economy. That money must quickly be replaced if markets are to remain secure. The quickest, most effective way to keep enough money circulating is for the government to take measures to get money to those who are most likely to spend it. Unsurprisingly, those most likely to spend their money are those too poor to pay any income tax. And those least likely to spend are those who have more than enough money to pay their bills, and who do pay income tax, especially the wealthiest Americans.

Yet the Republican response was to endorse tax rebates that don’t benefit the neediest, and to urge extending the Bush Administration tax cuts for the wealthy, due to expire in 2010. John McCain was a notable proponent of the latter measure. Now if those tax cuts promoted continued economic growth in the first place, why are we facing a recession now? If the Bush tax cuts were the economic panacea their advocates claimed, we would be worried about inflation, not recession.

Republican economic thinking is consistent no matter what the economic circumstances: cut taxes on the wealthy and those with the largest incomes. Yet this inevitably hurts the middle class and the poor, on whom both economic and social stability depend.

No-Ped in Worcester

Although I called it a moped, my Tomos is apparently a "no-ped" in that it has no pedals. I've been riding it to work and back when weather permits (we had a recent spate of good weather), which is 40 miles round trip. The bike runs great, but I have to say, the seat sucks. Not very comfortable after a mile or so, and very uncomfortable after ten miles.

In spite of this, I've put over 300 miles on the Tomos, which my wife has nicknamed "Zippy," apparently in reference to the pinhead that rides it, moi. A friend of mine, when he saw the Tomos, asked me, "So have any of your friends called you a crazy idiot yet?" I've gotten some odd looks, but drivers seem to assume that I'm on a motorcycle, which in traffic is a good thing -- they come up more slowly -- and I feel much safer than when I've ridden a bicycle in the same circumstances.

Now that I've put on over 250 miles, some maintenence needs to be done. I've got to change the oil and tighten the chain, for starters, so I'm not commuting on the Tomos until I've made sure I don't run out of oil or throw a chain. Throwing the chain would be VERY BAD. But I'm looking forward to spring, and A NEW SEAT.

Moped Around the House

After spending a summer working on a 1980 Vespa Grande moped, I relented and bought a 2005 Tomos Arrow moped to ride until I actually succeed in getting the Vespa running. The Tomos, although a 2005, is new, so I've spent the last week breaking in the engine, riding it daily back and forth to my job at Nashoba Regional High School in Bolton. That's about 20 miles each way by Route 70 north and 110 East.

Never having ridden a moped before, I can only compare it to a bike. The Tomos handles a lot better than a bike, as it has big, fat scooter tires and shocks front and back. It has been damned cold, too, and unlike pedaling a bike, riding a moped doesn't warm you up. The full-face helmet helps, though.

The best part was riding into a gas station and filling up with $2.00 of gas. Every time I take the moped instead of the car to work, I save about five bucks. Now I just need to find some fellow riders in Worcester so I can start a moped gang.

Pleased With Music Again

Several things have conspired to get me excited about music again. First, I've been playing bass with some of Worcester's finest musicians. Paulo of Pueblo Nuevo, and wonderful singer, called to have me fill in for his bassist/guitarist at Bocado Tapas Bar on Winter Street. We had a quick rehearsal with Jonathan, his conga player and I had a ball accompanying Paulo on a bunch of Latin songs I didn't know before (I like a challenge). Then he asked me to put a group together to sub for Pueblo Nuevo the next Thursday, again at Bocado. Chet Williamson put me in contact with Miguel Almestica, a wonderful percussionist, who brought two other percussion players along just for fun, and guitarist and Berklee "cat" Mitch Seidman tore it up on guitar as we turned every jazz tune we could into a merengue, samba, salsa or bossa nova.

Another musical addition has been created by using http://www.gigmasters.com/jazz/richfalco to advertise for bookings. The site allows folks to hear the duo and lets them know how affordable we can be, plus how the group can expand to a trio or quartet. And I had a great time at a wedding in Rhode Island, right by Newport Bay, playing straight-ahead mainstream jazz as a quartet with Sonic Explorers Jerry Sabatini on trumpet and Mike Connors on drums, and Mitch Seidman filling in for Rich Falco on guitar . We've been filling up our calendar with private parties and getting some great feedback from customers.