You Think What

“This is unprecedented and is very dangerous. We must educate ourselves and others about our precious civil liberties to ensure that we never accept demands that we give up our Constitution so that the government can pretend to protect us.” ~  Ron Paul in an op-ed piece titled, ” Liberty Was Also Attacked in Boston“

We agree with former Republican Congressman from Texas Ron Paul. He’s an advocate for civil liberties, who likened the federal government’s response to the tragic events which took place during the 117th Boston Marathon earlier in April, and the subsequent manhunt to “a military coup in a far off banana republic.”

“Forced lockdown of a city. Militarized police riding tanks in the streets. Door-to-door armed searches without warrant. Families thrown out of their homes at gunpoint to be searched without probable cause. Businesses forced to close. Transport shut down.

These were not the scenes from a military coup in a far off banana republic, but rather the scenes just over a week ago in Boston as the United States got a taste of martial law. The ostensible reason for the military-style takeover of parts of Boston was that the accused perpetrator of a horrific crime was on the loose. The Boston bombing provided the opportunity for the government to turn what should have been a police investigation into a military-style occupation of an American city. This unprecedented move should frighten us as much or more than the attack itself.” ~  Ron Paul
(more…)

A public memorial is scheduled for Monday, April 29, 2013 in New York City at the City Winery for the recently deceased Richie Havens.

Havens, 72, an iconic folk musician, composer, singer, and activist passed away in his home in New Jersey, on the morning of April 22, 2013, Earth Day, of a sudden heart attack.  He had retired from touring three years earlier due to kidney surgery from which he never recovered enough to perform concerts as he once did.

In the following video we see Havens during his performance at the 40th anniversary celebration of Woodstock, 2009, and an earlier performance of Van Morrison’s composition “Tupelo Honey” segued with Bob Dylan’s “Just Like A Woman”.

Richie Havens, beloved around the world for his unique interpretations of music of various genres, folk, rock, blues, gospel, was a musician who enthralled a generation with his  improvised performance of “Freedom” as the opening act of the Woodstock Music Festival in 1969. He was also cherished for his activism and his humanitarian efforts for which he received numerous commendations.

Richard Pierce “Richie” Havens will be remembered for having  created his foundation for marine study and conservation, composed the remarkable song that sent him on a mission of peace to the Middle East, his work mobilizing schoolchildren as environmental activists…

In 1991 he received The Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award for his continued presence in and advocacy of sociopolitical consciousness by the public. (more…)

 On April 28, 2012, comedian, tv personality and writer, Jimmy Kimmel said and did this at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C. when he was the featured act:
“I also want to thank Mr. Mills, my 10th grade high school history teacher, who said I’d never amount to anything if I kept screwing around in class. Mr. Mills, I’m about to high-five the President of the United States.”    Kimmel then high-fived the President, Barack Obama,  returned to the podium, and concluded with, “Eat it, Mills.”

Around here, at YouThinkWhat, our staff often pose the question in jest, particularly after conversing with someone who doesn’t know what they do not know:

“Do two people who do not know what they’re talking about know more or less than one person who does not know what he is talking about?”

Jimmy Kimmel, one of our favorite late night comedians, provides the answer to the question in his regularly featured comic segment, “Lie Witness News”; it’s a series of comic video sketches which spoof the news format, Eye Witness News, created in the 1960s by teevee news executive Al Primo.  He’s also the innovative  genius who brought to the world of television news, “happy talk”. “Happy talk”, as Primo named it is what news anchors and weather or sports presenters are doing when they chit and chat with one another like old friends at a cocktail party or other social events, before, during and after delivering the news of the day . (We think “Lie Witness News” is what viewers are getting everyday from the mainstream media. All the networks serve daily lies created by and promulgated for the governments.)

In a two to three minute video featured in Kimmel’s “Lie Witness News” segment, a question is asked of the man/woman on the street being interviewed; typically the person(s) has no clue, however the respondent forges ahead with a made up answer in order to appear hip, happenin’, informed, and socially acceptable, while not realizing they’d be better off being socially awkward, admitting they are uninformed on the topic, rather than looking the total fool as they endlessly bloviate about a topic of which they know absolutely nothing. The result is two to three minutes of great comedy.

In the following example we see people telling us about bands they enjoy at this year’s Coachella Music Festival held annually in Fornicalia. On the face of it their responses sound credible…except the bands are made up! They do not exist. Jimmy Kimmel explains as he introduces the piece. (more…)

“I saw the Village as a place to escape to in order to express yourself.”  ~ Richie Havens in his 2008 biography.

Richie Havens, the very first musician to perform during the 1969 Woodstock music festival held on Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in the town of Bethel, New York, near White Lake, New York, has died of a sudden heart attack at his home. The beloved American folk singer, songwriter, guitarist, and activist passed away on Earth Day.

“Say not in grief, ‘he is no more’, but live in thankfulness that he was.” ~ Unknown

The event, also known as the Woodstock Music Festival; An Aquarian Exposition: Three Days of Peace and Music, was a turning point in his career.

One of the four festival producers, Michael Lang said in his book  “The Road to Woodstock”, he’d selected Havens to open what would become a historic event, “because of his calm but powerful demeanor.”

Havens sang for several hours due to travel delays affecting the arrival of the next act. He sang for nearly three hours. Basically, Richie Havens had to kill time as the opening act during this seminal event.

“So I’d go back and sing three more. This happened six times. So I sung every song I knew.” ~ Richie Havens in a 2006 interview with NPR.

The most amazing point of his performance was his ability to improvise a song based on the Negro spiritual, “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child,”; as a consequence the improvisation, known as “Freedom” became an anthem for the times. It is one song for which Havens became famous.

Richie Havens was well known for his versions of tunes made popular by such varied group and artists such as The Beatles, “Here Comes the Sun”; the Bee Gees, “I Started A Joke”; 10cc’s “I’m Not in Love”.  He covered tunes like Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On”;  James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain”;  “Tightrope,” written by Leon Russell;  Van Morrison’s  composition”Tupelo Honey”, as well as  Bob Dylan’s “Lay Lady Lay” and another Dylan creation “Just Like A Woman “.

“I really sing songs that move me. I’m not in show business; I’m in the communications business. That’s what it’s about for me.” ~ Richie Havens, singer, songwriter, activist, humanitarian in an interview with The Denver Post (more…)

On March 5, 2013 the report from Caracas, Venezuela went around the world. President Hugo Chavez is dead. President Chavez died at the age of fifty-eight after a two year battle with cancer, a fight which included four surgeries. Despite his illness Hugo Chavez handily won reelection in October 2012; however the late president was too ill  to be sworn in on January 10, 2013, so the National Assembly of Venezuela agreed to postpone the inauguration to allow him time to recover from medical treatment in Cuba.

Hugo Chavez, considered by some as a left-wing troublemaker was greatly loved by many poor Venezuelans for his humble roots, unaffected language and the welfare policies he implemented financed by the country’s dominant oil industry. Opponents of the late Chavez viewed him as a dictator who ruined the nation’s economy.

There was some skepticism upon receiving reports of the death of Chavez with students demanding proof of life or more medical details. Within twenty-four hours of his death his vice president, Nicolas Maduro, claimed Chavez had been infected with cancer by “imperialist” enemies. (Read that as the United States of America’s covert operatives had a hand in Chavez’s demise.) Maduro, who is a former union activist and bus driver with close ties to Cuban  leaders, constantly alleged Henrique Capriles, his opponent for office, was conspiring with the U.S.  to destabilize Venezuela by overthrowing those in government who were mentored by Chavez.

In the days following the death of Chavez, according to Ramon Guillermo Aveledo, executive-secretary of the opposition Democratic Unity coalition, the lack of precise information was worrisome to Venezuelans and was a contributing factor in the generation of rumors.

Hugo Chavez is succeeded in office by his deputy, the former vice-president of Venezuela, who was acting president during Chavez’s incapacitation, Nicolas Maduro.  President-elect Maduro, the successor hand picked by the late Chavez, won a close election victory on April 14, 2013.  It was a general election wherein he was challenged by the opposition candidate Henrique “Majunche” Capriles who consistently and relentlessly pointed out the failures of the Chavez administration.

“I am Chavez. We are all Chavez.” ~ President-elect Nicolas Maduro, during Venezuelan presidential campaign

(more…)

There is no doubt the news of the deadly bombing incidents, which took place on Monday, April 15, 2013, in Boston, Massachusetts, during the annual Boston Marathon, is upsetting to adults as well as children.

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers — so many caring people in this world.”  ~ the late Fred Rogers
(more…)

Of all the negative reports about Walmart, we are not surprised by this recent report from the web site 24/7 Wall St.

Seems the retailer, considered to be the largest retailer in the US, is number one in providing bad customer service.
We’re thinking this may be the level of service being exported around the world by this large retail corporation. It’s the standard by which all other big stores offering discounts is measured.

The American Consumer Satisfaction Index, (ACSI), is an economic indicator measuring the satisfaction of consumers across the U.S. economy.

In the results of its most recent survey…ta-da! Walmart beat the competition. No other retailer received a lower rating.

“Among all retailers rated by the ACSI for customer satisfaction, none received a worse score than the 71 for Walmart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), which it received from the ACSI when it was graded as a department and discount store.” ~ excerpted from ACSI survey results for Walmart customer satisfaction (more…)

Opening day of the 2013 season of Major League Baseball, (MLB), as the entry of the first Negro player, (read that African American or black), Jackie Robinson, into the sport is celebrated, we find there are fewer black minorities, to be precise American blacks of African heritage, than ever before.

Corporations in the Untied States when asked to tabulate minority numbers, especially when it comes to black  people of African descent, tend to wash over and count everyone, even Latin Americans of dark complexion as blacks. That’s why there are disputed figures on the number/percentage of black African Americans, not of Hispanic heritage, when it comes to who plays professional baseball.

Most inner city black kids today seek scholarships and professional contracts from what they consider to be more exciting sports, like football and basketball. There aren’t many black youths playing baseball in the public schools or on the streets, nor are there nearly as many scholarships for college being awarded to blacks for baseball as there are big dollars for football and basketball at the major colleges and universities. (more…)

“We have never invested as much in public education as we should have because we’ve always had kind of a private notion of children … We haven’t had a very collective notion of ‘these are our children. So part of it is we have to break through our kind of private idea that ‘kids belong to their parents,’ or ‘kids belong to their families,’ and recognize that kids belong to whole communities.” ~ excerpt of Melissa Harris-Perry, MSNBC in 30 second “Lean Forward” campaign promotional video.

Currently US cable news outlet MSNBC is airing a  “Lean Forward” promotional video featuring Melissa Harris-Perry, teevee host, author and teacher of political studies at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana.

In the 30 second video Ms Harris-Perry suggests it takes a village to raise children; in her opinion we are collectively responsible for the upbringing of this nation’s children. This is an old fashioned idea, popular during the early part of the last century; and by the negative response of some of those on the right side of politics in the United States, particularly those who are often calling for a return to the way it used to be, the idea of reviving the practice is causing quite an uproar.  It’s a controversy where none exists…except in the empty heads of the three spokesmen for the epically stupid…none other than *Beck , Limbaugh, and Palin.
*At YouThinkWhat we like to refer to them individually as the Rodeo Clown, Beck; the Blow Hard, Limbaugh, and the Duchess of Dumb, Sarah the Terrah.
(more…)

“There is a large percentage of people with degrees in the community who struggle to find work in their own profession; there are still schools who don’t admit children because of their race; and the Rabbinate still makes things hard for the Ethiopian community. We need to amend existing legislation and at the same time work to legislate new laws to help society be more egalitarian.” ~ Pnina Tamano-Shata, (Yesh Atid ), first black female Ethiopian MK, (Member of Knesset)

Elected in January of this year, attorney Pnina Tamano-Shata has become Israel’s first black female Ethiopian representative in the * Knesset.

*(The literal translation of the Hebrew word Knesset is “the gathering”. It is the name of the single parliamentary house in the government of Israel responsible for passing all laws, electing the President and Prime Minister, (although the Prime Minister is ceremonially appointed by the President), approving the cabinet, and supervising the work of the government.)

Pnina Tamano-Shata, is  a member of the Yesh Atid a new liberal Israeli political party, formed in 2012 by former journalist Yair Lapid,  who now serves as Finance Minister. The party’s stated mission is to represent the interests of the middle class. (more…)