Tag: free speech

NOV 26, 2013 - I found this small clip of a skit by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood at the CMA Awards poking fun of the rollout of the Affordable Health Care Act, or the "AHCA" as I like to call it. Many folks call it "Obamacare", but the two poked fun of the horrendous rollout of the website part of the health care exchanges to the tune of an old George Strait song. Maybe if the Teabagger Republican governors would have cooperated more with the federal government on the exchanges, and worked for their constituents instead of a political party (a small one I might add), then maybe the rollout would have been smoother. Watch for the reaction of Taylor Swift, who is a big President Obama supporter. Lets hope they get it all fixed in the next few weeks, and get the federal exchanges humming as well as the state exchanges, where enrollment is surging.  Those are the states where the governor cooperated and didn't suffer from OHDS: Obama Hatred Derangement Syndrome. The website is actually handling a fair clip of people, and will get better. If you do not have health insurance either thorough Medicaid or your employment, many will find they will be covered by Medicaid, qualify for subsidies to help pay for it, or find a cheap health insurance plan through the exchanges for as little as $20 a month. You may need it one day. Visit HealthCare.gov today to see your options.

NOV 18, 2013 - Joan Jett, who is trying to separate her musical entertainment side and her animal rights activism side, is having a rough go these days. South Dakota ranchers, who abuse millions of cows in those horrible feed lots and slaughterhouses, heard Joan Jett would be on their state's float in the parade. They complained and got her moved, or she moved to a different float depending on who you talk to. Jett has been very active in the animal rights activism field, making PSAs and working with PETA among many other things. Read more about the controversy on NewYorkCBSLocal.com here.  (photo credit: Jessica Harcourt Leary/CC)

NOV 8, 2013 - Here is a topic near and dear to my heart, food and nutrition. Face it, we Americans eat heavily processed food-like substances, and we need to get back to eating REAL food not in a box or a can. I switched over to a "caveman" diet about six months ago. Living in the city, I know that small convenience food stores sometimes don't even carry fresh produce and other types of real food. However, I and rapper-activist Khnum 'Stic' Ibomu believe that if you take some steps, one can afford to eat healthy and nutritious REAL food on a low budget. Stic, some of you remember him from Dead Prez, blogged on HuffPO last month explaining "7 ways to eat on a hood budget". He not only raps and is active in the community, but also runs his "RBG Fit Club" promoting a holistic life and healthy eating. He blogs about how he runs into people saying. "I want to eat healthy but I can't afford it." But he says there are ways to eat healthy on food stamps (or SNAP) and he should know because he was on food assistance growing up. If one travels a little farther, to a national chain, one can eat healthy. For instance here in DC the grocery chain Safeway has fresh produce, frozen vegetables (frozen food if done right is sometimes better than fresh) and other real, normal food straight from Mother Nature and the least amount of processing possible. They are starting to carry quinoa, coconut water and other healthy foods.

Some of Stics (and my) suggestions are:

1) Choose produce, not a box or can. Fresh produce is not only healthier and more nutritious dense, it is cheaper.
2) Cook big and save some for later. I cook a huge bag of lentils, put in storage containers and refrigerate, and then scoop servings out throughout the week.
3) Make homemade soup! Get some healthy broth in a wax cardboard container (read ingredients) and add fresh veggies!
4) Join a local Co-op or community garden. There are many of those here in DC.
My suggestions:
5) Buy what is on sale. Check the flyer and website, and buy only what is on sale.
6) Lentils, split-peas. They are dirt cheap, and are healthy and nutritional dense.

Take your time, shop wisely in only the produce and frozen food aisles, budget your money, and one can eat healthy on a low or "hood" budget. To read all of Stic's "7 way to eat good on a hood budget" read his blog on HuffPo here. Also check out his RBG Fit Club website on leading a holistic lifestyle.  (photo credit: Search Influence/CC/Flickr)

NOV 1, 2013 - Music has been playing a huge role in the Arab Spring and helping to fuel the youth uprisings and calls for progressive changes in their countries. A Danish rapper, Martin Fernando Jakobsen, saw what was happening, and stepped in to help fund Tunisian and activist rappers across the Middle East. Jakobsen has set up "Turning Tables", where he helps young rappers who want to sing about political change get into the studio and get their words out. In an interview on TheNational.ae, he tells Janne Louise Anderson, "The youth movement and the young people's freedom of expression and artistic freedom face an uncertain future because of opposition by powerful conservative forces, societal norms and limited production and expression." Jakobsen also talks about the brutal governmental and police policies that arrest and even jail rappers for expressing their political beliefs. Some rappers in Tunisia have had to go underground after being sentenced to years in prison in absentia, merely for speaking out artistically. Jakobsen also tells Anderson, "We are supporting young people who are fighting for a Tunisia that respects basic freedoms and equal opportunities for all, through the targeted use of art festivals, music events, and the creation of independent media that conveys the youth's views on Tunisia's future." Jakobsen plans to spread his help to Syria and Jordan soon.

Turning Tables allowed Middle East rappers, Vipa, WMD and Katybon, to collaborate on "Up On The Roof" YouTube music video (watch below), and Vipa commented in The National's article, "Tunisians try to move forward with great desire, but there are always some barriers that prevent us from trying to spek about justice, be it political, or economic or social." Read the entire Jakobsen interview on TheNational.ae website here. To learn more about the non-profit Jakobsen has set up to help activist-rappers, check out TurningTables.org.

OCT 28, 2013 - The musical world is in shock and in mourning, as we woke up to the sad news that one of music's biggest pioneers, Lou Reed, has died. He stayed strong till the last moments, even doing Tai Chi about an hour before he passed. I blogged about him last May when Lou underwent a liver transplant, and he was working hard on his rehab program saying on his website he is "bigger and stronger" than ever. Unfortunately though, he passed away at his home in Southampton, New York over the weekend, and numerous tributes to Lou Reed via Twitter poured out from musicians. Lou had a huge impact on the musical scene and the world.

My first contact with a Lou Reed was indirect. It was 1973, and I was about 10, and the rock band Brownsville Station had a song on their "Yeah" album I thought was one of the coolest rock guitar rhythms ever; that song was Sweet Jane. (Here is the Brownsville Station version I grew up on) Later when I was in my teens, my sister put on a Velvet Underground album that had the man who wrote that song in it, and I was floored. Pure musical genius, very original and creative; the music I heard coming out from those speakers inspired me and many other musicians to pick up the guitar and start a rock band. There is the famous quote from Brian Eno of where he comments on the first Velvet Underground only selling 30,000 copies to which Eno replied, "I think everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band". Count me in that crowd.

Probably the most hard hit musician was his band mate in Velvet Underground, John Cale. In a statement on his Facebook page Cale says, "The news I feared most, pales in comparison to the lump in my throat and the hollow in my stomach. Two kids have a chance meeting and 47 years later we fight and love the same way - losing either one is incomprehensible. No replacement value, no digital or virtual fill...broken now, for all time. Unlike so many with similar stories - we have the best of our fury laid out on vinyl, for the world to catch a glimpse. The laughs we shared just a few weeks ago, will forever remind me of all that was good between us." Watch a video below of Lou with Velvet Underground live playing one of the badass rock rhythm guitar riffs ever, Sweet Jane, and read more about the creative musical genius that had a huge impact on the rock scene on his Wikipedia page here and I recommend this NY Times article about Lou's career and passing here. JTMP joins in the mourning of Reed's passing, and also join the celebration of the musical genius he brought to the world. We will miss you Lou! (Photo credit: Marcelo Costa/CC)