MAINSTREAM COOLER - For those who believe mainstream contemporary facts.

[W. Niederhut]

7 hours ago, Matt Allison said:

He sure did, and it is quite something, isn't it? I haven't listened to the album in quite some time but I mentally thought of it the other day when I was contemplating the power of the muse in art. Probably only happened to me once in my life but wow what a great experience. As I'm sure you all already know, George Harrison was Clapton's best friend, and Clapton was in love with George's wife Patti, who was his muse for this album. Great music resulted.

The back half of the song Layla, the long beautiful piano piece, was composed by drummer Jim Gordon, who prior to this band was a very in-demand session player in LA. There are many amazing moments on this song, but one of my favorite is when the guitars come in after the piano has made its solo introduction; you have Duane's slide as well as what I believe is another guitar being run through a Leslie speaker entering the mix and it is sublime.

Well, I'll be damned, Matt.

I learn something new every day on this forum.

I've been playing that Layla ending on the piano for 50 years, and I always thought it was written and performed on the album by Bobby Whitlock-- the keyboard player in Derek & the Dominoes.

Now I learn that it was actually written and performed by the drummer, Jim Gordon.

I should have read the old liner notes more carefully.

Incidentally, IMO, the most poignant, beautiful love song on the album isn't Layla, but Whitlock's song, Thorn Tree in the Garden.

[Matt Allison]

6 hours ago, W. Niederhut said:

Incidentally, IMO, the most poignant, beautiful love song on the album isn't Layla, but Whitlock's song, Thorn Tree in the Garden.

It's pretty wild to think how reactions to the album were slightly muted upon its release, as it took a few years for everyone to realize what a classic it was. Could be because in 1970 Clapton's image was still tied so strongly to the Cream sound.

[Matt Allison]

[W. Niederhut]

It's bad form to ridicule a person whose brain was eaten by a worm, but I was wondering today if RFK, Jr., possibly, forgot that his father and uncles were liberal Democrats.

He mentioned that the worm caused memory impairments.  🙄

[Kirk Gallaway]

17 hours ago, Sandy Larsen said:

33,000 dead and 1.6 to 2.3 million displaced is a lot better than 133,000 dead and 1.5 to 2.2 million displaced.

Saving 100,000 lives would be a spectacular success.

133,000 dead,? What are you talking about? 33,000 dead is an accepted fact! But you have no basis in fact to speculate about any number of deaths that might have happened or may happen..

Why not just really embellish your case and call it a million lives? It sounds more impressive!

 

So Biden  is evaluated in terms of some subjective, projected  catastrophic vision of yours and comes out on top. In your mind is there any scenario by which Biden's policy becomes a failure? If so what is it?

 

Sandy, Had Biden stopped military aid to Israel months ago, what would he do now to stop Netanyahu from invading Rafah?

So can we now, say if Bibi now invades Rafah that Biden's policy is a failure? 

Haven't you heard? Bibi has now said they're prepared to go it alone, with our weapons or without.  If we believe what he says, then stopping military weapons to Israel was never a deterrent. So we could have just stopped sending weapons to Israel  in January, and look much better in the eyes of the world and not have the blood on our hands we now have.  I guess you don't believe what Bibi's saying. I hope you're right.

 

 

 

* Not that I ever understood the logic behind how continuing to send weapons  to Israel could be said to be a "deterrent " when in the meantime 33,000 lives are lost and as W. noted 56,00 buildings are destroyed and 600,00 people are starving.

[Kirk Gallaway]

23 hours ago, Ron Bulman said:

Re Layla:Listen to the last part at least, it's so pretty.

Ron you're preaching to the choir. That was the song and the album of  the year when I was in college. Nobody doesn't know Layla!

Yeah that last cut, Thorn Tree in the Garden was a great song W. 

I checked and it was 19 days after I saw the Allman Bros. at Winterland that Duane Allman died.

 

P.S. Whoa! I wanted to see the Nuggets and the Timberwolves but apparently that solar flare has taken away a band of channels!

 

 

 

Edited May 11 by Kirk Gallaway

[Ron Bulman]

7 hours ago, W. Niederhut said:

It's bad form to ridicule a person whose brain was eaten by a worm, but I was wondering today if RFK, Jr., possibly, forgot that his father and uncles were liberal Democrats.

He mentioned that the worm caused memory impairments.  🙄

 

[Ron Bulman]

14 hours ago, W. Niederhut said:

I've been playing that Layla ending on the piano for 50 years, and I always thought it was written and performed on the album by Bobby Whitlock-- the keyboard player in Derek & the Dominoes.

Now I learn that it was actually written and performed by the drummer, Jim Gordon.

I should have read the old liner notes more carefully.

Gordon was recording it for himself, for a solo album.  Sneaking into the studio after hours or early.  Someone heard him, then someone said can we have that for this album?

[Ron Bulman]

1 hour ago, Kirk Gallaway said:

Ron you're preaching to the choir. That was the song and the album of  the year when I was in college. Nobody doesn't know Layla!

Yeah that last cut, Thorn Tree in the Garden was a great song W. 

I checked and it was 19 days after I saw the Allman Bros. at Winterland that Duane Allman died.

 

P.S. Whoa! I wanted to see the Nuggets and the Timberwolves but apparently that solar flare has taken away a band of channels!

 

 

 

I just listened to this one today for the first time in years, a little closer than ever before.  It might be the best pure guitar song on the album I have of five from the Layla album with Duane on them, Clapton At His Best, 1972.  Duane's Anthology album (cd) is on the way.  I didn't know he was the guitar on Boz Skaggs Loan Me A Dime, or Wilson Pickett's version of Hey Jude, which is what first caught Clapton's attention.  Both are on it.

 

[Sandy Larsen]

9 hours ago, Kirk Gallaway said:

On 5/10/2024 at 4:10 AM, Sandy Larsen said:

33,000 dead and 1.6 to 2.3 million displaced is a lot better than 133,000 dead and 1.5 to 2.2 million displaced. Saving 100,000 lives would be a spectacular success.

 

9 hours ago, Kirk Gallaway said:

133,000 dead,? What are you talking about? 33,000 dead is an accepted fact! But you have no basis in fact to speculate about any number of deaths that might have happened or may happen..

 

I was demonstrating how it is possible for ONLY 33,000 dead to be considered a "spectacular success."

That said, I do indeed believe that the death toll could easily have gone into six digits had Biden not gotten Netanyahu's ear and talked him into taking steps to reduce collateral civilian deaths. Something that is a demonstrable fact... unless you happen to believe that Netanyahu did that out of the goodness of your heart.

 

[Sandy Larsen]

7 hours ago, Kirk Gallaway said:

In your mind is there any scenario by which Biden's policy becomes a failure? If so what is it?

 

Yes, of course Biden's policy could have failed.

As I keep reminding you, due to Biden getting himself into Bibi's good graces, he was able to get him to take steps at reducing collateral civilian casualties. For example, by instructing Gazans to move to other parts of the country to avoid the bombing. And for those who didn't move, a system designed to warn civilian to leave a targeted building at the last moment.

Here is how Biden's plan could have failed: Netanyahu could have simply said screw you to Biden, I am going to invade the country without taking any of these civilian-saving measures.

But guess what... even that wouldn't have been a failure! Biden would have seen right away that his sweet talking wasn't going to work. At which point he would begun the tough-talking stage of his plan. And that is, to threaten to stop the flow of weapons.

We know that that was Biden's plan. We know it because that is exactly what Biden did when Netanyahu started complaining about Biden's demands over Rafah.

The only real failure of Biden's plan would have been if Netanyahu had said to Biden, screw you, I'm going to invade Gaza with no regard for civilian casualties, and with no regard to your threat to stop military weapons shipments.

If that had happened, Biden would have wasted no time to following through on his threat to stop weapons shipment. In other words, he would have done what you and William and Bernie Sanders, etc, etc. have wanted him to do all along. And the loss of civilian life would have been much, much greater than 35,000.

It is only because of Biden's plan that the civilian death toll has been kept at only 35,000. A person would have to be a fool to think that Netanyahu's demonstrable partial restraint -- achieved through Biden's efforts -- didn't save a huge number of civilian lives. I say easily in the six digits.

 

[Steve Thomas]

https://www.citizensforethics.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/TrumpDelgadoComplaint5.10.24Final.pdf

 

 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION

In the matter of:

Make America Great Again PAC MUR ____

(f/k/a) Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.

 

COMPLAINT

1. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (“CREW”) brings this

complaint before the Federal Election Commission (“FEC” or “Commission”) seeking an

immediate investigation and enforcement action against Make America Great Again PAC,

formerly the principal campaign committee for Donald J. Trump’s 2020 and 2016 campaigns and operating as Donald J. Trump for President, Inc., for direct and serious violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act (“FECA”).

2. Federal law requires that political committees accurately report the recipients and

purposes of disbursements of their funds. In violation of this law, Make America Great Again

PAC falsely attributed payments to conduits utilized solely to prevent disclosure of the true

recipient and purpose of its disbursements.

“The lawyer’s firm is reportedly the recipient of about $4.5 million in payments from Respondent, the most recent of which is a $2.5 million payment made on January 13, 2021. The former employee further alleges that payments made to the lawyer’s firm and another entity were to pay settlements of, and legal services related to, complaints of gender discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, and sexual harassment. Id. Recent news reporting also raises concerns about payments to a compliance firm for “reimbursements” for legal expenses.”

 

Sound familiar?

Steve Thomas

[Matt Allison]

 

[Sandy Larsen]

8 hours ago, Kirk Gallaway said:

Sandy: Had Biden stopped military aid to Israel months ago, what would he do now to stop Netanyahu from invading Rafah?

 

Kirk: So can we now, say if Bibi now invades Rafah that Biden's policy is a failure?

 

First off, just because one component of a policy or plan doesn't work out as hoped, doesn't mean the whole policy or plan is a failure.

Had Bibi invaded Rafah two months ago, when he first began saying he would regardless of Biden's threats to change US policy toward Israel, which later became more specifically threats to halt arms shipment, then yes, I would say that that part of Biden's plan failed.

But Biden's threats have indeed kept Netanyahu from invading Rafah! You are so anti-Biden that that, among other important facts, has escaped you.

I don't know how long Netanyahu will be restrained. What I do know is that the civilian death rate has dropped dramatically over the last couple months that Netanyahu has been kept from invading Rafah. (From about 250 per day down to 70 per day.) This is directly due to Biden's threats. The threats that you would have wasted by cutting off military aid months ago.

If Netanyahu does follow thought with his threats to go it alone and invade Rafah, it's going to be a blood bath. The refugees there have virtually nowhere to go. For now at least, Biden is stopping the blood bath.

 

The bottom line is this: Biden's plan has proven to be effective. In contrast, had you and others had gotten your starry-eyed way and just pull the plug on military aid early on, we would currently have no leverage over Netanyahu. He would have invaded Rafa long ago and there would be an enormous death toll, not only from the bombings but also from the lack of humanitarian aid.

 

[W. Niederhut]

Ouch.  Hillary gets a beat down by Middle East scholars, for her "Inside the Beltway Goy Zionism." 🤓

Palestine and History: Macklemore v. Hillary Clinton (juancole.com)