Help A Brother Out?

Heyas!

I decided to call this blog "The Radio In My Head" mostly because that's where most of my musical ideas start.  Some musicians/singers/songwriters just grab their preferred instrument and start jamming away.  That's not my usual M.O. (method of operations), but every now and then it can happen.

Sometimes my Radio is crystal clear and sometimes it's fuzzy with a lot of white noise.  But whatever is playing on my Radio, I try to capture it and do my best to get it from my head and into the audio world, where I can share it with others.

Now, when the Radio is just not working, or it's too fuzzy to make out what's happening - then I have to rely on my ability to craft an idea and build it.

For me, that usually means starting out with something that I want to say and developing a lyric from that.

If I believe that I've got a good lyric happening, then I move on to developing a melody, arrangement and all the other things that bring a song together.

I've digitally released three songs so far.  A "love gone wrong" song (She Doesn't Understand), a social justice/issues song (Do You Remember America?), and a holiday song (Under The Mistletoe).

I would love to share what I'm doing with you.  So, there's a little area near the top of the page and on the right side where you can click and get all three of my first releases for free.

If you dig my vibe, then take the message to your brother (or sister) and tell him twice!

This is how you can "Help A Brother Out".  Obviously, I'm not well known, but you all could do a lot to change that, by taking a listen and spreading the word.  Yeah, it's a shameless plug, but it is my blog, and I don't think it's too awful to do that every now and then.

So, how about it?  Make me part of the soundtrack of your life, and your mama's (really she just might dig it!).

Remember to visit me at http://www.leemanuelsmusic.com
Also here at http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Leemanuel_Hightire

Perpetual War Anyone?

It’s often taken as a given that people want peace.

Yet when we look around and see armed conflicts in so many places it should make us wonder about that proposition.

Governments are fond of speaking of war as a last resort.  However many of the policy choices that they make put them on a sure path toward that very result.

And what about the people that live under those Governments?  I’ve seen reports of war protesters.  Where people are marching in the streets and making their opposition to conflict known.  How often have war protesters been listened to by their respective Governments?

Conversely, have you ever seen a march demanding that one country attack another?  A march led by citizens demanding war?  I guess there probably have been somewhere at some time in history.  But in our modern times the demand for war usually takes place on editorial pages of newspapers and magazines.  The Power Elite use the media in all its formats to manufacture consent of the public for the country to engage in war.  The “enemy” is demonized thoroughly, and the impression is left that something has to be done; otherwise our leaders must be weak or soft.

So, the voices of those against war are drowned out or marginalized by those who agitate for conflict.  But is it really a majority that wants conflict?

Why is it that opinion polls tend to show large majorities in favor of a conflict at its beginning, and then eventually over time that support steadily erodes?  And the conflict continues, even when polls show that an overwhelming majority no longer support the actions being taken.

Perhaps people like the idea of peace, more than peace itself?  Perhaps people prefer low gasoline prices and low priced goods more than the idea of peace.  In our modern conflicts the vast majority of us never have to take up arms.  That odious work is left to others.  We don’t have to see or hear about what’s happening if we choose not to.  And even when we do take an interest in the proceedings, our media provides for us the most sanitized version of events so that the true impact of the carnage taking place is lost on most of us.

Lip service dripping in hypocrisy is paid to the idea of peace by the war makers.  But when has war ever produced peace?  War produces death, destruction, misery, disease, dislocations, famine and more.  But I don’t think peace will make any honest list of wars’ intrinsic value.  Of course, I suppose it comes down to how you define peace.

Maybe most ordinary people do want peace.  But the interests of the Power Elite often lie elsewhere.  And with the control of the media and other centers of power, if the Power Elite determine that their interests will be furthered by war, then it is war we shall have, irrespective of the will of the people.

Until there is a change of the order of things.

check me out at http://www.leemanuel05.com
check me out at http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Leemanuel_Hightire
check me out at https://www.youtube.com/user/Leemanuel05/videos
 

Why Is A 2nd Term For Obama Important for African Americans?

Heyas!

I happened to be watching Real Time With Bill Maher the other night as I was riding my recumbent stationary bike fighting the battle of the bulge. (The Bulge keeps winning, yet I persevere)

His first guest was Arsenio Hall and they were talking about the 20th Anniversary of the riots in LA which came after the Rodney King verdict.  Those were some tough times.  And they seemed to want to buy into the notion that things have changed, although they did touch on the Trayvon Martin situation.

So, they segue into Obama's re-election prospects and Bill Maher states that if Obama is not re-elected people would see it as a failure.  "Well, we tried a black guy and it didn't work...oh well".
He stated that Obama is very aware of these expectations and as Bill says "for the sake of black America" Obama needs a 2nd term.

Now I suppose that's all fine as far as it goes.  If you want to view the situation through that prism.

But the real question is, what exactly has President Obama done for "Black America" in his first term?
Oh, I'm sure that plenty of African Americans felt a sense of pride in seeing Obama elected.  I fully admit that I was caught up in the idea that my mother would live to see a day that neither of us ever imagined.

But if you step away from all of the emotional racial element, and ask yourself what has been the impact of the policies of the Administration, where has "Black America" in particular benefited?

When The President was asked about any specific policies that he would promote to address the plight of minorities, his response was "I believe that a rising tide lifts all boats."

And that might have been OK, if the tide was rising for everyone.  But as I say in one of my songs, a rising tide won't lift all boats, when your boat is filled with holes.

African Americans continue to rank at or near the bottom of most statistical measurements of progress.  Whether that be income, unemployment, housing, incarceration, life expectancy, health care, you name it.

And I suppose, you can say to his "credit", many polls have continued to show him have a rock solid base of support among African Americans, even though their conditions have not improved and in many cases worsened under the Obama Administration.  But I tend to think that shows either Black America's gullibility or President Obama's supreme salesmanship.

Now, I'm not trying to alienate any of you out there - and more than a few of you may feel like, I should just shut up and sing...or just shut up.  But I'm calling it like I see it, and trying to encourage some conversation, discussion and thought.

So, what's your take?

Check me out at http://www.leemanuel05.com
Check me out at http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Leemanuel_Hightire
Help a brother out at: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/222092430/debut-album-six-over-1-7-by-leemanuel

Nobel Peace Prize Winner

Do any of you find it the least bit contradictory that our Nobel Peace Prize winning President is also the same individual that now authorizes drone attacks based on suspicious activity?

Now, the other drone attacks were bad enough, where we were pretty sure that we had a suspected target and we would hit unintended targets in the process, which we so neatly refer to as collateral damage.

But now, we'll launch without a confirmed target.  We’ll now launch a drone attack, just based on patterns of suspicious activity.

So, does this make you feel safer?  And if you feel safer, does that make it OK?

How many times have you heard that the "bad guys" don't respect life the way that we do?  Does this make you stop and think about how much we respect life?

I know that this is a downer of a subject, and believe me I would much rather write about something more uplifting, but how is it that we can turn a blind eye to this type of thing, and also cheer for the re-election of the current administration?

Are we really so afraid of the "terrorist threat" that we're OK with suspicious pattern bombing of people?

And yes, this country has done lots of bad stuff in its history, and you can argue that this is really nothing new.

But, I guess it's my own fault for thinking that this would be some of the stuff that was going to change.  It's been clear for some time now that the change was in style and hope died on inauguration day Jan 20, 2009.

Please visit me at http://www.leemanuel05.com  and also at Ezine Articles http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Leemanuel_Hightire  where I have over 25 articles available, and I'm sure you'll maybe even find something fun.

Ain't Too Proud To Beg

That's one of my favorite Temptations songs!

I know you want to leave me, but I refuse to let you go!
If I have to beg plead, for your sympathy,
I don't mind cause you mean that much to me
Ain't too proud to beg

Well, I ain't too proud to ask for you all to take a look at my project over at KickStarter.com

I'm trying to raise funding to produce my first album and you can check out my project here at this link: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/222092430/debut-album-six-over-1-7-by-leemanuel

If you've never heard of KickStarter, please check out an article that I did on the subject at this link: http://ezinearticles.com/?KickStart-Your-Creativity&id=6942817

Stay Peaceful & Positive!

Leemanuel

I'm always right...aren't you?

As a general proposition, my sense is that most of us tend to think that we're right about stuff.
I'm driving at the correct speed, I say the right things, I do what I'm supposed to do.

You'll have two people that experience the same event, each sees it from their own
perspective, and both believe that their view is right.

Obviously some things are more clear cut than others.  But even, if you have an obligation that's due
on a date certain and you don't take care of that obligation in a timely fashion; you probably
still think that you're right (especially if no one calls you on it).

There's usually some justification in the back of your mind that excuses you from NOT doing what you were supposed to do.  Of course, whomever is on the other end of this equation, isn't interested
in your justification, and will probably tend to think of you as a "deadbeat".

But we still tend to think that we're right.

We make commitments that we don't keep, and somehow we're the injured party, instead of the party
on the other side that's wondering why you didn't show up for the weekly book club or whatever.

It's one thing to have a difference of opinion on something.  But I always marvel at how we can
look at objective facts which don't leave much room for varying interpretations, and we'll come
away with different conclusions and be convinced of our rightness.

And of course, I am RIGHT about all of this.

http://www.leemanuel05.com

Shameless Plug

Heyas!

I've just posted a couple of new videos on my website.  I'm hoping you all will take a little time to check them out.

"Tactical Espionage" or "TE" is the pilot epsiode of a web series, and I make my on camera acting debut.  It was a lot of fun working on this and I'm hoping you all will like it.

The other video is a preview of one of the new songs which will appear on my upcoming album titled "There's No More Poor".  You get to hear a bit of the new song, and listen to a bit of my take on poverty.

So, please give this a peep and tell all your friends and family.  See, I told you this was a shameless plug.

Here's the link: http://www.leemanuel05.com/#!videos

Stay Peaceful & Positive

Follow The Money

Do any of you remember the movie All The President's Men?  That was the dramatization of the
Watergate scandal. Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman portraying Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.

Do you remember the advice given to them by Deep Throat..."Follow The Money".
The truth for almost any situation always tends to be at the end of the money trail. 

If you're wondering why politicians take certain positions, change their positions, speak one way and vote another...follow the money.

A lot of people use the saying "Money is the Root of all Evil".  However, in the Bible, it's actually
"The LOVE of Money is the Root of all Evil".

When you ask yourself, why we don't have single payer health care in the USA and couldn't even get
the much weaker "public option", what answer do you come up with?  Was it the mean ole Republicans?
Was the public insufficiently excited about single payer and/or the public option?  Was it that the
Administration wasn't skilled enough in their messaging to convince a Democratic Congress at the
time to do its bidding?

Or does it all ultimately come back to Money?  Campaign contributions are protected under law as
free speech.  But what happens when my wallet is bigger than your wallet?  Is my free speech
accorded more weight than yours?  Do I possess more influence than you?  Do policies get shaped
to additionally benefit me, further enhancing my position?

Let's say that you have a friend, and that friend is in need of cash.  And you generously provide
that friend with the needed sum.  And at a later date, you make some request of that friend.
Do you expect that friend with which you were so very generous to ignore or dismiss your request?
Or do you expect that friend to be very compliant with your wishes in light of your previous generosity?

Now you may say that politics is very different from what I just described, but is it really?
In particular, when the very generous friend is able to form a Political Action Committee and
bundle millions of dollars in contributions and make them available for the cause of the friend's election.  Is the recipient of this generosity really going to be uninfluenced by it?

Or is it more likely that the recipient finds themselves more willing to consider positions favorable
to the source of the contributions?  Convincing themselves that once they are elected they will
be able to serve some greater good, after of course providing the appropriate considerations to
those generous friends who made their election possible.

It seems that the only way to eliminate this dynamic is to have all campaigns publicly financed.
I don't know what the details of this would be, but I do believe that money completely corrupts
the process and shuts out the voices of those without means to participate.

It's been demonstrated that it's very easy to ignore the individual donor who perhaps contributed
$5 to a campaign.  I submit that it's probably equally easy to ignore the individual donor who
made the max contribution of $2,500 (although that might get you an autographed picture or something).

But the big moneyed interests don't get ignored.  It's the rules of the game and everyone plays by them.
Maybe instead of monitoring other country's elections and providing critiques, we need to get our
own act cleaned up.

Is it Democracy, when 1% makes the rules?

Please visit http://www.leemanuel05.com

Profanity In Songs, Keeping It Real or Over The Top

How many of you enjoy hearing profanity in your music?

Call me old school, but it doesn't really work for me.  That's not to say that there aren't songs where it has some context and is used to make a point.  But even in those songs, often it just doesn't seem to sing well in my opinion.

The first song that I recall hearing a swear word in it was the Isley Brothers "Fight The Power".  I was a little kid when it was released, and when it came on the radio there was a beep to get rid of the offending word.  When one of my older brothers purchased the album, I was able to hear the un-edited version.

Now, I was and am a big fan of the Isley Brothers.  And "Fight The Power" actually had some context and what I thought was a purpose to their using the expletive in the refrain:

I try to play my music, you say my music's too loud,

I try talking about it, I got the big run around,

and when I roll with the punches,

I get knocked on the ground, by all this bullsh#$ going down

So, the use of the expletive there to me, was in context and made sense.  But a lot of songs today appear to be gratuitous.  In fact they don't appear to even have any shock value, since a lot of it is almost every other word.  Now before any of you accuse me of being part of the morality police, I understand that a lot of people's normal speech patterns are filled with what I recall amusingly from a Star Trek movie as "colorful metaphors".  And maybe artists and writers believe that they are just "keeping it real".  OK, I get that, as far as it goes.

But I have a hard time hearing the word motherf&^%er sang with a melody, and can respond to it with, "yeah, that really flowed well".  Now, I'm sure that it "flows" better in rap/hip-hop, because that's more about cadence with speaking, and lots of attitude.
But really, are you able to listen to that in a ballad without cringing?  I can't.

I have occasionally found myself making use of "colorful metaphors" at times, but I just can't bring myself to include that in a lyric.  My best friend asked me to make a song I had written about the end of his marriage a little more raw.  When I asked him what he meant, he said he wanted me to include some "colorful metaphors" to drive the point home.  I told him that I understood his pain, but that just wasn't my vibe.  In fact, I would probably break out laughing during the recording if I was trying to sing profanity.

So, what are your thoughts on profanity in music?  Does it work for you?

Get 3 free downloads of my songs at http://www.leemanuel05.com/#!free-offers

Stay The Course!

I am over weight, have high blood pressure and high cholesterol, but this in no way will change my strategy to consume a diet consisting mainly of fried fatty foods.

Do any of you question the wisdom of the words above?  Does it sound like perhaps a slight moment of pause should be taken to consider whether the results of such a strategy are at all problematic?

Does it somehow seem noble, that against all odds and practical wisdom that we will "stay the course"?

Now, take that idea above and substitute the words of our public officials.  On almost anything.  When something awful happens as a direct result of policies that have been implemented, how often do you hear them say that "this event while tragic, in no way changes our strategy, commitment, blah, blah, blah".

Do you ever wonder, well...WHY NOT?  I mean, that's like going outside in the midst of a Hurricane and insisting that despite the conditions you are not only NOT going to carry an umbrella, use a rain coat, or wear any protective gear, but that you are also going to pull up anchor and set sail for a nice sunny destination.

Who needs objective reality?  Reality is whatever "the Power Elite" say it is, and whatever "they" can convince a majority of people to believe.

I need to eat a pizza.

By the way, check me out at http://www.leemanuel05.com

Do It Afraid

I have a confession to make.
I've lived most of my life afraid.

Afraid to succeed, afraid to fail.  Afraid to be laughed at, afraid of rejection.  Afraid the bills
won't get paid.  Afraid I'll lose my job.

Now, you might say "that's no big deal", we're all afraid of something.  And that's probably true.

But the real issue is how you deal with the fear.  Sometimes if we're afraid to fail and afraid to
succeed we live our lives unfulfilled, or maybe just become critics of others efforts.

I'm pretty sure that I've been there.  It's very easy to critique someone else's effort while never stepping to the forefront with your own.  But it's not really about the critiquing.  It's about not living your life to its fullest because of fear.  And maybe that critique comes from the envy of others actually doing what we only dare dream to do.

Now, don't get me wrong.  I'm not suggesting that you fly out to Vegas and put the Rent money down on 23 Red.  But don't let fear hold you back from something that you think is important to you.  Don't be afraid to make positive changes because you're not sure how they will turn out. 

There's very little that we might actually do, if we're always afraid of worst case scenarios.
So get out there and stake your claim, pursue your dreams, and do your thang!

And while you're at it, give me a visit at www.leemanuel05.com

Reflections In The Dark

There's nothing quite like a power outage to remind you of our dependence on our infrastructure and all things electrical.
We just had a snowstorm, and while it wasn't particularly awful, it was wet and heavy.  I don't know what caused the outage, but it was pretty inconvenient.

My furnace and range top are both electrical ignition.  The cable was out, so no phones or Internet.
I'm glad we had candles and flashlights.  I'm also glad we didn't have sub-zero temperatures to contend with.

But, I started thinking about life without power, and I must say I found it be an unpleasant exercise.

I occasionally hear talk about our electrical grid and how it needs to be upgraded or rebuilt.  The power outage made me think more about that.  It also made me think a bit more about how electricity is produced.  We still use a lot of coal fired plants to produce electricity.

We need to find a balance between our power consumption needs and environmental concerns.  A wise man once told me "don't crap where you live".  Now that can apply to a lot of things, but in this instance we're talking about the planet.  I love me some "sci-fi", but I don't think there's a nearby planet for us to colonize if we trash this one.

As much as we might try, the environment can't be bent to our will.

Half Of What You See and None Of What You Hear

"Believe half of what you see, and none of what you hear."
If people followed the old axiom of believing only half of what you see, and none of what you
hear, I think it would be a lot less likely that we would find the US at war with Iran.
On second thought, maybe that's exactly why the US finds itself on a path to war with Iran.

Our leaders don't believe anything that Iran says, and apparently only believe half of what
they are able to see either with inspections or their own intelligence surveillance.

Unfortunately, when the public is bombarded with messages that demonize Iran and screech that
someone has to STOP them before it's too late, it appears that most of us tend to follow the dominant narrative. (wow, did I just write that, I don't talk like that..."dominant narrative" what the heck is that? oh well)

Do any of us ever stop to consider what gives the USA the right to determine who has nuclear
weapons?  And, while considering that, try to remember that the USA remains the only country to ever actually detonate a nuclear weapon against another country.  The argument is often presented that "those crazy Mullahs don't respect life the way we do, and can't be trusted" so they definitely
should not get anywhere close to having nuclear weapons.

But do any of you remember what we used to call the "Evil Empire"?  You know, the Soviet Union?
The Soviet Union collapsed back in 1991, but from about 1949 until then, we somehow were able to
live with the Soviet Union possessing nuclear weapons.  The Soviets were presented as the worst
thing imaginable, yet they managed NOT to use a nuclear weapon against their mortal enemy in all
those years.  And how about the other members of the nuclear club - United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel (unacknowledged).

What would be so different about Iran having nuclear weapons, if indeed that is actually what they
are pursuing?

Why does the leadership in the USA ignore the findings of its own intelligence agencies, which have
stated that (and you can read it yourself here http://www.dni.gov/press_releases/20071203_release.pdf)
"Judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program. Judge
with high confidence that the halt lasted at least several years. (DOE and the NIC have moderate
confidence that the halt to those activities represents a halt to Iran's entire nuclear weapons
program.) Assess with moderate confidence Tehran had not restarted its nuclear weapons
program as of mid-2007, but we do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear
weapons. Judge with high confidence that the halt was directed primarily in response to increasing
international scrutiny and pressure resulting from exposure of Iran’s previously undeclared nuclear
work. Assess with moderate-to-high confidence that Tehran at a minimum is keeping open the
option to develop nuclear weapons."

We don't hear anything that sounds like this coming from most of the top US officials.
We hear about red lines that can't be crossed, and options that are on the table, and
threats, and bad guys, and yes once again Al Qaeda.

Iran is a signatory to the NPT (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Non-Proliferation_Treaty),
and as such has the right to use nuclear power for peaceful purposes.  Iran has inspectors from
the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) checking their facilities for compliance, and has not been shown to be not in compliance.

Is there anything that Iran could do that would make the US and its allies feel happy and secure?  There has been so much hysteria whipped up, it's doubtful that anything Iran could do or say, short of surrendering their sovereignty, would make much difference. 

The US remains sadly in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "the largest purveyor of violence in the world", but somehow we behave as if we're scared witless of a country with limited military capabilities.

But getting back to that NIE referenced above, are we really going to go back down the road of
attacking another country regarding non-existent weapons of mass destruction?  I recognize that
it's difficult when the majority of the media is hyping the supposed threat of a nuclear Iran
to not be swept along with the tide.  But folks...we've seen this movie before.

Where does the trajectory of this thinking lead us?  Are we to preemptively invade every country
that wants to have nuclear power?  Or just the countries that we deem to be unfriendly?

Changes

I'm told that the only constant thing in the universe is change.
Now I tend to be a creature of habit.  I like things to be consistent.
I'm not usually a big fan of change.

I remember worrying about whether I would like the latest album by my favorite group.
I didn't want the sound to change.  And I remember how I would feel relieved when the sound may have been different, but it was still something that I liked.  And then I would worry about the sound of
the next album.

But instead of worrying, I should have thought of it as a new opportunity.  A new door opening
to something which, while unknown could be a path to grow and gain new experiences.
Now there are plenty of changes that happen in our lives which are much more significant than
what our favorite group's next album sound might be.

Maybe the ownership of our company changes.  Perhaps we get a new boss.  We see the end of one
relationship and the start of a new one.

It's not always easy to look at change as being a good thing.  But often there's opportunity
available if we open ourselves up to the possibilities.

The Might of Right

We've all heard the saying "Might Makes Right".  And as much as we want to believe that we're a civilized society, everything seems to come back to that.  Much lip service is paid to the "Rule of Law", but often those with power completely ignore laws when they become inconvenient. 

Along with persuasive arguments to convince others of the merits of an idea, when resistance or opposition is encountered, the power elite resort to force..."Might Makes Right".

It doesn't always have to be overt and brutal.  When you have the resources of the power elite, you are able to manipulate public opinion and manufacture consent before you have to bring in brute force.  The power elite can pay their media servants to make their case eloquently and with arguments that sound eminently logical.  But it doesn't necessarily make it right.

The rightness of a thing is usually derived from the consent of the people in things that are more or less universally agreed upon.  Like, I think we would find universal agreement on it being a good idea to have clean water available for everyone.

But the power elite may have an interest in taking actions which threaten the safety of the water supply (fracking comes to mind).  And in order to take such actions it becomes necessary to provide a counter argument, that these actions will actually produce some beneficial result. So, their media servants are unleashed to convince the public that something demonstrably BAD, is OK to do, because they will tell us it produces jobs, or it lessens our dependence on foreign sources of energy, or some other logical argument.