A Progressive on the Prairie

One home project over the last month resulted in me browsing through numerous LPs (yes, actual vinyl) I acquired over the years. I came across and thought of various LPs that have yet to appear on CD. Several of the artists has a variety of other albums reissued (and remastered) on CD but not these. Others were probably on just such small labels that they will never see the light of day. Makes me wonder what hapens to old LP catalogs and what decides what gets reissued on CD. Here's several I'd like to see:

Circle Filled With Love, Sons of Champlin (1976)

Before Bill Champlin joined what now passes for the band Chicago, he headed a Bay Area band called the Sons of Champlin. This is by far my favorite Sons album. In fact, my copy of the record (which is at least my second, if not third) is so beat up it would be impossible to create a decent CD restoration. Thanks to the magic of the Internet, a fellow fan was kind enough to make an MP3 rip of his halfway decent LP, as well as provide a rip of a bootleg of a 1975 Marin County show with many of these tunes as the band was working them out before the LP was recorded.

Midnight Rain, Ursula Dudziak (1977)

Ursula is from Poland and a master of the jazz vocal improvisation known as "scat." You ain't never heard Night in Tunisia until you've heard the version on this record. Unfortunately, a college roommate had this LP and it never was part of my own collection or converted to another medium. I've heard "restored" versions converted to CD but the original sources still suffer scratches and nicks undoubtedly similar to those inflicted on my roommate's copy.

New City, Blood Sweat & Tears (1975)

This LP came from about the eighth permutation of BS&T. Half the album is cover tunes but it was the first LP released after David Clayton-Thomas rejoined the band. It's certainly not an award winner and far from the band's best. I always found it an enjoyable listen, though.

One World, Rare Earth (1971)

Although best known for a hit single, I Just Want To Celebrate, this LP is important to me for other reasons. Imagine a kid in northeast South Dakota looking at the back cover of the LP and discovering some guy named Ray Charles wrote the tune What'd I Say?. He decides maybe it's worth checking out the original version since he didn't hear anything but this Charles guy on local radio. Can't think of many better reasons for wanting to preserve an LP on CD.

Everybody's Painting Pictures, Wayne Johnson Trio (1984)

This is another LP that belonged to a college roommate but which I was wise enough to make a cassette copy when I heard it when visiting him in Minneapolis. It is in that transition from jazz fusion to what is today known as "smooth jazz." This LP clearly falls more in the classical jazz/fusion genre than smooth but was released on such a small label that its chances of surfacing on CD are probably slim to none.

The Mob, The Mob (1971)

After Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago charted several times in the Top 40, it seemed record companies rushed to sign as many horn bands as they could. This was one of several out of the Chicago area and a band that actually garnered a small following in eastern South Dakota. While certainly not the caliber of the nationally-known acts, this record was a horn band version of Northern Soul, making it unique enough to be memorable.

0 comments

A common law school teaching device is called the Socratic method. Primarily using questions, a professor leads a student on an exploration of the reasoning behind a particular position or argument. It can also demonstrate the absurdity of certain positions.

A perfect example may have occurred in a Washington, DC, courtroom Wednesday as the government tried to justify the unlimited scope of powers in detaining so-called "enemy combatants." According to press reports:

Could a "little old lady in Switzerland" who sent a check to an orphanage in Afghanistan be taken into custody if unbeknownst to her some of her donation was passed to al-Qaida terrorists? asked U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green.

"She could," replied Deputy Associate Attorney General Brian Boyle. "Someone's intention is clearly not a factor that would disable detention." It would be up to a newly established military review panel to decide whether to believe her and release her.

Let me repeat that. "Someone's intention is clearly not a factor that would disable detention." What in the hell is wrong with these people?

It is a fundamental principle of justice that innocent conduct should be spared from sanction. It is intent (an "evil mind" or mens rea) that creates personal culpability. Bush himself recognizes this when he talks of "evil doers." Yet under the Bush "law of enemy combatants," someone can be incarcerated regardless of any intent or desire to cause or support harm.

The fact the Bush Justice Department has totally divorced the so-called "war on terror" from any concepts of legality or justice was demonstrated by other parts of the argument before Judge Green. The government in essence told her that it is up to Bush, not a judge or anyone else, to determine how long combatants could be held. Given the fact the "war on terror" is one that can never end, we are asserting the right to even detain the little old lady in Switzerland forever.

No doubt there are people out there who mean to cause us harm. Yet perhaps we would be better off if we devoted our efforts to that rather than abusing the power available to stem that threat.

(As an aside, maybe the spotlight Judge Green's questions shines on the danger of the government's position explains its effort to keep this case out of her hands.)
0 comments

Ben Hanten at Daily Caucus caught something that slipped by me during my absence from blogging. Seems two of the leading Daschle-bashing, pro-Thune blogs were run by people paid by Thune.

Jon Lauck labeled his "Daschle v. Thune" blog as one "Analyzing the Biggest Senate Race in the USA." Seems Jon neglected to tell anyone reading the blog that he was funding his "analysis" with $4,500 a month from the Thune campaign for "research consulting."

Similarly, Jason Van Beek of "South Dakota Politics" managed to survive the summer as an unemployed law school graduate by pulling in $2,000 a month from the Thune campaign, also for "research consulting." I don't recall seeing any disclaimers or disclosures there either (although Jason at least reprinted a National Journal article reporting that he and Lauck were paid, albeit after the election).

I don't have a problem with either getting paid for "research consulting." What is bothersome is the lack of candor. Strikes me that when you are bashing and trashing someone day in and day out, some semblance of propriety or integrity might prompt you to mention to blog visitors that you're on the payroll of the opponent's campaign. But then, why would a campaign preaching moral values worry about things like that?
0 comments

A longer than expected hiatus has me starting with a few random thoughts to begin catching up.

• Why should we be suprised by this?

  The International Committee of the Red Cross has charged in confidential reports to the United States government that the American military has intentionally used psychological and sometimes physical coercion "tantamount to torture" on prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

  And just remember who Bush has nominated for attorney general.
  
  
• At least Ukrainians fight back when an election is stolen.
  
  
• Why should we be suprised by this? (Part 2) Bush's record deficits and refusal to do anything about it come home to roost in the falling dollar.
  
  
• So why does the Pentagon need a "Task Force on Strategic Communication" to do a summer study (PDF file) to figure out that "Muslims do not 'hate our freedom,' but rather, they hate our policies." Of course, this conclusion will receive one-zillionth of the coverage in the mainstream media that Bush's repeated reference to the "freedom haters" in the Middle East receives.
  
  
• And while I can't find it online I highly, highly recommend the "Get Your War On" strip in the most recent Rolling Stone (with the cover story on the 500 greatest songs of all time). It inimitably puts the concept of accountability in context with the November election.

0 comments