JERRY LIEBER, SONGWRITER, PASSES AWAY

Jerry Lieber, of Lieber and Stower died last night. He was famous for main streaming “rhythm and blues” rock and roll. He had the vision of doing this in the early 1950’s back before it was fashionable. I associate him primarily for writing for Elvis Presley and the Coasters. However Lieber and Stower also wrote “Stand by Me”, which they say is the fourth most covered song in the world. Of course we all know they are Jewish. Jerry Lieber was born in Baltimore but got famous right here in Los Angeles. Though I have always thought of his lyrics as having an “east coast sound”. I was curious what the Federation makes of his death. Actually they were surprisingly apathetic about the whole thing. They don’t have the regard for “smart Blacks” as I do. Lieber said “Black people are smarter, you know”. The other song writer who died over the weekend was one part of that husband and wife songwriting team, famous for a whole lot of songs. Unfortunately I need a refresher course on “Black 101” because I’m not as familiar as I should be. Of course a black saxophone player for a lead singer who is White and hails from the Arktures star system gets the royal treatment from the Federation. It’s one o clock right now and Leo Le Port has been on since lunch. It’s pretty hot in here now. As I suspected closing the window tight doesn’t work.

Some would be tempted to talk about the “passing” of Steve Jobs even though he is still very much alive. But he issued a memo saying if a time ever came when he felt he could no longer do his C E O job he would be the first to note it. Of course my Mom’s sister (don’t’ worry I’ll change the wording after posting) contacted my Mom in early February of 1986 saying she would not be able to do my mom’s taxes for this year because of health reasons. When Mom reported this to me she broke down, because she realized that her sister, whom she’d known and loved all her life, was going to die. And she did die soon despite appearing pretty healthy, or so I thought, Christmas of 1985. It seems that Steve Jobs survived pancreatic cancer, which is no small feat in itself. Of course Bo Brady did it but soap opera people beat the odds all the time. Now Jobs has liver cancer, and I guess he’s not so confident of that. They said this morning that the greatest shortener of life expectancy is- - friction with co corkers. This comes as absolutely no surprise to me. In my life it’s been more phantom fear than reality. But I remember my Mom saying how this fellow Maloney, a supervisor in the Santa Ana office was obstructing her advancement. I talked to two others in two different cities and different years 1967 and 1969 and both of them, Bob Whiting and Al Kaders, seemed to give Maloney a thumbs up. So I don’t know. I’m just saying it’s been a continuing fear of mine. And it takes no imagination at all to see how uncooperative co workers could really spoil your day. And I know it all “adds up over time”. So co workers are more injurious than all those other things they lament about such as cigarettes, fried foods, and even alcohol. I think you need more attentive supervisors who are able to spot bad apples more quickly and move them out before they spoil the barrel. (Selah)

REDEFINING WHAT IS "MAIN-STREAM"

Dick Chaney has his book out. This is the book that nobody expected he’d have the cajones to write because he had held such a “Darth Vader” status. Of course he trashes so many other members of his working team in the Bush administration. Of course I kind of pull a “Dick Chaney”. As you may note I have “tightened up my claims” on the whole Einstein thing when I updated that long paragraph two postings back. I suggest those so inclined re read it. It takes balls not to just stand your ground but also to amplify on your claims. Many people still don’t see the massive right wing shift in politics for next year. They are still “fighting the last War”. They have polls out that say all four Republican candidates are in a virtual dead heat in a head to head contest with President Obama. That doesn’t bode at all well for the president. Not one bit. Because if Rick Perry can post even numbers with the President as an unknown a few months ago, just imagine what Perry will be able to do after he has refined his image a little. The order of placing was Romney and Perry, who just beat the President, and then Ron Paul and Michelle Bachman, who both trail by a percentage point or two. If they are all fighting each other and do this well, imagine what one standard barrer will be able to do with the endorsement of the other three? I really don’t think President Obama appreciates the gravity of the political trouble he is in. Just after dinner I had justice Elena Kagen being interviewed by a reporter on C-Span, who had trouble getting out a word because Kagan did a long stop monolog. The Dodger game was going on in the background. Kagen discussed Arizona’s public financing campaign law and I found the vote troubling to the max. Kagan voted the right way upholding this campaign regulation. But others argued that the rights of the rich campaigners were being abridged because they had to specifically opt out of government money. This was unfair because in their eyes the poor candidates had an “unfair advantage” by even Being Heard. As Rush Limbaugh points out, “You have a right to free speech but you don’t have a right to be Heard”. So the rights of the rich were abridged because in their eyes they deserved to have the air waves all to themselves with no opposition at all. Obviously political speech is one of the most vital in this nation. And it should be protected- - - even if it means the government has to step in and insure the rights of all parties to get their message out.

Well Hurricane Irene hasn’t exactly turned into a pussy cat, but Irene is much weaker than feared now that has advanced into the New Jersey and New York area. It had in fact been downgraded from a category one hurricane to a tropical storm. I guess the term is “Full Gale”. Actually we should all thank God in such cases in this that we were spared the damage of for instance, a hurricane Katrina. The New York subway system was not flooded with salt water. Their calendar dates for the new moon were off anyhow. The moon isn’t new until Tuesday, not yesterday. Anyhow the flood waters did not rise nearly as high as expected. Not to be an A-hole or anything but the biggest damage this hurricane may be blamed for is the loss of economic business.

One principle of commerce is that it’s pointless to make an advancement in one area if it’s only be negated by a slow down in another key area along the chain. This has been the case in computers now for some ten years. We have had 2.4 megahertz processing chips in computers for nigh on to ten years now. But it’s all for mockery because hard drive technology is still back in the ‘seventies what with access time and all. And there are moving parts that can wear out. I’m lucky. This computer is almost eight years old and Accronis is still giving me a thumbs up. But I know that I had better start looking around. Leo le Port says “if you can afford it” your next computer should be a solid state flash drive. Access time is zero. There are no moving parts. And there is no seek time. So read and write speed is much quicker. Also BUS speed on the mother board is important. Right now I’m thinking it will be at least one year but less than two years that I’ll upgrade my status with a whole new computer.