DRUMMER ROBERT JOSPE'S WORLD BEAT WORKSHOP, SEE VIDEO

Helen Thomas: "is there any Mideast country that has nuclear weapons now?" Obama: "Uhhhh, did someone say something? Guess not, Next Question!"

On February 9th President Obama held his first news conference since taking office. After answering a few questions he called on Helen Thomas, the veteran reporter who has a well earned reputation for directness and intolerance for spin and who was ex-president W's nemesis at news conferences.

Thomas asked a question about the Taliban taking refuge in Pakistan and then said: "is there any country in the Middle East that already has nuclear weapons?" She broke the taboo nobody in the mainstream media or the government from either party will ever acknowledge: the one and only nuclear power in the Middle East is Israel, which has a few hundred nuclear warheads and has had such weapons for many years.

After answering her question about Pakistan (a nuclear power which is not in the Middle East), Obama then bullshitted at length about nothing in particular, except he mentioned Iran, which does not have nuclear weapons.

Thomas tried to follow up by saying: "what about countries there that have nuclear weapons?' but was brushed aside.

It's been common knowledge for decades that Israel has nuclear weapons. Israel has and will jail any Israeli who even whispers this truth. AIPAC (the Israel lobbying group) and proported Jewish "leaders" like Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League will gang up on any public official or news outlet that happens to mention this fact. It has become an unfact, a non-topic for no permisable discussion.

How can they dump on Iran as a possible developer of atomic weapons if someone counters that Israel has them, so why can't other countries? If Israel's nuclear arsenal was acutally talked about in the open then someone might propose a nuclear-free Middle East in which Iran won't develop atomic weapons and Israel has to give them up. Give them up! The rules for discourse in the USA says: "Israel can do anything it wants and is above criticism." Whoever disagrees is a terrorist loving anti-semite.

Obama's performance at his inagural news conference show that nothing has changed. He's bought in to the Israeli propoganda and fantasy land, either by intimidation or belief.

Jazz at Lincoln Center: Take the Coca Cola out of Dizzy's Club

It's great to have Dizzy's Club as a jazz venue at Jazz At Lincoln Center in Manhattan. But selling the naming rights to Coca Cola SUCKS. I really don't care if a sports stadium gets a corporate name (pro sports is so awash in corporate money, and corporate culture that they deserve it). But a jazz club, and one dedicated to Dizzy, should not be so desecrated. It's worse than bad taste, it's selling out creativity for money. Of course selling out all principle for money is the American way, but a creative music and the persona of the great be-bopper shouldn't be degraded like this.

There's a reason big corporations sponsor the arts. They are trying to cover up their justly earned image as sociopaths and thieves. If only they gone after Planter's Peanuts as a sponsor, that I could understand (Salt peanuts! Salt peanuts!).

PS: "Hot Peanuts," for those not in the know, is a jazz composition written by Dizzy and recorded by his quintet with Charlie Parker. The song featured Dizzy singing "Salt Peanuts, Salt peanuts" as part of the opening melody.

Down Home Radio hosted by Eli Smith

THIS IS A MUST-HEAR PROGRAM, HEARTILY ENDORSED BY "POLITICS, MUSIC & IRONY"

http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/down-home-liv

About Down Home Radio Show
Hosted by Eli Smith .

“Down Home Radio Is A Hardcore, Unreconstructed, Paleo-acoustic, Folk Music Program.”

Eli Smith (host/producer) is a banjo player, writer, researcher and promoter of folk music living in New York City. He plays as part of the Roots ‘n’ Ruckus music collective and hosts Down Home Live, every second Saturday of the month at Banjo Jim’s. He has appeared as a guest on terrestrial radio stations such as WBAI and WDST in New York and KPFA, KPFK and KUCI in California. Eli has presented panels and discussions on folk music at the Left Forum conference at Cooper Union and at the Podcamp podcasting conference in New York City. In 2004 He traveled to Caracas, Venezuela as an American delegate to the Encuentro Mundial de Intelectuales y Artistas “En Defense de la Humanidad” (World Encounter of Intellectuals and Artists “for the Defense of Humanity). Eli also served as music consultant for the Civil War film“Racing Daylight” (2007). He has performed and recorded with Peter Stampfel, John Cohen and Sam Shepard.

Contact Eli @ DownHomeRadio@hotmail.com

Down Home Radio was founded in the summer of 2006. We believe it to be the first show of its kind on the internet.

What some folks have said about DHR:

“… [an] internet-based vernacular music program that I highly recommend for its lucid and coherent thematic perspectives.” - Nathan Salsburg, Production Manager, Alan Lomax Archive/Association for Cultural Equity.

“Always terrific…” - Jambase.com

“Everyone complains about how the local airwaves suck, but instead of bitching, you should go online to find a Gotham-based program that actually has good roots music—the podcast-formatted Down Home Radio Show..“ - The Village Voice

“Down Home Radio “ presents an ever-widening view of traditional music today…. It showcases young performers of Old Time music and Blues, as well as extraordinary rare recordings from 78s, and interviews with folklorists and traditional musicians. The program is the brainchild of Eli Smith, a rare bird who is as respectful of the past as he is concerned with the present. Being an excellent musician himself, he wanders widely and reports on happenings all over, including California as well as the downtown music scenes in Brooklyn & Manhattan. He is the only young musician I know who is single-handedly reporting on the present scene and documenting its continuity with the past. His radio show will keep you posted on the gossip, truths and anecdotes that course through this vital traditional music panorama. - John Cohen (of the New Lost City Ramblers)

Guests on Down Home Radio Have Included (In No Particular Order):

Bela Fleck
David Grisman
Pete Seeger
Rahzel
Del McCoury
Jeffrey Lewis
Peter Stampfel
John Cohen
Mike Seeger
The Carolina Chocolate Drops
David Honeyboy Edwards
Elijah Wald
David Rovics
Jody Stecher
Hank Bradley
Larry Hanks
Suzy Thompson
Mat Callahan
Peter Rowan
David Holt
Polly Ferman
The Otis Brothers
Baba & Steven Israel
Daniel Jatta
Feral Foster
Joe Hickerson

(Some of these interviews have not yet been produced as programs. Soon…)


In Memorium: Many early episodes of Down Home Radio were hosted by Professor Henrietta Yurchenco; a veteran folk and world music radio personality and pioneering ethnomusicologist. Beginning her radio career in 1940, she was Leadbelly’s producer on WNYC and was the first person to put Pete Seeger on the radio. She produced and hosted many shows featuring Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan and many other now well known folk musicians. Prof. Yurchenco is the primary field recordist and researcher of pre-Columbian Mexican Indian music and has conducted extensive research in all parts of Mexico, as well as Guatemala, Spain, Morocco, Puerto Rico and the Georgia Sea Islands in the U.S. She was Professor Emerita at The City College of New York.

For further information, please contact Eli Smith at:
DownHomeRadio@hotmail.com

The Israeli-Palestinian Score Card, can this lead to a just solution?