VOTE FOR LEE TURNER IN JUNE 12TH PRIMARY!

Michael Thompson for SC House District 34

TONIGHT on Occupy the Microphone----Michael Thompson, Democratic candidate for South Carolina House District 34, will be joining us. LISTEN LIVE HERE at 8-9pm, WOLI radio, 105.7FM and 910AM on your upstate radio dial.

This will be Michael's third week on our show, which is where I took the above photo. THREE WEEKS! (((trumpets))) Such a brave man, to take on the Green Party extremists/talk radio crazies! That alone, should be sufficient to impress you.

An upholder of Democratic values, a veritable MAN OF THE PEOPLE, an intrepid laborer in the halls of democracy and the House Democratic Caucus... and a most hardy soul indeed! DEAD AIR unabashedly and enthusiastically endorses Michael Thompson~!

Vote for him, Sparkle City residents and others in District 34. (map of district - PDF) He will serve Spartanburg and the surrounding areas very well.

(Michael on Facebook, Michael on Twitter.)

~*~

Rumors of this blog's demise have been greatly exaggerated!

My energies have been scattered.

Mr Daisy says, "The internet was cool before social media took over." Whether you agree with him or not, blogging as the standard certainly has gone by the wayside in so many respects.

I tweet my various pop-culture distractions and share old-school historical footnotes and strange art on tumblr. I now take my musician-photos straight to Flickr and no longer announce them here. Facebook and Google+ take up the rest of the slack, as I prefer to share personal information only with friends and not the entire world.

The longer one blogs, the more the Blue Meanies take aim, and the less one can feel welcome, even (unbelievably!) in one's own space.

I now blog here when I specifically have something important to say that it seems few (or no) folks are saying online. Since everybody is now talking at once, that tends to be my yardstick. It concentrates the mind wonderfully, and focuses on what is genuinely crucial, not just whatever catches my fancy.

The main thing that brings people to this blog is: information here that you simply can't find anywhere else, although you once could. Now we have paywalls, broken links, countless bad acts dropped down the memory hole, bloggers disappearing into the ether, mainstream media (newspapers and magazines) folding left and right, etc. It has a been a real surprise for me to learn: the much-heralded information superhighway makes it just as easy to "lose" facts and figures as it ever was, maybe even easier. (If the net is "wiped clean" of someone, it truly seems as if they never existed; if there is no internet account of an event, it can be judged never to have happened.) The more facts and events one can report in such an environment, the better.

And then, there is the fun fact that bloggers can focus on whatever we choose; we can report gossip in the manner of the NATIONAL ENQUIRER: rumors say _____. Rumors are good enough for us. Bring on the rumors. Sometimes, we have often learned, the rumors are TRUE. Boo-yah!

When the Bravo network, for example, started airing the rich-people-porn show "Southern Charm"--suddenly everybody wanted to know about (former SC Treasurer) Thomas Ravenel's history as a cokehead. Back in the day, the mainstream news organizations, obediently kissing the ass of both government AND the rich, were very polite about that sordid mess and tip-toed around it. If you wanted the real dirt, you had to go to alternative media and bloggers. Thus, that is where the story remains today. I got tons of hits when "Southern Charm" first aired, and I just got a ton more now that Ravenel has announced he is leaving the show. (Ravenel is currently running for the Senate as an Independent against Lindsey Graham)

New blog slogan: All the news that's fit to print, that (mostly) nobody has yet. (Plus old music. When I get to it.)

I think that is a fine tradition to continue, so I will.

Off to the coast, see you in a week or so. Join us on the show tonight!

Hula Hoop art

... at the Spartanburg Music and Arts Fest yesterday. Allison Yang (and friends) made psychedelic night-art with hula hoops. Or did my camera make the art?

Whichever, it was awesome!



And I got more photos of the fest HERE!

Internet Break One

Taking an internet break, sorely needed. Going to Texas, photos to come.

Aside: I hate flying. I have come to regard Southwest Airlines as the equivalent of Greyhound Buses in the Sky (with less leg room).

I have been reading David Buckley's biography of Elton John, wherein I learned of Elton's 70s-era bedroom-in-the-sky, complete with fur bedspreads and all the drugs you want. I guess you have to be Elton John to afford that? (see photo at left, courtesy of Celebrities in Flight blog post at Getty Images.)

Liberace wept!

~*~




Our radio shows this past week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (sperm donor/IVF edition), Thursday, Friday.

Today at McAlister Square (broadcast location of our show), the Greenville Literacy Association's Really Good, Really Big, Really Cheap Book Sale ... be there or be square!

In addition, OCCUPY THE MICROPHONE will be tabling (and reading Tarot) at the Spartanburg Music and Arts Festival in early September, so come on out.

Also wanted to let people know about the Generous Gardens project. WE APPROVE!

See you in about a week, peoples.

Deb Morrow not elected; annoying Tea Partier is re-elected

At left: Daisy and Deb Morrow at Occupy Spartanburg last year.







My friend Deb Morrow has lost to Tea Party-puppet Trey Gowdy in the South Carolina 4th District congressional race. He won by refusing to debate her. (Green Party candidate Jeff Sumerel was also in the race, and also offered to debate Gowdy.)

So sorry, Deb--you ran a good race. But as you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars will always beat someone who doesn't take money from special-interest groups.

It shouldn't be that way, but it is.





Gowdy wins second term in SC's 4th District

COLUMBIA — (Associated Press) The GOP's Trey Gowdy has easily won a second term in South Carolina's strongly Republican 4th District in Greenville and Spartanburg counties.

With about a third of precincts reporting, Gowdy had about 65 percent of votes cast in the three-way contest that included Democrat Deb Morrow and Green Party candidate Jeff Sumerel.

Gowdy says he wants to continue working to get the nation's economic house in order. He says the nation isn't going to succeed fiscally without real conversations in Congress about spending priorities and entitlement reform.

Morrow was making her first bid for political office. She's retired from a computer services business and said she decided to run for Congress after getting involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement and organizing an Occupy demonstration in Spartanburg.

You fought the good fight. (bows)

The 10,000-Hour Rule

My first-ever diary entry was about my cat, Smokey. I wrote: "I love my cat."

Some things never change. :)

~*~







The upstate's local GLBT pride event was Saturday in Spartanburg. I announced it on my radio show as being on "Saturday"--totally spacing the fact that I was taping the show (on Thursday) and therefore my announcement would be HEARD on Saturday, so I should have said the event was "today"--right? Argh! (Link to the show here)

This is the kind of dumb error that makes me want to scream when I hear the show replayed, and why I sometimes refuse to listen to more than a few minutes.

Obviously, I am still relatively new to the radio biz.

My talented producer and consigliere, Gregg Jocoy, has repeatedly reminded me of Malcolm Gladwell's famous '10,000-hour rule': One can only master a skill after doing it for 10,000 hours.

We have done about 55 radio shows so far, so we only have 9945 hours to go.

Brian Clark Howard writes:

One of the most interesting parts of Malcolm Gladwell’s fantastic book Outliers is his discussion of the “10,000-hour rule,” which posits that it takes about 10,000 hours of dedicated practice to truly master a skill, be it playing the violin, computer programming, or skateboarding.

Gladwell covers several tantalizing examples, from the Beatles to Bill Gates, and argues that the biggest factor in their success is not innate talent or blind luck, but rather dedication to their chosen craft. It’s an empowering message, and one that suggests that almost anyone can succeed if they put in the time (could those saccharine posters be right?).

Of course, privilege and luck can greatly ease the way, but there’s little substitute for 10,000 hours of work.

This infographic, created for the blog Zintro by Nowsourcing, takes a closer look at practice and the 10,000-hour rule.

Of course, as Kurt Cobain said, “Practice makes perfect, but nobody’s perfect, so why practice?”

As usual, Kurt had a point.

However, doing some quick math... I realize this may be good news for me. I first started writing in a diary when I was about six years old (photo of six-year-old self, above) and that means if I wrote approx 204 hours a year (which rounds out to about 17 hours a month), from then until now, I am very close to the 10,000-hour mark. The Promised Land awaits!

Unfortunately, I never kept track of that. I do know that some years I wrote passionately and obsessively for many hours a day, every day... and some years I didn't write at all. (I guess even feverish, teenybopper letter-writing about David Cassidy counts?)

I am not sure if it all evens out, but the hours do add up, after decades.

In any event, I must be getting close! One of those unexpectedly-positive things that comes from aging.

Friday update

Our own Spartanburg Occupier, Deb Morrow, won the SC Democratic primary! She will go up against awful Trey Gowdy for the 4th District Congressional Seat in November.

I made a special trip to vote for Deb; she was the only candidate on my ballot. I am proud of her efforts (and have attended two of her organizing meetings) and hope she will give us a call at the radio station tomorrow. She tried last week, but was apparently in a moving vehicle, and consequently, we lost her. Give us another shot, Deb!



~*~

Apologies for my late news. I had internet connection issues all week. Unplugged against my will! Argh!

During this time, the shameless scandalmonger in me has stayed tuned to the sordid Jerry Sandusky trial. (Penn State coach accused of sexually abusing numerous children.) No cameras in the courtroom, but reporters have provided a steady stream of horrors. I am amazed at how hands-off the authorities were, over decades... these kids were not from families who would have raised a ruckus. And Sandusky chose them deliberately for this reason.

He repeatedly told them how much he loved them, and they have testified that they loved him in return. They loved the gifts, the attention, the football games.

People on Facebook are howling for Dottie Sandusky's head, believing that she must know more than she is letting on. One victim claims he stayed overnight at Sandusky's house in excess of 50 times. Besides that, Jerry Sandusky stayed in the basement for hours with these kids. Didn't his wife suspect anything?

We will be discussing the Sandusky trial tomorrow on my show, so tune in.

Occupy the Debate!

At left: Your humble narrator.






Last night, the Republican presidential candidates debated at Wofford College in Spartanburg. We were there to greet them in our own special way!

Participants included folks from Occupy chapters from around the Carolinas, MoveOn, AFL-CIO and whoever else showed up to make their feelings known.

Photos below. The unavoidably-blurry crowd shots are from our rally across the street from Wofford, other photos are from the march and picket.



~*~

Occupy Spartanburg

At left: Does this occupation photo make me look fat?




Occupy Spartanburg kicked off today at Daniel Morgan Square in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Woo-hoo! Getting warmed up for a very eventful weekend. Tomorrow, Occupy Greenville kicks off, and it looks like it is... REALLY GOING TO HAPPEN! I am stunned that even conservative upstate South Carolina is furious enough at Wall Street to take to the streets. This means it's for real, folks. IT'S FOR REAL.

The organizing meeting was last night, and for Greenville County, the turn-out was mighty impressive. A big meeting, of course, means lots of different perspectives, and there was a buncha blather about what we stand for, what we intend to say, make a statement, yada yada. The meeting included anarchists, at least one person running for office, a Swami, and a couple of Ron Paul supporters. The diversity was surprising, and beautiful to behold.

My prediction is that the Occupy movement will ultimately outgrow any puny "organization" or attempt to pigeonhole it. This is organic and genuinely a people's movement. I have to say, I have not experienced anything like this for a very long time. For some young people, it is the first time they have SEEN real participatory democracy, and you can tell that it makes them dizzy with happiness: So, THIS is that "free speech" thing we've been hearing about.

Today in Spartanburg, another diverse group of all ages and races, from children to disabled veterans holding pro-health care signs... as well as Christians holding signs about Jesus driving the money-changers out of the temple (a very nice suggestion about what we might do to the Wall Street Greedheads). And one of the demonstrators listened to my RADIO SHOW! (squeals) I have a FAN!

Hope you are all occupying your home towns... and if you can't, drive by your local occupiers and honk and give them a thumbs-up; dozens of cars did. By nightfall, will likely be hundreds.

As I said, this is the upstate! This is Jim DeMint country and the people are giving us thumbs-up! Holy shit, folks, this is SERIOUS!

Phabulous photos below. Stay tuned, sports fans.

~*~

Radio radio (update)

Today on the ever-fabulous Daisy Deadhead show, we covered the following:


>>Is the 'Occupy Wall Street' movement being hijacked by newcomers? More people and organizations are joining Occupy Wall Street or expressing solidarity every day. Whether it's an infusion of vital energy or a force that tears at cohesion is up to the movement.

>>Governor Haley uses the South Carolina Governor's Mansion as a Motel 6 for Republican millionaires campaigning for president. You'd think millionaires wouldn't have to ask the poor people of SC to foot the bill for their ridiculous, ego-ridden presidential campaigns... but you'd think wrong. Newt Gingrich stayed there this week (en route to Hilton Head), Michele Bachmann has racked up two visits, and Mitt's spouse, Ann Romney, stayed overnight once. And the campaign season isn't even in full swing yet!

Mitt and Ann Tomney have a net worth of between $190-250 million (I guess its too much to count accurately, at those levels) and yet, can't afford to pay for their own Hampton Inn bill. Do you trust him to be the president? Think of what ELSE he will charge to us.

Meanwhile, Governor Haley continues pretending she is a "fiscal conservative"--while spending our money on her friends. Nice work if you can get it!

>>Three women's rights activists win the Nobel Peace Prize! Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, activist Leymah Gbowee of Liberia and rights activist Tawakkul Karman of Yemen share this year's Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced Friday. These women were chosen "for their nonviolent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work," the Nobel committee said in Oslo, Norway.

>>Secret panel can put Americans on "kill list'. American militants like [recently assassinated] Anwar al-Awlaki are placed on a kill or capture list by a secretive panel of senior government officials, which then informs the president of its decisions, according to officials. According to Reuters: There is no public record of the operations or decisions of the panel, which is a subset of the White House's National Security Council, several current and former officials said. Neither is there any law establishing its existence or setting out the rules by which it is supposed to operate.


And we wrapped up with earnest exhortations to join local OCCUPY TOGETHER demonstrations: Thursday, October 13th, noon, Bowman's Field at Clemson University, ... and at about the same time, MoveOn is sponsoring one in Daniel Morgan Square, Spartanburg, which will be going on all day.

Your humble narrator will be in attendance at the latter event, so come on down!

And please join us on the air next Saturday morning at 9-10am, streaming on WFISradio.com or locally at 1600am or 94.9fm on your radio dial. (The podcast is up!)

Support the 45,000 Verizon strikers!

At left: Local powerhouse activist and good friend SHEILA JACKSON! GO SHEILA!


Yesterday, 45,000 Verizon workers went on strike, and I joined a picket line sponsored by the Communication Workers of America in Spartanburg. (Photos here.)

Customer service work, which I know a few things about, can be very grueling and intense. People deserve to be PAID DECENTLY for (see link) "introduc[ing] principles of mechanization and industrial engineering into a much wider array of service transactions than was hitherto possible"... i.e. the basic organization of the factory assembly line, brought into mass telecommunciations.

If people work on an assembly line, they deserve to be paid as well as my father, UAW member who also worked on an assembly line. Customer service work is simply the high-tech, mass-telephone-version of the assembly line.

What you should know:

>> Workers in 8 states and the District of Columbia are on strike, represented by the Communication Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

>> Verizon's annualized revenues in 2011 are $108 billion, with net profits of $6 billion. The concessions demanded from workers equal about $1 billion, working out to an approximate $20,000 per family, per year. Many of these concessions concern health benefits and pensions, benefits promised to workers.

>> Verizon paid no taxes last year and in fact received a $1.3 billion-dollar TAX REBATE!

>> The top five Verizon executives earned $258 million over the past four years.

>> CWA statement: "For the American economy to recover, we need to work together to solve problems. But if profitable companies like Verizon keep sending jobs overseas and cutting compensation for ordinary, middle-class workers, while paying executives big bucks, we can't begin to build an economy that works. CWA and IBEW members are prepared to return to work when management demonstrates the willingness to begin bargaining seriously for a fair agreement. If not, workers will stand together and continue the fight."

>> Verizon has scabs of course; the economy insures that. From company-droid statement: “In anticipation of this development, Verizon has activated a contingency plan to ensure customers experience limited disruption in service during this time.”

But I'd like to ask Verizon customers to disrupt their OWN service, if possible.

Can you hear us now? :)

Anti-Republican picket in Spartanburg

... this evening in front of the Spartanburg Municipal Building. Singled out for considerable ire is our congressman, Trey Gowdy, who has all kindsa wacko Tea Party ideas (warning: link is odious)... such as keeping most of South Carolina uneducated. (Hey, voter-ignorance has worked very well for the SC GOP so far, hasn't it?)

We had a pretty good turnout, over 30 people. For upstate South Carolina, that's excellent. (I don't think Greenville County could do as well.)

~*~