Egging things on...

That's What I Call "Clarity!"

And I love the temperate manner in which he expresses himself.

sj

Ringo --- No, not THAT one.....

I'm a sucker for a song that tells a good story.
This is one of my favorites.
I must have been about 12 years old when I first heard this.
Listened to it today for the first time in a bunch of decades -- and it STILL gets me.

OK. Maybe I'm a sap. 

I hope you can dig it.


sj

Invitation

Here's Maynard Ferguson's 70's funk version of "Invitation," one of my a favorite pieces.
He takes it places.
:)

I hope you can dig it.


sj

Astrud Gilberto

I keep coming back to her.
Like she's the first note of my one-note samba.
Taking me back to another time.
Fast.
Sultry.
Dangerous.
I drank rum and coke.
Carried a baretta.
Wore tuxes.
Like a low-rent James Bond.
Made love on the beach
Under a full moon.

I was young then.
And I was good.

I'm older now.

And better.


sj


http://www.astrudgilberto.com

Give the Devil His Due -- PROCESS!

Obama claims that his little star chamber proceeding , in which he and his henchmen decide who gets put on the “kill list,” constitutes “due process.”  As usual, Mr. Obama is lying.

Here’s a little bit about what due process actually is --- and just kicking it around with his boys doesn’t cut it:

"The essential elements of due process of law are notice, an opportunity to be heard, and the right to defend in an orderly proceeding." Fiehe v. R.E. Householder Co., 125 So. 2, 7 (Fla. 1929).

"To dispense with notice before taking property is likened to obtaining judgement without the defendant having ever been summoned." Mayor of Baltimore vs. Scharf, 54 Md. 499, 519 (1880).

"An orderly proceeding wherein a person is served with notice, actual or constructive, and has an opportunity to be heard and to enforce and protect his rights before a court having power to hear and determine the case. Kazubowski v. Kazubowski, 45 Ill.2d 405, 259, N.E.2d 282, 290." Black’s Law Dictionary, 6th Edition, page 500.

"Due Process of law implies and comprehends the administration of laws equally applicable to all under established rules which do not violate fundamental principles of private rights, and in a competent tribunal possessing jurisdiction of the cause and proceeding upon justice. It is founded upon the basic principle that every man shall have his day in court, and the benefit of the general law which proceeds only upon notice and which hears and considers before judgement is rendered." State v. Green, 232 S.W.2d 897, 903 (Mo. 1950).

"Phrase means that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, property or of any right granted him by statute, unless matter involved first shall have been adjudicated against him upon trial conducted according to established rules regulating judicial proceedings, and it forbids condemnation without a hearing, Pettit v. Penn., La.App., 180 So.2d 66, 69." Black’s Law Dictionary, 6th Edition, page 500.

"Due Process of law implies the right of the person affected thereby to be present before the tribunal which pronounces judgement upon the question of life, liberty, or property, in its most comprehensive sense; to be heard, by testimony or otherwise, and to have the right of controverting, by proof, every material fact which bears on the question of right in the matter involved. If any question of fact or liability be conclusively presumed against him, this is not due process of law." Black’s Law Dictionary, 6th Edition, page 500.

"Aside from all else, ‘due process’ means fundamental fairness and substantial justice. Vaughn v. State, 3 Tenn.Crim.App. 54, 456 S.W.2d 879, 883." Black’s Law Dictionary, 6th Edition, page 500.

"[T]he meaning [due process] does not change with the ebb and flow of economic events." - Justice Sutherland, in West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish, 300 U.S. 379, 402 (1936).

"It is manifest it was not left to the legislative power to exact any process which might be devised. The [due process] article is a restraint on the legislative as well as on the executive and judicial powers of government, and cannot be so construed as to leave congress free to make any process ‘due process of law,’ by its mere will." Murray's Lessee v. Hoboken Imp. Co., 18 How. (59 U.S.) 272, 276 (1855); French v. Barber Asphalt, 181 U.S. 324, 330 (1900).

"An act of the legislature is not necessarily the ‘law of the land.’ A state cannot make anything ‘due process of law’ which, by its own legislation, it declares to be such." Burdick v. People, 36 N.E. 948, 949, 149 Ill. 600 (1894).

"Due process of law does not mean merely according to the will of the Legislature, or the will of some judicial or quasi-judicial body upon whom it may confer authority. It means according to the law of the land, including the Constitution with its guaranties and the legislative enactments and rules duly made by its authority, so far as they are consistent with constitutional limitations." Ekern v. McGovern, 154 Wis. 157, 142 N.W. 595, 620 (1913), cases cited.

"’The law of the land,’ as used in the constitution, has long had an interpretation, which is well understood and practically adhered to. It does not mean an Act of the Legislature; if such was the true interpretation, this branch of the government could at any time take away life, liberty, property and privilege, without a trial by jury." Saco v. Wentworth, 37 Maine 165, 171 (1852).

"The individual may stand upon his constitutional rights as a citizen." "His rights are such as existed by the law of the land long antecedent to the organization of the State, and can only be taken from him by due process of law, and in accordance with the Constitution." Hale v. Henkel, 201 U.S. 43, 74 (1905).

"[T]he provision [due process clause] is designed to exclude oppression and arbitrary power from every branch of government." Dupuy v. Tedora, 15 So.2d 886, 890, 204 La. 560 (1943).

"The Legislative has no right to absolute, arbitrary power over the lives and fortunes of the people. The Legislative cannot justly assume to itself a power to rule by extempore arbitrary decrees…" Samuel Adams, The Rights of the Colonists (1772).  

"Daniel Webster, in the Dartmouth College Case, stated: ‘By the law of the land is most clearly intended the general law; a law which hears before it condemns; which proceeds upon inquiry, and renders judgement only after trial. The meaning is that every citizen shall hold his life, liberty, property, and immunities, under the protection of the general rules which govern society. Everything which may pass under the form of an enactment is not therefore to be considered the law of the land.’ - It is thus entirely correct in assuming that a legislative enactment is not necessarily the law of the land." - Judge Thomas M. Cooley, A Treatise on Constitutional Limitations, 5th Ed. 


liberty & justice,

sj

 


 

Dark Gray

More fact than fiction.

sj

The Lady Wails

Listening to my current favorite singer, Kerensa Gray.
This is, like, my native tongue, daddy-o.

I hope you dig it.


sj


www.kerensagray.com

You're Invited...

...To visit my newly redesigned website at www.spartacusjones.com

It's very Zen, right now.

Minimalist, you dig.

But you'll find music there that you can download for free.

Not sure what else we're going to do with it --- open to suggestions.

Let me know what you think.

sj

Mexico

When I think of Mexico, this is the song that comes to mind.
Well,  this one and "Besame Mucho."
Must have played that one a thousand times. We did a real slow version, featuring my pal, Tony, on tenor sax.
His daughter and I did the vocal together.

For me, Mexico was a place where the good was the best, the bad was the worst, and the ugly got real fucking ugly.
I miss it.


sj

Viva Los San Patricios

Mexican music on the pipes seems like a perfect celebration of St. Patrick's Day.
If you don't know why, you can read about it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a5sxWlAUUE


sj

Villa-Lobos

I dig this Villa-Lobos piece.
The arpeggio is a monster.
Makes me want to break out my guitar and get serious again.

I hope you dig it, too.

sj

Fight!

This is it.
If Obama get away with this, he will have the power of an Emperor, a King -- a Fuhrer.

I disagree with Rand Paul on many things.
But not on this one.

sj

Time

This great little tune is an obscure piece by the "British Invasion" group, the Dave Clark Five.
One of my favorites.

I hope you dig it.

sj

Spring is Almost Here

At least, that's what the ponies tell me.
And horses never lie.

sj

For Free

One of my favorite songs by one of my favorite song-writers.

I hope you dig it.

sj

Life Goals

A great little scene.
I love his list of things he DOESN'T want to do.
:)


sj

Re: Music - Revolutionary and Inspiring

A friend sent me a link to this TED Talk and it brought together a lot of unorganized thoughts I've had on this subject for quite a while. This lady pulls it all together and I realized when I heard her, yes, that's what I've been trying to get at.  That makes sense of it.


I have to ask: why am I making music?

Is it for the money?
Or is it to make connections, to communicate, to share a message I believe has value?


I'm about to make some radical changes.

I hope you dig it.

sj

NDAA Explanation

This is the law that Obama is fighting so hard for.
That should make you think.
Assuming you're still capable of thinking.

sj

Standing Up

The outrage amongst gun-owners over the 2nd Amendment violations could help galvanize resistance to ALL Constitutional violations by ALL levels of government.

Don't argue about WHICH Right to protect! Some people are touched more directly by some than others, and so respond more. Embrace ALL these folks.  We're ALL on the same side, not matter how or why we got there.

You heard few protests over the PATRIOT ACT because it was pushed through without having been read by most of the Congresspeople who voted for it, let alone by the People, and it was passed in a frenzy of post 9/11 hysteria. Further it is a subtle thing that targets individuals quietly.

By the time the TSA appeared at airports, there was substantial learned helplessness as evidenced by the compliant behavior of air travelers.

Both things SHOULD have been stopped in their tracks. However, we can't go back. We have to take action to fix it now.No matter how far you go down the wrong road, TURN AROUND!

What's important is not that some people FAILED to notice when other rights were violated, but that they are personally being touched by a violation NOW, and THAT may in turn sensitize them to the violations that they DIDN'T see or understand earlier. (You could look at the flip side, too. Some people who were wailing and moaning over First Amendment violations have said NOTHING about Second Amendment violations.)

You have to understand that until it happens to YOU, it doesn't seem real or important. You know that guy who said "First they came for the Jews, but I wasn't a Jew so I didn't speak up...?" (I'm paraphrasing). He hit the nail right on the head.

When people finally DO wake up, we need to accept and embrace them instead of castigating them for not having awakened SOONER. If they COULD have, they WOULD have. The Bad Guys play a full court man-to man press game of DIVIDE AND CONQUER --- we damned well better not do it to ourselves.

For WHATEVER REASON a person finally wakes up and joins the fight, I welcome him or her. As Will wrote in Henry V: "...He today that sheds his blood with me, Shall be my brother..."

Liberty & Justice,

sj

 What the Spartans said about giving up their weapons, 

we should all say about giving up our freedom.