Music Reviews-Phil Cohran, Bad Company

Phil Cohran

Kelan Phil Cohran has had a very productive musical life although I'm not sure that he's that widely known outside of the jazz/post-modern musical world. He's primarily a bandleader. His initial instrument was trumpet. He also plays cornet, psaltery, zither, French horn, frankiphone (an instrument he invented which is similar to a mbira), and various percussion instruments among others. Born in Mississippi he was a talented sideman for people as dissimilar as Jay McShann and Sun Ra. Cohran also was a founding member of the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians). The AACM became famous for its quality of musicians it attracted and for promoting what it called "Great Black Music", a melange of serious avant-garde jazz, blues, and almost every form of black diaspora music as well as classical and other forms of what would come to be referred to as "world music".  The AACM sought to challenge music industry exploitation as well as offer free music training to people in inner cities. The AACM gave classes in Hebrew, Arabic and Swahili as well as history. As was unfortunately the case during those times (and today?), the AACM attracted the thoughtful and negative attention of the Chicago Police Department and the FBI.

Cohran has spoken of learning a lot from Sun Ra, who he's said was the most advanced bandleader for whom he ever worked. But Cohran wanted to lead his own band and ground his music a little more firmly in blues traditions. Or to put it another way Sun Ra and many of his imitators or disciples played "out" most of the time while Cohran's compositions, while occasionally way out there, generally tended to have some quite noticeable links to traditional forms. Cohran is a historian and musicologist as well as a musician. He has lectured extensively on music's impact on the body and mind.  In any event the period from 1966 to 1975 saw Cohran's new music fit in quite nicely with the rising afrocentric stylings of the time. His first band ,called the Artistic Heritage Ensemble, initially included some people who would become quite heavy hitters later on in their career such as future members of The Pharaohs and Earth, Wind and Fire, Pete Cosey, the guitarist who became famous for his work on Miles Davis' early seventies albums, and conguero Master Henry Gibson, who later worked with Curtis Mayfield. In short if you were a working Chicago jazz or funk musician during the late sixties and seventies you probably were familiar with Cohran's band. And if you were among the best at your craft, you might have been in his group. Along with Miles Davis, Cohran was one of the first modern musicians to explore modal possibilities in jazz.

This music is not for everyone. Cohran doesn't write 3 minute pop songs. Because he often skips having a singer the compositions don't always follow the verse-chorus-bridge format. And with the large bands he was using, things could get somewhat dense. There's a lot of different things going on rhythmically. So it's something of an acquired taste. Fortunately from my point of view I did acquire a taste for this music and often play an entire release of his while I'm cleaning the house or exercising or doing some other repetitive task. It's easy for me to get lost in this music. It's not blues, afro-beat, jazz, North African, soul, funk, gospel, classical, Afro-Cuban, arabic, indian, flamenco but all of that and more. You could literally put Cohran anywhere on the planet and he would fit in musically. Obviously he has a extremely deep understanding of musical theory. Occasionally Cohran works with the band, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, which includes his sons on various brass instruments. I LOVE their song "Cuernavaca". It's a must have as far as I am concerned. "Malcolm Little" is an old school blues. "The African Look" is a song about pride in yourself that wouldn't have sounded too out of place on "A West Side Story". If you were interested in what the marketing term "spiritual jazz" might mean, Phil Cohran was one of its progenitors.

Kilimanjaro     Theme  Cuernavaca (w/Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)  
The Spanish Suite  
Malcolm Little
Unity(Live)  Frankiphone Blues  El Haj Malik Shabazz  Minstrel  White Nile   
Cohran Blues Spin(w/Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)  The African Look
War(Hypnotic Brass Ensemble) 






Bad Company

I had a pretty interesting virtually idyllic childhood. I heard all kinds of different music not only because my parents were music educators and fans but also because I attended schools that had wildly divergent demographic profiles. One year I'd be in a school where James Brown, The Jackson Five or Freda Payne were what people knew and liked and a few years later I'd be in a school where The Doobie Brothers or Nazareth were the preferred listening material. And then I'd go home where jazz, gospel or blues were likely playing. I can probably thank one of my private school teachers for getting me hip to such folks as The Allman Brothers or Free. Back in the day FM radio was not quite as regimented or as segregated as it is now so I heard different styles there as well. One day I will have to do a post on legendary Detroit radio host/dj The Electrifying Mojo, who I think deserves a special mention. Anyway I write all that drivel to point out that although stereotypically I probably wasn't in the target demographic for Bad Company there was a time in the seventies and eighties when it was difficult to avoid hearing them in the circles I was then frequenting. 

When I purchased a "Best of .." release it was funny to me how many of their songs I already knew. The older you get the more stuff that is just rattling around in your head waiting to be triggered. Anyway the best thing about Bad Company was not really the guitar solos, which for my money were workmanlike and pedestrian but the vocals and, rarely, the songwriting. Bad Company had former Free frontman Paul Rodgers handling the vocals. I wouldn't go so far as to call him soulful but his voice was definitely earnest and very expressive. Basically to me he and Tom Jones sounded about the same, more or less.

Bad Company grew out of the ruins of Rodgers' former group Free. Obviously vocally the groups were quite similar but musically Bad Company leaned in a slightly more pop direction than Free did. Bad Company also had members from other groups such as King Crimson and Mott the Hoople. Bad Company was much more financially successful. After their initial albums the ratio of bad music to good music got a little too high for me but no one has a limitless supply of creativity to call upon. I liked some of their hits though. These included the Hendrix inspired elegy "Shooting Star", the ominous "me against the world" tune "Bad Company", the nod to funk of "Live For the Music", the hard rock boogie "Can't Get Enough ", the country tinged "Feel Like Making Love" , the ballad "Ready for Love" (this was used in "Supernatural" when Dean and the angel Anna got busy so I now associate the song with that scene), the ballad "Silver, Blue and Gold", the travelogue "Movin On" and many others. This wasn't quite a favorite group of mine. I won't be chasing down every note they ever recorded as I try to do for Hendrix or James Brown. But all the same if I'm driving and hear their music on the radio I will usually turn it up and sing along.

Michigan Republican Dave Agema makes new anti-gay remark

When you get together with your family do you ever encounter an older relative who theoretically deserves your respect but on the other hand loses any deference you might have given because of what they say or how they act? Maybe it's the crazy uncle in the corner who, upon seeing that you are temporarily not busy, wants to share his grand unified theory with you on how "THEY" are behind all the world's problems. Or maybe it's the loony cousin who only stops by at family gatherings to drop off her kids for some free babysitting while she goes out to party. Or perhaps it's the in-law who is just about to start up on his favorite anti (insert ethnic group here) rant and sees no reason to stop just because your date for the evening happens to belong to said ethnic group. Often times when people are our family we give them a bit more leeway to say or do things which we would automatically and fiercely oppose were other people to say or do them. That's human nature I guess. 

All the same sometimes even family can step over the line and need to be checked. I think that Michigan Republicans probably can relate to that necessity right about now. Michigan Republican National Committeeman Dave Agema, not content to limit his anti-gay remarks to Facebook, decided to go all in on how he really felt about gay people at a recent Republican meeting in West Michigan. He doesn't seem to understand that he's doing his pro-traditional marriage stance a serious disservice. Although I don't think that everyone who supports the one man, one woman form of marriage is a insane bigot Mr. Agema certainly seems to give credence to the idea promoted by the pro gay marriage side, that only bigots would want to limit marriage arbitrarily.

Gov. Rick Snyder has added his voice to the chorus of criticism directed at Republican National Committeeman Dave Agema over his latest antigay remarks. Agema, in a speech at a Republican meeting in Berrien County on Thursday, said that gay people manipulate the system to get free health insurance because they are dying from AIDS at a young age.

Agema cited his experience as a pilot with American Airlines, according to a transcript of his remarks published by the Herald-Palladium of St. Joseph and Benton Harbor. "I'm a flight attendant," Agema said. "You have AIDS. You come to me and say, 'Hey, tell them I'm your lover for the last six months.' You get on our health care. "American Airlines spends $400,000 before you die of AIDS. And he goes on to the next, and the next, and that's what was happening.

"Folks, they want free medical because they're dying between 38 and 44 years old. It's a biggie. So, to me it's a moral issue. It's a biblical issue. Traditional marriage is where it should be and that is in our platform, so people that are opposed on that issue within our party are wrong."

Media reports about Agema’s comments brought a storm of criticism and calls for Agema’s resignation. Last March, Agema came under fire for approvingly posting on Facebook an article that said gay people were sexually promiscuous, rife with sexually transmitted diseases and responsible for "half the murders in large cities."

LINK

Agema says his remarks were taken out of context but that he stands by them. I'm not really seeing what the proper context should have been but even if his data were correct HIV is hardly a major issue among gay women. So by that standard Agema should then support lesbian marriage, which he certainly does not. I'm not sure his comments would be as shocking in West Michigan as they would be in Southeastern Michigan, which does tend to be slightly more socially liberal but the world is changing, even including West Michigan. There are gay folks even in West Michigan, despite what Agema might think. And I think people can tell the difference between someone who just believes in traditional marriage and someone who has an active dislike for gay people. 

What do you think?

Should Agema resign? 

Can the Republican Party win in 2014 and beyond with leaders talking like this?

SNL Sharpton Skit

We had previous posts on how National Action Network head and Politics Nation MSNBC host Al Sharpton may not be the most compelling television host. His cadence, apparent discomfort, malapropisms, excessive volume, constant eye popping OUTRAGE, blind partisanship, slavish devotion to the White House talking point of the day, and never ending search for the teleprompter all make for exciting television in the same way that a 3 car wreck makes for exciting viewing on the daily commute. And generally speaking I like Al Sharpton. He's been willing to stand up and be counted which is more than you can say for most people. It's just to quote iconic film character Dirty Harry, "A man's gotta know his limitations." Al Sharpton appears to have completely disregarded that advice. Not only is he straying from his lane, he's not even driving on the street any more.

I just don't think that Mr. Sharpton is a smooth comfortable speaker in front of a camera, at least not when he is not protesting something. There are many skills I have and many that I do not. There's no shame in that. Public speaking is certainly not my kettle of fish. I have over the years tended to, consciously or not, shape my career so that I can minimize the opportunities for public speaking. It's not something I care to do or am much good at doing. As far as Sharpton goes, I think that the talents required to be an activist and protester are not necessarily those required to create must see TV. But heck if someone wants to pay me a busload of money to do something I'm not very good at and is okay with me not being very good at it would I turn them down? Would you?  We know Sharpton didn't. As it turns out we at The Urban Politico weren't the only folks to notice Mr. Sharpton's relative discomfort on his own tv show. As Fed Up brought to my attention, SNL, which I don't really watch any more, recently had a skit satirizing brother Sharpton, which touched on many of the points we had raised months prior. So either we should consider going to write for SNL or Sharpton's presentation shortcomings are so painfully obvious to everyone with a pulse that bringing attention to them is akin to saying that when it rains you get wet. Either way check out the skit below.

Movie Reviews-2 Guns, Price Check

2 Guns
directed by Baltasar Komarkur

I was expecting a little more from this film because of the leading actors but I didn't think too badly of it once it was done. I'm not sure if it was just a paint by the numbers kind of movie or if I just happened not to be in the mood for this flick. There is some snappy repartee between Washington and Wahlberg but for my money most of that was in the trailer. There is some toplessness from femme fatale Paula Patton (or her body double) and the requisite amount of bloodshed, doublecrosses and "will he or won't he figure it out" set pieces. So if you like action movies or buddy movies or movies where the good guys have to make last stands against seemingly omnipotent government agencies this could be the film for you. It's not by any means the best work of either Washington or Wahlberg. But it's not supposed to be. It's an action movie.

2 Guns messes around with time and flashback so that initially you're not sure what's going on or who exactly is the good guy. Bobby Trench (Denzel Washington) is a gold-toothed thug and middleman supplier of all things criminal or legal who's looking to make a drug buy from Mexican drug lord Greco (Edward James Olmos). Trench's partner is optimistic, motormouthed and supposed ladies' man criminal Mike Stigman (Mark Wahlberg). When the drug deal falls through because the paranoid Greco doesn't quite trust Trench enough yet, Stigman suggests that for revenge they rob the bank where Greco deposits his money. Trench likes this plan. The duo carry out the deed, though not before thoughtfully disabling possible police pursuit and discussing the propriety of winking at waitresses.

Of course things aren't as they seem. Both Stigman and Trench are far too skilled at surveillance, electronics, gunplay and other special techniques to be low level criminals. They also seem to avoid hurting innocent people. As we learn when Trench is having some fun with sometime lover and semi-supervisor Deb Rees (Paula Patton), Trench is actually an undercover DEA agent tasked with taking Greco down. If he can't get the planned drug arrest he'll take a consolation prize of money laundering charges and the fact that he hurt Greco's finances. He's not worried about Stigman as he believes Stigman is just another criminal and thus collateral damage. Stigman's death could die but Trench is planning for his arrest. Deb may also be having a little something something with their mutual boss Jessup (Robert John Burke). I suppose on some level if Paula Patton asks you what you're doing tonight you don't wonder what she's doing tomorrow. That seems to be how Trench looks at it anyway. Hmm. 

And Stigman is not really a criminal either. He's actually Navy Intelligence. The Navy wants to steal Greco's money to use for some operations that they'd just as soon Congress or the Joint Chiefs of Staff not know about. As Stigman's boss Quince (James Marsden) reminds Stigman, Stigman is to steal the money, bring it to him and eliminate loose ends, that is to say the "criminal" Trench. Quince "owns" Stigman due to some unfortunate past actions taken by the hot tempered Stigman. After the successful bank robbery Trench is surprised and disturbed when the DEA, which Deb was supposed to tip off for the arrests, never shows up. And both men are shocked to find out that instead of the sum they expected, they've stolen more than ten times that amount. Worried that Trench might indeed be a cop, albeit a dirty one, Stigman shoots Trench in the shoulder instead of killing him and takes the money to Quince. Stigman and Trench each start to thoroughly research their erstwhile partner. Quince is not happy that Stigman didn't follow orders exactly. Greco doesn't like his bank being robbed. And Trench definitely intends to return the "favor" of being shot in the shoulder.

This kicks off a series of desperate events, double-double crosses, revealed secrets, hostage takings and showdowns at high noon. The actual organization (take one guess) whose money was stolen sends a literal troubleshooter named Earl (Bill Paxton in probably the best role of the film) to find who stole their money, get the money back and severely punish the thieves as well as anyone who knows or works with the thieves. Paxton appears to having a grand old time as he is constantly smirking at a joke that only he seems to get. He's in a good mood no matter who he tortures or kills. 2 Guns was a decent enough movie, but it's not something which is a must see. Olmos plays a possibly stereotypical part but in a clumsy way the film attempts to balance this by taking a few plugs for comprehensive immigration reform. So there's that. If you like action films or just like Wahlberg and/or Washington this was a passable film. Don't have super high expectations and you won't be disappointed.
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Price Check
directed by Michael Walker

This is an independent film which features indie queen Parker Posey in the lead actress role. She really nailed her role. Her leading man didn't quite seem to be able to keep up with her but maybe the character was written that way. Price Check is a workplace comedy/drama. For my money the genre classic film is Office Space but this film is not quite as over the top as that movie was. It's more adult and more dramatic if that makes sense in this context. It has a similar theme in that a protagonist is trapped in an unwanted job but unlike Office Space, he and his co-workers aren't cartoon characters nor do they have the freedom to just up and quit. Most have mortgages, children, spouses or other supposedly good reasons why they're where they are. So I liked both Price Check and Office Space but they each have totally different reasons for their appeal.

Pete Cozy (Eric Mabius) is a price research/marketing analyst at the Long Island New York regional office of the supermarket chain Wolskis, which is owned in turn by the conglomerate ACS. Pete should be working elsewhere. He lacks passion for his job. He soldiers on but clearly his heart is not in the dry analysis of why certain goods sell or don't, where items should be placed for maximum profit, which sales should be run at which time, whether to compete on price or quality or any number of other questions which are critically important to supermarkets and big box stores, but barely register with other people. No Pete's passion is music, or rather managing bands and/or running a record label. That's what he used to do years before. When the tiny indie label he was working at failed he moved to his current job. But he doesn't like it much. The pay is bad. He and his attractive supportive wife Sara (Annie Parisse) have a young son together.  Sara doesn't work outside the home. They struggle to pay the bills. But as Pete explains to a somewhat bemused Sara he's avoided promotion because he doesn't think the extra money is worth the additional responsibility and workload. Pete's somewhat introverted. Pete is a strict 9-5 guy who's marking time until...well something.

This changes when Pete's old boss retires/is forced out and he gets a new boss, Susan. Susan Felders (Parker Posey) is closer to Pete's age. She was a transfer from a different company within the ACS network. She's far more aggressive than Pete's old boss; she intends to shake up her team. Susan is in it to win it and has no time for slackers,"losers", introverts, or people who don't want to have FUN. Susan, who reminds me in different ways of two women I once knew, is a quick tempered high energy profane neurotic extrovert who's seeking her next promotion almost as soon as she arrives. Susan is not overly concerned with ethical or even legal restraints but she does enjoy her job, which to her chagrin, is not something that can be said about everyone on her new team. Susan is aware that she has a company wide rep as a hard woman to get along with. And she likes it. Surprisingly Susan quickly takes a liking to Pete. She seeks his advice on team staffing and finagles an invitation to dinner at Pete's home and to his son's Halloween party. She quickly intuits that Pete is working below his capacity. So despite his protestations she gives him more work and more responsibility. She also casually doubles his salary. This doesn't come without a few attached drawbacks or perks, depending on your point of view. Susan has big plans, which might include Pete if he wants to grab the brass ring. 

Working with Susan, Pete gets to meet some company big shots. This includes ACS CEO Jack Bennington (Edward Herrmann), a wily old patriarch who tolerates the hard charging Susan as he would a wayward daughter. But Jack also likes what he sees in Pete. Jack is impressed with Pete's Ivy League education and like Susan, thinks that Pete might be cheating himself from getting more from life. Pete lacks confidence though that's changing under Susan's tutelage. Susan never lacks for confidence. When she catches Pete checking out her fishnet clad legs she smirks and says "You like that, right?" Pete's uncertain if he's showing Jack and Susan a false front or if he's changing. Jack and Susan inspire Pete to do different things. He doesn't want to disappoint them. However there's a conflict between disappointing them and cheating himself.

I don't know about where you work but I definitely recognized some of my current former work environments in this film. There is sexual tension and jealousy between some people, HR policies be damned. We see rivalries for the next promotion, for access to the boss and for the last donut. There are hostile reveals of unflattering or intimate co-worker information. In one status meeting Susan handles a overly familiar subordinate in a manner which had me laughing out loud and taking notes to use myself. Price Check is worth watching for that scene alone. Many of Susan's tactics definitely work in the gladiator pit which is corporate America. But I'll skip Susan's primary way of getting what she wants which is to throw a screaming temper tantrum. 

Susan can be quite nasty and passive aggressive. She tells the team they all have inexpensive gym memberships and are expected to use them. When Susan makes this announcement she's looking at one other person the entire time. It's like if my boss somberly tells the team that we have to get in earlier and work later but looks right at me. Mmm-okay... Price Check's other characters are mostly background. This is Posey's show all the way. She handles it well. Fair warning, Price Check abruptly drops all comedic elements about two-thirds of the way thru. It becomes a completely different film. This was jolting, to say the least. You may think about workplace competition. If someone backstabs you, manipulates you or simply plays the game better than you do does that make them a bad person? Can you let those things go and chalk it up to experience? I've always had trouble doing that. Still do, actually. Price Check doesn't give any answers and to the extent there are villains, they seem to skate by. So it's like real life. Everyone is a hero in their own story. I thought the ending was a massive cop-out but I can see why the director went that way. 
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The Lord's Prayer in Old English

Because of dynastic disputes, broken promises and outright greed, the Norman Duke William The Bastard (afterwards known as The Conqueror-it was a VERY BAD idea to refer to his illegitimate status or his relatively poor and non-noble mother as he tended to break things and hurt people) claimed the English throne and successfully invaded in 1066, putting an end to Anglo-Saxon hegemony at the Battle of Hastings. A new number of French and Latin words and phrases were introduced into the English language and it was slowly transformed to what we know today. Old English aka Anglo-Saxon fell out of favor.

What is less well known is that William's victory at Hastings was a close thing. His knights faced the ancient Anglo-Saxon infantry shield wall battle line which they found themselves quite unable to break. Victory only came when the Normans feigned a total retreat. Thinking that they had won, the Anglo-Saxons broke formation to chase after the fleeing Normans only to get the surprise of the millennium when the knights reversed course. The Normans rode down and slaughtered the dispersed and disordered infantry. The Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson had sussed out the trick and was apparently furiously trying to get his men re-organized when he was killed by an arrow to the eye. The rout began in earnest though true to their oaths Harold's house guard stayed to fight over his body and died to the last man.  

Bad luck for the Anglo-Saxons.
I took a few college classes on Northern European literature where they did indeed have us read Beowulf. One of my professors got a kick out of declaiming in Old English. Listen to the Lord's Prayer in Old English below. If King Harold had won and everything else in history had pretty much stayed the same, perhaps everyone in today's English speaking world would sound like this. To me it has the sing-song qualities of Swedish with the guttural tones of German. It is funny to occasionally hear words that sound English.

The Landry Thompson Incident: Where are you going with that white girl?

I never had an official version of "the talk" which some black parents allegedly give to their children, especially their boys, somewhere around puberty about how white racist expectations can place them in danger and how they have to be careful. In part this was because (1) I think my parents believed such warnings to be self-defeating and self-limiting, (2) I grew up in an environment which was predominantly black, and (3) as both my parents and other relatives were active in social movements I picked up a lot by osmosis through the years, making a formal "talk" entirely unnecessary in any event. All the same I did get the idea, whether through comments by relatives or other people, that a black person needed to be especially aware of his surroundings and his companions. You have the right to travel anywhere in this country and with anyone whom you like. That doesn't necessarily mean that it is always a smart thing to do.  Because sometimes people can misinterpret such actions. And when such misinterpretations are based on race and people with the legal authority to detain, arrest or kill you get involved things can get dicey indeed.

We talked before about how a white parent or other adult with a black child can raise some concern among some people. I don't ever remember having any problems growing up traveling with white aunts, uncles or teachers but then again I didn't do that too often. Well just as a white adult with a black child in tow can make people question you the opposite is also true. A black adult travelling with a white child needs to be prepared for the occasional odd look, challenge or question. That's just the way it is. They probably aren't prepared to be arrested and accused of crimes but as no doubt some of my more cynical elders would say what did they expect.

A teenage Oklahoma hip hop dancer is still shaken after her dream trip to a Texas dance studio ended up with her in handcuffs and taken to Child Protective Services and her guardians in police custody.

"They had nothing on us," dance instructor Emmanuel Hurd told ABCNews.com. "Instead of going the route they should have went, they took her to CPS. The only reason someone gave me was we were black and Landry was white."Landry Thompson, 13, has been dancing since she was 7. For the past few years, she has dreamed of traveling to Houston to dance with well-known hip hop dancer Chachi Gonzales at Planet Funk Academy.

Over the weekend, Thompson's parents, instructor and dance partner made her dream come true. Landry flew to Houston from her Tulsa, Okla., home on Saturday and met up with Hurd, 29, and her dance partner Josiah Kelly, 22.

The three spent the day at the dance academy and taking part in a video shoot. After wrapping and dinner, the exhausted trio stopped at a gas station around 3 a.m. to program their GPS to find their hotel, according to Hurd. He dozed off and awoke to find their car surrounded by police. A police officer eventually took Landry's phone and spoke to her mother. "He got on the phone and he said, 'Are you aware your daughter is in Houston, Texas, with two black men?' And I said, 'Yes, I am aware of that,'" Destiny Thompson told ABCNews.com. "Then he started mumbling stuff about my parenting, why I would let her do that and then he proceeded to tell me the people she was with were intoxicated or on something." 

LINK w/VIDEO
I certainly don't fault the police for inquiring as to why a underage girl is in a car with two men at 3 AM in the morning. What I do question is seemingly ignoring the notarized letter, detaining the men and putting the girl into Child Protective Services until everything was worked out to their satisfaction. I also question if race alone should have been enough to indicate arrest/detention. 
But to be fair I'm sure that police who do run across trafficking rings hear similar "explanations" all the time. Still if there has been no crime committed, and I don't think that falling asleep at a gas station is a crime is it, it's hard to see why they didn't let the trio continue on their way. 

All the same I would, for this reason and many others, avoid situations where I would be traveling with a child who's not mine, especially if the child is of a different race. As has been remarked elsewhere the men are lucky they weren't tased, beaten or shot. So all's well that ends well I guess.

What do you think?  Good necessary police work or something else?

What's the difference between arrest and detention?

Michigan: Detroit Bankruptcy, Pensions, and Abortion Insurance Coverage

There's a lot happening in Michigan. Recently a federal bankruptcy judge ruled that yes indeed Detroit was bankrupt.This shouldn't have surprised anyone. However the judge didn't stop there. Among other things he found that Detroit municipal pensions were not entitled to special protection despite what the Michigan constitution states. In the judge's view the pensions were contracts just like any other. The judge also implicitly agreed that the state and city did not negotiate in good faith but basically shrugged his shoulders and said that there was no alternative. If you're not familiar with the writer David Cay Johnston, well you ought to be. He has a knack for explaining what's going on in the worlds of finance and economics in an easily understandable manner. You should read this article.

The result will mean even worse poverty in the sputtering Motown, where a once robust industrial tax base has withered away, the starkest example of the economic devastation wrought by government policies that for decades have encouraged companies to move manufacturing offshore.

Financial mismanagement in Detroit under every mayor in the past six decades also contributed to the disaster, except for the honorable exception of Coleman Young in the mid-1970s. The result: Public worker pensions averaging $19,000 a year will be cut to the bone. That is sure to increase demands for federally funded food stamps, a program which Congress has just cut, and other welfare to make up for some of pensions workers earned but will not collect.

Norman Stein, a Drexel University law professor who is an expert on pensions, said that if the Detroit order stands it will become standard practice to slash benefits. “It would be a human catastrophe of the first order if pensions of vulnerable older workers can be cut whenever a local government goes to bankruptcy court,” Stein said. “We will be consigning firemen and policemen, who did nothing wrong other than protecting the city and depending on the city's promise, into old-age poverty.”

I thought that Johnston's article distilled everything down to its essence. I seem to remember international banks causing the near destruction of the modern semi-capitalist world as we knew it back in 2008-2009. Although the spokesmen and servitors of these financial institutions are extremely fond of quoting neo-liberal free-market bromides to other people, especially those who lack capital, when it was their own behind in a sling they ran to the US government for a bailout. That same US government also bailed out most of the US auto industry. These actions were obviously massive violations of free-market principles and the sorts of things the US screams about when China or other nation states engage in them.

However, generally speaking most people won't permit their ideology to interfere with their survival if it comes down to it. A Muslim shipwreck survivor with nothing to drink but wine and nothing to eat besides pork sausages will likely choose survival over religious dictates. A feminist egalitarian trapped in a burning house will not complain when a strong fireman saves her by lifting debris from her which she was unable to lift. And a bigot experiencing a heart attack probably won't make too much of a fuss when the doctor performing the angioplasty is of a different race than he is. There are exceptions but most people would agree that such folk are well, stupid.

And yet some people seem to think that a society which committed trillions to a bank bailout which did little to help working people and fretted over the rights of speculative bondholders in an auto bailout should stand and do nothing as the rights of retired pensioners are thrown into the trashbin. It's a mean old world indeed. No one wins in bankruptcy other than the lawyers and business entities who suck up public dollars and goods. That said though I do think that state and federal law should recognize a difference between money being paid to a retired fireman who does not receive Social Security and money being paid to an institutional investor who made a bet. Unfortunately Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr seems to want to ensure that the banks get paid first.

Moving along.
You may remember a recent post in which we discussed whether corporations have religious rights and whether the federal government can make corporations pay for birth control abortifacients which violate the owner's conscience. I wrote then that supporters of such rules tend to overlook the fact that just because you have a right to do something does not imply that you have a right to make someone else pay for it. Something that was on my mind then which I didn't mention was this next story. The Michigan State Board of Canvassers confirmed a petition drive which will make anyone who wants abortion insurance coverage purchase a separate rider. This initiative can be made into law by the legislature within 40 days and can't be vetoed by the governor. That is how we do things in Michigan. Direct democracy still has a place in our process. No one challenged the signatures. They were certified. I sometimes think that pro-choice people can get outworked on the ground game.

Lawmakers took preliminary procedural action on a voter-petitioned proposal to ban group health coverage for abortions as its supporters and opponents sparred in press conferences Tuesday at the state Capitol.

The exchange occurred a day after the Board of State Canvassers confirmed a Right to Life-backed drive had secured enough petition signatures to put the initiative before lawmakers.

On Tuesday, the Senate sent the petitions to its Government Operations committee as an initial step in the legislative process. The House took the default step of putting it on the floor calendar for a second bill reading.

Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville said he has discussed the proposal with the Senate’s GOP majority but doesn’t know whether the group is ready to vote yet. Richardville, R-Monroe, would say only he expects action “within the next 40 days.”
Lawmakers have 40 legislative session days from Monday to enact this type of voter-initiated legislation. Inaction would send it to the statewide ballot in the November 2014 election.                                                                                       

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Admittedly this will be the state interfering with private contracts to enforce its idea of the good. Unfortunately for those opposed to this particular instance I think it's difficult to honestly have too much outrage as the state does this in various other ways all the time. PPACA supporters explicitly cheered the state's power to do this in other cases. We must be careful giving the state powers like this because people with differing ideas about what's good than us eventually obtain power. An argument in support of the PPACA was that insurance costs would drop for everyone if we forced those dastardly "free riders" to pay their fair share. Well that argument swings the other way too. Those who want an abortion should not make everyone else share the cost. I am pro-life so I'm not too bothered by this. Because I'm leery of the state sticking its nose into employment contracts willy-nilly I'd be willing to oppose this action provided that there was some realization on the other side that making people pay for certain things which violate their conscience is often a bad idea. But there is rarely that concession. Lacking compromise things devolve to power politics. 

So it goes. As abortion is uncommon, if this initiative should become law I don't expect a lot of cost changes to policies. This is about principle. There are already 23 other states which have similar rules around abortion and insurance. It's not as if Michigan is breaking any new ground here. Both the Michigan Senate and House are Republican dominated. There are also some pro-life Democrats. Nevertheless this is not a slam dunk. Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is not a social issues hard right governor. Although under our constitution he can't veto this measure he may attempt to twist arms to convince legislators to let the people vote on it. We shall see in 40 days.

What's your take on these two issues?