Bob Dylan

My pal Roland teaches all day in an intense inner-city school. He's very focused on his kids and his work. When his day is done and he's getting ready to drive home, he often texts me something to the effect of "Did Trump have a bad day?" or "Did he blow up the world yet?" We travel a lot-- often to off the beaten track places like Timbuktu, Yangon, Tirane, Sidi Ifni, Abu Simbel. These days, I'd rather go to Paris, Bali or Florence again. He's always suggesting Ulan Bator, Mandalay or Calcutta. Lately he's been lobbying for Korea.

A couple weeks ago, John Culberson had some crushing news when he read the results of PPP's survey of several hundred voters in his west Houston district (TX-07). His district's PVI had already slipped from a nice safe R+13 in 2015 to a much shakier R+7 this year. Romney had beaten Obama in TX-07 60-39%. Trump didn't fare as well. Hillary actually beat him 48.5% to 47.1%. The DCCC didn't bother running anyone against Culberson last year.

Bombshell blockbuster, Warped forever and tangled up in green + this day in history w/Nixon's not a crook and our song of the day by Godflesh on your Morning Monarchy for November 17, 2017.

If you are asking ‘Where is all the protest music?’ you aren’t looking hard enough
by Ian Sinclair
Morning Star
4 September 2017
Every now and then an opinion piece is published in the press lamenting the lack of political songwriting today.

Yesterday, the House passed H.R. 3219, the Department of Defense appropriations bill for the fiscal year ending in September, 2018. The final vote was 235-192, 5 libertarian-leaning Republicans refusing to go along with it and 5 of the most right-wing Democrats-- all Blue Dogs-- voting with the GOP and giving Ryan and McCarthy the opportunity to claim the bill is "bipartisan."But don't you dare criticize the 5 bribe-laden Blue Dogs unless you don't mind be accused of being a purity freak.

by Gaius PubliusFrom my mother's sleep I fell into the State—Randall JarrellI'll have a whole lot more to say about this subject later. But so this piece doesn't turn into an essay, let me expand just briefly on a theme I've been discussing by borrowing a few words from Chris Hedges.The theme?

As Denise Sullivan reported here last week, not everyone agreed that Bob Dylan deserved his Nobel Prize in literature. Of course, everyone I know agrees, but I don't get out much and I don't know, or at least talk to, a single person planning on voting for Trump.This morning Nicholas Pell, writing for the L.A.

ANTIMEDIA | October 21, 2016 On Wednesday, the Guardian released an article titled “U.S. and U.K. reject Russian offer of ‘pause’ in airstrikes on Syria.” Aside from the fact it’s riddled with the outlet’s usual pro-U.S.-U.K. and anti-Russian propaganda, the article sank to the lowest of possible lows in an attempt to present the Russian military […]

Charismatic leaders, severe hallucinations and 'Purge Night' + this day in history w/"Saturday Night Massacre" and our song of the day by Flock Of Dimes on your Morning Monarchy for October 20, 2016.

by Denise SullivanThe Thursday morning announcement that Bob Dylan has won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature seems to have struck a raw nerve among (mostly) male novelists and some crabby millennials on social media who were intent on disputing the 75-year-old American songwriter's worthiness of the honor. We wish to respond by saying they are entirely wrong: Dylan is an extraordinary figure. He's withstood serving as a cultural weathervane for over 50 years while flourishing as a writer. As a literary artist, we will never again see his likes in our lifetimes.