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23:56:36 05/14/12
New Releases For May 15, 2012 - Press Pause Daily
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 23:56:36 05/14/12
This week brings quite a few high profile releases to help unburden your wallet of all of that pesky money.
SHOW NOTES:
GAME 1: Diablo III - PC, MAC
First up is the much anticipated action RPG Diablo 3, which brings players back to the land of Sanctuary.
20 years have passed since the end of the last Diablo 2 expansion, and the Demon Lords Azmodan and Belial make a return.
The game will feature five character classes including: the Barbarian, the Monk, the Wizard, the Witch Doctor, and the Demon Hunter.
You’ll be able to use the environments as a weapon by setting traps, or using destructible objects and environmental obstacles to your advantage.
The game’s multiplayer will utilize a new and improved version of Blizzard’s Battle.net that will make connecting and plyaing with your friends a lot easier.
You’ll also be able to utilize in game artisans that can you to craft new weapons and items, and the in game auction house will let you sell items for in game as well as real world money.
The single player game will let you use up to three AI followers, and skills and abilities will unlock as soon as you level up. You will also be able to use many more of your new skills simultaneously.
Gamers have been patiently waiting for this game for over 10 years. I’m sure there are a lot of people who won’t be heard from for a few weeks after they get their hands on this.
GAME 2: Max Payne 3 - PS3, Xbox 360, PC
Next up is the return of the popular third person shooter Max Payne.
Max Payne 3 sees an older and slightly more broken Max as he decides to take a job down in São Paulo, Brazil, protecting the family of wealthy real estate mogul Rodrigo Branco.
Of course, as things usually go in this type of story, everything turns to shit, and now Max finds himself alone in an unfamiliar city, and he’ll have to find out the truth in order to survive.
The game will feature cutting edge shooting mechanics for precision gunplay, advanced new Bullet Time and Shootdodge effects, full integration of Natural Motion's Euphoria Character Behavior system for lifelike movement.
This will also be the first Max Payne game to feature multiplayer. It will feature the same Bullet Time as the single player game. It will also have many weapons, characters, locations, and more to choose from.
A lot of people were skeptical about a new Max Payne game, especially one not developed by Remedy. However, things are looking pretty good for this release, and it might just be one to take a closer look at.
GAME 3: Game of Thrones - PS3, Xbox 360, PC
Our next game is based on the wildly popular book and television series Game of Thrones.
This 30 plus hour game will take gamers into the George R. R. Martin created world of Westeros as one of two original characters who were both once part of Robert’s Rebellion.
As you play you will forge alliances and wage battles as they play a pivotal role in the ongoing war for power of the Seven Kingdoms.
Feel time slow in the heat of battle: Combat mirrors the series' thoughtful approach to war and politics: fighting slows but never stops entirely, forcing the player to make quick, pressured choices before their enemy strikes again.
If you’re a fan of both the books or the TV series, and want to spend more time in the land of Westeros, then go ahead and grab this title today.
GAME 4: Battleship - PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, 3DS, DS
And lastly today we have a tie-in to the upcoming movie based on the classic boardgame Battleship.
Step into the role of Cole Mathis, the U.S. Navy's "boots on the ground," and experience thrilling gameplay as you combat a deadly alien invasion in this game inspired by the upcoming Universal Pictures film.
Command real-time control of naval units, strategize a map-wide plan of attack and direct your fleet to launch air strikes, conduct radar sweeps and engage in high-seas combat.
Battle against the invading threat on the shores of Hawaii as a member of the elite E.O.D. Arm yourself with an arsenal of deadly weapons and upgradeable naval units, all with special attacks and attributes.
The movie itself looks like good dumb fun in the vein of a Michael Bay film, and hopefully this game can be just as entertaining. It is a movie tie-in game though, so I don’t hold out much hope.
Be sure to catch past episodes of Press Pause. To do that, you just need to go to presspause.mevio.com , or our YouTube channel youtube.com/presspausemevio .
3 Views
23:00:18 03/07/12
Ronald Romney Forgets Iran-Contra
[LESS INFO] 3 VIEWS | ADDED 23:00:18 03/07/12
For the second time in four months, Mitt Romney has penned a tough-talking op-ed on the Iranian nuclear program. But this time, the almost certain GOP presidential nominee has introduced a new riff to his constant refrain that "If we re-elect Barack Obama, Iran will have a nuclear weapon. If you elect me as president, Iran will not have a nuclear weapon." Now in his Washington Post piece and again in his speech Tuesday to AIPAC , Romney has portrayed himself as a modern day Ronald Reagan who will force Tehran to give up its nuclear ambitions just as it did the 52 U.S. hostages in 1981. Unfortunately, Mitt forgot the full story of the Gipper's experience with Iran. As it turned out, in the Iran-Contra scandal that almost ended his presidency, Ronald Reagan gave the mullahs in Tehran not a show of American might, but a cake, a Bible - and U.S. arms.
Romney first Reagan impersonation appeared in Monday's Washington Post as a follow up to November's " I Won't Let Iran Get Nukes ." In it, he cast Barack Obama as "America's most feckless president since Carter" and cast himself as the Gipper: >
Beginning Nov. 4, 1979 , dozens of U.S. diplomats were held hostage by Iranian Islamic revolutionaries for 444 days while America's feckless president, Jimmy Carter, fretted in the White House. Running for the presidency against Carter the next year, Ronald Reagan made it crystal clear that the Iranians would pay a very stiff price for continuing their criminal behavior. On Jan. 20, 1981, in the hour that Reagan was sworn into office, Iran released the hostages. The Iranians well understood that Reagan was serious about turning words into action in a way that Jimmy Carter never was.
Speaking by satellite Tuesday to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy (AIPAC) Conference, Mitt again donned his Reagan mask (around the 8:40 mark above): >
"I believe the right course is what Ronald Reagan called 'peace through strength.' There is a reason why the Iranians released the hostages on the same day and at the same hour that Reagan was sworn into office. As President, I will offer that kind of clarity, strength, and resolve."
Apparently, Mitt Romney wasn't paying attention to the rest of Reagan's performance. That would be the part when Ronald Reagan swapped arms for hostages with Ayatollah Khomeini.
The Iran-Contra scandal , as you'll recall, almost laid waste to the Reagan presidency. Desperate to free U.S. hostages held by Iranian proxies in Lebanon, President Reagan provided weapons Tehran badly needed in its long war with Saddam Hussein (who, of course, was backed by the United States). In a clumsy and illegal attempt to skirt U.S. law, the proceeds of those sales were then funneled to the contras fighting the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. And as the New York Times recalled, Reagan's fiasco started with an emissary bearing gifts from the Gipper himself: >
A retired Central Intelligence Agency official has confirmed to the Senate Intelligence Committee that on the secret mission to Teheran last May, Robert C. McFarlane and his party carried a Bible with a handwritten verse from President Reagan for Iranian leaders. >
According to a person who has read the committee's draft report, the retired C.I.A. official, George W. Cave, an Iran expert who was part of the mission, said the group had 10 falsified passports, believed to be Irish, and a key-shaped cake to symbolize the anticipated ''opening'' to Iran.
The rest, as they say, is history. After the revelations regarding his trip to Tehran and the Iran-Contra scheme, a disgraced McFarlane attempted suicide. (That would be the same Bud McFarlane whose endorsement Newt Gingrich touted during a reecent GOP debate.) After his initial denials, President Reagan was forced to address the nation on March 4, 1987 and acknowledge he indeed swapped arms for hostages ( video here ): >
"A few months ago I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not. As the Tower board reported, what began as a strategic opening to Iran deteriorated, in its implementation, into trading arms for hostages."
(For more background, read the Reagan diaries , starting with the part in which he admits in 1986, " I agreed to sell TOWs to Iran .")
Of course, the sad saga didn't end there. Then Lt. Colonel and now Fox News commentator Oliver North saw his Iran-Contra conviction overturned by an appellate court led by faithful Republican partisan and later Iraq WMD commissioner Laurence Silberman. And in December 1992, outgoing President George H.W. Bush offered Christmas pardons to Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and five other Iran-Contra scandal figures. Among them were John Poindexter and Elliott Abrams, men who eight years later reprised their roles in the administration of George W. Bush.
As it turns out, Elliott Abrams - one of the people who brought you the Iraq War - is also now providing ammunition for Mitt Romney. As Washington Post blogger and Romney stenographer Jennifer Rubin wrote Monday after President Obama's address to AIPAC: >
As former deputy national security advisor Elliott Abrams explains, "Military and intelligence cooperation is excellent, and American diplomatic support for an isolated Israel was repeatedly (though not always, as he suggested) forthcoming. Still, any effort to paper over the differences between his administration and the Netanyahu government--or worse yet, to make believe there really are no important differences--was bound to fail." Facts are stubborn things, and Obama's record is so error-strewn and so different in tenor from predecessors that no speech can paper over the last three years.
Facts are, as Ronald Reagan liked to say, stubborn things. Among those facts is that with the Iran-Contra scandal, Reagan disgraced himself and his country. Which is why Mitt Romney had it right for once back in 1994 when he proclaimed: >
"I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush; I'm not trying to return to Reagan-Bush."
Sadly, 18 years later and 25 years after Iran-Contra, Ronald Romney is trying to rewrite that history, too.
(This piece also appears at Perrspectives .)
0 Views
23:00:18 03/07/12
Ronald Romney Forgets Iran-Contra
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 23:00:18 03/07/12
For the second time in four months, Mitt Romney has penned a tough-talking op-ed on the Iranian nuclear program. But this time, the almost certain GOP presidential nominee has introduced a new riff to his constant refrain that "If we re-elect Barack Obama, Iran will have a nuclear weapon. If you elect me as president, Iran will not have a nuclear weapon." Now in his Washington Post piece and again in his speech Tuesday to AIPAC , Romney has portrayed himself as a modern day Ronald Reagan who will force Tehran to give up its nuclear ambitions just as it did the 52 U.S. hostages in 1981. Unfortunately, Mitt forgot the full story of the Gipper's experience with Iran. As it turned out, in the Iran-Contra scandal that almost ended his presidency, Ronald Reagan gave the mullahs in Tehran not a show of American might, but a cake, a Bible - and U.S. arms.
Romney first Reagan impersonation appeared in Monday's Washington Post as a follow up to November's " I Won't Let Iran Get Nukes ." In it, he cast Barack Obama as "America's most feckless president since Carter" and cast himself as the Gipper: >
Beginning Nov. 4, 1979 , dozens of U.S. diplomats were held hostage by Iranian Islamic revolutionaries for 444 days while America's feckless president, Jimmy Carter, fretted in the White House. Running for the presidency against Carter the next year, Ronald Reagan made it crystal clear that the Iranians would pay a very stiff price for continuing their criminal behavior. On Jan. 20, 1981, in the hour that Reagan was sworn into office, Iran released the hostages. The Iranians well understood that Reagan was serious about turning words into action in a way that Jimmy Carter never was.
Speaking by satellite Tuesday to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy (AIPAC) Conference, Mitt again donned his Reagan mask (around the 8:40 mark above): >
"I believe the right course is what Ronald Reagan called 'peace through strength.' There is a reason why the Iranians released the hostages on the same day and at the same hour that Reagan was sworn into office. As President, I will offer that kind of clarity, strength, and resolve."
Apparently, Mitt Romney wasn't paying attention to the rest of Reagan's performance. That would be the part when Ronald Reagan swapped arms for hostages with Ayatollah Khomeini.
The Iran-Contra scandal , as you'll recall, almost laid waste to the Reagan presidency. Desperate to free U.S. hostages held by Iranian proxies in Lebanon, President Reagan provided weapons Tehran badly needed in its long war with Saddam Hussein (who, of course, was backed by the United States). In a clumsy and illegal attempt to skirt U.S. law, the proceeds of those sales were then funneled to the contras fighting the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. And as the New York Times recalled, Reagan's fiasco started with an emissary bearing gifts from the Gipper himself: >
A retired Central Intelligence Agency official has confirmed to the Senate Intelligence Committee that on the secret mission to Teheran last May, Robert C. McFarlane and his party carried a Bible with a handwritten verse from President Reagan for Iranian leaders. >
According to a person who has read the committee's draft report, the retired C.I.A. official, George W. Cave, an Iran expert who was part of the mission, said the group had 10 falsified passports, believed to be Irish, and a key-shaped cake to symbolize the anticipated ''opening'' to Iran.
The rest, as they say, is history. After the revelations regarding his trip to Tehran and the Iran-Contra scheme, a disgraced McFarlane attempted suicide. (That would be the same Bud McFarlane whose endorsement Newt Gingrich touted during a reecent GOP debate.) After his initial denials, President Reagan was forced to address the nation on March 4, 1987 and acknowledge he indeed swapped arms for hostages ( video here ): >
"A few months ago I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not. As the Tower board reported, what began as a strategic opening to Iran deteriorated, in its implementation, into trading arms for hostages."
(For more background, read the Reagan diaries , starting with the part in which he admits in 1986, " I agreed to sell TOWs to Iran .")
Of course, the sad saga didn't end there. Then Lt. Colonel and now Fox News commentator Oliver North saw his Iran-Contra conviction overturned by an appellate court led by faithful Republican partisan and later Iraq WMD commissioner Laurence Silberman. And in December 1992, outgoing President George H.W. Bush offered Christmas pardons to Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and five other Iran-Contra scandal figures. Among them were John Poindexter and Elliott Abrams, men who eight years later reprised their roles in the administration of George W. Bush.
As it turns out, Elliott Abrams - one of the people who brought you the Iraq War - is also now providing ammunition for Mitt Romney. As Washington Post blogger and Romney stenographer Jennifer Rubin wrote Monday after President Obama's address to AIPAC: >
As former deputy national security advisor Elliott Abrams explains, "Military and intelligence cooperation is excellent, and American diplomatic support for an isolated Israel was repeatedly (though not always, as he suggested) forthcoming. Still, any effort to paper over the differences between his administration and the Netanyahu government--or worse yet, to make believe there really are no important differences--was bound to fail." Facts are stubborn things, and Obama's record is so error-strewn and so different in tenor from predecessors that no speech can paper over the last three years.
Facts are, as Ronald Reagan liked to say, stubborn things. Among those facts is that with the Iran-Contra scandal, Reagan disgraced himself and his country. Which is why Mitt Romney had it right for once back in 1994 when he proclaimed: >
"I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush; I'm not trying to return to Reagan-Bush."
Sadly, 18 years later and 25 years after Iran-Contra, Ronald Romney is trying to rewrite that history, too.
(This piece also appears at Perrspectives .)
8 Views
22:22:12 03/02/12
Attwenger - "HINTN UMI": SXSW 2012 Showcasing Artist
[LESS INFO] 8 VIEWS | ADDED 22:22:12 03/02/12
Attwenger - "HINTN UMI": SXSW 2012 Showcasing Artist
The Austrian duo Attwenger turn Upper Austrian folk music and wry local wisdom into madcap backbeats and funky, flaring accordion. It's The Cramps parachuting into a mountain village street fest for a punk spree, or The Pogues punning in Alpine slang to dancefloor-friendly samples. It's folk trip-hop, psychedelic and feral polka. Part of a cross-genre outbreak of creativity in Austria%mdashwhere rappers sit in with neo-trad bands and DJs deconstruct roots music with unabashed glee%mdashAttwenger hear bass lines and funky beats in salty expressions and rural Alpine wisecracks. They hear defiance and political critique in traditional dance songs and ballad. They know how Saul Williams and Hank Williams, techno and Chuck Berry, can find a perfect, unexpected place in the spirited folk flow. The indie-gone-Alpine party comes to SXSW for the band's US debut March, 2012. The band will also travel to New Orleans and New York. "This is the amazing thing: All these traditional tunes, polkas, and Alpine country sounds fit with punk or rock or hip hop drums," marvels Attwenger drummer Markus Binder. "It works really well, but it was a surprise. Then we saw that this is the future." {full story below} "We didn't plan this thing at all," Binder exclaims. "This combo of punk and hip hop and rock beats with traditional sounds was unheard of. One evening we had drum set on stage for a show with our traditional band. I wasn't really a drummer; I just played for fun. I sat behind the kit and the ... From: sxsw Views: 682 9 ratings Time: 04:15 More in Entertainment
0 Views
15:53:47 02/29/12
Read Across America Horton Hears a Who
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 15:53:47 02/29/12
Read Across America Horton Hears a Who
Montana teachers, March 2nd is upon us, and our Montana schools are celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday through Read Across America Day. As part of tomorrow's celebrations, the National Education Association is encouraging adults to read their favorite Dr. Seuss book to children. I wish I could visit each and every one of your classrooms in person, but I hope you will find this video useful as you celebrate reading with students across Montana. The Dr. Seuss book I picked to read is called Horton Hears a Who. I picked this book because it's not just a great story, it also has a great lesson for all of us: A person is a person no matter how small, and we need to speak up when we have something to say, because everyone's voice deserves to be heard. I want each and every Montana student to know that they are special in their own unique way. Your students have talents and ideas that are worth sharing, and they can help make the world a better place, starting right there with the things they do in your classrooms. Thank you all for your hard work, day in and day out, for Montana children. Providing our young people with a solid education is the best thing we can give them. More information about Read Across America is available HERE From: SenatorBaucus Views: 813 0 ratings Time: 15:46 More in News & Politics
19 Views
00:00:00 02/16/12
Bridge The Gap to Uganda, Fair Trade Bees
[LESS INFO] 19 VIEWS | ADDED 00:00:00 02/16/12
Let's get one thing straight. This episode is not about Fair Trade Bees. It's about bees that want to kill Chris Bashinelli. The bees are part of KiBwana's apiary, a honey business he's started thanks to the money he's made from selling Fair Trade Vanilla.
21 Views
00:00:00 02/16/12
Bridge The Gap to Uganda, Fair Trade Bees
[LESS INFO] 21 VIEWS | ADDED 00:00:00 02/16/12
Let's get one thing straight. This episode is not about Fair Trade Bees. It's about bees that want to kill Chris Bashinelli. The bees are part of KiBwana's apiary, a honey business he's started thanks to the money he's made from selling Fair Trade Vanilla.
11 Views
00:00:00 02/16/12
Bridge The Gap to Uganda, Fair Trade Bees
[LESS INFO] 11 VIEWS | ADDED 00:00:00 02/16/12
Let's get one thing straight. This episode is not about Fair Trade Bees. It's about bees that want to kill Chris Bashinelli. The bees are part of KiBwana's apiary, a honey business he's started thanks to the money he's made from selling Fair Trade Vanilla.
2 Views
00:00:00 02/16/12
Bridge The Gap to Uganda, Fair Trade Bees
[LESS INFO] 2 VIEWS | ADDED 00:00:00 02/16/12
Let's get one thing straight. This episode is not about Fair Trade Bees. It's about bees that want to kill Chris Bashinelli. The bees are part of KiBwana's apiary, a honey business he's started thanks to the money he's made from selling Fair Trade Vanilla.
28 Views
19:24:04 01/18/12
Indie Game Makes Bank and SOPA Goes Down - Press Pause Daily
[LESS INFO] 28 VIEWS | ADDED 19:24:04 01/18/12
An indie developer recoups their entire production cost in four days, and the Stop Online Piracy Act is dead for the moment.
SHOW NOTES:
Story 1:
Here at Press Pause, we are big fans of indie games. So when good things happen to an indie release, we wanna tell you about it.
Toxic Games, makers of the recently released Portal-esque game Q.U.B.E, announced this week that they were able to recoup their full development cost in the game’s first four days on sale.
Toxic was one of the first developers to take part in the Indie Fund, which helps independent game makers fund their games. They ended up investing $90,000 in the development of Q.U.B.E., which was doled out in chunks. The folks at Indie Fund say that their investment was worth it and “that that investment paid off with 12K sold copies since the game launched last week.”
It seems that Toxic is already discussing possibly moving Q.U.B.E. beyond the PC. Lets hope that means an XBLA or PSN release in the near future.
http://www.joystiq.com/2012/01/16/q-u-b-e-moves-12k-copies-in-first-four-days-recouping-full-ind/
http://indie-fund.com/2012/01/q-u-b-e-recoups-investment/
Story 2:
Well it looks like the internet is victorious in it’s battle against the Stop Online Privacy Act, at least for now.
A report has come out that states that the legislation that had been making it’s way through the US House of Representatives has been indefinitely shelved, and will not be coming up for a vote on the floor of the House.
On the official Committee on Oversight and Government Reform site, committee chairman Darell Issa posted a statement stating that SOPA would “not move to the House floor this Congress without a consensus."
While this is a good day for the internet, the fight isn’t over yet.
Let’s not forget that the US Senate has it’s own version of the legislation called the Protect Intellectual Property Act.
Let’s hope the same fate awaits it as well.
http://www.gamespot.com/news/congress-shelves-sopa-6348670
That will do it for your daily dose of Press Pause. You can always find all our episodes over at presspause.mevio.com . You can also check them out over at our Youtube channel: youtube.com/presspausemevio .
8 Views
08:57:51 12/19/11
Family Of The Year - Live in Studio B - Part 1- Living On Love
[LESS INFO] 8 VIEWS | ADDED 08:57:51 12/19/11
Part 1 of Family of The Year performing at Mevio Studios in San Francisco For the entire performance CLICK HERE
WEBSITE FACEBOOK TWITTER About
Most bands function like a family, seeing how touring, writing, and studio time force them to share a lot of small spaces for extended periods of time. But Family of the Year has taken that familial feeling a step further, and not just with its moniker. The members of the Los Angeles outfit have formed unbreakable bonds amongst themselves that come from cohabitating in a run-down house and relying on each other for inspiration and support, which has led to the kind of camaraderie that allows members to finish each other’s sentences. It also doesn’t hurt that frontman Joe Keefe and drummer Sebastian Keefe are real-life siblings.
Not surprisingly, many of the group’s songs feature numerous voices, and more than a few include a chorus of joyous handclaps. Some even sound like they should be sung by the tight-knit group around the campfire while the s’mores are melting and the wine is flowing, especially the ones that name-drop members of the band. Guitarist Jamesy Buckey, in particular, has received the lion’s share of shout-outs in FOTY songs, to the point where it’s become a Family tradition.
Family of the Year’s story began in 2009, when Joe assembled a band around an album, Songbook , that he completed while decompressing from a five-year stint with Unbusted, the alt-rock trio he started in Boston with Sebastian that gained some notoriety for its inclusion on the soundtrack to the Farrelly brothers’ film Stuck On You . Instead of relying on the distortion of his past, suddenly pianos, horns, acoustic guitars, and other assorted instrumentation were being used to display a more sophisticated—yet equally as playful—indie-rock sound that brings to mind classic pop bands like The Smiths, The Byrds, Fleetwood Mac, and The Go-Betweens.
To say that Family of the Year has accomplished a lot in a short amount of time would be an understatement. In addition to Songbook , the band has issued a pair of EPs on its own Washashore Records imprint, 2009’s Where’s The Sun and 2010’s Through The Trees , and songs from all three discs have made their way onto various international releases. Media attention has come from various corners of the world, including heavy rotation on French radio as well as glowing reviews from NME , the BBC, and Spin .
Now the group is preparing for its busiest schedule yet, with shows and tours being planned around two new releases: the St. Croix EP, which is coming out on Sept. 27, and the full-length Diversity , which is due in early 2012. In addition to plenty of stateside dates, the Family plans to return overseas, where it has already developed a significant fanbase. In early 2011, the band played sold-out shows in England and across Europe, including a triumphant set at France’s largest music festival, Les Vieilles Charrues.
The list of artists that FOTY has played with over the years is notable, including Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes (who took the band on tour early in its career), Mumford & Sons, Gomez, and The Antlers, though arguably the most impressive opening gig so far was when the band warmed up a Ben Folds performance with the Boston Pops Orchestra. Handpicked by Folds and Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart, Family of the Year beat out 700 other hopeful artists to open the Oct. 2009 event. Not a bad way to spend your third show ever.
“We went back home to Boston to play at Symphony Hall, which was the sweetest homecoming ever,” says Joe. “The show was amazing. Our mom got to stay at a nice hotel and get dressed up and come see us play. Musically we were a bit shaky, it being our third gig, but it was a great room to play in.”
Proving its versatility, the Family has made fans of a couple of fellow Massachusetts-bred musicians who, on the surface at least, don’t have much in common: singer-songwriter Willy Mason and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler. Mason contributed to the reggae-tinged “The Princess And The Pea” on Through The Trees , while the demon of screamin’ discovered Family of the Year through a mutual connection and compared what he heard to “The Mamas And The Papas on acid.” Interestingly enough, the Keefe brothers used to live next to the apartment in Boston that once housed Aerosmith.
“I don’t think Steven Tyler is getting a tattoo anytime soon, but he likes our music,” says Sebastian. “We had the opportunity to meet him once, and he was really cool.”
But a band is only as good as its most recent output, which is why it’s fair to say that Family of the Year has positioned itself for greatness. Recorded by what now constitutes the core of FOTY—Joe (vocals, guitar), Sebastian (drums, vocals), Buckey (guitar, vocals), and Christina Schroeter (keyboards, vocals)—the group completed 14 songs with producer Wally Gagel at his new studio in Hollywood. This is the first time that the band has worked with a producer and gone outside of its own camp to release its music.
With Gagel’s assistance, the band has crafted a stirring set of songs teeming with catchy melodies, clever ruminations on love, heartbreak, and staying up late enough to watch the sun rise, and a cosmopolitan flavor enhanced by the fact that the members of Family of the Year hail from all over the globe. After being born in Martha’s Vineyard, the Keefe brothers followed their father’s bloodline back to Wales during their formative years (during which time Britpop was booming); Buckey is from Jacksonville, Florida, where he familiarized himself with that town’s all-ages punk scene; and Schroeter is the lone Southern California native, having grown up in Huntington Beach. Though still only in their 20s, the members of this Family are music veterans, and the precision with which they play is a testament to all of the hard work that got them here.
Gagel is another Boston native, having played with ’90s power trio Orbit prior to his current status as half of the hit-making production duo Wax Ltd (he and Xandy Barry have collectively and individually worked with artists like Folk Implosion, Muse, New Order, and The Rolling Stones). Joe had already developed strong ties with Gagel before the band entered the studio.
“Having him be a really close friend instead of a random producer assigned to us was really helpful, because you have to be pushed to edit yourself and be better, be stronger, work harder on things,” says Joe. “Working with someone like that who knows exactly what we wanted it to sound like with the same exact vision, it was really kind of a no-brainer.”
St. Croix ’s title track and “Living On Love” perfectly encapsulate what FOTY does best, and the two songs will also appear on next year’s full-length. “St. Croix” is a dreamy, jangly tune about “a boy from Florida / took a trip to the Caribbean … he came to get over her,” and in case you’re wondering, yes, it’s about Jamesy. “Living On Love” is as spirited as the band members themselves, promoting carpe diem over a bouncy, keyboard-driven rocker that brings to mind Vampire Weekend at its best. As a bonus, the EP features a slow-bumping electro remix of “St. Croix” by Hooray For Earth’s Noel Heroux, who over the years has shared various stages with the Keefe brothers. The track is a reminder of their origins, while the EP and LP as a whole are glorious celebrations of just how far they’ve come.
“It feels like the first time in so many ways, because it’s the first time things have really clicked,” says Joe.
“We inspire each other,” says Sebastian. “It was important for this record to be something that would stand up as one piece, rather than something that sounded like songs strung together. We really wanted to have a record with a clear identity.”
And Family of the Year’s future is clearly a bright one. Playing every show like it’s a special occasional and writing each song with complete conviction has allowed the band to accomplish everything it has set its sights on. As “Living On Love” notes, “they say that you can’t get every little thing that you want … it’s such a lie.” Contact Information
Booking: AJ Paul / APA apaul@apa-agency.com
Online: Sneak Attack, Zach Hinkle, zach@sneakattackmedia.com
Label: tinyOGRE, marketing@tinyOGREent.com
31 Views
16:19:16 12/16/11
Family Of The Year - Live In Studio B - Part 2 - Chugjug
[LESS INFO] 31 VIEWS | ADDED 16:19:16 12/16/11
Part 2 of Family of The Year performing at Mevio Studios in San Francisco For the entire performance CLICK HERE
WEBSITE FACEBOOK TWITTER About
Most bands function like a family, seeing how touring, writing, and studio time force them to share a lot of small spaces for extended periods of time. But Family of the Year has taken that familial feeling a step further, and not just with its moniker. The members of the Los Angeles outfit have formed unbreakable bonds amongst themselves that come from cohabitating in a run-down house and relying on each other for inspiration and support, which has led to the kind of camaraderie that allows members to finish each other’s sentences. It also doesn’t hurt that frontman Joe Keefe and drummer Sebastian Keefe are real-life siblings.
Not surprisingly, many of the group’s songs feature numerous voices, and more than a few include a chorus of joyous handclaps. Some even sound like they should be sung by the tight-knit group around the campfire while the s’mores are melting and the wine is flowing, especially the ones that name-drop members of the band. Guitarist Jamesy Buckey, in particular, has received the lion’s share of shout-outs in FOTY songs, to the point where it’s become a Family tradition.
Family of the Year’s story began in 2009, when Joe assembled a band around an album, Songbook , that he completed while decompressing from a five-year stint with Unbusted, the alt-rock trio he started in Boston with Sebastian that gained some notoriety for its inclusion on the soundtrack to the Farrelly brothers’ film Stuck On You . Instead of relying on the distortion of his past, suddenly pianos, horns, acoustic guitars, and other assorted instrumentation were being used to display a more sophisticated—yet equally as playful—indie-rock sound that brings to mind classic pop bands like The Smiths, The Byrds, Fleetwood Mac, and The Go-Betweens.
To say that Family of the Year has accomplished a lot in a short amount of time would be an understatement. In addition to Songbook , the band has issued a pair of EPs on its own Washashore Records imprint, 2009’s Where’s The Sun and 2010’s Through The Trees , and songs from all three discs have made their way onto various international releases. Media attention has come from various corners of the world, including heavy rotation on French radio as well as glowing reviews from NME , the BBC, and Spin .
Now the group is preparing for its busiest schedule yet, with shows and tours being planned around two new releases: the St. Croix EP, which is coming out on Sept. 27, and the full-length Diversity , which is due in early 2012. In addition to plenty of stateside dates, the Family plans to return overseas, where it has already developed a significant fanbase. In early 2011, the band played sold-out shows in England and across Europe, including a triumphant set at France’s largest music festival, Les Vieilles Charrues.
The list of artists that FOTY has played with over the years is notable, including Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes (who took the band on tour early in its career), Mumford & Sons, Gomez, and The Antlers, though arguably the most impressive opening gig so far was when the band warmed up a Ben Folds performance with the Boston Pops Orchestra. Handpicked by Folds and Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart, Family of the Year beat out 700 other hopeful artists to open the Oct. 2009 event. Not a bad way to spend your third show ever.
“We went back home to Boston to play at Symphony Hall, which was the sweetest homecoming ever,” says Joe. “The show was amazing. Our mom got to stay at a nice hotel and get dressed up and come see us play. Musically we were a bit shaky, it being our third gig, but it was a great room to play in.”
Proving its versatility, the Family has made fans of a couple of fellow Massachusetts-bred musicians who, on the surface at least, don’t have much in common: singer-songwriter Willy Mason and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler. Mason contributed to the reggae-tinged “The Princess And The Pea” on Through The Trees , while the demon of screamin’ discovered Family of the Year through a mutual connection and compared what he heard to “The Mamas And The Papas on acid.” Interestingly enough, the Keefe brothers used to live next to the apartment in Boston that once housed Aerosmith.
“I don’t think Steven Tyler is getting a tattoo anytime soon, but he likes our music,” says Sebastian. “We had the opportunity to meet him once, and he was really cool.”
But a band is only as good as its most recent output, which is why it’s fair to say that Family of the Year has positioned itself for greatness. Recorded by what now constitutes the core of FOTY—Joe (vocals, guitar), Sebastian (drums, vocals), Buckey (guitar, vocals), and Christina Schroeter (keyboards, vocals)—the group completed 14 songs with producer Wally Gagel at his new studio in Hollywood. This is the first time that the band has worked with a producer and gone outside of its own camp to release its music.
With Gagel’s assistance, the band has crafted a stirring set of songs teeming with catchy melodies, clever ruminations on love, heartbreak, and staying up late enough to watch the sun rise, and a cosmopolitan flavor enhanced by the fact that the members of Family of the Year hail from all over the globe. After being born in Martha’s Vineyard, the Keefe brothers followed their father’s bloodline back to Wales during their formative years (during which time Britpop was booming); Buckey is from Jacksonville, Florida, where he familiarized himself with that town’s all-ages punk scene; and Schroeter is the lone Southern California native, having grown up in Huntington Beach. Though still only in their 20s, the members of this Family are music veterans, and the precision with which they play is a testament to all of the hard work that got them here.
Gagel is another Boston native, having played with ’90s power trio Orbit prior to his current status as half of the hit-making production duo Wax Ltd (he and Xandy Barry have collectively and individually worked with artists like Folk Implosion, Muse, New Order, and The Rolling Stones). Joe had already developed strong ties with Gagel before the band entered the studio.
“Having him be a really close friend instead of a random producer assigned to us was really helpful, because you have to be pushed to edit yourself and be better, be stronger, work harder on things,” says Joe. “Working with someone like that who knows exactly what we wanted it to sound like with the same exact vision, it was really kind of a no-brainer.”
St. Croix ’s title track and “Living On Love” perfectly encapsulate what FOTY does best, and the two songs will also appear on next year’s full-length. “St. Croix” is a dreamy, jangly tune about “a boy from Florida / took a trip to the Caribbean … he came to get over her,” and in case you’re wondering, yes, it’s about Jamesy. “Living On Love” is as spirited as the band members themselves, promoting carpe diem over a bouncy, keyboard-driven rocker that brings to mind Vampire Weekend at its best. As a bonus, the EP features a slow-bumping electro remix of “St. Croix” by Hooray For Earth’s Noel Heroux, who over the years has shared various stages with the Keefe brothers. The track is a reminder of their origins, while the EP and LP as a whole are glorious celebrations of just how far they’ve come.
“It feels like the first time in so many ways, because it’s the first time things have really clicked,” says Joe.
“We inspire each other,” says Sebastian. “It was important for this record to be something that would stand up as one piece, rather than something that sounded like songs strung together. We really wanted to have a record with a clear identity.”
And Family of the Year’s future is clearly a bright one. Playing every show like it’s a special occasional and writing each song with complete conviction has allowed the band to accomplish everything it has set its sights on. As “Living On Love” notes, “they say that you can’t get every little thing that you want … it’s such a lie.” Contact Information
Booking: AJ Paul / APA apaul@apa-agency.com
Online: Sneak Attack, Zach Hinkle, zach@sneakattackmedia.com
Label: tinyOGRE, marketing@tinyOGREent.com
16 Views
14:32:21 12/16/11
Family Of The Year - Live In Studio B - Part 3 - St. Croix
[LESS INFO] 16 VIEWS | ADDED 14:32:21 12/16/11
Part 3 of Family of The Year performing at Mevio Studios in San Francisco For the entire performance CLICK HERE
WEBSITE FACEBOOK TWITTER About
Most bands function like a family, seeing how touring, writing, and studio time force them to share a lot of small spaces for extended periods of time. But Family of the Year has taken that familial feeling a step further, and not just with its moniker. The members of the Los Angeles outfit have formed unbreakable bonds amongst themselves that come from cohabitating in a run-down house and relying on each other for inspiration and support, which has led to the kind of camaraderie that allows members to finish each other’s sentences. It also doesn’t hurt that frontman Joe Keefe and drummer Sebastian Keefe are real-life siblings.
Not surprisingly, many of the group’s songs feature numerous voices, and more than a few include a chorus of joyous handclaps. Some even sound like they should be sung by the tight-knit group around the campfire while the s’mores are melting and the wine is flowing, especially the ones that name-drop members of the band. Guitarist Jamesy Buckey, in particular, has received the lion’s share of shout-outs in FOTY songs, to the point where it’s become a Family tradition.
Family of the Year’s story began in 2009, when Joe assembled a band around an album, Songbook , that he completed while decompressing from a five-year stint with Unbusted, the alt-rock trio he started in Boston with Sebastian that gained some notoriety for its inclusion on the soundtrack to the Farrelly brothers’ film Stuck On You . Instead of relying on the distortion of his past, suddenly pianos, horns, acoustic guitars, and other assorted instrumentation were being used to display a more sophisticated—yet equally as playful—indie-rock sound that brings to mind classic pop bands like The Smiths, The Byrds, Fleetwood Mac, and The Go-Betweens.
To say that Family of the Year has accomplished a lot in a short amount of time would be an understatement. In addition to Songbook , the band has issued a pair of EPs on its own Washashore Records imprint, 2009’s Where’s The Sun and 2010’s Through The Trees , and songs from all three discs have made their way onto various international releases. Media attention has come from various corners of the world, including heavy rotation on French radio as well as glowing reviews from NME , the BBC, and Spin .
Now the group is preparing for its busiest schedule yet, with shows and tours being planned around two new releases: the St. Croix EP, which is coming out on Sept. 27, and the full-length Diversity , which is due in early 2012. In addition to plenty of stateside dates, the Family plans to return overseas, where it has already developed a significant fanbase. In early 2011, the band played sold-out shows in England and across Europe, including a triumphant set at France’s largest music festival, Les Vieilles Charrues.
The list of artists that FOTY has played with over the years is notable, including Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes (who took the band on tour early in its career), Mumford & Sons, Gomez, and The Antlers, though arguably the most impressive opening gig so far was when the band warmed up a Ben Folds performance with the Boston Pops Orchestra. Handpicked by Folds and Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart, Family of the Year beat out 700 other hopeful artists to open the Oct. 2009 event. Not a bad way to spend your third show ever.
“We went back home to Boston to play at Symphony Hall, which was the sweetest homecoming ever,” says Joe. “The show was amazing. Our mom got to stay at a nice hotel and get dressed up and come see us play. Musically we were a bit shaky, it being our third gig, but it was a great room to play in.”
Proving its versatility, the Family has made fans of a couple of fellow Massachusetts-bred musicians who, on the surface at least, don’t have much in common: singer-songwriter Willy Mason and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler. Mason contributed to the reggae-tinged “The Princess And The Pea” on Through The Trees , while the demon of screamin’ discovered Family of the Year through a mutual connection and compared what he heard to “The Mamas And The Papas on acid.” Interestingly enough, the Keefe brothers used to live next to the apartment in Boston that once housed Aerosmith.
“I don’t think Steven Tyler is getting a tattoo anytime soon, but he likes our music,” says Sebastian. “We had the opportunity to meet him once, and he was really cool.”
But a band is only as good as its most recent output, which is why it’s fair to say that Family of the Year has positioned itself for greatness. Recorded by what now constitutes the core of FOTY—Joe (vocals, guitar), Sebastian (drums, vocals), Buckey (guitar, vocals), and Christina Schroeter (keyboards, vocals)—the group completed 14 songs with producer Wally Gagel at his new studio in Hollywood. This is the first time that the band has worked with a producer and gone outside of its own camp to release its music.
With Gagel’s assistance, the band has crafted a stirring set of songs teeming with catchy melodies, clever ruminations on love, heartbreak, and staying up late enough to watch the sun rise, and a cosmopolitan flavor enhanced by the fact that the members of Family of the Year hail from all over the globe. After being born in Martha’s Vineyard, the Keefe brothers followed their father’s bloodline back to Wales during their formative years (during which time Britpop was booming); Buckey is from Jacksonville, Florida, where he familiarized himself with that town’s all-ages punk scene; and Schroeter is the lone Southern California native, having grown up in Huntington Beach. Though still only in their 20s, the members of this Family are music veterans, and the precision with which they play is a testament to all of the hard work that got them here.
Gagel is another Boston native, having played with ’90s power trio Orbit prior to his current status as half of the hit-making production duo Wax Ltd (he and Xandy Barry have collectively and individually worked with artists like Folk Implosion, Muse, New Order, and The Rolling Stones). Joe had already developed strong ties with Gagel before the band entered the studio.
“Having him be a really close friend instead of a random producer assigned to us was really helpful, because you have to be pushed to edit yourself and be better, be stronger, work harder on things,” says Joe. “Working with someone like that who knows exactly what we wanted it to sound like with the same exact vision, it was really kind of a no-brainer.”
St. Croix ’s title track and “Living On Love” perfectly encapsulate what FOTY does best, and the two songs will also appear on next year’s full-length. “St. Croix” is a dreamy, jangly tune about “a boy from Florida / took a trip to the Caribbean … he came to get over her,” and in case you’re wondering, yes, it’s about Jamesy. “Living On Love” is as spirited as the band members themselves, promoting carpe diem over a bouncy, keyboard-driven rocker that brings to mind Vampire Weekend at its best. As a bonus, the EP features a slow-bumping electro remix of “St. Croix” by Hooray For Earth’s Noel Heroux, who over the years has shared various stages with the Keefe brothers. The track is a reminder of their origins, while the EP and LP as a whole are glorious celebrations of just how far they’ve come.
“It feels like the first time in so many ways, because it’s the first time things have really clicked,” says Joe.
“We inspire each other,” says Sebastian. “It was important for this record to be something that would stand up as one piece, rather than something that sounded like songs strung together. We really wanted to have a record with a clear identity.”
And Family of the Year’s future is clearly a bright one. Playing every show like it’s a special occasional and writing each song with complete conviction has allowed the band to accomplish everything it has set its sights on. As “Living On Love” notes, “they say that you can’t get every little thing that you want … it’s such a lie.” Contact Information
Booking: AJ Paul / APA apaul@apa-agency.com
Online: Sneak Attack, Zach Hinkle, zach@sneakattackmedia.com
Label: tinyOGRE, marketing@tinyOGREent.com
17 Views
15:00:05 12/14/11
The Sandusky Court Appearance: Attorney's 800-Quip Backfires...Badly
[LESS INFO] 17 VIEWS | ADDED 15:00:05 12/14/11
This is a video of a press conference Jerry Sandusky's attorney Joseph Amendola held after an abbreviated court appearance Tuesday where Sandusky waived his right to a preliminary hearing. Waving the preliminary hearing was a media savvy move on the part of Sandusky and his lawyer, because it means the prosecution's case will not be heard ahead of the actual trial, nor will witnesses have to testify ahead of trial.
However, Amendola went one step too far in his press conference afterwards. When questioned about Mike McQueary's testimony and how they planned to attack his credibility, Amendola went through about a two minute description of what one would have to believe in order to believe McQueary. Right at the end, he says this: >
If anyone is naive enough to think for one minute that Tim Curley, Joe Paterno, Gary Schultz and for that matter Graham Spanier, University President, were told by Mike McQueary, that he observed Jerry Sandusky having anal sex with a 10-year old looking kid in a shower room at Penn State or Penn State property and their response was simply to tell Jerry Sandusky that "don't go in the shower any more with kids," I suggest you dial 1-800-REALITY .
Well, someone at Deadspin.com did just that, and discovered that it's a real 800 number for a gay phone sex line. Deadspin has the audio of the intro to prove it. Yes, for 99 cents per minute, you too can "join the fun."
You seriously cannot make this stuff up. I'm sure Amendola thought he was being snarky, but next time he might want to leave off the 800 number reference.
Amendola made it clear during his press conference after the abbreviated court appearance that Sandusky will go after the credibility of each and every victim along with McQueary. They fully intend to challenge the veracity of Mike McQueary's testimony, which the Grand Jury said they found very credible, as well as the eight victims' credibility. I'm sure this is why the attorney for Victim #1 spoke out after the hearing and said he hoped for an acceptable plea bargain. Even with eight victims whose stories touch one another's in different ways, there will be a concerted effort in public and behind closed doors to intimidate, challenge and otherwise discourage each of them from testifying.
As I was searching for this brief clip from today's press conference, I combed through CNN and ESPN transcripts and videos from earlier today. Poor corporate media. They were simply bristling with anticipation, and so disappointed afterward. I particularly enjoyed this bit of angst by reporters who clearly ought to know better: >
PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: You're going to see most of the victims tell their story. They'll be subjected to cross- examination. It's a limited cross. They can't be attacked about, for instance, their credibility whether they have criminal convictions and things like that. But they will be questioned about their story and whether the story is true or not. so I think we'll get a good picture of what is actually involved in this case today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Or not, because Jerry Sandusky, we are just learning, waived his right in court to a preliminary hearing.
VELSHI: Which means that this hearing that will take place will not happen. He will go straight to trial. We don't know what "straight to trial" means, because this could take --
COSTELLO: Which many analysts say it is a smart move, because you don't want to lay out your case in court. And is it necessary to hear from these six to eight victims to testify in open court with reporters all over the world. Probably, maybe, Paul Callan would know better than I.
VELSHI: According to the people that are there, the judge did ask Sandusky in doing so, does he understand that he's waiving certain rights. In Pennsylvania, ask you a right to this preliminary hearing. And as we discussed earlier, some chance, remote it might be, that the judge determined there wasn't enough to go to trial with.
COSTELLO: With six to eight witnesses.
ROMANS: With all of the prehearing analysis of what to expect today, what to expect today, I didn't hear anybody say you waive this right to this preliminary hearing, which may be another crazy like a fox move from his attorney to kind of --
COSTELLO: Or just a crazy move because a lot of people have accused his attorney.
I'm not sure whether these folks were around during the OJ trial, but anyone who paid even a little bit of attention to it knows there was almost no way Sandusky would have actually gone through with a preliminary hearing. Look at what releasing the Grand Jury presentment did to the case. It's one thing to claim a presumption of innocence and entirely another to expect human beings with human flaws to presume it, particularly when the media is blasting details from the hearing all over the airwaves. There was absolutely no way it was going to happen.
But I do love seeing their disappointed and shocked faces at the realization their sensational sex story might not be flogged every single day.
0 Views
17:19:58 12/06/11
What Cain's presence in GOP means to black conservatives
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 17:19:58 12/06/11
[ VIDEO ] Any story about the emergence of Black Republicans or conservatives I often take with only a grain of salt. There is a young man from The Sixth Ward who can't be described as conservative although he's more than free to correct me on this assertion who interested in covering Black conservatives in Chicago through is own production company .
Anyway I found this WGN story from early November. This was way before the many issues that have found Cain's Presidential bid hobbling currently.
Some of what's noted is stuff I could believe. Blacks basically are described as socially conservative. Black folks probably could relate somewhat to the evangelical base of the Republican Party. The issues may include abortion or even gay marriage.
Other issues probably aren't that important to different segments of the Black community. Economic development is one issue that should be important but there isn't enough talk of the entrepreneurs or small business owners. That's not to say there aren't Black small business owners or entrepreneurs, but if there is a discussion of economic development in Black communities, that doesn't appear to dominate. What may dominate is tax money and perhaps hassling corporations to black their business in Black communities.
Another thing said in this story that I agree with. A group of Black conservatives were interviewed in this piece and one of them said the issue was of messaging. He explained that the issue isn't entirely the message, but of the messenger. That aspect I think is dead on. Could Herman Cain be that messenger? If not him then who else?
All the same I've said it before and I will say it again. History may well be an important aspect of attracting Blacks to the GOP. They could mention Abraham Lincoln, Republican historic support for Civil Rights, or even famous Blacks who were Republicans.
I've often stated there must be more. Republicans have to offer Black something and in saying that I don't mean "pork". It's safe to say Democrats had a hold on the Black community because they offered something. Perhaps it was support for Civil Rights or even programs to help Black people during the New Deal or the Great Depression.
There is some answers to this. Any potential Republican Black or white or whatever could talk a lot about education and offer their ideas on this subject. While today there are reports that even charter school struggle in Chicago it's OK to talk about such an issue or to talk school vouchers. Black folks for the most part wants to ensure that their children are successfully education.
Another answer certainly is economic development. The answer can't be redistributing wealth, but certainly making it easier for Black to use their talents and prosper. At that I don't mean being entertainers or athletes. We all have a talent for something, and that talent could be used to make money. Some are good at sales, some are good at producing.
See there Republicans reading this blog got some free advice right there. All they need are some messengers. :P
1 Views
15:00:01 12/06/11
What 'Occupy Our Homes' Could Change
[LESS INFO] 1 VIEWS | ADDED 15:00:01 12/06/11
Amy Goodman reports on "Occupy Our Homes" for Democracy Now
This week 60 Minutes gave viewers a good look at some of the widespread criminality that created the Wall Street mortgage boom and led to our ongoing financial crisis. They also saw some of the overwhelming evidence of illegal activity on the part of big banks, and were reminded that none of those banks' executives have been prosecuted.
As ugly as the situation is, there is some logic behind the government's actions - and its inactions. They're acting on a tragically incorrect (but internally coherent) set of assumptions that can be summed up in one sentence. It goes something like this:
"To preserve the health of the American economy, banks must be allowed to keep preying on their consumers."
That's it. That's the logic.
But there are two exciting "Occupy" developments this week that could change the equation - "Take Back the Capitol" in the District of Columbia, and Tuesday's "Occupy Our Homes" events around the country. Think of them as complementary actions: One is taking place at the site of our greatest government power. The other is bringing the action to homes where people have been victimized by bankers.
People may not realize it, but there's power in those homes, too.
The Logic of Injustice
Despite their destructive behavior, the people who bailed bankers out and are giving them a free pass for their crimes aren't necessarily evil or corrupt. Well, okay, people like this guy are. But others have merely been so infected by misguided economic thinking that they really believe that the only way to save the economy is to keep shafting consumers and pampering mega-bankers.
The thinking goes something like this: Our largest banks are too big to fail, and since we lack the will or the motivation to break them up or regulate them we must protect them at all costs. We've propped them up with TARP, quantitative easing, and $7.7 trillion in secret Federal Reserve loans, but they're still shaky as hell. If we prosecute any of their executives, their stock prices will fall and they'll collapse again. And they'll take the entire economic system with them.
That leads to some grotesque miscarriages of justice. Nobody at Wells Fargo has been indicted for money laundering, for example, despite the fact that the bank has paid millions to settle charges of laundering cash for the Mexican drug cartels that have murdered more than 35,000 people. As an experienced bank investigator working for the Senate observed, "There’s no capacity to regulate or punish them because they’re too big to be threatened with failure."
The Bailout Nobody Knows
And banks don't just need protection from their own criminality. They also need protection from their own lousy management. Their balance sheets are filled with toxic risks from their long run of incompetence, negligence, and greed. That's where you and I come in. Some powerful folks are afraid the banks will fail if they're forced to write off the bad loans on their books, or to stop profiting from loans sold deceptively or irresponsibly.
TARP may be over, but there's another massive bank rescue going on. Who's funding it? We are. Every time we pay a usurious interest fee on a credit card, we're propping up the banks. Every time we make another month's payment on an underwater mortgage, we're propping them up too. Every time we pay an overpriced consumer loan of any kind, we're making another payment into the consumer-funded bailout that's keeping the big banks afloat.
It would be great if politicians in Washington stopped using American consumers to subsidize banks that shouldn't even exist. But they haven't. That's where "Occupy Our Homes" comes in.
Occupy Our Homes
Tuesday, December 6, has been declared a National Day of Action to Occupy Our Homes . Its goal is to focus attention on the corrupt banking practices that led to the mortgage boom and today's ongoing economic misery for most of the 99 percent.
It's also a day for helping people in our communities who have been victimized by predatory lending, criminal bank forgery, unfair or illegal foreclosure practices, and other bank abuses that victimize the public. Occupy Minnesota has already occupied an illegally-foreclosed home, and plans to do the same thing with another home tomorrow. Here in Los Angeles, where an inspiring victory has already taken place, OccupyLA will help two brave families re-occupy their illegally foreclosed homes .
One of those homes belongs to a three-earner family that includes a gainfully employed woman with cerebral palsy named Ana Wison. Ana's household clearly seems capable of making its mortgage payments, but her bank's foreclosing anyway. And in one of ironies that have become all too common, the bank in quesion is none other than that Mexican drug cartel money-laundering outfit, Wells Fargo.
The Occupy movement hopes to focus the public's attention on people like Ana Wison. In the words of the Dylan song : "Things should start to get interesting right around now."
Demonizing the Victim
Resisting illegal foreclosures is a good first step. It brings attention to Wall Street's criminality, venality, and plain old inhumanity toward the people they call their"customers" - but treat like serfs.
It does something else important: It counteracts the brainwashing, driven by Wall Street and dutifully echoed by the media, which has demonized the victims of bank misbehavior. (We were trying to fight that brainwashing back in 2008, without much luck.) The Occupy movement has already won several battles in that war. If the public's attention can now be focused on people like Ana Wison, that can be a powerful blow against the Wall Street/corporate media "they deserve it" hype.
What about the millions of people who have suffered because of the banks' predatory mortgage lending but aren't behind in payments or in the foreclosure process? We need to re-open the debate about the fairness of forcing any underwater homeowners to pay underwater principal on homes that their banks knew, or should have known, were going to decrease in value. After all, the same conglomeration of banks and corporate media that demonize homeowners as "greedy" and "irresponsible" spent most of the last twenty years convincing people that real estate was a sure-fire investment.
Banks made an extraordinary amount of money off the bubble they created. The total mortgage amount outstanding in this country went from $6.2 trillion in 2002 to $11.9 trillion in 2009, a meteoric rise. And while banks feed off the Federal Reserve's unusually low rates, they've renegotiating very few home loans.
Consumers also owe nearly three quarter of a trillion dollars in credit card debt, much of it being paid at unconscionable rates of 12 percent to 29 percent - while their banks enjoy rates from 0 percent to 3 percent, thanks to the government institutions created by those same consumers.
Occupy Our Homes. Occupy Our Credit Cards. Occupy Our Payday Lending ...
What will happen if consumers stopped blaming themselves? What if they demanded that the banks take responsibility for their irresponsible and/or predatory lending? What if they refused to stop this country's perverse economic role reversal, where customers have become the ATMs while banks keep making the withdrawals?
If 10% of America's homeowners declared a mortgage strike it would rock the banking world. If everybody paying exorbitant credit card interest declared a moratorium on payments all at once, Wall Street would change forever.
Think about it: "Occupy ALL Our Homes." "Occupy Our Credit Cards ... Our Payday Loans ... Our Buy-and-Drive Loans ..." I'm not saying these are necessarily the right tactics, although they very well may be. But what's most important is that we understand that consumers have far more power than we usually realize - provided we act together.
Many of Washington's leaders will cringe at the thought, of course. "That could hurt our biggest banks," they say. It would be tempting to reply, You say that like it's a bad thing. Here's a better response: Then start planning to break them up in an orderly fashion. We're done living a life of indentured servitude just so we can subsidize their greed.
Those are the discussions that we should be having. If powerful people on Wall Street and in Washington aren't worried about Occupy Our Homes , they're not paying attention. But with any luck, they soon will.
______________________
(If you've been a victim of mortgage abuse you can tell your story here . If you want to find an Occupy Our Homes event near you, you can look for one here .)
