Here is the 441st episode of the long-running radio show/podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired on UNC Radio, Oct. 12, 2013. Info: davesgoneby.com.
Featuring: Rabbi Sol Solomon chats with writer Kelly Carlin; Inside Broadway; the News Gone By; Dylan – Sooner & Later (ornaments & apps); Saturday Segues (Simon & Siberry; Bob Mould).
Host: Dave Lefkowitz
Guest: George Carlin’s daughter, Kelly Carlin
00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN 00:16:30 SATURDAY SEGUE – Simon & Siberry 00:54:00 INSIDE BROADWAY 01:27 :30 GUEST: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews Kelly Carlin 02:10:00 Sponsors 02:18:00 NEWS GONE BY 02:28:00 BOB DYLAN – Sooner & Later (ornaments & apps) 02:47:30 Friends & Weather 02:55:30 SATURDAY SEGUE – Bob Mould 03:21:00 DAVE GOES OUT
Oct. 12, 2013 Playlist: “We Should Be There By Morning” (00:17:00), “Lena is a White Table” (00:24:30), “You Never Know” (00:33:30) & “The Life is the Red Wagon” (00:41:00; Jane Siberry). “Have a Good Time” (00:21:00) & “Congratulations” (00:37:00; Paul Simon). “Red Rubber Ball” ({live} 00:31:00; Simon & Garfunkel). “Oseh Shalom” (01:23:00; Shlomo Carlebach). “Occupation: Foole” (01:25:00), “Yeast Infection” (01:49:00) & “Farting in Public” (02:07:00; George Carlin). “Tattle O’Day” (02:30:30), “The Christmas Blues” (02:34:00), “If Not for You” (02:37:00), “Christmas Island” (02:39:30) & “Railroad Bill” (02:42:00; Bob Dylan). “Visionary” (02:57:30) & “Makes No Sense at All” (03:07:30; Husker Du). “Bad Blood Better” (03:00:00), “The Last Night” (03:03:30), “If I Can’t Change Your Mind” (03:10:00) & “Whichever Way the Wind Blows” (03:26:00). (Pictured from top: Kelly Carlin, George Carlin & Kelly Carlin, Jane Siberry, Paul Simon, Bob Mould, the Dylan app.)
Shalom Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon with a Rabbinical Reflection for the week of October 6th, 2013.
Idiocy and nonsense! Selfishness and stupidity! Pride and prejudice! Welcome to the United States Federal government, Fall 2013. As I write this, the Fed is in its fourth day of shutdown. Why? Because Republicans won’t approve a budget unless the President kills his healthcare plan. And Obama won’t even talk to the G.O.P. unless they kiss his boots and keep his baby. It’s an impasse created by two sides of impass-holes.
Now, I’m not saying both sides are equally at fault. That’s an easy trap and one that the media loves to fall into – especially when they’re discussing, say, the Palestinians. Arabs bomb and kill and bargain in bad faith; Israel protects land she rightfully won in the war. And yet, because the strife is ongoing and expensive, the world says, “ehhh, a plague on both their houses” and “Oh, the Jews are the oppressors.” That is reductive and retarded. And while there’s reason to blame everybody for our current federal fakaktehness, the Republicans and their tea-party poopers are absolutely the instigators of this fiasco.
I don’t care what you think of Obamacare. I mean, me? I’m running to the doctor every two weeks for a high colonic, so I need affordable health coverage or else my prostate is gonna start looking like one of those frosting bags on “Cake Boss.” But even if I wasn’t crazy about the Affordable Care Act, it’s the law, it passed, Obama beat Romney with the plan already on his platform – deal with it. If it’s not going perfectly, make small adjustments while it’s already in progress, as we do with voting, or cunnilingus.
I have never seen such sore losers as Republicans. They lose the election in 2008; they all vow to spend the next four years making sure nothing the Democrats put forward gets passed. And if something should somehow, by accident, get through, they’ll just repeal it when their guy wins in 2012. Except he didn’t. America looked at Mitt Romney like a used-Rolls Royce salesman – and said, “No thank you. We’ll stick with the guy who’s done next to nothing, but the country’s turning around anyway. We’ll stay the course.”
This left the G.O.P. in shellshock. After four years of mocking and blocking, retching and kvetching, moaning the blues all night on Fox News – where did they wind up? Hemorrhaging on election night. But, of course, there’s nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal. Well, apart from George Zimmerman with a gun permit. The Republicans are lashing back, hurting the Democrats any way they can, even if it means bringing the government to a virtual halt and jeopardizing the recovery that their last president made necessary in the first place.
The G.O.P.’s idea of a compromise is saying, “Look, we’ll pass your budget; just delay Obamacare for a year.” Sounds reasonable – even though we know that would be a year of legal wrangling, political blackmail and further ways to dismantle the program. What we must not forget is that a “one year” delay is a smokescreen. Republicans have been delaying healthcare reform for two goddamn decades. Back when Bill Clinton was in the White House, his darling and incredibly tolerant wife, Hilary, made it her number-one priority to reform the out-of-control insurance business. She could’ve done it, too, had the Republicans not despised her and Bill so much, they brought his presidency to a standstill. Then George W. Bush was in the White House for eight years. Eight long, long, long, long years. In that time, Republicans had every opportunity to make their own health plan, to devise their own strategy to help a system in crisis. What did they do? If I had a sound effect of crickets chirping, you’d be hearing it right now.
Since then, Barack Obama has been in office for five years, which is more than a thousand days for Republicans and Democrats to have worked in tandem to create, maybe not Obamacare, but OBoehner-Care, or Clintingrich-Care. But no, all the G.O.P. did was plot and scheme. And now, when they don’t get their way, they sit in a corner, they pout, and they hide daddy’s wallet in revenge.
It’s happening elsewhere, too. In beautiful Colorado, where the G.O.P. hates gun laws, legalized pot and renewable energy, right-wingers want to secede and make their own state. I think they’re gonna call it “Spoiled Bratville,” or something. Funny, I didn’t hear them squeal about socialism when the rains came, and they had to go hat-in-hand to Joe Biden for flood relief.
Republicans whine that Obamacare means lack of choice; a curtailment of freedom by making everyone get insurance whether they want it or not. But folks, if you have a car, you gotta get car insurance and wear a seatbelt. If you have a baby, you gotta give her shots. If you kiss Miley Cyrus, you gotta buy Abreva. Obligating people to do something does not automatically cause the collapse of capitalism. I mean, we’ve all gotta eat, unless you wanna starve to death. Eating is not a choice, it’s a mandate, but there’s still room for choice. I might have roast chicken, you could have salmon, or pay extra for prime rib. Okay, now I’m hungry. But still angry.
Republicans say that most people hate Obamacare and don’t want it to go forward. That is not true. Most people are scared of Obamacare and don’t know what the hell to expect. But we also know that insurance is insanely expensive, and that millions of people without it are playing Russian roulette by not going to the doctor, or draining our taxes if they’re at a free clinic with the sniffles every week. Or, if they’re Republicans, with accidental bullet wounds.
But enough elephant bashing. After all, they embarrass themselves more than I ever could. Let us also not ignore the arrogance of Barack Obama and the donkeys. For weeks, the sequester is building to chaos, yet he can’t pick up a phone? He can’t get in a room with Boehner, et. al., and say, “okay, we’ll take out the medical-device thing, but you’ve gotta leave in abortions.” He can’t even say, “You know what? We will not delay Obamacare for a year, but three months? To work the kinks out? Sure, It’s not gonna kill anyone. Well, maybe some fourth-stage cancer patients, but other than that…” For a community organizer, Obama couldn’t organize paint cans in a Home Depot. And the Democrats are so cocky about winning the last election and so sure they have the Republicans cornered, they’re not even faking being interested in compromise.
These aren’t difficult times for America; these are ridiculous times for America. Maybe we need a third party again, only this time without Ralph Nader, or Ross Perot, or Roseanne Arnold, or Lyndon Larouche, or – you know what? Two’s more than enough.
This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches in Great Neck, New York.
Segment aired Oct. 5, 2013 as part of the “Dave’s Gone By” radio program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.
Please Note: Segments extracted from “Dave’s Gone By” may have music and other elements removed for timing and media re-posting considerations. For the full interview with all elements, please visit the audio of the complete original broadcast.
All content (c)2013 TotalTheater Productions.
More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com More information about Rabbi Sol Solomon: http://www.shalomdammit.com
Here is the 440th episode of the long-running radio show/podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired on UNC Radio Oct. 5, 2013. Info: davesgoneby.com.
Featuring: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews playwright Mario Fratti. Also: Inside Broadway, Saturday Segues (Matthew Sweet, John Lennon), Rabbi Sol on the government shutdown, Dylan – Sooner & Later (nobel deeds)
Guests: playwright Mario Fratti, Dave’s wife, Joyce
00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN w/ Joyce 00:47:30 SATURDAY SEGUE – Matthew Sweet 01:12:00 Sponsors 01:15:00 INSIDE BROADWAY 01:33:30 GUEST: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews Mario Fratti 02:18:00 BOB DYLAN – Sooner & Later (nobel deeds) 02:46:30 Friends 02:53:30 RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #78 (shutdown) 03:01:30 SATURDAY SEGUE – John Lennon 03:19:00 Upcoming & Weather 03:24:00 DAVE GOES OUT
Oct. 5, 2013 Playlist: “Divine Intervention” (00:47:30), “Make Believe” (00:51:30), “What Do You Know?” (00:56:00), “Come to Love” (01:00:30) & “Ugly Truth Rock” (01:03:00; Matthew Sweet). “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere” (00:53:30) & “Gimme Some Truth” (01:05:30; Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs). “Get it While You Can” (01:30:00; Janis Joplin). “Only With You” (02:09:00; Nine 1982 Bway cast w/ Raul Julia). “Tweedledee & Tweedledum” (02:23:30), “My Back Pages” ({live 30th anniversary version}, 02:33:30) & “Dignity” (02:38:00; Bob Dylan). “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” (02:28:00; Mason Jennings). “I’ll Cry Instead” (03:01:30), “Sexy Sadie” (03:07:00), “I’ll Be Back” (03:15:00) & “Across the Universe” (03:26:30; The Beatles). “How?” (03:03:30) & “Remember” (John Lennon; 03:10:00).
Shalom Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon with a Rabbinical Reflection for the week of September 29th, 2013.
Let us spin the wheel of the Arab world to find out which country is in chaos today. (spin sound) Oh boy, will it be Egypt, Lebanon? Iran? Maybe Iraq? No, it’s Syria! They’d been quiet for so many years, you could almost forget it was a Muslim country. But no, as the song goes, there’s always something there to remind me. In this case, a poison-gas attack that happened a month ago while the government was trying to put down a revolution.
President Bashar al-Assad denied using chemical weapons, he denied having chemical weapons, he denied knowing what chemical weapons even were – until the U.S. threatened air strikes, and suddenly he’s all, “Ohh!, you said CHEMICAL weapons, I thought you said chemical WEAPONS. Yeah, we have a few of those, lemme load up the U.N. truck.”
Now, when news leaked of the gas attack – and when you have a gas-attack leak, you better change your underpants – the first reaction was war. President Obama – not the right-wing Republicans, but the so-called soft-on-terrorism schvartze Democrat in the White House – he was the one saying, “load up the planes; let’s send a message.”
And then the debate began: If Assad is using chemical weapons, that’s bad. But he’s not using them on us. So that’s good. We’ve got our own problems. But if Assad has the weapons he denied having, and he killed the 1400 people he blamed the rebels for killing, then he could someday use the gas on us, which is bad. So we can start bombing him now, which is good. But then, to make sure he doesn’t rebuild, we have to put soldiers on the ground, which is bad. And, let’s face it, every time we get involved in another country’s military politics, the results are a Jerry Lewis movie played in slow motion. In the end, Jerry survives and even gets to smooch Connie Stevens, but not before destroying the hotel and getting stung by 370 bees.
As “can’t win” situations go, this one’s a doozy. If America fails to act after Obama’s tough words, we’re perceived as all talk and no action – like the first half hour of lesbian porn. But if we go in with strategic missiles, we put our soldiers in danger, we open ourselves up to reprisals, and we get half of Europe going wah wah wah, you didn’t ask us first. Pass the diapers before we wet ourselves.”
And then there’s precedent. By that I mean the precedent of the predecessor President. He went to Congress with bogus proof that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Congress listened – because back then, the idea of checks and balances was almost actually functional – they believed Dubya Bush, and boom, there we were in Baghdad for ten long years. Who can blame the House and Senate for making sure Barack isn’t full of the same bologna?
Lucky for us, Russia – of all places – Russia steps up and says, let’s give Assad a chance to turn the weapons over peacefully. He’s been a naughty boy, but even he knows getting your country blown up by Uncle Sam is even worse than getting blitzed by rebels. The hard part is figuring out whether Assad is telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help him Allah? Is he surrendering 99.9 percent of his chemicals? 89 percent? 39? I mean, let’s say the owner of a Dunkin Donuts franchise wins Lotto. Yes, he sells the store lock, stock and bagel, but he also keeps a few crullers in reserve, just in case.
Folks, in my Rabbinical Reflections, I have made no secret of my fear and my distrust of the Arab nations. They have caused great harm to my people – Americans – and, of course, to Israel. Any opportunity to stop the AlQaedification of the world is an almost irresistible temptation. And if you tell me that the Syrian government killed 1400 Syrians, well, I am so far beyond giving a rat’s ass that many a rat will go assless for decades to come. Still, the method by which Assad eliminated his own people cannot be ignored – especially by Jews, who know that gas is a pretty wretched way to die. That, and listening to the Jonas Brothers.
But I hope we learned from 9/11 that fights are like noses; you have to pick them carefully. So let’s give Assad a chance to prove that he doesn’t want to be the next Hosni Mubarak, let alone Saddam Hussein. If he chokes, well, at least he knows what his victims felt like.
This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches in Great Neck, New York.
Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews songwriter Brian Gari
Topics include: Eddie Cantor, Late Nite Comic, songwriting, Neil Sedaka, George Carlin, George Jessel, Joe Franklin.
Segment aired Sept. 28, 2013 as part of the “Dave’s Gone By” radio program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.
Please Note: Segments extracted from “Dave’s Gone By” may have music and other elements removed for timing and media re-posting considerations. For the full interview with all elements, please visit the audio of the complete original broadcast.
All content (c)2013 TotalTheater Productions.
More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com
Here is the 439th episode of the long-running radio show/podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired on UNC Radio, Sept. 28, 2013. Info: davesgoneby.com.
Featuring: Rabbi Sol Solomon chats with songwriter Brian Gari (Late Nite Comic). Plus: Inside Broadway, Saturday Segue (October), Rabbi Sol on Syria, Dylan – Sooner & Later (mood swings).
Guests: songwriter Brian Gari, Joyce
00:00:01 Pre-Show 00:03:30 DAVE GOES IN w/ Joyce 00:34:30 SATURDAY SEGUE – October 00:59:00 Sponsors 01:01:30 INSIDE BROADWAY 01:29:30 GUEST: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews Brian Gari 02:51:30 Friends 02:55:00 BOB DYLAN – Sooner & Later (mood swings) 03:08:30 RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #078 – Syria 03:14:00 DAVE GOES OUT
Sept. 28, 2013 Playlist: “October Winds” (00:35:00; The Clancy Brothers). “August October” (00:37:30; Robin Gibb). “Song of Brown October Ale” (00:40:00; Michael Van Engen, Earl Rivers & Cincinnati’s University Singers). “When October Goes” (00:42:30; Nancy Wilson). “October” (00:46:30; U2). “October Song” (00:49:00; The Incredible String Band). “October Song” (00:53:00; Amy Winehouse). “Gooch’s Song” (01:24:00; Mame 1966 Bway cast w/ Jane Connell). “He’s an Old Cat” (01:27:30), “My Dad” (01:34:30), “The California Dream” (01:45:00) & “While They’re Still Here” (02:42:00; Brian Gari). “Stand Up” (02:11:30) & “Late Nite Comic” (02:45:30; Late Nite Comic 2007 20th Anniversary recording w/ Chip Zien & Rupert Holmes). “Baby, I’m in the Mood for You” (02:56:30), “When I Got Troubles” (02:59:30) & “Cold Irons Bound” (03:01:00; Bob Dylan). “Can We Go Home Now?” (03:15:00; The Roches).
Dave Lefkowitz interviews legendary musician Charlie McCoy
Topics include: Bob Dylan, Blonde on Blonde, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash, harmonica.
Segment aired Sept. 21, 2013 as part of the “Dave’s Gone By” radio program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.
Please Note: Segments extracted from “Dave’s Gone By” may have music and other elements removed for timing and media re-posting considerations. For the full interview with all elements, please visit the audio of the complete original broadcast.
Here is the 438th episode of the long-running radio show/podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired on UNC Radio, Sept. 21, 2013. Info: davesgoneby.com.
Guest: Charlie McCoy. Featuring: Dave chats with veteran musician Charlie McCoy; Inside Broadway; Saturday Segue (Leonard Cohen).
00:00:01 Pre-Show 00:06:00 DAVE GOES IN – Lousy Summer 00:22:30 DAVE GOES OFF – No Potato Day 00:34:30 SATURDAY SEGUE – Leonard Cohen 01:07:30 Sponsors 01:19:00 GUEST: Charlie McCoy 02:41:30 INSIDE BROADWAY 02:55:00 Friends 03:00:00 SATURDAY SEGUE – After the Flood 03:11:00 Weather & Thanks 03:13:00 DAVE GOES OUT
Sept. 21, 2013 Playlist: “By the Rivers Dark” (00:35:00), “Our Lady of Solitude” (00:40:30), “Seems So Long Ago, Nancy” (00:49:30) & “Hallelujah” {live version} (00:53:00; Leonard Cohen). “Tower of Song” (Leonard Cohen & U2; 00:43:30). “I’ll Be Your Baby, Tonight” (01:16:30), “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” (01:26:30), “Desolation Row” (excerpt; 01:33:30), “Obviously Five Believers” (02:20:00), “Blue Moon” (Bob Dylan; 02:27:30). “Candy Man” (01:39:00; Roy Orbison). “Big Boss Man” (01:42:00; Elvis Presley). “The Boxer” (01:50:30; Simon & Garfunkel). “Baby” (01:58:00; Wilma Burgess). “Orange Blossom Special” (02:02:00), “Smooth Sailing” (02:13:00) & “Sticks and Stones” (02:33:00; Charlie McCoy). “He Stopped Loving Her Today” (02:07:00; George Jones). “I Know a Girl” (02:53:30; Chicago 1996 Bway cast w/ Bebe Neuwirth). “Here Comes the Flood” (03:00:00; Divine Comedy). “Theme from Flood” (03:04:30; They Might Be Giants). “Noah: Right” (03:05:30; Bill Cosby). “Mr. Noah” (03:08:30; Dave van Ronk). “This River Will Never Run Dry” (03:14:30; Moose).
Shalom Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon with a Rabbinical Reflection for the week of September 8th, 2013.
“Do you want fries with that? No problem, give me 15 dollars.”
That is the call of the disenfranchised franchise worker. The people employed at Burger King, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Arby’s, Shloimy’s, Moishy’s – all the fast-food restaurants. They are weary of working for $7.40 per hour, which, if you can believe it, is 15 cents above the Federal minimum wage. In other words, someone laboring at a fast-food joint, full time, all week long, makes $15,000 a year, before taxes, no benefits, no 401K, but presumably all the unserved McNuggets they can eat. And so, around the country, the flippers and the grillers and the moppers and the servers are now strikers.
Who works harder than chain-food employees? They sweep the floors, clean the fryers, shpritz the special sauce, and deal with irate customers who throw tantrums when you forget the pickles. Room for advancement, to move up the grease-mottled ladder of success? Sure, for an extra dollar an hour, you get to manage all the other hostile, hopeless kids stuck in the same nowhere job. Not only do you have the honor of hearing customers bitch about everything, your fellow employees hate you for being management. All this for a salary that buys you two caramel macchiatos at Starbucks, where at least they give their workers health benefits.
I don’t care if the boss flumps a girl in a chair, hands her a magazine and says, “Just take a message if the phone rings.” Even that is taking an hour of time out of her life and deserves more than seven measly bucks an hour. Or eight. Or – oh my goodness – New York State voted to bring it up to nine – by the end of 2015! Thank you politicians! Should we bend over and bite the pillow or just sink to our knees in supplication?
As someone who lives and works on Long Island, where property taxes on a small house are 10 grand a year, the very idea that humans are still paid less than $10 an hour to do ANYTHING absolutely staggers me. That some politicians and businessmen fight against increases in the basic minimum wage staggers me double! “Oh,” they say, “if I raise the minimum wage, I won’t be able to hire as many people.” You know who faced that same problem? Pharoah! And his solution worked for a few decades until his employees rose up and marched out. And they knew about fast food, too. They hadda leave so quick, they ditched the sesame-seed buns and made matzoh instead. If you can’t afford to pay people something that keeps them in shoes, you should probably give them the shop and go work in Burger King, cause at least it’s steady.
Some folks defend low wages because these are quote-unquote “entry-level” jobs. It’s just high school students earning mall money or old people who are bored sitting at home, so they go to KFC where the action is. Leaving aside the fact that since the recession, thousands of workers have swallowed their pride to take any job, including stuffing a substance that looks vaguely like meat into Taco Bell tortillas. Leaving aside that some people take a minimum-wage second job only because they can’t pay their bills from their insufficient first job. Let’s even say for argument’s sake that your typical fast-food drudge is 15 years old, living rent-free with his parents, and not financially responsible for anything but his deodorant and iTunes downloads. Suppose this fine young man wants to take his girlfriend to the movies on a Saturday night. That’s gas in the car, parking, two movie tickets, two giant sodas, one big popcorn (and a penknife to make a schmeckel-sized hole in the bottom of it), a condom and/or a packet of handiwipes. He is looking at sixty bucks just to feel a girl’s boobs, and she may not even have boobs yet.
It is my considered opinion that any business owner netting upwards of, say, $60,000 a year who doesn’t believe that his workers are worth more than minimum wage should be shot in the face. Just as a wakeup call.
Most fast-food restaurants are publicly traded companies, so we know how much the CEO takes home, the VPs, the Vice-VPs, the shareholders, and the fry cooks and janitors. In 2010, out of $24 billion in revenue, McDonald’s netted $4.9 billion in profit. Because of this, the CEO took home almost $9 million in salary. Sorry for throwing all these numbers at you, but catch this one: that salary is almost 600 times more than that of a full-time slave at minimum wage.
Now that the economy has improved from quicksand to mud, the rank-and-file worker wakes up to remember he has needs, he has dignity, he has rights. He knows he has to work for a living, but that’s the key word: a living. Living means paying the rent, feeding the kids, getting your teeth cleaned and your blood pressure checked, going to sleep without worrying how you’ll pay for school supplies, or heat, and maybe even taking a week and staying at a Howard Johnson’s in Pensacola, Florida. If that means Horace Vanderbastard the III can’t customize his mistress’ yacht, so be it.
Good luck, fast food fighters. March on Mickey D’s. Boycott Burger King. Choke the Kentucky Fried Chicken. No, wait, that came out wrong, but you know what I mean. This isn’t about socialism. It’s not about destroying the free-market economy; that’s what cable companies are for. No, this is about fairness, about reasonable compromise, about people feeling pride in what they do and value in what they get. Yes, I’ll certainly take fries with that.
This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from the woefully underpaid Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches in Great Neck, New York.
