Exclusive — Steven Brill Extended Interview Parts 1 & 2
In this exclusive, unedited interview, Steven Brill examines the monopolistic pricing structure of American health care. [6:24]
One of the best, detailed discussions of how monopolistic healthcare pricing works in the U.S. I ever heard. Click here after watching for part 2. Must see. Part 1 first seen on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 15 Jan 2014.
“Potato Head Blues” is a Louis Armstrong composition regarded as one of his finest recordings. It was made by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven for Okeh Records in Chicago, Illinois on May 10, 1927. It was recorded during a remarkably productive week in which Armstrong’s usual Hot Five was temporarily expanded to seven players by the addition of tuba and drums; over five sessions the group recorded twelve sides.
Not strictly speaking a “blues,” the chord structure is a 32-bar form in the same neighborhood as “(Back Home Again in) Indiana.” The recording features notable clarinet work by Johnny Dodds, and the stop-time solo chorus in the last half of the recording is one of Armstrong’s most famous solos. The last, hot “ride out” chorus is an example of this New Orleans jazz custom brought to the level of genius through Armstrong’s inspired melodic playing.
Tallulah Bankhead said that she played it in her dressing room every day during intermission while she appeared on Broadway for the invigorating effect it gave her.
In Woody Allen’s 1979 film, Manhattan, the character Isaac Davis (played by Allen) lists Armstrong’s recording of “Potato Head Blues” as one of the reasons that life is worth living.
The earliest recording of a structured solo that leads harmonically within the regular chord changes of a song, and which uses a melodic method of anticipating them. And so I say the modern jazz solo is invented. It may seem odd to call something from so long ago contemporary, but the manner of extemporized instrumental solos owe greatly to Armstrong’s example demonstrating how it’s done to this today.
The eventual sense of new-found freedom when the changes finally reach their goal instill great joy and release in the listener. And is mighty.
Every age has its own tastes, its own aesthetic lines drawn in the sand. Since the 19th century, with its seminal guardians of musical decorum (Clara Schumann chief among them), pianists and their critics have debated the role of stage persona. Most outspoken are those who believe that a quiet, undemonstrative approach to the instrument – à la Arthur Rubinstein – best reflects a serious commitment to earnest musicianship. The corollary is presumed true as well: that excessive body movement or facial expressions can cheapen an interpretation or betray a lack of real understanding. Pianist Lang Lang, often insensitively derided as “Bang Bang”, is held in this case to be Public Enemy Number One. Our current notion of good taste is less extreme, and concedes that a bit of visual display can be acceptable and even beneficial, so long as it is a natural byproduct of a performer’s interpretation. [ . . . ]
All this is surprising to some? The entire ecology of a concert affects the experience of it for everyone in the audience. It begins with anticipation building up to buying tickets when one hears a concert has been scheduled. People speaking near one or waving their lighted phones around during the concert certainly affect it. Some would argue a musical performer’s demeanor and physical embodiment of the music which emanates through them is of no consequence? Between robotic artifice and rock concert flash bombs lie endless forms of visible expression.
Tallahassee : FL : USA | Jan 02, 2014 at 7:18 AM PST BY itobin53
The welfare drug-testing law was an expensive one that Scott wanted taxpayers to pick up the tab for. As The New York Times notes, since the majority of drug tests came back negative, the state had to reimburse applicants the $30 fee. That cost Florida taxpayers $118,140, which is $45,780 more than the benefits that would have been paid without the drug testing.
However, there may be another reason why Gov. Scott appears determined to pursue policies that funnel taxpayer money through the health care industry. Solantic, the chain of health care clinics performing much of Florida’s drug testing, was co-founded by Rick Scott.
In 2011, Scott transferred his shares in Solantic to his wife, so while not directly linked to the company, the Scott household still stands to personally benefit financially from the drug-testing law, raising serious questions of a conflict of interest.
Rick Scott was also the CEO of Hospital Corporation of America, now called Columbia/HCA, during the 1990s, when the FBI found extensive fraudulent billing of Medicare and Medicaid. According to the Sun Sentinel, “Four mid-level executives of the company were criminally charged and tried in Tampa. Two were convicted, but both won on appeal. Scott was never charged and left Columbia/HCA with $10 million in severance and stock valued at $300 million.”
The HCA Medicare fraud case was the largest in the country, which resulted in $1.7 billion in fines.
It’s interesting how the Florida governor’s distrust of poor welfare recipients happens to dovetail with his personal financial interests.
Did you know rosin gets old and should be replaced yearly? Order some online! If you live in the D.C. area, you probably already go to my friend Dalton Potter’s violin store in Bethesda.
ANDREA MITCHELL 01/06/14
‘Not the America any of us should want’
Sherrilyn Ifill discusses some of the restrictive voting rights laws recently passed and local voter suppression efforts.
Know someone who needs to be convinced to vote because they think it doesn’t matter who wins? Then they probably won’t mind when the rules in their state change making it necessary for a lot of people to take buses all over creation to track down documents to be able to get an allowed type of photo I.D. to be able to vote.
Tuesday January 7, 2014
Donald Trump and Fox & Friends vs. Global Warming
Noted climatologist Donald Trump weighs in on global warming, and a Fox & Friends report targets Al Gore’s book, “An Inconvenient Truth.” (03:34)
Before Colorado began selling legal pot on January 1st, people had estimated how much would be sold how fast, and related estimates were made for how much tax money would come in as a result.
Whenever you hear someone’s estimate of human activity in the future, it deserves lots of skepticism. Often it is no more than made up reality.
I just happened to catch this as I was going back to sleep. Nicolle Wallace who was with the 2008 McCain-Palin campaign was apparently determined to continue their in-commercial conversation, and it took over the planned Mika’s Papers segment entirely. Some people who seem to live to be angry need to get over themselves.
Richard Handal’s blog 