Ban on Arts Stimulus, Declare Arts Worker Jobs Not “Real”

Folks, we have a lot of work ahead of us in the good ole' USA...

The plot in US politics, in the space of a few short weeks, has gone something like this:

1. A new Administration could bring new vision to making the arts part of the economy.
2. Arts spending is wasteful.
3. Any spending on anything should be specifically prohibited from reaching the arts, as that would be wasteful and evil, and the arts are the best symbol of Waste itself.

As digital musicians and visualists, relevancy to the rest of the people around us is important. What we do can be meaningful to people, and it can pay for our health care and our loved ones and our kids. It’s often not a life or death thing - but then, neither are many jobs. It’s a gig. Heck, even if it’s a hobby, it supports someone else’s gig.

So that raises some really deep questions about what’s going on with our society when arts-related jobs are singled out above nearly every other sector as meaningless or “wasteful” or not “real jobs.” This stimulus bill will pass, but that fundamental misunderstanding isn’t going anywhere - and it’s time to recognize there’s a problem, and start to work to set it right.

Roughly half of one one hundredth of one percent of the US economic stimulus plan was slated to support job protection in the arts — US$50 million. Meanwhile, we’ve just passed one trillion-dollar bailout of finance and are told another trillion is needed.

You might expect anger to be directed at finance, given their industry was at the heart of the problem. Instead, legislators single out — the arts?

In last-minute negotiations in the US Senate, legislators — including key liberal Democrats — have gone still further to ban any use of stimulus funds for the arts (”museums,” “theaters,” and “arts centers” get singled out). The move was largely symbolically-motivated, not fiscally-motivated. Adding insult to injury, arts institutions are lumped together with casinos and golf courses - literally.

• U.S. Senate Votes Against the Arts (Chicago Examiner)
• Arts Bashing (Center for American Progress)

Update:

Congress Restores Arts Funding, Drops Arts Stimulus Ban, After Public Outcry

Here in the US, Congressional Democrats have reversed not one but both bad decisions on the role of the arts in the economic stimulus package. Provisions that would have blocked any stimulus funds from reaching arts centers, museums, and theaters have been dropped. (Golf courses and casinos are still in the ban. Maybe this time, someone read the actual legislation.) And the US$50 million (out of some $800 billion) that would go to the National Endowment for the Arts, dropped from a Senate version, has been restored to the bill. It appears both of those changes not only cleared the House but are part of the Senate version that’s in votes as I write this.

If you believe artists shouldn’t rely exclusively on government funding, you can still celebrate. The arts will receive far less of a handout than a lot of other industries — and do more with it. Arts advocacy groups estimate that for every dollar of the NEA money, another seven dollars will come from public and private supporters. What the tiny amount of federal spending does is make up for shortfalls in lean times, protecting an arts sphere that depends on a variety of sources for revenue. Nearly 15,000 real jobs could be saved by those same estimates. That means an arts infrastructure in the US that can remain healthy and independent.

But the important story here has nothing to do with the stimulus bill, or even the US. It’s that public outcry from people like you rescued this legislation. And if public support can do that, it can do a lot more for the arts, not only in federal spending but other key areas.

Americans for the Arts says supporters from its organization alone sent some 100,000 messages and letters to their Members of Congress. That’s not counting the many more letters and phone calls from constituents, not to mention letters to the editor and press attention.

Here’s one example from CDM comments, by Dartanyan Brown:

I heard the congressman from Nashville (!) talking down the $50 million for the
National Endowment for the Arts. I immediately called his office and let his
staffers know that (blue dog democrat Cooper) was full of hot air on this issue.
As a synthesist, jazz musician and former NEA artist-in-residence I had the
facts and anecdotes to make my points clear.

If Rush Limbaugh can get his folks to call, we can at least counteract them with some facts and persistence.

Call them, they listen, they respond to numbers.

More background on today’s developments:

• House passes stimulus bill with $50 million for artists (Los Angeles Times)
• U.S. Senate Begins Voting on Obama’s $787 Billion Stimulus Plan (Bloomberg)

To all of you who were active, and to our elected representatives who got this right, thanks.

Targeting the arts in this way may have backfired for those elements seeking to vilify it. Instead, it caused thousands of people to rally to the cause. Here’s an example of organizing meetings in Chicago - and a renewed sense that the arts could be part of the economic solution, not the “costly distraction” so many try to make it out to be.

• Organizing Around Art (Chicago Tribune)

Are You Wired for Tomorrow?

What the Fuck is Reality???

Ali G: Science, Evolution & Creation

Just Some Thoughts.........

We know from the medical community that everyone of us is different. Each of our bodies chemistry is uniquely different. What may not hurt one person, may kill the next. It is why there is so many side effects listed in these drug commercials.

So if we have a basic understanding that each one of us is different. Why do we expect everyone to think and behave the same?

Or better yet, why has the medical community ignored this basic fact and pumped your children with mind altering drugs to make them all act and think the same?

Why as parents do you allow it?

I was one of those children. I could not sit still (what child can?). I was different. I did not appreciate authority ever. I hated being forced to do things I did not want to do. I did not understand the world and what I was being taught as reality. I questioned everything, which in our society, you soon find out is a bad thing. I wanted to know how it all worked and if I could take it apart and see how it worked.

Now, is this the mind of a crazy child or a curious one wanting to learn about the world he lives in?

Well those around me (parent figures) thought something was wrong with me. So much so that my mother placed in me in a psychiatric hospital. I spent 2 years of my teen-hood in this hospital.

For years, instead of knowing I was just different, they tried to fix me. They tried what seemed like a hundred different counselors and doctors. They even tried medication which I never took. Instead of just seeing that maybe I thought different for a reason, they tried to make me like everyone else.

What is funny, is today I am even more of an outcast from society. I have done nothing that society expects of you, like a job and marriage. I just don't believe in all that crap. I know I am an individual and don't need all the human traditions to tell me I am human.

All I ever have wanted was the truth, but the older I get, the more I learned I got everything but the truth about the world I lived in. Most of life is filled with lies. Lies of what other people want you to believe the world is about. It is why they wanted to change me. I was not falling for their lies. I knew there was more facts that I had to find on my own.

So here I am at 37 wondering wtf is wrong with the world. Still to this day I question everything and know that the world is falling to shit because most people do not question everything. They except life "as is". Considering you were not asked if you wanted to be born, I do not understand why you would live how they expect. Most of the rules, what they claim is real and the such is just bullshit someone made up in their own human mind. These people have ulterior motives for what they expect you to believe. All of them do.....there is nothing different from them and you. You both have the same fears. They just arrived before you and feel they have the right to control you.

It is up to you to resist...

Children Learn What They Live

By Dorothy Law Nolte

If children live with criticism,
They learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility,
They learn to fight.
If children live with ridicule,
They learn to be shy.
If children live with shame,
They learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement,
They learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance,
They learn to be patient.
If children live with praise,
They learn to appreciate.
If children live with acceptance,
They learn to love.
If children live with approval,
They learn to like themselves.
If children live with honesty,
They learn truthfulness.
If children live with security,
They learn to have faith in themselves and others.
If children live with friendliness,
They learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

Universal Truth

What is the truth? How do we know it? What is its purpose?

The Source of all truth, Absolute Truth, is what we are constantly trying to understand, find out, and become. This search will go on for eternity. Another way to say this is that our soul is trying to become God - who in turn is always becoming something grander.

The truth is something that is self-evident and is based upon the feeling we have about any given thing. It's also been referred to as natural law or universal law.

God will not punish us if we break these laws or truths. They are simply there for us as guidance. We decide how to react to them through our own free will choices.

Unlike the endless cycles and constant changes of the physical universe in which we live, Universal Truths are unchangeable, everywhere, and always available to those who seek it. Most importantly, it is never forced upon us. It must always be a free will choice.

The soul has searched for the truth, its Source, throughout the ages, even though it threatens and destroys our false beliefs at times.

Truth and the Universal Laws
What are some of the spiritual truths that can be found all over the universe? I am going to briefly describe some of the big ones.

This is not the entire list by any means. Nor is it my list. They come from the many mystical teachings I’ve exposed myself to over the years.

This list does not belong to any exclusive group or religion. They are free for the asking. No one owns them. There is no fee or donation required. The real God made it that way.

As with any truth or teaching, each should first be brought to the heart to see if it "feels" right and then used according to your own wishes.

Love is all there is.
God loves us unconditionally.
It is impossible to be separated from God forever.
The universe is a world of opposites.
There are only two emotions in the universe, love and fear.
Everything in the universe is energy.
Emotional energy is the great attractor.
We create our own reality.
There are no accidents in God's universe.
What we put out comes back to us.
The truth will always be found in your heart.
We are all one with God.

A Mental Journey Into Creativity

By Brandon Thomas

"Brandon Thomas" is a 20-year-old junior at Michigan State University where he is studying Social Science. Echoing the recurrent themes of new-found appreciation for music and nature, as well as the stimulation of creative processes frequently observed by our contributors, he suggests that the relaxation of conditioned thought underlies such positive aspects of usage.

Marijuana, the killer herb. Marijuana, makes you go crazy. Marijuana, makes you lazy. Marijuana, none of those things. I have to laugh when I hear all these afflictions that marijuana supposedly causes. I've never experienced any of them, either personally or in any of my friends or acquaintances. True, I haven't been smoking it for very long, about two years. But I smoke pretty regularly, and have had no adverse effects. In fact, marijuana has changed my life for the better. It's changed my views on a great many subjects, from music to spirituality to everyday things. It has helped me challenge long-held beliefs and to think in new ways.

One good example of how marijuana can help me think in different ways is when I'm high and listening to music. I notice that in these instances, my thoughts take on the nature of the music. Suppose I am listening to Dave Matthews Band, a favorite of mine. Some songs move fast, some move slowly, some are long, others, not so long. And the tempo varies, of course, between songs and even within the same song. So my thoughts, which are often moving through uncharted territory, move like the song. At first, there are some more or less "normal" thoughts, where I'm considering some problem or idea, but as the song moves into instrumentals, away from the organized pattern of verse-chorus-verse, so do my thoughts. They flow like a river as the music itself flows like a river, and here I have had some very unique, creative insights. As the song speeds up, so does my thinking; as it slows, my thoughts ease off. Then, as the song ends, so too does the thought pattern. Sometimes I lose my train of thought, and there is a moment of sadness, a feeling of loss. Sometimes I don't lose it and as the next song starts my thoughts move elsewhere.

Music, then, can greatly facilitate and enhance certain kinds of thinking while high. There have been times when I was stoned and listening to music that I have had multiple insights in this way, sometimes at the level of a personal epiphany. Because of these experiences, I now almost never get high without having some music playing, and I almost invariably choose some sort of "jam" band. The long, loping instrumentals fit perfectly with the kind of free-flow thinking that marijuana induces. Classic rock bands like the Allman Brothers Band or Pink Floyd are also favorites; however, I may also note that marijuana has enhanced my appreciation of music of a much wider variety. Music I had before never liked or understood suddenly "clicked," and I found myself listening to folk, classical, techno, and hip hop. In fact, I find I am better able to enjoy music in general since I started smoking; whether I'm high or not, I love music so much more these days.

There have, however, been times that I have not had music on while high. One time I happened across an old roach and decided to spark it up. It was around noon on a sunny, blue-sky day, and even though I hadn't smoked much, I experienced a very unique high, unique, at least, from what I am used to. I generally smoke in the evenings, and in fact up to that point I had never been high in the middle of the day. So smoking that day was totally new to me. My eyes were opened to what "blue" really was, for one thing, and I could not take my sight away from that beautiful bowl of electric blue sky. The sound of the wind in the trees and the birds singing was amazing in and of itself, which was why I didn't play any music. Listening to nature gave me a totally different experience from listening to music. I sat down, my body tingling with joy, and wrote several poems about random things that I saw out my window. There is no lie in saying that marijuana can increase creativity. I love to write poetry, or sometimes even short stories, while I'm high. It flows in a very different way from when I'm sober. Not necessarily better, just different. I suppose that's all that creativity is: different modes of thinking.

That is the beauty of marijuana, and why it is such a shame that this herb has been maligned for so long. Marijuana opens the mind to new pathways of thought. In daily (read: sober) life, our thoughts fall into the same old, preconditioned patterns we learned when we were young. There is nothing wrong with this in general, but it is rather limiting. We get stuck in the same thought patterns and that stifles creativity. Smoking marijuana can relax our preconceived notions of "rational" thought and free us to explore new avenues, delving into courses of thought that we would otherwise consider silly, illogical, or just plain stupid. Of course, not all of these new conclusions hold up the next day. Sometimes, the critical nature of sobriety reveals our ideas to be silly and wrong, or sometimes we realize that whatever it is we thought up while high is a very obvious notion when examined with a sober mind. But there have been many times where I have come up with new ideas, solutions to problems that do hold up in the light of sober day. The stereotype of stoners either forgetting all their insights or only thinking of totally ridiculous things is not accurate, at least in my experience.

The fact is that marijuana has added much to my life. I have always loved nature, but now it's a deeper appreciation, because I feel more connected with it. This in turn has added to my ongoing spiritual journey. I've gone from Catholic to atheist to some sort of undefined spiritual seeker in the last 4 years. Marijuana helped me see that there may be more to the world than what we can normally see. I look forward to using marijuana in the years to come to further expand my viewpoints on things. I can only hope that America will come to its senses and legalize this wonderful herb, so that we may all enjoy its benefits without worrying about jail time. If ever there were a tragic set of laws, it's our drug laws. Maybe everyone out there just needs to smoke a bowl to figure it out.

Art of Expression? or Art for the Ego?

Written by Daniel Carrone for New Orleans Bands.net

I recently saw a movie that was released in 2001. The title of the movie was "A Beautiful Mind". It is a story about a man named John Nash who was a mathematical genius. He came up with a formula that is used in today's world economics. What is funny is that everyone, not just world money markets, can apply his formula to everyday life. It is a simple formula, easy to understand but in the end can pay off with major success to all those involved.

His formula basically stated that if every man and woman when faced with a decision, would look at all options and choose the one that not only helps them advance but also everyone around them, everyone would win every time. This formula is pretty much the same as the golden rule in its effectiveness. If everyone did unto others, as you would want others to do unto you, wouldn’t everyone win?

The reason we see so many people that do not want to cooperate with these formulas is due to the fact that we as humans have something called free will. Everyone has a choice. It is up to you to make the choices that define who you are and who you will become. It is up to you to make choices that gratify one’s ego or help others. It is no secret that when we think of others before ourselves, it not only makes us feel better but it also makes that person feel better. If you treat everyone, even those you dislike and strangers with good temperament, you can improve your heart, your life, and even your career.

I hope by bringing this up that I can educate others and make them see that hating, jealousy, and any other negative emotion associated with gratifying one’s self ego is not productive to anyone. It may give short-term success, but it will vanish rapidly and leave misery and pain. It always does.

When did the _expression through art become a competition? The reason I ask is because even in today’s mainstream industry, the artists and bands squabble over who is best. One great example was Voo Doo Fest this past weekend. On Sunday several bands were playing, and one of the first bands, after their set was complete, called out to a band named “Shine Down” to top that. Why would these artists be so concerned with toping each other? Are they not all doing the same thing and expressing their emotions through music? Again at the festival, the band named “Green Day” made a remark about the group “Sonic Youth”. It is these types of competitive remarks that should not be exercised. They all are doing what they love and being successful in what they do. Still they must hunt down negativity and exercise it publicly.

We see this negative productivity in our own local scene also and it does not stop with the bands. People are constantly out to out do the next person so that they can be top dog. My close personal friend would call this the “crabs in a bucket” theory. When one crab gets to the top of the bucket and is about to escape, another crab will grab him and pull him back down in to the bucket. I see this at work 7 days a week, 365 days a year here. This negative energy is not productive. No one will ever go anywhere until people learn to work together and remove these ego-pleasing emotions of greed, hate, and jealousy. Many do not realize that together we can make a difference. That together, everyone can be successful.

Thoughts About Creation & Inspiration

I want you to take a few moments and think about something - information...

25 years ago it was simple to tell lies to individuals. How would they find out the truth unless they actually researched it at a library. It is why it was so easy for them to make marijuana become illegal in the 30' and 40's.

Those days are now over. The Internet has given people an open doorway to information. You no longer have to accept the truth about what we see or hear among our peers. When someone makes a claim, you can check that claim in the blink of an eye with a computer.

Every time you write something and put out for people to read, you are sharing your consciousness. By distributing our consciousness via the Internet, our ideas, thoughts and creations can encompass the world in a matter of minutes.

Sharing our thoughts, ideas and creations is how each one of us grows. Not only in knowledge but in consciousness. From the inspiration you feel from the idea, thought or creation you experience from another, you can create something just as powerful to inspire others.

The circle is complete...

Knowledge is power. Sharing that knowledge is even more powerful. I imagine if we do not destroy the planet, that human kind is on the boundaries of a new evolution / revolution. That we will see how powerful the flow of information is and what can come from the ashes of lies and deceit.

Dan