My ethnic heritage is Polish, very Polish. Three of my grandparents were born and raised there, and the fourth lived there after growing up in White Russia (Belarus). So I don’t exactly enjoy Polish jokes.

But I must admit that sometimes my motherland culture deserves their reputation. Especially when the issue involves tolerance for those who are different. I mean, when you are the butt of derogatory jokes, you might try to be a little more sensitive about the evils of looking down on other groups. But Poles are famous for their intolerance, especially with regard to Jews.

I had hoped that Poland had been purified from anti-Sematism through its experiences with the Nazis in the 1930s and 40s (not to mention  »  continue reading …

The recent failure of the Congressional “Super Committee” to fulfill its mission of mapping out a future fiscal budgeting course for the USA so as to avoid the kind of sovereign debt crisis that is now bringing Europe to its knees is rather discouraging. At the same time, our seemingly productive economy is sputtering; but even when running well it increasingly fails to distribute its benefits fairly between rich and poor. This all hints, to me anyway, that the American Constitutional model of representative democracy along with our tradition of economic freedom is breaking down; it just isn’t working anymore despite its great success over the past two centuries.

Representational democracy and free markets were never a pretty things to watch, but when the chips were down and America was threatened, the major political parties and corporate leaders always put their immediate partisan interests aside to find solutions to a big threat. Well, there was one major exception – regarding the issue of slavery. Economic and social divisions were pushed to the point of rupture by that one; a block of states seceded, and it took a long and terribly bloody war followed by years of political strife to settle the question. But during the two major world wars and the long cold war that followed them in the 20th Century, the Democrats and Republicans became fairly skilled at finding just enough ground for consensus to protect the nation.

But today, amidst growing premonitions of future economic mayhem, the Democrats and Republicans have decided to stick by their guns  »  continue reading …

Being an old guy who grew up in the 60’s, I still like The Ventures and the surf guitar instrumentals that they were famous for. It’s well known amidst Ventures fans that this group had a special relationship with the people of Japan. They started touring there in the early 60’s, well before the other pop music stars of the west started noticing Japan. Actually, almost no one in the west noticed Japan back then. It was only 17 or 18 years since the big Pacific war (that they started) had ended with a nuclear ‘bang’, and no one much took ‘the Japs’ seriously anymore. Japan was starting to export stuff for sale in the US by then, but it was mostly considered ‘cheap garbage’. A few Zen-masters from the Japanese temples were starting to arrive on our western shores, as to take advantage of the nascent ‘beat generation’ and the search for meaning amidst affluent American bohemians. But for the most part, Japan was not on anyone’s radar anymore (an ironic choice of words, given what had happened at Pearl Harbor in December, 1941).

In just a few years, the sun would begin to rise once again over Japan. But in the misty pre-dawn of the Japanese cultural and economic resurgence, the Ventures found a niche, a place that became special to them. After the Beatles hit the music scene and the British pop invasion swept the surf craze aside, the Ventures became an “also ran” band, still useful on occasion for things such as the theme for the TV show “Hawaii 5-0”. However, they could still pack ’em in at the concert halls of Japan, and made annual tours to the Land of the Rising Sun. Believe it or not, despite all the changes in the music world, the group continued doing that thru the 80’s, 90’s and 00’s.

By now, the surviving Ventures are in their 70s (Don Wilson and Nokie Edwards; Bob Bogle and Mel Taylor both passed, but Mel’s son Leon still tours with the band on drums). You would think that in the wake of that terrible tsunami disaster back in March,  »  continue reading …

A few weeks ago I wrote something here about the new Voice of Russia AM radio station in the New York metro area (at 1430 on the dial). They broadcast 24/7 and focus on news and international issues, at least when I listen during my morning and evening commutes to work. When I last wrote, the VofR announcers were mostly English-speaking Russians with noticeable accents. But since then, VofR decided to ‘Americanize’ things a bit; they focus more on local news in the New York and DC metro areas (those are the two places where they have stations; sorry, Chicago, Atlanta, LA, Dallas, etc., but you can listen on the web site). They even give occasional weather forecasts for DC and NYC, and have toned down the critical commentary (somewhat hypocritical, coming from Russia) regarding American imperialism. And instead of cuing “expert commentary” from old men with turgid accents at quasi-governmental institutions in St. Petersburg or Novosibirsk, VofR is now featuring mostly American guests on their shows. Again, at least during drive-time; at 10 PM on Sunday or 12 noon on Tuesday it might be Moscow Mailbag or Musical Tales from the steppes, or recipes for sturgeon and cabbage.

To deliver this lighter blend with an American flavor, VofR recently hired several aspiring young American news journalists as hosts. It’s quite an improvement and it gives VofR even more of an NPR flavor (but without all the pledge drives!). I still haven’t figured out just why the Russian government is spending good money on this, unless it’s a prestige thing (or maybe it’s good for business; perhaps it encourages American financial leaders to consider investing in Russia). But I’m glad they are doing it, as it presents a welcome alternative on the AM dial for us news junkies and policy wonks when the local network news stations are rattling off their commercials (dirty capitalists!) and NPR is begging for cash or playing “groovy” international music (damn socialists!).

One of the new drive-time shows on VofR is called “Capital to Capital”, hosted by two American announcers, one based in Moscow and the other in Washington. They discuss the local headlines from each capital and exchange thoughts  »  continue reading …