Police officer deaths by gunfire in 2016 are up 63% from this same time last year. A sniper named Micah Xavier Johnson, who professed to wanting to kill white people (especially cops), murdered five police officers, shooting a total of 12 cops and 2 civilians during a Dallas rally protesting police violence. Johnson's online presence illustrated his rage toward white people. Apparently, no one noticed. The protest was a response to a pair of graphic police shootings in Minnesota and Louisiana earlier in the week. After the Dallas police officers were assassinated, some people took joy in the actions of the shooter. A New York Times guest editorial posted hours before the Dallas shootings railed about police shootings of black
Tag: jay z
The Invention of Pretension
"OK, fellas! Smile for the album cover photo shoot! Your fans love you! Give 'em a smile!" "Well, OK. Just look up. We'll make it work." Our favorite singers and musicians sneered or looked bothered to appear on their own album covers. A look of complete detachment validated their street cred. We idiot kids shelled out our grass cutting money to buy their albums, dreaming of being half as cool as these hedonists we idolized. A funny thing happened on the way to the old folks home (or cemetery). Twitter & Instagram put us in instant contact with people who suddenly became quite human. More of today's artists walk the walk and participate in societal change. Some
Roots of Top 40 Radio
I started in music radio but swerved into talk radio to be like Joe Franklin, God rest his soul. A new book by a man ironically named Weisbard chronicles the creation of Top 40 radio and how it has pulled the world along its enchantingly rhythmic path. ^^^ Booker T & The MGs "Green Onions" (1962) brought a Memphis groove to the world in the years prior to the civil rights marches later that decade. FROM THE ROOTS TO THE RAUNCH Today, a significant portion of music is not safe for radio airplay without masking N-words, F-words, GD references, and brutally misogynistic lyrics that diminish women to little more than objects of male sexual gratification. Much of today's hit music also swirls