so i've heard

you hear a lot of different things, for people say a lot of different things. a couple of days ago, i heard obama talk about how several latin american leaders had told him that their economies had been damaged by the imf. well, today, i heard that the obama administration has approved a 100 billion dollar loan to that very same imf. we know that in argentina, equador, jamaica, and so many other nations in the hemisphere, the imf has done its damage, and we also know that our own economy is hurting, and that people could surely put that 100 billion to use right here, but no matter. for there is the realm of words, were occasionally, truths are spoken, and there is the realm of deeds, where the ways of power are continued, spoken truths to the contrary. yes, the imf may fuck up economies, but we don't care about that, as long as it is the masses who get fucked, while the corporations profit. the film life and debt does a nice job of showing how the imf works. by the way, the imf doesn't operate magically on its own. it is american driven. it does the work of western capital, and dances to the tune called by the u.s. so, all nice words aside, the deed of throwing 100 billion at the imf demonstrates the continued imperial economic policies that the obama administration will partake in.

wardell gray was a wonderful sax man, and a deep thinker. a reader of sartre, and a supporter of henry wallace in 1948, gray was one of the true swing to bop links on the tenor. sadly, he was found with a broken neck in las vegas, dead in 1955, at the age of 31. mysterious to say the least. perhaps the mob did him in. whatever the case, he was as good as anybody. stitt and frank foster seemed to pick up on his playing, but it would have been nice to have him longer, especially with the lp on the horizon. he left us way too soon, along with booker little, eric dolphy, clifford brown, fats navarro, bird, and so many others. dig whatever wardell you can get your hands on. you won't regret it.

"anything south of the canadian border is south."

malcolm x.