“Following my words last night about how long your yankee government has been spying on you, my dear wife Susan reminded me of an event during our 1991 federal trial for willful failure to file income tax returns and conspiracy to delay and defeat the IRS (we were all acquitted). A major thrust of the government’s case was to show they could retrieve every piece of financial data about everyone. Susan was on the witness stand, and the prosecutor asked her if she had spent XXX dollars on tee shirts at J Crew the weekend before. Matter of fact, she had, & she had charged them. Never losing her aplomb (she never does), with withering sweetness Susan said, “Yes, I did, I bought them for my children. They’re good kids, and they deserve a new tee shirt now & then.”
Government could not have known about that charge without having access to credit card company records. And since that charge occurred AFTER the date of the dirty deeds we were accused of, government was abusing process by continuing to spy on us. But we’re not special — now they’re spying on all y’all, too!”
~ Franklin Sanders
“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
- Mark Twain
If you are a Solari Report subscriber, you are cordially invited to meet and lunch with Catherine.
This will provide an opportunity for you to meet Catherine in person and to get together with other Solari Report subscribers in your area.
Catherine will be in Nicasio, California on Saturday, June 1.
If you are not a Solari Report subscriber and would like more information, click here. If you would like to subscribe, please navigate to the Solari Store.
Dulce Et Decorum Est
by Wilfred Owen
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.
GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!– An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.–
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,–
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Translation: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori is Latin for “It is sweet and right to die for your country”.
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War, it was expanded after World War I to include American casualties of any war or military action.
By Kristen Linton
The lights dimmed, the band entered, Rodriguez took the stage. He hadn’t said a word or strummed a note, but the crowd was already standing. Audience members competing for his attention shouted, “We love you, Rodriguez” “We love you more!” The moment he opened his mouth to sing “Climb Up On My Music”, the congregation was stilled, they took their seats, and paid close attention. Rodriguez had something to say, and we needed to listen.
I didn’t know anything about Sixto Rodriguez until a few months ago when I saw the Academy Award winning documentary,Searching for Sugar Man. I don’t think many people at the Ryman Auditorium on Monday night knew much about Sixto Rodriquez until that film illuminated his talent either. So there we were, just a couple hundred of Sixto’s newest fans, hanging out at one of the most famous music venues in the United States, experiencing this once hidden legend in action.
Rodriguez’s journey to fame really is the stuff of legends, and if you are into that kind of thing, you should watch the film and get to know Rodriguez’s story. You won’t be disappointed to have spent the time.
But if you want to experience the result of his incredible journey, you must go see him live. It’s a concert experience like none I have had before. There are no strobe lights, no smoke machines, no backup dancers, no gimmicks—just a man, his guitar, and his stories.
Be warned: his voice is not a pretty one. It’s filled with grit and pain, and truth. And while not every note is sung in tune, it is refreshing just to hear a real human voice, unproduced and exposed. It’s the only way to sing the stories that he sings. It’s raw and it’s real.
Rodriguez shared his stories for 80 minutes and 25 songs. As the encore came to a close he put his fist in the air and said, “Thank you. Power to the people.” Once again, the congregation was stilled. I scanned the audience who were all in agreement, fists in the air confirming, “Power to the people.”
Related Reading:
Sixto Rodriguez Wikipedia Page
The Official Rodriguez Website
The Ryman Auditorium
by Kristen Linton
I had the opportunity to spend some time in TriBeCa at the Film Festival a few weeks ago. My sister is a filmmaker and she needed a companion to help her do some research for her upcoming projects. I was tapped to be her accomplice.
As can be expected at these kinds of things, we went to some great events and some not so great events, we saw some great films and some not so great films; but what impressed us the most was a “Tribeca Talks Directors Series” with Bryce Dallas Howard and Mira Nair.
If you are not familiar with Mira Nair or her work, I recommend that you spend some time getting to know her. She is a visionary director who follows her own rules and makes great films exactly how she wants to.
Her latest film, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, premiered at Tribeca last month and she was at the festival promoting it; which is why she and Bryce Dallas Howard spent a sunny Saturday afternoon talking to my sister and me, as well as a room full of other film enthusiasts, about her career and her role as a mother, wife, teacher, and “student of life”.
With complete sincerity and wit she charmed all of us. I found myself jotting down in my notebook every nugget of wisdom shared. Although she was speaking largely about making films, I found her advice to be applicable to any career path.
She advised us to think beyond the “Hollywood boys club”. “Find a different route. You can’t take the same route!” she emphatically exclaimed. She spoke of the importance of community—that we need the nourishment of a supportive environment to invent and create new and inspiring work and to provide “succor for the blows of life”. She said that her own success is due to the fact that she doesn’t seek the approval of mainstream Hollywood, and that she has a supportive community of friends and family who believe in her and her vision. Because of them she is able to make her own work and tell the stories that she wants to tell—the stories ignored by the status quo.
Perhaps the most important thing that she said and what I continue to think about nearly a month later, is the idea of “deserving your audience”. She said that it is important to tell and support stories that are deserving of the audience’s attention.
I have not yet seen The Reluctant Fundamentalist, but based on Mira’s track record I expect it will give me something to think about and it will certainly deserve my attention.
Related Reading:
5 Filmmaking Lessons From Mira Nair and Bryce Dallas Howard’s Tribeca Talk
Dear Subscribers:
We have been on the lookout for the best economic calendars on the web. Here are some that we have found useful:
“We have shifted away from a world where central banks control inflation, to
one where they must create it.”
-Michael A. Gayed
