Women and artists cut out of stimulus package

Republicans are screaming no to spending on contraceptives. Backward looking thugs all over again. Less humans, not more would be the sustainable and ecological thing to promote. And which segment of society has less money to spend on safe reliable contraceptives? The very people who can't afford to have more children. It's a no brainer, but who ever accused the GOP of ruling from a rational view point?

The of course, there's howling against more money for the National Endowment for the Arts. Professional arts companies are shrivelling and dying, leaving thousands of artists without jobs. Arts institutions are cutting costs by opening less hours and cutting staff. Our own Akron Art Museum is closing on Sundays. A friend of mine just lost her job there.

What to do? In a fit of frustration, I sent off emails to my elected federal officials. I hope you are moved to do so as well. Here's the text of my emails and links to my representative and senators.

I am very concerned that the concessions being made to Republicans in the stimulus bill are focused against women and artists. Contraceptives, like health care, should be available to everyone. The arts must be funded and considered to be "shovel-ready" projects along with infrastructures. Jobs should go to women as well as men and to artists as well as construction workers.

Our governor called for a new education program for the new century today. He wants to emphasize creativity, problem-solving, leadership, collaborative thinking, and communication skills -- all skills that can be taught through the arts.

"Bipartisanship" should not mean turning women and artists into second class citizens.

Contact your senators and congressperson today.

Senator Brown
Senator Voinovich
Congresswoman Sutton.

Money Talks

I really don't have time for intensive blogging this week. Got real world stuff on the plate all week. Fortunately, some incredible previously unreleased Kinks concert footage just popped up on YouTube: live performances of songs from Preservation, the Kinks show of my dreams. I never got to see Preservation. But Preservation made me a Kinks fan for life. And I still hope one day to direct a production of it.

Two guys from Chicago emailed me over the summer. They were thinking of mounting a production of Preservation prior to the election. Nothing came of it, evidently. Wrong election for that show. Dog help us all should Obama turn out to be Flash or Mr Black.

Yet this rock musical remains timely. The cynicism of Preservation applies to governments near and far, at every level. So difficult to know if the person we vote for will turn out to be one of the good pols or one of the bad 'uns. Some people we don't even get to vote for, but their actions will have profound effects upon our collective and individual futures.

Take the newly confirmed secretary of the treasury, for example. Tim Geithner. He's supposed to be the one who will save the economy and the glorious capitalistic society in which we have shopped until we dropped, polluting the entire planet along the way. Do we really want to save the mode of living that brought us to this predicament? Do we return to flipping houses and betting on futures. Junk bonds, hedge funds.

I'm no economist, but I do know that "Money Talks." From the Beacon Theatre in NYC, 1975. Sing along words here. Thanks to KKfromNJ for posting this on YouTube: