You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: 31

PLAYS: 4

(G-7 London Summit - even the protests were anemic)

With the G-20 Summit fading from view, I ran across a roundtable discussion of the recently ended G-7 Summit from June 10, 1984. Very tame by comparison to recent Economic Summit meetings, certainly the last two.

But back in 1984 it was all about the Cold War, with sprinklings of the state of the world economy kept off to the side.

Reagan was facing an election year and polishing up the Shining City was at the forefront.

During this Face The Nation program, Leslie Stahl asks several European correspondents their take on the meeting just ended.

Peter Jenkins (Political Editor – The Guardian): “There’s a suspicion now isn’t there, that what we’re seeing now is a President running for re-election and when he’s re-elected he may revert to the true Ronald Reagan. Now I don’t happen to think that will be the case, because I think that he will get sort of locked in to the new policy lines that he’s developing. But I think quite a few European people will reserve judgment until they see what Ronald Reagan looks like on his second Inauguration day."

And of course the interview with Assistant Secretary of State Richard Burt wasn't going to veer off course, despite hints from Stahl that all was not harmonious among the G-7.

Showing cracks in the facade just wasn't going to happen.

And in case you haven't heard, Katy Abram is interviewed here by Lawrence O'Donnell (okay, I gave it a lil' Blue Gal treatment hee hee) as if she is 'aw, shucks' an average citizen who was just awakened to politics by the socialism of health care reform. She is actually a Glenn Beck 9-12 Organizer who has been involved/"interested" in politics since at least the GOP loss of the 2006 Congressional elections.

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: 164

PLAYS: 34

(Psychedelic Furs - Quintessential 80's)

A sort of homage to the passing of John Hughes tonight. I remember what impact his films had on that decade, more or less defining yet another generation of misunderstood youth - but not in a malevolent way. The music changed too - the rough edge of Punk smoothed out and New Wave took center stage, at least for a while.

One of those bands that seemed to epitomize the 80's was Psychedelic Furs. Maybe because you couldn't think of "Pretty In Pink" without thinking of them, or of Molly Ringwald, or both for that matter.

I dug this BBC Transcription out, a Radio One concert from May 28, 1984 featuring an hour with The Psychedelic Furs recorded live at The Hammersmith Odeon.

A visit to the 80's seemed like a good thing to do tonight.

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: 98

PLAYS: 42

(Robbie Grey of Modern English - The birthrate reportedly went up after "Melt With You" was released)

A trip through the 80's today with a concert from March 14, 1984 featuring Modern English.

Not exactly one hit wonders, but one of a flood of bands all arriving around the same time - so they did get slightly lost in the shuffle and for no really good reason. Their big hit, "Melt With You" was sighted by a number of friends as great snogging music - with "Ricochet Days" (the opening track on this concert) running a close second.

I'll leave the snog factor up to you.

"Poverty grew sharply between 1979 and 1982. But a study by the Census Bureau claims that official estimates may exaggerate the number of Americans who are poor."

Listening to spin in a historic context can be baffling at times. Buried in the middle of an ABC Radio "World News This Week" broadcast from February 1984 was this report about poverty levels in the U.S. between 1979 and 1982. To hear a spokesman from the Census Bureau come out, matter-of-factly and say the number of people living below the poverty line during that time wasn't exactly true, since many of those people were receiving foodstamps and Medicare and were therefore deemed no longer "at the poverty line" seems rather bizarre to me.

This is the kind of painful spin we've been getting used to over the years. A report like this lends further evidence the Reagan Years were pretty much a sham. The casual disregard for real figures in place of fancied up ones. Mythic feel-good proclamations have done nothing but stave off what has become the inevitable.

To think our current economic situation will be cured by a snap of fingers or wishful thought disguises the fact that our current situation is the result of bad decisions and distracting spin from decades earlier.

Maybe it's not a chicken, but perhaps the Ostrich has come home to roost.

(Nice shiny miracles from that City On A Hill)