I finished the second movement of my new Symphony on May 10, but am just getting around to posting it on Facebook. Like the first movement, this is a generally atonal piece. It is a bit short, but that's the way it presented itself. This movement is interesting because I wanted to paint with washes of sound. It is abstract, but if I were to describe it as a painting, I'd say it is impressionistic in pastel colors.
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Go to jazzicalmusic.weebly.com/symphony-1.html to see the score and listen to mp3 recordings of the two movements composed so far. While there, stay to view and listen to over 150 other pieces of original music I have composed. Enjoy!

On May 23, 2017 a Stacy N. Lockett, a 32 year old teacher at the Aguirre Junior High School in Channelview, TX presented 7th grader Lizeth Villanueva (an Honor Student) a certificate that read “Most Likely to Become a Terrorist”. She presented others that read, “Most Likely to Blend in with White People”, and "Most Likely to be Homeless in Guatemala.”, among other such cruel sayings. Apparently the teacher, who is black, told them they were supposed to be funny but they "might hurt [students'] feelings." She also told the students that she did not care how they felt about the mock “awards”. According to reports, other teachers in the school thought the certificates were funny.

I know this kind of insanity first hand. I failed 4th grade in Abilene Texas in 1965 because my racist teacher, Mrs. Sojouner, decided I was somehow a threat to society. Thank God my parents fought the witch. The result was that I was tested extensively and had to go to summer school. She was investigated and was found to have failed a large number of black kids. I was the wrong one for her to have failed because the school district determined that they had never encountered a child of any race that had tested so highly. Mrs. Sojouner was eventually fired and I was passed on to 5th grade. That experience hurt me, as she had wanted it to. I got over it, but could have been damaged badly by it. I thank God for my parents, who overcame their Jim Crow era fears to fight for me! The teacher who committed this heinous act, and the teachers who supported it, are all cut from the same cloth as Mrs. Sojouner. They have grown in the same putrid soil of Texas bigotry and racial insensitivity. They should all be fired and charged with child abuse!

If you want to join me in my letters of protest to the Aguirre Junior High School and the school district, here is the contact information:
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Channelview Independent School District
Greg Ollis Superintendent of Schools [email protected] Phone: 281-452-8008
828 Sheldon Road
Channelview, TX 77530
Phone 281-452-8010
Channelview Independent School District Board of Trustees
281-452-8008
Aguirre Junior High School
Principal - Eric Lathan [email protected]
15726 Wallisville Rd.
Houston, TX 77049
Phone: 281-860-3300
Fax: 281-860-3320
Mrs. Stacy N. Lockett
AVID Elective Teacher
Anthony Aguirre Junior High
(281) 860-3300 Ext. 3018
[email protected]

I have recently refrained from posting on FB about the dangerous blunders of the present administration and the lunatic, Donald Trump, at the center of it. I don't call Trump a lunatic lightly, or for pejorative effect. I am quite convinced that we've elected one as our president. For months I railed against him, and warned about him. I've challenged my conservative friends to debates where they attempt to defend the indefensible, explain the inexplicable, and describe in rational terms why they continue to support Trump.

Trump has tarnished the credibility of everyone in government who, unfortunately, must support him because it is their job to do so. Like a black hole, he is sucking the life out of the executive branch and he severely threatens the viability of the other branches of our government.
I understand the spinelessness of politicians in the legislative branch. I don't believe anyone expects them to behave more honorably than the jackals that they are. The cost of gaining national office is so high in terms of favors and money owed, that few politicians truly can act in the interest of the electorate. So, we can only expect from the legislative branch more ineptitude, majority support of the lunatic for the sake of holding onto power, shoddy ideologically-based legislation, and partisan gridlock.

The courts seem to be holding the line against the onslaught. The most egregious errors of this administration are being checked. The multiple actions taken to "dismantle the administrative state" by executive order and fiat legislation are difficult to counter.

This government of the people, by the people, has produced something Putin and others can subvert and openly mock. I don't blame Trump for, well... being Trump. I don't blame politicians for, well... being politicians. I applaud the courts for checking our childish, cruel, stupid impulses, but I know they cannot save us from ourselves.

What I am more angry about, that I hardly have the words to describe is this:

1) the ultra-left among us who sanctimoniously pronounce that they did not vote, or did not vote for Clinton, because the 'system' is broken and needs to topple under the weight of its own corruption
2) the ultra-conservatives among us who voted for Trump because the 'system' is broken and needs to topple under the weight of its own corruption
3) the people who voted for Trump because they were angry and wanted things to change
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I can respect a person who has reasonably derived political positions that are in conflict with my own. That said, Trump's dangerous insanity is in full bloom now for all to clearly see. He is, quite simply... a fool. Although you may agree with some of his policies (hell, even I do), anyone who still supports him as our president in light of recent developments, is simply being a fool to do so.