Houses of the Holier-Than-Thou: Rock and Roll Crashes Washington’s Elite Holiday Party

By Lori Spencer

Contributing Editor

This Can’t Be Happening!

According to the National Archives, one item has been requested more than any other over the past forty two years; more than the Bill of Rights or even the Constitution of the United States. Yes, it’s the iconic photograph of Elvis Presley shaking hands with President Richard M. Nixon on the occasion of Presley’s visit to the White House. December 21, 1970.

It was a few days before Christmas, 1970, and Elvis Presley was suddenly obsessed with a strange notion. Not another late-night private shopping spree for Lisa Marie, or a cross-country hamburger run this time. No, what Presley had in mind was far more important: the trumpet of destiny was once again beckoning him to her siren call. It had been decided somehow in his drug-addled mind that the King of Rock and Roll should meet the President of the United States. Not next week; not next year, or in the next decade: this had to happen right now.

Within hours, and without telling anyone in his Memphis Mafia entourage, Elvis was on a red-eye flight to Washington, D.C. – alone. Before Vernon Presley could say, “has anybody seen Elvis?” (thus setting off a full-scale panic back at Graceland), Presley had arrived at the White House gates uninvited, asking to see the president.

Elvis explained to an astonished security guard that he knew the president was very busy, but that he would just like to say hello and give him a gift (a commemorative World War II .45 caliber pistol). He also bore in his hand a six-page handwritten requesting – incredulously enough –  to be appointed a “Federal Agent-at-Large” in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.

Once it had been determined that the letter was genuine and that this heavily armed, velvet and suede-clad man at the gate really was THE Elvis Presley, phones began ringing frantically all over the White House. “What the hell do we do with this guy?” was the question of the day. Elvis waited patiently in his three-room suite back at the Hotel Washington while the president’s men scrambled to accommodate his bizarre request.

In a staff memo fired off quickly to Nixon’s Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman, the president’s Special Assistant Dwight Chapin suggested that “if the president wants to meet with some bright young people outside of the government, Presley might be a perfect one to start with.”

Haldeman scribbled in the margins of the memo, “you must be kidding.”

Nevertheless, he approved the visit, and Presley was finally allowed entry into an inner sanctum that no rock-and-roller before him had ever penetrated: the oval office.

That groundbreaking summit brought a new whiff of respectability to rock and roll music, and yet even by the early 1980′s, rock bands still weren’t exactly welcome visitors on Washington’s elite holiday party circuit. Reagan’s Secretary of the Interior James Watt memorably banned the clean-cut, all-American Beach Boys from the annual July 4th Concert on the Mall in 1983.

Watt had announced that all rock bands attracted “the wrong element,” and that the Reagan administration opted for a “wholesome” program with Wayne Newton. “We’re not going to encourage drug abuse and alcoholism,” Watt sniffed, “as was done in the past.”

Secretary Watt was apparently unaware that the Beach Boys had played the White House just a month before in June, at Ron and Nancy Reagan’s personal request. Watt later apologized to the Beach Boys after learning the Reagans were fans of the band. Reagan gave James Watt a “shoot yourself in the foot” award over the embarrassing incident and invited the Beach Boys back in 1985 to play his second Inaugural concert. The times they were a-changin’, but still…not that much.

YOUR TIME IS GONNA COME

Had you told me then – some thirty years ago during the waning years of the long, Cold War – that a Russian ballerina, a black bluesman from Lettsworth, Louisiana, and the English kings of debauch, Led Freaking Zeppelin, would be honored at the White House by the nation’s first black president within our lifetimes, I would have told you to dream on and fuck off.

But there they were: ballerina Natalia Makarova, blues legend Buddy Guy, Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones, all sitting quietly in the distinguished East Room of the White House on December 3, 2012. Unlike previous visits by Elvis Presley and The Beach Boys, these artists were not unexpected visitors or performing court jesters; they were honored guests of the president.

As I listened intently to president Obama singing their collective praises – along with their fellow Kennedy Center Honorees Dustin Hoffman and David Letterman – I could only shake my head in amazement and think to myself, “this can’t be happening!”

L to R: Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, Natalia Makarova, David Letterman, Dustin Hoffman, Buddy Guy, and President Barack Obama.

On more than a few occasions during the ceremony I saw that same “look how far we’ve come” grin spread across the faces of several attendees, including one Jimmy Page, who later called the whole experience “surreal, like a dream.”

When asked if they had ever been invited to the White House before, Robert Plant exploded in a cackle of laughter. “Naaaah, you’re joking, right?” Reflecting back in time, Plant’s face suddenly turned stoic, and a hint of bitterness crept into his tone.

“We were hardly the toast of the American political establishment back then,” Plant pointed out sharply. “Your government and police certainly were interested in us, but not for our music. But we were being questioned quite often!”

The native British band expressed great excitement (and perhaps some befuddlement) at being chosen for this prestigious award, because the Honorees are recognized for making unique contributions to American culture. Of the 178 recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors over the past three and a half decades, only one other British rock band has been chosen: The Who in 2008.

Led Zeppelin guitarist and sonic architect Jimmy Page considers the selection of Led Zeppelin in 2012 to be “a terrific honor.”

“We owe such a massive debt to American music,” Page said. “It’s a thing that definitely seduced us all to be want to be part of the music.”

“Everything that we talk about is American, from our music tastes more or less (and maybe north African and Egyptian).” Plant agreed. “Our mutual love of and absolute and total influence by American music whether its from Mississippi or Chicago in 1982 – it’s great because we’re sort of Americans but…not – of course.”

Although Plant is still a British citizen, he now lives part-time in Austin, Texas with his musical partner and lady love Patty Griffin. “I do consider myself an American in many ways,” Plant said. “Austin feels like home to me now.”

“So the fact that we get to go to this thing and meet the most dynamic and charismatic American outside of America – Obama – bar none is a great, great privilege.”

A short time later Plant, Page, and Jones were shaking the president’s hand during a White House reception preceding the Kennedy Center Honors. In a wildly mixed crowd that included celebrities such as Morgan Freeman, Lenny Kravitz and Page’s old school chum Jeff Beck, there were still plenty of old-guard Washingtonians propped up on their walkers and canes, casting disapproving glances at these gray haired, tuxedo-clad hippies actually being honored in the East Room. There goes the neighborhood, indeed.

President Obama roasted the members of Led Zeppelin in his remarks to the Kennedy Center Honorees at the White House.

DAZED AND CONFUSED

“It’s been said that a generation of young people survived teenage angst with a pair of headphones and a Led Zeppelin album,” President Obama said in his remarks to the Honorees. “And a generation of parents wondered what all that noise was about.

“But even now, 32 years after John Bonham’s passing — and we all I think appreciate the fact — the Zeppelin legacy lives on,” Obama proclaimed. “The last time the band performed together in 2007 — perhaps the last time ever, but we don’t know — more than 20 million fans from around the world applied for tickets. And what they saw was vintage Zeppelin. No frills, no theatrics, just a few guys who can still make the ladies weak at the knees, huddled together, following the music.”

The president’s speechwriters couldn’t resist that niggling temptation to rib the members of Led Zeppelin over their party-boy reputations.

“Of course, these guys also redefined the rock and roll lifestyle.  We do not have video of this,” President Obama quipped. “But there were some hotel rooms trashed and mayhem all around.  So it’s fitting that we’re doing this in a room with windows that are about three inches thick and Secret Service all around. So just settle down, guys…these paintings are valuable.”

·    The Kennedy Center Honors will air on CBS December 26. Part Two of TCBH’s coverage takes us to the Kennedy Center for an all-star tribute to the 2012 Honorees, and more with the members of Led Zeppelin.

 

 

 

The Occupy Movement’s First Casualty: Death of a Poet

The 18 year-old occupier known as "Street Poet," who was found dead in his tent on Halloween.

THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT’S FIRST CASUALTY

Protester Dies at Occupy OKC Camp

By Lori Spencer
ThisCantBeHappening.net

With additional reporting by Charles M. Young

You say you feel my pain
But
You don’t even know what pain is.

– Untitled final poem by Street Poet

After spending the last three weeks on assignment in Oklahoma City covering the Occupy OKC encampment, I was deeply saddened and shocked to learn of Street Poet’s passing yesterday. At first it just didn’t seem possible that this talented, upbeat young man whom I had only known for 10 all-too-brief days, could be taken away so suddenly. Just like that – without any apparent sensible or logical explanation for his death.
The man we all called “Street Poet” had never showed any outward signs of physical or mental health problems, drug addiction, or suicidal tendencies. So, what on earth happened to him, we all wonder now? At this time, the details of his death remain as elusive and mysterious as his life.
Here’s what we do know so far: Street Poet was discovered unresponsive in his tent by another camper around 2:45 on the afternoon of Halloween. There was no blood at the crime scene. No signs of trauma or a struggle; no indication of foul play. No alcohol, street drugs or drug paraphernalia by his bedside. No obvious cause of death at first glance. It is generally believed that Street Poet passed sometime during the night, as rigor mortis had already set in by the time his body was found.
“Due to the victim’s young age and because the body was unattended at the time of death, we are currently processing this as a crime scene,” said Lt. Kevin Barnes of the Oklahoma City Police Department. “It appears he died of natural causes, but the medical examiner will ultimately determine the cause of death. We are conducting an extensive investigation and making every effort to figure out what caused this young man to die.”
Homicide detectives worked into the night at Kerr Park, site of the downtown OKC occupation, looking for clues into the sudden death of a seemingly healthy young man. Police cordoned off the tent city area in the plaza’s mezzanine, while allowing occupiers to remain in the lower level of the park. Once the crime scene investigation was concluded, campers were allowed to return to their tents. But one tent was now conspicuously missing from the family circle.

Street Poet's final home: his tent at Kerr Park

It is so hard to find help
out in the world
When the world doesn’t care.
My life is like an open book
Just read the words and you know
every blessed curse.
Don’t be concerned if you find
my past startling
’cause so do I.

– Street Poet

I first met Street Poet around the 20th of October. He bounded right up to me (interrupting an interview), introduced himself, and proceeded to lay down some poetic rap about sleeping under bridges. He was tall and thin with bushy brown hair, sparkling, curious eyes and an ever-ready smile. Of course I couldn’t be irritated with him for butting into a conversation. He was just so damned likeable, even cute. From his outward appearance, I naturally assumed he was a college kid from a typical white middle or upper-class background. It wasn’t until the next night he confided to me that he was homeless, and that his family history had been anything but ideal.
Street Poet said he was originally from Naples, Florida. He had left his foster home at age 16, earning his living by performing (and usually sleeping) on the streets. Over the past two years, he traveled on foot from Kansas City through Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and finally, Oklahoma City, where he landed approximately two weeks ago. His plan, he explained, was to reunite with his brothers who now live in Kansas City, “so we can be a family again.”
Although some of the local occupiers know Street Poet’s real name (or at least the name he gave them), the group is not disclosing it until his family can be located and notified of his death. No one seems to know Street Poet’s exact age, either. Most guessed him to be in his twenties. But from the timeline he gave me in our interview – having left home at 16, which he says was two years ago – he would be only 18 years old now.

When Street Poet arrived at Occupy OKC’s Kerr Plaza encampment about a week and a half ago, he quickly made new friends. People noticed how he came out of his shell a little bit more every day; how his self-confidence grew; how he seemed to revel in the love and acceptance here that he had apparently been denied in the past. His public displays of affection at Kerr Park are what those who ever met him will remember most. Street Poet was always handing out free hugs to any and all, even total strangers just walking by.
“I was almost taken aback by Street Poet’s first hug, nothing held back, all innocent exuberance,” Occupy OKC community moderator Mark Faulk remembered. “But in the time that he was there, I found myself looking for him, waiting for his smile and his welcoming embrace, both coming and going, and sometimes just spontaneously for no reason at all. He gave me more hugs in the space of a little over a week than many people get in an lifetime. After what would turn out to be his final performance, I turned the tables on him…I sought him out, wrapped my arms around him, and congratulated him on an amazing performance. As always, he smiled.”
Occupiers such as Manny Whitlock were impressed enough to bring donations just for Poet, such as some nice J. Riggins suits to perform in. On the last night of his life, Street Poet was asked during an interview how he liked his new threads. “Now look at me. Now look at me!” the poet smiled. “I’m now part of the 99%, along with all these people.”
“These people” had become his new family. There is a certain sense of camaraderie and fellowship that develops inside Occupy camps everywhere. Camping out with people from all walks of life, in all kinds of weather, in pretty close quarters, for weeks on end more or less compels people to get along together. Neighbors know their neighbors. People look out for one another. After all, the reasoning goes, we are the 99% and we’re all we’ve got.

Street Poet performs at an occupy march on the Oklahoma State Capitol just two days before his untimely death. Oct. 29, 2011

“He was the most giving person. Hugged me 20 times a day. He just wanted to be loved.” said Heidi, a 40 year-old single mother and Compassion Tent volunteer. “He told me I was the only mom he ever had. He’d sleep outside by my tent. Always was so happy to play with my four year-old. He was happy when he was making people laugh. He was kindest person I ever met. Just a boy that the system failed. Honest to god, his was a life full of potential. I saw it every day. He was smart and articulate and kind and he found his place here. This entire movement is grieving him tonight.”
Protester Matt Walden, 19, described Street Poet as “a very loving man who happened to find us and find a home. The system never gave a shit about him, but we did. I see him as a martyr for the Occupy Wall Street movement. Guys like him – the ones who slip through the cracks of our society – are the reason we occupy.”
Street Poet’s last day on earth was by all accounts, a good one. He’d been treated to a home-cooked meal and got some new clothes. He performed for an assembled crowd of 50-60 people, many of whom had never noticed how talented he really was until that moment.
“He read a poem about his being homeless and it was quite moving,” said local attorney Jay Trenary, who also moderates the Occupy OKC legal committee. “He was a great guy, kind heart. We had a candlelight memorial for him last night.” There is talk of a larger, more public gathering in his honor later this week.
The last time I saw Street Poet two nights ago, he ran up to me as I was on my way home, threw his arms around me and blurted out the words I love you. I hugged him back and told him I loved him too. (I’m so grateful now for that one last special moment with him.) “Go tell my story,” he instructed me. “Tell the world in your article.”
Little did I know then just how prophetic that final, urgent plea would turn out to be. Now I’m sitting here two days later writing his obituary. The sweet kid I came to regard as my new little brother suddenly turned out to be the first casualty of the revolution.
Street Poet wanted me to tell his story, and I’ve done my best under the circumstances. But the pain is still too fresh for any semblance of objectivity. He told his own story better than I ever could, anyway.

I would like to think I’ve changed
And who I am
I’d like to think I’m now a man.
So here I stand and
I truly know this right from wrong
but should also have known it all along.

– Street Poet

The official Occupy OKC Facebook wall filled up with messages of love, sorrow, and solidarity yesterday. Occupy groups from as far away as Portland, Oregon and Galway, Ireland shared words of support. Occupy organizations around the state (now formally united as “Occupy Oklahoma”) also expressed their condolences.

“We will not let up. We will not back down.” said Tim “Gonzo” Anderson. “The street poet lives on in our every march, every chant, and every person we talk to about this movement. We are all street poets, and we call out his name as he would call out all of ours. Solidarity.”

To see a video interview conducted on the last night of Street poet’s life, go here: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=279194725447866

UPDATE NOV. 3, 2011:

Now that Street Poet’s family has been identified and located, we can finally release his name: Louis Cameron Rodriguez, age 18.

His mother and sister live in Clarksville, TN and want to fly to OKC to claim his body. Occupy OKC is trying to raise donations for airfare because Louis’ family can’t afford it. Please spread the word.

Anyone out there who wants to donate either frequent flier miles or cash can contact Occupy OKC. Beth Isbell is coordinating this effort. Her email is roxybeast@hotmail.com. Local readers can just drop by the camp in Kerr Park to donate in person.

Occupying America: Sowing the Seeds of a Second American Revolution

OCCUPYING AMERICA:

Sowing the Seeds of a Second American Revolution

By Lori Spencer

Originally published on ThisCantBeHappening.net

#1 user-rated story on OpEdNews.com for week of Oct. 21, 2011 and redistributed on more than 78,000 websites

Sign posted inside an Occupy OKC protester's tent, Oklahoma City. (Photo: Lori Spencer)

“There are combustibles in every state which a spark might set fire to.”

– George Washington’s letter to General Henry Knox offering his view of Shay’s Rebellion, 1786

One month ago, a group of some 1000 demonstrators gathered in Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park to protest the pillaging of the nation’s economy by powerful corporations and international houses of high finance. While these young activists were entirely peaceful, they also made it clear that this would be no hippie-dippy flower-twirling love-in, sit-in, teach-in, or even a camp-in; this was an occupation. The demonstrators announced that they intended to Occupy Wall Street 24/7, staying until hell freezes over if need be.

The New York City police welcomed them warmly with pepper spray and more than a few violent smack-downs, even going so far as to arrest some 700 protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge who were lured into a position where they could be charged with blocking traffic.

After video of these outrages went viral on the Internet, a wave of righteous indignation swept the land. Hastily-formed Occupy groups proclaiming themselves in solidarity with the NYC protesters began to spring up in big cities and small towns across America. At first it was just a handful: 20-30 groups in the first week, growing to a few hundred in the second week, then rapidly mushrooming to today’s current total of 1,947 cities around the globe.

The most common critique leveled against the Occupy demonstrators is that they don’t seem to have a plan. “Disorganized,” “unfocused,” and “aimless” are buzzwords the movement’s detractors — both liberal and right-wing – like to toss around. Last week former President Bush’s key political adviser Karl Rove cynically opined in the Wall Street Journal that Democrats should distance themselves from the Occupy Wall Street movement to avoid alienating potential voters in 2012.

And it’s true that even those Americans who are in fact part of the 99% and generally support OWS’s principles are themselves unclear as to what the protesters ultimately want and how exactly they are going to accomplish it. What are their demands? How long are they going to keep this up? Have they proposed any concrete solutions? But that’s an awful lot of pressure to put upon a spontaneous social movement that is only little over a month old.

Certainly these are valid questions. In defense of the revolutionaries, though, remember that the last time we had a revolution in this country , it took 20 years to start it, eight years to fight it, and still another six years to fully secure and implement a new government. If the Occupy movement is indeed the genesis of a Second American Revolution, we should not expect its progenitors to simply cough up a prefabricated quick fix. After all, if our elected representatives couldn’t seem to figure out how to correct the country’s multitude of problems over a few decades, is it reasonable to expect a loosely-organized band of citizen activists to offer the solutions within just a few months? We may be sowing the seeds of a revolution now, but let’s not forget that it usually takes many years to reap the harvest.

History shows that revolutions do not occur overnight. Reasonable humans always prefer to work out their differences through lawful avenues and communication whenever possible. It is only after many years of futile petitioning that the oppressed are left with no other choice but to revolt. Some 236 years ago, the American colonists signed a Declaration of Independence – prepared to back it up through force of arms if necessary – but that unforgiving line in the sand was only drawn after 22 years of peaceful attempts to negotiate with Britain had failed.

The seeds of the American Revolution were planted not in 1776, but in 1754 during the French and Indian War. Colonists became further disenchanted when taxes were levied upon them to pay the costs of that war. A number of other encroachments added fuel to the fire: restrictions on settlement of the West, increased duties on imported goods, the Stamp Act, the banning of colonial currency, outlawing town meetings, quartering British troops among the citizenry, and closing Boston Harbor, just to name a few. Discontent festered for nearly 20 years whilst the Loyalists and Patriots argued amongst themselves as to whether or not they dared to overthrow British rule.

When the first armed conflict of the Revolutionary War began on April 19, 1775, only one-third of colonists supported the cause. The Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, but it took another year for all the delegates to actually sign their John Hancocks, quite literally putting their lives on the line for what they believed in. Although the final battle was fought in 1782, the state of war did not formally end until the Treaties of Paris and Versailles were ratified in 1784. The U.S. Constitution was written in 1787 but was not ratified until 1789. This delay was the result of ongoing debate between Federalists and Anti-Federalists over just how much power the new national government should have. Debates were so heated in fact that they frequently turned into armed skirmishes, standoffs, and deadly showdowns with authorities. One resonant example was Shay’s Rebellion, a populist uprising of debt-ridden New England farmers who had served their country in  the war, only to come home and have their lands foreclosed upon. (A scenario all too familiar for today’s veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the returned veterans of practically every war in the 20th century).

One citizen's petition for a redress of grievances. Placard from the Occupy OKC demonstration in Oklahoma City, October 16, 2011. (Photo: Lori Spencer)

“You say you want a revolution…well, you know…we’d all love to see the plan.”

– The Beatles, “Revolution”

Revolutions are a process of trial and error, of discarding what doesn’t work and eventually figuring out what does. Of course you can always count on revolutionaries to make some massive screw-ups along the way (such as George Washington’s bright idea to exclude blacks from the Continental Army, thus driving more than 20,000 African Americans to pick up guns for the British and turn them against their countrymen, for example). In truth, the original 13 American colonies were rarely in agreement on anything. While everyone could agree that the country was out of joint, reaching consensus on what to do about it proved far more difficult.

Even when all 13 colonies finally signed on the dotted line in 1776, they still didn’t have a plan for a new system of government to replace the old. And while the Declaration may have been a poetic statement of collective principles and grievances, it offered nothing in terms of solutions.

The Continental Army was a ragtag, disorganized, unruly band of volunteers who seemingly didn’t stand a snowball’s chance against the crushing might of Britain’s superior forces. These men fought an eight-year war without so much as a blueprint for what the hell they were going to do with their hard-earned freedom should they emerge victorious. Once the war was won, it took another six years of bickering, compromise, and re-tooling the Constitution before we finally had a supreme law of the land. All the while, Congress ran the United States because there was no leader; the new nation didn’t elect its first president until 1789.

All in all, the process of the American Revolution comprised 35 years–a generation.

What is happening in the streets today is being hailed by some as the Second American Revolution, and it may very well be that our tree of liberty is beginning to bloom anew. By that historical comparison, the agitators who are taking it to the streets would be the modern day Patriots. The majority who tell them to just sit down, shut up, get a job, and stop whining already are the Loyalists. All of these empty arguments being made today against the Patriots as a bunch of naive, ungrateful, disorganized fools are nothing new under the sun. We Americans have heard that old saw somewhere before. Washington, Adams, Jefferson and even Tom Paine didn’t have all the answers in the beginning, either.

Not until 1774 did the First Continental Congress convene to draft an official list of grievances, a statement of principles, and plans for organized resistance to England within the colonies. This bold first step towards independence had been 20 years in the making.

Today’s revolutionaries actually seem to be moving forward much, much faster. Already, an Occupy Wall Street working group is calling for the election of a National General Assembly to meet on July 4, 2012 in Philadelphia. According to the 99% Declaration, “870 Delegates shall set forth, consider and vote upon a PETITION OF GRIEVANCES to be submitted to all members of Congress, The Supreme Court and President and each of the political candidates running in the nationwide Congressional and Presidential election in November 2012.” Now that sounds like a plan!

It took many decades of unsustainable excess and deep-rooted corruption for America to reach this critical stage of mass unrest. So no one should expect us to get out of this mess tomorrow.

We’re done with trusting politicians to sort it out for us. We have finally come to the inevitable conclusion that if we want the job done right, we’ll have to do it ourselves. We The People will fix this, even if we don’t know quite how to do it just yet. We will win some, lose some, fall on our faces sometimes, and learn from our mistakes as our forefathers did. If it took them at least 35 years to come up with a system that worked. Instant gratification is not something we can expect this time around, either. Give it time. Better yet, roll up your sleeves and help if you want change to happen faster. Many hands make light work, and we’ve got a hell of a lot of work to do.

To borrow from President Kennedy, who outlined the New Frontier’s goals for the 1960s in his inaugural address and called his fellow Americans to action: ”All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________

About the Author:
Lori Spencer is a veteran journalist and musician based in Austin, Texas. She spent 25 years in the trenches of radio and print newsrooms by day while playing her music by night. Most recently she became one of the 99% when the mega media corporation she worked for laid off more than 7,000 writers and editors, informing them via a cold and impersonal email that their services would no longer be needed. Now just another unemployed journalist, she’s hitting the road to document the occupation as it spreads across the American heartland. You may find her visiting your city soon. If you see Lori at a rally and would like to help fund her quest for reporting the truth, please toss some spare change in her guitar case.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How to Identify an Authentic Andrew Wyeth Print

By Lori Spencer

 

Even before his death in 2009 at the age of 91, American painter Andrew Wyeth was a victim of art counterfeiters. One well-known fake in circulation since 1998 was openly decried by the artist himself. Four known forgeries have emerged since his death. In early October 2010, the FBI Art Crime Team announced the seizure of a forged 1939 Wyeth painting “Wreck on Doughnut Point,” valued at more than $100,000.

Art forgery is a $6-billion industry worldwide, according to the FBI. If you’re looking to add an authentic Wyeth print to your collection, follow these steps to better protect yourself against fraud.

Read more: How to Identify an Authenic Andrew Wyeth Print | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_7470814_identify-authenic-andrew-wyeth-print.html#ixzz1g8q2FUgB

Promoting the Art and Culture of Your Community Globally

By Lori Spencer

 

No matter where you live, something about your community makes it unique. Perhaps your town was once the site of a significant historical event. Maybe a president or famous celebrity hails from your city, or you currently have notable artists in residence. It might be the music, museums, culture, food, or indigenous people who put your hometown on the map. Whatever it is, you may want to tell the world about this special place and encourage people to visit…

Read more: How to Promote the Art & Culture of a Community Globally | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_7369606_promote-art-culture-community-globally.html#ixzz1g8swgpn2

 

 

Great History Day Topics

By Lori Spencer

 

National History Day is an academic program for elementary and secondary school students in the United States. NHD scholars choose a topic related to a historical theme, conduct extensive research, then present their findings and conclusions. Contest entries can range from essays to websites, performances, exhibits and self-produced documentary films…

Read more: Great History Day Topics | eHow.co.uk http://www.ehow.co.uk/list_7199618_great-history-day-topics.html#ixzz1gDhLqxWY