Bran$$$

Thoughts on HBO Cancellations

I’m actually really surprised about HBO’s cancellation today of Hung, How to Make It in America, and Bored to Death. Okay, maybe not all that surprised. Hung was never more than “just good” (and this season was clearly lacking), and How to Make It in America wasn’t exactly the most popular of shows. But Bored to Death? Really? A quality, hilarious show with a stellar cast… And HBO cancels it? I never thought HBO was one to cancel shows because of ratings… Very sad. Plus all three shows ended their seasons on cliffhangers!! Will Jonathan continue having sex with his half-sister? Is Lenore still alive?? Will Ben and Cam ever make jeans??? The world will never know…

(P.S. I know it’s not likely, but Showtime should make a run at Bored to Death. Seriously, this show has plenty of potential to go another 3, 4 seasons)

Occupy Your Representatives

Now that I’ve fully recovered from the hangover of Thanksgiving and the disgusting realization that mayhem on Black Friday is perfectly acceptable in this society, while peacefully occupying somehow is not, it’s time to get some things off my chest and reveal a project I’ve been working on for the past couple of weeks.

Around the “eviction” of Occupy Wall Street on November 15^th, I started thinking that maybe it was time for this movement to move forward into Phase II. The movement has achieved a huge goal already, and that’s changing the national conversation. Finally, income inequality is on people’s minds. But I think that 2+ months is more than enough time to air our grievances; now it’s time to offer solutions. I began to wonder if maybe the motives the movement is using were getting in the way of the message the movement is trying to send. Too many people are fed up with the actual occupiers, taking up space and wasting taxpayer money to have riot police force them out (obviously there’s a point here – why should the police be there to begin with – but I think you’ll get my drift). Opponents are so concerned with the actual “occupations” and the supposed things that are happening there, that they’re ignoring the message and demands of the movement. I’ll still be at Occupy Los Angeles Sunday night to stand in solidarity as the city plans to evict the occupation, but I want to say this: it’s not about keeping the parks as occupations. As has happened every single time, when these occupations are raided, the next day people are right back where they once were. But the movement is bigger than just claiming the parks as part of our First Amendment rights. It’s about making fundamental changes in how the system works, so that it works for every single American that works for it, not just the top 1%.

Below, I’ve posted a list of every single member of the House of Representatives and their local offices. I don’t know how to possibly organize such a thing, but I’m planting the seed now – we should be marching and occupying our Representatives’ offices. I would love to orchestrate a nation-wide day in which occupations move from the parks to our Representatives’ front steps. Imagine the message that would send! If your city’s occupation gets evicted, or if your occupation is looking for an action to take – march on your Representatives’ local offices. There have been videos circulating of occupiers mic-checking politicians – Michele Bachmann, Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich, even Barack Obama (and perhaps he actually got the message) – and while I think that’s great and amazing, they’re not the ones who actually have the power to make change. There are two pieces of legislation currently sitting in the House right now – the OCCUPIED Amendment and the STOCK Act – that could be voted on right now that would create real change. Show your Representative that we mean business! Demand the change! It’s hard to ignore a large group of people outside your door, especially when your colleagues are experiencing the same problem.

So, this is my call to action: OCCUPY YOUR REPRESENTATIVES. And bring these demands:

1. Support and vote in favor of the OCCUPIED Amendment and the STOCK Act. The OCCUPIED Amendment, introduced by Rep. Deutch of Florida, will remove the rights of corporations and for-profit entities to donate to political campaigns of any kind, basically overturning the Citizens United decision. I don’t think I have to explain again how this is such a ridiculous conflict of interest. Tell your representative – NO VOTE + NO SSN + NO HEARTBEAT = NO DONATIONS! The STOCK Act, on the other hand, would make it illegal for Congress to use the financial information they gain in their meetings to their advantage. If you didn’t know already, insider trading is illegal, except when it comes to our elected Representatives. In fact, while the rest of the country has been in a recession since 2008, our Congress’ net worth has increased by 25%! It’s time to stop the abuse of money in our politics.
2. Demand the introduction of election reform. Not only should we get rid of the Electoral College and make Election Day a national holiday, but do you really want to know why our 9% approval rating Congress can’t get anything done (besides deciding that pizza is a vegetable)? It’s because in many states, we let gerrymandering run rampant, so most of the seats are considered “safe.” In fact, over the past 30 years, 76% of the seats in Congress never changed party hands – not even once! With districts that are drawn with ridiculous lines to keep seats safe, we get an extremely polarized Congress and an increasingly apathetic population. Tell your Representative that this must end.
3. Reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act. This is a bit of a misnomer because the Glass-Steagall Act is still in effect (it’s what created the FDIC). What people are asking for when they say this is really a repeal of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which removed the separation between investment banking and commercial banking that the Glass-Steagall Act implemented. Remember reading about all the Panics that happened in the 1800s in US History, culminating with the Great Depression? This provision in Glass-Steagall made it so investment bankers couldn’t gamble with the money you’re depositing to keep safe. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act passed in 1999, and lo and behold, several years later, we get a financial collapse directly related to gambling on depositor’s money. Tell your Representative that this is ridiculous, and to repeal this awful provision.
4. Demand increasing taxes on those making over a million dollars a year to pay for new infrastructure spending, which would create tons of jobs for the struggling working class. Remember: the economy is stagnant because the working and middle classes have no purchasing power, and therefore there are no jobs for the “job creators” to create. So, what is so flawed in taking that extra money in taxes, and ACTUALLY CREATING JOBS? Over 60% of Americans are in FAVOR of this, a mandate by most standards, yet your Congress voted it down several weeks ago.
5. Demand a real fix of the tax code, removing loopholes and benefits that allow multi-billion corporations like Bank of America and GE to not pay any taxes whatsoever, and eliminate the capital gains tax, by treating capital gains the same as income. I don’t think I need to explain how ridiculous it is that Warren Buffet’s butlers and maids actually pay a larger percentage of their wages in taxes than he does, just because of the WAY he makes his money.

There are obviously a lot more demands that you could come up with, but I believe that these 5 are the most attainable right now, especially #1, since that legislation currently exists. Demand that your Representatives pay attention and take a vote, and if you can’t march to occupy their local offices, then call. Let your voice be heard! You CAN create change! We are the 99%! Occupy Your Representatives!

 -Brandon Silverman
November 26, 2011

Local offices list here:

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My Occupy Wall Street

I’m re-watching Amy Kremer of the Tea Party Express ask what the Occupy Wall Street’s movement objective is on CNN for the second time today – the first was after work at 4 AM PDT, just as it was being announced that there would be no “clean-up” on Wall Street – and I’m just getting so riled up that I cannot contain it anymore. I am so proud and so angry at the same time. Unfortunately, I have to work this weekend, otherwise I would be at LA City Hall tomorrow, where I was two weeks ago when Occupy LA began, to join in the nationwide day of marches tomorrow. I am so proud of my generation and of the 99%, yet I am still so angry at the people who don’t understand or refuse to acknowledge what we’re about.

I know a lot of people are in this movement for the economics behind it, to hold the banks and financial institutions responsible for destroying 1/5 of the country’s national worth, to end the Federal Reserve, to place more regulations and remove tax breaks, etc etc and I’m all for hearing opinions and discussion on that. I, however, am of the belief that the problems start with our governmental system – namely, Congress, a club full of elite do-nothings who are paid and bought for by the very corporations we’re mad at.

So, Amy Kremer, what exactly are my objectives? Here they are (and I’d be very surprised if anyone was against these):

1. TERM LIMITS FOR CONGRESS: Want Congress to actually get things done? How about limit how long they can be there. There are too many fat cats in both parties that are career politicians. How can they possibly know how the common American feels? John Kerry, John McCain, Barney Frank, Ron Paul, and there are scores and scores of others. I’m sick of them all. Stay with me, because this ties in to my next demand: Reelection of incumbents in this country is over 90%, which is horrendous. Representatives should be limited to six terms, and Senators to two. That’s 12 years in each, 24 years total. I think that’s more than enough time in government.
2. REAL CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM: This is the big one. How in the world do we allow corporations and unions to contribute to our politicians’ campaigns? How is this not an obvious conflict of interest? Money should not equal power in this country. Isn’t that what Thomas Jefferson and James Madison wanted to achieve? That anyone, regardless of how much money they have, could be elected to Congress? Now, it costs hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars to be elected, and most of those donations come from corporations and unions. I think that we need to limit campaign donations to registered voters only, and last time I checked, corporations and unions aren’t registered to vote. Donations should also be limited to $1000 per person per year. This is a reasonable amount, where no one can say “hey politician, you better do this, this and this because look at how much money I gave you.” Our Do-Nothing Congress is bought and paid for, and basically being blackmailed into doing what the rich tell them to do. It’s absolutely true, and it’s time to stop denying this. This limit in money to campaigns would also open up our Congress to more political parties (I could go on and on about how a two-party system doesn’t work, but I won’t bore you) as the playing field would be more level. If corporations and unions and PACs want to make a political difference, fine, make your attack ads or informational ads, but make them about issues, not about candidates. Our elected officials are representing the people that pay for them, not the people that vote for them. It has to stop.
3. ELIMINATE THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE: I love coloring in my map of states on election night just as everyone else does, but the Electoral College is outdated and makes little sense to begin with anyway. One person should equal one vote. Instead, the Electoral College forces presidential candidates and the media to pay attention to basically only two states (Ohio and Florida), and values people’s votes unequally among the states. Fact: a Californians vote is worth 1/3 that of a Wyomingite. Why isn’t it: a vote is a vote is a vote is a vote? If it weren’t for the Electoral College, Al Gore would’ve been President, since he actually received more votes than George W. Bush. It’s time to go by the popular vote, and the popular vote alone.
4. MAKE ELECTION DAY A NATIONAL HOLIDAY: I’ll make this one short: If we want to be a true democracy, we have to give everyone an equal chance to get to the ballot on Election Day. It’s unfair to people who work long hours or have two jobs. If we really value the vote of our citizens, we should do as many other countries do, and give everyone the day off to speak their mind.
5. FIX THE TAX CODE: Money earned should be money earned. There’s obviously a lot more to this than that, and a lot that is over my head, but if you make money, you’re making money, and should be taxed on that money equally. It makes no sense that those born with silver spoons in their mouths can sit on their investments and be taxed at a lower rate than middle class Americans working 50 hours a week.

I could go on about how I think teachers should be paid at least $100,000 a year, or how you could look at anyone on the street and not think: this person deserves the same health care that I get, regardless of how much money they earn, or about how socialism is misunderstood, and I’m not talking about Marxist socialism, I’m talking about modern-day Scandinavian socialism, but I’m running out of time to eat lunch before work. Take what you want from this, and please debate me on my objectives if you wish. I’ll say this though: Society does better as a whole when it grows from the bottom up, not from the top down. Fix The System. We Are the 99%.

Please pass this along to as many people as you can!

-Brandon Silverman

October 14, 2011

FYF Plans

Yo kids, if you’re not going to FYF Fest, what are you thinking??? But if you are, I’m gonna nerd out and tell you my plans…

12:35-1:10 - Fool’s Gold (Leonardo’s Stage) [I’m working til 3 am Friday night, so in all reality I probably won’t make it in time for this]
1:35-2:10 - Mister Heavenly (Leonardo’s Stage)
2:25-2:40 - Cass McCombs (first half of set) (Raphael’s Stage)
2:50-3:25 - Ty Segall (Michaelangelo’s Stage)
3:25-4:00 - Pink Mountaintops (Raphael’s Stage)
4:25-4:40 - Oliva Tremor Control (first half of set) (Raphael’s Stage)
4:40-5:20 - Cults (Leonardo’s Stage)
5:30-6:15 - The Weakerthans (Raphael’s Stage)
6:50-7:05 - Four Tet (first half of set) (Donatello’s Stage)
7:05-7:45 - Broken Social Scene (most of set) (Leonardo’s Stage)
7:50-8:35 - YACHT (Raphael’s Stage)
8:40-9:15 - Guided By Voices (last half of set) (Leonardo’s Stage)
9:35-10:05 - Simian Mobile Disco (first half of set) (Michaelangelo’s Stage)
10:05-10:40 - Dan Deacon (last half of set) (Raphael’s Stage)
10:45-11:40 - Explosions in the Sky (Donatello’s Stage)

***bold denotes there’s no fucking way I’m missing this. Everything else is subject to change. 

A Word on The Dismemberment Plan Performance at Pitchfork Festival Yesterday

The Dismemberment Plan played live at Pitchfork Festival yesterday, and Pitchfork was kind enough to webcast it live. I really miss this band, and being able to see them on my TV… let’s just say I need new pants. I could write a whole post on how much The Dismemberment Plan means to me, but I’ll save that for later. I’ll just say this: if you’ve never heard The Dismemberment Plan, please treat yourself to their album Emergency & I, which I consider a perfect indie rock album, and if you already like The Dismemberment Plan, here’s the setlist they played yesterday, and I sure hope that Pitchfork releases their performance for future viewings:

1. Do the Standing Still
2. Following Through
3. What Do You Want Me To Say
4. A Life of Possibilities
5. The Ice of Boston
6. Gyroscope
7. You Are Invited
8. The Dismemberment Plan Gets Rich
9. Face of the Earth
10. Time Bomb
11. Girl O’clock
12. The City
13. OK, Joke’s Over