(Incidentally, it was not too far from where I saw L7 / Helmet / Ed Hall at SXSW about a million years ago…now THAT was a rock show.)

Jesus, we are old.

Best part of Bang A Gong is the line “she’s got a hubcap diamond star halo…”

At least, I think that’s what he’s singing.

I’m still pondering the lines

“You can punk the skunks of freedom
With your jeweled Etruscan knife…”

from ‘Groove A Little’… doubt it’ll ever make any sort of sense, but I keep pondering. But then, who needs a TV when I’ve got my T. Rex?

Good luck with the whole manager thing, Donita. Not a musician, so no useful advice to share on that front.

No problem, Donita. I filed for a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) for the first time this past year all by myself, only cost me $300 — but it limits any lawsuits against what I do as a business to the assets of the LLC, and not my personal assets (or those of my spouse). You’d be better off having an attorney or CPA do it for you if you don’t have the background, but don’t let them spook you and use a bunch of business hooey into spending a fortune on this.

And I think I’m about to get a manager of my own. Well, maybe more like a business representative. I could use the work right now. Too bad I don’t have something singular like a first solo record to bait the hook with, very envious and proud of you.

Calling out Satterfield
By Ron Kampeas
USGO-2 will be taking your questions now.

If that sounds cryptic it’s not entirely inappropriate – USGO-2 is kind of cryptic. He’s otherwise known as David Satterfield, the top Iraq adviser to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. But, as U.S. Government Official no. 2, he’s the unindicted co-conspirator Increase Font Size:
in the classified information case against Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, respectively the former foreign policy chief and top Iran analyst for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Count one in the August 2005 indictment includes meetings between Rosen and USGO-2 as an “overt act,” in which Satterfield – then second in charge at the State Department’s Middle East section – allegedly relayed classified information to Rosen, and which Rosen allegedly re-relayed to colleagues at AIPAC and to Israeli officials.

So why is Rosen out of a job, under constant FBI watch and facing an Espionage Act trial — and Satterfield climbing the diplomatic ladder? It’s a question begging for an answer. And while Satterfield appears frequently before Jewish audiences, no one asks it.

Next opportunity: March 27 at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, when Satterfield speaks on “Iraq: Prospects for Peace at Home and Progress with its Neighbors.” WINEP was, after all, spun off from AIPAC back in the late 1980s, its events are attended by the pro-Israel community’s best and brightest and I know that a lot of its staff’s attitude toward the Rosen-Weissman case can be summed up in the unexpandable acronym, WTF?

In fact, there are a lot of folks who interact with Satterfield who should be curious about this case, not least journalist. The unprecedented use in this case of a 1917 statute criminalizing the receipt of classified information could seriously crimp our profession if prosecutors are successful.

Was Satterfield setting Rosen up? Was the information classified? Larry Franklin, the midlevel Pentagon analyst whose guilty plea in the same case helped spur it forward, is facing hard time, so why not Satterfield? In fact, all sides in the case acknowledge that “leakers” like Franklin – or, allegedly, Satterfield – are more vulnerable under legal precedent than “leakees.”

The defense wants to haul in a bunch of U.S. officials, not least including Satterfield’s boss, Rice. Whether they’re successful will be determined in the next pre-trial phase, due to begin next month, when the prosecution is likely to challenge much of the witness list. (The trial itself is set to begin on June 4.)

The federal judge in the case, T.S. Ellis III, has, however, already made it clear to the prosecution that he will not countenance a challenge to Satterfield’s testimony – but that still doesn’t mean Satterfield will testify. Satterfield may be able to shield himself behind State Department rules that allow the government to keep diplomats off the witness stand. Those rules might not hold in this case, and the defense is sure to challenge them if the department makes the effort. But meantime, it’s worth asking – does Satterfield even intend on invoking the rules that would bar him from testifying?

In case you’re wondering, yes, I’ve asked him. That ended that short interview (”No comment, gotta go” was more or less the reply). Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep trying. I’ll be there Tuesday, but I’m leaving it up to others to ask.

In case you’re also wondering, USGO-1 is Kenneth Pollack, who met with Rosen and Weissman in 2000 when he was a Clinton administration national security councilor. Pollack, unlike Satterfield, does talk: He says he did not relay classified information to the two (in fairness, the indictment does not clearly allege that he did – only that he had access to classified information that Rosen allegedly relayed to a journalist later in the day.) Pollack, also, is not charged. The defense wants him

Donita, I admit right up front I know nothing about the music biz.

But the fundamentals of business remain the same no matter what industry you’re in — food, retail, manufacturing, you name it.

If I could make a suggestion, it would be to have a good CPA who is willing to ask the questions you may not think of, and an attorney who is willing to go to bat for you. I’d also seriously consider setting up a limited liability company so that you are personally firewalled and protected from any losses experienced by your business (think of this as a very cheap insurance policy).

And then get a business manager. The other two can keep the manager on the straight and narrow and explain all the crap a manager might throw at you.

(Wonder if Stephen Parrish CPA is out there? you got any suggestions for the lady so she doesn’t end up with wieners 1 through umpteen as in the YouTube’d example above?)

thanks for the good advice Rayne.