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  • Rolando Morales August 2019 Calendar

    Vincent, Rolando and Rocco playing for Rolando’s mom

    July 30, 2019

    ¡Hola, mi Gente!

    I learned some new challenging material for a big show coming up this Saturday night, much in the Brazilian Latin-jazz mode.  On Monday we had our one rehearsal and played it for the first time.  We’re about ready.  With this crew, you can’t go wrong.  And you’re invited.

    This Saturday August 3, I’ll be joining forces with the charismatic Latin percussionist-vocalist Estaire Godinez for “An Intimate Evening 2019” at the Dunsmuir Hellman Historic Estate in Oakland.  They’ll have about 4 music stages, great catering, wine and beer tasting, tours of the mansion and so much more.  It’s the ultimate all white attire summer party!  And we’ll be playing with a slamming 6-piece band: Estaire Godinez who will be leading the band, Bob Crawford, David Belove, Celso Alberti, Beatrice Godinez and Yours Truly.  Check out all the details below.  It should be a really fun Oakland evening under the stars.

    And that’s a great way to kick off our new August Calendar.  We’ve got a few public shows in store for you, including a cool version of my Trio which hasn’t played together publicly in many years, making it’s debut at Havana in Walnut Creek on August 17.  David Belove on bass and the great David Flores on drums.  I’m really looking forward to playing with these two again!  Details below.

    See you at the show!

    Ciao,

    Rolando 

    PUBLIC PERFORMANCES AUGUST 2019

    Saturday Aug 3, “An Intimate Evening 2019,” Dunsmuir Hellman Historic Estate, 2960 Peralta Oaks Court, Oakland, Event 6-11pm, our show about 6-9pm.  Join us for the ultimate, all white attire summer party!  Rolando Morales joins forces with Estaire Godinez who will be leading the band in this special performance at this historic Oakland venue.  Take a ride in a charming horse-driven carriage and experience an unforgettable evening.  Sample the finest cuisine provided by some of Oakland’s best caterers.  Dance under the stars at the South Pond.  Play in the game lounge.  Tour the 117 year old Mansion.  Enjoy the Gatsby Car.  Relax in the Intimate Martini Bar and enjoy wine tasting.  Live entertainment on 4 different stages and even more!  Fun, right?  

    Leading the band will be the Latin percussionist-vocalist from George Benson and Prince, the charismatic Estaire Godinez; on guitar, guitar synth and voice, the passionate Rolando Morales; the drummer from Brazil who played with Airto and Steve Winwood, the exciting Celso Alberti; keyboardist who toured the world with Spearhead, Robert Crawford; the rock-solid bassist who played with Pete Escovedo and Tito Puente, the great David Belove; and Estaire’s sister Beatrice Godinez lending her talents on vocals. See the website for all the headliner performances.  General Admission $35.  See the Events Page at www.anintimateevening.com to buy tix, for more info, including table options.  Or call (510)  615-5555.  Don’t miss it!

    Rolando Morales Trio will perform at Havana's in Walnut Creek, Saturday June 27, 2021

    Saturday Aug 10, Havana Cuban Cuisine, 1516 Bonanza St., Walnut Creek, approx 9-11:30pm. Rolando returns for this special series of duet engagements at this fine Cuban restaurant and live music venue.  Tonight will feature the Latin percussionist-vocalist from George Benson, Ms. Estaire Godinez; and on guitar, vocals and his pedal board of magic, Rolando Morales.     Together they create a unique alchemy of excitement and fun.  www.havanarestaurant.net,   (925) 939-4555

    Rolando Morales will perform at the Walnut Creek Marriott

    Saturday Aug 17, Walnut Creek Marriott, Lobby Lounge & Bar, 2355 North Main Street, Walnut Creek, 6-9pm.  Rolandofinally returns to this popular East Bay hotel and gathering spot in the newly renovated lounge in the shadow of Mount Diablo, where you can enjoy your favorite cocktail, fine wines and a lovely full menu.  Enjoy a sophisticated environment with an international clientele and great acoustics, perfect for Rolando’s vast repertoire on solo guitar and voice and your wonderful night out.  Reservations: (925) 934-2000, https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/oakwc-walnut-creek-marriott/.

    Rolando Morales Trio will perform at Havana's on August 30, 2019

    Friday Aug 30, Havana Cuban Cuisine, 1516 Bonanza St., Walnut Creek, approx 9-11:30pm.  The Rolando Morales Trio returns to the East Bay!  This version of the exciting trio makes its debut at this fine Cuban restaurant and live music venue, featuring for the first time at this venue, the exciting drummer from John Santos and Lauryn Hill, the powerful David Flores; the rock-solid bassist from Pete Escovedo and Tito Puente, David Belove; and on guitar, guitar synth and voice, Rolando Morales.  This is a rare treat, first time publicly in the East Bay in many years.  Make your reservations early.  It’ll fill up!  www.havanarestaurant.net,   (925) 939-4555.

    CD SALES

    If you would like to order a CD, read on.  If you’d like to order our CD “Rolando Y Qué?!”, you can pick it up at my website, the gigs or by mail.  They’re $15.00 at the gigs, or $17.00 by mail to cover postage and handling. TO ORDER THE NEWEST CD “ROLANDO, Y QUÉ?!” by mail: Send a check or money order payable to Rolando Morales for $17.00 for the CD and postage to Rolando Morales, 9028 Burr Street, Oakland, CA 94605. and I’ll send it to you.  Let me know if you’d like .it signed.

    TO ORDER THE ORIGINAL “PASSPORT: 10th ANNIVERSARY EDITION” CD by mail, send $17.00 to the same address as above. Be sure to include your return address.

    BOTH CDs ARE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE AT WWW.ROLANDOMORALES.COM

    All other shows are private. Why not hire Rolando for your own private event? He’s available for corporate shows, weddings, parties, concerts and festivals. The Rolando Morales Group is available as sextet, quintet, quartet, trio and duo depending on your entertainment needs and budget.

    Contact Edie Okamoto for media related questions at
    RioVida Networks Public Relations

  • Yes, it can get worse: Anti-union conservative Patrick Pizzella appointed to lead the Department of Labor.

    Patrick Pizzella, anti-labor rights lobbyist now in charge of labor. Inhumane attitudes celebrated in WH.

    Patrick Pizzella has been appointed to lead the Department of Labor as acting secretary. Alex Acosta announced his resignation due to criticism for his light prosecution of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Acoasta explained the light sentences: “We now have 12 years of knowledge and hindsight and we live in a very different world,” he said. “Today’s world treats victims very, very differently.”

    Patrick Pizzella fought to keep minimum wages at $3.05 and worse.

    Mother Jones reported: “Patrick Pizzella 1990s to help the Northern Mariana Islands—a US commonwealth 1,500 miles from Japan—defeat a bipartisan effort to rein in a guest worker program that the Labor Department found relied on indentured workers. When Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) asked Pizzella whether he knew about reports of forced abortions and routine beatings at the time.” At the time he worked for Jack Abramoff, who later was found guilty of 21 crimes. Together they wanted to shape the Northern Mariana Islands as laboratories in which oppressors would be able to abuse people without any laws to protect the oppressed.

    Wendy Doromol, a teacher turned human rights activist, reported on NPR in 2006: “The barbed wire around the factories faced inward so that the workers, mostly women, couldn’t get out. They had quotas that were impossible for these people to reach and if they didn’t reach them, they’d have to stay until they finished the quota and they wouldn’t be paid for that work. They were hot, the barracks were horrible. A lot of the females were told you work during the day in the garment factory and then at night you can go and work in a club and they’d force them into prostitution at night.”

    Forced labor and forcing women into prostitution are Pizzalla’s idealized working conditions.

    What Pizzella didn’t say in a 2017 Senate Hearing was that he helped lead a public relations campaign to rebrand the islands as a paragon of free-market principles. Between 1996 and 2000, emails and billing records reviewed by Mother Jones show that Pizzella and colleagues organized all-expenses-paid trips to the islands for more than 100 members of Congress, their staffers, and conservative thought leaders. When they got back, Pizzella helped them convince colleagues that the Northern Mariana Islands were, as his old boss (convicted fellon) Abramoff liked to put it, a “laboratory of liberty.”

    In 2006 Daily Kos reported: “This is also about a GOP Culture of Corruption that sold their principles, honor, Party and Country for power. It is a story of Sex, forced abortions, prostitution, sweatshops and special favors for the worst Foreign Nationals on the World stage.”

    Apparently Pizzella’s work paid off and he kept the $3.05 per hour minimum wage in the commonwealth, which lasted from 1997 to 2007, when President George W. Bush put an end to that. Pizzella celebrated that the minimum wage was lower than in the U.S. and some worker protections are weaker and seemingly non-existent, leading to lower production costs. That allowed garments to be labeled “Made in USA” without having to comply with all U.S. labor laws. 

    Pizzella’s record as a lobbyist also includes work for a Russian front group, the government of the Marshall Islands, and a trade association fighting against the minimum wage in a U.S. commonwealth.

    In a statement Friday, July 12 2019 , Kristine Lucius, the group’s executive vice president for policy and government affairs, said Pizzella’s record “shows he has a clear bias against working people’s rights – which may be good for Trump’s agenda, but bad for the people the department is meant to serve.”

    Pizzella was appointed to the Federal Labor Relations Board by President Barack Obama in 2013. He previously served as the assistant secretary of labor for administration and management for eight years under President George W. Bush.

  • Ajit Pai, FCC Chairman, overturned net neutrality in favor a few Telcos

    Freedom of Speech was successfully assaulted in preparation of the GOP recent racist goals which some people believe are to make America white again.

  • FCC Chairman no longer wants to be questioned in official hearings about Free Speech, Net Neutrality, Unfair Competition, etc.

    Ajit Pai is tired of all the hearings. He prefers to receive complaints and concerns via suggestion box.

    FCC CHAIRMAN INTRODUCES TWO NEW PROPOSALS TO MODERNIZE FCC PROCESSES

    WASHINGTON, July 22, 2019—Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai today announced that he has presented his colleagues with two new proposals to modernize and streamline the agency’s processes.  Under the first, the FCC would continue the agency’s move toward electronic filing and correspondence by fully transitioning the Universal Licensing System—the agency’s largest licensing system—from paper to electronic format.  The second proposal would expedite the Commission’s hearing processes by expanding the use of written hearings (i.e. hearings conducted without live testimony).

    “As the communications marketplace is being transformed by the digital revolution, we must continue to modernize our own operations.” said Chairman Pai.  “That’s why I’m introducing two new proposals to update and streamline our processes for the digital age.  By transitioning more records and communications from paper to electronic format, we can save money and increase our efficiency.  And by streamlining our hearing rules, we can resolve disputes more quickly, which will benefit the private sector as well as the Commission.  I hope that my colleagues will join me in supporting these good-government initiatives.”  

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    Address your concerns directly to: Will Wiquist, (202) 418-0509 or email correspondence to will.wiquist@fcc.gov


    Media Relations: (202) 418-0500 / ASL: (844) 432-2275 / TTY: (888) 835-5322 / Twitter: @FCC / www.fcc.gov     This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. 

    Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action.  See MCI v. FCC, 515 F.2d 385 (D.C. Cir. 1974).