Get Elected to Congress, Get Free Trips to Paradise!

Props to the NW Republican for pointing this one out.

According to the Detroit News, the House Ethics Committee is investigating some of its members in regards to an all-expenses-paid trips to the Caribbean. They are investigating whether or not this violates House ethics rules due to the fact that corporate sponsors helped pay for it.

Wait? They have to think about whether or not this is a violation of ethics rules or not? They have to THINK about it? Apparently, I need to see these ethics rules because something like this seems pretty darn black and white to me.

To me this just flat out screams corporate kickbacks.

Mrs. Lofgren (chair of the Ethics committee, Democrat from California) needs to stop for a minute a purchase a clue. This better be one darn short investigation in my opinion.

Chances are however that it will be one long drawn out investigation that results in nothing because the members that are being investigated are from her same party.

This is EXACTLY the problem with our party system and with our government today. Our elected officials are not out there working for us. They are out there to pad their pocketbooks, cover their own asses, and keep their own party members out of trouble.

It is sickening and it disgusts me.

Hey check it out guys! I wrote a political post that ISN'T about health care reform! You impressed?

Eyes on Cantwell

As I was skimming through the Washington blogosphere, I came across a post by the NW Progressive about how Senator Cantwell made an announcement about her position toward a public plan in the health care reform debate. Apparently, it is not certain whether or not she does.

There was a discussion panel at the University of Washington Medical Center where Senator Cantwell spoke amongst representatives from a couple of local insurance companies, a representative from the local state chapter of the AARP, a representative of the Community Health Network of Washington, among others, including a state senator and the state's governor, Chris Gregoire.

At the panel, Senator Cantwell said "Yes I support a public plan."

Of course, from reading the post it is made plainly obvious that the author of the post supports universal coverage, which includes the public plan option.

It appears that what the Senator means by a public plan might be up for interpretation.

In any case, I will definitely be watching her over the next few weeks to see whose side she is going to take in this process.

Personally, my money goes toward her voting in favor of a public plan, in which, I will of course be forced to vote against her in her next election, which unfortunately is not until 2012.

Hey Maria! Are you paying attention? I've got my eyes on you!

I doubt it since she didn't even bother to send me a canned response to my email.

The Tuesday Afternoon Shuffle

1. Lucretia, My Reflection - Project 86 (from The Kane Mutiny) weird i was just talking about this band to Scott yesterday.
2. Justified Black Eye - No Use For A Name (Leche Con Carne)
3. Fall - Dag Nasty (Wig Out at Denkos)
4. Its A Shame - Third Day (Wire)
5. You - Bad Religion (No Control)
6. Never Too - All (Problematic)
7. Million Bucks - All (Pummel)
8. So Long Self - MercyMe (Coming Up to Breathe)
9. To the Tune of 5000 Screaming Children - Juliana Theory (A Small Noise)
10. Crab - Weezer (Weezer)
11. Emergency - Paramore (All We Know Is Falling)
12. Exercise - Dag Nasty (Wig Out at Denkos)

So Long, Move On!

I hereby officially renounce my membership in the MoveOn organization.

Over time, it has become clear to me that the political agenda of MoveOn.Org does not coincide with my own.

With that in mind, I have decided to sever my ties with their little club.

So long, MoveOn, I am moving on. I am sure that I will not be missed.

Health Care Quotes of the Day

These are all quotes taken from N. Gregory Mankiw, economics professor at Harvard and former advisor to President George W Bush in the New York Times article “The Pitfalls of the Public Option”

“The public plan option can control costs only if it exists as a monopoly.”

In other words, the only way the government is going to be able to keep the rising costs of health care under control with the implementation of a public plan option is if the public plan is the ONLY option.

“We don’t need government run grocery stores or government run gas stations to ensure that Americans can buy food and fuel at reasonable prices.”

So true.

“[the best option is] a competitive system of private insurers, lightly regulated to ensure that the market works well to offer Americans the best health care at the best prices.”

Lightly regulated. See, even conservatives (well, I am assuming this guy is a conservative if he was an advisor to President Bush) believe that some regulation is okay.

Regulation of the private insurance market is, in my opinion, a necessity, but only slightly regulated like the quote says, not breathing down the back of the industry by big brother.

I Have the Solution!

I have it!

I have the solution to fixing the health care system in America. And unlike the politicians up on the Hill showing off their legislation, I have figured out a way to pay for it.

This will fix all of the things inherently wrong with the health care system in our country. The rising costs of health care and the number of uninsured people.

First, to reduce the number of people in our country that have no insurance, we expand eligibility to Medicaid to cover everyone that is considered below the poverty level and ensure that we enroll all that are eligible.

With this in place, there will be no need for a new government-run plan. Medicaid is already in place. The increase in administrative overhead would be minimal.

Also, we establish regulations for private insurers to assure access for everyone regardless of their health care situation.

Again, eliminates the need for another bureaucracy. The private insurers are already in place. No cost to the taxpayers. Taxpayers win and the private insurers win because they get more money in premiums.

Having more people insured also will help with the rising costs of health care. One of the reasons health care costs are skyrocketing is because hospitals tend to charge more in order to make up for having to take huge write offs when treating the uninsured.

Another way we can keep the rising costs of health care under control is to concentrate on one of the key factors in the rising costs. Medicare.

Currently, Medicare’s negotiated rates for providers is ridiculously low. Because of this, providers and hospitals tend to charge more to make up for the fact that they are losing money on Medicare patients.

Simple, we need to reform Medicare to pay better negotiated rates to providers.

Again, the system is already in place so no need for another government agency to replace it. Costs will be minimal and it will be fair for providers, fair for patients, and will help to reduce the rising costs of health care.

So by doing these 3 things: Expand Medicaid, Reform Medicare and Regulate Private Insurers, we can keep the government (for the most part) out of the health care decision making business. There will be no need for a government-run public plan option that will do nothing but ultimately lead to tax increases that nobody will be able to control. Also, there will be no public plan option that fosters unfair competition that will eventually run private insurers out of business. This will of course lead to a single payer system where the government will make all of our health choices for us.

So, there will need to be revenue generated to pay for all these changes of course. Here is how I propose that we pay for all of this.

I propose that the government institute a 0.1-0.5% (I am actually just throwing out numbers here, it might not even have to be that high) tax on any profits generated by Native America gambling casinos operating in the United States.

These places of business have thus far led tax-free lives because they are associated with Native American tribes. I personally think that these businesses run in the United States. They are generating revenues by United States citizens that frequent their places of business. Their people benefit from the freedoms and the services that the United States provides to them. I think it is time they should start paying their fair share.

And that is how I propose we pay for it. The cost to the average taxpayer is next to nothing and it will fix the problems we have with the current health care system.

What do you think?

Third Day: DOTM

Third Day : DOTM

I just did a CD review for these guy's new CD and realized that I have not done a DOTM for them so here it is. And as promised in that post there will be videos following.

Long Time Forgotten
Released independently in 1993.
Produced by David Carr.
Lineup: Mac Powell - vocals, guitar; Mark Lee - guitars, backing vocals; Tai Anderson - bass, backing vocals; David Carr - drums; Billy Wilkins - keyboards; Brad Avery - guitar.
Tracks: 9

Contagious
Released independely in 1994.
Produced by David E.
Lineup changes: Billy Wilkins left the band prior to recording this album.
Tracks: 11

Third Day
Released in 1994 by Gray Dot Records.
Produced by David Mardis.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 10

Third Day
Released in 1996 by Reunion Records.
Produced by David Mardis.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 12

Conspiracy No. 5
Released in August 1997 by Reunion.
Produced by Sam Taylor.
Band lineup:
Mac Powell - vocals, guitar; Mark Lee - guitar, vocals; Brad Avery - guitar, vocals; Tai Anderson - bass, vocals; David Carr - drums.
Tracks: 13

Time
Released in August 1999 by Essential Records.
Produced by Jim Dineen.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 10
Highlights:
"I've Always Loved You" "Never Bow Down" "Your Love Oh Lord" "Can't Take the Pain"

Offerings: A Worship Album
Released in July 2000 by Essential Records.
Produced by Third Day.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 11

Come Together
Released in November 2001 by Essential Records.
Produced by Monroe Jones.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 12
Highlights:
"Come Together" "40 Days" "Show Me Your Glory" "When the Rain Comes"

Offerings 2: All I Have to Give
Released in March 2003 by Essential Records.
Produced by Robert Beeson and Bob Wohler.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 12

Wire
Released in May 2004 by Essential.
Produced by Paul Ebersold.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 13
Highlights:
"Wire" "Rockstar" "I Believe"

Livewire
Live album released in November 2004 by Essential.
Produced by Don McCollister.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 24

Wherever You Are
Released in November 2005 by Essential.
Produced by Brown Bannister.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 13
Highlights:
"Cry Out to Jesus" "Tunnel"

Christmas Offerings
Released in October 2006 by Reunion/Essential.
Produced by Third Day and Don McCollister.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 13

Chronology Volume One
Greatest hits album released in March 2007 by Essential.
Tracks: 12 (+ 5 bonus tracks)

Chronology Volume Two
Greatest hits album released in August 2007 by Essential.
Tracks: 18

Revelation
Released in July 2008 by Essential.
Produced by Howard Benson.
Lineup changes:
Brad Avery left the band before the album was recorded.
Tracks: 14
Highlights:
"This Is Who I Am" "Run to You" "Revelation" "Born Again" "Caught Up In Yourself"

Live Revelations
Released in April 2009 by Essential.
Produced by Dan Atchison.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 13

VIDEOS!

This video is for the song "Can't Take the Pain" from the album Title



Here is a live video for the song "40 Days" from the album Come Together



Live video for "Rockstar" from Wire



This one is from the new album Revelation. It is for the song "Born Again."

Murray Answers Health Care Reform Email.....Or Does She?

I recently said in my previous post Kill the Health Care Reform Bill that I wrote both of my state's senators (and our Congressman) about my concerns with the health care legislation circulating through Congress currently.

I told them in pretty clearly that I am opposed to the legislation and that I am firmly opposed to any form of a government-run public plan.

As I stated in the post, I told them that if they did vote for this legislation that I would absolutely not forget it come election time.

Here is the response I got from Senator Patty Murray (actually I will just post some excerpts from it to give you the general jest of it):

"Reforming health care is one of the most critical challenges current facing our country.........
......I believe America's health care system is in crisis.....
....Health care reform efforts should strive to ensure that affordable, high-quality, and meaningful health coverage options are available to all Americans. It should be a top priority to ensure Americans have access to coverage that allows them to see a doctor when they need to.........
.....Health care reform will be a major priority for the 111th Congress.....I will be working on affordability, access.....and many other related issues.......we need to expand access and push for affordability, but also maintain quality.....
.........thank you for contacting me about this important issue........"

What a load of horse crap. Obviously it is a canned response. I understand that the Senator is busy and does not have the time to get back to everyone who writes an email or a letter that it sent to them. I am not so naive as to think she is actually responding to these emails. But I would at least think that one of her administrative assistants or office people would take the time to actually address the issues that I brought up.

Nope. A canned response is what I got.

Message: I don't care enough to respond to you because I am too busy trying to push the Democratic Party's agenda through Congress to take the time to talk to the people I work for.

If you remember correctly, back in November I posted an article titled Senator Murray Answers E-Mail....sort of where I showed how I got a canned response from where I voiced some concerns to her and her canned response had nothing to do with the questions I had.

As I said in that post and as I said in the Kill the Reform Bill post, this is one senator that continues to dig her grave in my book. I will absolutely NOT be voting for her come election time and I urge my fellow Washington readers to do the same.

CD Review: Revelation

I recently borrowed this Third Day CD from the library.

I saw them in concert recently. I even blogged out it. You can read that concert review here.

Anyway, watching them live made me what to hear their newer stuff so I borrowed this CD.

As you well know I am not really a super huge fan of this sort of music in general. The contemporary Christian rock thing. For one, most of the artists classified this way are kind of sub par in my opinion. Not the greatest music. Also, it seems like to me most of these bands/artists are preaching to the choir so to speak and not really reaching beyond a Christan audience. I guess there isn't anything really wrong with that. I assume their music is mostly for edification and that's okay I guess.

Anyway, this band for some reason stands apart from other contemporary Christian artists. Not sure why. They just do.

So anyway, on to the CD. I really like it. I think it the best album since 1999's Time. In fact, if I were to rate my favorite Third Day albums it would go something like this:

1. Time
2. Revelation
3. Come Together
4. Wire

In any case, it is a really good album. On a few of the songs the female leader singer of the band Flyleaf shares some vocals with Mac Powell and they really sound great together. They sure do more of this.

The song writing on it is really good on it. These guys are really progressing in their abilities and the fact that they have lost a guitar player does not diminish their music one bit.

The highlights on this album are the songs "Born Again" "This is Who I Am" "Run To You" "Revelation" and "Caught Up in Yourself"

I keep trying to think of some other (non-Christian) artists that they are similar to and for some reason I keep coming back to U2 and REM. The singer does not sound anything like Bono or Michael Stipe but something about the band in general brings these 2 bands to mind.

You may or may not be into this sort of thing but this album is definitely worth a listen to two.

I will post some videos of them later on today or tomorrow.

Our Church

This is a video that the church I am a member of frequently runs during the worship service. It is a really cool video and I just found it on YouTube and really wanted to share it with you all.

One of the coolest quotes from it I think is:

"We believe that people that don't go to church anywhere are NOT the enemy."

Sean Salazar On The Issues

Sean Salazar is one of the candidates rumored to be running against Patty Murray for United States Senator of Washington.

Okay, I might be jumping the gun on this a bit but it's never too early in my opinion to jump on the get Murray out of office bandwagon!

Here are a few of his thoughts that I thought I would mention.

Sean on Education

Supports a transition from textbooks to laptops.

I agree with this idea. As Mr. Salazar states this will prepare our children for the "digital and technological based world." I also think that in the long run this idea would be a lost cheaper and of course would decrease the need for paper-based products which even the environmentalists could agree with.

Sean on Health Care

Opposes a universal health care system. He cites the models of the European and Canadian systems as inferior. He supports health care reform that is "available to all but still based on a competitive system that produces choices and quality."

I agree with him on this one too.

Sean on Energy Policy

He believes that our nation's energy policy is not only an environmental issue but also a national security issue.
He supports becoming energy independent and feels that our country has placed itself "at the mercy of OPEC."
He supports developing ecologically safe and self producing energy resources such as wind power, natural gas, nuclear and hydrogen power.
He supports tax credits to businesses that research 'green' based energy sources.

You can find out more about Sean at his official campaign website here.

We Interrupt This Broadcast......

...to tell you that while I was reading some other blog posts on health care reform I found one written by Doc Hoc entitled Oklahoma Needs Health care Reform Options.

The first thing I notice on the page is a poll. The question is are you in favor of a government-run health care insurance program that would be available to everyone? So I went ahead and cast my vote and got the results.

Not surprisingly, the results came up 88% in favor of a government run program. Not surprising because I am considering the source it came from. It is a liberal blog, authored by a liberal college professor. I would imagine that most of his readers come from the side of the fence that favors government intervention in all facets of our daily lives.

So moving onto the post itself, I came across a quote that I want to comment on a bit. The quote is:

"...[Oklahoma needs] a health care reform bill passed that includes a public government insurance option that would compete against the private insurance companies to, as Obama has put it, keep them 'honest.'

So what I want to know, and excuse me for being completely ignorant here, is there a rash of dishonest health insurance companies? I only ask this because the ones that I have dealt with in my experience have all been honest.

In fact, in the past year, I have dealt with several health insurance companies on a daily basis and I have yet to run into one that I would consider dishonest.

Doc Hoc (and I won't single him out, a lot of people think this way) seems to think that a government run health insurance plan could do a "better, less costly job offering and maintaining a health insurance plan?"

Excuse me?!? Less costly? Do these people actually know anything about our government's institutions? Do they not realize that there is a deficit because of those institutions? Do you think we are in the red just because? It just happened? Abra-cadabra, Poof! There's a deficit. Of course not, it is because nobody in the upper echelons of our federal government knows diddly shit about how to keep us from spending less than we take in. Perhaps our elected officials need to go back to high school for a few months and take a introductory course in accounting.

Rabbit trail there. Seriously, the government can do a less costly job? That is the dumbest damn thing I have ever heard in regards to this current health care debate. Apparently these people have a huge amount of faith in their government. More power to 'em I guess. Personally, I think they are all very very naive and obviously do not read their history much.

In any case, the government could NEVER do a less costly job doing anything that the private sector can do, and better.

The author of the post and his associates (like-minded folks) obviously have no faith in the free market system. In which case, if you don't, why are you living in a country that emphasizes the free market system.

That being said, keep in mind that I am not a 100% proponent of capitalism. It has its flaws. But at present time, it is the best thing that we have.

This public plan option will turn into a single payer system. Mark my words. Write it down. Sunday, June 28, 2009, Otter warned you that this public plan would become single payer. And for those of you that are too naive to admit it, single payer is the first step toward socialized medicine which of course is yet another step toward turning the government into big brother.

And let me go back to the original quote. Keeping them honest. I can not believe that these words came out of a politicians mouth, especially not the one who uttered the words.

I must say to our President: The private sector, dear sir, will keep itself honest.

Who will keep YOU honest?

That is all I have for now. Return to your regularly scheduled reading.

Megadeth: DOTM

I did one of these for Metallica recently and I have always thoughts that for the most part Megadeth was a better band so I can't leave them out.

Killing Is My Business...And Business is Good
Released in June 1985 by Combat Records.
Produced by Dave Mustaine and Karat Faye.
Band lineup:
Dave Mustaine - vocals, guitar; Chris Poland - guitar; David Ellefson - bass, backing vocals; Gar Sameulson - drums.
Tracks: 8
Highlights:
"Killing is My Business and Business is Good"

Peace Sells...But Who's Buying?
Released in November 1986 by Combat / Capitol.
Produced by Dave Mustaine, Randy Burns and Andy Somers.
No lineup changes.
Highlights:
"Wake Up Dead" and "Peace Sells"

So Far So Good...So What!
Released in January 1988 by Combat/Capitol.
Produced by Dave Mustaine and Paul Lani.
Lineup changes:
Chris Poland was replaced by Jeff Young and Gar Sameulson was replaced by Chuck Behler.
Tracks: 8
Highlights:
"In My Darkest Hour"

Rust in Peace
Released in September 1990 by Combat/Capitol.
Produced by Dave Mustaine and Mike Clink.
Lineup changes:
Jeff Young was replaced by Marty Friedman and Chuck Behler was replaced by Nick Menza.
Tracks: 9
Highlights:
"Hangar 18" "Lucretia" and "Holy Wars"

Countdown to Extinction
Released in July 1992 by Combat/Capitol.
Produced by Max Norman and Dave Mustaine.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 11
Highlights:
"Symphony of Destruction" "Foreclosure of a Dream" and "Sweating Bullets"

Youthanasia
Released in November 1994 by Capitol.
Produced by Max Norman and Dave Mustaine.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 12
Highlights:
"A Tout le Monde"

Hidden Treasures
Released in July 1995 by Capitol.
Prduced by Max Norman and Dave Mustaine.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 8
Highlights:
"No More Mr Nice Guy" "Angry Again" and "99 Ways to Die"

Cryptic Writings
Released in June 1997 by Capitol.
Produced by Dann Huff and Dave Mustaine.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 12
Highlights:
"Trust"

Risk
Released in August 1999 by Capitol.
Produced by Dann Huff and Dave Mustaine.
Lineup changes:
Nick Menza was replaced by Jimmy DeGrasso.
Tracks: 12
Highlights:
"Breadline"

Capitol Punishment
Greatest hits album released in October 2000 by Capitol.
Various producers.

The World Needs a Hero
Released in May 2001 by Sanctuary Records.
Produced by Bill Kennedy and Dave Mustaine.
Lineup changes:
Marty Friedman was replaced by Al Pitrelli.
Tracks: 12
Highlights:
"Disconnect" and "Return to Hangar"

Rude Awakening
Live album released in March 2002 by Sanctuary.
Produced by Bill Kennedy and Dave Mustaine.
No lineup changes.

Still Alive...and Well?
Compilation album released in September 2002 by Sanctuary.
Produced by Dave Mustaine and Bill Kennedy.

The System Has Failed
Released in September 2004 by Sanctuary.
Produced by Dave Mustaine and Jeff Balding.
Lineup changes:
Marty Friedman and Nick Menza returned on guitar and drums, respectively for this album.
Tracks: 12

Back to the Start
Greatest hits album released in June 2005 by Capitol.
Tracks: 17

Gigantour
Live album released in August 2006 containing songs by Megadeth, Dream Theater, Anthrax, and others.
Band lineup:
Dave Mustaine; Glen Drover - guitar; backing vocals; James MacDonough - bass; Shawn Drover - drums.
Megadeth Tracks: 3
"She-Wolf" "A Tout Le Monde" and "Kick the Chair"

United Abominations
Released in May 2007 by Roadrunner.
Produced by Dave Mustaine, Jeff Balding and Andy Sneap.
Lineup changes:
James MacDonough was replaced by Lames Lomenzo.
Tracks: 11
Highlights:
"Never Walk Alone" "Gears of War" and "A Tout Le Monde"

That One Night
Live album released in March 2007 by Image Entertainment.
Produced by Shalini Waran and Michael Sarina.
Lineup:
This was recorded while James MacDonough was still playing bass for the band.
Tracks: 23 (2 discs) + a 20 track live DVD.

Warchest
Box set released in October 2007 by EMI/Capitol.
Produced by Kevin Flaherty.
Tracks: 5 Discs.
Disc 1 - 17
Disc 2 - 19
Disc 3 - 17
Disc 4 - 15
Disc 5 - live DVD w/10 tracks.

Set the World Afire
Greatest hits album released in September 2008 by Capitol.
Tracks: 35 (2 discs)

Endgame
Scheduled to be released September 2009 by Roadrunner.
Line up changes:
Chris Broderick plays guitar on this album.
Tracks (confirmed): 11

I didn't realize that Megadeth had so many best of and compilation albums. Talk about milking it!

Videos!

This one is a live video of the song "In My Darkest Hour." It was recorded in Phoenix, AZ in November 2001.



This one is a video of the song "Hangar 18" from the album Rust in Peace. This song is probably my all time favorite Megadeth song.



Here is a link to the video for "Foreclosure of a Dream". Embedding was disabled for this song.

This one is a video for the song "A Tout Le Monde."



Video for "Breadline" from the album Risk

Kill the Health Care Reform Bill!

Word around the campfire is that the reason the Democrat's health care proposal, which includes a government-run public plan option to compete with the private sector, is being held up is because nobody can come up with how to pay for it.

It is plainly obvious to everyone, including Congress and the President, that the only way a proposal of this magnitude can only be paid for by increasing taxes.

Now I have said before that I do not mind having to pay a little bit more in taxes if that money is going toward a good cause. I will admit that health care for those that are currently uninsured is a good cause.

However, I am adamantly opposed to the idea of any of us paying more in taxes to support the Obamaplan that is currently circulating through Congress.

The fact is that a public plan is not needed so our hard earned dollars do not need to be spent to pay for something like this.

First, there already is a public plan. In fact, there are 2. They are called Medicare and Medicaid. It would be a lot less costly and a lot more efficient (well as efficient as the government can be) to just expand on these programs than to create some new big health care monster.

Second, the idea that this public plan "option" will "compete" with the private sector is a complete farce. Anyone with half a brain can plainly see that if there is a government run program instituted that is cheaper than any of the private health care plans, people simply will not care about how bad the quality really will be (and it will be terrible) because people think with their wallets and will essentially jump ship from their current insurance company to join the public plan. The problem with this is that there will no longer be any competition in the health care market. Our health care system will simple be a single payer system. Thousands, if not millions, will end up being out of work (including myself). The economy will greatly suffer. With so many more people out of work, there will be less people paying taxes, thus, less money to go toward paying for this program the government created, thus an even larger deficit than what we already have.

Finally, and I have mentioned this time and time again, this will be a plan that will be owned and operated by the federal government and we all know how well that will end up working. Another new government institution equals more government workers to administer the plan. More government workers equals more bureaucracy in the federal government. More bureaucracy equals less efficiency. More bureaucracy also of course equals more government which nobody in this country really needs.

So, in essence, this health care reform legislation is yet another attempt by the Democratic party to make government bigger and bigger, making the American public more and more dependent on them, giving them more power.

So I don't know about you but I don't think the federal government needs any more power than it already has but if this health care reform is signed into law, that is what it will mean in the end.

The only hope we have is for those of us that truly do not support this health care legislation is to constantly write our elected officials to let them know that you do not support this legislation. I myself, have written both of my state's Senators (Patty Murray & Maria Cantwell-D-WA) and our district's Congressman (Jay Inslee-D-WA). I let them know that I am extremely opposed to this plan and reminded them who they work for. They do not work for Obama. They do not work for Nancy Pelosi. They do not work for the Democratic Party. They work for the people of the United States of America. I let them know that if this bill is signed into law and they are part of the cause of it, I will not forget it come election time. I will make it my mission in life to make sure none of them are re-elected (to be totally honest, I don't want any of them to be re-elected anyway but I didn't tell them that).

Write your elected officials. For my Oklahoma readers, your Senators are Jim Inhofe & Thomas Coburn (both Republicans by the way that if I understand correctly are both opposed to the plan so mostly you can just write them and thank them for their opposition. Personally, it feels really strange to me to be in support of Jim Inhofe.)

If you don't know who they are, there is a link in the sidebar here to find out that information so that you can get their email and snail mail addresses.

Please! Write your Senators. Write your Congressmen/women. Tell them that you do not support this legislation! It is our only hope!

Sunday Shuffle

1. Roger - Dag Nasty (from 1992s Four on the Floor)
2. Stick - All (1993s Breaking Things)
3. Shine on You Crazy Diamond - Pink Floyd (1975s Wish You Were Here)
4. Romantic Junkie - All (1998s Mass Nerder)
5. No Other Me - Weezer (1996s Pinkerton)
6. Love Rescue Me - U2 (1988s Rattle and Hum)
7. Carry the Wounded - Tourniquet (1995s Carry the Wounded)
8. Up Against - Taking Back Sunday (2006s Louder Now)
9. Haunting - Haste the Day (2008s Dreamer)
10. Reclusion - Anberlin (2007s Cities)
11. So Long Self - MercyMe (2006s Coming Up To Breathe)
12. Prison - All (1990s Allroy Saves)

Metallica. DOTM

I was talking to a friend about this band's new album earlier and that prompted me do a DOTM on them.

Metallica was a good band for a while. Their first few albums were pretty good but they hit a point where the music was just kind of, well, lame. In fact, their last few albums have been down right disappointing. And then that whole fight with Napster kind of made me lose respect for them too.

Kill Em All
Released in July 1983 by Megaforce Records.
Produced by Paul Curcio and Johny Zazula.
Band lineup:
James Hetfield - guitar, vocals; Lars Ulrich - drums; Cliff Burton - bass, background vocals; Kirk Hammett - guitar.
Tracks: 10
Highlights:
"Anesthesia Pulling Teeth" and "Am I Evil?"

Ride the Lightning
Released in July 1984 by Megaforce.
Produced by Metallica and Flemming Rasmussen.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 10
Highlights:
"Ride the Lightning" "For Whom the Bell Tolls" "Fade to Black" and "Creeping Death"

Master of Puppets
Released in March 1986 by Elektra.
Produced by Metallica and Flemming Rasmussen.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 8
Highlights:
"Battery" "Master of Puppets" "The Thing That Should Not Be" "Welcome Home Sanitarium" "Leper Messiah" and "Orion"

The $5.98 EP Garage Days Re-Revisited
Released in August 1987 by Elektra.
Produced by Metallica.
Lineup changes:
Jason Newsted took over for Cliff Burton on bass.
Tracks: 5
Highlights:
"The Wait"

And Justice For All
Released in August 1988 by Elektra.
Produced by Metallica and Flemming Rasmussen.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 9
Highlights:
"Blackened" "One" and "The Shortest Straw"

Metallica
Released in August 1991 by Elektra.
Produced by Bob Rock, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 12
Highlights:
"Enter Sandman" "The Unforgiven" and "Nothing Else Matters"

Load
Released in June 1996 by Elektra.
Produced by Bob Rock, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 14
No highlights. I was not a big fan of this album.

ReLoad
Released in November 1997 by Elektra.
Produced by Bob Rock, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 13
Highlights:
"The Unforgiven II"

St Anger
Released in June 2003 by Elektra.
Produced by Bob Rock and Metallia.
Lineup changes:
Jason Newsted left the band and produced Bob Rock played bass in the studio on this album.
Tracks: 11
No highlights. Not a big fan of this album either.

Death Magnetic
Released in September 2008 by Warner Brothers.
Produced by Rick Rubin.
Lineup changes:
After the recording of St Anger the band hired Robert Trujillo to play bass.
Tracks: 10
No highlights at this time. Have not had a chance to actually hear the album yet.

THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE IS HAZARDOUS TO THE NATION'S HEALTH

For those of you that don't actually know this. The President of the United States is not elected by you. When you step into the polling booth, and cast your vote, you are not voting for your choice for President. You are actually voting to elect someone called an elector, who actually does the real voting for the President. This person that you voted for, can vote for any candidate that he or she wants, they do not have to vote for the person whom you THINK you are voting for.

This is known as the Electoral College system.

I think this system of selecting the President needs to be done away with. In my opinion, the office of the President should be decided by a direct popular vote, just like our Senators and Representatives are.

With the current system of voting, a person's individual vote is irrelevant.

If you are a person, for example, living in Washington state, it does not matter who you are voting for because almost all of the electors in the state are going to vote for the candidate for the Democratic party. All of the votes will go toward that candidate, even if the guy is a complete tool (as in the case of our last Presidential election).

Likewise in the state of Oklahoma, all of the electoral votes are going to go toward the Republican candidate, no matter who YOU choose to support.

This is where we get the idea of red states and blue states. It is a ridiculous tradition and needs to stop.

With this system in place, the two party system will continue to thrive and there is no chance for 3rd party candidates.

The system just needs to go away. Our electoral system should be based on the idea of one man one vote.

What Are We Practicing

I just finished reading another great article by Mr Keith Giles over at his website and wanted to share it with you.

It is titled Are We Really Practicing Christianity.

Really interesting article that talks about some of the difference between the Church today and the way Christianity was practiced in the New Testament.

It is interesting how the first Christians were these low-life, uneducated fishermen and how well they spread the message of Christ and how today you basically have to have 3 degrees in order to get a job preaching the gospel.

Anyway, give it a read. It is a great article.

Stop The Madness!

zTruth recently posted the article President Obama suggested stop medical treatment to terminally ill. I read it and could not believe what I was reading.

Seriously? Did our President actually suggest this? That can't be. I know the guy is an ultra-liberal moron but he would not go this far, would he?

So I went over to the LA Times article that she cited and read that too.

I am amazed that the President of the free world (well, it is still free for now anyway) would actually propose this.

In the post, zTruth asks the question 'What will happen if the government is the one who makes those kinds of decisions for you or your family?'

Like she said in her post, this idea is the beginning of rationed health care.

This is exactly the reason that the government needs to stay out of health care altogether.

This is exactly the reason that the proposal for a public health plan option needs to be thrown in the congressional garbage can.

The government is in charge of our money. What has that resulted in? The economy of the country is in the toilet and we have a federal deficit that we may never recover from.

I could name several things that government has taken over and crapped up.

Do we really want the government involved in our health care? The health care of our families? Do we really want the government telling us when it is time to let our loved ones go?

I told everyone months and month ago, long before the loser was elected, that there was something about him I didn't trust. I lost my mind for a second and even supported him for a very short time but I got my head screwed on correctly again and remembered that I did not trust him.

Now you all know why I don't trust him. I will not trust him with my money. I will not trust him with our armed services. I will not trust him with foreign relations. I will not trust him with fixing the economy. I will not trust him with our health care system. I will not trust him sam I am (lol!)

The guy is just flat out non-presidential material. The guy never should have gotten as far as he did in politics. The sad thing is, from what I have been reading, he has quite a bit of support with the American people. I guess that just means that the reason our country is going to hell in a hand basket is because the people in this country are absolutely duped.

They were duped to think he was going to change things in this country. Oh wait, no, they weren't duped. He is going to change things in this country. For the worse.

Oh please God, let 2010 get here quickly before he causes any real damage and please allow the people in this country grow a brain and elect some people that will stand up to him and his agenda and keep it from happening.

Amen.

Again I ask, recall anyone? There can't be anybody from the other side that could possibly do anything any worse than what could happen with Obama at the helm. I seriously fear for our country.

It is time to stop the madness.

MLB Update!

Haven't done one of these in a while.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

East
Boston
NY Yankees
Toronto
Tampa Bay
Baltimore

Central
Detroit
Minnesota
Chicago White Sox
Kansas City
Cleveland

West
Texas
Los Angeles Angels
Seattle 2 games out of 1st
Oakland

NATIONAL LEAGUE

East
Philadelphia
NY Mets
Florida
Atlanta
Washington

Central
St Louis
Milwaukee
Cincinnati
Chicago Cubs
Houston
Pittsburgh

West
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Francisco
Colorado
San Diego
Arizona


LEAGUE LEADERS

Batting Avg
Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle) - .369
D. Wright (Mets) - .356
B. Hawpe (Colorado) - .338

Home Runs
Albert Pujols (St Louis ) - 26
A. Gonzalez (San Diego) - 24
R. Ibanez (Philadelphia) - 22

RBIs
Albert Pujols (St Louis) - 70
J. Bay (Red Sox) - 69
P. Fielder (Milwaukee) - 68

Wins
Roy Halladay (Blue Jays) - 10
K. Slowey (Twins) - 10
T. Wakefield (Boston) - 9

ERA
Zack Greinke (Royals) - 1.90
D. Haren (Arizona) - 2.25
M. Cain (San Francisco) - 2.28

Strikeouts
Tim Lincecum (Giants) - 124
J. Verlander (Tigers) - 118
J. Vazquez (Atlanta) - 117

ESPN Power Rankings (1st 10)
Dodgers
Red Sox
Cardinals
Yankees
Tigers
Rangers
Angels
Rays
Phillies
Brewers

The Mariners are still in the 19th position in the ESPN Power Rankings.

DEMOCRATS HEALTH CARE LEGISLATION CAUSES CANCER!!!

Cool title huh? I thought that would grab you.

I was reading about an article from the Los Angeles Times about the new legislation that the House Democrats are putting forth for health care reform.

Some of the major points on the legislation include:

Requiring employers to provide coverage to their employees and to help subsidize health care for the poor.

I am all for corporations helping out the less fortunate but the government has no business forcing them to.

Requiring Americans up to 400% of the poverty level to be eligible for insurance credits.

But nothing about tax credits for those employers that are being forced to provide coverage.

Expanding Medicaid to cover individuals up to 133% of the poverty level.

Not too terrible an idea, expanding an already existing program instead of creating an entirely new one, however the legislation lacks any details on how all of their plans are going to be funded. From what I understand, President Obama is in favor of taxing health care premiums paid for by people who are covered by their employers. Bad bad idea!

Proposing a form of a public plan that offers the same reimbursement rates as Medicare.

Wait a minute? You want to expand a program already in place AND put a new plan out there? What kind of sense does that make? You are going to add that extra room on the house AND build an entirely new house right next to it? That makes absolutely no sense at all to me!

According to the article, President Obama has said "this proposal will improve the affordability, availability, and quality of health care....our goal of fixing what is broken about health care while building on what works..."

Okay. I can kind of see the affordability and availability part. Not that I agree with them. But I can see it. But quality? I see nothing in this legislation that addresses anything about the quality of health care. Nothing. What a moron.

I also read another article in the New York Times with some interesting statistics:

85% of those polled say health care system needs to be changed for rebuilt
77% are satisfied with their own care
50% say the government would be better at providing medical coverage than private insurers
60% say Washington would have more success in controlling costs

That part about the government being better off at providing medical coverage is interesting considering the same survey also revealed unease about the impact of heightened government involvement in regards to health care. Sounds to me like their numbers are out of whack.

Sadly, I think our only hope at this point is hoping the Republicans in Congress can stall this legislation for a couple of years before it becomes a reality and creates a bigger mess than we already have.

Why Bad Things Happen

Why does God allow bad things to happen?

This is a question that get asks by countless non-believers to those that are faithful. Sadly, this question leaves most of us dead in our tracks.

Sadly, a lot of us don't know how to answer this. I have to admit that it is a very difficult question to tackle. At least to a point to where the person asking the question is satisfied.

Here is a good article about that question over at The Ooze written by the illustrious Keith Giles.

In the article, he poses the 'Why does God allow bad things to happen' question I respond with another question: Do you want God to take complete control over all reality?

To me, that goes against what and who God is. God created us with free will. To take control over everything that happens in this world would take away that free will that he gave to us.

It's not that God can't prevent car crashes or can't keep thousands from getting killed in a war that nobody wants, it is just that at certain times in humankind's lifetime, He does not intervene.

The fact is that, even in the Scriptures, divine intervention was the exception, not the rule.

He points out the fact that God allows things, all things, good and bad, to happen so that he can reveal Himself through the pain, tragedy, and happiness to bring about redemption and reconciliation to Him.

So here is a hard one to swallow. As Christians, we supposed to actually BE Jesus Christ on this earth while his human form is not here. In essence, we are supposed to BE God to the rest of humankind.

And here comes the hard part. The question is not why does God allow bad things to happen. The question becomes why do WE allow bad things to happen?

Republicans Plan For Health Care Reform

CQ Healthbeat has reported that the Republicans in Congress are in the process of putting together some legislation for health care reform.

Here are some key points about it:

1. Provides for allowing for states to regulate private insurers.

This is a no brainer to me and I totally agree. State regulation (as opposed to federal regulation) is much more feasible and less expensive. In fact, most states already have the agencies in place to regulate private health insurance. Federal involvement is a bad idea. More federal regulation = more Washington bureaucracy = more $$$ out of the taxpayers' pockets.

2. It allows for small businesses to join in partnerships to purchase coverage for their employees.

I think this is a good idea. Seems like something somebody could have thought of years ago. And probably already did.

3. Requiring insurers to cover those with pre-existing conditions.

I don't have a problem with this. It would certainly fix the issue of reducing the amount of people that are currently uninsured.

4. Curbing costs by allowing those currently on Medicare and CHIP to convert their coverage into vouchers and purchase their own coverage.

I think this is a great idea. Here is a way that we can actually make an attempt at reducing government bureaucracy by reducing the number of people enrolled in Medicare. Also by doing this we can strengthen the private industry by allowing for more competition among the companies who will need to fight for the business of those formally on Medicare. And more competition in this industry would lead to self regulation. Thus, the need for less government involvement. Thus, less government bureaucracy again. Score!

5. Give individuals and businesses tax deductions and tax credits to help cover premiums.

For businesses, I can see this as a big incentive. However, for individuals, as I have stated many many times before, I really just don't understand how tax credits is going to help the majority of American citizens. I can see how it could help for those uninsured that make enough money to purchase health insurance but choose not to. This could be an incentive because less of their money would taken by the government.

But for those of us that can barely scrap enough money together to pay all of our bills, giving us a tax credit means nothing. If I don't have enough money to buy health insurance now (not me, personally, I have insurance through work but stay with me here), I am not going to be able to buy health insurance with a tax credit. I just honestly don't understand this philosophy.

However, this would fix health in one respect by again reducing the number of people uninsured in the long run so it is a good idea anyway.

Overall, although this legislation is still in the planning stages, it is much better than any reforms the other guys have proposed, especially since this legislation says nothing about expanding government involvement or creating any sort of public plan option.

Here is something that I have not seen brought up by anyway. The fact is, we already have a public plan option. We have two in fact. They are called Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare takes care of the elderly. Medicaid takes care of people living in poverty. These ARE public plans. We do not need anymore. If the Democrats really have to have a public plan option for people, then just expand coverage for these two programs. The increase in cost would be very minimal in my opinion.

Overall, I think this new legislation being put together by the Republicans can ultimately serve to fix the key issues affecting health care today. Especially in reducing the number of uninsured and increasing the amount of quality care. While at the same time reducing the need for government bureaucracy.

Obama Proposes Big Government to Solve Economic Crisis.......Nothing Shocking.

Scott asked me this morning what my thoughts were on Obama's new financial reform bill was and to post my thoughts here on this blog.

So I read Scott's post on it. His is titled Give the government that much control on the financial sector? BAD IDEA!

I then read the Washington Post article, Obama Announces Sweeping New Market Regulations.

Some of what I have to say about this might mirror what Scott had to say about it but here is what I think.

First of all, anyone that knows me and has read my blog fairly regularly knows that I am not a big fan of the government being involved in anything. Our government over the past few decades has proven to be ineffectual at every turn in everything they have tried to "take over."

In the Post article it says that Obama wants more government involvement in the financial sector. I agree with Scott. Very very very bad idea!!! Do we really want the government, who continually runs a deficit. Who continually spends more than it takes in? Who had made some of the worst financial decisions ever! Do we really want them taking over the financial sector? Heck no!

That would be like handing your investment portfolio over to your crazy brother-in-law that still owes you money from 5 years ago!

Obama blames the financial sector itself for the failure of our economy.

I would not necessarily say that they should not take a little part of the blame but I have to think that the current regulations in place set forth by the government need to take some responsibility for the mess that we are in.

Here is a quote from the Post article that scares me:

"[the administration] would create a new agency to protect consumers of mortgages, credit cards, and other financial products."

Oh boy, here we go. Another government agency?!? Aren't there enough already? Hell, aren't their too many already?

Leave it to Mr. Liberal poster boy himself to be a proponent of MORE government to solve a problem. Crap, there is a problem in our country, let's create more bureaucracy! That'll fix it!

I have new for our President. Well, it's not really news. It's more like Political Science 101 (which I would EXPECT him to already know). MORE government solves..........are you ready for this..............wait for it.............NOTHING!!!!

Government involvement creates more problems than it solves.

So, my thoughts on Obama's Financial Reforms? I'm with you Scott. BAAAAD IDEA!!!

Oh Lord, please let 2012 get here quickly! In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

CD Review: New Again

I recently borrowed the new Taking Back Sunday CD, New Again from the public library.

I would not say that I am the biggest fan of the band by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, up until a few weeks ago, I had only heard maybe a small handful of their songs and was not really necessarily amazingly impressed with what I had heard.

First a short bio on the band. They are from Long Island New York and they formed in 1999. They have released 4 studio albums, 12 singles, 1 EP, 1 live album and 1 compilation album.

Their album Louder Now reached #2 on the US Billboard 200 charts.

This newest album was released on June 2, 2009. I am actually kind of amazed that I found it at the library. Usually they don't have albums that are this new. In any case, I am glad they had it.

So anyway, as I was saying. I am not the biggest fan of them however a few weeks ago Dave was saying something about them and I decided to give them another try. So I ended up borrowing the album Tell All Your Friends from the library and giving that one a listen. I liked it. Nothing awe-inspiring. But a good album nonetheless.

I also did a DOTM (Discography Of The Moment) a few weeks ago for this band.

So in reading this review of the new CD keep in mind that I am more or less a Taking Back Sunday novice, having only heard the albums Tell All Your Friends, Louder Now, and of course this new one New Again.

I actually really like the album in general. I think there are a couple of songs on it that I would consider throwaways but not because they are not good songs, they just didn't hook me. I have found more and more often that I am really a sucker for a good hook. So if I band does not have a few songs on an album that have a good hook in them, I consider the album in general a disappointment.

This album does have a few of those songs. Songs with good hooks.

The songs that stand out to me on this album that I really enjoy are:

"New Again" "Summer Man" "Cut Me Up Jenny" "Capital M-E" and "Carpathia"

As I listen to the album again it dawns on me that in some ways they remind me of another band that I really like but unfortunately is no longer together. That band is The Juliana Theory.

In short, from listening to this album I think I am going to go borrow some more albums of theirs from the library at some point and listen to more.

Support or Accept It?

I was reading an article about the torture debate at the Relevant Magazine website.

The article itself was titled The Torture Question.

It is a piece written about how there is growing debate over the torture issue in the Christian community.

What really struck me about what I was reading and what prompted me to write about it was a comment posted on the website.

It was written by a person with the "screen name" skevin. He writes:

"...i don't believe you can say that a person necessarily 'supports' a position if they merely see certain instances where they can accept that the position may be effective. I think using the term 'accept' would be much more truthful and less divisive, especially as we discuss this with our brothers and sister in Christ."

He has said in this few sentences something I have tried over and over to say in several blogs. The point is simple, I can 'accept' something (in this case torture, or for another example, the War in Iraq) but not necessarily 'support' that something.

Way to go skevin, Whoever you are.

By the way, for those of you that are interested, Relevant Magazine is a magazine that discusses the combination of faith and pop culture into our daily lives.

McCarville Supports Calvey for Congress

In his recent post Iraq Veterans Endorse Calvey for Congress, Mike tells about the announcement of Republican Kevin Calvey to run for the soon to be vacated Oklahoma Congressional seat now held by Mary Fallin.

Here is the part of the post that stuck out to me:

"He joined the Army National Guard AFTER the start of the Iraq War...when he was already a successful businessman and elected official."

According to his campaign website, he served as the State Representative for District 94 (Del City) from 1998 to 2006.

So...up to this point, I have read nothing about where he stands on the issues. However, just based on the quote I posted, I already like the guy.

Everyone know that I am not a big fan of the war but the fact that this guy was already an elected official and decided to do something for his country is very admirable. He certainly seems like the type of politician (in my opinion) that has some honorable fiber in him.

So....I went on to read his stance on some of the issues on his website.

I started at his stance on Health Care. He says that:

"...a one size fits all government takeover of your health care is not the answer. ......Instead of a bureaucratic takeover of health care, we need a balanced, common sense approach that provides assistance to those who truly need it and keeps health care patient-centered rather than government-centered for everyone. By using market-based reforms to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse of health care resources, we can bring health care costs down to a manageable level."

Okay, I still like him. I agree with everything he says here.

Okay, on to the Abortion Issue. He is a former member of the Right to Life Committee and while serving in the state legislature authored numerous pro-life bills. He opposes making it legal to let a minor get an abortion without the parent's knowledge and opposes the idea to punish doctors who refuse to give abortions.

Still like him.

Okay, now on to something that I will probably not agree with him with because he is a Republican. Gun Control.

He is the 2006 Oklahoma Rifle Association Legislator of the Year. Here is a quote from Kevin directly on this issue:

"Every adult law-abiding American citizen has the right to keep and bear arms. Research consistently shows that law-abiding gun ownership reduces crime........"

So here is where Kevin and I disagree. At least as far as I can tell. I am not opposed to gun ownership by law-abiding citizens. While at the same time I am in favor of gun control legislation such as waiting periods and background checks at gun shows and that sort of thing. So I am not exactly the polar opposite of Mr. Calvey.

Finally, I decided to look at his stance on Energy. He supports investing in other practical forms of energy such as natural gas, nuclear, wind, etc... He also supports drilling in ANWR which are currently off limits. One of his goals is to make Oklahoma a leader in energy production due to its surplus of natural gas and wind power to further reduce our dependence on foreign terrorist oil.

Amen Kevin.

In short, I too support Kevin Calvey for Congress even though I don't get to vote for him.

Political Affiliations

Sorry couldn't come up with a better title than this.

So I have been thinking a little bit about my own political affiliation. I began to even somewhat consider changing my political affiliation to the Republican party. I even borrowed a book from the library about the party (see most recent Currently Reading).

I remember that the Republican Party was the party of Lincoln! The party of Theodore Roosevelt! Both Presidents that I admire.

But is the Republican Party of today the same as it was then? I'm not sure. I don't think so. I have not read much of the book yet so I might post some information about that once I get further in my reading.

But after thinking about it some I kind of came to my senses about affiliating myself with them.

Even though I do agree with the party's stance on several issues, I can't bring myself to agree with their stance on other issues.

And quite frankly, I am pretty sure that they would not have me anyway. LOL!

I certainly can't bring myself to align with the Democrats either. Even thought this was technically the party of Jefferson, another President I admire, it has turned into something totally different. In my opinion, the Democratic Party seems to be okay with big government. That is, that the government is the solution to all of our problems. This is a generalization based on my own experiences within the party of course.

I'm not a Libertarian. Although I do agree with quite a bit of their positions, I think their position on the pro-life issue is not in line with mine and I will not align myself with them base don that principle alone.

So that is why I affiliate myself as an Independent.

I voted for Nader in the last election. Not because I agree with everything he has to say. But because it is my way of 'flipping the bird' at the two-party system. I think we could all be better off in most election if we had other choices. Granted, we do have other choices but not to the extend that these other choices would ever hope to get a significant amount of the electoral vote.

Take the last general election for example.

In the Presidential race, we had the ultra-liberal, somewhat shady past, Democrat on one side and the only kinda sorta Republican on the other. No real safe bet there.

And in the Washington gubernatorial race, we had the crook going up against the straight party line lying liberal on the other side. Again, no safe bet.

So as you can see, if we had more "real" choices, we could probably, just maybe, come up with some elected officials that aren't corrupt businessmen or blind partisans that will do anything to please their party.

We might just get some elected officials that actually do work for the people.

It could happen. Although I am not holding my breath.

Currently Reading: History of the Republican Party

TITLE: The History of the Republican Party
AUTHOR: Norma Jean Lutz
YEAR PUBLISHED: 2000
PUBLISHER: Chelsea House Publishers








I was skimming through the political section at the library last night and I spotted this one out of the corner of my eye.
I have only read the first chapter up to this point. It deals primarily with why the party formed in the first place.
Even so, it seems pretty interesting so far.

Political Music

I just wanted to ask a question in order to get some sort of discussion started on this matter.

The question is: Should musicians keep politics out of their music? Or vice versa, should musicians keep their music out of politics?

It seems like a real clear cut issue in that it is a First Amendment issue so I guess what I am really asking is more along the lines of do you listen to music strictly for entertainment purposes or do you support specific artists based solely on their political and/or worldviews?

Or do you support specific candidates or support specific political issues because a particular artist does?

In my case, I do not support bands based solely on political/worldviews. There are even a few bands whose music I really like but I don't listen to them often because I do disagree with their particular worldview. And also, in my case, I do not support specific candidates or political issues based on the fact that a particular artist or band that I do like supports those causes or candidates.

Top 4 Geographical Bands

This is a list of the Top 4 bands whose name comes from a geographical location (country, city, etc...)

1. Boston
2. Asia
3. Green River (early grunge band named after a river in the Seattle area)
4. Otisburg (ok, so it's a fictional city that never existed but I have to plug the band again somehow. LOL!)

...But Pink Floyd Doesn't

And it is with that statement that I would like to post a DOTM (for newcomers that is Discography Of The Moment) for Pink Floyd.

I actually did one back in February 2007 on this very blog but after looking at it again it is kind of a sad DOTM so I figured I would do another better one.

So here it is:

Piper At the Gates of Dawn
Released in August 1967 by Columbia/EMI.
Produced by Norman Smith.
Band lineup:
Syd Barrett - guitar, vocals; Nick Mason - drums; Roger Waters - bass, vocals; Richard Wright - keyboards, vocals.
Tracks: 11 (the U.S. released only had 9 tracks)
Singles:
"See Emily Play" and "Flaming"

A Saucerful of Secrets
Released in June 1968 by Columbia/EMI.
Produced by Norman Smith.
Lineup changes:
David Gilmour joined as lead guitarist and other vocals.
Tracks: 7
Singles:
"Let There Be More Light" and "Jugband Blues"

More
Soundtrack album released in July 1969 by Columbia/EMI.
Produced by Pink Floyd.
Lineup changes:
Syd Barrett was no longer in the permanent lineup at this point.
Tracks: 13
Singles:
"The Nile Song"

Ummagumma
Released in October 1969 by Harvest/EMI
Produced by Pink Floyd and Norman Smith.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 9
No singles.

Atom Heart Mother
Released in October 1970 by Harvest/EMI.
Produced by Pink Floyd and Norman Smith.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 5 (technically 12 because track #1 is broken into 6 parts while track #5 is broken down into 3 parts)

Meddle
Released in October 1971 by Harvest/EMI.
Produced by Pink Floyd.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 6
This album reached #3 on the UK Albums Chart and #70 on the Billboard Pop Albums Chart.

Obscured by Clouds
Released in June 1972 by Harvest/EMI.
Produced by Pink Floyd.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 10
Singles:
"Free Four" and "Burning Bridges"
This album reached #6 on the UK Albums Chart and #46 on the Billboard Pop Chart.

Dark Side of the Moon
Released in March 1973 by Harvest/Capitol/EMI.
Produced by Pink Floyd.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 10
Singles:
"Money" and "Us and Them"
This album reached #2 on the UK Album Chart, #1 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart and the song "Money" reached #`3 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart.
To date this album has sold over 15 million copies in the United States alone (over 3.8 million in the UK, over 2 million in Canda...)

Wish You Were Here
Released in September 1975 by Harvest/EMI/Capitol.
Produced by Pink Floyd.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 5 (unless you count track #1 as 5 songs because it is broken up into 5 parts and track # 5 as 4 songs because it is broken up into 4 parts, which would make it have 11 tracks)
Singles:
"Have A Cigar" and "Welcome to the Machine"
Other hightlights:
"Wish You Were Here" (my all-time favorite Floyd song)
Charts:
#1 on the UK album chart.
#1 on the Billboard Pop albums chart.

Animals
Released in January 1977 by Harvest/EMI/Capitol.
Produced by Pink Floyd.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 7
No singles.
Charts:
#2 on the UK album chart.
#3 on the Billboard Pop albums chart.

The Wall
Released in November 1979 by Harvest/EMI/Capitol.
Produced by Bob Ezrin, David Gilmour, James Guthrie and Roger Waters.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 26
Singles:
"Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" "Comfortably Numb" and "Run Like Hell"
Other highlights:
"Mother" "Hey You" "In the Flesh" "Young Lust" "Is There Anybody Out There"
Charts:
#3 UK album chart.
#1 Billboard 200
#1 UK Top 40 "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2"
#1 US Billboard Pop Singles "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2"

The Final Cut: A Requiem for the Post-War Dream
Released in March 1983 by Harvest/EMI.
Produced by Roger Waters, James Guthrie, and Michael Kamen.
Lineup changes:
Richard Wright left the band and Roger Waters took over the keyboard duties in addition to his lead vocals and bass.
Tracks: 12
Singles:
"Not Now John"
Charts:
#1 UK album chart.
#6 Billboard Pop Albums
This album is sometimes thought of to be a Roger Waters solo album. Guitarist David Gilmour only sings on one track (strangely, the only single from the album).
This also was the last album that Roger Waters appears on, having quit the band after this album.

A Momentary Lapse of Reason
Released in September 1987 by EMI/Columbia/Capitol.
Produced by Bob Ezrin and David Gilmour.
Lineup changes:
At this point the lineup was only David Gilmour - vocals, guitars, keyboards and Nick Mason - drums, percussion.
Tracks: 10
Singles:
"On the Turning Away" "Learning to Fly" "One Slip"
Charts:
#3 UK album chart
#3 Billboard 200
#70 Billboard Hot 100 "Learning to Fly"
#55 UK Singles chart "Learning to Fly"
This album has gone Quadruple Platinum in the United States (not surprising, this is a great album!)

The Division Bell
Released in March 1994 by EMI.
Produced by Bob Ezrin and David Gilmour.
Lineup changes:
Richard Wright returned to the band.
Tracks: 11
Singles:
"Take It Back" and "High Hopes:
Charts:
#1 UK albums chart
#1 US Billboard 200
#23 UK Singles chart "Take It Back"
#1 US Mainstream Rock Tracks "Keep Talking"
#26 UK Singles chart "High Hopes"
#7 US Mainstream Rock Tracks "High Hopes"

As you might have noticed. I did not include any live albums or compilation albums. There are plenty of those to choose from however.

No videos on this one, sorry. Maybe in another post perhaps.

Is zTruth offended? Is anyone else?

I think I might have offended zTruth with my presence on BNN Oklahoma.

She recently posted the article Seattle-based Otter Limits ranked #1 Political Blog in Oklahoma!

It is a fact. I live in Washington. I do contribute to the Washington BNN as well as the Oklahoma BNN.

But, I went to high school in Oklahoma. I went to college in Oklahoma. I have several friends in Oklahoma. In short, I have strong ties to the state.

Fairly often, I do write posts about the going ons in political Oklahoma.

That is the main reason that I contribute to the Oklahoma BNN.

But I never claimed that my blog is 100% politics. It just so happens that a large majority of my blog is politically related.

However, as I told zTruth in the comments on her post, if she (or anyone else on BNN OK) is offended by my presence there, and feels that I am taking away from blogs that are more deserving of being rated higher, let me know and I will will request to the editors that they remove me from the rolls of BNN OK.

Keep in mind that I don't have anything to do with the way the various blogs are rated. It's not like I petition BNN to make me #1 or anything like that. It just happens. I am just as surprised than some of you maybe when I get ranked so high.

So shoot me a comment here and let me know or shoot me an email (the addy is otter272@gmail.com). If you don't think I should be on BNN OK, I will leave.

Why Led Zeppelin Sucks

I found an article with that exact title on some random website.

here is a quote from the article:

"...they are perhaps the most overrated band of all time. That is to say, they are very talented, but people rate them way past what they deserve. They have 2, maybe 3, standout songs.....a lot of their stuff is, quite frankly, throwaway."

And here is an excerpt from a comment I read on that article:

"i couldn't agree more, i'm glad to see someone has the balls to finally take a stand and prove that led zeppelin are not 'the gods of rock.' that so many people have claimed them to be..."

And an excerpt from another comment:

"the music really attracts the 'poser' crowd....I received Led Zeppelin II..for Christmas thinking i was going to have a total badass experience.....[other than Heartbreaker] i hated every other song on this CD and i was so disappointed from what i heard.....i just couldn't stand Robert Plant's orgasmic outbreaks in the middle of songs......"

Whew! At least I know I'm not the only one that hates Led Zeppelin.

And I leave you with a Screeching Weasel video.....but before we move on to the video......guys, try not to take this post so seriously.....

Anthrax Videos

I got the idea for doing a few Anthrax videos from Dave's post Top 12 of 1992 where he surprisingly (to me anyway) put an Anthrax album on the list.

Here is the video for the song "Only" from Sound of White Noise, their first album with vocalist John Bush. I considered this their best album.



And here is a video for the song "Always Room For One More" also from Sound of White Noise:



And here is a video from the Belladonna era. It's the song "Anti-Social" from the album State of Euphoria:



And another video from the Belladonna era. Strangely, this is the first song I ever heard from Anthrax and it is kind of what got me listening to them in the first place. Unfortunately, I could not get them to embed so you will have to follow the link. Sorry:

Anthrax - Indians

And lastly, a video of Anthrax and Public Enemy performing the latter's song "Bring the Noise." I actually saw these two bands live together once:




For any Anthrax fans out there, here is a link to my DOTM for Anthrax.

Currently Reading: Beyond Left and Right

TITLE: Beyond Left & Right: Helping Christians Make Sense of American Politics.

AUTHOR: Amy E. Black

PUBLISHER: Baker Books

YEAR PUBLISHED: 2008

About the Author: a professor of international relations at Wheaton College. President of Christians in Political Science.

Here is the blurb from the back of the book:

"Instead of drawing party lines [the author] offers a guide to the inner workings of American politics that encourages readers to make informed, faith-based political decisions."