BWAAAAHAHA!

....Now playing at Willie's Place, Sirius Ch. 64: "If fingerprints showed up on skin, wonder whose I'd find on you?" Freddie Hart. I'd seen this lyric referenced in a book from the late Georgia humorist Lewis Grizzard (any of you folks remember him?) but that's the first time I'd ever heard the song itself. Not bad, not bad at all.

95 percent from American guns?

From today's Chron (emphasis mine -- ed.):

...
In its annual survey of global counter-narcotics efforts, the State Department painted a grim picture of the situation in Mexico, where government attempts to fight traffickers are hindered by rampant corruption. The battle between authorities and drug cartels killed more than 6,000 people last year and more than 1,000 so far in 2009.
...
It said that firearms obtained in the U.S. account for an estimated 95 percent of the country’s drug-related killings. Johnson said that should be addressed by improving the ability of Mexican authorities to identify the source of weapons and cooperate with the United States in prosecuting them.

95 percent, huh? I can't help but call bullshit on that. With the weaponry available to the drug cartels via the corrupt Mexican military and government — including the machine guns, grenades and such — it's more than a little preposterous to assign 95 percent of those casualties to run-of-the-mill semiautomatic rifles. The claim only seems to be undermined by a little tidbit found in comments to this story, namely that the Mexican government refuses to divulge the serial numbers on weaponry confiscated from the cartels. I haven't seen that mentioned anywhere, so I can't vouch for its veracity, but to be honest I would be surprised if it wasn't true. I would also be surprised if the truth was 100 percent diametrically opposed to what the State Department says, that is, that 95 percent of those drug-related killings were due to weaponry from the Mexican military — more than a little of which is likely procured with funds from the Merida Initiative. Which would basically mean it was the American government facilitating the acquisition of these munitions. Isn't that a hell of an irony? Hey, maybe that's what they meant, you think? Yeah, me neither...

New discoveries of old music...

I suppose I might come off as some sort of music maven to some folks, especially considering my fondness for all the old country no one plays on the radio outside of what's been referred to as "the Sunday-night ghetto." It's not the case in all the genres, though; there's still a LOT I don't know. Just as an example, I didn't remember hearing much of the metal band Queensryche when I was growing up; as a matter of fact the only two songs I remember hearing from them, ever, were "Silent Lucidity" and "Jet City Woman." Of course that's changed in a big way now, as I've heard several more songs from them, all from their 1988 landmark album Operation: Mindcrime. I really liked all of them, and I heard another one this morning that really made me sit up and take notice:

...Sixteen and on the run from home
Found a job in Times Square
Working Live S&M shows
Twenty-five bucks a fuck
And John's a happy man
She wipes the filth away
And it's back on the streets again
Spreading the disease
Everybody needs
But no one wants to see
Father William saved her from the streets
She drank the lifeblood from the saviour's feet
She's Sister Mary now, eyes as cold as ice
He takes her once a week
On the altar like a sacrifice...

One could say I had more or less the same reaction I did upon hearing pre-Black Album Metallica: "Holy shit, that's hardcore..." Not terrestrial radio-friendly by any means, but still a great song. I am definitely going to have to hunt this cd down.

The title of an old song comes to mind...

...once again, on reading these two items: Some Fools Never Learn. The GOP elite last election season basically told the base to "sit down and shut up and vote for who we tell you to vote for," and we see where it got us. One would think with them being so damn "intellectual," they'd have figured out their way of doing things didn't work. But then, now that I think about it, that would probably make them NOT intellectuals. At any rate, if real conservative principles are ever going to prevail again, the powers that be would be wise to tell these people to sit the hell down and have a nice, tall glass of shut the hell up. As one of the commenters said at OTB, "I'm becoming increasingly non-plussed with the assertion that Joe represents an 'unserious' move on the part of the GOP. It's that attitude, disaffection and condescension of the Republican rank and file, that led us to the nomination of John McCain, for example, wherein we saw the crowds running much larger for Palin than McCain."
A-yep...
(h/t Firehand)

A sobering reminder...

...of why it's best to answer the door armed.
I drove to my old apartment complex today to get some more stuff out of my old place. Stuck in the door was one of those memo-type things they periodically pass out to residents, reminding folks of pest-spraying and stuff like that. This one was different. Its subject? Home invasions. I don't remember the memo's exact wording, but it said there had been several home invasions in the neighborhood, with two people knocking on doors and forcing their way in. Latest victim was in my old complex. These guys forced their way into a resident's unit, in broad daylight, 5 last Sunday afternoon; they took credit cards, cash and a laptop computer. I read that and I was like, "oh heeeell no." Then I called my girlfriend after I read it and I told her, "baby, you see why I want you to learn how to shoot my gun?" And you know, stuff like that makes me wish the home invaders would target more of those people who tell us we don't need guns, or presume they have the authority to tell us what they think we need for whatever situation might arise, be it something like this or a Katrina-type event. 'Cause remember, friends and neighbors — when seconds count, the police are only minutes away!

More of der HopenChange, I guess...

...or as many of us would say, more of those failed "solutions"...

"As President Obama indicated during the campaign, there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to reinstitute the ban on the sale of assault weapons," (Attorney General Eric) Holder told reporters.
Holder said that putting the ban back in place would not only be a positive move by the United States, it would help cut down on the flow of guns going across the border into Mexico, which is struggling with heavy violence among drug cartels along the border.

Not that this is any big surprise, but still it makes it all the more infuriating that the NRA rolled over on Eric Holder. It'll be interesting to see what the NRA does here, and how the pragmatists try to justify THAT. I would think it'll be easier to fight something like a renewed or strengthened AWB, but since none of the cowards and fools up on Capitol Hill want to talk about any other solutions, and since Eric Holder is just as big a fan of the War On (Some) Drugs as he is of the War On Guns, it's probably a safer bet that said bill will be pushed as a solution to what's going on south of the Rio Grande, and a measure we should take as a "good neighbor." One could even call a renewed or strengthened AWB...the pragmatic thing to do...
And at the risk of repeating myself...what are we gonna do when the political solutions fail?

My favorite country duet from the '70s...

at The Roadhouse, Sirius Ch. 62: "There ain't no good in an evil-hearted woman, and I ain't cut out to be no Jesse James...and you don't go writin' hot checks, down in Mississippi, and there ain't no good chain gang..."
That Johnny Cash-Waylon Jennings duet from 1978 has always been one of my absolute favorite songs, period, one that I don't hear much anymore, and another one of those songs they could play ten times a day and I'd never tire of it...of all the duets the stars of the day recorded back then, that one was the best, I think.

A thought came to mind the other night...

...listening to Sirius.
You know what I'd love to hear, just once, that I don't think I've ever heard? Vern Gosdin's "Set 'Em Up Joe," followed immediately by Ernest Tubb's "Walkin' the Floor Over You." I HAVE heard both those songs before, many times in fact, just not in that particular order. Just a thought...

Talk about moving the goalposts...

I saw bits and pieces of Bobby Jindal's rebuttal to Obama's speech last night, but I didn't really get an impression one way or the other. I didn't know whether or laugh or cry at this hit piece from the AP in today's Houston Chronicle, though...

NEW YORK — Insane. Childish. Disaster.
And those were some of the kinder comments from political pundits about Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and his response to President Barack Obama’s speech to Congress on Tuesday night.
...
David Brooks, a conservative New York Times columnist who has criticized aspects of the stimulus plan, nonetheless called Jindal’s arguments “insane” and tone-deaf given the dire economic challenges the country faces.
“To come up in this moment in history with a stale, ‘Government is the problem, you can’t trust the federal government’ is just a disaster for the Republican Party,” Brooks said on PBS’ The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer. “It’s not where the country is, it’s not where the future of the country is.”
Fox News commentator Juan Williams focused on Jindal’s delivery.
“It came off as amateurish, and even the tempo in which he spoke was singsongy,” Williams said, adding that the content of the speech was “very simplistic and almost childish.”
Penni Pier, a political communication specialist at Florida’s Nova Southeastern University, said Jindal’s presentation was overly colloquial and his message of less government and more tax cuts was substantively thin.
“It sounded like the same old rhetoric — we had tax cuts the last eight years, and look where it got us,” Pier said. “Jindal was also trying to be so familiar, he lost credibility. Obama is familiar, but at the same time always a statesman.”
...
Rush Limbaugh, arguably the nation’s most prominent conservative voice, defended Jindal on his radio show Wednesday while acknowledging that “stylistically,” Obama had outshined Jindal.
“The people on our side are making a real mistake if they go after Bobby Jindal,” Limbaugh said. “We cannot shun politicians who speak for our beliefs just because we don’t like the way he says it.”

Simpering RINO David Brooks. Yes, friends and neighbors, that's how they balanced out raving moonbat Juan Williams. Good grief, is it any wonder the people think the media is hopelessly biased? Calling David Brooks a conservative is like calling a frozen TV dinner haute cuisine, or calling Rascal Flatts a country band. Of course it's only fair to point out that they did mention the remarks of Rush Limbaugh, whose opinion I would wager is much closer to that of most conservatives; but still that was an appallingly imbalanced story. As far as tax cuts "getting us" to where we are now, I think it's a bit disingenuous to argue that without also mentioning that those tax cuts were accompanied by vastly increased government spending — spending, one might add, that was very likely supported by the likes of David Brooks and his ilk. Not that I expected anything more from the AP OR the ivory-tower academics, but that in itself is a sad commentary on where we are as a society. I am reminded once again of the words of Bill Whittle:

The inability of external reality to become perfect is a profound disappointment for people who live in their own fantasy worlds where everything is perfect. Such people expect the external world, the world beyond the boundaries of our Sanctuary, to behave like a celebrity awards show dinner or a faculty lounge. Of course, only very, very small areas of the world behave like a celebrity award show dinner or a faculty lounge. But when enough people experience nothing else, and when those pampered, bored, hollow and guilty elites control the way information is reported, run the schools and universities in which reality-free theories are taught, and hold the keys to the manufacture of a society's myths and stories and culture — well, then the disconnect between the Civilization and reality becomes so acute that the wing stalls and what was once a soaring airplane becomes a few tons of metal plummeting earthward.

How much longer do we have until that wing stalls? Will the passengers wake up and realize what's going on before we get to that point? I realize things are much different now, as the old news sources don't have the oligopoly they once did, but still it's frightening to think how many people take those old sources at the same face value they always have.

Aaaaaand, we're BACK!

Ready to kick some ass and take some names! Regular posting resumes, well, now. ;-)

We're almost there...

Talked to Time Warner yesterday, and we'll be back online sometime tomorrow afternoon if all goes as planned. Stay tuned...

Technical Difficulties

Due to technical difficulties at Live from the (upper) Texas Gulf Coast Command Central, blogging will be delayed a little bit longer. I hope to have this problem resolved by tomorrow. Stay tuned...

UPDATE, 2-23, 9:51 am: You know, if the folks at AT&T had told me I couldn't get DSL here it would have been a lot less frustrating. Working on getting Time Warner's Road Runner now...with luck, by tomorrow or Wednesday.

I know it's late, but...

...Looks to be another interesting and worthwhile show at Blog Talk Radio tonight, this one on food storage preparation. Also check out the challenge.

More light bloggin' ahead, for the next couple of days...

Expect more Saturday night or Sunday. Y'all be good now. ;-)

Oooh, one of the Hag's best early in the mornin'....

at the Roadhouse, Sirius Ch. 62: "...We still don't have what you and I once had...no, it's not love, but it's not bad..."

Dems corrupt?

The hell you say...

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration and the new Congress are rapidly giving Republicans the same “culture of corruption” issue that Democrats used so effectively against the GOP before coming to power.
Democrats’ ethical issues are popping up at a dizzying pace, after less than two months of party control of both the White House and Congress. Freshman Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill. is only the latest embarrassment.
...
It was revealed that then-Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., wrote suggestive notes to former teenage male pages, and several Republican lawmakers and officials failed to act when they learned of the situation.
The Democrats stepped up their campaign theme of a “culture of corruption,” and it resonated all the way to the voting precincts. Democrats then regained control of the House.

Huh. Democrats as corrupt as Republicans. But...but...but...Nancy Pelosi promised us the Most. Ethical. Congress. EVAH!
Seriously though, I don't know why anyone would be surprised by this. Am I the only one who remembers Dan Rostekowski? Politicians are corrupt. It's just the nature of the game, and anyone who bought what the Dems were selling in 2006 vis-a-vis ethics was just playing right into their hands, although it does deserve to be pointed out that we only get the government we tolerate. I do wonder, though, how different things would be if we had stayed true to the citizen-legislator concept the Founders championed — you know, the common citizen who goes and represents his fellow citizens for a little while then goes back to normal life, as opposed to the career legislators we have now. Something tells me we'd be a lot better off. Just a feeling I get.

And the decline of Western civilization proceeds apace...

From this morning's Houston Chronicle...

Five teens accused of taking turns beating another teen to death said they never meant to kill, and as one put it, “we were just trying to have some fun,” Baytown police said Thursday.
While investigators continued piecing together what motivated the vicious attack of 18-year-old Kevin Jerome Powell at a Baytown apartment complex, State District Judge Herb Ritchie found Thursday that authorities had enough probable cause to continue holding the suspects in jail on $100,000 bail each.

You know what would stop things like this? Gun licensing and registration...oh, wait...

Random thoughts from packing...

You never know just how much stuff you have, till you go to move it all. But you do find the damnedest things that you thought you might have lost forever. Going through my stuff I found a little truck my grandfather made for me by carving a block of wood. I remember when he gave it to me, he told me, "You said you always wanted a Ford truck, so here you go." Almost 20 years later that memory still brings a smile to my face. Lord, but I do miss that old man, 14 years after he passed on, even though I do know he's in a better place...

More "dog bites man" journalism, I suppose...

...from the Houston Chronicle:

MEXICO CITY — Americans in Mexico continued to be slain at a rate of nearly one each week through the end of 2008 and there is little reason to think the violence will stop anytime soon, U.S. Embassy officials have confirmed.

Hey, you know what would fix this? An Assault Weapons Ban! Even though it's a safe bet many of these killings are committed with your garden-variety handgun, everyone knows an Assault Weapons Ban would alleviate the problem, even though no kind of gun ban even comes close to addressing the root cause of this violence! You know how I know this? Because the media said so...
(and that was me being sarcastic, just in case anybody might think I've jumped the shark...)

A different version of another song I haven't heard in years...

Now playing at The Roadhouse, Sirius Ch. 62, from the Wilburn Brothers: "Go down, go down, you Knoxville girl, you can never be my bride..."
The only other song I'd ever heard from the Wilburn Brothers was "Trouble's Back In Town," but I had heard the more famous recording of this old traditional murder ballad from the Louvin Brothers. Of course a song like that would never find any traction, with its ghastly content: "She fell down on her bended knees, for mercy she did cry...oh, Willie dear, don't kill me here, I'm unprepared to die...She never spoke another word, I only beat her more, until the ground around me, within her blood did flow..." Still a great song nonetheless. So much great music from years gone by has been forgotten, and I know there's only so much time in the day, but it's great to hear all of it being played again.

Another good pairing...

...at Outlaw Country, Sirius Ch. 63: "You can't walk away from true love, and leave your feelings all behind...oh, this one's gonna hurt you, for a long, long time..."
I hadn't heard that song in what seems like forever. The title song from Marty Stuart's 1992 album, "This One's Gonna Hurt You (For A Long, Long Time)" was one of the duets with Travis Tritt; while Tritt mined the outlaw sound more than anything else, he could do the honky-tonk stuff with the best of 'em too, and this song was proof of it. I got that cassette for my 15th birthday and just damn near wore it out. One of the best, most underrated country albums of the last 30 years. I sure hated to find that the cd was out of print...

Yep, and everyone knows that's the government's business, right?

I read this and thought, Whaaa?...

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric Holder described the United States today as a nation of cowards on matters of race, saying most Americans avoid discussing unresolved racial issues.
In a speech to Justice Department employees marking Black History Month, Holder said the workplace is largely integrated but Americans still self-segregate on the weekends and in their private lives.
"Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards," said Holder, nation's first black attorney general.

A nation of cowards. Pretty ironic that Mr. Holder would describe the country as such. I very seriously doubt he's read this, or that he would agree with even a word of it. Honestly, though, I don't get it. I really thought that by now, as a country, we'd have talked ourselves to death on "racial matters." Sweet bleedin' Barnabus, what the hell more do they want to do?! Discuss racial matters just a little bit more? Ok. How about we talk about the irony of a former Black Panther introducing legislation in Congress that could be (and has been) best described as "Jim Crow for gun owners"? Oh, wait, that's probably not what he had in mind...

UPDATE: Mike Hendrix at Cold Fury, as usual, slams it out of the park:

...go fuck yourself, Holder, you Obama-ite piece of shit. So say I, and so say the half-million of my forebears who died in a war that did away with slavery nearly a hundred and fifty fucking years ago.

Do I even need to say it?

Tuesday morning radio musings

As you might imagine, I was very, very glad to see this:

Sirius XM Radio Inc. won’t have to file for bankruptcy today after Liberty Media Corp. agreed to invest $530 million to rescue the satellite radio broadcaster from default or a possible takeover bid, the companies announced Tuesday.

Good news, indeed. I am glad Liberty saw Sirius-XM as worthy of its money, as I would have hated like hell to see Sirius go silent. I did see something yesterday that was a bit, shall we say, puzzling, though. I can't find it right offhand, but a radio guy wrote a blog post suggesting the folks running terrestrial radio would take solace in the fact that Sirius-XM had "only" about 20 million subscribers. And I'm thinking, "only" 20 million? I'd think that was pretty damn good, and that the denizens of terrestrial radio would be trembling at that number or at the very least be quite worried, considering the fact that Rush Limbaugh draws about the same number of listeners each day and that he can be heard for free. It'd be interesting to see how many more people he'd bring with him if he made the move to satellite in the wake of a newly-instituted Fairness Doctrine. (h/t TOTWTYTR)
Speaking of the Fairness Doctrine, check this out:

After getting smacked around by Fox News's Megyn Kelly Monday, liberal talker Bill Press went on WOR radio's Steve Malzberg Show and accidentally exposed his real goal in supporting a re-enactment of the Fairness Doctrine: he wants to be heard.
In fact, he also wants the Fairness Doctrine back for his own financial gain:
I know why I'm interested in it because I get up every morning at 3:45, I do three hours of talk radio every day from six to nine, that's my life, it's my business, I want to make money at it, and I want to be heard.

Ain't that just like a damn leftist, taking the easy way out. Instead of working honestly to gain a market for his product he seeks to gain said market via government intervention backed by force of arms. What a piece of shit. (h/t Bruce)
Finally today, we have this little nugget from the message boards at radio-info.com. Just a wholly unsubstantiated rumor, perhaps borne of overanalysis, but if they actually did get Justin Frazell on board at KSCS that would be great, for him and for them too. I think he was one of the key people who made 99.5 the Wolf what it was and that it's just not quite the same without him there. And while I know they probably wouldn't be able to do a "96.3 the Wolf," I'd bet KSCS could steal a lot of listeners from KPLX if the folks at ABC Radio were smart enough and adventurous enough to pick up that whole "Texas Country" bit and run with it, i.e., play more of the Texas-red dirt and classic country like the folks at 95.9 the Ranch do and re-work their brand as KPLX did in '98. And if they could get him back into a helicopter every morning and afternoon that'd be even better...

Oh, yeah, my favorite Emmylou Harris record....

...another one of those songs that could just never get old, at the Roadhouse, Sirius Ch. 62: "Well I'm sixteen-hundred miles from the people I know...I've been doin' all I can, but opportunity sure comes slow..."
Oh, YES! 12:14 pm: Floyd Cramer, "Last Date," 1960. As far as I know, this piano instrumental was this Louisiana native's only hit on the country charts, but damn, it was a great one. Conway Twitty wrote some lyrics for the tune and recorded it some years later, but I think the instrumental stands just fine all by itself, even almost 50 years later.
Yep, this'll do too, 12:29 pm: "What happens now, what will I do with all the memories, and the dreams of all the things we'll never do...but I won't mention it again..." Truth be told I am not a big fan of the later countrypolitan Ray Price records, but I always did like this song. I think probably because of the good memories it brings back. The first time I heard that song was on a February night eight years ago, about six months before I moved here. I was rolling down Highway 59 in deep east Texas somewhere south of Livingston, if I remember right. I was going to the tiny town of Winnie, in eastern Chambers County about an hour east of Houston. It would have been closer to go through Beaumont, but I wanted to be able to listen to Houston's KILT and I had time to kill, so I figured I'd just go on down 59 and cut back across Interstate 10. I was listening to Leslie T. Travis and what was then the '70s at 7, and they played it. And every time I hear that song, it takes me back to that night, and the hope that better things were to come. I had left College Station seven months before that night, and suffice it to say it was only because I absolutely had to, and it left me feeling like a failure. I had been in a bit of a funk ever since I left Aggieland, and that February night was when all of that finally began to lift. And indeed, the better times came...

Aww, ain't this nifty...

Make your own here. (h/t Breda)

Sort of an unwitting description, maybe...

of the Obama campaign, in this video:
"they were ripped off...a monumental bait-and-switch scheme..."
Stickers on 50-cent pieces? SRSLY? Though in defense of the Franklin Mint, I figure they thought if Americans bought what Obama was selling on the campaign trail, they'd buy pretty much anything...
(h/t David)

Let it hit the stores and we'll see.

Dwight Silverman in today's Chron, on why Windows-to-Mac conversions are slowing:

Apple’s a master at getting others to do promotion on its behalf. The fanboy nation is a powerful force — watch for its presence to manifest itself in the comments under the online version of this column at chron.com — and it saves Apple a bundle in marketing costs.
But at the moment, Microsoft is winning the buzz contest because of the impending launch of Windows 7.

Like the title of the post says, let it hit the stores for public use — with all the additional freeware piled on so often depending on where the computers are sold — and we'll see. I seem to recall people ooh-ing and aah-ing over what eventually became Windows Vista, but we see how that turned out. At the risk of repeating myself though, I wouldn't mind if the Mac OS stays more or less a niche operating system as that makes it not so worth the time to come up with viruses for it. Granted, I don't just click on anything — as reader and blog-friend Ted so pithily put it, "Free Download" is Internet-speak for "Open your mouth and close your eyes" — but every little bit of security helps, I'd think, no matter how you can get it. At any rate, I personally am quite satisfied with the Mac OS and don't plan on ditching it for Microsoft's new girl, no matter how many people talk about how pretty she is as she walks down the street. No tellin' how big of a pain in the ass she'll be to live with. If her older sisters are any indication... ;-) No offense intended to the female readers.

One-a my favorite tunes off that "Purple" cd

...from Cross Canadian Ragweed, at Outlaw Country, Sirius Ch. 63: "Yeah she begged me not to do it, said her runnin' days are through...I said 'I forgive you,' as the bullet casings flew, satisfaction, it locomotived through my brain...now the walls of Huntsville keep me under lock and chain..."
That whole cd was great, really. I picked it up the week before Hurricane Rita hit in 2005 and it remains even now among the most-listened-to cds in my collection. Not so much traditional country as roadhouse rock, and the guys would probably tell you as much too, but if we're going to have ourselves several different flavors of what we call "country" music, I'd say this stuff retains a lot more of that heart and soul so prevalent in country music as it should be than an act like, say, Rascal Flatts. Even if they ARE from the wrong side of the Red River. ;-)

Well now, how about that....

Listening a few minutes ago to Willie's Place, Sirius Ch. 64, I heard a familiar name mentioned. So I summoned my Google-fu again, and found this...

Legendary DJ Bill Mack, also known as “The Satellite Cowboy,” is joining Willie’s Place starting Monday, February 16 at noon ET. Bill will broadcast live from his “Satellite Ranch” studio in Ft. Worth, Texas every weekday, playing three hours of his favorite traditional country music.

Interesting. I knew Bill Mack was on the legendary 50,000-watt Texas powerhouse 820 WBAP for a long time, but I never got a chance to listen to him as far as I remember. I did listen to one of his contemporaries for a good while, Larry Scott on Shreveport's KWKH, which is where my love for the old country was born and nurtured. I'd heard it all my life but never really got into it till I listened to Larry Scott's Interstate Road Show. It'd be really cool to see Larry Scott make it to Sirius and bring his Interstate Road Show with him.

Not what I'd call country, but still a GREAT song...

...at Outlaw Country, Sirius Ch. 63: "...give me one reason to stay here, and I'll turn right back around....said I don't wanna leave you lonely, you gotta make me change my mind..."

One natural right down, more to come...

...in merry olde England, where Dutch filmmaker Geert Wilders was banned from speaking to the British Parliament for basically calling it like he saw it in regards to the "Religion of Peace"...

Dutch politician Geert Wilders branded Prime Minister Gordon Brown the "biggest coward in Europe" after being refused entry to Britain to show his anti-Islam film.
...
Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, backed the Government's decision to keep Mr Wilders out of Britain, accusing Mr Wilders of inciting religious hatred.
"Mr Wilders film is all about demonising and attacking Islam and Muslims," he said, insisting his "hatred" for Islam was "based on fiction".
Mr Shafiq went on: "We in the UK value freedom and also our communities have worked so hard to build understanding and respect for each other, Mr Wilders and his fascist views are not welcomed to our country where we pride ourselves as a multi-faith society.
"This is not about freedom of speech but about stopping the incitement to religious hatred this man promotes."

Incitement to religious hatred? Fascist views? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over? I have seen Mr. Wilders' film, and as far as I can tell, he was just telling like it was. And it seems to me that, to use the old cliche, Mohammed Shafiq calling Geert Wilders a fascist is a perfect example of the pot calling the kettle black. Shafiq isn't the one whose speech is being suppressed here; in fact, it's he and his like-minded Islamist thugs doing the suppressing. I think it's worth asking how much of this supposed "respect" Mr. Shafiq speaks of is due to fear of the Islamist thugs taking over Britain day by day. To whatever extent that may be it isn't "respect" at all. At any rate it's sad to see what that country has come to. I shudder to think of how things are going to be when it's all said and done over there. It certainly isn't going to be a country the likes of Winston Churchill or his contemporaries would be proud to claim.
Lest you think that sort of thing could never happen here in the good ole U.S.A. though, you should be advised that our so-called countrymen have yielded to Islamist pressures before. Some of you might remember the 2002 movie adaptation of Tom Clancy's 1991 novel The Sum Of All Fears, in which a bunch of neo-Nazis try to detonate a nuke at the Super Bowl in Denver. Well, in the book it was a gang of Muslim terrorists, but the director of the movie changed that under pressure from Islamist front group CAIR and others. It might be a small thing, but we need to ask ourselves just how far we're willing to go to appease these people in America...and, again, how far we're willing to go to maintain the means and the will to resist them.

Quote of the day

here:

...this place is still a fucking war zone, you ignorant cur. Fallujah and Anbar are just out of an internecine civil war/insurgency (if it's indeed finished), that's followed a destructive invasion, which came on the heels of 12 years of debilitating international sanctions and 30 years of repressive authoritarian rule. It's not a bastion of fucking Rotary Club nominees.

Read the whole thing, it's a masterpiece. (h/t Roberta X)

It's only fair...

...or, an omission on my part.
Linoge, on the assclown named Jacob mentioned earlier:

There is certainly more than enough asshattery to go around, but at least be intellectually honest enough to assign your targets correctly. He just belongs in the general purpose "fucktard" heading.

That is indeed the truth. And I do think the asshattery is probably more prevalent on the three-percenter side, to be honest, and I should have pointed that out. But as you said, Linoge, there's more than enough to go around, and I just thought both sides should be highlighted. My apologies for the broad brush strokes, although I will say the fact that Jacob is just one person is mitigated substantially by the fact that he's an officer for a state-level gun-rights group, namely the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association. I don't think his assclownery reflects well on that organization, and the fact that the organization is on such a critical front just makes it worse. And I do think it'd be interesting to see what would happen if some of the bigger gun blogs highlighted said assclownery the way Sebastian highlighted Mike Vanderboegh's letter to the editor. I'd bet we'd still be dismissing Vanderboegh as just one person too, if his rhetoric had been treated the way Jacob's has been too. I am sure not as many people would rush to Jacob's defense as rushed to Mike's, but I still think it'd be illuminating to the debate to find out just how many of them are out there.

Some real hope, maybe...

...as opposed to the kitsch peddled by President Obama and his minions, here:

DEKALB, Ill. (AP) — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn joined hundreds of mourners gathered at Northern Illinois University on Saturday to mark the day one year ago when a gunman fatally shot five students in a lecture hall before turning the gun on himself.
...
The survivors have found different ways to cope. Some, like Maria Ruiz-Santana, who was shot in the throat, found closure in a visit to Cole Hall. Harold Ng, who was struck in the head by shotgun pellets, has turned to his faith.
...Ruiz-Santana, who previously wanted a career in law enforcement, wants to be a police officer and even interned with the NIU campus police last semester. She wants to help victims of mass shootings and is considering getting a gun license.
"I'm not afraid of guns even after what happened to me," she said.

When I read that I damn near got out of my seat and started clapping. It's great to see that there are still some out there who don't just curl up in the fetal position and start calling for more restrictions on God-given rights in the aftermath of an event like that. Oh, I know they're out there (ex: Suzanne Gratia Hupp), but to find them on a college campus, in a benighted shithole like Illinois, is a pretty damn good sign if you ask me. I do wonder though, if Ms. Ruiz-Santana knows she won't be able to carry her gun on campus or many other places in Illinois, and what kinds of action she and others will take to remedy that. In any event, though, I was glad to read that story.

Interesting, but Strait's version is still the best...

Now playing at Willie's Place, Sirius Ch. 64: Mel Tillis, "Milk Cow Blues." Pretty good too, but the definitive version of that song was still done by George Strait and his Ace in the Hole Band. The full version of the Strait cut, on his 1995 boxed set, is even better than the album version from 1991's Chill Of An Early Fall, with the uncut instrumental solos. Whether on record or live, to hear the band show off with those lazy instrumental solos and to hear Strait growl, "...if you don't think I'm leavin', big mama, just count the days I'm gone..." is always a treat. I was very, very glad to see a live Strait cut of "Milk Cow Blues" make it to a recording, namely the live cd recorded at Texas Stadium with Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett. I had been wondering before if we'd ever get that. (Now, George, how about a live cut of "There Stands the Glass"?) I would be remiss in not mentioning Merle Haggard did a great job as well with a slight re-working of that song, titled "Brain Cloudy Blues," on his own 1970 tribute to Bob Wills.
Oh, I've never heard this before! 9:33 am: Ernest Tubb, "Fraulein." The only version of this song I've ever heard was the 1957 hit from Bobby Helms, but Tubb does a great job on it. Of course, you just can't go wrong with the Texas Troubadour...

Not a monopoly

I don't mean to step on any toes here, but something's on my chest that I just have to get off.
I don't altogether disagree with the pragmatists. Personally I'd rather take the political process as far as it can be taken. (If we're going to be honest with ourselves we should admit the three-percenters would rather do the same; it's just that they think the political process train is close to the last station, or that it's pulling into the last station already.) That said, I think it deserves to be pointed out that it's not just the three-percenters saying things that make them look like divisive, intractable, self-righteous pricks. A couple of cases...

Dave, I’m quite sure you don’t actually know what you’re talking about, but that’s never stopped you in the past so why should it now? Masterbating (sic) to Red Dawn has never gotten you anywhere, but if you and your fan boys enjoy it so much, pop in the collectors edition and enjoy yourselves.

...in point...

Screw the Founding Fathers. They’ve been dead for 200 years. People like you Paul who spout this sort of crap are the reason we have gun control in this country. You are the problem, not NRA. Sitting around whining about how things are unconstitutional or quoting bullshit from the Founding Fathers accomplishes nothing.

Wow. Screw the Founding Fathers? As in, the people who laid out the very political process the pragmatists take so much faith in? As a subsequent commenter said, "How about screw the U.S. Constitution or screw the USA or screw freedom and liberty while you are at it." I know we have a steep hill to climb in regards to getting our elected representatives and fellow Americans re-acquainted with the Founders' principles, but the attitude embodied in the above commentary is every bit as detrimental to the cause of keeping the gun owner community united as some say the rhetoric of the three-percenters is. If we've gotten to the point that people ostensibly on our side are in effect saying the Constitution doesn't matter anymore, it's worth asking just how much further that political process is going to take us — and if the heated rhetoric of the three-percenters might actually be useful as a last resort to armed conflict. And that's my opinion on that, for what it's worth.
I did find it rather enlightening, though, that in a later comment on that thread Mr. Codrea brought up almost the exact same point I brought up yesterday:

The solution is elections--except you can't vote based on principle, because that's "a wasted vote"--so you have to choose between the lesser of two weasels or you're again part of the problem.

Continue chasing sterile queen bees.

How much further do we chase those sterile queen bees? We — all of us, prag and threeper alike — had damn well better start contemplating the answer to that, if we're not already. Especially considering who we have in charge on the national level now.

More Guns 'n' Roses for your Saturday night, with video!

...or, Speaking of G'n'R and Use Your Illusion II...
No doubt Axl Rose and his bandmates were on top of the world in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They were certainly all over the radio, and at or near the top of the charts during those years. They pulled off a pretty nifty feat in the fall of 1991, when Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, both released on the same day, debuted at No. 2 (685,000 sold) and No. 1 (770,000 sold) respectively on the Billboard 200 album chart, which tracks all album sales from all genres. My favorite single from either set was this little number, which also appeared on the soundtrack to Terminator 2. And it still sounds just as good today as it always has...

Just a random thought...

...brought about by a comment over at Michelle Malkin's place...

You have written not-so-eloquently about your wish for the violent death of the President and how we need to “GRAB OUR GUNS AND MARCH ON DC.” This country is great because we don’t have to do that. All we have to do is vote them out. We voted them in, so we have to deal with it for 2, 4, or 6 years, depending upon whom we are addressing.

Eh? What do you mean "we," Kemosabe? I for one sure as hell didn't vote for this. MY elected reps voted against this monstrosity. And that ain't to say they're pure as the wind-driven snow, but the fact is they made the right decision. But they were outvoted. Which brings me to said random thought: It sounds simple to say, "all we have to do is vote them out," but what the hell do you do when you're outvoted? Sit down, shut up and deal with it? I shudder to think where THAT road leads. It may not be time to start shooting the bastards yet, but the Pollyanna-ish outlook expressed by the commenter at Michelle Malkin's place is, in my opinion, quite unwarranted. Can we go back to being the Republic of Texas yet, since our so-called countrymen seem to have thrown the Founders' Republic away for things they didn't earn?

Hell yeah, more of my money's worth...

"....seems to me, I could live my life, a lot better than I think I am...I guess that's why they call me, they call me the workin' man...."
More of that old stuff I love, that came out before I was born. I am not the biggest fan of Rush, but I do love this one...it's always been one of my favorite classic rock records.

Mmmm, my favorite tune from ...And Justice for All...

...at the Boneyard, Sirius Ch. 19: "...Pure black looking clear, my work is done soon here...try getting back to me, get back which used to be...drink up, shoot in, let the beatings begin, distributor of pain, your loss becomes my gain...anger, misery, you'll suffer unto me...Harvester of sorrow, language of the mad..."
Sometimes I wonder what that album would have sounded like with better production, but at any rate it was still damn good.

Nice to see 'em bringin' in the experts there...

or, What was that about the Ascension ushering in a new Age of Reason, again...?

WASHINGTON — When George W. Bush was in power, Vice President Dick Cheney met behind closed doors with Texas oilmen to discuss energy policy. Now, with Democrats in control in the nation’s capital, the first speaker at the first hearing on offshore drilling was star Ted Danson.

I wonder, do the president or any of his cronies have even a trace of a sense of irony? Ever since the campaign got cranked up last year, they boasted that they'd give reason and logic a prominent place in government policies involving the hard sciences. Obama gets elected and who do they bring in to talk about offshore drilling? Sam Malone? It doesn't surprise me, but it is disgusting. Call me crazy, but I'd trust those Texas oilmen before any airheaded TV star, that much is for sure. I don't know why so many of the leftists automatically assume the oilmen don't give a damn about the environmental impact of oil drilling. Seriously, isn't it sheer and unmitigated lunacy to think the oil companies don't care about the bad PR that comes from things like oil spills and such? The first thing I thought when I read this was, "Next thing you know they'll bring in Rosie O'Donnell to talk about why we need more restrictive gun control laws." Of course, the most disgusting thing about all this is that they'll get a pass on this particular move, and all the rest of them too.

Random caliber musings...

Done what now? Caliber wars are what?...

Caliber wars are fun. I’ve been cruising The Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy lately, and for whatever reason there are multiple threads in which some guy rolls in with the assertion that “ROROROR .40 SUXXORS”, while at the same time asserting that the 9mm is a superior caliber. To the .40.

Now I know the platform wars are more fun than a barrel of monkeys, but I've never actively engaged in a caliber war, the biggest reason being I'd probably end up making myself look like a dumbass, and even regarding the smallest of the Big Three, Linoge said it pretty well: "Numbers and dick-waving aside, multiple 9mm JHPs will cause most people to reconsider their current activities..." That said, I still tend to think the 10mm is still the Goldilocks cartridge, that is, just right. Assuming the FBI didn't try any bullets lighter than 180 grains, I'd almost bet the 10mm would have fared much better if they had gone that route. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: I've loaded my own 10mm with those 155-grainers to about 1400 fps, and I'd think with those specs you could take down just about anything on two legs. HOWEVER. For anyone reading this, the preceding was my entirely unscientific, wild-arsed guess just looking at the numbers. In any event though, those 10mm loads were surprisingly easy to shoot. Perhaps that's because I'd been thinking it would be worse with the exaggerated claims of the 10mm's recoil, but still I liked a lot. I've never tried any of the Double Tap ammo in my 10mms, and I know they'd be different, especially with the heavier bullets, but I'd still be interested to find out how they'd feel.

Right conclusion, wrong rationale

I agree with what Ken Hoffman said in his column here, but I don't agree with the line of reasoning he used to get there. Michael Phelps shouldn't be granted leniency just because he's an Olympic swimmer. He should be granted leniency because what he did wasn't nearly as bad as what our would-be masters would like us to think it is. I do find it quite disheartening that the national conversation hasn't gone more toward that and a rethinking of this whole War On Some Drugs nonsense.

I thought God helps those WHO HELP THEMSELVES, eh? Was I mistaken?

Via the AP in this morning's Chron, Arkansas reps passed a bill allowing CHL holders to carry in church. From the story:

Rep. Steven Breedlove, D-Greenwood, a minister at the Valley View Church of Christ, said allowing concealed handguns won’t stop someone from opening fire inside a church.
“Ronald Reagan was completely surrounded by armed guards and he was still shot,” Breedlove said. “And that is why we must put our faith in God and not put our faith in something else ... Let us keep the sanctity of churches and put our faith in God and not in guns.”

For some strange and unknown reason, I am reminded of an old joke, as well as the saying in the title of this post.
The joke: A religious man is on top of a roof during a great flood. A man comes by in a boat and says "get in, get in!" The religious man replies, "No, I have faith in God. He will grant me a miracle."
Later the water is up to his waist and another boat comes by, and the guy in this boat tells him to get in again. He responds that he has faith in God and that God will give him a miracle. With the water at about chest high, another boat comes to rescue him, but he turns down the offer again because "God will grant me a miracle."
With the water at chin high, a helicopter throws down a ladder and they tell him to get in, mumbling with the water in his mouth, he again turns down the request for help for the faith of God. He arrives at the gates of heaven with broken faith and says to Peter, "I thought God would grant me a miracle and I have been let down."

St. Peter chuckles and responds, "I don't know what you're complaining about, we sent you three boats and a helicopter."
And I do wonder if the good minister Breedlove has heard of what happened in that Colorado church with Jeanne Assam. I almost think he'd accuse Assam of not having any faith, but then I could well be wrong.

More light bloggin', yep, you guessed it.

She's on her way now. Back later. ;-)

And the classics just keep rollin'...

...at Willie's Place, Sirius Ch. 64: "...couldn't driiiink enough to keep you, off my mind...to-niiiiight the bottle, let me down..."
Another timeless record, from the great Merle Haggard, one of his first hits, from 1966. I've always thought the Hag was another one of those artists from that era who could do no wrong whatsoever musically. The consistency and quality of his writing from the start was just absolutely staggering, right on up through the '90s. Personally I could attribute it to nothing less than divine intervention. Merle Haggard was one of those artists I only discovered later, when I moved from my hometown and found stations that spun all those records that country radio seemed to have forgotten about in the wake of Garth Brooks. There really was no turning back after that, especially after I got the Down Every Road boxed set for Christmas in '99. To this day that music hasn't lost its shine. Both that set and George Strait's Strait Out of the Box would definitely be on the desert island list.

Probably one of the more underappreciated female rockers from the '80s...

...at the '80s on 8, Sirius Ch. 8: "I think of you every night and day, you took my heart, and you took my pride awayyyyyaaayaayayayayyy, I hate myself for lovin' you, can't break free from the things that you do..."
Or maybe she isn't. Maybe my perception's just a bit skewed because of that now-legendary letter initially attributed to Joan Jett.

Britney's Rock credentials? Well, she butchers the song "I Love Rock'n'Roll" on her latest record, and when asked about it the genius replies "Well, I've always loved Pat Benatar."

Whatever the case, I've always liked Joan Jett. Definitely more than Pat Benatar, though Benatar was pretty good herself.

...and I lurrrves me some Ragweed, too...

...at Outlaw Country, Sirius Ch. 63: "I'm gonna throw your lyin' eyes over my left shoulder...I'm not gonna let you wear your crown, this time around..."
That little number, penned by Cross Canadian Ragweed frontman Cody Canada and Randy Rogers, is one of my two favorite tracks from CCR's Garage cd, along with "Lighthouse Keeper." The Randy Rogers Band's version of "This Time Around" is really good as well, although if I had to pick a favorite CCR's version would just barely edge it out. I still ain't quite figured out why some folks trashed that cd. It ain't like they pulled a Pat Green, but then I guess that one's in the ear of the beholder, or the beer holder...

Heads up, y'all...

....via the e-mail, this looks to be interesting, and worth a listen.
Show Name: Friday Night Preparedness Special 2-13-09
Length: 1 hr
Description:
h:4430 s:422242
Preparedness Special, Why do you need to prepare? What things do you need to prepare for?

Quote of the day

from Bob Owens, aka Confederate Yankee:

I Get the Feeling...that Barack Obama won't be happy until he does to our economy what Chris Brown did to Rihanna.

Now that was good...

Miller Musings

Reader Gene, in the comments to this post:

an argument could be made that the 2nd amendment specificly protects arms most suitable for the militia.

And then reader Bob S.:

Most people miss that the Supreme Court said nearly the exact same thing in the Miller Decision.
They upheld Miller's conviction because, according to them, "in the absence of any evidence tending to show that possession or use of a 'shotgun having a barrel of less than 18 inches in length' at this time has some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well- regulated militia, we cannot say that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to keep and bear such an instrument"
So any instrument that has some reasonable relationship should be protected. I think shoulder launched missiles might fit that category, but I won't push for them (yet)

Yep, that's more or less the meat of it. The Miller decision mainly mentioned the militia suitability of certain arms, though the definition of "militia" was also touched on: "The signification attributed to the term Militia appears from the debates in the Convention, the history and legislation of Colonies and States, and the writings of approved commentators. These show plainly enough that the Militia comprised all males physically capable of acting in concert for the common defense. 'A body of citizens enrolled for military discipline.' And further, that ordinarily when called for service these men were expected to appear bearing arms supplied by themselves and of the kind in common use at the time."
Hey, the "in common use at the time" phrasing! Which only shows, once again, that the antis don't have a leg to stand on when calling for the banning of certain arms. As far as I remember the SC didn't say anything about the "militia" mentioned in the 2A being any kind of government-sanctioned body such as the National Guard, and neither did they say anything about the 2A only protecting a "collective" right to arms as the antis would have one believe. (And again, how are you going to have a "collective" without individuals? And does the 1A only protect the free speech rights of newspapers and other media organizations as opposed to, say, lone bloggers or just individuals?) So you could say the antis are again relying on disinformation and the ignorance of the people to advance and implant their own twisted interpretation of the Miller decision in the collective consciousness. Once again, as the old saying goes, "gun control cannot survive without an accompanything sea of disinformation." (I do wonder how the court arrived at the conclusion that Miller's shotgun wasn't a militia-suitable weapon, though. I can't help but think it'd be a dandy little thing to have in the trenches, or in CQB.)
But then there's that whole "dangerous and unusual weapons" loophole Scalia left the antis. It's going to be interesting to see how future courts reconcile that with the "in common use" test, as well as the Constitutional debates and writings of approved commentators, because as we all know the Founders more or less unequivocally supported a well-armed citizenry. And then there's the question, yet again, of what is to be done with all the guns in public hands now that the antis would support banning as "dangerous and unusual."
Oh, and for the record, Bob? I'd support shoulder-launched missiles too, if only because such an interpretation would make the antis keel over and die from a massive stroke.

Ooooh, I lurves me some G'n'R!

...at the Boneyard, Sirius Ch. 19: "Take me down to the Paradise City, where the grass is green and the girls are pretty...oh won't you please take me hooome, yeah yeah..."
One of the best hard-rock songs of all-time, from one of the best hard-rock albums of all-time, from one of the best hard-rock bands of all-time. I know they've had issues just like a lot of bands do, and I'll freely admit I wasn't that big of a fan of what came after 1991's Use Your Illusion II, but there's little denying that between 1986 and 1991 this Los Angeles, California band was on white-hot fire, musically speaking. Pretty much everything they did during that time period was golden, and still sounds as good today as it did when it was fresh on the radio.

An oldie but a goodie...

...from Mr. Vanderboegh. If you haven't read it I highly, very highly recommend you do so.

More anti-gun and -freedom assclownery...

...courtesy of Michael Beard of the Organization Formerly Known as the Coalition to Ban Handguns...

Our great depression is already having an impact on the crime rate in the nation.
...
An added factor is the recent upturn in gun sales. As one Forth Worth firearms dealer described it: “The volume is 10 times what we ever expected. It started with assault rifles, but at this point, people are buying ammunition, high capacity magazines, Glocks—it’s all flying off the shelf. With the economy the way it is, people are worried about instability. They are scared of civil unrest.”

Huh. I missed that "great depression" crack the first time I read that drivel. But you know why? Because I concentrated on the second part of that. Only an anti-freedom assclown like Michael Beard would blame the rise in lawbreaking on people who obey the laws. I just really don't know what to say to that. Well, I do, but what I did say would be so extreme as to make Mike Vanderboegh look like one of the "prags," so I think I'll exercise a little discretion and just keep my mouth shut on that one. Somehow I seriously doubt that Cheaper than Dirt and places like them are anywhere within a thousand light-years of the Criminal Munition Supply Central that Michael Beard would like you to think they are. In fact, I would lay money on them making 99 to 100 percent of their profits from law-abiding citizens. (And how about the lede on that L.A. Times story? "A week after the election of the nation's first black president..." Gee, I wonder what perception of gun owners that was designed to elicit?) More assclownery follows in comments, contradictory and quite clueless to boot...

...The Supreme Court didn't specifically address the issue of assault weapons in the District of Columbia v. Heller decision. Justice Scalia did write the following in the opinion, however:
"We also recognize another important limitation on the right to keep and carry arms. Miller said, as we have explained, that the sorts of weapons protected were those 'in common use at the time.' 307 U. S., at 179. We think that limitation is fairly supported by the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of 'dangerous and unusual weapons.'"
Time will tell if future courts deem assault weapons "dangerous and unusual weapons."...

Time will tell indeed; but I'd say that the "in common use at the time" phrase rendered the point moot, considering the fact that since the Clinton semi-auto ban expired, the AR and other semi-auto rifles have become the best-selling in the country, for varying reasons. In other words, the toothpaste is more or less out of the tube already as far as that goes...although, of course, there are things that could happen (h/t WRSA) to change the political atmosphere dramatically. (I know some might call that fearmongering or tinfoil-hat ravings, but personally in this day and age I would not want to discount anything I might hear along the lines of what Kirby Ferris was saying. But I digress.) In any event though, I think it's worth asking, yet again, what exactly they want to do with all the semi-auto rifles in civilian hands NOW. Especially considering the rate at which they've been selling since before the election. Speaking of that, he says, "Much of the anecdotal evidence we have seen suggests that these weapons are being purchased by repeat buyers who already own several firearms." (Note he said "firearms" and not "assault weapons," which of course leaves him some wiggle room in the case of anyone calling him out. "Hey, I didn't SAY they owned several assault weapons, just several firearms.") And everyone knows the plural of "anecdote" is indeed "data," regardless of what the old adage says, right?
/sarc

As for high-capacity magazines, there was no indication by the Court that magazines containing more than ten rounds are necessary for self-defense in the home.

Pardon my french, but it's not the fucking role of the Supreme Court or anyone else to determine what any given person might "need" to defend their families, homes or country. And I think that to say it is goes against everything this country stands for. If these people hate freedom so much, then why don't they go and start their own damn country?
(h/t Armed and Safe)

...so why exactly do they think the Republican Party is shrinking -- imploding, even?

Wow. Almost 15 years after the 1994 Republican revolution, when the Republicans are more or less bleeding out on the mat precisely because they tried to co-opt the policies of those they kicked out of power, some people in that party are still afraid of Rush Limbaugh?...

Obama is “obviously more frightened of me than he is Mitch McConnell. He’s more frightened of me, than he is of, say, John Boehner, which doesn’t say much about our party,” Limbaugh said on the air referring, respectively, to the GOP leaders in the Senate and House.
That may be cause for personal congratulation (not to mention a bigger audience). But as Republicans grapple with their fall from power and undertake some inevitable soul-searching, not all are comfortable with Limbaugh’s suggestion that he, by default, has become the party’s unofficial leader.
“He motivates a core Republican, who is a very important part of the Republican coalition and we need those guys to be interested and active,” said Jan van Lohuizen, a GOP strategist in Washington. “But it’s not enough. The Republican Party has shrunk and it needs to be expanding.

So, again, why does this strategist think the party has shrunk? I'm guessing she's just as clueless as all the rest of them and therefore thinks the GOP has imploded because it's gone "too far to the right" or some such bullshit. If the party has drifted too far to the right, how does one explain the fact that John McCain, billed by many as "the least repulsive Democrat running," was the party's presidential nominee this go-round? How does one explain the fact that McCain's poll numbers went up like they did only after he selected Sarah Palin as his running mate, who could hardly be considered a centrist? They were hardly two peas in a pod, considering some were saying Palin was the closest thing to a libertarian we were ever likely to get. And the firebrand Limbaugh was a big fan of Palin as well. So, let's see here...Rush Limbaugh motivates the GOP base, as did Sarah Palin, which is something that is sorely needed these days. If I were a Republican strategist I'd call that a clue. Which might explain why I am not a Republican strategist.
Mmmm, yet more old-school Metallica, at the Boneyard, Sirius Ch. 19: "...blinded by me, you can't see a thing, just call my name 'cause I'll hear you screaaaam...MASTER! MASTER!"

Hey, more good stuff from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band!

"...and I was grumblin to the dancers, about how men and women ought to live apart...and how a promise never made can not be broken, and can never break your heart...when suddenly from out of nowhere, a little girl came dancing across the floor, and all her crinolines were billowing, beneath the skirt of calico that she wore...oh, what a joy fell on the honored guests, as each of them was drawn inside her dream, and they laughed and clapped and stomped their feet, and hollered at her, Dance, little Jean..."
It seems to me the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is another one of those classic acts that only gets one song of theirs remembered in later years on the radio...for these guys it was "Fishin' In the Dark," which is a really good one...but again, they had other good ones that deserve to be remembered as well. I really can't think of anything they recorded that I didn't like, but 1983's "Dance Little Jean" has always ranked right up there.

Hey, who likes John Conlee? I sure do....

...at the Roadhouse, Sirius Ch. 62: "You say I quit my job and then I drank myself insane, you say that I ran down the highway screamin' out your name...well, that's not the sort of thing that I would do, no, I don't remember lovin' you..."
I'm sure when most folks think of John Conlee, they think of his signature hit "Rose-Colored Glasses," but he had so many other great songs through the late '70s and mid-to-late '80s. Written by the great Harlan Howard, "I Don't Remember Lovin' You" was a top-10 hit in 1982 and may be found on the album titled Busted, from the same year, along with myriad greatest-hits collections. The best of those GH collections is 1987's 20 Greatest Hits, with almost every one of Conlee's hits from 1978 to 1986; this one was out of print for a while, but I snagged a copy on eBay a few years ago. I say "for a while," because the cd was later reissued under a different title and with two additional songs. Apparently "Working Man" isn't on the 2003 reissue, which is a real shame because that's always been one of my favorite John Conlee songs, but it still looks to definitely be worth the money. I also like "Baby You're Something," which was not on the original issue of the cd. My favorite John Conlee song, No. 1, though, hands down has always been 1986's "Old School." That one song all by itself was worth what I paid for that out-of-print cd. All the rest were just gravy...well, not quite, you could say they were more steak, because they were just as good. ;-)

File this one under "blind squirrel finding a nut."

Wow, I never thought I'd see the day I'd agree with anything Ellen Goodman wrote, but she was was pretty much right on with this column...

Jobless mom who decided to have octuplets is 'nuts'
...
It turned out that Nadya Suleman already had six kids at home. The Suleman Fourteen don't have a father, they have a sperm donor. They were apparently all conceived by in vitro fertilization with the last eight presumably implanted en masse. For good measure, their mother doesn't have a job. And her family recently filed for bankruptcy.
...
If Suleman's brand new publicist succeeds in selling her as a "smart," "joyful" mother with a "wonderful sense of humor" who is grateful "for the miracle of life," maybe this mother will be able to roll her degree in child development into a reality program that supports them all.
But right now, a reproductive business that generates so much controversy has produced a remarkable consensus. Infertility treatment for an unemployed, single mother of six? Eight embryos in one womb? There must be a proper word in the medical literature to describe this achievement. I think the word is "nuts."

Yeah, that's more or less the long and short of it. It might well have been Nadya Suleman's dream to have children, but one would think she'd have had the foresight to get to the point that she could support all of them before she had them. Talk about putting the cart before the horse. She doesn't even have a job? The kids don't have a dad to speak of? Family filed for bankruptcy? If that's not the grand trifecta of personal irresponsibility then it's pretty damn close. I know there are those out there who would accuse people like me of being selfish for not wanting to surrender my guns (or, for that matter, license and register them), but I'd say the real selfishness lies in people like Nadya Suleman, as apparently she was only thinking of herself and her short-term desires. "I want kids! NOW NOW NOW! I'll figure out how to support them later!" At least folks like me retain some sense of responsibility and at least some sense of awareness of the fact that every action has consequences. I think that personal responsibility is arguably the foundation for liberty and a return to the ideals of the Founders, and to the extent the effort fails to get back to those ideals, it's going to be precisely because of people like Nadya Suleman. That may be harsh, but I think it's the truth and the truth is sometimes that way. Comments?

Heyyyy, more old-school Metallica!

...at the Boneyard, Sirius Ch. 19: "Death is in the air, strapped in the electric chair, this can't be happening to meeeee..."
It was on this album, 1984's Ride the Lightning, that they started getting into the whole concept-album thing, with all the songs revolving around one central theme. In the case of this album, of course, the theme was death: suicide, war, and of course death by electrocution in the title track. Oh, yeah...here's that loooong-ass instrumental break, with all four of the guys going full-tilt. "Someone help me, oh please God, help me! They're trying to take it all awayyyyy..." I thought Master of Puppets was the best of James and the guys' early work, where they reached their full musical potential, but still I agree with what the review at Barnes and Noble said: If Kill 'Em All was the manifesto, Ride the Lightning was the revolution itself.

Oh teh noes!! 282 Rounds!!!111eleventy-one!!!

I guess this is a pretty straightforward story, but still...

The manager of a men’s club in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court to attempting to smuggle ammunition south of the border, officials said Friday.
Raul Alvarez, 29, a U.S. citizen, was arrested in December after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers found 282 rounds of ammunition, three pistols and eight assault rifle magazines in a secret compartment in his sport utility vehicle, according to court documents.

...282 rounds. Less than three boxes. That's a good day at the range for a lot of people. I know I've burned up that many rounds at one whack a few times. Thomas Bean had that much sitting around in the back seat of his truck when he was thrown in jail. Like one of the commenters said, that story could have been about him stashing part of his collection. He actually called it an "arsenal," but I refuse to use such a loaded term...)
Speaking of munitions, Mexico and drug traffickers, I was reminded of this from JR, and a thought came to mind. From what I've read about the Merida Initiative, that plan doesn't include any direct financial aid to Mexico (i.e. cash), but other Mexican aid programs do involve money transfers to the Mexican government. It'd be interesting to find out how much of that money goes to the Mexican military, because it's probably a pretty safe bet that money's used to buy more munitions for the Mexican military, a fair portion of which in turn makes its way to the drug cartels. Why is it that no one talks about that either?

Not that it's any surprise, but...

we may add one Rahm Emanuel to the list of people who thinks it's just peachy-keen that terrorists and violent criminals walk free and unsupervised on the streets of our beloved Republic so long as they (allegedly) can't procure a firearm. One more time, friends and neighbors: WHAT is WRONG with these creatures?

Yep, this'll get the blood flowing early in the morning...

....at the Boneyard, Sirius Ch. 19: "Steamroller action crushing all...victim is your name and you shall faaaaallll, blood will fol-low bloooood....dy-ing time is heeeere, Damage Incorporated...."
The closing track from 1986's Master of Puppets, "Damage Inc." was a great example of Metallica at its balls-to-the-wall best. Hell, that whole album was. Absolutely flawless, in every single aspect. I know a lot of people accused Metallica of selling out to the mainstream with the self-titled 'black' album five years later, and it was only after hearing those earlier albums that I really understood why. I still like the Black Album a lot even after hearing the guys' earlier stuff, but the thrash/speed metal of their earlier years is definitely my preference rather than the blues- and country- influenced stuff that came after the Black Album. I was very, very glad to see them get back to that on their latest record.

"this land fed a nation, this land made me proud..."

Or, Hey, a lefty heartland rocker I actually like!
No matter what they called him, I've always liked the music of John Mellencamp. I heard "Pink Houses" on the radio a few minutes ago, but with that I was reminded of another number that seems to be one of his lesser-remembered numbers, that I heard earlier this week. No doubt everyone's familiar with the age-old tale of the American family farmers who struggle to keep their heads above water. Sometimes they make it, but many times they don't. Mellencamp's own take on that tale, "Rain On The Scarecrow" from his 1985 album Scarecrow, only made it to No. 16, but it lingered with me from the first time I heard it. I'm sure a lot of folks heard it and thought, "Damn, but he's telling my story." A great song, and a great record too.

A tune just as relevant now...

...as it was 27 years ago, at Outlaw Country, Sirius Ch. 63: "Are we rollin' downhill like a snowball headed for hell, with no kinda chance for the flag, or the Liberty Bell...I wish a Ford and a Chevy, would still last ten years like they should...is the best of the free life behind us now, and are the good times really over for good?"
The irony, though, is that with Merle Haggard's political bent, he very well probably thinks things took a turn for the better last Election Day and that "the best of the free life is still yet to come." For all I know he probably thought Obama was the lesser of two evils just as many conservatives thought that of John McCain, but no matter what he thinks all my Haggard cds are still intact and will stay that way.
On a slightly different note though, I got a kick out of "At Last "singer Etta James' remarks re: Beyonce Knowles and Barack Obama. I sure as hell didn't agree that Beyonce singing and the Obamas dancing was a "beautiful moment in history," though. On the contrary, I was pretty disgusted by it all. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know...first black president and all that...but I thought Americans were better than to elevate elected officials to almost literal rock-star status. I remember being quite revolted by the televised spectacle on January 20 and wondering how many others were feeling the same way. And yeah, I'd have been feeling the same had it been Sarah and Todd Palin, too.

More slow-to-nonexistent blogging ahead...

...till Saturday, probably. She's on her way now. Back later. ;-)

jeesh, where are my manners?

If you're reading me you're likely reading him already as well, but if you're not, be sure and check out The Welshman's Second Amendment News Roundup every day about this time. Thanks for linking to me, Welshman, and for the roundup. Interesting stuff.

And here we are with more blaming the inanimate objects...

...in today's Chronicle:

it is precisely the guns illicitly being introduced into Mexico from the U.S. that fuel the violence and provide the firepower being used by drug traffickers to kill and intimidate.

Maybe the drug traffickers do use guns illegitimately procured from the United States, but it's worth asking how they get them back across the border, and furthermore, where they get the funds to procure them. It seems that too few people on either side want to talk about either of those two issues, and that the ones who do broach the topic are media pundits and bloggers as opposed to government officials; the government officials, especially the ones south of the Rio Grande always make it about teh eeevil guns. I have a feeling more government officials on this side of the river are going to start making it about the guns as well, as opposed to the sieve-like U.S.-Mexico border and the obscene profits engendered by the black market for illegal drugs. More of that "change we can believe in," I guess. Why is it that no one wants to talk about making the difficult choices? Why must we always go after the low-hanging fruit? And where exactly will this road take us? Nowhere our Founding Fathers would approve of, that's for sure.

Yes, sir, another absolutely timeless record....

...at the Roadhouse, Sirius Ch. 62: "When I was just a baby, my momma told me son, always be a good boy, don't ever play with guns...but I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die...when I hear that whistle blowin', I hang my head and cry....play it Luther!"
If I remember right, Johnny Cash first recorded that song in 1955, but the live version from the seminal album recorded at Folsom Prison 13 years later was the better record, in my opinion. Maybe that's just because it's the one I am used to, but then live recordings of songs like that are always better as they give the songs an energy boost that just can't quite be captured in the studio. I liked the live version of Hag's "Okie from Muskogee" much better as well.
Oh, and another one right after that! 7:16 am: "Somebody told me, when I got to Nashville, son, ya finally got it made...ole Hank made it here, we're all sure that you will, but I don't think Hank done it this a-way..."
And the hits just keep on comin'! 7:20 am: "Well I never dreamed, she would take me that far...but by Sunday that lady had taken ahold of my heart..."
8:16 am at Willie's Place: "Oh the sun's gonna shine in my, life once more...love's gonna live heeeeere again..." I've always loved the Bakersfield Sound, and Buck Owens especially. Pretty much everything he recorded was golden, but that's always been my favorite.
Mmmm, 9:27 am, Hag doing Bob Wills, at the Roadhouse: "My little Cherokee maiden, I love her so, and though we're far apart...I know I'll never be tradin' my love for her, for anybody else's heart ..." Merle actually recorded that one a few years after the BW tribute album, in 1976 if I remember right. I'd love to have seen it on that tribute though. If you've ever heard George Strait do the song live you can tell he listened to this a lot in his formative years.

Observations from the mall...

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that Cult of Obama swag made it to my corner of our beloved Republic, but still it was disheartening to see in the local mall. Posters, shirts, you name it. One t-shirt with the mug of the Dear Leader on it also bore the phrase "Obama Said Knock You Out." O-kaaaaayyyy then....
On the other hand, I strolled into the music store at just the right time, as they apparently had the cd player loaded up with George Strait, both old and new. I could have stayed in there all day listening to that...

Love that acoustic guitar intro...

to the tune from Heart playing now on Classic Rewind, Sirius Ch. 15: "My love is the evenin' breeze touchin' your skin, the gentle, sweet singin' of leaves in the wind...the whisper that calls after you in the night, and kisses your ear in the early moonlight..."
My favorite song from the Wilson sisters, I would never have guessed "Crazy On You" went to just No. 35 the year before I was born.

Re: Michael Phelps...

...you could probably guess what I think about THAT. In short, if I were REALLY a gifted writer, I'd have written this:

Dear America,
I take it back. I don’t apologize.
Because you know what? It’s none of your goddamned business. I work my ass off 10 months per year. It’s that hard work that gave you all those gooey feelings of patriotism last summer. If during my brief window of down time I want to relax, enjoy myself, and partake of a substance that’s a hell of a lot less bad for me than alcohol, tobacco, or, frankly, most of the prescription drugs most of you are taking, well, you can spare me the lecture.
...
Go ahead and tear me down if you like. But let’s see you rationalize in your next lame ONDCP commercial how the greatest motherfucking swimmer the world has ever seen . . . is also a proud pot smoker.

Yours,
Michael Phelps

Dead. Nuts. On. Read The Whole Thing. Print it out, pass it around to everyone you know.

Authoritarian swine confirmed as U.S. Attorney General, isn't that nice...

Story here:

Holder’s chief supporter, Sen. Patrick Leahy, said the confirmation was a fulfillment of civil rights leader Martin Luther King’s dream that everyone would be judged by the content of their character.
“Come on the right side of history,” said Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

It would seem that, as Iowahawk put it, neither color of skin nor content of character matters anymore. I fail to see how a piece of authoritarian Constitution- and freedom-hating crap like Eric Holder is "on the right side of history." From what I can tell it is completely and solely because of the hue of his skin. That's a right-disgusting perversion of the MLK ideal there, Mr. Leahy. Onward down the road to hell!
I see my blog-friend Gator would like to know the reasoning behind his senators' "yes" votes. I don't know about Kyl, but John Fucking McCain? I can't help but think McCain and Holder are pretty much two peas in a pod, and then there's McCain's, how to put it, near-insatiable need to fellate the media and Democrats with supposed "maverick-y" moves in which he betrays his party, constituents and the Constitution. And that's more or less the beginning and the end of that. I was quite glad to see Texas' two senators voted no. Some thanks are in order...

Hey, another almost-forgotten oldie!

...at The Roadhouse, Sirius Ch. 62: "I'm dancin' your memory away, in the arms of a stranger..."
I am sure when most folks hear the name Charly McClain, they think of her monster hit "Who's Cheatin' Who" from 1981, but she did have other hits as well, and this number from the year after is probably my favorite from her. And — big surprise here! — it's yet another song I first heard on Rowdy Yates' classic country show way back when, and hadn't heard in years before this morning.

Hey, more ignorant slurs against gun owners....

...in today's Houston Chronicle!

...Having a son who will be off to college in the fall, I have now decided to look for colleges in states other than Texas. Sen. Jeff Wentworth’s “safety protection bill” is one of hysteria and ignorance, something we don’t need more of in Texas education.
He is willing to put guns in the hands of kids on college campuses who, like most of us who were in college, are partying in herds and filling brains full of beer. Students in public schools are being sent to alternative schools for bringing Korean pencil sharpeners to school, writing on walls, standing up to bullies and just basically being junior high and high school students. How is it justified to embarrass and degrade a grade-school kid for being immature and making bad choices and then allow college students to carry a gun at a time in their lives when they think they are invincible and all adults are idiots?

Ah, yes, the old "drunk students shooting up the school" meme. Good grief, for the life of me I can't understand why so many people feel the need to conflate immature grade-schoolers with people old enough to buy their own drinks and die for their country. I suppose maturity and the lack thereof comes with all ages, but as a college graduate and a gun owner I take tremendous offense at the insinuation that everyone in their early 20s thinks "they are invincible and all adults are idiots," especially that subset of twentysomethings who plunks its hard-earned cash down for a quality firearm and the exorbitant Texas CHL fees. Off the top of my head I think it's safe to say by the time they've reached that point they've gotten the rules of responsible gun handling into their heads and they know damn good and well what'll happen if they pull something like what the above writer is implying they'll do if they're allowed to carry. Perhaps that's the typical sheep mentality, but it's no less infuriating.

I believe allowing guns to be carried at school would greatly affect academic life. Students should be entitled to a peaceful environment, in which to learn and prepare for a career, without having to protect themselves by carrying handguns. It should be left up to the school and their security officials to determine what measures need to be carried out in order to keep their school safe.

Wow, talk about someone who doesn't get it. Without having to protect themselves? What kind of dream world are these people living in? Oh, wait, it's academia, of course, which apparently bears a striking resemblance to the America envisioned by Barack Obama's supporters, with the unicorns pissing rainbows and shitting black lab puppies. I am reminded of this poster Oleg Volk made after the Virginia Tech shootings. As for leaving things up to the school and security officials...how exactly did that work out for those folks at Virginia Tech?

As a professor at the University of Houston, I would heartily endorse a bill of the Texas Legislature allowing students to carry pistols into class. I would amend my course syllabus to provide on the first day for both an introduction to the course and a lesson in shooting. If my students were to encounter a dangerous person charging into the classroom — a terrorist, bigamist, extortionist or plagiarist — I would have them form a circle around the miscreant, pull out their pistols, and shoot him. The only problem I foresee is that some of my students might be “C” or “D” students, and they would possibly miss the intended criminal, shooting, instead, their classmates across from them.

Wow. One would think a professor would have had actual arguments to advance his position as opposed to sarcastic, half-witted bullshit. Especially an English professor, who's in all likelihood had instruction in rhetorical theory, debate techniques and such. Of course, when you don't have anything of substance to back up what you say, that's more or less what you do, as seen in the thread referenced here. Pretty frightening to think he and people like him are teaching the folks who are going to be running things in a few years.

Oh, and just in case you're wondering...

...I had a great time with my girlfriend when she was here. If all goes as it should she'll be coming back Wednesday. And yes, the "getting a life" thing is very well in hand. Much faster and better than I was thinking it'd be around six weeks ago, that's for damn sure. ;-) Theme song now? "Oh the sun's gonna shine in my life once more, love's gonna live here again..."
Although that's not 100 percent accurate...because at this point it's already living here, and the sun is shining bright...

Another random observation

Doing the morning blog-run, I am thinking it's just absolutely amazing how thin-skinned some people can be. If you're gonna get your knickers in such a knot as some people do over what some blogger you've never met is going to say, even if it DOES turn out to be a mite inaccurate, you've got serious issues. For some strange reason, Eric Cartman's "Screw you guys, I'm going HOME!" comes to mind.

Ignorance should be painful, too...

...just like stupidity should be:

Doug Bates and his wife, Stacey, were in bed around 10 p.m., their 2-year-old daughters asleep in a nearby room. Suddenly they were shaken awake by the wail of police sirens and the rumble of a helicopter above their suburban Southern California home. A criminal must be on the loose, they thought.
Doug Bates got up to lock the doors and grabbed a knife. A beam from a flashlight hit him. He peeked into the backyard. A swarm of police, assault rifles drawn, ordered him out of the house. Bates emerged, frightened and with the knife in his hand, as his wife frantically dialed 911. They were handcuffed and ordered to the ground while officers stormed the house.
The scene of mayhem and carnage the officers expected was nowhere to be found. Neither the Bateses nor the officers knew that they were pawns in a dangerous game being played 1,200 miles away by a teenager bent on terrifying a random family of strangers.
They were victims of a new kind of telephone fraud that exploits a weakness in the way the 911 system handles calls from Internet-based phone services. The attacks — called “swatting” because armed police SWAT teams usually respond — are virtually unstoppable, and an Associated Press investigation found that budget-strapped 911 centers are essentially defenseless without an overhaul of their computer systems.
...
Investigators say swatters are usually motivated by a mixture of ego and malice, a desire for revenge and domination over rivals.
Jason Trowbridge, one of the defendants currently serving a five-year sentence, told the AP in a series of letters from prison that the attacks started with the standard fare of prank callers — sending pizzas and locksmiths to victims’ homes — escalated to shutting the power and water off and eventually led to swatting.
“Nobody ever thought anyone would get hurt or die from a SWAT call,” he said.

Now, the ignorance, of course, comes from the genius who uttered that last thing. People HAVE gotten hurt before this particular phenomenon sprang up. Cory Maye and Kathryn Johnston were just a couple of the more high-profile examples, and then of course there were all the innocent animals killed. It'll be interesting to see what effects this has on the First Amendment and what kinds of "reasonable restrictions" those now in charge will put forth to combat this, as opposed to throwing the offenders in jail for a very long time. You never know, though, some of that stimulus money could go toward overhauling the computer systems, but, well, I am not holding my breath on that one, given who those in charge feel stimulates the economy the most.

Ooooh, my favorite Jerry Jeff Walker tune...

...at Outlaw Country, Sirius Ch. 63: "He drives a '57 GMC pickup truck...he's got a gun rack, and 'goatroper needs love too' sticker, aaaaand it's uuuup against the wall, redneck mother..."
As most Texas and Americana music fans know, though, that song was actually written by Ray Wylie Hubbard. From what I've heard he hates it now, though. If I remember right, the first time I heard that song was also on Rowdy Yates' Sunday night classic country show, about the same time I first heard Willie's live cut of "Bloody Mary Morning." And it brings back some good memories as well. Note from comments: Cross Canadian Ragweed covered Hubbard's "Wanna Rock & Roll" on their Soul Gravy cd, and at the very beginning of the song you'll hear Cody Canada say, "This is a song by Ray Wylie Hubbard." I got a kick out of that because, of course, that's the exact same thing Gary P. Nunn says at the beginning of "Up Against The Wall Redneck."

Random Sunday music musings...

I was glad to see I am not the only one who never understood why so many people spontaneously go into orgasm when the name Bruce Springsteen is mentioned. And it never had anything to do with his politics either. Maybe part of it had to do with that widespread adoration, but then I always thought Springsteen's voice was crap no matter what he was singing, which in turn rendered whatever he was singing into same no matter what it was. I heard "Born in the U.S.A." on the radio the other day and I just rolled my eyes as I went looking for something else. "Not just no, but heeeell no."
On the other hand, while I perfectly understand what Scott Chaffin is so pissed off about here, I still like Kid Rock quite a bit, to be honest. I think he's a really good singer, material notwithstanding, and from what I've read he's a pretty big fan of the old country and the newer, more traditional singers like Alan Jackson as well. I think he could probably make a pretty good country album if he'd apply himself as opposed to wasting his talent on derivative throwaway crossover crap like "All Summer Long." I know he's gotta sell records, but just, damn that song sucked.
Oh, HELL YEAH! Now playing at the Roadhouse, Sirius Ch. 62: Mel Street, "Forbidden Angel," 1974. I always thought Mel Street had a great honky-tonk voice, that he was definitely one of the most underrated singers of the 1970s. I wonder if I'll ever get lucky enough to hear his version of "Looking Out My Window Through the Pain." George Strait recorded that one on his 2000 self-titled cd and I thought it was one of the greatest single songs he'd ever recorded. "The deviiiiil droooove the taxi, that caaaarried her away....and it hurrrts to know, she's hung up on, some guy from yesterday...once again, she's chaaaasin' memoriiiies, and I'm losin' everything...but I love her, so I'll wait for her...looking out my window, through the pain...."