in the home stretch

Just think, a week from today you are going to be seeing commercials for cars, lawyers who will protect your rights, mortgage companies, and movies not-yet-rated, but hoping for an Oscar nomination. In short, the kind of bullshit you recognize right off. TV will be a wasteland of reruns and programs that you hadn't noticed before because they were interupted about 14 times an hour by somebody who wanted a change or somebody else who would stay the course. Radio will fall back on that tired old standby, music, and the talking head media whores will have quite a bit less pre-corded bullshit to spew, and as such, may suffer from some laryngitus as they struggle to fill the void. (Don't worry RL, nothing a few dozen smuggled Oxycontin won't fix right up!).

Whatever will we do?

Statistically speaking, about half the electorate are going to be happy next wednesday, and the other half will be convinced that the apocalypse is upon us. No matter what camp you fall into, (and face it, none of us really knows how this will stack up), it is time to think about writing to your new or re-elected Senator and Congressman; a nice short letter, just to let them know that you care, and that you are paying attention. Enunciate to them a short theme, one or two sentences, at most, about what you want from government, and then write them twice a month, just to let them know that you still care and are still watching.

It's unfortunate that we cannot expect a 'good-faith' relationship with our representatives, (and they are our people, no corporation or PAC cast one stinking vote for them), but if we can get a little momentum going, this will be a lot easier in the future, and we will be a lot less unhappy with the way things are working out.

On another significant front, I see the the DPRK is now returning to the 6 party talks that it rejected several months ago. This is a tactic, the country wants or needs something, and will throw a tantrum and walk out when winter passes and it thinks it is ready for another try at a successful A test. (That is simply my opinion; I think that the test was a dud rather than a 'compact' or small device---and the DPRK either does not have sufficient fissile material or the know-how to fix whatever problem plagued the first shot).

In any event, we need to face the fact that there are two new players in the nuclear arena, North Korea and Iran. In joining this club, those two nations shackle themselves to the same budgetary and technical rock that other nations have sought desperately to free themselves from. This step will be not a step up for these countries, but a millstone around their necks.
The thought that either of these two countries might launch a strike on another country is sobering and frightening. But keep in mind, (they are), that they cannot match the capabilities of any other nuclear power, and such a step would invite certain retalliation from numerous angles, and near certain annihilation.

Ignore them. They are like a case of herpes. An annoyance to be sure, a definite inconvenience, something that is to be carefully monitored and managed, but in the end, one just has to live with it.

Stay focused.

thoughts on the day, (another emailing)

AT THE MIDDLE PASSAGE

By Walter Mills
Different Realities

When you are considered strange as a child, you cannot forget it when you grow up. The only difference is that now I can appreciate strangeness, and I recall that strange kid who was me with fondness.

When I was a teenager, living in my attic room in my parent’s house on Krick Street, I owned a huge collection of science fiction and fantasy novels and science fiction magazines. For years I read almost nothing else, caught up in dreams of distant futures and alien worlds, far different realities than the one my schoolmates lived in.

At the time I never thought of it as an escape: what did I need to escape from? My life was not burdened by any noticeable hardship. Although we weren’t well off, both my mother and father worked, and we always had enough. We lived in a neat house on a quiet street in an older neighborhood in Norfolk, Va., which is a medium-sized, working class city. I had friends on the block who came over and played touch football in our backyard. It was an ordinary mid-century boyhood.

Except that half of the time I was living in a different world. My desire to inhabit these strange universes was so intense that I would carry paperback books in my coat pocket and read sitting on a curb while waiting for a bus, in the short breaks in between classes, and in my room late into the night, reading with my eyes burning until the last sentence of the last page was finished.

Anyone who has been an avid reader as a child has probably been accused by parents or other grown-ups of living in a fantasy, being unwilling to face reality, or just wasting time. Although I didn’t accept their judgment back then, I’m beginning to think there was some truth in what they said.

I didn’t just want the world to be different; I wanted it to be different over and over again. It was the sheer weight of reality pressing down on me that made me want to escape.

Almost everyone has had a dream in which he soars like a bird above the countryside, swooping effortlessly with outstretched arms. This is the dream about escaping our daily life and physical bounds, our boundness to a particular time and circumstance. So much of what we are is fixed, and most of our freedom is illusory. This seemed particularly true when I was a teenager and I really was limited in my freedom, unless I was willing to run away from my comfortable home and live a marginal existence on the streets of a strange city.

What bothered me was the difference between what I imagined, with the help of these wonderful books, and what I could actually be. It is like that tale of Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods and as a result was chained to a rock and pecked at by birds. Instead of a literal fire, I think of that tale as being about the fire of our imagination or self-consciousness bound to the rock of a physical body. Or in the lyrics of the rock song by the Police – “We are spirits in the material world.”

Which is why in this season of twilight and shadow, we are susceptible to a little unreality. On the last night of October the veil between human and spirit is at its thinnest. On this night, fairies step across the boundary and walk down the lanes, stand in the doorways, rummage in the kitchens of humanfolk.

Halloween retains the remnants of this old belief. The old Gaelic word, Samhain, pronounced Saw-win, was the Irish name for the last day of October. It means summer’s end, and fires were lit inside hollowed out turnips and pumpkins, and the hearth fire was allowed to go out. Spirits of the dead walked the earth.


(The above column originally appeared in the Centre Daily Times and is copyright © 2006 by Walter Mills. All rights reserved worldwide. To contact Walt, address your emails to wmills@chilitech.com ).

more stuff from the email

My thanks to my bud, JB, who posted these. Thank heavens for late-night TV!


Bill Maher:

"The election is three weeks away and there are rumors the Republicans are getting ready for an election night disaster, which would be a first -- a disaster they were actually prepared for"

"The Iraq situation is getting so bad that the president and his military advisors are holding an emergency meeting this weekend. ... Experts think Bush may be serious about a new plan, because he sent an aide to Toys 'R' Us to pick up a big box of Army Men."

"The U.N. says that over 900,000 Iraqis have fled their homes since the war started. Dick Cheney says it just looks like they're fleeing. They're actually just running down the street yelling, 'Yipee, we're free!'"

"How many know who T.R. Knight is? Apparently, he's one of the actors on 'Grey's Anatomy.' ... Yesterday, he came out in the press and said, 'Yep, I'm gay.' You know what? Come on man, this is the 21st century -- nobody cares if you're a Republican. ... Every week there seems like there's a new gay Republican. Idaho Senator Larry Craig is facing allegations. ... Arizona's Congressman Jim Kolbe apparently a gay man and now named as a possible target in a federal investigation over allegations he did something a little weird with the pages. Boy and we laughed when Dick Cheney was caught shooting a guy in the face."

"Mark Foley looks like he's going to escape criminal charges because apparently his pattern was to seduce boys verbally when they were like 16 and 17, and wait until they were 18 to actually ... I tell you, Republicans have sex the same way they govern -- barely legal."



Leno



"In a speech at a school in Greensboro, North Carolina, President Bush says he knows what it's like when a child can't read, ... he knows what it's like when a child just shuffles through school. You know what happens to that kid? He could wind up President of the United States."

"In Las Vegas, a 32-year-old mother told police that Republican Congressman Jim Gibbons, who is running for governor in Nevada, got drunk, put his hand on her thigh, complained about his marriage and then tried to have sex with her in the parking garage. A congressman trying to have sex with an adult woman? This is the best news Republicans have had in years"



Letterman:



"Bush is getting rid of the phrase, 'stay the course.' That was his phrase for the entire war. ... Maybe the phrase should have been, 'Find bin Laden.' ... Do you miss the old days when the phrase was, 'Stay under the desk'?"

on Bush using Google to look at satellite photos of the Crawford ranch: "Well, great. How about looking for Osama bin Laden?"

on Bush signing a bill to build a 700-mile border fence: "I'm thinking to myself, 'I just hope there's a way Halliburton can make some money off of this deal'"

Top Ten Questions To Ask Yourself Before Voting for Schwarzenegger (10/24 show)

10. Do I feel comfortable having a governor who oils his chest?
9. Have I thoroughly considered Stallone, Van Damme and Seagal?
8. Is 'Come on, it'll be funny' a good reason to vote for someone?
7. Has he done enough to make California a laughingstock?
6. How can I be sure he'll be just as Schwarzeneggy this time around?
5. Can I bench-press more today than I could three years ago?
4. What would Predator do?
3. Will he cut taxes on steroids?
2. He won't embarrass us, will he?
1. Have I lost my mind?




Jimmy Kimmel

"This is a bleak time for the Republican Party. You know you have trouble when the least embarrassing guy in your group is Arnold Schwarzenegger."

"Elections are only a few weeks away and it looks like the Republicans are going to lose a lot of them. I guess desperate times require desperate measures ... [on screen: RNC's TV ad depicting another terrorist attack by Osama bin Laden, followed by a reminder to vote 11/7]. ... Let me get this straight. Osama bin Laden is threatening to attack America again, so what we should do is vote for the people who haven't been able to catch him for the last five years?"


And finally, here is a pretty good read that may help to level things out as we all mentally toil over our impending choices a week from tomorrow.


Stay focused. Have some fun, inject a little humor into things, but stay focused.

the things I get in email

A Love Letter...




I will seek and find You.
I shall take you to bed
and have my way with you.

I will make you ache,
shake & sweat until
you moan & groan.

I will make you beg for mercy,
beg for me to stop.

I will exhaust you to the point that you will be relieved when I'm
finished with you.

And, when I am finished, you will be weak for days.

All my love,


The Flu

it's getting to be time

The various campaigns are just about over, all that is left is for the mudslingers and media-whores of all stripes to keep shouting and for us to make up our minds.

Try to forget about ideology, about whether a candidate may or may not take an unpopular stance on some irrationally unrelated topic, or whether an issue might, (just might), concede that the other side has a few good points. Just do what is right.

Turn off the TV, the radio, and yes, even the internet and just do what's right.

Stay focused.

Things said, not said, and how they are said

Stem cell research has become the October Surprise of this election season. The state of Missouri will be voting on an amendment to the state constitution that will prevent the state legislature from regulating any future research beyond the regulations imposed by the federal government. In the past few days, it has loomed large as a campaign issue of sorts in at least one Senatorial race, (the one in Missouri), and may yet become a hot issue in Wisconsin & Maryland.

In Missouri, the relevance of the issue is practically nil in the Senate campaign, (the ballot issue is a state initiative), but it is being forged into a huge ball and chain for both candidates.

I have not yet decided just how I feel about the issue, but I have read enough, in the way of pamphlets (partisan tracts), articles (usually biased in one direction or another, but at least a bit more forthcoming with information), as well as papers published by various research groups on the internet to know that we are NOT all on the same page with this, and that there are a lot of assumptions that enter the debate in one way or another without being challenged or illuminated that it may well be impossible (for me anyway), to develop an informed opinion on the issue.

I am for the advancement of science and medicine, and as such, I back the issue of stem cell research, though my sentiment is not without qualification.

My concerns:

There is, by all accounts, a lot of potential for good in embryonic stem cell research. Embryonic cells are those that are taken from a fertilized (human) egg, prior to implantation. These, by many accounts, are different from older stem cells in the ease in which they can be 'coaxed' into developing into various types of tissue, and as such, are considered to be more valuable to researchers. Logic here dictates that for research to go forward, a supply of fertilized eggs is required.

First, I ask where will these eggs come from? Is there an accepted methodology for collecting harvested human eggs? Will donors be compensated? Will there be an underground black, (or maybe gray) market for eggs? Is there a code of ethics that covers this?

Second, will human embryo's, already fertilized, be harvested in some manner from women? It is frequently noted that these organisms are considered to be pre-embryonic, but I have some trouble with that. As gruesome as the question is, it needs to be clear as to whether aborted fetuses will be harvested as well. To my knowledge, that question has not come up, but in the era when (some) will even violate the bodies of persons passed on to collect usable tissue, it really needs to be asked.

Third, there is the issue of somatic cell transfer, a means of inserting a complete cell nucleus into an egg, and coaxing it to begin dividing into stem cells. This is the method that produced Dolly the sheep and several siblings in Scotland. It is the method that the USDA is considering approving for beef and pork production. It produces, prior to its destruction, an organism that has the capacity to become a sentient being, (a clone).

This particular point really bothers me as it sets an arbitrary line for when "life" begins. Once that line is set, it can be moved to suit whatever circumstance comes along. If that line is set at any arbitrary point, the definition of "human" is then up for grabs.

Something that is not often brought up, (make that 'never'), is the fact that stem cell research is currently underway using cells harvested from adults, children, as well as from placental umbilical cords. It is widely noted that these cells are not as easily manipulated as embryonic cells, but it is not considered to be impossible.

Not to put too fine a point on this, but I have a suspicion that the use of embryonic cells is seen as the cheapest and quickest route to new drugs, treatments and, just so it is not unsaid, huge profits for drug companies.

Another point that is not mentioned is that research along these lines is already underway, in this country. For all the absolutes, the hyperbole and posturing, this research is not illegal, it is simply not funded by the government. There is no legal barrier to anyone, or any company, doing this research in the United States. They simply have to pay for it themselves, which brings me to another minor sticking point. Nothing in this debate makes mention of accessibility for all for these miracle cures and wonder drugs. Nope, free enterprise still reigns in the pricing and access arena.

I will say again that my mind is not yet made up. I can neither absolutely endorse or condemn this initiative. I resent the way that it is being pushed by both camps here, as the be all and end all of good or evil.

To sign on with this effort is to take a long step towards the "Brave New World" as envisioned by Huxley, and to accept the arbitrary resolution of some rather sticky social issues. (The issue of most abortions will no longer be in question). To reject this line of inquiry may be to permanently close the door on some truly miraculous discoveries. Neither camp is justified in their position of absolute right and wrong.

Between sixty and seventy years ago, a large body of medical data, (and with the collated and analyzed data, knowledge), was amassed and compiled for the betterment of the general population. That data and the extrapolated knowledge has never seen the light of day, though much of it has been duplicated in the years since.

Why?

The data was gathered during all manner of experiments conducted by the Nazi Germans on subjects whose lives were deemed to be of no value. The suppression of that data, to this day, is done in the name of the dignity of those persons who fell victim to these (and other) crimes. Let's not forget that for any of our lives to have value, for our illnesses and infirmities to be worthy of the search for treatment and cure, we are honor bound to harm nothing, no one in our quest to improve ourselves.

I urge you to think about this, search your heart and soul, then do what you think best. We all know people who will agree and disagree with us on this issue. Respect their opinions, and walk away from situations that will turn into arguments. Please, attempt to bring back some measure of reverence and solemnity to the discussion.

This issue has suddenly become highly emotionally charged in the past few days, it is now a bucket of mud to tarnish the reputations of candidates or people who speak out on the issue.

We have seen entertainers and public figures on both sides of the issue, and, while recognizing that their opinions are as good as mine, and that they may be more educated than I am on the issue, it is still very distasteful to see an illness exploited, or at the other extreme, an impression left by a highly regarded movie role used to influence us emotionally. All the good intentions in the world will not be helped by clouding this very important issue.

I am not touching the fact that certain high profile media whores, (again, on both sides of the issue), are doing their utmost to cast into disrepute anyone not taking their position. They disgust me.

If you are a voter in one of the affected states, take some time to think this through, (as best as we can anyway). Don't listen to movie stars, pundits or any other talking head explain why their view is correct and all others are not. This decision is as personal as it gets. Do what is right. And, if the situation calls for it, don't be afraid or ashamed to change your mind.

Stay focused.

Why the election is still in play

Tragic, frightening, but true.

Stay focused.

who are the good guys?

I was reading a story on the MSNBC news site regarding the alleged 20th hijacker in the 9/11 plot, and how he may not be brought to trial because of the way that he was interrogated at the Guantanamo base that houses so many suspected terrorists.

You can read the story here.

If you read the article, you will be outraged, (or should be), but the abuses that are documented there are not at the crux of my question. I want to know what we plan to do with the guy if we are not going to try him? Send him home to the mideast? Doubt it. Kill him, (shot while escaping)? Maybe. Or keep him on ice as a plaything for those in our armed and intelligence forces that just cannot keep a sane grip on things? Probably.

I am not going to compare the motivations of our leaders to those of the Third Reich, (though I reserve the right to at a later date), or the scale of these procedings to the Holocaust, (there really is no comparison); but ask yourself, how and why did the Holocaust end. The answer to that is that the regime that established the massive program was defeated and it was dismantled by the victorious powers. What if the war had dragged on, and the so called 'Final Solution to the Jewish question' had accomplished its goal of wiping out the sum total of Jewry within its grasp? Would the 'Final Solution' have been dismantled then by the Nazi's themselves? The answer to that, IMHO, is no. It was, after all other things, a bureaucracy---the most durable entity known to the civilized world--- and when its mission was accomplished, those who derived power and prestige, or even simple gainful employment, would have gone looking for another mission, creating one if necessary.

This is what we are faced with now. The terrorist prison system at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and the other unnamed locations throughout the world, were designed to outlive the current administration. Their mission will never quite be fulfilled. How long will it be before ordinary American citizens are isolated, forced to wear the equivelent of a cloth Star of David? Who will it be (first)? Democrats? Republicans? (Yes, as nasty as they are, and as good as the Dem's look right now, it could happen). Gun owners? Peaceniks? Truth is, it could be any of us, the cause is simple one errant email or data-mined phone call away. Ever got a junk email offering a look at a barely legal cutie? How about drugs (of any category), from another country? Possibly some form of 'male enhancement'? That could be evidence enough. This has happened before. It needs many things to flourish, but all it needs to get started is a widespread belief that it can't happen here, or, the notion that it is justified because it is vital to our security.

Ben Franklin, who was a pretty astute observer of human nature, noted that "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety". That quote speaks to this issue in that it warns us that we must be better than all others to ultimately triumph. Jesus, also a pretty shrewd operator in his day, is credited with saying “As you have done to the least of these, you have done to me.” If we took a quick poll, I am pretty sure that the general definition of 'terrorist' would rank high on our list of "the least of these". His quote defines a rule of ethics that approaches the same point as Mr. Franklin's, but from a different perspective.

Write to you Senators, your Congressperson and ask, point blank where those prisons are located, (if you get an answer it will be that they don't know or can't say), and what he/she is doing to bring these operations into the open. If you don't know your Senators or Representative, drop me an email, I will help you find out. Keep in mind that as long as these remain an open secret, each and every one of us is guilty in the eyes of the world, friend and foe alike. Why should Iran and North Korea pay one speck of attention to our demands and rhetoric when we are widely known not to be the good guys.

Please stay focused.

Do what is right.

a couple of election season funnies

a friend of mine posted me a couple of Bush jokes today, (no they were NOT Karl Rove or any member of the cabinet), and I post them here for your perusal:




Bumper sticker seen in Lubbock, TX.:







and this one:

George's Parrot

Laura Bush bought "Dubya" a parrot for George's birthday. She told Dick heney, "This bird is so smart! George has already taught him to mispronounce over 200 words!"

"Wow, that's pretty impressive," Cheney said. "But you realize that he just says the words. He doesn't understand what they mean."

"Oh that's okay," Laura replied. "Neither does the parrot."

a very Republican idea

I am for decentralization. In our commerce, in our religion(s), in media and in government. At one point in our history, (actually, at several points), the Republican Party was the minimalist party, advocating small government, small taxes and very limited engagement in almost anything.

As I think back to my childhood, and listening (often from under the table) to the various discussions cum arguments that seemed to break out at the communal table at my gransparents house, that usually translated into a question of money, those who had it did not want to support a large government that would be to the advantage of those that did not have it. Looking back, the definitions of "having money" and "not having money" were quite fluid. Nobody believed that they were at the top or bottom of the economic heap, regardless of how well off they were relative to the general population. The rich were those above us, and the poor were below us.

Now that I have digressed suitably, I will come back to the issue that popped into my head. Those who follow the news might have heard or read of some controversy around the country regarding the issue of how we vote. Some states have or are imlimenting a system of electronic balloting, a system that collects data that is input from a terminal and tabulates it almost instantly in a centralized location. There have been several instances where the possibility of errors (or fraud, to put it bluntly), have been reported, and the code that operates the system has been leaked or released to various parties. Most recently, a state legislator in Maryland was given disc's that purported to be code to alter the results of tabulated votes, (as reported on the WMDT website). In other states, there is controversy over requiring a photo ID at the polls to be able to vote. In the past two Presidential elections, there have been doubts raised as to the veracity of the final results, in many cases due to the unreadability of the ballots that were cast.

I say that it is time for a giant leap backwards. I propose here, and will forward this to my elected representatives, (after the upcoming election), that the US Constitution be amended to standardize the method of casting ballots in national elections. I think that they should be on paper, should be marked by hand, and signed by the voter. (Something along the lines of the old 'darken in the square' method on the Iowa Basic Skills test would work). The amendment should also prescribe penalties for fraud or tampering.

It has been said that voting is our sacred franchise. If so, why are we rushing headlong into a system that allows little or no accountability? (It seems to me that this is like having open heart surgery at a first-come, first-severed drive up clinic). Is it really necessary to know who won an election before we go to bed that night? I believe that a holiday on election day every fourth year would be appropriate. This may seem trivial to us today, but such a step could have a long lasting impact on the attitudes towards voting and government on generations to follow.

Think about it.

Stay focused.

Memory

Today would be my dad's 84th birthday. I hope he knows I remember and am thinking of him. Lots of people tell me that I am just like, or a lot like him. That's a nice compliment.

Worth sharing

I am posting for our consideration a link to another blog. Many if not most of you are aware of these clips, but they are worth considering again.

cut/paste this: http://embailer.blogspot.com/2006/10/its-about-time.html

or,

click here.

The dark cloud around the silver lining

Nothing like the possibility of having ones ass kicked to get something done. In the past few days we have seen a major retreat in the "war on terrorism" from the Bush administration.

First, the W actually conceded a comparison between Vietnam and Iraq, but added rather lamely that he thought it was timed just to influence the upcoming elections. That bit of news was followed by reports of the still-unreleased report from the James Baker-Lee Hamilton commission on how to get out of the situation that we find ourselves in. Strangely, one news outlet reported that "Iran & Syria need to take some responsibility for the stabilization of Iraq".

Hello?

Does anyone remember last month when those two countries were the embodiment of the devil and our sworn enemies? This month, someone is calling it "taking more responsibility" instead of "waving bye bye as our sorry beaten asses pull out".

This is almost too much to comprehend.

In case you haven't noticed, I have never been a Bush fan, didn't vote for him, don't respect the man a lot, and have always thought that the war in Iraq was at best a tragic miscalculation and at worse a grandiose effort to reshape 20th century history, but I never thought that it would come to this.

By some reports, we have killed off anout 2 1/2 percent of the Iraqui population, destroyed much of the infrastructure that was only marginally supporting most of the people, toppled a government that was a pain in the ass, but did keep Iran and Syria at bay, and have paved the way for extremist Islam to take full control of the Persian Gulf.

And to think that two weeks ago, our President and the ruling party were preaching vehemently that we should stay the course.

What happened?

This cannot be the product of a couple of sex and bribery scandals, and the agitation created in the blogsphere. Are things really that bad, and is the government really that good at hiding it?

There are a couple of you that read this semi-regularly. If you have any thoughts, I would like to hear them, here in comments or by email. i really believe that we are not seeing something, I just can't figure out what it is.

The tune today is dedicated to the W.

To be completely truthful, for today anyway, I pity the man.

just a memory

This is for you old enough to remember.




Ask me if you are curious.

A Sure Sign

I emerged from my cave for a short while today, and noticed that the cost of gasoline has risen $0.18 overnight. I don't have any data to support either of these thoughts, only intuition.

First, the weather here has taken a sharp cold snap, it is gray overcast and was raining a bit earlier today, makes one feel that winter is approaching, time to stock up on groceries and what have you. This happens every year of course, and I believe that the oil companies follow that particular line of psychology, and boost the price, just because they can.

Second, as I mentioned a few posts back, the tide seems to be turning, both overseas and domestically. It occurs to me that the powers that be in the oil industry now see nothing to be gained by foregoing any additional profits in the next month.

Stay focused.

A team of archeologists and paleoanthropologists working in the far east have uncovered the remains of what may be a member of the same bloodline as DPRK President and mouthpiece Kim Jong Il. A spokesman noted that certain skeletal features as well as the composition and stature of the recently uncovered hominid suggest that it was from the same bloodline, if not a direct ascendant, as the current leader.





Yep, thats him!

...and yet another one

Well, the fun continues in our nations capitol. This time, the merriment was centered on the daughter of a Congressman, (Curt Weldon, R-PA) and her lobbyist (business) partner.

The Congressman, quickly rushing to the defense of his mealticket, noted for the press "I have not done anything wrong and my daughter hasn't either," Weldon said at a news conference late Monday afternoon. "I would absolutely never use my position to help anyone in an unusual way."

I believe him.

I really want him to define the term "unusual way".

Does that mean that he would pay and accept bribes, smear any opposition with lies, misinformation and innuendo, (the usual routine); all the while taking the high road by declining to rig lobbying contracts for family members?

I just want him to elaborate, thats all.

A Sobering Reality

One might infer that I look at a lot of news articles, in print and on the internet. This is both a blessing and a hinderance---there is such a thing as too much information, it can keep the reader immersed in factoids long enough that he/she does not draw a conclusion. In this respect, it has a lot in common with political campaigns. Lots of facts, many that have no bearing on anything, but facts nonetheless.

I read a couple of articles over the past few days that have led me to conclude that the war in Iraq is all but over.

We haven't won, and, probably won't. All that is left to do is to convince the American electorate that what is about to happen is something akin to the "peace with honor" that we got as a consolation prize when we left Vietnam.

The term 'cut-and-run' is enjoying a popularity right now in the atmosphere of an upcoming election. I look for that term to simply go away after the election, its usefulness will have been expended and further usage might cause some embarrassment to the GOP. (If I wanted to dramatize this, I would count the number of times that the term is used by Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly in the week before the election and compare it to the number of times it is used in the week following that event, but I am not that ambitious).

Let me be clear, I, like most everyone else, am operating from what news I get from the major sources. It is what I hear and how it is presented that makes me wonder if the war is already lost, and that the government, the Pentagon and our allies know it. You can see the emphasis that is placed on the issue shifting in subtle ways. A British official, (a Prosecutor at some level), investigating the death 3 years ago of a reporter in Iraq, has concluded that he was 'murdered' by US troops. The fact of the mans death is tragic, but it was not noted in any meaningful way that he was operating independently of any coalition forces in a combat zone, and his death occurred in the midst of a firefight. To me, calling that 'murder' is a stretch, and the fact that it is not being challenged at all is very telling. On the same day, a member of the British Chiefs of General Staff spoke out publicly, stating that British forces in Iraq should be withdrawn. (That statement appeared in large print, the followup that they should be redeployed to Afghanistan was buried on page 18). These are almost non-events, but six months ago the president and his Defense Secretary would be denouncing it as a crack in the wall of unity that they had erected. As it is, the reaction here in the US is every bit as loud as the Republican outcry over Mark Foley's sexual adventures.

Which is to say that there isn't any. And that says a lot. If they ignore it, it will go away.

Public perceiption has shifted, and the pol's know it, but most importantly, it appears that the pentagon and defense department have given up. You can see it between the lines when they talk of any the situations in that region.

There is no more hay to be made with this war, from now on, it is simply a drain of money and lives. All that remains to be seen is how they will try to get out from under it. (Every dollar spent, every life lost or radically affected from here on is for the sake of public and world opinion). Following this logic, I am going to crawl out on a limb and predict that our troops will be withdrawn prior to election day 2008, and the GOP will run as the party of peacemakers, (or possibly peacekeepers), thus robbing the Dem's of a most potent weapon that election season.

Before I close, this is a good time to note that ..... if ..... the Dem's take one or both houses of Congress, they need to quickly establish themselves as the party of fiscal responsibility, self-restraint, and progress, as that term is defined by the folks that got them there. Nit-picking, prancing, and mouthing off, pointing out what jerks the GOP are will be stating the obvious to the electorate, and they will not be impressed.

It's time to put up or shut up.

Stay focused.

a new slant on irony

Our lives take many twists and turns as we make our way in this world we live in. There are times when beauty is superimposed on filth, when peace and love confront war and hate, when cheer upends sorrow. We never know when we will be confronted with one of those conundrums. We simply deal with it.

With that in mind, I respectfully submit this article for your Monday morning attitude adjustment.




You know, news like this might help in reaching certain recruiting targets....

A Pitiful Start

Another Congressman fell this week. Rep Bob Ney (R)-Ohio entered a gulty plea in a case related to the Abramoff lobbying scandal. The Congressman has not yet resigned, though if a conviction is actually reached on the charge, he would be ineligible to serve in the Congress. (I suppose it is a Darwinian thing, if you get caught, you aren't ready for the big leagues). Another blow to the GOP, (is that the GREEDY Old Party?). That's two incumbents down, quite a few to go.

This cannot look good in the eyes of an electorate that is overloaded with news from many quarters and pretty fed up with everything, it certainly won't do that party any good, but will it really harm them? There are quite a few Democrats out there who are talking about the issues that concern the average voter, and they have a chance of doing well. There are some whose chief qualification is that they are not Republicans, and they are questionable. Voters in those states/districts will have to choose between the scumbag they know and the scumbag they don't. The issue of a punitive response might play heavily in these areas, but maybe not. These are the races that keep the whole thing in play. Then there are incumbents on the right who are staying quiet every chance they get, so as not to draw unwelcome attention to themselves, as well as those incumnbents on the left who are pretty confident of their standing who are running off at the mouth as though the words that they spew are gospel. Those two groups are hosing things for their parties future prospects, though not necessarily their own. (Did you follow that?).

Nice tune, eh?

I will leave you with one thought, shamelessly swiped from another site:






Stay focused.

Nothing matters, and what if it did?

At the time I am typing this, there does not seem to be a lot in the way of new breaking news. Good thing. I am operating on overload here, and I am sure that many of you, indeed many in the country and the world are in the same boat.

There is some discussion of sanctions on North Korea, but now that it is nut-cuttin' time, China and Russia are not quite as pissed off as they were on Monday. george Bush is backing Dennis Hastert, saying that the country is better off with him than without him, (pretty much tantamount to saying that he is at least the lesser of two evils...).

I need a few days to think.

I don't know what I think about North Korea right now. On the one hand, I say f*ck em, they have money to spend on playing with the big boys, let em play, and let em feed their people and warm their homes by themselves. Give the glorious socialist revolution something to crow about...

On the other hand, it is somewhat important that we be able to follow our own course, and not be led, (or compelled, by reckless action on the part of that runt, Kim Jong Il---a name that surely translates to "annoying pimple on the penis"), into a situation that will require that we one-up him and the country he rules. I don't believe that he is suicidal, but I do think he is relying on the cold feet displayed by his erstwhile allies, China and Russia, to keep him from serious harm. We will see.

I don't know what to think about the scandal in DC right now. Not a lot of news about it today, it's like it has burned through its value to the jackass party and is simply a lingering embarrassment to the pachyderms. Look for a few minor embellishments to the story over the next few days.

Despite what we all have heard, the election is still very much in play. The GOP could come away with a narrow victory, in either or both houses of the Congress. This is a dangerous time for the Dem's, who have been in the dumps for the past twelve years. Expectations have been raised, a defeat now will sink their fortunes even further, and with theirs, ours. No matter who you favor, the events of the past few years show us that having an extremely strong party in power for an extended time tends to turn things to sh*t.

Stay focused.

oh geez

News sources in japan are saying that they believe that the DPRK has tested another device.

The USGS believes this to be a magnitude 5 earthquake in the Sea of Japan. Sensors in Australia and elsewhere on the pacific rim are inconclusive.

Even now, certain intelligence agencies in the US are saying that the blast in the DPRK was not nuclear. See it here.

The agitation that this whole mess is generating is a measurement of sorts of just how serious, and therefore trigger-happy the powers in the region are. This bears close attention over the next few days...

preparing to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory

The Democrat in Congress yesterday attempted to pin on the President responsibility for the DPRK having a nuclear weapon. First, we are not yet sure that they do, (the test this week may have been a misfire). But that is not the point. This is not Georgie's fault and they know it. Most likely they would have done it no matter what, but if one digs only superficially into that backward little countries recent history, we find that the US reneged on a deal to give them two, (count em), power producing light water reactors during the Dem's last term in the White House. There may have been very good reasons for that, but the truth is that there is plenty of blame to go around, (even if it is faux blame---not really justified).

The Dem's attempt to tar Georgie with this brush may backfire. They have seen their stock go up quite a bit in the past few months by keeping their mouths shut. Idiotic sound bites like this one may remind some people why they are voted Republican last time. This is a time for unity in the country. The Dem's will increase their own standing that much more if they remain quiet, let the public draw their own conclusions here, (they will blame Bush), and stand behind the President, (provided he does nothing half-assed and reckless). The President is the one with the target pinned to him, this should be a no-brainer for the party that wants to be in power.

If/when the Dem's take the House and/or the Senate, there will be a strong temptation for the reactionary wing of the party to interpret the election as an endorsement rather than a measure of disgust with the ruling party. This tempation is to be avoided at all costs. This is the time for the moderates of the party to take the fore, to offer reassurance to an agitated electorate, and to give them time to solidify their position. Hence, I offer this advice:

here's a thought that will fester...

Well, they did it. The DPRK has, from all indications, exploded an A-Bomb in an underground test. The apparent yield, (at least according to the news outlets), was equal to about 550 tons of TNT. Some of the talking heads on MSNBC and CNN seem to take a bit of comfort in the smaller yeild, and maybe it is justified. In the US nuclear program, we have had some misfires and duds that yielded sub-kiloton explosions.

Just to give you a little bit of pause, the yield of the test today is roughly equal to the smallest weapon in the US inventory, a nuke that weighs under one hundred pounds and can be carried by one man in a backpack or suitcase configuration. If the DPRK has pursued that particular course, they don't need missiles or all kinds of technology for a strike against anywhere. Just a car or a plane ticket.

Have a nice day!

the start of another week

Who knows what news items this week will bring? We are still waiting to see if North Korea will light off a nuke, and what new revelations the season will bring in the current election cycle.

From all outward appearances, the GOP is in some deep doo-doo. But I am not real certain that it is time for the Dem's to start celebrating. The GOP controlled media is working overtime to convince the folks that everything wrong or bad is the fault of the Democrats, and the liberal press is already gloating and singing little hymns of praise to themselves. Who will win? I don't have a clue.

I do have a couple of observations though. (You knew I did).

1)

If all things unpalatable are the fault of the Dem's, what does it say for the Republicans who have had near absolute power for the past six years that they cannot manage a weak party of opposition?

2)

If the Dem's manage to win both Houses of the Congress, it could be the best thing to happen to the GOP. The House will elect a new Speaker, who will likely be Nancy Pelosi, who will make Newt Gingrigh and Tip O'Neill look like pikers in terms of imposing a blitzkrieg agenda. She might make enough of a negative impression of the moderates, libertarians and middle-of-the-roaders that the GOP will be able to dump some or all of the new majority in 2008. I don't think I need to mention that the White House will also be in play that year. The prospect of a Clinton-Pelosi cartel in D.C. is enough to give a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat pause...

3)

At least one former page has come out and claimed to have had sex with Mark Foley.

Wow.

You knew that this would happen. Was Jon Benet Ramsey there too? This is a good time to let this issue ride, the GOP is doing a good job talking themselves into more and more controversy, they don't need any help. This need not involve, or invoke the illusion of Cindy Sheehan.

4)

Then there is North Korea and Iran. The term 'sanctions' as it relates to the U.N. seems to be bandied about a lot in the hopes of changing their behavior. Just quit. The UN, the US, the PRC and the former USSR don't amout to a BFD in the eyes of these two countries. Other steps will need to be taken, and Korea seems to be the place that is itching to have the attention. Treat them as equals on the world stage, it is what they want and the right thing to do. Then, as equals, let them make their own way, and if they pick a fight with other equals, we can explain to them how things work in the loftier areas of civil society.

Stay focused. The election is just four weeks off.

Do your own thinking. Turn off the TV and radio.

Happy Trails

this is for my bud, Roy, who is having a birthday and embarking on a roadtrip this weekend.

Adios Cisco! Come on back safe and sound, (ol' Ma needs you).

a higher standard?

Well, Mark Foley and Dennis Hastert have pretty much dominated the news this week, so much that Kim Jong Il o the DPRK is threatening to set off a nuke to get back into the limelight. He might do just as well putting together a song and dance act and trying for a spot on "America's Got Talent".

You already know about Mr. Foley, a (now resigned) Congressman from Florida who was alledgedly trolling for a little action with more than a few male pages in the U.S. House.

So what?

I do not approve of or condone these actions one bit, but had he been hitting on female pages, he would have been considered to be nothing more than a sleazy old man, whose career would, like a submarine, suddenly go quiet, until something else commanded the nations jaundiced eye.

As this scandal has unfolded and escalated, we have seen many side issues come up that are meant to influence public opinion. Were the pages of legal age for this kind of thing? Is the Congressman a pedophile? And most significantly, who knew and when? This question seems to be where the battle is shaping up...

The Speaker of the House, Mr. Hastert, seems to be taking the brunt of the criticism, at first by default, but now by design, (he seems to be making himself a target), probably on the logic that he will be able to survive the onslaught, and thus spare other colleagues a few hits that might mortally wound them.

All this to preserve the republican majority in the House of Representatives. The House Ethics Committee is already issueing subpoena's in order to get to the bottom of the page scandal, (pun intended). I am willing to bet that the GOP controlled panel will try furiously to push the blame for the scandal off on the Democrats, (they knew he was a pervert for a long time, but waited, just so the voters, whose attention span is notoriously short, will wreak havoc on election day!!!), and provide a measure of absolution to the Speaker and others close to the fray.

This says something about the nature of American politics, and the nature of the voters that so many parties who should be disinterested are going to such lengths to tarr the reputations of, (or deflect said tarring). As I sit and contemplate the whole insignificance of this, I am at a loss to actually describe what I am thinking.

But that hasn't stopped me before....

Somewhere, in the basement of our national psyche, is the notion that our leaders are somehow different than we are. The status of being different then tends to lend itself to being better than we are, (in the form of being entitled to more of a lot of things, less of others, tangible and intangible), and being in a group that is by most measures, better off, they become a class in themselves. And when one of them displays the traits that we associate with, you know, common folk, well, the immune system of that (perceived) class goes nuts and moves frantically to both distance itself from, and then rid itself of the common infection.

That's what we are seeing here.

The Speaker of the House, (who, by-the-way, is no friend of mine), is stepping forward to take the hits of his colleagues, who may be in danger of having some of their veneer chipped off in this. The reaction of the Congress should have been that, well, the guy was a scuz and he got what he had coming to him, and then moved immediately to some substantive issue, (or as substantive as they tend to actually deal with). He did it, he's gone, that is that. The real issue is rather narrow and is centered on the ex-Congressman's behavior, not who knew what or when, or who the real party of truth and virtue is, although that is what we are gonna get a heapin' helpin of.

The Congress, the Senate, the Judiciary and even the Presidency are composed of folks just like us. Now and again, you get one that likes a little drink every now and then, or perhaps has a slightly overcharged libido, or likes certain little games of sexual nature. Just like the rest of us. But we treat them differently. We all know somebody like this, in one way or another, and we deal with it. Is it a major surprise that somebody in Congress has some of these issues? What really surprises me is that the guy's voting record has not been pulled out and smeared. Is it possible, that there really is less to this than meets the eye of the TV camera?

Stay focused.

update 1: (first seen on The Tome of Communism)

The FOX network, home of "The O'Reilly Factor" was spotted running a video clip of the ex-Congressman, showing in the banner below the image, his party affilliation as being Democrat. The truth is that Mark Foley is and always has been a Republican. This might have been an innocent error, (yeah, right), but it is awfully convenient.


Have you noticed that the party on the left is saying little, (and virtually nothing in the way of accusation), while the party on the right is squirming like a gerbil in a bathhouse, (pun intended--again), trying to throw off some of the taint that seems to be settling over them in any way that they can?

update 2:

Well, OK, this will settle things. That bastion of unbiased journalism, Rush Limbaugh, has spoken out, suggesting that this entire episode was orchestrated by the Democrats. To give him an extreme amount of leeway, (and I don't believe this), maybe it was. The Congressman was still the one cruisin' in the Capitol. Period. Had his behavior been a bit more above board, this entire episode would be nonexistant.

One more thing. If Mr. Foley had been a Democrat, (as opposed to simply being annointed one by the FOX network), I am certain that he would have been blasted my any number of pundits. To see what they have said about his behavior, see this entry from the Daily Kos.

Pay attention. Vote. And disregard everything you see and hear from the media and internet.

Go with your senses and your gut. Vote what is best for you. Face it, you can't do any worse...

a Rolling Stone gathers no moss

I am going to step away from my usual doom & gloom and everything-that-is-wrong-with-the-world attitude for just a few minutes to relate to you a personal anecdote, a slice-of-life if you will, from the past week.




It was almost a spur of the moment decision, beginning with nothing more than a desire to do something 'neat' with my teenage daughter, (gather your flowers while you can and all that...). This is a young woman who likes nothing better than shopping or events of some kind. I don't do shopping real well, so I focused on event possibilities, something that would impress her as well as leave her with a memory to save and share with friends and possibly even her own kids.

Scanning some soon-to-be-deleted-as-spam emails, (one in particular), I got an idea. Without going into great, (make that any) detail with the youngster or her mother, (I told the youngster that I was taking her to see the Antiques Roadshow), I checked the date on the calendar, then considered the logistical questions of the upcoming opportunity, and got started. The process started with some necessary rationalizations, thinking that yeah, it was a school night, but it was only two hundred miles or so, I can do 200 miles easy, and it wasn't a sellout, and a few other minor obfuscations of reason. The process continued with me purchasing tickets for the event on the thursday prior to the sunday night event. Tickets had been on sale for about 3 months, so I didn't expect much in the way of selection, nor any breaks in the way of price, and didn't get any. Unable to talk to a human at Ticketbastard, I called the box office, and talked with a lad named Jason. I learned through him that his software for finding seats was not a lot better than that which is online, so I simply bought a pair of tickets. At that moment, I learned that buying direct from the box-office was more than the Ticketbastard price, the first of many minor insults and 'value-added' costs...

Jason was brutally frank with me about the whole arrangement, and I appreciated it. He explained that the parking arrangements were all over the town, and that shuttle buses would run to and from the designated parking areas. The streets around the venue were to be closed 3 hours prior to the event. With all due repect to the city in question, it is the epitome of a 'one horse town'. The event was to be held outdoors, in the local University football stadium, geared more towards a lot of foot traffic than vehicles. OK, OK, they are trying to step up....

I could already see the glow of my idea slipping. For the next two days I wondered if the value of this would be in the talking about it afterwards, in other words if this was really more trouble than it would be worth. That feeling stayed with me for awhile, gaining a little momentum from the series of minor insults that one goes through in a situation like this. The cost, the lines, the rules --- you know, the bullshit hoops that you have to jump through.

The outbound trip was uneventful, save for a late start and exacerbated by a few @$$hole drivers on the interstate and a particulaly inconvenient stretch of road work, but we got there, (just not before the area was closed off). All the while, I wondered how this would stack up, was this the real thing, or simply a last-ditch attempt to clean out the wallets of the fans? Anyway, as we arrived close to our ultimate destination, we gassed up and decided to chow down at a Taco Bell, then find a place to park. We saw many churches, businesses and other enterprises selling parking for $10-$20 a spot. We settled on a side street, poised for an easy get-away later. It was every bit as inconvenient as the "pay" lots and free to boot. We walked the distance to the venue fairly quicky and then inquired as to the location of the will call office. The answer was a warm and friendly "can't get there from here". The office was in a building adjacent to the stadium, just on the far corner from where we were, thus, more walking, and as the streets were closed off to all but those shuttle buses, it was a slightly longer walk than it normally would have been. We secured our tickets and we hiked back about a mile to cover about 300 lateral yards.

OK, we got in and immediately found ourselves surrounded by about a bazillion folks standing in line for merchandise. Not wanting to be left out, we cut in where we could, (there was one line, out of eight, for credit card purchases, and that was the popular one. I quickly decided to burn a little cash, and it still took 45 minutes to get to the front....).

That being done, we found our seats, (actually taped off sections of a bleacher). We were in a college football stadium, with stands on either sideline, and a clay track surrounding the playing field. The sun was in our eyes at first, and lent the scene a "what-are-we-doing here?" aire, but the blinding light quickly settled behind the stands on the other side of the field, so that was not too bad. There was a sturdy southwesterly breeze as well, which made the location a bit more palatable. I noticed that the western horizon darkened quicker than I expected, and saw a few clouds sliding across the horizon. I hoped that weather would hold another three hours....

So, there we were, at about the fifty yard line, about half way up the stadium riser. To our left, in the endzone was the stage, and it was a monster. I am guessing that the scaffolding below and behind the stage was about six stories tall, and it supported a very large video screen in the upper center, (I am guessing here, but probably 25 x 30 feet), as well as four smaller screens, two on each side of the structure. In addition to the screens, there were the traditional rock star speaker stacks, (hung from the scaffolding, not stacked on the stage), lights and other stuff. There were two tall sound and light towers at about mid-field, and two other sound towers further back. There were three runways off the stage, a long one from the center of the stage out to (damn near) the fifty-yard line, and two others that extended to the far right and left of the field. My guess-timate was that the full width of the stage was about 180 feet. The stage itself was HUGE. While we were waiting, certain ads and bulletins were displayed on the four smaller video screens, (as well as some large Radio Shack banners), one of them offering a seat upgrade, asking interested parties to send a text message to a certain account. I do not own a cellular phone, so I paid little attention except to think that they do not stop reaching for your wallet until the very, very last minute. Well, my daughter does have a cell phone, and availed herself of the offer, (I later learned that she resent the message between 30 & 50 times).

On a side note, during all the walking around that was done prior to getting in to the place, I counted quite a few large eighteen wheel trucks parked here and there. From our seats I could see at least 12 more behind the stage area, as well as three large cranes. Moving this outfit has to be a major undertaking.

OK, the warm up act came out, a trio called the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. (No, I never heard of them either--but they sounded like the White Stripes meet the Clash and they all channel Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison). They were not altogether bad, but they suffered from a scale problem. A trio, (drum kit, guitar and bass amps and 3 guys), parked on the forward edge of the humongous stage. They were tiny, and watching them, (as opposed to one of the video monitors), was a lot like looking off the Sears Tower at the pedestrian traffic on the street below.

As the BRMC finished, the road crew took their equipment down, (that took all of three minutes), and proceeded to get ready for the next act, my daughters cell phone buzzed and she had a text message saying that she got the upgrade. Suspicious, but agreeable, I followed her through the crowd, (that didn't work real well, so she started following me). My fears abated a bit when we got past the ticket nazi's and security guys by showing them the text message. We were now on the floor of the stadium, (not a bad deal by itself),and reported to the equipment stack that was our meeting place, again, securing our positions with the text message.

We were surrounded by security shirts worn by guys that looked like Mr. Clean's cousin from Kazahkstan. There were a couple dozen of us, including a brother and sister who bought tickets for each other as birthday gifts. The brother was turning 16, his sister drove so I assume she was turning 17 or 18, and the two of them were positively giddy. But I digress.

A short guy with an impressive mullet explained that we would be taken as a group to our places, so keep up. We did, walking forward to the front of the audience area. I kept looking for a block of empty seats, ut saw none. We were then led through a chain-link gate to an area backstage, and the whole atmosphere changed. Everybody, me included, felt like Dorothy approaching the wizard to ask a favor. We were issued new tickets, special wristbands and more rules were given to us, no alchohol, no camera's etc.

My daughter pointed out that the guy explaining things was the guy who sang and played guitar in the warmup act, BRMC. OK, cool, the guy is multi-talented.



Note the verbiage on the tickets, the one that was purchased is on top, (minus the stub collected at the gate), the one issued to us is below, the wristband (what's left of it) is above.

We were led around behind the scaffolding, and then up several short flights of stairs, then into view boxes situated in the scaffolding above and behind the stage, looking out on the crowd, and down on the stage. In truth, we were a part of the stage, situated on the drummers left and above the horn section. The wall behind us was part of the overall video display, embedded with multicolored LED's that operated on cue, (and they were bright too...). I thought at the time that we were expected to be a road version of the 'Sold Gold Dancers'. More roadies, some musicians, backup singers moving about, getting ready to do something, then the lights went down. The security babysitters with us kept bringing us glasses of water, juice, etc, just like we belonged there, all the while watching us to be sure that nobody attempted to jump down to the stage.

Here is a picture, (shamelessly taken from another site), modified to show where we started, and ended up.

I mentioned before that my daughter likes events, but this was already way beyond her, or my expectations, and it hadn't even started yet.

A man sat down on the drum riser and hit a few beats, maybe to limber up, then a rather small gentleman, with a headband and a long coat, (he could have been a flasher), stepped out with a guitar, found 'his' spot then looked back to make sure all was ready. Apparently it was so, & Keith Richards started knocking off the chords to "It's Only Rock N' Roll", Mick Jagger jumped/danced/pranced out and the Rolling Stones assumed control of everything that happened within audible distance.



I have been to quite a few concerts over the years, but this was a first, the view was outrageously great, (even from the back). This whole deal started with a desire to give my daughter an event; I was pretty sure at this point that it was working out rather well.





The band was pretty good, very animated, (I mean, besides Mick, who is Mr. Animated), they seemed to have the act worked down to the last detail. That sounds trite, but everyone who has been to an outdoor concert knows that acoustics are at best problematic and usually terrible, but they had it down pretty well under control. The people we were watching were first and foremost professional entertainers, and rock stars second. You paid (through the nose) for a show, and you got one. I would guess that most everyone there felt the same way.



While I am on it, the general demographic in the place was a bit above your average rock concert crowd. With nothing more to go on than intuition, I would put the median age in the mid-forties. Lotta men there that you would expect to see sittin' around the fillin' station playing checkers, lotta women wearing tube tops that should have been retired years ago. But they were all onboard with this, and a good time seemed to be had by all. Of all the things that I wished that I'd have done, there were two porta-potty's situated at the foot of the stairs we ascended. Both had signs that said "Rolling Stones Band Use Only", I wished that I'd copped one of those signs, (it was just computer paper and duct tape). I figured I'd get one on the way out, but it was not to be.

The band played a wide array of tunes from across their career. I did not attempt to keep a written record, (in that position, would you?), but we were conveniently given what turned out to be scripts for the show about 3/4 way through. The handouts underlined the instruction that we were NOT to leave the boxes until escorted out, but it also had the set list, the key the tune was in, the tempo and other notes that I fail to understand right off, but I am certain it was intended to give the sound/light people a heads up about what was going to happen during each tune.



I was pretty impressed with Keith Richards. He has a bit of a reputation as, well, a diamond-in-the-rough, (putting it politely), but this night anyway, he was in good voice for "You Got the Silver", singing it solo, standing at a microphone with nothing but a cigarette that he used an effective prop, and his stage presence was very well executed, (NOTHING just happens in a show like this), right down to the poses he struck at exactly the right moment and the expressions on his face when he did it. The man was stylin'!



About halfway through the set, looking down I noticed that the surface of the stage had changed shape. Musicians were congregating on a section that probably measured 16 x 20 feet, and the drum riser was being pushed forward. As the band played "Under My Thumb", the section moved forward, down the long center runway to a point at midfield, where they played 'in the round' for a couple of tunes.






While they were out there, a giant inflatable logo with the lips and tongue deployed on the center scaffold at the main stage.



When the stage rolled back, and they guys had a drink of water, what was probably intended as the climactic moment ensued, with Mick running across the breadth of the stage coaxing the crowd with his falsetto 'woo woo' sound, (you'd know it if you heard it), then he ducked backstage for a quick costume adjustment, he emerged in red coat and hat as the guitars struck up "Sympathy for the Devil". Mick was all over the stage, as well as above it, dancing and moving in his own inimitable manner in front of the giant screen illuminated for effect, (indeed, the entire stage was backlit, including our boxes).

At the end of the tune, there was a plethora of pyrotechnics that went off in unison, cylinders at the edge of the stage, large (and loud) flame pots at the top of the scaffolding, fireworks, and every light on the damn thing going on and off in a pre-programmed sequence. After that, the show went on, but wound down with two more tunes before the musicians took their bows. The first bow acknowledged the audience and featured all thirteen players, the second bow just the core-four, and finally the Mickmeister alone.





There was a two-song encore followed by fireworks and more pyrotechnics. The band made their getaway while the fireworks were going off, (the fireworks and visual pyrotechnics, as well as a clean getaway being the reason we could not leave our boxes).

At that point, we were escorted off the platform and up the same plywood walkway that the band had left on, through a gate into the lot with all the heavy trucks, and released. As it was at the beginning, we were completely opposite of where we needed to be, so, we maneuvered our way along the fence, back into the stadium, (climbing over barricades---at my age!), and then across the field and out the same gate that we entered through. A mile and a half or so back to the car, (even at that, we got out before many of the bus shuttlers), then to gas station for coffee and a personal break, and then ....onward.

We were pumped. the plan had been to go as far as we thought we could, then stop at a motel, or a convenient exit ramp to catch a few winks, but we just came on in. Home about 03:30AM, late to school the following day, but we got through it.

Now, to get back to my feelings of unease and second guessing. While it was justified, I can honestly report no problems, the experience was expensive as these things go, but worth the cost. We paid through the nose for everything, (even gas was 7 cents/gal higher before the show than after), but we got what we went for, and then some.

There was a review posted on the net Monday morning. See it here.

here is the setlist:

It's Only Rock n Roll
You Got Me Rocking
Monkey Man
Sway
Wichita Lineman (just one chorus)
Let it Bleed
Streets of Love
Bitch
Tumblin' Dice
You Got the Silver
Little T&A
Under My Thumb
Rough Justice
Jumpin Jack Flash
Honky Tonk Woman
Sympathy For the Devil
Start Me Up
Brown Sugar
You Can't Always Get What You Want
Satisfaction



Thanks guys. Come back some time soon.

I'd like to add that the pictures here, (save the scanned images), are not mine, they have been appropriated from various internet sites, and most are from other dates, but they are representative of what we saw. My thanks to those artists who produced them.