Sorry, Kelly

A good friend of mine chastised me for not mentioning family yesterday. Sorry, Kelly. I've been extremely busy, obviously, with my wife as we raise our twelve-week old son, William. Little Willie is doing just fine, though he's developed colic and has been really irritable. Sometimes he'll cry for minutes on end though nothing seems to be wrong, only to rip the biggest gas explosion since the Republican convention and immediately settle down. I wish I could put pictures of him on the web, but someone would probably superimpose his head onto a picture that I would have take issue with, like George Bush.
My quick e-mail I sent to Eric Alterman's Altercation journal made it in print! I'm almost famous now, which isn't half bad. Scroll down to the correspondants' corner. Thanks, Steve.

I would like to know how people feel about the Republican putsch of immoral, unethical, and downright dirty agenda of the right-wing of the neocon movement. Naming Condi Rice as Secretary of State was a sheer crime, considering her dereliction of duty during the first three-quarters of 2001. Naming a woman with absolutely no prior experience as an educator as the head of Education is yet another travesty (which, piled on top of the No Child Left Untested Act) that will see that department crumble (which is exactly what the right-wing nuts want, anyway). Here's a woman (whose name eludes me) who headed Bush's reformation of education in Texas during his governorship. Test scores skyrocketed. So did the dropout rate. I can imagine that the number of WalMart employees did, as well. So, what does California do but model itself after Texas. Great, as if 41 wasn't a low enough ranking in the national polls. Let's see if we can't catch Alabama and Louisiana while we're at it! Not pushing through the intelligence reform bill to overhaul the departments that dropped the ball on the terror alerts prior to 9/11. Just great. You fire George Tenet but do nothing to aleviate the next problem.
Gotta also love the House Republicans for drawing up impeachment papers for the first time a Democrat even attempted to unzip his fly yet opted to change the rules in order for Tom DeLay to avoid being disciplined according to the rules the GOP drafted a decade ago. I see how it is. What frightens me is that these undemocratic, two-faced FLIP-FLOPPING thugs don't even have to set the Reichstag on fire to get the results they want. Don't cancel the 2006 midterms, just rig them like you did Ohio. Don't actually count ballots like most republican forms of government do, just have the election committee, which is in the pocket of the ruling party, have an ACTIVIST judge step in, like Florida. Finally, show public concern for election rigging and the stifling of democracy in a half-rate country like Ukraine while turning a blind eye to some of the dirty tricks authored by your personal manager, Karl Rove, for the last four years. Man, if Dick Cheney wasn't creating job security, a huge pretzel right about now could come in handy. I hope I'm not being out of line. Maybe I should publish this after John Ashcroft's successor has been sworn in.

What I've Been Up To

Just to really look at what I do with my time:

Music: the new U2 (at least once a day), Dylan (big kick as of late), of course, Bruce (his early 90's faze does have some great material), and lots of jazz.

News: The Nation (on line), Eric Alterman's Altercation (on-line 'blog/journal), SF Chronicle, CNN.com (hourly in my classroom for true "current events"), KPFA 94.1 in my car and on the web in the morning, and NPR at home (only radio station I get, but the best all around news source).

Reading: The Radicalism of the American Revolution by Gordon S. Wood - Pulitzer Prize winner from about ten years ago. This is a thick, thick read.
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown - for my book club. ONly forty or so pages into it. This had better have a fun storyline because the writing is terribly pedestrian. I could probably write better than this guy.

Magazines: Newsweek (a.k.a. What the Corporations Want You To Read, but I do for the mainstream culture and political articles, as they are informative on a broad level), The Nation (again), The New Yorker (I absolutely LOVE this; God bless Scott Miller in Fresno for turning me on to this three years ago), Bible Review - an excellent journal of historical/textual criticism and application.

Movies: The Ladykillers (The Coen Brothers, of course I liked it!); Supersize Me (watch out for later review); Dogville; Hannah And Her Sisters (God bless Woody); Kill Bill Vol. 2; Duck Soup; Harold and Maude.

Man, no wonder I'm complaining that I have no time! Totally selfish with my time! However, with the holiday season upon us, it is time to devote myself to canned food drives, toy drives, donations to the Rescue Mission, Habitat For Humanity, and getting the pipes ready for the Sing-along Halleluh concert this Saturday. If only a local church could encapsulate all of the spiritual and political and social and emotional and intellectual beliefs of mine, I'd join. Until then, I'll continue to avoid the Inherit the Wind-mindset group of pharisees that continue to spew anti-intellectual, myopic, antiquated ideas.
How was your Thanksgiving? What's good in the theaters? In your cd player?

Easy, Don't Build One

That's the answer to the title of U2's latest album, "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb." I would like to read others' comments, but I will agree with the vast majority of critics and fans alike: this is a modern classic from a band that continues to evolve while holding onto the strengths of its past. On my second listening of the night for this album that was released today, I'm finding that the band has truly carved a path in popular music that is alarmingly fresh and yet so familiar. This is also the first U2 album since the giant 800-pound gorilla that I have instantly loved from the initial spin. I loved "Achtung Baby" but was thrown for a loop the first several listens due to the fanatical obsession I had developed with the band's late-80s sound. "Zooropa" was the band's weakest album of its career and the one album of the band's that I sold back. "Pop" was interesting and yet unapproachable and it became the only album that I chose not to purchase. I eventually acquired it through an old roommate who felt the same way about it.

In 2000 when the rumors that the band would be releasing a new album that was "to return the band to its roots," I questioned whether the group was going to just bang out ten retreads and not charter any new ground. I purchased "All That You Can't Leave Behind" dreading the commercial-radio overkill of the first single, "Beautiful Day." The first several listenings brought mixed reactions; a decent release but nothing that I would find myself returning to. After several months of occasional spins, I found myself grasping Bono's lyrics and finding the solid songwriting in every cut. Unfortunately, I happened to miss both legs of the Elevation Tour that accompanied the album and wondered what would ever happen to the band in a post-9/11 world.
Enter "Atomic Bomb," an album that marries Bono's Biblical allusions with heavy guitars by the Edge and grooves that will truly level arenas when played live next year. All eleven cuts, from "Vertigo" to "Yahweh" rock hard. Layered guitars and vocals, fuzzy bass lines and the familiar rhythmic drumming of Larry Mullen, Jr. make this grip the listener by the ears refusing to release him or her until the disc stops nearly fifty minutes later.
There is not a trace of "The Joshua Tree," the albatross that brought superstardom and near-collapse or its bastard cousin (and dear favorite) "Rattle and Hum". This album is mainly a marriage of "The Unforgettable Fire" chorus-laden delayed guitars from The Edge with the sensibility of "Achtung Baby's" songwriting. "Achtung" brought the band into the "alternative" forefront, and much of that can be found, especially on the driving songs of the middle portion of the album. Traces of "Pop's" electronica can be heard with faint rhythm beat accompanying the drumming while Bono brings much of his vocal phrasing and lyrical focus from "Leave Behind." If one listens carefully (but maybe too selectively), s/he can catch the subtleties of "War" that brought the band its first major attention over twenty years ago.
Here's what I hear:

1. Vertigo - the smash hit that reminds fans that U2 can rock right down modern popular tastes yet still be the only band able to pull off such a song. Perhaps the hardest rocking song the band has ever written and a great lead-off.
2. Miracle Drug - while starting off a bit too familiar like "With Or Without You," the song moves into its own with syth-strings and sparse guitar parts that allow Bono and company slam into a fantastic chorus that makes one wonder whether the band recorded an unrelased album entitled "The Unforgettable Baby You Can't Leave Behind."
3. Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own - a song written by Bono for his dying father. Touching acoustic introduction that flows into a touching goodbye.
4. Love and Peace Or Else - one of the major "message" songs of the album that starts a la "Zoo Station" but rumbles into a Depeche Mode ("Personal Jesus") groove that solidly cooks for nearly five solid minutes.
5. City of Blinding Lights - "Wire" and "The Unforgettable Fire" and a touching tribute to New York City as well as all peace-loving human beings that live all across the world. Touching and yet grinding, as The Edge's delayed and layered guitars push the song into the classic sound that all fans love. Adam Clayton's bass drives the song until the chorus brings the band to a sonic zenith with piano/guitar pairings, falsetto harmonies, and a counter harmony on guitar that questions whether or not that 1987 release may have been bumped off the pedastal.
6. All Because Of You - great modern "Pop"-esque intro with the PHATTEST rhythm guitar and Bono's best "Fly" falsetto harmonies. Along with many other songs to this part, a very prominent acoustic rhythm guitar, which adds a great touch. This song, like others to follow, are loaded with Bono's questioning his religion while clutching his faith. Never one to hold back in his doubts, Bono, in my opinion, has strengthened countless Christian fans of the band who (as this writer) can find assurance and grace in the face of their own questions and denials. Watch this song just kick major ass by the third minute. And it's a song that claims "All because of you, I AM." No subtleties here, and one that believers will probably cheer for.
7. A Man And A Woman - a step back in intensity and Bono's first foray on the album into the territory of relationships. Much gray lyrically and with an interesting acoustic guitar giving the song a very early 80s sound. While not the strongest song, perfectly placed since one can only be crushed by a steamroller momentum from the first six tracks.
8. Crumbs From Your Table - yet another Biblical reference in a song dirivative of "Until the End of the World" which also brought Gospel-based lyrics back to the band's tunes. Mid-tempo grinder that shows off The Edge's guitar playing.
9. One Step Closer - Reminiscent of "Grace" from the previous album as well as "Heartland" from 1988 (okay, a very very very little bit of Rattle and Hum here), I'm calling this one the sleeper track of the album. Yes, dammit, they're still ALBUMS. Don't agree? Go sit on a vinyl copy of the ZoSo album while spinning it backwards.
10. Original Of The Species - the album is now winding down with the second ballad in a row, but this one sounds like The Beatles wrote backing string score and Jeff Lynne ran into the studio to produce the cut. Bono always wanted to be John Lennon and this may be the closest he gets, though the band's tribute to Lennon in the 2001 renditions of "Bullet the Blue Sky" from the live DVD concert always bring chills. Don't know what I'm talking about? Watch the screens in the final seconds and ask yourself why a pair of glasses ends the song.
11. Yahweh - Fantastic way to end an album and probably the band's strongest closer since, well, EVER. "All I Want Is You" was a beautiful ballad, "Love Is Blindness" was a depressing dirge, "Mothers of the Disappeared" trickled out into a Sting-meets-Peter Gabriel political tribute to the horrors of the wars of Latin America, and "40" was Bono's cry to God for grace. This final track returns to the religiosity of the "October" album with the intensity of the band's best live moments. One of my favorite cuts on the album.

I would love to hear others' comments about this album. I believe that the band will have its arms full come Grammy night; stadiums will have to be booked this summer, and Bono and company will again wear the crown of Rock and Roll Kings at least for the next year. This album is that big. Congrats, boys; I found what I was looking for.

Since It's Sunday...

5 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His newly-appointed disciples in his cabinet came to him, 2and he began to teach them, saying:

3Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for soon they will not have Social Security benefits.
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for their children are carrying out my illegal war.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will be cracked down upon at the next anti-WTO summit.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst
for righteousness,
for they will be the benefactors of faith-based programs
that will reap them profit.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be deemed anti-American.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
as their Internet service providers aren't being secretly tapped yet.
9Blessed are the warmongers,
for they are the children of Heaven.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted
for they are "illegal combatants", "liberals",
and those who seek equal status under the law.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against Fox News, hate-mongering Christian evangelicals, homophobes, and energy companies because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward come April 15, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The Gospel According to George, Chapter V. 1-12


an unfortunate and cynical reworking of one of my favorite passages of the New Testament, but something that was prophecized in 2000 and is coming true. See you in church.

The Heart of Texas

The most fitting= and yet ironically-named of all members of Congress is Texan Tom DeLay. It appears, based on the contrived and most likely unconstitutional redistricting efforts of his in Texas, that true democracy can no longer be practiced. Health centers, both overseas and at home, aren't receiving funding due, much to DeLay's efforts. The Congressman has been leading the charge for the creation of constitutional amendments banning both gay marriage and flag burning. Tom is truly doing all he can to DeLay the freedoms and rights people are inherently owed in the Constitution. I agree with the dire necessity from denying people the right to burn fabric, as flag burning, next to the AIDS epidemic, failings of the for-profit health industry, proliferation of gun-based violence, the threat of terrorism, and the looming crisis of fiscal mismanagement, will truly be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Apparently DeLay has broken the donkeys' backs, as Democrats are weak-kneed and terrified of "The Hammer." Let's see whether "activist judges" who find him guilty of his political and financial dealings buckle in fear of Bush's strong arm in the House.

I'm stil in mourning about the election two weeks ago. I have yet to fully unleash in my classes, though, the anger and frustration I have regarding the latest neocon coup at State, but I'm waiting...Bush will step on his you-know-what pretty soon and I imagine that there will be a very vocal opposition from the Left, whether over an issue in Iraq, health care, another tax cut for the wealthy, or health care. Maybe his ending Social Security or policy of torturing more enemy combatants, such as those who protest his next military excursion. I'm being overly melodramatic, but damnit, I'm pissed that this nation, this confederacy of dunces gave this clown another four years to turn this country into a class-based, wealth-based, pro-industry, anti-environmentalist, anti-inclusion, anti-democratic, anti-republican nation. Thomas Jefferson must be rolling over in his grave knowing that not only is a total intellectually-vacuous individual sleeping in his old bedroom but that a theocracy has been installed that actually is implementing an action plan to deny people their civil rights and freedoms, use war as a tool to scare people into supporting government policies, and doing all it can to demolish almost ninety years of true internationalist alliance-building. As I've said before, in more organized rants, I'm just pleased that I get to teach this stuff to countless numbers of American schoolkids who, right now, are blinding by the right but will learn the bigger-picture, nuanced version of history where the United States is a nation with an agenda, not a holy decree to carry out in the name of homophobic, racist, U.S.-exceptionalist fundamentalists who fear modern science as much as they do anyone with a foreign accent.

Real Terrorism - Rice-In

Colin Powell, the only level-headed non-neocon chicken hawk of the Bush Administration's first four years officially resigned yesterday, leaving a huge opportunity for the president to continue carrying out his antiquated, anachronistic foreign policy by naming National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice as his successor. This is truly the coup de grace for Bush and the final nail on the coffin for the any chance of international agreance on anything. Rice, who served a naive and disastrous term in the NSA will serve as the Cheney/Wolfowitz pawn for Bush, but because she's smart, witty, and pretty, she poses as a nice front. Here's the kinder, gentler Orwellian nightmare that we've feared. Rice, as exiting AG John Ashcroft, turned a blind eye to the threat of terrorism until all hell broke loose, pushed, like Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, for the illegal Iraq War, and then consistently flip-flopped publicly on the issue of Iraq's exact threat to the United States. On the public record, Rice's gaffes caused some serious questions to be raised by anyone in the independent/progressive/foreign media, yet her comments were sidelined by the mainstream American press. Anyone doing her/his homework will find that anytime Condi Rice was given the chance to speak 'off the cuff' in interviews often challenged the oft-pushed Bush lies with further lies or statements challenging official Bush policy. Now, I'll forgive Condi the Freudian slip of publically calling the president 'her husband' (she's single and has always been), but her purportion of lies I can not.
I don't think I am alone; unless viewers of CNN.com are a bunch of liberal wing-nut pinko commies (which I find extremely hard to believe), a majority cast its vote stating that Rice's nomination to head State would have a negative effect on U.S. foreign policy. Approximately 60% believe this. Now that's a mandate. If only Bush listened to the majority of Americans. Let's review the number of times he's done that:

Gun control/federal ban of assault rifles? No

Multi-national coalition to persuade the Hussein regime to comply? No

The use of the United Nations to further press sanctions on Iraq? No

The support of the democratically-elected president of Haiti to remain in power? No

The creation of a Department of Homeland Security? No, but gave in to Congressional and public pressure. So, yes. Flip-flop.

The creation of the 9/11 panel to investigate the attacks on the U.S? No, but gave in again to Congressional and public pressure. So, yes. Again, flip-flop. Someone on the Kerry Campaign truly failed to press this one.

The creation of a national system of health care that allows seniors to purchase drugs either from other countries or the ability to purchase generics at the same price as in other countries? No.

I could go on, but I would probably actually use up the entire world wide web which technically has no limit. Neither will my ranting, so I hope that WWW keeps expanding.

On an interesting side note: Vice President Dick Cheney was in the hospital experiencing chest pains. The White House's press statement noted that Cheney had a cold, but did not experience chest pains which of course, is a non-denial denial. Let's consider this: Cheney dies in the next year or so (let's hope for his sake as a human being that this doesn't happen). A man with health issues like Cheney, this game has to be played here. Cheney dies, which means Bush is out of a veep. While he does have the power to appoint, the Senate has the power to ratify the nomination. Who would Bush be able to nominate that the super-majority would approve of? I guarantee that it wouldn't be another Cheney-type politician. The veep would have to be much more open with his business affairs, past and present, not connected to the war in Iraq or any other big business that's currently screwing the country out of hundreds of millions of dollars or blackmailing other nations' governments, and be socially liberal enough to sense that any further knee-jerk movements to the Right would paint the GOP into a corner that it wouldn't be able to get out of without the creation of a military state or a theocracy. The country hasn't lost a veep since Agnew (oh, the comparison there!) and it's about time for the Constitution to actually be dusted off and read by the Administration. However, since Alberto Gonzalez will now be the new Attorney General, there's a small chance that this will actually happen. Do your homework on Gonzalez; the man unofficially sanctioned the use of torture on Iraqi soldiers and "enemy combatants", the first time the U.S. has included torture as a means of foreign policy. God bless the U.S. Speaking of God, his Son had better shut up about rich people giving their money and possessions to the poor; commanding the pious to stop being so self-righteous; serving God instead of paying Him lip service; following the edicts of the government whether they like the government or not; and remembering that the true children of God are those that wage peace. If Jesus were alive today, he'd be arrested and detained, and since he's from the Middle East, probably branded an enemy combatant and tortured.

Isn't It Ironic,

don't you think, that George Bush is naming Alberto Gonzalez as his next Attorney General less than a year after Gonzalez helped draft the Bush Doctrine's laxing of U.S. policies banning the use of physical coercion, otherwise known as torture? Does Bush really have the balls to push his choice through the Senate for the nation's highest ranking law enforcement official with a track record of permitting, grant the analogy, police brutality? Wow. I guess he's spending some of his "political capital." Let's hope this first check bounces.

Scott Peterson was convicted today of first-degree murder in the killing of his wife and second-degree murder in the death of his unborn son. While the murders, as all murders are, were tragic. However, if Laci, rest her soul, wasn't pretty and white, this whole story would be anti-media hype. Total cannon-fodder for the t.v. tabloids, print hounds, and ambulance chasers. It sells, so it prints.

I'm in the middle of guitar shopping. Does anyone know of a great used acoustic guitar that plays well, sounds great, and comes with a case for under five hundred dollars? Does anyone know anything about Blueridge Guitars? I've read that the BR-160 model is fantastic, but I can't seem to get my hands on one.

Finished the Dylan autobiography, but that's for another blog' night. Even as the five chapters of Chronicles, Volume I are organized, he was so much older then, he's younger than that now.

Welcome Back

...from my self-imposed exile of silent mourning. Last Tuesday was an extremely tough day for me as I watched my presidential hopeful lose a hard-fought election with Uncurious George. Ranting in another post.

Today I want to stop and thank all veterans who have been brave and selfless enough to give their time, energy, and for some, their lives, in serving this great nation. Let us stop and pray for our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan who have my support for their safety and well-being but not for the war that their commander in chief illegally threw them into. Let us also stop and reflect upon the fact that this nation chose to elect an administration littered with men who, due to (in the words of the vice president) "other priorities" will not be honored yet have added over one hundred fifty thousand men and women to the list of honorees of today's holiday.

I said that the rants would come later, but the truth must always be told.

Mostly, I want to thank my dad. I love you, Pop. By the way, congratulations for last Tuesday, councilman!