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Battle Of The Police Tribute Bands! MEGA-UPDATED!

They’re both from Europe.

The Castaways

VS Nek

VS Synchronicity

VS Klark Kent

VS Scrantonicity!

The Senseless Dream! (partially)

Just the other day I had a dream… No, not that dream!… I drempt (yes I know it’s not a word) that the Cars were getting back together (there are hints that they may do so… even Ric Okasic is on board), and they got my name and number off the wall (oops, wrong group) and called me asking me to be their new bass player. They will need a bass player, as original guy Ben Orr shed his mortal bass playing coil a number of years ago.

Now, I find the whole premace of the dream strange, because, though I always liked the Cars, they were not one of my favorite groups in the 80’s. I know I can play some of the songs, at least the songs that got radio / MTV play, and everything from Candy-O (the one Cars album I do own), but I don’t know the whole Cars catalog. Why not dream of going on tour with an artist who you know inside and out… yes, that would be Phil Collins, or Dire Straights, or even personal favorites Crowded House or Mr Mister?….

What were we talking about again????

Ver Word. Bever

PS. I used to own Heartbeat City… but that was a long time ago… And on cassette. Don’t know if I remember all of it.

More Media Bait – Crowd Size… A Controversy????

From the MSNBC homepage:

A big Beck crowd — but how big?
Rally is over, but the controversy over widely varying crowd estimates goes on.

Strange that Becks crowd size is controversial, yet, the anti-war rallies, or the immigration rally, or even the Million Man March one, you know, the one where there was supposed to be a million men, were not.

A Lite-Blog Week

There is much to do around the Sonic-House – clean the office, update the receipts in quickbooks (three months behind), get some teacher paperwork together, practice guitar and learn songs for my three band projects, fix the clutch on the car, etc. etc.  So, I will be mostly off line, only getting updates to the Mormon shooting when they come in.

Media Bait – Mormon Bishop Shot, Killed w/ UPDATES

I haven’t noticed this story of a slain Mormon lay priest getting any NATIONAL headlines as of yet, but if it were an Imam, well, you know what would be happening right now…

Oh, For those not familiar with the San Joaquin Valley, Visalia is not too far from my city, Fresno. My in-laws are Mormon. I hope this is no one they knew.

UPDATE: So far, only FOX News is covering it.

UPDATE 2: The suspect is dead. As of yet, the identity of the shooter has not been released, and no motive revealed.

UPDATE 3: CBS has posted it.

UPDATE: Killer has been identified: Kenneth Ward, 47, of Modesto. Visalia is about 40 miles south of Fresno, Modesto is 120 miles north. So, did the suspect drive all the way down to Visalia just to randomly target a Mormon. Modesto has a sizable Mormon community. I’m thinking there is more to this story. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: No mention on MSNBC. But THEY DO have an article about a priest who impregnated a teenager.

FINAL UPDATE: The man who shot Clay Sanner was mentally ill, and suffered from severe bipolar disorder along with post traumatic stress disorder from the first gulf war. Tow more casualties from that war..

“Want Some Sandwich”????

..or some nectar?

That’s One Happy Bear!

Stolen From: Caption This

Headline Of The Day

From MSNBC:

This ain’t no ‘double dip’ — it feels more like one long dip
Analysis: Textbook policies to restore economic growth in the United States aren’t working because this recession is of a different kind.

Just a thought. Perhaps you’re reading from the wrong textbook!

Stimulus plans worked in certain situations, say during the reconstruction of the post World War II economies of Europe and Japan, but they had nothing else to try, and the money used was not their own, but ours. The New Deal was a mixed blessing. With 1/4 of the population completely out of work, creating work programs was, in my view, the proper thing to do. Unlike the current lame attempt to do so, FDR’s version of stimulus did indeed create jobs, from dam building, to road building, to In our situation, to greatly expanding the power grid. His stimulus included specific “back to work” programs such as the WPA, TVA, CCC etc. Note that these actions did  allow some families to put food on the table, they did not lead to a strong economic recovery.  Obamanomics has failed on both accounts. Other than funding some road construction, Obamanomics has not been shown to create new jobs, has injected massive uncertainty in the markets and economy, has proven hostile to business, and has greatly increased the national debt.

Time to throw away the Keynesian / Krugman game plan and try something else.

Oh, and my friend Dan at Gay Patriot note just how weak the economy is, as the GDP has been revised downward. And with state governments such as California shamefully failing to address their dire self inflicted fiscal mess, expect the next wave of the Second Great Depression to be fueled by states going bankrupt.  Yay. Happy Friday.

How Do You Spell Disconnect? SEIU 521

I got this in my e-mail this morning:

One signature away to better healthcare for mental health and substance abuse for ALL insured Calfornians.
AB 1600 passed out of the Senate and is expected to reach the Governor’s desk next week. It is absolutely critical that people write to the Governor urging him to sign AB 1600.

This is a call to action. We need the Governor to understand the fiscal benefit of appropriate treatment and how the current system unfairly discriminates against individuals with mental illnesses and addictions. The Governor has vetoed similar parity bills introduced by Assemblymember Beall in three previous sessions.

Here’s how you can help:

1. Send a support letter to the Governor urging him to sign AB 1600: http://521.seiu.org/AB1600

2. Get others to send support letters – forward this email to all your friends and tell them why AB 1600 is so important, reach out to mental health and substance abuse organizations you are apart of and ask them to send a letter too.

Support letters should be faxed or mailed directly to the Governor’s office. We also request you fax a copy of the letter to the office of Assemblymember Jim Beall, Jr. at (916) 319-2124. To send a support letter via email, click here: http://gov.ca.gov/interact#contact

If you have any questions please contact Sunshine Borelli at (408) 282-8920.

CONTACT THE GOVERNOR AT:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-558-3160 (new number)

We appreciate your help.

BACKGROUND

AB 1600, introduced by Assemblymember Beall, will bring treatment to thousands suffering from mental health disorders and substance abuse addictions. AB 1600 requires private health insurers to cover treatment for those mental health and substance abuse disorders.

That’s on the same day that we get this news – California insurance rates will be costing up to 19% more starting in October.

OK kids.

Quiz time.

What is one thing that makes insurance rates go up??????? (Hint – see the expanded coverage insurance companies will be forced to charge its customers featured in the above e-mail)

Good For Him

Back in the 90’s, when I was trying to get right in my head the reality, and finality, that I am gay, I often used the Serenity Prayer to help me move forward accepting this aspect of my life.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Former GOP chair Ken Mehlman finally accepts the thing he cannot change – he’s gay.

“It’s taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life,” said Mehlman, now an executive vice-president with the New York City-based private equity firm, KKR. “Everybody has their own path to travel, their own journey, and for me, over the past few months, I’ve told my family, friends, former colleagues, and current colleagues, and they’ve been wonderful and supportive. The process has been something that’s made me a happier and better person. It’s something I wish I had done years ago.”

I’m not sure if straight people can really appreciate the personal turmoil that often comes with personally accepting the fact that you’re gay. possible rejections by family or friends, societal ridicule, and other negative things that come with being gay. Turns out my fears were baseless, my family accepted the shift in reality after I told them, and I can’t think of any friends that I’ve lost as a result of admitting I’m gay. Don’t get me wrong, I know of many gay friends who have been disowned after they spoke up about being gay, but things turned out fine for me. And, I must tell you, when I was able to allow myself to stop trying to feel attracted to women, just that alone made life soooooo much easier. I no longer felt pressured to date anyone to belong to society.

One other aspect that drove me to become at one with myself, is that, in order to keep from being found out, I locked down my heart. I did not ever let myself get too close to another man, as that would be too dangerous and destroy any chance of living a normal life. It would prove that I was gay. So when ever I started to get too close to someone, I would cast him aside. Or I would find myself drawn to guys who I knew were not ready for a relationship. Those were some very lonely years. When I was about 27, I finally realized that I could not continue to live this way. It was killing me from the inside. I never could have the life I have now, being with Greg for fourteen plus years ( that’s about 77 in straight years!) if i would have continued to resist living life honestly.

Mehlman certainly has a bit of a tough row to hoe concerning some of his Republican acquaintances. But, if some no longer want to be associated with him…. Oh well. Those are people you don’t need as friends anyhow. And maybe, if he hasn’t already, he’ll be able to find a person to share him life and heart with.