The Plush Gig

The Afterfall gig at Plush Cafe on Friday night was a blast. Wretch opened up with a few acoustic tunes and was followed by On The Spot, which was a mix of blues, R&B, rap, spoken word, and rock.

By the time Afterfall took the stage the place was packed. I noticed two girls invited by Dale (the bass player), who waitress at my family's favorite breakfast restaurant, The Original Pancake House. They were shocked to see me, since they apparently didn't know I played music (kinda surprising since we've been going to that restaurant for over 10 years!).

We opened the set with a tune we hadn't played for a long time--a tribute to Willy Wonka entitled Take Me There. It's a rockin' fun song with a cool solo section. During the solo, some girl I'd never seen before came up on stage and was dancing next to me. It kinda took me by surprise, but I was cool with it. I think our restrained reaction embarrassed her a little bit and she took off before the song ended (probably for the best). From there we went into the hard charging song, Big Mistake. This was followed by the "Love parallelogram," which consisted of four songs chronicaling the ups and downs of relationships that Darren and Wade have been through over the years. Then came my favorite song to play, Tomorrow. Great progressive rock song with a very cool guitar solo section. This song dovetailed into my other favorite tune, Butterfly--a moody and ethereal song with a great half-time chorus and crescendo at the end. We ended the set with Celluloid World, a ballad with sweet harmonies.

The crowd seemed to have a great time. We all had fun hanging out afterward. I had an idea that next time Lower Than Angels or Afterfall play Plush Cafe, Myke and I would open up with a few acoustic songs. Myke said he was into it. So, we got some work to do before the next show, which sounds like it might take place in early March.

Via Vodkapundit:

I do mean that the Democratic Party as we know it is doomed. It's history. It's over. It's toast. With moldy marmalade on it.

Afterall @ Plush Cafe

Afterfall is playing a show at Plush Cafe in Fullerton tonight. The venue is located at 207 N. Harbor Blvd. in downtown. The night begins at 7:45 p.m. with an opening acoustic set by Wretch (Joe Denges of Hollowell). At 8:30 p.m. On The Spot takes the stage.

Afterfall headlines the show at 9 p.m.

$5 at the door. All ages are welcome.

Come check out the show!

Helpful Insight

One of my favorite bloggers, Michelle Malkin, observes:

Potty-training my son is like dealing with post-9/11 liberals. No matter how much patient educating and explaining you do to convince them to take responsibility for their actions and prevent future disasters, the end result is always the same: soiled pants.

The Goverment They Deserve

There's a lot of hand-wringing today about the landslide victory the terrorist group Hamas won in this week's Palestinian election. That this is cause for major concern relative to peace in the Middle East is obvious. But, it also will be clarifying.

The Fatah Party controlled Palestinian politics for four decades--a period of time in which terrorism increased dramatically while government officials enriched themselves at the expense of their people. Poverty and desperation is Fatah's legacy; but, until now, it has successfully blamed Israel for their woes. Fatah leadership had the cycle of violence down to a science: whip the people up into a frenzy, then blame the predictable attack on "militants" from Hamas who simply needed to be reigned in.

The evidence of Fatah's failure is incontrovertible. Now Hamas has an opportunity to prove its leadership. How will Hamas perform? No one knows. But, by winning, they have to govern. They will not be able to hide behind Fatah if they attack civilian targets in Israel. As this article points out, the "militants" are now one and the same with the Palestinian Authority. Thus, any attacks will no longer be seen as terrorism, but as an act of war.

Cliff May expands on this point:

But here’s why it’s also clarifying: In the past, when there were terrorist attacks against Israel, Yassir Arafat could denounce them in English in the morning and celebrate them in Arabic in the afternoon. Hamas will not have that luxury. Henceforth, Israeli leaders should respond to every terrorist attack not as though it were a crime committed by a few isolated fanatics that the Palestinian Authority somehow did not manage to stop in time. Henceforth, Israeli leaders should respond to terrorist attacks as acts of war. In other words, their response should be forceful. It should make it clear that those who inflict death and destruction will pay a very steep price.

Consistently Inconsistent

Kathryn Jean Lopez @ The Corner:

John Kerry was just on the Senate floor speaking about his planned vote against Alito. He did, of course, vote for Alito in 1990 before he voted against him.

Silent Genocide

My recent post on the atrocities being committed openly in Darfur got me to thinking about state-sanctioned atrocities that are occurring almost invisibly in our country everyday.

With the likely confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, which is expected to tip the balance of the Court to the right, the debate over abortion has begun to reappear on the front pages again. To say that passions run high on both sides is to state the obvious. I highly recommend Redstate's devastating commentary from the pro-life perspective about the silent genocide of 40 million of our nation's unborn children. Among other things, the Redstate commentary laments the fact that neither side appears willing to engage the other in meaningful debate or accept compromise. In fact, the rhetoric has gotten so bad that some mothers exult in their little "murders." So, how do you have a conversation with people who are unwilling (and/or unable) to countenance an opposing argument without resorting to ad hominem attacks?

Have a look at these pictures taken at a recent walk-for-life march in San Francisco to see what I mean. Here you will see "liberals," who would presumably defend free speech for the likes of Amercia haters such as Harry Belafonte and Michael Moore, attempting to suppress the speech of others vis-a-vis a non-violent street march. These same types also can be found suppressing free speech via election day sabotage and intimidation on university campuses.

Until the left can pull themselves out of the fever swamps and begin to make coherent arguments while respecting opposing viewpoints, I suspect that our national dialogue will become even more confrontational and, to our great detriment, less transformational in the years to come.

UPDATE:

The Belmont Club has a more expansive discussion of this topic and notices some of this same virulent extremism rearing its ugly head in Canada. It's well worth the read.

UPDATE II:

On the lighter side, Greg Gutfeld has posted a Roe v. Wade joke page. Here's a sample:

A man finds a fetus on a park bench, crying, and asks "What's the matter?" The fetus responds, "I just got aborted!" "That's terrible," says the man, "but it could be worse. If you were born you'd probably end up fighting a war you don't support in Iraq."

Where's the UN When It's Really Needed?

Nicholas Kristof reviews two books about the genocide occurring in Darfur: Julie Flint and Alex de Waal's Darfur: A Short History of a Long War; and Gérard Prunier's Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide. In his review, Kristof notes:

In Darfur genocide is taking place in slow motion, and there is vast documentary proof of the atrocities.

In my years as a journalist, I thought I had seen a full kaleidoscope of horrors, from babies dying of malaria to Chinese troops shooting students to Indonesian mobs beheading people. But nothing prepared me for Darfur, where systematic murder, rape, and mutilation are taking place on a vast scale, based simply on the tribe of the victim. What I saw reminded me why people say that genocide is the worst evil of which human beings are capable.

Norman Geras comments:

It's hard not to be led to the most disheartening of conclusions about the putative legitimacy of the international system. For those of us who look towards a strengthening of transnational institutions, and of the quality and the reach of international law, whether in working for peaceful outcomes, in bringing to justice the perpetrators of crimes against humanity, or in preventing major atrocities, especially genocide, how is it possible to speak for that emergent legitimacy, or the claim to one, when the international community repeatedly just stands by as the worst crime on its books unfolds?

UPDATE: From Fox News

The focus of the current scandal is U.N. peacekeeping, a function that consumes 85 percent of the U.N.'s procurement budget — a cost that could reach $2 billion in 2005. Like many of the U.N.'s financial dealings, it is shrouded in secrecy. And like the multi-billion-dollar Oil-for-Food scandal, it is wrapped in what the U.N.'s own investigators now call "systematic abuse," "a pattern of corrupt practices," and "a culture of impunity."

In all, U.N. investigators have charged that nearly one-third of the $1 billion in major U.N. procurement contracts that they examined involved waste, corruption or other irregularities — $298 million in all. And that total covered slightly less than one-third of the $3.2 billion in major supply contracts that the U.N. has signed in the past five years.

As the Demagogue points out quoting a UN Press Release, this is occuring while the African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur is running out of money. Kofi Annan is asking them to hold on until the UN can find the authority and means to take over.

As I mentioned last week, the AU says it will run out of fund for its mission in Darfur in March. Given the Security Council's reluctance to deal with Darfur, any eventual hand-over to UN troops probably wouldn't even happen this year. So Annan is basically asking member nations to start fully-funding the AU mission so that they can hang on long enough to transfer the mission over to the UN.

The UN is useless.

Canadian Conundrum

Via The Corner:

"If the threat from American movie stars is that they will move to Canada if a conservative wins, where does a Canadian movie star threaten to move to... Sweden?" We're tracking the movements of Michael J. Fox as you read this, in search of the answer.

ABC -- Easy As 1-2-3

Rie Sinclair is a friend of mine who, along with co-writer Bob Hartry, has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy award for their song "Where You Are." Actually, the nomination will not become official until February 8th because votes have yet to be completed, but she's on the "vote list."

The song is used on the General Hospital soap opera and has generated a lot of buzz. As a result, Rie was invited to play the song for a TV show called Soaptalk, which airs on the SoapNet cable station. She asked if I would play acoustic guitar with her and I agreed. So, Saturday morning Myke and I left for ABC Studios in Hollywood (read Myke's post about the adventure here).

This particular studio lot apparently is one of the oldest in Hollywood, constructed circa 1920. Reportedly, silent films were shot there, as well as some classic shows, such as American Bandstand (stage hands that were there during that era said that Dick Clark lived up to his first name). It was interesting to meet the stagehands and the co-hosts of the show. The directors, stage managers, and camera operators were talking with Lisa Rinna, one of the co-hosts, about her recent appearance on Dancing With The Stars. It was also interesting to have my "make up" done (just moisturizer and a little lightener under my eyes) in a chair next to the other co-host, Ty Treadway, a seemingly nice guy with very tan skin and glowing teeth.

Rie and I played the song in front of the co-hosts and a studio audience and it was well received. Afterward, both hosts walked over to us and talked to Rie about the song. They seemed genuinely impressed (although this is Hollywood and one never knows). I was happy for Rie. She's really cool and a great singer/songwriter (you can check out some of her music here), who has been a struggling artist for several years. In addition to being a musician, she's an actress who does commercials (print and TV) and was in the 1999 movie Drop Dead Gorgeous.

After the taping, which airs January 24th at 6 a.m., 11 a.m., and 11 p.m. PST, we got a tour of one of the buildings that had some amazing editing and digital audio equipment. We didn't have time to see the other soundstages where Grey's Anatomy and a few other ABC shows are taped. Nevertheless, it was an interesting and fun experience. I sincerely hope she and Bobby win the Emmy award. It couldn't happen to nicer people. Go Rie and Bobby!

NAMM Update

Bob Hartry played guitar at church with me Sunday and we got a chuckle out of the message on unity in the church because it centered around Psalm 133, which reads in part:

1 How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! 2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard...

The references to Lee Sklar are obvious and strangely coincidental. After church, Bob headed back to the NAMM show. He called later that afternoon to report additional Lee Sklar sightings and to tell me about some of the new gear he was checking out.

I failed to mention that the NAMM convention is not open to the public. So, a signficant number of attendees (including Myke and I) must borrow the badges of enrolled guests and assume their identities to gain access to the event. Bob, who had a badge with his own name on it, had been hanging out with a couple friends and hadn't noticed their assumed identities until the end of the day. Shortly thereafter, I received a voice mail on my cell phone from Bob, stunned by what he had just witnessed. The identity assumed by his friend Brandon was shown on the badge with the name LELAND SKLAR on it!

Bobby has reportedly checked into "a hospital" for some "rest and recovery." I'm afraid that I won't see him for a couple of months.

NAMM Show

My brother-in-law Myke and I met up with Bob Hartry at the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) show in Anaheim yesterday. NAMM is like a circus for musicians. The entire Anaheim Convention Center is packed with manufacturers of instruments, music software, sheet music, and other random music paraphenalia, displaying their merchandise.

As with most conventions, it is often the place where the "new hot thing" debuts. Some of the merchandisers hire scantily clad women to attract attention to their booths. Sometimes scantily clad women show up "just because." One lady we saw was wearing a black outfit that barely covered her fake boobs. She also had that weird orange color that people get when they spend too much time in the tanning booth.

Current and former rock stars often are walking around and/or signing autographs, which is sometimes cool (Bono was seen by a friend of ours walking around) and some not so cool (most of the new metal-head types). I've seen lots of music stars over the years. This year I saw Tommy Shaw (Styx/Damn Yankees, discography) and George Clinton, among others. One of the guys I see every time without fail is the inimitable Lee Sklar.

He's ubiquitous at the NAMM show. It seemed like every time we turned around he was there. Bobby said that when he was young he took a picture with Lee flipping off the camera. Very rock 'n roll. I wish we had more than 3 hours to look around because it seemed like we barely scratched the surface of what was there. But, all in all, it was a fun day at the musician's circus.

Making Sense of Nonsense

Victor Davis Hanson has an excellent article with some helpful tips on how to make sense of geopolitical realites that seem nonsensical.

Just keep in mind four general talking points about America’s recent role in the world and most things gradually become clearer.

Point One (for Americans): My own flawless three-week removal of Saddam Hussein was ruined by your error-prone postwar peace.

Point Two (for Middle Easterners): We are for democracy — unless you Americans help us obtain it.

Point Three (for Europeans): We are privately for and publicly against what you do.

Point Four (for everyone else): When angry at either the United States (or yourself) just blame the Jews in America, and Israel abroad.

Sometimes in these crazy times, that is all you need to know.

Hooked on Hasselhoff

Check this out right now. (hat tip: The Corner)

Crazy Canuck Communities

Sometimes I like to tease my Canadian relatives (including the wife) about the Great White North (all in good fun, though). Today I came across a list of funny Canadian city names over at The Corner. These include:

Medicine Hat, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Heart's Desire, Cupids, Penetanguishene, Yak, Ecum Secum, Sexsmith, and who can forget one of my favorites--St. Louis de Ha! Ha! But, the treasure trove of strange city names is Newfoundland, which is home to Spread Eagle, Come By Chance and this beauty.

This list is by no means exhaustive. There are many more Canadian city names that I can't pronounce and would take a paragrpaph to spell.

UPDATE:

Here's a Web site that lists scores of unusual city names. Some of the top rated names of American cities:

Why, Climax, Crappo, Hell, Intercourse, Blue Ball, Boysack, Santa Clause, Gaysport, Monkey's Eyebrow, Oddville, Gayville, Christmas, Cut and Shoot, Earth, Yeehaw Junction, Mud Butte, Buttzville, Toad Suck, Boob Creek and, of course, California's own Oxnard.

What I really want to know is--who named Lake Titicaca?

UPDATE:

Speaking of names, I have to throw in the lame joke about how Canada got its name (hat tip: The Corner).

Long ago, the original settlers were sitting around a campfire discussing what they should call their new country. So they wrote down letters on slips of paper, threw them into a hat, and started drawing them out. The first to come out was the letter C. So the guy said, "C, eh?" Next came, "N, eh?" Then finally, "D, eh?"

I liked this article by Mark Davis, a columnist for the Dallas Morning News and radio talk show host. It discusses some of the disgraceful behavior at the Senate confirmation hearings of Judge Alito. Some money quotes:

In 2006, a good man like Samuel Alito can be lectured on human behavior by the likes of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts.

Mr. Kennedy and his colleagues can gang up on a man who seems to have made almost no enemies and paint him as some pernicious closet misogynist bigot.

Meanwhile, their fellow Democrat senator who was an admitted member of the Ku Klux Klan is toasted as a pillar of virtue.

Robert Byrd can hang with lynch mobs in West Virginia in his past and get a free pass; but Sam Alito doesn't get a break for even the most tangential brush with the Concerned Alumni of Princeton, some of whose members might not have been the most enlightened souls in the Ivy League.

The Trouble With Alito

Dennis Prager:

To understand any political ideology, one must understand what most animates it. For the Left, it is hatred of inequality. As noted in a previous column, the Left hates inequality even more than it hates evil. Or perhaps more accurately, for the Left, inequality is the ultimate evil.

That is why Judge Alito is so frightening to the Left. He truly believes that the purpose of a judge and of the Supreme Court is to apply the law in as agenda-free a manner as humanly possible. He knows that the role of the Supreme Court is not to promote socioeconomic equality but to preserve the rule of law.

Galloway's "CATS" Audition Not Well Received

George Galloway is a Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons with the Respect party, ironically. He's also a vehement critic of the Iraq War and the Bush Administration. Leftists in this country hailed his testimony before Congress last year after he lied to them about his dealings in the Oil-For-Dollars...er...Food program.

Now Gorgeous George has moved on to a more enlightened consciousness. According to BBC News,

Mr Galloway, 51, went on all fours, purred and pretended to lick cream from actress Rula Lenska's hands, as part of a task set on the Channel 4 show [video is available in the upper right-hand corner of the BBC News page].

I always knew he was a pussy.

This is what happens when you give Chuck Norris "lip."

More Liberal Media Bias

Via the American Thinker:

The controversy following revelations that U.S. intelligence agencies have monitored suspected terrorist related communications since 9/11 reflects a severe case of selective amnesia by the New York Times and other media opponents of President Bush. They certainly didn’t show the same outrage when a much more invasive and indiscriminate domestic surveillance program came to light during the Clinton administration in the 1990’s. At that time, the Times called the surveillance “a necessity.”

So, it was okay for Clinton to "spy on Americans" and sell some of the intelligence to Democrat corporate donors to use against their political rivals, but if Bush tries to defend the country from al 'Qaeda and their affiliates by using the same technique it's a crime.

Hmm. Now why would that be?

The Party of (In)Tolerance, Part III

According to Technorati, Daily Kos is the most frequently visited political blog in the blogosphere, as measured by unique links in the last six months (the blogger's profile reports that the blog receives about 20 million unique visits per month). It is a home to those on the far left politically. You know, those who love to think of themselves as compassionate, tolerant, and open-minded.

Yeah, them.

Not surprisingly, the blog is full of leftist drivel, Bush hatred, nasty personal attacks, conspiracy theories, etc. Its influence on liberal politicians is debatable. What is not debatable, however, is the shamefulness of their comments about Judge Alito's wife.

John Hawkins at Right Wing News points out:

King moonbat, Kos himself, suggested that her crying was a staged "PR stunt" and some of the Kossacks were, let's just say, not very kind to Mrs. Alito. Here's what a few of the Kos Kidz had to say:

Pacified: and do we want a judge who would marry such a weak-willed b*tch?

BTP: Channeling Eric Cartman. Yes! Yesss!! Oh, let me taste your tears, Martha-Ann! Mmm, your tears are so yummy and sweet!

tjb22: Poor woman...she probably teared up when she saw what a bigot she was married to...I'd cry, too. And come to think of it, if they made me wear those ugly republican clothes I'd probably get a little emotional, too.

fugue: CRY...CRY...WTF??? My question. This is not some rated 'G' family oriented hearing. This is how the nation gives somebody the right to interpret it's constitution for the next decades. WILL SHE INFLUENCE HIS ABILITY to JUDGE???? next thing we know, this guy will do whatever the wifey is crying for. (omg, omg, they are killing unborn baby...waaa waaa....) WTF? GO HOME...This is the MOST blatant attempt to manipulate public emotion. She should go f*ck herself."

phoenixandrew: Mrs. Alito is the typical conservative woman. Martha-Ann Alito is an idiot and a moron. She'll REALLY have something to cry about if she doesn't grow up.

Buzzer: What a whiny little b*tch. I'm GLAD she was reduced to tears. These hyper-pampered Stepford wives have never endured anything more stressful than making it to Saks Fifth Avenue before it closes. If seeing her poor widdle hubby getting caught in an avalanche of lies about his not-exactly-concealed racism triggers the weeping-willow response, I'd venture to say Martha needs to get out a little more. Maybe visit a black neighborhood or two and get acquainted with a few strong women who DON'T burst into tears while DAILY dealing with hardships that Martha's fragile, feeble mind could not even conceive of. What a phony, fraudulent, sheltered twit.

mrd in nyc: What, is this junior high school? "Lindsey Graham Made Mrs. Alito cry" Sounds like a note someone passed me in algebra. Why are people allowing themselves to get drawn into this episode? -You made her cry, bully!-I didn't make her cry, HE did!-Well, she's crying now and everyone thinks YOU did it! With all due respect, F*CK Mrs. Alito! We are dealing with a decision that will affect millions of people over generations! I don't give a good godd*mn about Mrs. Alito. Frankly, I'd be much happier seeing MISTER Alito crying due to a withering grilling by the Dems. But the only folks crying over the Democratic senator's questioning are other Dems (including me).

Maine Atticus: WTF is she doing there, anyway! She should be home baking cookies and making more home-made clothes! Why do wives, or husbands for that matter have to hang around, looking like complete *sses at these hearings? Another stupid cow married to another Nazi motherf*cker. Cry, you cow. You moron. You sh*thead married to a man who would destroy this country! Cry? You ain't seen nothin' yet.

Charming, aren't they?

Why We Fight

President Bush's at today's town hall-type appearance in Louisville, Kentucky:

I made a foreign policy decision in the Middle East that said, we can't tolerate the status quo any longer for the sake of inexpensive energy. In other words, there was a period of time when people said, let's just kind of deal with the situation as it is, sometimes tolerating strong men for a economic objective. I changed our foreign policy that said, that attitude of kind of accepting the things the way they are is going to lead to the conditions that will allow the enemy to continue to breed hatred and find suiciders and soldiers in their attempt to do harm.

(hat tip: Powerline

Making Mountains Out of Molehills

John Podhoretz provides a fair summation of what is happening with the Democrats at this week's Senate confirmation hearings:

What's going on in the Alito hearings is simple. Democrats have to vote against him because their donors, constituent organizations, and mouth-breathing lunatics who populate leftie websites demand it. But to vote against him, they need a reason -- any reason. So they're making mountains out of these molehills not because they expect to defeat him, but to give them cover for casting "nay" votes for someone who is clearly qualified, who knows his Constitution backwards and forwards, and who will be on the Supreme Court in very short order.

Via Mark Levin:

Sam Alito will be confirmed. The only question is how much more damage the Democrats will inflict on themselves during the course of these hearings.

Tilting At Windmills

From today's editorial in the Washington Times:

Something unusual happened on the way to this week's nomination hearings for Judge Samuel Alito: Reporters scoffed at the ridiculousness of Sen. Ted Kennedy. Notably, one columnist called his antics "meandering and listless" and suggested Mr. Kennedy is beyond his prime. It's about time: Mr. Kennedy and his 1960s mental furniture cannot square a modern nominee, much less a conservative one.

Since Judge Alito was nominated in November, Mr. Kennedy has been searching for a monarchical, racist or sexist dragon to slay in the hopes of creating a second Robert Bork. He tries to suggest he has found one, but everyone knows he hasn't. Lately, his every flail and factual misstatement confirms it. But Mr. Kennedy still insists he hasn't made up his mind how he will vote.

The "Lyin'" of the Democrats

I didn't get a chance to watch much of the Senate confirmation hearings for Judge Alito. I did, however, have the unfortunate displeasure of watching Senator Ted Kennedy's opening statement, which was a disgrace (surprise, surprise). I have nothing but disdain for the so-called lion (or is it lyin'?) of the Democrats. John Hinderaker at Powerline sums up my feelings best:

...but the reality is, the Democrats are just making it up as they go along. They recognize no duty of consistency. Their logic can't withstand the most elementary scrutiny, and their leader is a dimwit who, after being thrown out of Harvard for cheating, graduated last in his law school class. While a law student, he endured the humiliation of being arrested by a highway patrolman while cowering in the back seat of his car, pretending not to be the driver. He subsequently drove off a bridge, thereby drowning a young woman whose only crime was assuming that he was a competent escort. She probably could have been saved if he had gone for help, but instead of trying to rescue her, he spent the night looking for someone who would pretend to have been the driver of the car, discussing legal strategies with his family's advisers, and trying to establish an alibi. And now Ted Kennedy purports to sit in moral judgment over a brilliant, self-effacing public servant like Sam Alito. The American public isn't paying much attention, but I think they're smart enough to figure this one out.

Also, if you're interested in the hearings, check out Bench Memos.

Fun With Photos

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno has some fun with a strategically-placed photo booth at Universal Studios. It's pretty funny.

Little Drummer Boy

I guess this has made the rounds on the 'net for some time now (metacafe shows nearly a quarter of a million views), but I saw it for the first time and was amazed. This video clip shows a drum solo performed by a boy named Tony Royster, Jr., who was 12 years old at the time.

It's nearly 8 minutes long, but worth watching. Be sure to see the section beginning at about the 5:37 mark. Amazing stuff.

When I grow up I want to play drums like him (even though I'm a guitarist).

Cry the Beloved Continent

Victor Davis Hanson pens A Letter to the Europeans from an American friend. Read it.

Dirty Harry (Belafonte)

Harry Belafonte's career jumped the shark about four decades ago and apparently he has way too much time on his hands. Now he likes to take other leftwing moonbats on "goodwill" outings to foreign countries in order to bash our president. (Hat tip: Little Green Footballs).

Belafonte led a delegation of Americans including actor Danny Glover, Princeton University scholar Cornel West and farmworker advocate Dolores Huerta that met the Venezuelan president for more than six hours late Saturday and attended his television and radio broadcast on Sunday.

"No matter what the greatest tyrant in the world, the greatest terrorist in the world, George W Bush says, we're here to tell you: Not hundreds, not thousands, but millions of the American people… support your revolution," Belafonte told Mr. Chavez during the broadcast.

"We respect you, admire you, and we are expressing our full solidarity with the Venezuelan people and your revolution." The 78-year-old singer, famed for his calypso-inspired music, including the Day-O song, was a close collaborator of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr and is now a UNICEF goodwill ambassador.

So, this trip is for the "goodwill" of whom, exactly? Professing solidarity with a foreign leader hostile to our national interests and providing material for his anti-American propaganda is not my idea of goodwill. Perhaps this left-wing hate speech has grown so tired here at home that he craved a new and eager audience to export it to.

Doesn't he have a bar-mitzvah or a Wal-mart grand opening to perform at?

Not The Sharpest Tool In The Shed

A good friend of mine was once visiting the U.S. Capitol and, upon turning a corner in one of the hallways, ran smack into Ted Kennedy. What impressed my friend the most about the encounter was Kennedy's diminutive stature and ruddy appearance (one too many martinis?), and the way he grumbled to himself as he walked away without exchanging the normal apologies that typically accompany such unfortunate accidents.

The Kennedy name is obviously as close to royalty as it gets in American political life. Ted is the "Lion" of the Democrat Party who is a giant in leftists circles. However, in addition to being a hypocrite (a whole chapter is dedicated to him in Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy) and a coward (Chappaquiddick anyone?) he's also, evidently, a mental midget.

Via Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit: TED KENNEDY REMEMBERS "the Goldwater Presidency."

Reynolds' riposte: Funny, I don't -- but I was pretty young then.

Also, read Ed Whelan's take down of Kennedy.

Lileks on Western Civilization

I am a hopeless reactionary. I believe in judging a culture on the liberties and prosperity it affords to its people. I believe that the West is an anomaly in human history, and that it is a rare thing to have what we have: information without boundaries, freedom unimagined by those who have gone before, women’s equality instead of the black Hefty-trash-bag dress, respect for gays instead of death-by-stone-walls, and all the other remarkable accomplishments like space probes and plumbing and overnight delivery of Omaha Steaks (track the UPS code in your browser, if you wish.) But it didn’t just happen. As Felix Under said to Oscar Madison: you have to make gravy. It doesn’t just come.

The title of this post links to the whole article, which is worth the read.

You'll Never Find

...another voice like Lou Rawls. He died of lung cancer today at the age of 72. R.I.P.

Not A Winning Political Strategy

This is an interesting read from a blog called Done With Mirrors.

One of the reasons, I think, it's so difficult for Democrats to move from their current sad lack of coherence is that there IS an internal consistency to the place they've landed.

Read on to find out what the author thinks it is.

Socialism: Not A Good Ideology

Mary Katharine Ham over at Hugh Hewitt's blog has this to say about Socialism,

Socialism is enforced equality. But someone has to enforce. Someone has to take all that a country of dynamic, amazing, different people has produced and slice it up into dull, government-approved parcels that go to each according to his need. So much for diversity, right?

This means that no one owns anything except for the guy doing the enforcing of equality, who without fail, feels a lot less strongly about his own equality with the proletariat than he does about the rabble's equality with each other. That's how Fidel Castro ended up on the Forbe's list of richest people.

This guy inevitably gets a little testy when folks step out of line by wanting to own the things they earn, thereby cutting down on his net worth. And by testy, I mean blood-thirsty and murdery.

It also means that if everyone gets what they need regardless of how much work they do, no one wants to do any work. Which I guess could be doable if we could go on producing things without, you know, working to produce them. But we can't.

So, no reason to work, no tasting the fruits of your own labor? No work gets done, nothing gets produced, no one eats. Hence, the practical non-workingness of socialism. We all end up sitting around, baby-bird-like, mouths open, but there is no momma to bring a worm, baby, and no worms left to bring.

Last, it means robbing each and every person in a country of the pride of a job well done. No work ethic allowed. How gauche, the socialists say, to want to produce and provide for yourself, for your family. Don't you want to help your fellow man, they ask, ignoring the fact that providing for yourself allows your fellow man to live his life without carrying you around like a sack of sand, which is one of the greatest services you could render.

I could go on and on, but those are the basics. Crime against humanity for all those who die. Crime against the human spirit for all those who live. Pretty much fills out my bad idea check list.

Cool New Foreign Policy Blog

For those of you who enjoy commentary about geopolitical affairs and American foreign policy, you may be interested in a blog called The Washington Realist. It's run by Nikolas K. Gvosdev, the editor of The National Interest, a foreign policy magazine located in Washington, DC. Be sure to read the predictions for 2006, which rank the biggest political risks for the coming year.

The Suicide of the West

Wretchard at The Belmont Club discusses two essays that reflect on the impending suicide of Western Civilization. It's a very interesting read. Also, the comments section also has some intriguing discussions.

The Source of Our Disunity

Via Powerline,

The deep, potentially crippling disunity that alarms [Tony] Blankley stems not from the president's rhetorical shortcomings. It stems primarily from the fact that many Democrats (including some key Democratic leaders) and many influential members of the MSM hate conservatives, George W. Bush, and much about the country that has placed Bush in power, more than they hate the people who are trying to kill us.

As Glenn Reynolds would say, "Indeed."

Stupid Talkshow Host Tricks

Michelle Malkin discusses Bill O'Reilly's appearance on Late Night with David Letterman last night. The Political Teen has the video. Although he embarrassed himself, Letterman did his viewers a service by exhibiting the ignorance that is typical of the liberal entertainment elite. He argued facts with feelings and showed how much Hollywood mythology has become "known facts" in some circles.

Reasonable people can disagree on the war and there are many good arguments in opposition. In fact, O'Reilly was not defending his support for the war, but was making the point that we should be careful not to get into the "Bush lied" meme because there's no evidence that it's true and it does not advance any productive ideas about how best to prosecute the war going forward.

But, Letterman's Bush hatred was unambiguous and his meanness toward O'Reilly was audacious. Although he claims to have never watched his show and presumably doesn't know him personally, Letterman didn't show O'Reilly the common courtesy he affords his other guests. Rather, it appeared that he based his opinion of O'Reilly on things he's read (to which O'Reilly responded, "Aw, come on. You're going to take things that you have read knowing what they say about you?").

Virtually all the audience was sympathetic to Letterman's point-of-view, which is not surprising considering they came to see Dave's show. However, it's a little disheartening to see so many people acting so brashly while being so ill-informed. Even Dave had to (grudgingly) concede that he "wasn't smart enough to debate [O'Reilly] point-to-point on this..." It makes one wonder why he decided to be so hostile in the first place.

Memo to Dave: Stick to the stupid pet tricks.

Happy New Year

Here's to hoping that 2006 finds you happy and healthy.