It was a chilly Sunday night in early March, 1985. Sam is setting up to play another "All-Ages" gig with his local hardcore band. They do their soundcheck, what has become a running joke to do a "pop" song in a punk way. Tonight's choice was a hardcorish rendition of Devo's "Whip It." The soundman does his final checks and makes a few notes before having the band tuck their gear behind the stage to make tonight smooth. Sam's band is the #2 on a 3 Band bill. That means they will go on 2nd,...
Most people who are at all active in politics or have any interest in our government usually have their favorite ammendments to the Constitution. Some love the 1st Ammendment. Journalists, activists and anyone with an unpopular or at least a perceived minority voice will often cite their 1st ammendment rights to speech, religion and assembly. Some Love the 2nd Ammendment. Some to the point they fantasize about someone actually trying to pry the gun from their "cold, dead hands." Wh...
Time magazine has done a great article on JFK and some "behind the scenes" glimpses into the man behind the myth. Here's a taste. For the full article follow the link... John F. Kennedy's loyal White House aides, Kenneth O'Donnell and Dave Powers, titled their 1972 J.F.K. memoir Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye—despite the fact that they had served him since his days as a scrawny young congressional candidate in Boston. So it's no surprise that Americans are still trying to figure out nearly hal...
A lot of rhetoric gets spent in the political arena over our founding fathers and their intent in regards to our religious status as a nation. Many on the right contend that we are somehow a "christian" nation. Others, trying to seem more inclusive, call it a "judeo-christian" nation. But fact is, we're not. I've written in the past on this subject and have had discussions on the subject on other threads as well. I'm not gonna rehash old debates here, but just present a few key pieces...
This morning, when dropping my son off for school, a few students were putting the American Flag up for the day. Their handling of it was horrible. The flag was "bunched up" and not properly folded. It hit the ground several times while they were fumbling with it. And several other "violations" of how I was raised to handle our flag as well. The students in question are mostlikely in the 11 or 12 range roughly. At 1st, I was offended by the handling of the flag. Moreso, I was offended tha...