Les Paul, “Father of the Electric Guitar,” Dead at 94

I heard it on the car radio earlier today. Les Paul has died. For the past week, I’ve been reminiscing a lot about 1969. This weekend is the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival, and I don’t really have much desire to hear about it for days on end. But it does [...]

It’s About Who Decides (One More Time)

Being forced to die against my will would be terrifying. And I, personally, wouldn’t care whether the death panels making that decision were staffed by private bean counters from an insurance company — our current situation — or government bean counters from the Liberal Nazi Socialist Death Squad Agency — as imagined by the more [...]

The View From The Belly of The Beast: Part One

Wow, first post! Thanks to the other front-pagers for inviting me – I’m truly honored. I plan to do a three-part series on healthcare, with the first two parts detailing what is so wrong with the system, and the third part offering what I think are the solutions. I’ll be showing you what this looks [...]

Thursday Morning News: Summertime, summertime, sum-sum-summertime

At this time next week, I will be lolling on a beach in Maui.  Ahhhhh.   I can hardly wait to get out of the stifling humidity of NJ, a humidity I haven’t been able to escape now that my AC is kaput and I am determined to ride out the rest of the summer without [...]

Celebrating geezerdom

I saw what follows on the BBC, written by a young teenager and good sport named Scott Campbell. I laughed practically non-stop through the whole thing, coming at it from the geezer side myself. I have to share snippets with you. BBC | Giving up my iPod for a Walkman My dad had told me [...]

Racist Wanker

You may recall the original report about this story.  From the Merced Sun-Star: Violent and racist e-mail jokes alluding to the assassination of President Barack Obama, the killing of Latinos and violence against black people were forwarded by Atwater City Councilman Gary Frago during the last six months, according to more than 200 new e-mails [...]

Gun-packing Paultard Birther Idiot

The price of freedom is having to put up with morons like this: One of Tuesday’s big mysteries was the motivation behind anti-Obama protester William Kostric, the man who brought a loaded gun to the town hall meeting and carried a sign referencing Thomas Jefferson’s famous credo, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from [...]

Your Breakfast Read, Wednesday Edition

Heath Care Nightmare One of the most maligned persons in the whole debate takes the stand. It was all started by Betsy McCaughey (who else as soon as it’s about reforming health-care?) Ezekiel Emanuel, Obama’s ‘Deadly Doctor,’ Strikes Back Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, the medical ethicist and oncologist who advises President Obama, does not own a [...]

Death Panels? They Already Exist

At a town hall meeting today in New Hampshire, President Obama “debunked” what he termed “wild misrepresentations,” including the notion that the final health care bill will not contain provisions for “death panels that will pull the plug on grandma.” That’s great news. Does that mean that the bill will force insurance companies to change [...]

This is what a feminist looks like

From the New York Times: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton toured an African refugee camp Tuesday crowded with victims of violence and malnutrition, pledging $17 million in American aid to help stem the tide of rampant sexual abuse that has staggered war-ravaged eastern Congo. Clinton’s voice cracked with emotion as she described an [...]