Desicritics Author: Temple Stark

CD Review: For The Rest Of Us - Telescope

Temple Stark — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:38:17 EDT

A lot of new music gets by on just being new - for about two or three listens. And then it fades away. The best thing about these guys, the band Telescope, compared to others, is their sincerity. Lead singer Seth Holland drives crackling sincerity through every word and the musicians emphasize the erupting emotions.

The 10-track album, For The Rest Of Us — download it free for the moment — is packed with self-described power pop. Think Candlebox, or a hugely more meaningful, less cheesy, Hootie & The Blowfish. Or a talented, cringeless Jonas Brothers.

Overall, Telescope's music is lighter melodic rock rather than the heavy side of things. I'm not sure if they amp it all up live, but if they do, the songs have the strength for different interpretations.

Their most popular tune, "Stormy Weather," brings to mind the mid-90s band, Live. The song is a very mellow, bare-boned production that naturally brings the lyrics and what's being said into focus.

From my, admittedly limited, foraging around their various online locations, "Stormy Weather" also seems to encapsulate the mindset of the band. Here's the band's philosophy, as noted on a recent blog post:

There are countless numbers of other people out there doing the exact same thing we are. Doing the best they can, maybe just scraping by, and struggling through the hardships that it takes to create, all for the sake of attempting to make the world feel something, even if only for moments at a time. Those moments are ultimately why we do what we do.

So, the Flagstaff foursome aren't spending all their time trying to be something hugely different. While "being different" is a more than admirable goal, it can have tragic consequences if that difference includes not being musically appealing whatsoever.

"Sideline Suicide" is timeless, could be from mid-70s to anytime after. Though the subject matter may not indicate it, this one's the most catchy, the most sing-along.

"Breaking Into Spring," with soaring vocals at times, is another that delivers more questions, more exploration, than answers — "Is anybody in there listening?" But music, when it seeks meaning, is about exploring and exploiting mysteries.

It, too, is hopeful.

Clearly there's a lot of emphasis and effort on lyrics; there's a desire to say something. Telescope has a big-picture vision.

I have been morally deficient in listening to new music in the last few months. Contributing factors and all that. So, when someone ups and offers their album for free, well. And when they happen to announce they're holding a free concert at a place I can easily get to, Tempe, Arizona, about 20 miles away from me, l get all juicy about freedom. The concert is Aug. 15 (Friday) at Tempe Marketplace, starting at 7 p.m.

The timing is perfect. A lot of these songs - "Look At You Now", "Shine on Me", "Trying" - it seems, would be perfect listening as the sun goes down on a hot day.

----
Band members:
Seth Holland - Vocals, guitars
Mike Seitz - Guitar, vocals, keyboards
Jason Holland - Bass
Seth Johnson - Drums

MS: myspace.com/telescopemusic

WS: telescopeband.com

Label: Skyrocket Entertainment

Fiction: Unfinished

Temple Stark — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:40:49 EDT

"Wait!" I screamed after her. "Your hat!"

She ignored me, which was to be expected. We hadn't talked, not really anyway, in more than 10 years. I scooped up her black hat. The mesh veil fluttered beneath my fingers ...

I'd come back to my hometown to visit my family. They had rejected me, tearfully, yes, but they had indeed said goodbye to me, my lifestyle and, seemingly my past. Given no choice, I had done the same and lived, happily but under a persistent shadow.

My parents had died two years ago, my brother and sister last year. I had only found out a couple of months ago in a conversation with an old teacher.

Deeply wounded, I blamed everyone who had blamed me - for something I couldn't control. Speciously my anger re-ignited at the dead.

There, here again now, was pain on top of pain and I thought I would never return. But holiday weekend plans had fallen apart and I found myself booking a flight and taking off toward the blues.

Such a small town, there were only three graveyards. Having slept overnight in a quiet motel along Main Street, having been slightly afraid to go to any restaurants, not knowing how her life had been shaped by tongues in her absence or who she might meet, she stayed inside, ordering pizza and watching ghastly TV while feeling equally horrible.

The veil in her hand showed that someone close to Theresa had died and it hurt not to be able to hold her as I had before.

The veil in her hand, the material now rubbed between my fingers, was so soft, as Theresa had been and would always be.

The veil in her hand, I suddenly pulled close to my breast and without warning drenched it in streaming tears.

Just a few minutes ago I had visited my family's graves, all four, all rigidly upright, with cold words facing me.

I had not cried, which hurt. I had placed four sets of wide-open irises down. Precisely, neatly.

The group of people in black drew me. I'd been just out of earshot. Feeling it would replace the funerals that I had missed I drew closer, trying to stay near to my family but drawn to the sights and sounds of the other.

The wind made me draw even closer, perhaps more than I intended and I listened to the words of remembrance, remorse and respect. I wished they echoed for my family but there was only regret. Regret that the rift that had forced me away had never been repaired.

But I had lived.

As the whispers of the last words faded away and sobs and sniffles walked away I approached the gravesite, perhaps to expect that I might know the dead. And the name was there, Mildred Overton, etched whitely, newly into stone.

Michael Overton, who had died in a war I had lived through but not known; her husband's name was weathered and smoothed by the passing years.

And, still shocked that someone I had indeed known well, was dead before me I looked up and saw Theresa. No one had been near when I walked up so boldly, yet something brought her to me, as it had 17 years before.

I recognized her instantly, heightened by her mother's name on the gravestone I'm sure, but she also looked so much the same and walked in the same graceful way. I think she approached me as a stranger to wonder who was mourning for her mother who hadn't been there just minutes before.

I think Theresa had wanted a quiet moment alone, with a mother who always understood, who had always been by her side, fighting the battles that I knew must have come to the both of them, mother and daughter.

I wasn't wearing a black dress. Instead, my dress was the blue shade of a dusk just after the last rays of sunlight had disappeared. At least that was what crossed my mind when I bought it.

I couldn't say anything as she approached, not that I even thought to. I did quickly think back a decade ago, when I had said too much.

She came closer but as I again looked up to face her, Theresa stopped. She looked so much the same, including the horrified and scared look on her face I had seen that last time. Though she started to say my name she instead turned sharply and walked rapidly away.

My breath went out of my body. I blinked away the sudden blur in my vision and that's when I saw the hat, lying there.

Theresa must have let it, unthinkingly, slip from her grasp in her urge to get away. With that thought of the past and present in my head, I bent to pick up her hat, calling at the same time, perhaps more loudly than I thought at the time, desperate to explain and to listen. But Theresa, too, never looked back as she disappeared.

_________________
NOTE: This was written in 25 minutes, an extension of a 10-minute writing exercise to continue on after the first two lines ending in "fluttered beneath my fingers ..." There's actually even more I can easily see doing to expand this story even more. And fix the first person / third person confusion throughout

Book Review: Young Dick Cheney: Great American

Temple Stark — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:36:42 EDT

Who is a less caring person than Dick Cheney? Think about it a few moments and the names you can come up with live in the annals of political and global horror. They are loved by only the sickest people on the planet. Or academics.

It's hard to think on that too much without becoming melancholy and a touch depressed. That's where Young Dick Cheney: Great American (Alternet Books) comes in. The authors, Bruce Kluger and David Slavin, offer a comprehensive and expansive detailed narrative of Cheney's childhood - in a fictional, mocking way.

Go into this book, expecting to laugh and expecting a simple approach to satire. Thankfully, the only things tortured here are puns and your groan muscles.

Who'da thunk that a person could read about Dick Cheney and enjoy it?

Young Dick Cheney offers a respectful look at the Cheney years from birth to soul death - a span of about 18 years.

Respectful of the truth, naturally, not the man.

This underrated expose on Dick Cheney's Nebraska childhood and formative years offers a keen insight into what branded the current vice-president a real Dick. It wasn't just the Lazy Eight Fork to the rear.

The authors describe their pocket-sized work as an "inspiring and sometimes even true childhood story of Richard B. Cheney, a secretive yet sensitive boy with a shoot-from-the-hip, shoot-in-the-face style all his own."

Best of all there's James Thurber-esque simple illustrations by rather than photos so readers don't get that Gorgon effect of looking into his eyes and having all their emotions irreversibly turn to stone.

Young Dick Cheney does not, however, offer any details on how he received his training as a Sith Lord.

BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN

Just in time to laugh, not cry, comes this over-the-top and mercifully short book. It achieves the near impossible by making you feel sorry for the guy - the fake guy in the book, anyway.

Child abuse, neglect, isolation, murder nor prostitution feature in Dick's childhood. No, those all came later in life, during his time in government.

From the book's dedication to the Constitution and the Ativa SX180D shredder, the book offers straightforward fictionalized biography with wickedly clever one liners strung end to end. Phrases and passages cause a variety of reactions from snorting recognition of humor ("The brutal blizzard that beat down on Lincoln the night of Young Dick's birth was somehow different. For one thing it was July.") to moments that bring tears to your eyes and sweat glands.

This passage gives a flavor of the humor, a mixture of subtle and in-your face (oh, sorry) at the same time.

Bundling up Young Dick in the business section from that morning’s newspaper, Jedediah and Mary Todd began the long journey home with their new child - walking down the straw path that led from his stable, then trudging through the deep midsummer snow that carpeted the seven-mile road that led out of town.

The moment the Cheneys stepped through their front door, the proud new parents got back to work. Mary Todd resumed her chores - finishing the wood-splitting she’d started before she went into labor, preparing the family meal, mopping up her amniotic fluid - while Jedediah placed Dick in a hickory crib that he’d carved from scraps of wood he’d found behind Clem Cullen’s casket factory.

As the weary couple dug into a warm supper of possum and root stew, Young Dick lay on his back in his new cradle, staring at the ceiling, his eyes open and unblinking.

Deep within the forests that surrounded the Cheney homestead, wolves howled into the dark night sky.

We get Dick's puppeteering hobby later used to good effect with US Presidents, his tendency to shoot mothers, friends and postman in the face, roustabouts with friends Donny and Scooter, his preference for working away from the spotlight, and his early addiction to oil which manifests itself into a pre-teen ground sniffing career and a desire to lay waste to nature.

And those are just the true parts, obviously.

Here's a final passage illustrating how Dick got his direction and purpose in life:

One sunny spring day when Dick was four years old, he was playing in his front yard with a beach ball. A gift from his parents, the inflatable sphere was painted to resemble the earth, and Young Dick took great delight in making it bounce any way he wanted it to. He also liked kicking it around.

Suddenly, the ball took a wild spin and rolled off in the direction of the driveway, coming to a stop beneath the back wheels of Mr. Cheney’s ’38 Packard.

Crawling beneath the car for the ball, Young Dick was startled by a sudden reflection. Just beneath the tail pipe, the sun illuminated a small, sparkling black puddle, creating the most beautiful rainbow Young Dick had ever seen. He was drawn to it, like a kitten to a dish of really dark milk.

Dick slid on his belly, closer to the inky slick. He smelled it - it was sweet and inviting. He touched it - it was wet and silky. Then he tasted it.

Suddenly the cramped space beneath the Packard seemed to glow, as if lit by the heavens above. Sprawled on his stomach and breathing heavily, Young Dick swore he could hear music - just like the songs of worship he heard every Sunday at St. Agnes’ Weeping Face of Christ Pentecostal Church. A tingle of excitement ran up his short, thick legs.

Tossing aside the earth ball, Young Dick slithered out from under the car and darted inside.

“Pa!” he shouted, bursting into the parlor and thrusting his hand beneath his father’s face. “I found this under your car! What is it?”

Jedediah took a long look at his son’s moist black finger, then smiled.

“Why, that’s oil, son,” he said. “You know: Black gold. Texas tea.”

Young Dick looked confused.

“It’s what makes cars run,” he continued patiently. “And tractors. And aeroplanes. And machines. It’s found underground, all over the earth. And people pay millions of dollars for it.”

That was when Young Dick Cheney had his first heart attack.

It's funny and a stress-leaving read. Some of the jokes are easy but still ridiculously funny. Buy this one, take a bottle, drink it down, and pass it around. It's a quick burst of humor, and with Cheney's popularity as an adult at 15 percent, most everyone you know will enjoy Young Dick ...

Try not to be too depressed by the unhappy ending we've all been witness to.

MLK: As Close To The Ideal American As We Have Produced

Temple Stark — Fri, 4 Apr 2008 05:12:24 EDT

And another reason that I'm happy to live in this period is that we have been forced to a point where we're going to have to grapple with the problems that men have been trying to grapple with through history, but the demands didn't force them to do it. Survival demands that we grapple with them. Men, for years now, have been talking about war and peace. But now, no longer can they just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; it's nonviolence or nonexistence.
-- Martin Luther King, April 3, 1968, "I've Been To the Mountaintop"

There are so many things to discuss, and such a long history wrapped up in Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. legacy for this country that I'm just going to take the simple approach at this point.

His words and his actions speak to so much America likes to think of itself - peaceful, unifying, strong in the face of difficult odds, noble and graceful to all others.

So many of King's words ring true today as eternal truths. Many others were a product of their times, spoken at the moment of the moment, yet they are now squashed into differently shaped voids that people want them to fit into.

He was a man who could truly deliver his words of simple humanity and civil rights to pull the good of a person to the surface. Equally important, he acted on those words and lived by the words he spoke. You cannot ask for anything more of a person. And, yet 40 years ago, on April 4, 1968, he gave more.

King knew the clouds of death were building around him. He knew his abilities to gather strength for a just cause, for a humane cause, for a worthy cause, for an epic cause were - at that time - pushing many uncomfortable buttons for a large minority of people.

He didn't let that stop him. Even had he not been assassinated, his personal and societal legacy would have remained. King was smart enough - with the thousands who marched and stood with him to shape a country to his dream. It was not all realized at once but as the country has continued and matured his presence stands tall as an example of how to change the world and how to achieve goals without trading in dignity or integrity.

There are few who are as important to the ideals and future of this country. There are few such massive societal shifts left to move.

Movements, always forward.

Never surrender yourself to base elements.

Always reach for the ideal in at least one direction.

Movements, always forward.

Barack Obama on Pastor's Statement - Race & Political Advantage

Temple Stark — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:24:23 EDT

On a topic specifically centering around controversial statements from Barack Obama's pastor for 20 years, it's tough to get into the meat of the matter because a lot of the underlying issues addressed are so important. The stakes are high, and the trigger for outrage from all "sides" is quick.

Yes, sadly, there still are sides. If someone brings this up, they lose just by "bringing race" into the campaign. Oh it's already been broughten.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright is a profound inspiration who married the Obamas and who gave Obama the title of his book, Audacity of Hope. He is not an occasional, once a week, mouthpiece. He is part of Obama's African American Religious Leadership campaign steering committee, and is listed there as "Senator Barack Obama's Pastor."

Is it fair or completely impolitic to ask why there aren't also committees for other religions? It's a tough question to ask, because then the one asking starts to appear as if they are attacking Obama.

There is absolutely no doubt, as Obama says below in his statement, that Wright has done a great deal of good and is a person many of us could only hope to become.

But Wright, regularly convolutes politics and religion in his sermons. Right or wrong. (Videos here and here) In the statements causing controversy now ("Hilary ain't never been called a nigger"), Wright brings up Clinton's name repeatedly in poor contrast to Obama. To say the least.

John McCain has evangelists who support him, who he recruited, who do the same. And Hillary Clinton has no religious support because she's a godless Communist. That's sarcasm.

"God damn America"? From the pulpit? That particular statement is in Jerry Falwell territory isn't it? Is it believable, as Obama asserts, that he never saw this side of Wright? Or that Wright would have only spoke up on this when Obama wasn't in the congregation? Who knows whether Obama has ever spoken to Wright before now about his words?

There are serious underlying issues that Wright is speaking about but there are different ways to address them, some incite anger and self-pity and some heal and offer solutions.

Wright's claims in the public sermon that is being given a wider airing - and meant to come with the authority of God - are at least equal in two-tone thinking to Geraldine Ferraro's comments which amounted to saying affirmative action created Obama, and nothing else.

Also, isn't there a timeline concern? In his statement below, Obama writes "When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign." But this speech was made in Dec. 2007, clearly almost a year, at least, after Obama's campaign started.

Barack Obama cannot turn his back on such a close friend and important person in his life, because that would raise further questions about Wright's influence.

The country's discussion about race could be going on with solutions and healing in mind. But still the country avoids it in favor of political advantage.

Obama's released statement:

On My Faith and My Church

The pastor of my church, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who recently preached his last sermon and is in the process of retiring, has touched off a firestorm over the last few days. He's drawn attention as the result of some inflammatory and appalling remarks he made about our country, our politics, and my political opponents.

Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy. I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it's on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue.

Because these particular statements by Rev. Wright are so contrary to my own life and beliefs, a number of people have legitimately raised questions about the nature of my relationship with Rev. Wright and my membership in the church. Let me therefore provide some context.

As I have written about in my books, I first joined Trinity United Church of Christ nearly twenty years ago. I knew Rev. Wright as someone who served this nation with honor as a United States Marine, as a respected biblical scholar, and as someone who taught or lectured at seminaries across the country, from Union Theological Seminary to the University of Chicago. He also led a diverse congregation that was and still is a pillar of the South Side and the entire city of Chicago. It's a congregation that does not merely preach social justice but acts it out each day, through ministries ranging from housing the homeless to reaching out to those with HIV/AIDS.

Most importantly, Rev. Wright preached the gospel of Jesus, a gospel on which I base my life. In other words, he has never been my political advisor; he's been my pastor. And the sermons I heard him preach always related to our obligation to love God and one another, to work on behalf of the poor, and to seek justice at every turn.

The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation. When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign. I made it clear at the time that I strongly condemned his comments. But because Rev. Wright was on the verge of retirement, and because of my strong links to the Trinity faith community, where I married my wife and where my daughters were baptized, I did not think it appropriate to leave the church.

Let me repeat what I've said earlier. All of the statements that have been the subject of controversy are ones that I vehemently condemn. They in no way reflect my attitudes and directly contradict my profound love for this country.

With Rev. Wright's retirement and the ascension of my new pastor, Rev. Otis Moss, III, Michelle and I look forward to continuing a relationship with a church that has done so much good. And while Rev. Wright's statements have pained and angered me, I believe that Americans will judge me not on the basis of what someone else said, but on the basis of who I am and what I believe in; on my values, judgment and experience to be President of the United States.

NY Gov. Spitzer Succumbs to 'Professional' Needs

Temple Stark — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:47:26 EDT

Eliot Spitzer rode into the governor's mansion in 2006 at the crest of a wave of successful battles in court as the states' attorney general.

The first-term New York governor has now been implicated in "involvement with a prostitution ring."

This phrase, used repeatedly will not give Democrats great pleasure. What it means is not known at this time, but Spitzer has already come out and apologized in a manner that makes it sound as if he hired a hooker.

According to the Associated Press his statement was in part,

I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family ... my sense of right and wrong," he said at a news conference at his Manhattan office. "I must now dedicate some time to rededicate my trust to my family

It is unclear when the pay-for-play dalliance is supposed to have taken place. A New York Times report, however puts Feb. 13 as a possible time for the governor to exercise his executive privilege through the "escort" Web site, Emperors Club VIP.

Hey, perhaps he just mixed up the words, "prosecutional" and "prostitution"? Or "propositional"? Perhaps, not.

Tobacco Is Our Middle Name: US Brands Going Away Soon

Temple Stark — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 14:34:48 EDT

"Tobacco is our middle name."

Indeed that was American Brands' cigarette slogan that since has been updated to "Cancer is our middle name."

I don't know the ubiquitous Desi brands that perhaps need to go to the big ad agency in the sky, but I bet there are a few that people would like to (re-record, not) fade away.

An article by 247wallstreet - which is close to my vision of hell but without the country karaoke bar - lists 10 commercial names likely to disappear faster than "a child (who) is an island of curiosity surrounded by a sea of question marks." (Shell Oil. Left unsaid are the questions at least two of which had to be, "How did I get into this commercial?" and "Can I get off this island, like now?")

The by-goners are:

1. Yahoo! - a big tech name that Microsoft is hunting down like a child molester with a hard on.

2. Vonage - Phones and Voice Over Internet Protocol. Yeah, I think their advertisements (Hitting women in the head with manuals, the whoo-hoo whoo-hoo-hoo jingle) pretty much doomed them early, though the article points to, ya know, their service being offered free by other companies as at least an equal contributing factor.

3. Old Navy - Really? They're at least a half-step above K-Mart*** .... But Morgan Fairchild in them is so sweeeeeeeeet. Almost as lovable as Joan "paper-thin or plastic" Rivers. Really. Fleece baby, and, no, that's not a sexual position, AFAIK. Then again, in their other commercials there was really great music**** that , er, um really wipes the floor with Feist's 1-2-3-4. Damn. With faint praise.

4. Gateway. Yeah once you shut down all your retail stores and aren't seen anywhere, it's only one small mouse click to non-existence. They actually made decent computers but what almost killed Apple - exclusivity, non-sharing of technology - has killed this computer brand. It's going to be bought by Acer.

5. Dodge. Chrysler, now in the hands of a big ole investment firm, thinks there's too many brands in their company's garage. Since most people know cars today are all the same, the Dodge is a waste of $$$s. But Dodge has an amazing history of class and great cars; far more than Ford, except for the 'Stang.

6. Circuit City. Proof that expertise really isn't desired by the American consumer. Though customer service to get a whiff of that expertise is (WARNING, mini-rant ahead), and my last interaction with their staff - and there haven't been many - showed that they really could care less if you shopped there if you so much as say, hey, you're open can I buy my products and they say, no you have to go to that line, which is also the Returns line and there just so happens to be a lady there with two kids who keeps on asking questions, which makes sense since she was probably being given the runaround. Meanwhile the line has about 20 people in it. So I finally raise a bit of a stink because people are mumbling why the store can't get their ass in gear while about 30 employees are just walking around the aisles admiring their nails. The women, too.

7. K-Mart. Daaaaaaaaamn. Okay Sears bought 'em and most people I knew thought they'd closed up shop a long time. Just Like Roebuck. A few years ago, KMart closed a few hundred stores around the country that we'ren't kain gany money, which left them with just one store in downtown Hoboken, New Jersey.

Actually, they've been my anecdote for omnipresent Wal-Mart and they don't do a half bad job if you like silence and are afraid of crowds. or meeting people. Meeting anyone. I think having the Martha Stewart brand and face staring at you down every aisle would pretty much make the shopping experience similar to getting a massage from Edward Scissorhands or having Henry Kissinger lick his lips in your general direction. The staring, cold, bloodless eyes of a convicted criminal can get kind of wearing. And, no, I don't mean Kissinger.

8. Nationwide? Who? Insurance? OK. Allstsate means the same thing, right(?) and AllState actually has a Web site that doesn't look like a template placeholder until someone buys the domain. One less insurance company frankly isn't going to matter. There's a billion. They're like farts. One explodes, there will always be five more to take their place the next day, right after lunch.

9. XM Satellite Radio . They have more subscribers than Sirius, but less start-up money in an entire industry that's still losing money hand over ears. I checked out both around Christmas and sports and talk radio is pretty much what's driving them because the music selections I saw were just genre labels and sucked out loud. There is no young audience and no reason for one, because, really, most people want to watch sports.

10. E*Trade. Too good to be true? Yeah I thought so to and the great brains behind it thought overloading their investments in mortgages to the tune of $12 billion large would be a great idea.

*** Disclosure, I actually buy a fair percentage of clothes at K-Mart. They always seem to have clothes long enough for me. I don't know why.

**** One of these songs was Take Me The Way I Am by Ingrid Michaelson, who looks just like former MTV VJ (that's Video Jockey and did not in any way orginate the Vah-Jay-Jay) But then again, this person, Crissy Sandman, who I don't know and I don't think is famous at all sings it much better:

US Bombs Somalia, Sticks Her Nose in Palestinian and Colombian Affairs

Temple Stark — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 18:10:48 EST

Really, I'm as pro-American as anyone when it comes to the belief of the potential and power and generosity of the country, my country. But it gets involved where it is often unwelcome, and where it won't at all benefit the situation. How often does it do good?

A trifecta of such adventures hit home this week.

SOMALIA
On Sunday and Monday in hits meant to go against Al Qaeda in southern Somalia, it was, it appears, regular citizens in the area who suffered the most by losing their lives.

The Somalian government, not yet completely in place, said 27 civilians were killed, the BBC reported. The new government would have ostensibly have benefited after having just fought back control over the group Union of Islamic Courts took over much of the south. Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf backed the American action.

The next day, there were anti-American protests in the small town of Dobley, with about 600 people taking part.

The likely target was Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a Kenyan who is thought to have a major role in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. It was 257 people who were killed at that time.

Colombia
"The United States stands with Colombia."

President Bush popped his mouth off about Colombia it would seem just to get in another dig at Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Chavez deserves much criticism but do Bushes words help or hinder a solution? Bush said he would side with Colombia in any acts of aggression towards it. Again, he's talking about war.

Venezuelan and Ecuadorean soldiers massed on their respective Colombian borders after Colombian forces crossed into Equador, without notice or permission to go after a senior rebel figure Luis Edgar Devia Silva (aka Raul Reyes), second in command of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, who was killed. The Colombian government also said they had evidence of Venezuelan support of FARC.

America supports Colombia's uninvited incursion into another country because it likes to do the same.

"America will continue to stand with Colombia as it confronts violence and terror and fights drug traffickers," said President Bush, who has transformed anti-drug aid into anti-terror funding.

When I hear of such things, I always try and think how the American government and American people would react if Canadian or Mexican troops did the same thing. You know the answer and the American government action, would be similar, especially in the case of Mexico.

Bush used the mini-crisis as an opportunity to say a free-trade agreement was absolutely necessary for "economic security." Cynical? It has been turned away by Congress because of what its opponents think are poor human rights and labor rights standards.

Is it worth bringing up that America is loudest against another heavy oil-bearing country? It's hard to say, but it's equally hard to deny the coincidence.

Ecuador President Rafael Correa said the Colombian actions had disrupted negotiations for political prisoners, including former Colombian Sen. Ingrid Betancourt. Correa immediately cut off diplomatic relations with Colombia and brought troops to the border.

WEST BANK AND GAZA
To use understatement to it's fullest, America has been involved in the Israel-Palestinian "troubles." For decades. It entirely depends on how you view Democracy - and, I guess, this whole article rests on that positioning - but the anti-Israeli Hamas government has been shunned by American officials and authorities. In a very strong comparison, it's as if the Irish Republican Army had taken power in Northern Ireland in the mid-1980s.

This one perhaps can be viewed in a much more stark, and different light because of Hamas' violent actions. It's not as cut and dry.

But a plot to overthrow the Hamas government and Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has been revealed this week. An incompetent plot, which underlines the global sigh of relief when George Bush leaves office that will cause the temperature of the earth to rise 2 degrees for a week. Like many Americans have come to realize, a good idea in the hands of President Bush and his administration rots and spoils. sometimes it explodes.

Simply put, Vanity Fair reported that the president, deputy National Security Advisor Elliott Abrams and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice decided to overthrow the newly elected Hamas government that won 56 percent of the vote in 2006. They armed the Fatah "movement" to do the deed, but it didn't work.

Supplied arms. Like the main issue behind Iran-Contra. Eliott Abrams was also a significant part of that Reagan-era scandal.

Tom Casey, a State Department spokesperson said the country was forbidden by law from furnishing arms to Fatah.

"The [Vanity Fair] story alleges that there was some kind of secret plot on the part of the U.S. government to create an internal conflict within the Palestinians, specifically an armed conflict," Casey said in a statement. "That's absurd. That's ridiculous."

The effort energized Hamas, who took control of the Gaza Strip and united the "country" more behind it, though certainly not entirely. The move was internationally condemned.

The Jerusalum Post reported that "David Wurmser, who resigned as Vice President Dick Cheney's chief Middle East adviser a month after the Hamas takeover, said he believed that Hamas had no intention of taking over the Gaza Strip until Fatah forced its hand."

America, as many other countries, do a lot of good with their voice, with its power to draw a consensus. With weapons it hasn't fared out as well for the country or the world.

How Does The World Treat Fidel Castro's Resignation?

Temple Stark — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 11:19:15 EST

Only in America is Fidel Castro despised to such an extent as to have shaped the country's hemispheric foreign policy for 50 years.

It's been a wasted 50 years of name-calling, blockades, barriers and imposing embargo, all of which may have to change if Fidel Castro goes through with his pledge to not ask for a renomination to a new term when the Cuban National Assembly meets Sunday.

For the last 18 months Castro, 81, has been sick enough to not make many public appearances at all. In a statement, with shades of Lyndon Johnson's words, Castro made it clear he did not want to continue as president or commander-in-chief.

"To my dear compatriots, who gave me the immense honour in recent days of electing me a member of parliament ... [I] communicate to you that I neither will aspire to nor will I accept - I repeat - I neither will aspire to nor will I accept, the position of president of the council of state and commander in chief. It would betray my conscience to take up a responsibility that requires mobility and total devotion, that I am not in physical condition to offer."

Castro has been better received in other countries, though many of his tactics of freedom of speech have been universally decried.

There are many examples where India's and Castro's paths crossed. In 1983 Indira Gandhi was elected chairperson of the Non-Aligned Movement, following Fidel Castro's anti-fructuous leadership of the time. Fidel Castro first came to India in 1973 to talk about peace. Indira Gandhi held a dinner in his honor.

"We offer our sincere friendship and deep sympathy and strongest solidarity in your struggle," Castro said at the time. "In your efforts to overcome underdevelopment in meeting the great problems you are facing and in implementing the policy of independence and peace."

The relationships continued all the way through to 2006 when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Castro at the Communisty Party headquarters in Cuba. At the time, Hindustan Times quoted Singh being complimentary of America's bugaboo: "I had a memorable meeting with President Castro...That's a meeting I will always remember, forever. I felt I was in the presence of one of the greatest men of our times."

A more detailed snapshot of recent Cuban-India relationships comes with this interview with Cuba's Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque on the occasion of his visit to India last year.

Again, this will be a big deal for America more than any other country, whose citizens will likely just shrug and wonder what America will do next.

Somewhat predictably, President Bush talks about yet another area where the United States will spread democracy, and he does so with belligerence. "I believe that the change from Fidel Castro ought to begin a period of a democratic transition ... Eventually this transition ought to lead to free and fair elections, and I mean free and I mean fair, not these kind of staged elections that the Castro brothers try to foist off as being true democracy. ... The United States will help the people of Cuba realize the blessings of liberty."

Doesn't seem as if that will help, does it?

If the Republican presidential race had any juice left in it, this would suddenly be the topic du jour toward manly statements. It will likely still come up as candidates strain to give the country credit for the ... voluntary resignation due to health concerns after 49 years. Both Republican and Democratic candidates and Congressmembers will likely have a few words about Fidel's almost certain successor, his 76-year-old brother, Raul Castro. Thought must already go to who will succeed Raul.

Nowhere will the bellicosity be as loud as in races around Florida's Miama-Dade Congressional Districts, with the likes of Joe Garcia, Annette Taddeo, and Dave Weldon.

See a photo gallery of Castro through the years, from high school on.

A 70s Love Child Reviews The 50th Grammy Awards

Temple Stark — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 00:42:07 EST

The Grammys is the best of the awards shows.

Kanye West's "Stronger" is actually a weak song, and it was the first song of his that made me think he could really be using his abilities to come up with much more meaningful songs. He also sang, Mama, and as he sang it was when i remembered that his mother died last year, suddenly and sadly. i had panned that song somewhat when i reviewed the album because a lot of rappers seem to have some type of basic, nothing-new-to-say "Thanks ma" song.

Of course, this rendition, this time, took on a depth of meaning he wished it had not. And it was largely acoustic which made it stronger.

The Beatles songs were also good because they were different from the originals. "A Day In the Life" is just different anyway and one of my favorite Beatles' songs. Since i haven't seen "Across the Universe" the "Let It Be" version was new to me. And judging by how much they were advertising the thing on DVD, I'm guessing not many others saw it either.

The Time and Rihanna were OK, The Time have lost a little energy and edge over time, without the trappings of Purple Rain.

Beyonce just isn't that impressive by herself or singing music meant for her. She's very good in collaboration, and with Destiny's Child. With Jay-Z. With Shakira. With Tina Turner - tonight with Proud Mary. I noticed, couldn't help it really, the plastic surgery of TT's face, kind of sad. Elsewhere too, of course, but now it looks like its painful for her to sing. I would have loved if she had said something along the lines of, good riddance to Ike, her former abusive husband. but I suppose making it clear she's moved past that is more powerful.

It was also good to see Tina, finally, with a booty.

I almost forgot Fergie and John Legend's joint production. Fergie has a surprisingly good voice - more Aguilera than Akon.

I guess I should give Amy Winehouse a listen, but her antics are pretty disgusting and completely meant to shock it seems. Hate that. None of it makes me want to listen. She's won two Grammys so far, though. I have a strong feeling I did start listening to one of her songs, probably "Rehab" and actually didn't like it at all.

I missed whatever the opening number was by the way.

Foo Fighters. That song started and the first thing that came to mind was Patrick Swayze's "She's Like the Wind." After that, no matter how rocking it was going to be, it was ruined for me. I wish the violinists and cello player in their whatever that was "moment in the spotlight" mini-competition had been able to play longer instead of The Foos.

Having just watched the first season of Arrested Development on DVD, it was good to see Jason Bateman.

I guess I'll be able to listen to Amy Winehouse, who wisely was pre-recorded [Late correction, no she wasn't] in case she went on a Aerosol binge and fell down the stairs prior to the Grammys.

It's the 50th Grammys by the way. I'm going to be looking for some type of apparel of that - or playing cards or shot glasses. Poker chips?

I had to make sure i was hearing some of the stupid shit coming out of Brad Paisley's mouth before I said it was stupid and shit. " I'd like to check you for ticks? Waa th fuuuuuuck? "Jeans playing peek-a-boo with your butterfly tattoo." Seriously? "I'd like to kiss you deep in the sticks." (OK, I kinda liked that last one). Truly, there must've been something better for him to sing, to highlight country of the evening?

Apparently not.

The "retired" Jay-Z's name has been mentioned a few times. The first award of the evening I cared about was the Best Rap / Hip-Hop Album went to Kanye West's "Graduation."

"You going to play the music over me?"
"It would be in good taste to stop the music, now."
Quote of the evening, so far, as the "see ya, so long" music played and he spoke about his mother, Donda. Truly the mini-speech was somewhat self-serving, saying she would want him to be the biggest artist in the world. Still, it's true, I think, otherwise he wouldn't say it.

Ludacris introducing gospel, the Queen of Soul - and mentioning Cab Calloway - hooray - that was pretty awesome. It was trombone's that played instead of trumpets, unless the trumpets just weren't on the screen. The gospel medley didn't work to well, for me. Gospel builds to something higher. Little snippets don't let the material breath and find their power.

20:55 time check

Fiest, Canadian. 1-2-3-4 is way too light. From Apple to spotlight. The brass was a nice touch. If she'd brought the guitar - it was a nice guitar - out more it would have worked well. But too light.

Keely Smith won the first ever grammy for best performance by a vocalist. I hope she wasn't forced into singing with Kid Rock and she wanted to do it. Kid Rock is surprisingly versatile copying styles. Martha Stewart and Busta Rhymes anyone? "This Old Black Magic Called Love." Thankfully short because it was just awkward.

Best Rock Album - John Fogherty???? Gag. Back to the old. Springsteen for once might have deserved it but I'm glad he didn't get it. The Foo Fighters won???? Well, OK, Springsteen was better than this album by a long shot. And I like the Foo like I like Barack Obama. In other words, I do, but reluctantly and not my first choice.

Slayer won a Heavy Metal award. Surprising there's still a category, but I guess the Rock category is, well see above. in the scrawl.

By the way, I am enjoying the show in case that wasn't clear and it may not be.

Alicia Keys was aiiight. It's a song that has great words, said earnestly. Herbie Hancock, Itzhak Pealman and Max Roach playing together was much more in the mood for the evening. What's that, they didn't all play together? Well the rambling speech by whoever got me completely confused as to what was going on. The music - Rhapsody in Blue - just the music, without campy Gershwin musical singing over it was great. The dueling pianos - we definitely could have had more of that, and the Halloween theme moments lurking in the background of the piece. Ah, rhapsody. The eager hug of the pianists at the end was pretty cool too.

Taylor Swift, after that great music step, went straight into clumsy script. Cough.

Best rap collaboration as a separate award? OK. most everything is a collaboration. Winners were Rihanna and Jay-Z for "Umbrella."

I'm just glad Jordin Sparks' "Tattoo." didn't win a fucking thing. That is the ass-whipingest dumbest song ever. She was great at the Super Bowl, but on my heart like a tattoo just doesn't work for imagery. No heart has a tattoo. Many tattoos are hearts but ...

"We honestly didn't know whether this woman would be available to perform tonight. Cuba Gooding Jr. (????why) about Amy Winehouse, both in London. Translation - "She coulda been dead y'all."

After listening to her now, other than some serious mumbling, and rambling music that seems to have no beginning, middle or end - not too bad at all. I like distinction in voice, even if it doesn't go anywhere (cf. Tori Amos, Bjork). She can't dance but she moves well. I really want to listen to more now but since I'm already tired of her foolishness, it's likely to be a quick hook. A little too much coquet in the "dish." I don't believe the surprise. Fragile? Maybe emotionally.

Doris Day? No way. She won today? No way. Lifetime achievement, you say? No way.

"For my Blake, incarcerated." Gotta love that from Winehouse. Perhaps the second best line of the night. One of the strangest speeches, no doubt. I actually liked that, though. At least it wasn't safe or boring. And can you tell I'm looking for dumb stuff in an awards show now?

Totemic Flute Chants by Johnny Whitehorse won an award. Worth a scrawl at the bottom of the screen.

A mini-celebration of 50 years of Grammy award-winning music. and the most exciting part of all that for me was finding out that Boots Randolph wrote / composed the Benny Hill Show theme.

Luciano Pavarotti is very much worth celebrating but whoever the Euro-trash was who bored the fuck out of me to get to the bit o' opera, isn't worth much - as a presenter. Josh Groban, boring, too thick in the voice. The person singing with him? Much better. An actual tonal range exists within.

This quote unquote, rock and roll segment is just blowin' in the wind. It's dusty. It's old. John Fogherty, moving like an old man and I've never much liked his voice. Jerry Lee Lewis tickling the black and whites of the piano. I guess they're supposed to be bringing us through the history of "true" rock n roll. They made it sound oh so old, boring and slow. I mentioned old right? And slow and boring? Not fast.

Can't blame 'em. Good to see the old pedophile. First time i'd seen him not rail thin. We're looking at shades of gray. Little Richard the one saving gray, sorry grace. His hands are moving fast and there's some Jeez-jumping energy in that voice. Hallelujah. They needed to let him sing a little more there.

Barack Obama won a Grammy for the audio book for "Audacity of Hope." Again, in the scrawl. In the scrawl is where it's at.

Will.I.Am did a embarrassingly crappy Grammy rappy, following a Mack the Knife snip. Added a Strangers in the Night Beat. The Don't Worry, Be Happy glimmer was awesome, as was the trip from Beat It. Whew, weird but thankfully short. Why?

Usher and Quincy Jones (who's won 27 Grammys) presented the Album of the Year award to - drum roll. Foo Fighters, Vince Gill, Herbie Hancock, Kanye West, Amy Winehouse. Herbie Hancock is the winner with, The River: The Joni Letters. This year is what they're talking about, re-ight? Quincy Jones said unbelievable, and I think I have to agree.

Jazz artist. Only second jazz cat to win the AOFYA. OK. Quixotic. ";Yes We Can", to coin a phrase'" A little, off-kilter shout out to Barack Obama. (Herbie's old, established). He's thanking Joni Mitchell because he put new music to her vision.

Go to Grammyintheschools.com, and then tell me why.