Goddard CD release show

I was just thinking...

About how school work really gets in the way of writing blog posts. Ha. But really. On Saturday October 8, I attended the much anticipated Goddard CD release show. The album was actually finished and released during the summer, but due to complications with venue and the band going on tour in Brazil in September, October 8 was the date for the show. In addition to Goddard, fellow Worcester band Bitch Bros. had their CD released, too. Unfortunately, this was also the final show for Bitch Bros., as they were breaking up. The other two band's that played were also Worcester bands, Fang Noir and my boss at the mail room's band, Bovachevo. I had not seen him shred before (he is the lead guitarist) and was excited to see his band. We'd had many a conversation about music, and I am a fan of most of the influences his band has.

I'd previously written about Goddard for my internship this summer at Worcester Magazine, before their tour in Brazil. They are my favorite Worcester band and I think everyone would like them. Check out their bandcamp for the new album, entitled "Bishop" here. http://goddard.bandcamp.com/album/bishop

This show was awesome and you all should have been there. Shame on you for missing it. All the bands were great and had good energy, as would be assumed, with them all being some form of punk or punk-related genre. Supporting local music is easy when the bands are as good as this group of bands is. I encourage you check them all out:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bovachevo/139197429433566?sk=wall
http://www.facebook.com/pages/B-Brothers/104041986324587?sk=wall
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fang-Noir/117168698371032
http://fangnoir.bandcamp.com/
http://bbros.bandcamp.com/

ALSO! Here are some pictures from the show!

Liam Sullivan, guitarist for Bovachevo and my boss

3/4 of Bovachevo. 

Left to right: Eric Yankus-Franco, Greg Olson, Liam Sullivan.

(Not pictured: Mike Finch)

B. Bros.

Jason Karby of Goddard

Anne Baldridge of Goddard 

(and a piece of Joe DeGeorge, of Harry and the Potters fame)

                                                              Dan Benoit of Goddard

Janelle Monae

I was just thinking...


This past Monday, October 3, I attended Clark's annual Fall Concert. This year was Janelle Monae, a neo-soul singer most famous for her song "Tightrope." The Campus Consciousness Tour were the sponsors, with great goodies given out before the show for pushing fair trade and sustainability, including Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream and Nalgene bottles (with Campus Consciousness Tour and other sponsors logos on it, of course). As part of my duties as ROCU News Editor, I was given one press pass to take photos for the first three songs of her set, and all of her warm up act, Timothy Bloom. As an aspiring journalist, I have had press passes before, but my previous press passes didn't really warrant much; attending a high school softball game isn't something where they really check for a press pass. So, this was essentially my first real press pass, and definitely my first time as a photographer.

I got a very nice camera, a Canon Powershot SX130IS, for my birthday this year, per my request; I felt that as a journalist in this economy, I would at one point have to shoot my own pictures. So, I figured I should know a little bit more about cameras and photography, and own my own camera. Throughout the summer I took various pictures, at baseball games, at a car crash outside my house, of my friends, etc., but nothing any really journalistic merit. There were multiple instances, including last week, where I was out in the world, and found a perfect situation to use my camera, had I brought it with me. I missed a perfect full shot of a double rainbow last week when out getting Coney Island Hot Dogs with my roommate Alan, as neither of us brought our cameras. In any event, I'd never really had a challenging shoot, testing my photo-taking ability until Janelle Monae's concert.

First off, I took way too many pictures of Timothy Bloom, the opener. This was not helpful at all for what I was supposed to be taking pictures of, which was Janelle. But, I did learn that my camera did indeed have a setting to catch moving objects, called "Children & Pets," so after a few minutes of incredibly blurred pictures, I was finally able to get some clean shots off. This came in handy for when Janelle came on.

Janelle Monae is incredible. She is a multi-talented performer who really knows how to throw an entertaining show. Although I only knew one of her songs going in, ("Tightrope") I found myself pumped each song she played. It helped that she did a few covers, including the Jackson 5 and Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground." The funky, soulful sound that Janelle Monae reignites a fervor for is well welcomed, and I am glad it is back to being popular and mainstream. At least there's something new on the radio I can like!

Janelle Monae made feel like quite the photography newb in her entrance and first song, an overture. I could not get a clean shot, as she danced too damn fast! She eventually cooled down a bit, at least enough for me to get some truly great pictures. Having a front and center, with no barricade, access to her seemed to me to be unusual for an artist getting as popular as she has been lately. I was in front of her the whole time, even when I could no longer take pictures. Because of this, I had the best spot in the house, and made it easy for me and Nina to get our hair tousled by Janelle, an added bonus to an already great night.

Overall, I wish I had known more of her songs, but I still greatly enjoyed myself, just like was the case when I saw Against Me! before I really knew them. I will definitely be listening to more of her. Above is a picture from the show. There are many, many more on my Facebook. Yay!

DADT and the future of Gay Rights in the US

I was just thinking...


As I'm sure many of you know by now, the US Military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) policy, which prevented homosexuals from openly serving, ended yesterday, September 20. This was an enormous step in the gay rights movement.

A brief history on DADT: Don't Ask, Don't Tell was enacted December 21, 1993, and the congressional bill to end it was enacted in December 2010. In federal appeals court, on July 6, 2011, DADT was barred from further enforcement. On July 22, a certification was sent to Congress setting September 20 as the official end date. It was signed by all the necessary people: President Barack Obama, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, and Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

So, what does the end of DADT mean? It means that homosexuals in the military now no longer have to hide their true selves. With such a major part of the federal government being the military ($663.8 billion. That's right, billion) it is a huge landmark for the government to be so accepting. Or, rather, to have stopped being so hateful. I think this is enormous for the US government, and here's why: The same-sex marriage issue has been a hot button issue for many years now. However, it shows no sign of being truly addressed on the national level. It appears as if same-sax marriage legalization will be a state government decision, at least based on the current political atmosphere. So, repealing DADT is just about the biggest thing the government could possibly do right now. Just about.

The other major gay rights issue that is on the table at the national level is the Defense of Marriage Act, or DoMA. DoMA defines marriage as between a man and woman, which is incorrect. It is possible that this could be repealed at some point in the near future, but I wouldn't hold your breath. So, for the time being, the repeal of DADT is the biggest victory for gay rights on the federal level. Congratulations!

Dystopian Society

I was just thinking...


After way too long without having read it, I finally sat down and read Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. I've always been a fan of novels of dystopian society, and as a book-lover it was kind of silly that I wouldn't have read the one about burning books. But now I have! With my reading load this semester, this will probably be the last book I read for leisure this semester.

In any case, as far as dystopian novels are concerned, I've read just a few. I have a bunch on my list that I really do need to read, like Animal Farm, Brave New World, Atlas Shrugged, and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Children of Men (I've seen the movies for these two). All I've read is Fahrenheit 451, Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Road, A Clockwork Orange and The Giver.

The five that I have read number my list of top novels I have ever read, and for good reason. They're all exceptionally well-written, and I apparently have an affinity for their subject matter. I'm not quite sure what it is that attracts me to this genre, but I can't get enough. I think I'm just really into messed up worlds, with messed up people, which would also explain my love for Chuck Palahniuk. Palahniuk's work has been described as "trangressive fiction," which I thoroughly enjoy because of my interest in fringe/alternative cultures. For this same reason, I also consider myself a fan of cult films. (I'm even taking a class this semester on the logics of cult films)

But I digress. Fahrenheit 451 was everything I wanted it to be. It was exciting, it presented such an alternative world, while still holding onto some parts of our own world. The irony of reading a book about a society that burns books didn't hurt my interest, either. Regularly, I would explore a book in entirety here, but I have decided to focus on one important aspect of their alternate world that I found, to say the least, amusing.

Fahrenheit 451 was published in 1953. I know this is simplifying it, but for our sake let us assume that it is around this time (it was) that televisions began to become more present in people's lives, particularly in their homes. The rise of television was a main point of criticism that Bradbury presents in this book. The protagonist, Guy Montag, has a wife, Mildred, who spends the majority of her time with her "family," which are understood to be television characters. In this society, people's parlors and living rooms have become legitimate "television rooms," as televisions can cover the entire wall, and multiple walls. (The Montag's have three walls with televisions installed) Mildred seems to be more involved in the life of these people on the walls than with her life with Montag. She is almost completely surrounded by the lives of the "parlor family," both literally and figuratively. Now here comes the part I find most interesting: The parlor family does not seem to be on a real show, with a plot for each episode or anything like that. It doesn't seem like there even are episodes. It appears (I could be wrong), that the parlor family is a live feed of these people's lives. Wait, doesn't that sound familiar? YES, YES IT DOES!

How Bradbury could have known about the direction of television towards reality TV is beyond me, but it does appear as if he has predicted it, maybe even more advanced than we have reached in 2011. The immersion that people have in television (reality television especially) is almost sickening at this point in our society, and people really do live through these people, the ones they see on these screens.

Although most people do not have television screens spanning the whole wall of every wall in a particular room, people do have access to television shows everywhere; be it on the actual TV, on their computers, or on their phones, TV is everywhere. I am just as guilty as the next guy for succumbing to the ethereal glow of the television, but I fully understand its significance as a sign for the depletion of our society. TV has spelled the downfall of books, (with a little help from the movies, also present on TV), and people, for the majority, are none-the-wiser for it. Sure, TV news is quick and accessible, so it has become easier to stay in the know, but knowledge from reading books, even novels, has greatly fallen. Many people today chose not to read because it is "easier" to just turn on the TV than to read a book. They also make the argument that if the book is really that good, they will wait until the movie comes out. That, my friends, is disgusting.

What have we become? Yes, we don't burn books, but they are shunned by a good portion of society. Like many other dystopian novels, our society has become dangerously close to what these books have "predicted." Is this what we really want? I don't think so! So, go read a book, turn off the TV, and repeal the PATRIOT Act.

September 7 GOP Debate

I was just thinking...


Last night, after I got done with my work, or a good portion of it, I turned on the Republican Candidates (for President) Debate. I caught just about half of it (the second half). I regularly watch these debates, as it interesting to see how the other half goes about their business. I noticed a lot of things throughout the hour or so that I saw, much of which were not good things. I will explore a few of them here.

First and most importantly, most of the candidates lied, about one thing or another. And these weren't little lies, these were outright wrong statements that were presented as facts. They attacked President Obama, and attributed things to him that were not even remotely true. They made it sound like the situation in Libya was started by Obama, and they repeatedly alluded to the United States' involvement in the struggle. If they paid any attention to the news, they would know that the US Army never, ever had boots on the ground. They also made a clear lie in saying that he launched air strikes without the consent of the UN, which, again, is false. I get it; they want to smear Obama: He IS their eventual opponent, after all. But, creating complete falsehoods to sway the stupid Americans dumb enough to take their word as fact and vote for them is dirty politics.

I did not take notes on the debate, so most of this is not supported with specific details. For this reason, the rest of this will mostly be my thoughts and opinions on some of the candidates.

Ron Paul
Ron Paul is not a republican. I mean, he technically is, but in reality, he is not. He is a libertarian. The overlap between libertarian-ism and republicanism is almost strictly their belief in less federal government involvement. The difference between these two groups beliefs is that the libertarians are a step away from anarchists. They would be pretty happy if government was done away with completely, at least on a federal level.

That being said, I like Ron Paul much more than most of the republican candidates. I can get behind him, to a degree, with his calls for drug legalization. Some of his arguments are kind of crazy, and yet some others I would say I agree with. But, Ron Paul is still not a real republican, so he holds no chance of winning the nomination.

Michele Bachmann
I used to be terrified of Michele Bachmann, and that is NOT just because of her face on the cover of Newsweek. She scared me because she had the Tea Party following that Sarah Palin had, yet seemed to actually know something about politics and the United States, in general. She was the smart Sarah Palin to me. A smart Sarah Palin is equal to what it would be like if we gave (28 Days Later) rage virus-infected zombies semi-automatic weapons; extremely dangerous.

However, after last night's showing, I am pretty comfortable with her running for president. She has no chance. She was like a bully at a school when a bigger bully transfers in. That new, bigger bully is Rick Perry.

Rick Perry
Rick Perry is the scariest man in the United States right now. He has a Tea Party following, which, as we know from our knowledge of Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, is full of crazies. So, he's a Tea Party guy with a following stronger than Bachmann. Uh oh. He was Governor of Texas. He seems to be missing a few screws. Wait, doesn't that sound familiar? Uh oh indeed!

Rick Perry stole the show last night. He and fellow front runner (it will absolutely come down to these two) W. Mitt Romney duked it out a little bit, and appeared the strongest candidates in the field. But Perry held the spotlight due to his absolutely insane comments regarding global warming. He said, in one way or another, that he was scared of there being a leader of this country who would put the economy in jeopardy by believing in something as ridiculous as science. He asserted that the scientists who, time and time again, have proven the reality of global warming are wrong. He basically said that he does not trust science, and is scared of people who do trust it. Really? This is 2011! These aren't even opinions anymore, they're pretty much facts! Even Mr. Moron (George W. Bush) says it is real! It is incredible that someone can be a legitimate candidate with these beliefs, but he is, and is currently leading the polls. What does that say? It says that not only does a politician have these beliefs, but also that a majority of people agree with him! I have said before, when referencing Sarah Palin and FOX News, that the scariest part isn't that they believe this way, but that people listen to them and agree. There is nothing like people agreeing with crazy people to make me lose faith in humanity. How can he be so wrong, so stupid?

All signs point towards Romney or Perry getting the Republican nomination, at least at this point. While I would not prefer either, and will not vote Republican regardless who the candidate is, this does not bode well for the country, which is apparently about halfway filled with morons, and a bunch more who think Obama is useless. (He is not; the republicans just refuse to cooperate on anything) I fear that Obama could lose the election, and none of the Republicans would be even remotely good for the country. With a possible exception for Jon Huntsman.

Jon Huntsman
Holy moley, Batman! A moderate! Huntsman won me over last night. I mean, obviously not really, but enough that I could deal with him. I will never vote for a republican, but, if I had to deal with a republican as president, Huntsman would be the most agreeable. I have always felt that voting in the US isn't about voting for the best candidate, but the least bad one. Jon Huntsman is the least evil, least terrible republican in the current field. I don't foresee John McCain from the 90's (back when he was a moderate) coming back and running, so it's kind of Huntsman or bust for the republican field.

My approval for Huntsman is all relative; I would never ever vote for him. He just looks good in a field of full of Rick Perrys and Michele Bachmanns.

Sister City: Carbon Footprint

I was just thinking...


I have been a failure as a blog writer. But that all changes TODAY. I have worked in to my class schedule two times a week for me to post to my blog. This will allow me and force me to write a post weekly in each of my blogs. (This one and my baseball blog, http://trotscap.blogspot.com/ ) My first blog post of the semester (and first since January) is my review of good friend Adam Linder's band Sister City's (http://sistercityband.com/) LP entitled Carbon Footprint.

Carbon Footprint was released in June 2011. Check it out and download here. I listened to it for what seemed like three straight weeks, not including breaks in which I pretended to be a productive member of society and worked at the Clark University Mail room and interned at the famous Worcester Magazine. So, it is only fitting that I would not get around to writing the review until the last day of August, the second day of the semester.

Let me start off with a little background on my connection with Adam Linder and Sister City. The first time I met Adam was my freshman year at Clark, at what is known as "Freud's Open Mic Night." (Sigmund Freud held a bunch of talks at Clark during his one trip to the United States. He must have loved it, because he never came back. Clark still is very proud of his visitation, and doesn't let you forget it.) I was a lowly freshman who didn't really know anyone, but I wanted to see some music played, see what the whole open mic scene was all about. I had sat by myself and quietly ate my food and watched the acts until Adam came up, with his omniscient acoustic guitar and began playing a few songs. I liked what he was playing, but they were all originals thus far, so I couldn't sing along or anything. Then, he started playing some Against Me! songs. If you know me at all, you know I am a) a huge sucker for anything acoustic (lyric cred: Brand New), b) I love Against Me! and c) Against Me!'s acoustic albums is one my favorite albums of all time. So, when "Those Anarcho-Punks Are Mysterious..." or whichever song it was, started playing, I was instantly hooked. This kid had the vocal range and talent to play songs that I knew and loved, and do it well.

Naturally, after the first night of hearing Adam play a bunch of great covers, I started listening to his original work. It turns out, all those musicians with the great, heartfelt lyricism for songs that I loved also had influenced Adam; we had similar tastes in music, and he, unlike me, could actually make some of that music! So, he had the genre down, and the musical ability. The last remaining part was the lyricism, and boy oh boy, is the man a poet!

I do not throw this kind of praise around regularly, so believe me when I say that Adam Linder writes the best lyrics out of anyone I have ever personally met. I know there are people out there who dislike his lyrics, call them depressing, etc. etc., but I find them to be perfect. There's an old saying, or something, that says that in order to be a real artist you need to suffer. While I don't think Adam has per se "suffered," I think he has pretty clearly dealt with difficult things, and he is able to real do justice to his feelings with his lyrics, which really are poetry. The struggles the Adam faces are real and relatable, especially for the now-college-age-but-formerly-angsty/punk-teen like me. I think that anyone that does not appreciate Adam's song writing talent has not tried hard enough.

Now, to the album itself. My first time listening to it I already knew I liked it. I'd never really heard Adam's electric stuff, at least not recorded, so this was a new angle to approach his music from. I immediately got the feel that this album remained true to Adam, and was influenced heavily by bands like Brand New, The Gaslight Anthem and Against Me! I even heard a little of the angrier Say Anything working it's way in (although I'm not sure how Adam will feel about that).

I will break down specific songs, one by one here. Each song is really it's own entity, so I think I wouldn't be doing the album justice if I didn't.

1. Hit Too Hard
The perfect opening to this album. This song's introduction really sets the tone, with the last lyric before the music comes in espousing that his "head was pounding for the human race."
The refrain of "and I drop to my knees" wonderfully shows the true feeling and passion behind the song, and the album as a whole. Adam wears his heart on his sleeve, and he wears it well. This song is, I believe the epitome of Sister City.

2. 20
This song I had heard a couple times before. This one is about growing up, and was written on Adam's 20th birthday. Vintage Adam/Sister City.

3. Some Prefer Nettles
I immediately get a Hot Water Music feeling from the opening of this song, but then it plunges right into being  a distinctly Sister City song, with a nice blend of guitar progressions and great lyrics.
"There's a formula I follow...but you should stick like glue to what or who you know; BUT WHO AM I TO GIVE ADVICE?" begs the song.

4. Imperative
Emily Dickinson would have written this song, had she been a twenty-something punk/indie musician. And that is absolutely a compliment, Emily was one of the best poets of all time. She also spent almost no time outside of her own bedroom, a theme that this song explores (at least not going outside on one day).

5. Poland, 1945
This is one of my favorite songs on the album. This song explores the aspect of life of not living up to what your ancestors have done, and struggle I believe plagues many, many people. As the liner notes suggest, there's a lot of NOFX influence going on here, with the guitar parts and quick drums. If you're like me, you can relate to not wanting to wake up for an important day, although you need to; adapting to mainstream societal norms is a weird thing to deal with.

6. Going To Pinneburg
Oh hi there, band name meaning. Pinneburg, Germany is one of a few sister cities of Rockville, MD, Sister City's hometown. This song starts out slow and picks up almost (if not exactly) halfway through the song. The repetition of "One day I'll know what I don't" finishes of the song, which expounds upon the dualism of  helplessness and hope for the future that seems to be Adam's mantra.

7. Ellis Island Blues
This may be my favorite song on the album. The exploration of the sad situation faced by those in Europe who faced persecution in one way or another and were given basically two options, stay, or get on some dirty, overcrowded boat to a (hopefully) better life for them and their offspring. Like "Poland, 1945," the song espouses that he feels that he is not doing justice to the struggles his ancestors faced for him to have the life he does. "If my great-great grandparents had only known/That their great-great grandson/Would end up turning people into stone."

8. Cartoon Movies
I honestly have no clue how to even begin to describe this song. Adam is Moses, the song is great. That's all I got for ya on this one.

9. Reinventing Adm Linder
The title of this song is obviously an homage to the best Against Me! album of all time, "Reinventing Axl Rose." There is also a song of the same name. So, this song directly connects my beginnings with Adam to him now. It's a freaking phenomenally written song, all the way around. This song is the quintessential Adam Linder, like the song's title kind of suggests. "If I may be so bold, to assume that I'll grow old." Oh, Sister City, you're so Sister City.

10. Eff That
This is the song that was written the longest time ago, and it is kind of noticeable. There is much more teenage angst in this song than some of the others. The quick drums and screaming parts speak to my more emo leanings, which I do enjoy returning to, from time to time. Good stuff.

11. Big And Small Words
"I start slow, but speed up as I go," one of the lyrics, does explain the song itself. This is a real quality jam that I find difficult not to bop my head to. That's right, bop.

12. How Much
Catharsis much? This Brand New-esque song is absolutely the best song this album could have ended on. In fact, I think each song was perfectly placed in it's spot on the album. "I want to know what I don't know" harks back to "Going To Pinneburg" and this song really does tie the album together. It's kind of an epic conclusion to a heartfelt battle of passionate feelings over forty-five minutes.

I really do appreciate this album and that is on a few levels: I like the genre; I love the lyrics; as a punk music fan, I think the vocals actually do work quite well with the music; I find it catchy and head bop-able; I also am a big fan of good poetry, which this album definitely is full of (12 poems, to be exact).

I highly recommend at the very least giving this album a listen through. More people than not would actually really like it and want a copy for themselves. If you value my opinion at all (which I assume you do, since you're reading), listen when I say: This is a high quality album with some great tunes.


Carbon Footprint definitely makes my list of Best Albums by Local/Underground/Indie artists.

More reasons I dislike the Tea Party

I was just thinking...

Since Barack Obama's election there has been a huge turnover in the dissent present in the United States. Of course, for eight years the democrats showed their dislike for the man in charge. Now, with the democratic president, it's the Right's turn to dissent. As mentioned in previous blog posts, this is realized mostly by the Tea Party, led by the former clown who became the guy that told you what to think, Glenn Beck and Mrs. Alaska herself, Sarah Palin. Political discourse has taken a new direction: Backwards.

Barack Obama: Not a socialist.

In the 1940's and 50's Senator Joe McCarthy led a witch hunt for communists in the United States. The US had just begun the Cold War with the Soviet Union, so fear of communism was in abundance. It has been said, by no one in particular, that the strongest tool to gain people's support is fear. McCarthy used fear to drive his ridiculous witch hunt, which left innumerable people without jobs and the ability to get a job, along with a couple casualties. The McCarthy Era was a dark time in US History.

Personally, I consider myself a Social Democrat. This, in the simplest terms, puts me one step away from being a socialist, and two(ish) steps from communism. So, I OBVIOUSLY do not fear communism. In fact, I strongly believe a certain amount of socialism is a MUCH better system then this capitalistic one, which has done a great job at making the United States full of obese Wal Mart shoppers and McDonald's patrons. Regardless, point is, socialism REALLY isn't something people should be fearing.

A main point of the Tea Party movement is the belief that Obama is a socialist. I'm here to tell you, right now, that Barack Obama is absolutely NOT a socialist. He is a democrat. The Tea Partiers seem to have missed the memo about the philosophies of the two major political parties in the US. Republicans favor small federal government, while Democrats are okay with the federal government. This means that a Democratic president should be expected to make government programs. When a Democratic president makes a new government program, this should not surprise people. This is to be expected, and has been happening literally for years. So, in accordance with this, when a Democratic president acts like, well, a Democrat, people should not be surprised. This fact was lost to the Tea Party.

ANY government program started since Obama has taken office is socialism, according to the Tea Party. ESPECIALLY "Obamacare," the health care bill he worked so hard to get passed that the new Congress is attempting to now repeal. Ignoring the fact that the Tea Party has also asserted Obama is a Nazi (mostly Glenn Beck here), a Muslim, an illegal immigrant, and communist (all of which are NOT true), they are two-faced.

The most supposed-socialist piece of legislation to have passed in recent memory is probably No Child Left Behind, a law that created federal regulations for academic assessment, in any effort to strengthen the nations' weak education ratings. This FEDERALLY funded law was the brainchild of George W. Bush, the very-much-Republican president who preceded Obama (and who I will be blogging about the memoirs of next weekend). When this bill passed there was no Republican bitching and moaning, and finger-pointing the socialist ideology behind the bill. If it had been proposed under Obama instead of W. Bush, we would never heard the end of it. The Tea Party would have called it Obama Youth. It would've been bad. But, if told a Tea Partier today that it was a socialist program, they would wholeheartedly agree and raise that it has been pretty much an utter failure. Yep. They're right. But, they've missed half the point. Socialist programs work off of government funds. Without adequate funds for the program, it will undoubtedly fail. Hence, NCLB. W. Bush made a socialist program that he intended to fund by cutting taxes, those little things that the government uses to pay for the maintenance of programs such as No Child Left Behind. EPIC FAIL.

While I am highly in favor of as much dissent as humanly possible, (because that's the way democracy works) I am strongly against the use of lies and fear as a means. I think it is silly to fear socialism, but that is mainly because I kind of am one. In the same strain, socialism has been given a negative connotation, which also upsets me. I really do wish Obama were a socialist, and that all of his programs/bills/what-have-you were socialist in nature. In actuality, he's pretty far from a socialist; (He just extended the Bush tax cuts, a very Republican thing to do.) If Obama were a socialist, and doing socialist presidential things, the Tea Party would AT LEAST not be lying in their assertion. The Tea Party's perception of what is socialist is pretty incorrect.

The Giffords Shooting

We've all heard about it by now; recently reelected Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot while holding her first "Congress on Your Corner" session, where she basically stood outside of gas station and talked with people. Jared Lee Loughner, the accused shooter who killed 6 people and injured up to 20 in the January 8th firing, was a member of the Tea Party. A high school drop out who withdrew from community college after inability to procure a mental health clearance, Loughner was clearly not a sane person. This, however, does not excuse Sarah Palin's map.

In response to Tea Party losses across the country, Sarah "I can see Russia from my house!" Palin's website, had a map up during the 2010 political campaigns with gun-scope markers showing candidates who had voted in favor of the health care bill. The point of the map was (supposedly) to show places where "change was needed," and the incumbents should be ousted in the election. Rep. Giffords was on of such. I understand the supposed point of the map, but some people don't. Some people are gun-toters. Some people are ardent in their political beliefs. Some people are not sane. These people may not "get" the map.

While it has not been legitimately connected to the shooting, I've got to believe that this map had something to do with it. Maybe it had nothing to do with it. But, regardless, it's quite the coincidence that a crazy person associated with a group that has cut the gas lines of candidates' brother's homes attempted to do what Sarah Palin's map seemed to suggest.