Peoria's 15 minutes of fame (infamy)

Bishop Jenky of Peoria, Illinois has redesigned homily. His pulpit has been turned into a lectern. In a big nut shell, his complaint with Obama, embellished with a nonsensical and irrelevant comparison to Hitler and Stalin, revolves around the insurance  coverage of contraceptives, making it sound as if the governmental mandate required all Catholics to use them. I wonder what Jenky thinks of the insurance coverage of AIDS victims? Would he expect the insurance companies to investigate each case and offer coverage depending upon cause, as long as the church accepted the activity?

Ted Nugent

First of all, Ted Nugent is about as much of a threat to the current administration as he is to national security, which is zero, and our hard earned tax dollars are being wasted on any Secret Service investigation that may or may not be instituted. I know the SS is talking to him. I hope they leave it at that.


For the record, I like Nugent. He is a musician. His political affiliation is well documented as a Republican. To my knowledge he has never held office. While he is relentless, caustic and radical when interviewed, it is merely another example of his personality, the first demonstrated when he took the stage. I also believe he is a one point star when it comes to his political view no matter what he says- he wants to keep his guns.


Ted is merely an occasionally recurring sound byte, little to worry about, legless and loud. The world would be less exciting without him, certainly less amused.


A suburb of Indonesia? Where did that come from?

Santorum out

Santorum has effectively guaranteed Romney the nomination. I wonder if he'll endorse Mitt while secretly voting for Obama, like he said.

The Supreme Court- unbiased? Yeah, sure.

Sitting presidents select Supreme Court Justices. If not for the presidential term limit, a popular Republican or Democrat could nominate an entire court during his tenure provided enough of the older Supreme folk died or retired. Currently, there is no term for a Supreme Court Justice. While I don't question their credentials, I am concerned that someone placed on the court by Richard Nixon might be better equipped to be playing with his great grand children than disposing justice as the final say in America. Many would claim an advantage lies in the freedom to dispense decisions without peer or conflict, without competition other than within the fold, but to me, a finite term of some kind would be preferable. 

If anyone out there thinks that the Supreme Court is unbiased, consider how many decisions are defined along political lines. We need to reinvent the process of placement or invent a new system altogether that would mix the sand between conservative and liberal viewpoints. Today's political concept between Reps and Dems of "us and them" is bleeding into the court. And don't give me that baloney about the court upholding the Constitution. The Supreme Court is no less responsible for misinterpretations than any office holder in the land.

On music, culture, the blues

Just over a week ago, my wife and I attended the Dallas Blues Fest, likely not the only festival of the genre but certainly a particular take on the subject. This was the 8th annual and I will, barring anything unforeseeable, be there next year. An inside event. 8 bands with short sets. Always a front man (or woman), the supporting casts consisting of seasoned professionals, many likely hired guns. Top quality support. Performance for the leaders leads the way while staying on tune was tough for a few. 

This was advertised as a blues show, but rhythm and blues might have been more accurate. Evangelical episodes intermixed with raw sexual narrative peppered most performances. Not a single guitar solo.

The crowd was awesome. They stood, they cheered, they rocked, they danced and after a while they moved in and crammed together at the stage, singing and dancing, dressed to the nines, unabashedly flaunting and grooving. We had front row seats. The coolest time ever.

A detail- of the 5,000 or so attending, I'd be stretching the truth if I were to tell you I saw more than 10 white people. One was a guitar player. We number 2. I'm telling you, this was an eye opener to me. I used to be involved in the blues society back in Peoria and the numbers there would have been reversed. I thought I knew the real deal. I experienced it last week. 

I will still search out the SRV  type bands with long guitar solos backed by the old 1-4-5 and will still love it, but now I will long for an integration.