Another incident with police v. citizens

This is on the Pantagraph’s website right now.

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/04/30/news/doc4636091e66ca8079821886.txt

Much like recent Peoria cases, family members and witnesses are disputing police descriptions of the incident. What’s going on here? I’m not going to take any sides on any of the current cases, but does it not seem that there are more disputed reports between local police and citizens in the last few weeks?

Here are my other questions, based on the spate of murders and recent other stories (mostly culled from Peoria) about police v. citizens:

1) Are police TOO aggressive right now?

2) Do we really have, as some have suggested and rumors travel, some younger, more militant officers geeking up on steroids and maybe being a bit too quick to lose their tempers?

3) Are people willing to lie at all costs to dispute police?

4) In Peoria, can any sympathy be drudged up for families and witnesses when they refuse to “snitch”, and brag about a code that says not to? (And this is NOT just a black thing…there are many white kids, particularly in the Woodruff district, and I’m only saying that because of first hand knowledge, who also get into the “no snitch” attitude)

5) In Peoria’s case, are the TV stations and newspaper doing a decent job of fair reporting, or are they tending to lean towards one side over the other.

I honestly don’t have the answers for these questions, and I only have slightly formed opinions in a couple of them, if any. Looking for honest feedback here.

Underrated, Part 3

These are getting too long, this one and future critiques will be shorter. I hope.

Underrated: Bachman-Turner Overdrive

When I was voice tracking a shift for The Eagle about a year and a half ago, it was a running joke between Scott Robbins, Rick Hirschmann and me that BTO was the “Greatest Band of all time!” I used to say it, somewhat tongue in cheek, every time I played one of their tunes during my shift. I love the band’s driving style, the unforgettable guitar-riffs, the kind of straight ahead rock that makes your foot push harder on the gas pedal, and absolutely FORCES you to turn the Pioneer underdash 8-track player up to it’s loudest possible setting so the gold and black TSX-9’s in the back window can let all their power be unleashed upon the interior of your ‘68 LeMans. Ah, good times. But I digress.

Turns out I was half serious with the whole “greatest band” thing. While I acknowledge they probably weren’t the “greatest of all time”, I will say that the band is VERY underrated and among my personal favorites.  And it IS quite possible that they made on of the greatest single rock songs of all time, if not THE definitive rock anthem…”Takin’ Care of Business”.

Several of their best and most well known songs became anthems. Sports teams all over America use “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet” and “Let It Ride”, as well as the afore mentioned “TCB” to fire up fans and teams. Heck, none other than the King himself, Elvis Presley, once called the band to Memphis to ask their permission, that’s right, the King ASKED, to use “TCB” as his personal motto, and he had a medallion made with those letters that hung around his neck.

Rock and Roll was king in the 70’s, the truly great and entertaining bands ruled the earth. Many got the due they deserved, BTO didn’t, in my opinion.

Band founder Randy Bachman was previously a key cog in the Canadian band “Guess Who”, co-writing most of their big hits with Burton Cummings. Randy split and took his brothers Rob and Tim out on the road as “BraveBelt”, along with friend Chad Allen, and they had some minor Canadian success. But it wasn’t until Randy added C.F. “Fred” Turner and they changed the name to Bachman-Turner Overdrive (while reading the truckin’ magazine “Overdrive” at an all-night truck stop cafe), that they started making serious noise.  Tim Bachman was also replaced by guitarist Blair Thornton, and the lineup of Randy, Robbie on drums, Blair and Fred (doing most of the familiar growling vocals) was the band’s most successful.

 The first album, “Bachman Turner Overdrive” (1972) features as it’s best cuts couple of obscure now, but still-killer songs: The straight ahead driving rocker “Gimme Your Money, Please”, and the jazzy “Blue Collar” which features an incredibly tight and slick guitar solo from Randy Bachman.

“BTO II” (1973), with “Let It Ride” and “TCB” has it’s highs (like those two monsters) and a few that show the band wasn’t quite there yet. Then c ame “Not Fragile” (1974) featuring the band at it’s peak, and quite possibly one of the top albums of all time…not a bad cut in the bunch.

Like many bands, the label wanted more, they wanted it now, to strike while the iron was hot, and the group quickly put together “Four Wheel Drive” in 1975, which had “Hey You” as it’s signature hit, but the rest of the album wasn’t much more than rejected songs from “Not Fragile”, and it went quickly downhill from there.

They released albums with original music like “Head On”, “Freeways”, and “Rock and Roll Nights” between 1976 and 1979, with different players on occasion, but no longer achieved American chart success. Since then, many “greatest hits” packages have come out, but the best one is one I recently found called “BTO: Gold”, a two-disc set that has all the hits, plus over 25 other BTO songs from their career, including a BraveBelt cut.

Yes, the band didn’t have a long peak, and that is probably  what kept them from legendary status and getting the accolades they deserve. But for three years and three great albums, they were the best for this then-junior high kid in Minnesota.  And think about the disposable crap that is called rock today…what bands out there have even had the longevity to do THREE great albums, let alone three albums  period.

Bill Macy, Jim Belushi, and me.

Over the weekend, Diane and I rented “Bobby”. Great movie, everything ties together at the end, big stars, well done by Emilio Estavez, it was his labor of love and it shows.

Anyway, watching it, I realized the I have something in common with Bill Macy and Jim Belushi. To wit: In “Bobby”, Macy’s character is married to Sharon Stone’s hairdresser. He also is messing around with an operator played by Heather Graham. In his most recent flick, “Wild Hogs”, his love interest is played by Marisa Tomei.

Stay with me. So I’m watching “Bobby”, and there’s Demi Moore, who of course starred many years ago with Jim Belushi and Rob Lowe (Mr. Lowe is too pretty to be a part of this conversation, by the way) in “About Last Night.” Well, several years ago, I interviewed Jim Belushi, and while we were talking, I realized he’d been paired in movies with Kelly Lynch, Mel Harris and Rae Dawn Chong, and now co-stars with Courtney Thorne-Smith on TV.  He said he’d been “lucky” over the years.

What is the point? The point is that Bill Macy, Jim Belushi, and yours truly would be considered classic ”overachievers”. Average to below-average looking men who get to be paired with beautiful women. Anyone who has seen Diane knows what I’m talking about. Pretty, sexy, strong, independent, and somehow hanging with…me. So carry on, Mr. Macy. Straight ahead, Mr. Belushi. We have something in common, and that’s quite alright with me.

Big Break in Steroid Case

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2851544

Let’s hope this is the step that gets us to suspensions, lifetime bans, and arrests for these players that are ruining the Greatest Game.

Underrated, Part 2

The Mavericks

The genius of Raul Malo and The Mavericks has long been underappreciated by some and totally unappreciated by idiotic country radio consultants.

This band, like the Kentucky Headhunters, can do anything, but the stuff I like the best is their retro-sounding straight ahead country, particularly on their masterpiece CD “What A Crying Shame” (1994). 

That CD featured the title cut, still one of the best country songs of all time, for my money, and the peppy “There Goes My Heart”, one of those songs with a sad story disguised by uptempo, finger snapping, danceable music. Not that I’m a big dancer, but I’m a helluva finger snapper.

Malo’s vocals are very much reminiscent of Roy Orbison, and his range is incredible. The band followed up “What A Crying Shame” with “Music For All Occasions” just one year later, which featured another great uptempo country rocker, “All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down”. Yet another sad story hidden by a fast paced, bright sound. For that song, the band had the great Flaco Jiminez (Texas Tornados) come in a lay down an accordian track, as only Flaco could do. If you are a fan of Tex-Mex, as I am, Flaco is a God.

These two CD’s are the ones you need to have if you want to hear what The Mavericks are all about, as they are the award-winning standard bearers for the group, which won CMA’s twice for best vocal group, and a Grammy during the time those two CD’s were hot. But just like the Headhunters, as soon as the awards were won, country radio turned their back on them. I don’t know why this continually happens (Highway 101, Pirates of the Mississippi, and Alison Krauss and Union Station immediately come to mind as bands that win awards and immediately get ignored by country consultants), but it is simply true that if you’re not a solo hat act like and your name isn’t Tim, Kenny, Toby, Alan, or George, you don’t get played consistently on country radio right now…but that’s another story.

During this time, the band’s lineup was it’s strongest, with Malo handling the vocals, Paul Deakin owning the drums, Robert Reynolds on bass, and Nick Kane playing some of the cleanest guitar solos you could ask for.  Also during this time, Reynolds was married to Trisha Yearwood, and she contributed backing vocals and a couple of duets on these two CD’s, including a cover of Frank and Nancy Sinatra’s “Something Stupid”.  Malo and Yearwood’s version, it goes without saying, was a tad better than Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman, although Nicole actually did a decent job on that one.

After those two CD’s, the band branched out into more than just country (why not, country radio wasn’t playing their stuff anyway) and in 1998 they came out with the wild “Trampoline”. It’s not my cup of tea, it’s not as good as the previous two discs, but Malo wanted to show his abilities in other forms of music and I can appreciate it for what it is.

The band split after that, just as a live album was released (”It’s Now, It’s Live” - 1999). Another live album was recently released, called “Mavericks Live In Austin, TX”, (2004) which is just a greatest hits package done in a concert, and it’s pretty good.

Malo got Reynolds and Deakin back together, joined by new guitarist Eddie Perez, in 2003 for an album called simply “The Mavericks” (not to be confused with their debut album from 1990 called “Mavericks”), and it was also pretty darn good stuff, back to retro and mainstream country, and Malo still showing his singing chops.

I found another early Mavericks gem, “From Hell To Paradise” (1992), pre-Nick Kane, but a fine album, and actually the album that featured their first chart single - a cover of Hank Williams’ “Hey, Good Lookin’”. That song introduced country audiences to The Mavericks, and the CD I mentioned above, “What A Crying Shame”, is the one that really put them on the map.

Malo is now behind the scenes, and has been working with Rick Trevino for the past few years. Malo is of Cuban descent, Trevino is of Mexican heritage and sounds just like Raul when he wails. It’s the exact same scenario as when Paul McCartney used Beatle-esque material to bring Badfinger to prominence.

Grab “What A Crying Shame”, and see what country radio COULD and SHOULD sound like today when they play an “oldie” in between all the new stuff.

Here come the Cicadas

So the loud, annoying, but non-stinging or biting Cicadas are going to make their first appearance in 17 years this spring.

http://www.pjstar.com/stories/042907/TRI_BD2LFCIF.020.php

Two thoughts come to mind:

1) Once every 17 years, in other words, they are brave enough to appear in public more often than Vonster.

2) 17 years…big deal. The Cubs haven’t burrowed out of their holes for 99 years, and we still don’t know when they’ll finally come out again.

New feature: Underrated bands

Over the next few days, I’m going to post my list of the 10 most underrated bands/singers, not in any particular order. At the end, I might rank ‘em, but I’m just going to post them for now.

The Kentucky Headhunters

These guys burst onto the scene in 1989 with “Pickin’ On Nashville”, a collection of originals (like “Dumas Walker”) recorded in all seriousness, and a few cover songs, like “Oh, Lonesome Me” and “Walk Softly” that were just recorded for fun/to fill the album. Never did they expect to win a CMA for Top New Group AND a Grammy for Best Country Vocal Group right out of the box.

I know they never expected it, because band founder Richard Young told me so.

After that initial success, their records got better and better, but got played less and less. Why? Because in the 1990’s country radio became run by a bunch of idiot consultants who don’t know what country is, and it’s only gotten worse in the last seven years. Meanwhile, the Headhunters put out killer CD’s with everything from straight country to blues rock to southern rock to straight ahead rock and roll.

They can play uptempo scorchers, they can write and perform delicious ballads. Richard and brother Fred (the drummer with the tremendous, world class sideburns), their cousins Anthony Kenney (bass) and Greg Martin (absolutely STELLAR guitar player) were the original band. called “Itchy Finger”, in the early 80’s.

Anthony Kenney, from what I can tell, is very shy and private, and also I don’t believe fond of touring. So when the band decided to go for the big time and cut an album, the three remaining members were joined by the Phelps Brothers, Doug and Ricky Lee. It is Ricky Lee who sings on the first album.

They left the band to form their own group, Brother Phelps, in 1992 or so, and had some chart success. But they got Anthony Kenney to come back, and along with Mark Orr, kept on going. Orr was a blues man, so the album they did with him was quite bluesy, and in my opinion their only non-outstanding work. Ricky Lee Phelps decided to go solo, so his brother Doug came back to be the Headhunters lead singer, replacing Orr, and the five albums they’ve made with the five current members have been terrific, and all of them have a little bit different sound, as the band is VERY versatile.

“Songs From The Grass String Ranch” is my personal favorite, and when I told Richard I thought it was the finest album in my CD collection, from front to back, without a weak song, he was geniunely moved. Particularly when he asked to SEE that collection, and I brought my 312-CD case (organized by genre, and alphabetized within genre) into the bus and he went through every page.

“Soul”, from 2003, is very good, but still doesn’t match “Grass String…” for me personally, and “Big Boss Man” (2005) is full of their rollicking and incredible covers. When they do a cover, they don’t stick to the map. They get wacky.

Five excellent musicians, a couple of great writers in the band, unique, strong and distinctive vocals with Richard and with Doug Phelps. What more could you ask for?

And best of all, they are geniunely nice people. Normal guys, who just happen to have wild long retro hair and a tour bus. They love kids, they have plenty of their own, their “party days” are behind them, and they just love making music, live and in studio.

Do yourself a favor, doesn’t matter what kind of music you like or dislike, and find a copy of “Songs From The Grass String Ranch”. If you can’t, I’ll burn you a copy for a small fee, which I will then send to Richard.

More buttclowns on the road

But this time, they’re in the parking lot.

I’ve finally found one area where Peoria might…emphasize MIGHT…be a little better than Kewanee, and that’s driving through large parking lots.

The Wally World (Evil Empire) store is Kewanee’s largest, and has the biggest parking lot. It is nicely and clearly marked out, with parking spots and driving “lanes” clearly delineated. But that means nothing to the shopping crowd here. Once the drivers pull of Tenney Street or South Street to enter the Wally World lot, it’s a freakin’ free for all.

NO ONE, except newcomer yours truly, drives straight and correctly through that parking lot. They turn off South, and make a diagonal beeline right across the lot, darting between parked cars, crossing the “lanes” without looking or slowing down from what apparently is a mandated 30 miles per hour MINIMUM through this lot.

I will NOT let Diane or the kids walk in this parking lot. In the unfortunate instance that we must go to Wally World, I’ll drop them off at the door before I’ll let them walk through this manslaughter waiting to happen. I swear, one of these days, I’m buy a ‘72 LTD, strip the interior and put a roll cage in it, pull on a helmet, and then just drive up and down the aisles of the parking lot all day long, and see how many times I get broadsided. I’m setting the over/under at 7.

But I’m sure Mouse will tell me it’s not NEARLY  as “illegal” and bad as me driving 74 on an empty stretch of I-74. What’s the html code for the smiley that just rolls his eyes?

My proposal on the Speed Traps.

Let me preface by saying I’m all for safety, and again, let me state that speeding alone is NOT unsafe, it’s when there is a combination of poor driving habits involved that speeding CAN be unsafe.

Here is what I’ve said to the Legislators I’ve called this week.

I’m okay with the stings and speed traps, IF they’re performed with the following stipulations:

(more…)

Another sick, twisted Redneck tale

And they found this dude innocent.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-04-23-dungeon-assault_N.htm

There are SO many things wrong in this story. Not wrong in the reporting, wrong in how this redneck creep goes about living his life, and about how South Carolina is now clearly ahead of Kansas in the race for the most backwards, backwoods, redneck state in the country.

Streator is disappearing!

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/04/25/news/doc462e9598f3872573145387.txt

Maybe Vonster and his other redneck friends can go live there.

Stewart vs. McCain = Great TV

Watching Jon Stewart and John McCain go at it last night was awesome. And they shook hands at the end. Tell me again why “The Daily Show” is not a better way to get news than CNN, MSNBC, or Faux?

McCain fought gamely, and admitted how poorly the Bushies have run the “war” (did anyone ever declare war on anyone, or is this still just an illegal attack and occupation of a soveriegn nation?), but Stewart scored with some indefensible facts and tremendous analogies.

It was a great debate.

Rich Little? THAT Rich Little?

Lamest performance ever. I didn’t even know he was still alive, quite honestly. Seems the administration AND the suck-ups that cover the administration didn’t want to get skewered this year. Wimps.

Steven Colbert should be signed to a lifetime contract to do that gig.

Still sickening. Still appalling. Still wrong. And still predictable.

Made a drive to Bloomington yesterday afternoon, and told my son on the phone as I was heading up the hill towards Morton, “I’ll bet I run into Illinois’ finest here in a few minutes.” And right on cue, there they were, four Illinois State Police cruisers, all with cars pulled over in the westbound lanes of I-74 just past the Morton exit 102, and all within 200-300 yards of each other. Mr. Radar gun, of course, was a half-mile further down the road, parked on an overpass, nailing drivers for the SOLE purpose of adding money to the state’s coffers.

Safety has NOTHING to do with it. NOTHING. PERIOD. This is a sting. A speed trap. A way to make money. Nothing more. As a matter of fact, this crap is ANTI-safety.

And it’s sickening. It’s also lazy. It’s many things, but one thing it isn’t is good police work. As I continued on towards Bloomington, I thought of the possible disasters from this operation. With five cruisers from the Metamora District all in one 1/4 mile stretch of highway, how many does that leave patrolling the rest of the district?

If it is truly dangerous to be a trooper with a car pulled over on the shoulder of an interstate (which it is), then how smart is it to have FOUR of your men dangerously pulled over within a few feet of each other? One careening semi truck could have taken out a bunch of the force, not to mention the numerous civilians who would be killed or maimed all because they were driving “too fast” and because the troopers were ordered to meet a quota.

Or, how about this tricky little question? What happens when an accident occurs on the West end of Peoria County or on I-155 on the south end of Tazewell County, or on Illinois 78 in Northern Stark County while all these troopers are within shouting distance of the Cracker Barrel in Morton? What happens to the response time?  How long before someone dies in an accident, someone that might have lived if the response time was quicker, someone that had to wait 25-30 minutes for a trooper to arrive because he and four others were busy ticketing that dastardly Larry Leadfoot for doing 76 on a perfectly straight piece of wide open highway? The same Larry Leadfoot that has gone 32 years without an accident, 32 years without a ticket of any kind, 32 years of perfectly safe driving?

Meanwhile, the accidents are truly caused by Featherfoot Fred, doing 54 in a 65 but deciding to change lanes without signaling, or passing without checking a blind spot, or merging into 65 mile an hour traffic at 42 as he comes off the entrance ramp, causing a domino effect behind him? Or by Jalopy Joe, who’s vehicle is unsafe at any speed, but he takes it out onto the interstate anyway. Or by Blind Bob, who is nearsighted but hasn’t changed his perscription for 22 years and follows so close you can see what’s on his teeth in your rear view mirror. Or by Oblivious Olga, who doesn’t care about anything in front of her while carrying on conversations beside her and behind her. Or by Distracted Doug, who smokes and eats and reads the paper and writes notes on a pad of paper in the passenger seat and fiddles with the radio to find Rush Limpballs on the AM dial, all the while cruising all over the road, darting from lane to lane, shoulder to shoulder, fading over the center line then fading back.

THOSE are your culprits. THOSE are the people that are unsafe. THOSE should be the ones stopped and ticketed. But nah, that’s too hard. Let’s just turn on a little piece of equipment that can sometimes correctly gauge speed and stop the good driver, the attentive driver, the guy who uses his signals and checks his mirrors and blind spots, the guy who doesn’t bother ANYBODY but drives a bit over the speed limit, which is too low to begin with. Yeah, let’s do that. Oh, and better yet, let’s do it all in one stretch of road, the SAME stretch of road every week, while the rest of the five-county district goes woefully unprotected and unsupervised.

Sickening. I’m calling legislators, starting tomorrow, and I’m not gonna shut my mouth until it’s fixed. And to pre-empt all the impending comments from the supposed-non speeders in the crowd: Shut up. It has NOTHING to do with safety, it has to do with money. THAT. IS. FINAL.

What is it going to take to wake up this country?

April, 2007 - Virginia Tech. 32 killed, dozens wounded, guns acquired legally.

October, 2006 - Pennsylvania Amish school. 5 little girls killed, guns acquired legally.

Sept, 2006 - Platte Canyon H.S., Colorado. 1 killed, six girls taken hostage, some sexually assaulted, gun acquired legally. 53-year old shooter “researched” girls on MySpace, entered school as “student”, disguised with blue hooded sweatshirt pulled over his head, entered classroom, let all students go except for six similarly sized girls, all blondes. Minimal previous record.

March, 2005 - Red Lake Reservation, Minnesota. 7 killed, 14 injured, guns acquired illegally. Teenage shooter took police issued guns from Grandfather, killed grandfather, took Grandfather’s squad car to school for remainder of shootings. Shot security guard manning metal detector and walked right through detector and down hallway of school, shooting and smiling.

Oct, 2002 - U. of Arizona nursing school. 3 professors killed, guns acquired legally. Shooter, 41-year old male nursing student and Gulf War veteran, was failing classes, came into room where exams were being taken, shot only professors. Let students exit room before shooting self. Said to professor before shooting her, “make your peace with God.”

March, 2001 - Santee H.S., California. 2 killed, 13 injured, gun acquired legally.

Feb, 2001 - Navistar, Melrose Park, IL. 5 killed, 5 injured, guns acquired legally. Shooter had FOID card renewed AFTER he was arrested for, but not yet convicted for, criminal sexual assault, which is a felony.

Dec, 2000 - Edgewater Technology, Massachusetts. 7 killed, guns acquired legally. Shooter received gun permit despite mental instability, including suicide attempt.

April, 2000 - Pittsburgh suburbs. 5 killed, gun acquired legally. Shooter (white) killed a Jewish woman, black male, and natives of China, Vietnam, and India over two hour period. Shooter had history of mental illness, but purchased gun legally from sporting goods store.

Nov, 1999 - Xerox office, Honolulu. 7 killed, gun acquired legally. Shooter was “gun enthusiast”, who owned 12 handguns, 5 rifles, and 2 shotguns, all purchased legally. Gun used in killing purchased in 1989, but gun permit was denied after he destroyed elevator door and committed other property damage in a 1993 incident. Permit was denied, guns were not taken away.

Sept, 1999 - Wedgewood Baptist Church, TX. 8 killed, 7 wounded, guns acquired legally.

July, 1999 - Atlanta stock brokerage firm. 13 killed, guns acquired legally.

April, 1999 - Columbine High School. 15 killed using guns technically acquired illegal because the shooters were underage, but purchased from a) a friend who bought guns for them at a gun show and b) from a pizza shop employee who had legally acquired it.

May, 1998 - Thurston H.S., Oregon. 4 killed, 25 wounded, guns acquired legally.

March, 1998 - Middle School, Jonesboro, Arkansas. 5 killed, 10 wounded, guns acquired legally. Shooters, aged 13 and 11, had 10 guns, including 7 taken from HANGING WALL DISPLAY in grandparent’s home.

Dec, 1993 - Long Island Railroad, NY. 6 killed, 19 wounded, gun acquired legally. Shooter purchased gun legally in California, including waiting the necessary 15 days for background check to clear.

July, 1993 - Law office, San Francisco. 9 killed, 6 wounded, gun acquired by illegal means from licensed dealers. Since shooter lied about residence and used still-valid Nevada driver’s license although he was now living in California, gun purchase in Nevada was technically “illegal” from legal licensed dealer. Background check required: valid NV driver’s license.

October, 1991 - Killeen, TX cafe. 24 killed, 20 wounded, guns acquired legally.

June, 1990 - GMAC office, Jacksonville, Florida. 10 killed, 4 wounded, gun acquired legally. Shooter pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in 1971, adjudication was withheld, so when shooter successfully completed probation five years later, his record was cleared and he was able to purchase weapons.

Sept, 1989 - Standard Corp., Louisville. 9 killed, 12 wounded, guns acquired legally. Main weapon, AK-47, purchased legally at Louisville gun dealer despite shooter having long, recorded history of mental illness and despite shooter being on permanent disability leave due to mental illness.

Jan, 1989 - Cleveland Elementary, Stockton, California. 6 killed, 30 wounded, guns acquired legally. White male shooter had expressed dislike for Asian people, opened fire in schoolyard full of Asian-American children. Shooter had long criminal record, but his one felony was plea-bargained to misdemeanor, allowing him to purchase AK-47 in Oregon with no waiting period and minimal ID and paperwork.

Aug, 1986 - Edmund, Oklahoma post office. 15 killed, 6 wounded, gun acquired legally. Former marine sharpshooter with no criminal record was killer. Had NOT been fired from job, but was told he MIGHT be. Yes, folks, this is where the term “going postal” came from.

July, 1984 - McDonald’s, San Ysidro, CA. 22 killed, 19 wounded, gun acquired legally. Shooter, with no criminal record, professed to hating “children, Mexicans, and the United States” and told wife that morning, “I’m going hunting humans.”

1976-1977 - “Son of Sam” killings, NY. 6 killed, 7 wounded, gun technically acquired illegally. David Berkowitz, while in Texas in 1976, had a friend purchase a gun for him, since he was not a resident of Texas, he could not purchase a gun there. His old Army buddy legally bought the gun for him to take back to New York.

August, 1966 - U. of Texas Tower, Austin, TX. 17 killed, 31 wounded, gun acquired legally. Former Marine, suffering illness, took seven guns and tremendous supply of Ammo to tower, started firing away.

I could go on and on and on with this list, and yes, I’ve shown in several cases where guns were acquired “illegally”, but in reality were not. Yes, there are many, many more cases of murders not listed here, and in many guns were acquired illegally, but those cases are NOT the majority, by any stretch of the imagination.

In a report of the 59 highest-profile shootings from 1980 to 2001, the Violence Policy Center showed that in 62% of the cases using handguns, the guns were acquired legally, and in 71% of the “long-gun” shootings, the guns were acquired legally. 

It’s time for a change. A big one.

Sweeping changes in Kewanee

Diane and I have only lived here since August, so this was our first city election to vote in. We both did a good job of educating ourselves on the races and issues important to us, and went up and voted. And what a day it turned out to be.

The longtime mayor, two incumbent council members, and a former city manager were all defeated in their election and re-election bids.

A tax hike for Wethersfield school district passed…I can’t remember the last time I’ve actually seen a tax hike pass in this day and age of the no-tax bullies affecting every election, and I think a small library tax will even pass. This town seems to be willing to pay for what they deem necessary, something I’ve seen other cities NOT do. Some cities (that shall remain nameless) won’t vote for ANY tax increase, even the ones that are VERY necessary.

And the most fun result of all…write in candidates got MORE votes than EITHER of the incumbent park board members that were running…one just ran afoul of the law recently, don’t know what the other one did…and we’re now waiting to see which write in candidates, if any, were able to get enough votes on their own to take office. Great stuff!

I can’t say which “side” of the aisle won, these are non-partisan races and you can get a general idea on a person’s viewss from the local candidate forums they’ve had, but everyone in this election seemed pretty moderate on most issues, so it was just a fun time to be a part of it. And obviously, from the results, the people of this town wanted some changes made. And it looks like they got ‘em.

More media thoughts

In the last two days, I have witnessed countless times where the host, whether it be Faux, CNN, MSNBC, or the so-called “major” networks, have tried to create the story, tried to blame “the school”, or “campus police”, for the entire incident at Virginia Tech.

In nearly every response, the student, parent, or official says the same thing, “I’m not blaming the school, there is no way for anyone to be prepared totally for this” and “the police are not to blame, they did what they thought was right”, and “the only person I’m mad at is the killer.”

Yet the talking heads persist. Stone Phillips (worst. newsman. ever.) and his fake voice and fake concern and pre-determined attempts at emotion was positively the worst last night. He asked the same kid THREE times, including a “yeah, but aren’t you angry at the school for not letting you know about the first incident” and the kid kept saying the same thing…”no. They did what they thought was right, and who’s to say anyone else would have done it any differently?”

Why is the media…ALL television media, be they liberal or conservative…so determined to blame everyone and everything but the f’ing guns and the f’ing killer? Maybe the NRA is helping to produce and direct the news shows. I dunno. But it sure is getting embarrassing for a fellow member of the media to watch other journalists refuse to listen and continue to push an agenda at these people that don’t want to hear it.

I thought it was very telling when the President of the University stood up in the basketball arena yesterday (the guy who has been villified by the cables and networks) and got a lengthy, supportive and heartfelt standing ovation from students, parents, and everyone else in that arena. Did the media not see it? They should have, they were all airing it.

More thoughts on the VT massacre, and how wrong half of our country is.

I continue to read letters-to-the-editor and hear comments from idiotic talk show hosts (there’s a particularly idiotic one on 1420 AM in the Quad Cities, a guy who is just to the political right of Attila the Hun) who are so far gone, it’s laughably tragic.

You know what I’m talking about, it’s this argument: “If the faculty, law abiding citizens, would have been able to carry firearms to class, they could’ve stopped this.” Oh, what-freaking-EVER. My god, that is the lamest argument in HISTORY. What do these people want? Dodge City, 1870? For the love of keeey-rist, what sense does that make.

Consider:

We now know this killer was all of these things:

depressed; violent in his writings; creepy; intimidating towards professors and students; suicidal; had undergone psychological tests; a possessor of all of the “classic signs” of a serial murderer, according to experts now being interviewed on the cable news channels.

He was ALL those things, yet he had NO record (therefore, a “law abiding citizen”) and was able to walk into a gun store and purchase a freaking handgun (you don’t HUNT with a handgun, people), with no waiting period, no background check other than the “quick check” with the police to determine he had no record, and the store owner saying, “looked just like any other clean cut college kid”, and no other questions asked.

Yet, there is a sizable portion of the population, not using your entire brain power, saying that “law abiding” professors and staff members should just be allowed to walk around with a concealed weapon. Then who in the hell is to say one of these professors, suffering from anxiety or depression or going through a divorce or whatever, who is to say they wouldn’t do the same thing?

The fault in the system is not that there are NOT ENOUGH guns, it’s that there are TOO MANY guns. Period. And the ease at which they can be acquired, PARTICULARLY if you’re a “law abiding” citizen.

Sheesh.

Here we go

It’s 3:30 pm Central time, and Faux News is already playing the blame game on the Virginia Tech incident. Some loudmouth woman is telling the pathetically bad Neil Cavuto that the University is solely to blame for this incident spiraling today.

“Officials should have locked down campus at 7:30.”

“These students shouldn’t have been allowed to go to class, the school failed in providing their safety.”

Hey, dammit, when is the “blame” going to be placed on the f’ing weapon(s) and the guy who used the weapon(s)?

This lady is insinuating that VT officials were responsible for the 30 people dead after the initial dorm incident. So it’s not the fault of the psychopathic, gun-toting individual (that may be redundant, sorry) who killed almost three dozen people today.

Freakin’ amazing. The focus should be on taking care of the families who’ve lost loved ones, on the injured fighting for their lives, and on whether or not this guy acted alone, and whether or not there is still a danger on campus. NOT on who to blame. Anything to take the focus off the fact that guns needlessly killed 31 more people today, I guess.

Virginia, BTW, is a conceal and carry state, let’s see how the NRA is going to try and spin this one.

UPDATE: CNN had the same blowhard woman on tonight from some security website and she is a complete idiot. And CNN host Paula Zahn tried to create the news instead of report it, as she asked leading questions to students she interviewed, like “aren’t you angry?” and “people are angry. They should be, don’t you think?” all regarding the supposed slow response of Blacksburg authorities.

Now it’s possible that there were two unrelated incidents. If THAT is true, there’s a bunch of news anchors and cable stations that will be eating serious crow (but they won’t, ego won’t allow).

Also, what’s with the “outrage” that the school didn’t send out emails quick enough? The blowhard lady also said “the technology is there to text all 26,000 phones and tell them what is going on.”

Um, no. That’s ASSUMING 26,000 students would all check their email within an hour or two of each other. Not gonna happen. Also, the blowhard lady is ASSUMING all 26,000 students have phones, and all have text messaging, and that all phones would be on (not turned off for an 8am or 9am class). Ridiculous assumptions and attacks on police being made all day today by FauxNews, CNN, and the blowhard lady. I’m quite disappointed in the coverage.

One final thought…I’m also quite disappointed that these stations have gone wall-to-wall with this coverage. It is indeed the biggest news in the United States today. But it is NOT the only news. There is NO reason that these networks can’t do a five-minute break in every hour to tell us what else is going on in the world. Billy Dennis is going to hate me for saying this, but there won’t be a newspaper in the country that will be cover-to-cover Virginia Tech tomorrow morning. Nope, they’ll still have local news, other national and world news, sports, and weather. Big thumbs down to Faux and CNN tonight. Big.

Jeff Bridges rocks

For some reason, I’ve been seeing a lot of Jeff Bridges on the tube lately, and you know what? That’s a good thing. Dude is talented.

11-year old Emily rented “Stick It” a couple weekends ago, and the best part of this teen chick flick was Jeff Bridges. (When Emmy rents a movie, we watch it with her, I’ve got an entire “Princess Collection” of chick-flick DVD’s sitting on the shelf just to the left of me).

The other night, “The Last American Hero” came on, with Bridges as the thinly-disguised Junior Johnson of NASCAR and moonshine fame. He was so cool in that one. Earlier this week, THE Jeff Bridges movie, “The Big Lebowski”, shows up on air. That’s one of my fav movies of all time, with Bridges sharing the comedic genius with the hilarious and underrated John Goodman. There is no doubt that “the Dude abides”. Simply a classic.

So with that in mind, I’m walking through the Evil Empire, er, Wal-mart, the other night and come across a copy of “Tucker” on DVD, in the bargain bin, for $4.88. Um, duh. A steal. So that’ll be on the agenda here soon. As will “Seabiscuit”, “Arlington Road” (another underrated gem), “Wild Bill” (he nailed it), “K-Pax” (I like Spacey, too) and whatever else I can find.

We never think about Jeff Bridges when we think of the big names on screen. He’s WAY up on my list.

Just push the cart another six feet, lazy ass

I think it’s among the most lazy, arrogant, rude, selfish things being done in our everyday lives.

“The shopping cart in the middle of the parking spot.”

You’ve all seen it. A shopper will walk 70-100 feet or more, pushing a shopping cart from the store exit to the trunk of their car. They’ll take the time to unload it, which makes perfect sense, because after all, they did BUY the stuff, and then, they’ll walk a few feet and put the cart…oh, wait, nope, they don’t!

They leave it. Right next to their car, usually in the spot next to them, or between their car and the one next to them. Then they just drive away. Keep in mind they’re usually no more than 10-20 feet away from a “cart corral”. I’ve even sat in amazement and watched people parked NEXT to a cart corral empty the cart on the side of the car away from the corral, and then just leave the cart sit there. Can’t be bothered to walk an extra FIVE feet, I guess.

These people sicken me. If you’re one of those who does this, you sicken me. Put the freakin’ cart back where it’s supposed to go, for pete’s sakes. Three times in the last year, I’ve parked my car in front of a store and returned to find a cart bumped up against the side of it. Why even bother having a nice car anymore? Most everyone only gives a crap about themselves. 

Oh, and just so you know, since this IS a pet peeve of mine, I not only return my cart to a cart corral EVERY time, but I will grab stray ones on the way IN to a store and do the same thing, and just this evening I took a cart from an elderly gentleman outside the Kewanee Menards as I was walking to my car. He was headed for the corral, about 20 feet away, and I was going right past it, so I said “I’ve got it, sir, it’s right on my way.” He then pointed to his car and said, “thanks, you take this one, I’ll go get the other one somebody just shoved up against the door of my car.” We both just shook our heads and laughed.

Imus

Everybody and their brother and their other brother have already commented on Don Imus.

Here’s mine:

First of all, the WORST thing uttered on Imus’ broadcast was the word “jigaboo” by the producer. Where is the outrage over that? THAT was the comment, to me, that was thoroughly unacceptable. None of the discussion was real smart, but “jigaboo”?!?!?! And then nothing gets focused on that? What the hell am I missing here?

Does the story deserve this attention? No. Am I surprised it IS getting this attention? Not at all.

Should Imus have been suspended? Sure. He made a boneheaded comment on the air (which I think was more SEXist than RACist), and he should be punished to some extent. But fired? No. Not for that. If anybody should have gotten the axe, it’s this Bernard guy that said “jigaboo”.

Be that as it may, I don’t see racists like Spike Lee (”there shouldn’t be interracial marriage”), Dusty Baker (”black people handle heat better”), or John Thompson (”I don’t recruit white kids to Georgetown.”) getting the same treatment that Jimmy the Greek, Al Campanis, Howard Cosell, and countless other white people get. Hell, Thompson was LAUDED for saying it, while Bobby Knight was taken to task for playfully snapping a towel at a black player. BTW, look at all the times Bobby has gotten in trouble for things that he shouldn’t have. But that’s another story.

In many cases, these people who make stupid, racist statements, black AND white, have been totally misunderstood in what they said, and in other cases, these people, black AND white, have only stated fact, yet if they’re white, the scrutiny is infinitely more intense. I am one of the LEAST racist persons you’d ever want to meet, BTW, and I’m making that assertion based on what I’ve been told by people of all colors. So it comes from a totally neutral perspective in my case, and I can see how white people have taken more heat for what they’ve said than the other way around. At some point, it has to even out, because contrary to everyone’s “wishes and hopes”, it’s never going to stop completely.

On that same line, Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer needs to say one thing before I’ll take ANYTHING she has said seriously. She said she “accepts” Imus’ apology. Cool. But why doesn’t she ask every rap artist who makes derogatory comments about women in their songs apologize, too? Why doesn’t Al Sharpton denounce rap lyrics? Why can they talk about rape, call women “hos”, and show women zero respect in their so-called “music”? It CANNOT be “blacks are allowed to talk about blacks like that”. Bullshit. It’s not about color, it’s about GENDER. Why is Coach Stringer not calling rappers into her office to apologize to her team?  Just a question.

A couple of final thoughts…wasn’t it Stevie Wonder who called himself a “nappy headed boy” in a song? Was he paying loving homage to his youth, or was he insulting the hell out of himself? And isn’t there a rap group actually CALLED “Nappy Roots”? They must really hate themselves.

The true king of Flip Flops

George W. Bush, 1999

“Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is.”

“I think it’s also important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they will be withdrawn.”

George W. Bush, 2007

“The consequences of imposing such a specific and random date of withdrawal would be disastrous.”

“Our enemies in Iraq would simply have to mark their calendars. They’d spend the months ahead plotting how to use their new safe haven once we were to leave. It makes no sense for politicians in Washington, D.C., to be dictating arbitary timelines for our military commanders in a war zone 6,000 miles away.”

Sickening

So the San Francisco Giants lose the other night, and what’s the only “highlight” we’re shown from the game? Barry “Sterry” Bonds hitting a drug-enhanced homer into the first row, barely clearing the fence.

Any pitcher on my team that didn’t throw a pitch directly at him in his first at bat would be fined. He needs a “message” sent every single game.  But it won’t happen. Too many of the pitchers are or have been syringe-friendly in the past.

Sad. It’s so very sad.

Looking forward to driving on a safe road

As I head to Bloomington tomorrow, I’m looking forward to seeing if the Illinois Highway Patrol will be making their fourth straight Saturday evening appearance on that treacherous stretch of I-74 between Morton and three miles east of Morton.  You know the stretch I’m talking about, the completely flat, completely straight, pretty much excellent visibility in all directions stretch?

Yeah, that one. There must be one helluva lot of accidents on this three mile stretch of road for there to always be three or four patrol cars on the road…and another watching from an overpass above. I’m sure glad they’re keeping that piece of road safe, and not the tree-lined valley near the Mackinaw River, or the steep tree-lined incline heading out of East Peoria, or the tree-lined hilly section with some deep ditches just west of Peoria. I mean, obviously, those places are MUCH safer.

But wait…no…it couldn’t be, could it? A speed trap? A revenue booster for the state? A quota-meeting section of roadway? Nah, they’d never do that.