BOO-BIRDS RAIN DOWN ON ROMNEY AT NAACP SPEECH

Posted on July 12, 2012 by theurbanllama

No Mitt Romney you don’t deserve credit just for showing up.

You are running for president. Giving speeches is part of the job description.

Usually if you are trying to make the argument that you intend to represent “ALL” racial and economic demographics within the United States, it’s probably a good idea to accept an invitation to speak before the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

True George W. Bush declined to speak before the NAACP both times he ran for president, but we all hope not to repeat the mistakes of the Bush/Cheney years.

Romney did show up Wednesday in Houston at the NAACP’s annual meeting to make the case for why African-Americans should consider voting for him over President Obama.

“If you want a president who will make things better in the African-American community, you are looking at him,” Romney said.

Let’s be honest, it’s not like Romney has a chance in hell of getting the black vote. The latest polls show African-Americans supporting Obama at over 90 percent.

Still, with unemployment in the African-American community at 14.4 percent, well above the national average of 8.2 percent, there is a conversation to be had about how the president could better care for this demographic.

Instead of seizing on this opportunity to have a constructive discussion, Romney chose to criticize the president’s economic policies and target him as a free-spending liberal who is out to raise taxes.

This wasn’t the brightest idea considering a report from the Congressional Budget Office came out Wednesday showing that tax rates under Obama hit a 30-year low in 2009, and have decreased even further since Obama cut the payroll tax.

“If our goal is jobs, we have to stop spending over a trillion dollars more than we take in every year,” Romney said in regard to decreasing government spending. “And so, to do that, I’m going to eliminate every non-essential, expensive program I can find. That includes ‘Obamacare.'”

Really. Couldn’t you have perhaps used the term “Affordable Care Act?”

‘Obamacare’ is a borderline offensive reference anyway, but particularly when using it before the nations oldest civil rights organization.

The jeers started and just kept on coming.

[Watch Romney get booed]

Romney stopped speaking and posed, letting the boos wash over him. He stood there with that vacant stare and insipid smile for 15 seconds waiting for the castigation to cease.

This told me two things. One Romney is a fake. There is no reason to show up at the NAACP convention and give that speech – not if you are for racial equality.

And two, he wasn’t delivering this speech for the attendees of this convention. This was a photo-op for the Tea Party faithful.

Romney has a serious credibility problem within the Republican Party. He needs to authenticate his conservative credentials.

Evidently his campaign believed that getting booed by the NAACP would play well to the far right-wing of the Republican Party.

While that may be true, I would argue that many moderates or swing voters who saw the response Romney drew would be turned off by his performance.

“I believe that if you understood who I truly am in my heart, and if it were possible to fully communicate what I believe is in the real, enduring best interest of African-American families, you would vote for me for president,” Romney said.

Well why don’t you tell us what is truly in your heart?

This is an emerging problem for Romney. He has essentially been running for president since 2008 and nobody really knows what this guy is about.

Some of this is by design. Romney is trying to fade into the background and focus all the attention and criticism on Obama. The idea here is to build up resentment to the incumbent and hope for a backlash that simply votes for the other guy.

I get that strategy if this was a state legislative race or a House seat, but Romney is running for president.

He has the ability to start wars and launch missiles – the American people have the right to know why he possesses off-shore Swiss bank accounts, what his childhood and upbringing were like, the depth and scope of his religious views – these are things Americans must weigh when they exercise their responsibility of electing a president.

Romney’s night got worse when he attempted to respond to questions about his remarks before the NAACP, as reported by Rachel Maddow on MSNBC.

“Remind them of this, if they want more stuff from government, tell them to go vote for the other guy — more free stuff,” Romney is reported as saying at a fundraiser in Hamilton, Mont. “But don’t forget, nothing is really free.”

I actually hope he didn’t say this.

Insinuating that the NAACP crowd is only interested in free government handouts is reprehensible and shows a lack of understanding.

Regardless, it sets the table for an interesting Thursday as Vice President Joe Biden will address the NAACP, and Mitt Romney will attend a fundraiser in Wyoming hosted by former Vice President Dick Cheney.

Doesn’t that sound all warm and fuzzy – Mitt and Dick in the same room.

I find it interesting that up until today neither Bush or Cheney have appeared with Romney.

Clearly there is a distancing going on, I’m just not sure if it’s Romney trying to keep the tarnish of the Bush years away, or that George W. is less than thrilled with his party’s nominee.

Either way it makes for interesting plot lines going into the fall election. If there is a rift within the Republican Party that can’t bode well for their prospects of victory.

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Big Blue Never Sleeps

Posted on July 7, 2012 by theurbanllama

Can John Calipari get his face plastered across a few more commercials, because I might have forgotten he was head basketball coach at the University of Kentucky.

For a few bucks it seems Coach Cal might hawk products for Betty Lou’s Big Blue Hair Emporium.

Whether on television or in print Calipari is everywhere.

I get that the University of Kentucky won its eighth NCAA basketball championship this year, and that Calipari was responsible for shepherding his young team to the title, but there is something unsettling about the plethora of crud he is advertising.

It only adds to his reputation of being a carnival barker – a huckster, ready to sell anything to anybody.

I appreciate striking while the iron is hot, but show a little discretion.

Calipari makes $4.8 million per season now, with $850,000 on the table yearly in bonus money.

His re-negotiated contract keeps him signed as the UK coach through 2019, with total compensation of $38.5 million, not including any potential bonus money.

Seems like it might be hard justifying to his players why they should remain content with only receiving a free ride from UK as compensation, when every time they flip on the television there is coach pitching banks, cars, pizzas, etc.

Calipari is not solely to blame here. UK basketball is an obsession.

A Sea of Blue, Wildcats Thunder Blog, True Blue Kentucky, CatsPause, Nation of Blue…

These are a few of the publications dedicated to everything UK.

Coach Cal has had an amazing run.

Since arriving in 2010, he has taken UK to the Elite Eight, the Final Four, and won the 2012 national championship.

He sends a slew of players to the NBA annually, including the first and second overall picks this year – who were both freshman by the way.

No school has ever done that previously.

But that is what we get back to – UK is a school, not a sports franchise.

This is a game, played increasingly by 18-year olds, lately.

They are kids, barely young adults.

Where it gets crazy is when the adults jump in who could no more attend UK than fly to the moon.

They attach their personal self-worth to the success of UK’s basketball team.

This skews everything.

Considering all the “one and done” kids Calipari has rolling in and out of Lexington, it’s hard to keep them all straight.

But this revolving door of student athletes has Big Blue Nation not just scouting the high school seniors possibly coming to UK, but juniors on down.

Fans want to know the names of who might be the next great players to wear the UK blue and white.

This is a common topic of conversation around the Bluegrass.

Perhaps Calipari and Big Blue Nation are a match made in heaven.

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Prominent Republicans Refuse to Participate in GOP Convention

Posted on July 6, 2012 by theurbanllama

It has been a rough summer for the Republican Party.

First President Obama beat them to the punch on immigration reform, which served to deflate the “Romney for President” balloon before it got off the ground.

Then, after Obama called Republicans on their bluff involving health care reform, the president went all in, bypassing the lower appeals process and taking his Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act straight to the U.S. Supreme Court – and won.

No matter how the Republicans want to try to spin this, it was a crushing blow, especially since Chief Justice John Roberts, a Republican appointee and well-regarded conservative, delivered the decisive vote in favor of President Obama’s health care reform law.

This has only further marginalized the Republican Party, as its leadership steadfastly refuses to compromise on any issues and is steering the party to the far right, into alignment with Tea Party activists, leaving moderate Republicans to question this direction and strategy.

Today we learned that several prominent Republicans have declined invitations to attend the GOP convention.

Jon Huntsman, who ran for the Republican nomination this year, is one of them.

“I will not be attending this year’s convention, nor any Republican convention in the future, until the party focuses on a bigger, bolder, more confident future for the United States — a future based on problem solving, inclusiveness, and a willingness to address the trust deficit, which is every bit as corrosive as our fiscal and economic deficits,” said Huntsman in an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune.

Also Linda McMahon, the Republican Senate candidate in Connecticut, intends to stay on the campaign trial instead of helping to nominate Romney.

She is joined by Virginia Sen. George Allen, Montana Rep. Denny Rehberg and Nevada Senate candidate Dean Heller, who all have indicated they intend to continue campaigning instead of going to Tampa.

This makes them sound like hard-working politicians, but in reality what these Republicans are doing is distancing themselves from Mitt Romney and the party’s right-leaning leadership.

Romney already was an imperfect candidate. This guy couldn’t find his way out of the 2008 primary, losing to John McCain, who while likable, was older than dirt, and had flip-flopped on numerous issues to appease the Republican hard-liners after his loss to George W. Bush in the 2000 primary.

Romney comes back in 2012 to compete against a field of horribly flawed candidates, of which he is one of them, and by screwing up the least he secured the nomination.

Now this does nothing to erase the fact that Romney ran to the left of Ted Kennedy in a losing effort for the 1994 Senate seat in Massachusetts. Nor does it explain away how he previously supported pro-choice abortion rights or advocated for gun control legislation.

What really is hurting Romney, and now the Republicans as a whole, is that while governor of Massachusetts, he signed into law Romneycare.

This state-wide universal health care reform act is what served as the model for the national law President Obama just implemented.

The Republicans and their candidate now find themselves boxed into a dead-end alley.

The president’s health care reform bill has been approved by all three branches of government, and stands to insure over 30-million people who currently don’t have access to reliable medical treatment.

While there remains a lot of debate about the individual mandate provision in this plan, the problem for Republicans is they have no alternative solution for covering 30-million Americans, and Romney advocated for the individual mandate in Massachusetts.

This makes it very difficult for Romney and the Republicans to go out into the states and criticize President Obama’s health care reform plan with a straight face.

They have no credibility.

In fact the Romney camp complicated matters this week by defending President Obama’s assertion that in fact failure to sign up for health care under the new law should be considered a “penalty” and not a tax.

That’s because Romney already did this in Massachusetts.

The campaign has since changed its tune as Republican leadership requested they get on the same page.

And the flip-flops just keep on coming.

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Isabella’s First Fireworks

Posted on July 5, 2012 by theurbanllama

Maia and Isabella catching the rockets red glare behind the Capitol in Frankfort.

While my head was somewhat preoccupied with politics yesterday, I did have a nice Fourth of July.

This was my baby Isabella’s first. She got to go over to Maia’s family’s house for a pool party and hang with all her aunts, cousins, grandparents and friends. She was one popular baby, and has taken well to wading in the pool.

Lord we cooked up enough food for a small army. Dennis slow smoked a bunch of ribs, Maia’s dad did some pulled pork, and I fixed a tangy batch of RT’s pasta jambalaya.

This is a different take on the traditional rice-based jambalaya, one I ran across when living in Washington, DC.

Ever since first going to New Orleans on spring break in 1989, I’ve had a passion and love for Cajun and Creole cuisine. When I moved to Washington in 1991, I started scouring the restaurant scene in hopes of finding at least passable New Orleans-type fare.

It was mostly miss until I found RT’s in Alexandria, VA.

RT’s Restaurant

The big mistake most restaurants make when trying pull off New Orleans food is they downplay the spices, often to appease blander palates. This never works out well.

Exterior of RT’s in Alexandria.

RT’s had just the right mix. It was Cajun, Creole, with a bit of low country South Carolina mixed in for good measure.

They serve an amazing She Crab Soup, with a splash of sherry. Order extra bread for dipping, you’ll thank me.

The crawfish and shrimp beignets are amazing; there are plenty of po-boys available, along with crawfish ettouffee, red beans and rice, and a crab and crawfish stuffed Flounder, topped with crab butter cream sauce.

Now that will get you to push back from the table with a full belly and say, “Ooh-Wee that was mighty fine!”

RT’s popularity exploded in 1992 once Bill Clinton took office. It became a featured restaurant throughout his eight years, and that tradition continues today.

The pasta jambalaya I made was a contemporary take on the original version. By substituting penne pasta, it totally re-invents the texture and gives it a lighter quality.

First you saute minced garlic, scallions, diced green peppers/red peppers, chopped onion and tomato in unsalted butter.

Then cook thin strips of chicken breast, sliced andouille sausage, roast pork or tasso ham and shrimp.

The juices from the critter mix with the butter and vegetables to start the foundation of the sauce; then add salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, white pepper, thyme, oregano, and smoked paprika.

Pour in a cup of chicken stock, with a tablespoon of tomato paste and bring to a boil. Cook this down till it thickens, then remove from heat to let it set.

Finish with two tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley and toss with penne pasta and you have an excellent New Orleans dish.

The eternally happy Macy at the Fourth of July pool party.

I recommend adding a couple tablespoons of Frank’s hot sauce for kick as well.

Happily I made it back home last night with a half batch still remaining.

We left the pool party around 8:00 p.m., and returned to Frankfort, where my friend Monty was having folks over for a cookout.

We were not in need of food, but there was a good group of folks to visit with.

Monty’s dad Guy, and Matt’s dad Donny are a real hoot!

They’ve known each other since the 3rd grade, and went into the military together way back when, went to airborne school together and jumped together. You could say they’ve seen a few wild times along the way, usually involving one or both of them.

It’s a pleasure to see their friendship.

Monty lives across from the Capitol and if you walk behind the Annex, there is a great view of the fireworks.

This was an accidental shot of the fireworks that turned out cool.

We all wondered that way with drinks and watched the show.

Isabella was a champ. Considering she had been held by like 19 people at the pool party and now was back out in 90 degree heat with more new people up in her grill, she never complained once and didn’t flinch at the firework noise.

All-in-all this was a good day. Happy Fourth of July everyone!

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Happy? 4th of July

Posted on July 4, 2012 by theurbanllama

Welcome to the 4th of July, the birthday of our independence, 2012-style.

America is 236 if my math is correct.

That is something to celebrate, considering this grand experiment in democracy has flourished under one flag, growing from 3 million people to over 300 million.

America was merely an ideal, a theory, that some freedom fighters and framers of our Constitution aspired to achieve, and to their credit here we stand 236 years later.

The road from July 4, 1776 to today has included many highlights, including great industrial triumphs, ground breaking advancements in science and technology, and successfully legislating our diverse population across 50 states.

That road has been fraught with peril as well. The underlying common denominator for America is conflict. We were born of violence and it remains inexplicably intertwined with the DNA of our people.

From the American Revolution in 1775 through the ongoing war in Afghanistan, America has never gone longer than 33-years without being involved in some conflict.

And the incidents have progressively become more frequent, with only a few years separating them at best, to the point where they piggyback upon one another, or now, with the War on Terror, the combat is endless.

Racial violence, domestic violence, street violence, drug violence, prison violence, child abuse, sex trafficking…It’s all around us all the time, often hidden in plain sight.

Those are the obvious examples. Then there is poverty, unemployment, homelessness and denial of health care that certainly perpetrate violence upon those who are victims of these ills.

I can’t help but think of conflict on this 4th of July, because those social and economic issues are no longer far from any of our doors.

The acrimonious tone surrounding debate over immigration and health care reform is spilling over into hate, and that is becoming ever more palpable throughout the electorate as questions abound as to whether the “American Dream” no longer exists.

People are trying to hold on to the promise of a better tomorrow, but it’s hard out there, and that creates frustration, fear and anger, which is fueling our politics.

This time around there is no foreign war to use as an outlet, nor any foreign power to blame for what ails America. We did this to ourself.

I remain optimistic this downturn can be reversed.

America is the most diverse, innovative and independent country in the world. Anything is possible here.

It just takes people waking up and dialing back into what is really important.

Like any addict, first we have to acknowledge we have a problem – only then can steps be taken to truly recovery.

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Holder Contempt Proceedings End ‘Fast and Furious’

Posted on July 3, 2012 by theurbanllama

Attorney General Eric Holder addresses reporters in New Orleans after the contempt vote in the House.

This is a postscript to the story I did early last week about the overly aggressive partisan pursuit by congressional Republicans of Attorney General Eric Holder, for his supposed involvement in Operation Fast and Furious, the botched gun-smuggling program sponsored by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Again, it’s not that this investigation is entirely without merit, it just never rose to the level that met the burden of contempt.

This was confirmed by the Justice Department Friday as it declared Attorney General Holder’s refusal to comply with the document request from Congress did not constitute a crime and he would not be prosecuted for contempt of Congress.

In a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, (R-OH), Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole wrote, that the Justice Department will not bring the congressional contempt citation against Holder before a federal grand jury or take any other action to prosecute the attorney general.

Ouch!

Absolutely Operation Fast and Furious was an ill-conceived strategy, but it wasn’t some high-profile centerpiece of U.S. policy. This was a regional operation, supervised out of Arizona.

It wasn’t even on the radar in Washington.

Deceased U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

Unfortunately, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry had to be murdered before the profile of Operation Fast and Furious was elevated to the point that Washington took notice.

This is a tragedy, and I feel for Agent Terry’s family.

That being said, it’s not like the bandits who killed Terry would have showed up with no guns even had the ATF not lost track of those 1,000 weapons.

This operation began under the Bush administration, and continued under Obama. Once the bright light of political scrutiny shined down upon Fast and Furious, it was rightfully shut down.

End of story.

Speaker of the House John Boehner, (R-OH).

But Republicans like Sen. Charles Grassley, (R-IA), Rep. Darrell Issa, (R-CA), and Speaker Boehner, decided to take a shot at the proverbial gold ring in a presidential election year, by attempting to taint Democrats and the Obama administration with this blundered program after the attorney general withheld documents from Congress.

Here is yet another example of taking something simple and consciously churning it up into a political mess.

This in essence is the problem with our entire legislative system right now – both parties are so polarized they seize upon non-issues and try to make them Armageddon.

In this particular instance it failed miserably for Republicans.

First because there really was no case, especially after President Obama invoked executive privilege; and second, Republicans had the misfortune of scheduling the contempt vote in the House shortly after the landmark decision from the Supreme Court upheld President Obama’s signature health care reform legislation.

This stole all the thunder from the contempt vote, and made it look like amateur hour, as Republicans were obviously caught off-guard by Chief Justice Roberts stamping his conservative approval upon Obama’s universal health care law.

This left the public to watch Republicans cry about losing in court, and then minutes later start whining about how the president wasn’t playing fair by denying them access to requested documents.

Republican members and their presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, approximated spoiled school children that didn’t get their way, throwing tantrums and looking decidedly un-presidential.

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Support for Obama Health Care Measure on the Rise

Posted on July 2, 2012 by theurbanllama

It was encouraging to see the poll numbers are up for President Barack Obama’s health care reform act after the Supreme Court ruling.

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll released Sunday revealed overall support for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has risen to 48 percent, up from 43 percent before the Supreme Court ruling Thursday.

Republicans and independent voters are backing the law in greater numbers.

Thirty eight percent of independent voters support the President’s plan, up from 27 percent in a poll taken days before the Supreme Court decision. Republican opposition to the measure dropped slightly, to 81 percent, down from 86 percent.

Becoming increasingly popular are provisions such as eliminating denial of coverage due to pre-existing conditions, requiring companies with 50 or more employees to provide medical benefits, and that children my stay on their parents’ insurance until reaching 26-years of age.

Debate continues to rage over the individual mandate part of the reform plan, which requires people to obtain health coverage under the law or face a penalty. The new survey shows no change in this area, 39 percent of Americans support it, with 61 percent against.

The Obama administration originally argued that the individual mandate provision  would fall under the authority of the commerce clause, but the Supreme Court found it constitutional via the government’s power to impose taxes.

It seems to me whether you want to call it a tax or not, the end result is the same – it’s a penalty.

This applies only to those who refuse to obtain insurance when they have the means to purchase it. This provision slams the door on irresponsible individuals who seek treatment through emergency room visits and then pass their health care costs along to everyone else.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates only one percent of the population will be impacted by this penalty.

That figure has been corroborated by the results seen in Massachusetts by the implementation of its own health reform law, referred to as Romneycare, which the Republican nominee for president, Mitt Romney, signed into law when he was governor.

Massachusetts also reports one percent of its population has been penalized for not signing up for health care insurance as prescribed by law.

The increasing support shown in this new poll for President Obama’s universal health care policy creates a stark contrast to the comments made by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, (R-KY), on Fox News Sunday.

In response to host Chris Wallace’s question of how Republicans, if they repealed Obamacare, would provide universal coverage to 30 million uninsured Americans, McConnell answered, “The single best thing we can do for the American health care system is to get rid of Obamacare.”

If the poll numbers keep going up as more people begin to understand the benefits of Obama’s wide-reaching health care reform act, this insistence by Republicans to blindly dismiss a plan that will provide affordable insurance to 30 million uninsured Americans may leave the GOP singing the blues come election day.

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NEW MIX TAPE

Posted on July 1, 2012 by theurbanllama

Radiohead performing at Riverbend in Cincinnati.

I love putting a good mix together, then hopping in the car for a little road trip.

I thought I had this new one finished three times now, but it kept falling apart towards the end.

Originally I burned these songs for the Radiohead concert in Cincinnati on June 5th.

Radiohead Concert Review

I made two CDs for the ride up.

One was a Radiohead mix – just a little something to help replicate the show I was about to see.

These guys never play a typical concert and The King of Limbs tour was even more avant-garde.

So I reviewed all of Radiohead’s setlists from this tour; they prepped 75 songs, and play around 23 of those a night; about 15 are played every night in some random order, leaving eight at-large selections.

I thought these 17 songs seemed like a fair representation of what might get played, and they were in the ball park:

Bloom; 15 Step; Little By Little; Airbag; Jigsaw Falling Into Place; Go To Sleep (Little Man Being Erased); Pyramid Song; Weird Fishes/Arpeggi; Exit Music (For A Film); You and Whose Army?; Morning Mr. Magpie; Idioteque; Reckoner; Lucky; Street Spirit (Fade Out); Paranoid Android; and Creep (Acoustic Version)

Throwing Creep on at the end was a gratuitous selection on my part. I realize Radiohead doesn’t play it much anymore, but it was a sweet way to finish the set.

Here is Radiohead’s Cincinnati setlist:

Radiohead at Riverbend Music Center

Now about the new mix.

I wanted this also to have a diffused atmosphere, so I chose tracks with a house or trance feel, some techno and a few “UP IN UR GRILL” hard rocking alt tracks – real high energy stuff to get the blood and alcohol pumping for the show.

It almost turned out great. The problem was I tried plugging in this Lil’ Wayne track, but it clashed with the tunes around it.

Then I had this song from The Call, but that stark 80’s synthpop wasn’t working.

Finally I found Runaway, by Imperial Teen; fun song, simple, but with flavor. Nice fit.

Thought that was the end of it, but after listening to the mix again the Radiohead song wasn’t flowing. I intended to use Little By Little, but really anything off The King of Limbs is hard to use in a mix format because it is so unstructured.

I fixed that quick enough by plugging in Go To Sleep (Little Man Being Erased), from Hail To The Thief.

This put the finishing touches on my new mix.

It’s entitled, Don’t Be Crazy Underneath, which is an inside joke, and applies to anyone you’ve ever dated that appears fine and normal on the surface, but when you get them home, they turn out to be stone crazy.

Track Listings:

The Features-How It Starts; Gorillaz-Plastic Beach; Nine Inch Nails-Me, I’m Not; Beastie Boys-The New Style; Bloc Party-Banquet; Diplo-Must Be A Devil; My Morning Jacket-First Light; Ratatat-Loud Pipes; Arctic Monkeys-Brick By Brick; Mr. Gnome-Plastic Shadow; Thee Oh Sees-I Was Denied; Radiohead-Go To Sleep; Foo Fighters-Arlandria; The Kills-Future Starts Slow; Imperial Teen-Runaway; Alex Clare-Too Close; Skrillex-Kill Everybody; Miike Snow-Paddling Out

A few highlights are The Features; I had to put the Beastie Boys on here in honor of Adam Yauch (MCA),who died last month; Love this Diplo take on Hey by the Pixies; just recently discovered Thee Oh Sees, a San Francisco surf/punk garage outfit (go to the 2:00 minute mark on this video and check out I Was Denied), Monster!; and the incomparable Skrillex, whose vicious dubstep will snap your head off.

Tasty treats — Enjoy!

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Imperial Teen Sing Runaway

Posted on June 30, 2012 by theurbanllama

From left: Roddy Bottum, Lynn Perko Truell, Will Schwartz and Jone Stebbins, who make up Imperial Teen.

I hate it when I’m looking around for a song and can’t find the one I need.

I’ve been working on a mix and needed to fill a hole; something indie/alternative, that could blend with a trancy/house atmosphere, along with straight techno, but provided more standard song structure.

Then I found the right tune. There were several that would have bridged the two songs around it, but they weren’t quite right.

The song is Runaway, from the CD Feel The Sound, which came out in January, by Imperial Teen, a San Francisco post-grunge pop band.

This isn’t a huge song by any means, but a fun summer tune. Just simple pleasure.

Guitarist and vocalist, Roddy Bottum, also is an alum of the alternative metal band Faith No More, which surprised me.

Imperial Teen is perhaps better recognized for their 1999 hit Yoo Hoo, which appeared on the soundtrack to Jawbreaker, starring Marilyn Manson’s ex, Rose McGowan.

This is a pretty hot video: Imperial Teen – Yoo Hoo

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Health Care Decision by Supreme Court is Victory for America

Posted on June 29, 2012 by theurbanllama

Supreme Court Justice John Roberts, who delivered the pivotal swing vote for universal health care coverage.

Way to go Chief Justice John Roberts! Welcome to the fight to preserve America.

Yesterday the United States finally joined the rest of the civilized world by putting into place a comprehensive plan to ensure health care coverage to all its citizens.

Chief Justice Roberts joined the liberal wing of the Supreme Court in voting 5-4 to uphold the constitutionality of President Barack Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

President Obama welcomed the ruling, calling it, “a victory for people all over this country whose lives will be more secure.”

Not surprisingly the response from the Republicans and their presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, was less than enthusiastic.

“Obamacare was bad policy yesterday, it’s bad policy today,” said Romney. “Obamacare was bad law yesterday, it’s bad law today.”

This was another example of Romney condemning a detailed plan without offering any alternative proposal.

Unhappy camper, Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee for president, after the announcement by the Supreme Court upholding President Obama’s health care plan.

Ironically, Romney implemented a similar universal health care reform act while governor of Massachusetts in 2006, commonly referred to as “Romneycare.”

I appreciate how Republicans might see universal care as an intrusion by the federal government into what they consider states’ rights or private matters of individuals.

That is a debatable topic, but if Republicans don’t like the current law then come up with a “detailed” alternative that includes a valid method of payment.

Promises and platitudes are cheap.

America can’t afford its current health care system.

Some may not like investing in universal health care, but similar to the financial bailouts under Presidents Bush and Obama, it’s necessary.

Inaction would be disastrous.

And can we please leave this whole “socialized medicine will lead to socialism” argument alone. It’s ignorant and does nothing but stir up fear.

Whether people want to recognize it or not, aspects of socialism are already present in American society. Police, firemen, soldiers, judges — the list goes on; we all contribute money through taxes to pay for these services, which ensures a similar level of quality is provided across the country.

This doesn’t mean we’re suddenly not going to have any choices.

The individual mandate aspect of the health care reform act functions like car insurance. Anyone who drives a car must buy auto insurance. If you get caught without it there is a financial penalty.

That seems pretty fair.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, (D-NV).

“No longer will Americans be a heart attack or a car crash away from bankruptcy,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. “No longer will Americans live in fear of losing their health insurance because they lose their jobs.”

Unfortunately I’m afraid fear is what much of this debate is about.

Fear by the Republican leadership and the top 1 percent that they might lose some of the privilege they currently enjoy; and fear projected by Republicans across the health care debate because it makes people easier to control.

Our most basic necessities are food and shelter. Medical care is next.

The fact that a country as wealthy as America doesn’t provide its citizens access to health care is barbaric.

I’m not sure what it is specifically that so frightens Republicans about health care reform. I suppose if the plan works they risk being labeled as out of touch, or worse, heartless, because the lack of compassion on display by most opposing the Supreme Court decision yesterday was staggering.

Republican leaders exhibited what I would call predatory behavior, in wanting to ensure those without health benefits would continue to be disenfranchised.

Lacking health care or access to another method of coverage outside your job really boxes in a person. It precludes choices, and very easily can make workers feel scared, vulnerable and desperate, thus susceptible to being preyed upon.

We need an entrepreneurial work force, one that is willing to take chances, but until yesterday that wasn’t possible, especially for older workers and those with families, because they couldn’t risk loosing access to health benefits.

Universal care removes this key stumbling block that was hindering America’s future potential, and empowers its people to compete on a global platform, by not making us hostages to the current health care system – which is the most expensive in the world and provides one of the poorest rates of return.

From the standpoint of being able to treat acute illnesses, America’s medical care remains among the best available, but the inefficiencies and costs associated with generic care across the country leaves it ranked 37th by the World Health Organization, behind Costa Rica, Canada and Norway to name a few.

“What the court did not do on its last day in session, I will do on my first day if elected president,” said Romney. “I will act to repeal Obamacare.”

Really, that is the first thing you want to tackle if elected president – revoking health care coverage to 30-million people?!?

This Supreme Court ruling is damning on two levels for Republicans.

First, that the majority included Chief Justice Roberts, who was nominated to the court by George W. Bush, and is one of its more conservative members. His putting the stamp of approval on this plan prevents detractors from shirking it off as some liberal edict.

Secondly, it validates the authority of President Obama. People generally take in an array of issues before finally making a decision on whom to vote for, but one overarching concern is always whether a person is a strong leader.

Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr.

This affirmation of Obama’s signature piece of legislation unquestionable sends the message that he is a dynamic thinker who can put his ideas into action and deliver results.

That is a priceless commodity on the campaign trail.

Major kudos to Nancy Pelosi, who showed great leadership throughout this process in securing the necessary votes in the House; also to Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr., who brought this case before the Supreme Court. Many criticized his oral argument, but it carried the day.

Senator Edward Kennedy, (D-MA), a tireless advocate for social reform.

And finally a mention of Senator Ted Kennedy, who made it his life’s work to bring national health insurance to the people of this country. He didn’t live long enough to see this day, but his fingerprints are all over this landmark legislation.

We get caught up in debating the minutiae of every intricacy surrounding the health care debate. Give the plan a chance.

It has taken 100-years for this day to arrive, since Theodore Roosevelt first proposed the idea back in 1912.

President Obama delivering on his campaign promise to bring about change.

We asked for change. President Obama was elected on a promise to bring change and he delivered. We should applaud his administration’s efforts to design and implement a workable solution.

It’s a historic day, one worthy of celebration, as the Supreme Court spoke loudly in support of President Obama, who is leading the charge for America to have a more prosperous tomorrow.

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