IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT...

...AND I FEEL FINE!

My apocalypse will not be a one day affair, because the world does not end that way. The human race is not going to get off as easy as a comet smashing into the eath.

My apocalypse leverages the prophecies of Nostradamus.

Nostradamus was a sixteenth century seer who had an uncanny ability to predict the future.

In The Prophecies, he compiled his major, long-term predictions in a series of quatrains, grouped into nine sets of 100 and one of 42, called "Centuries".

Nostradamus has been credited, for the most part in hindsight, with predicting numerous events in world history, from the Great Fire of London, and the rise of Napoleon and Adolf Hitler, to the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

"In the new lands of American, three brothers now shall come to power
Two alone are born to rule but all must die before their hour
Two great men but brothers not make the north united stand
Its power be seen to grow and fear posess the eastern lands

Three leagues from the gates of Rome
A pope names Paul is doomed to die
A great wall that divides a city at this time is cast aside
These are the signs I bring to you to show you that the time is nigh”

Man, man your time is sand
Your ways are leaves upon the sea
I am the eyes of Nostradamus
All your ways are known to me”

- Al Stewart

The above verses were quatrains that Al Stewart paraphrased for the final song on his album Past Present And Future (go buy it if you don't own it-it's a classic).

Nostradamus' original verses have been interpreted as predicting the rise to power of the Kennedy clan, as well as the creation of the European union, the death of Pope John Paul I and the deconstrcution of the Berlin wall.

Nostradamus had hit other twentieth century events dead on, most notably his prediction of an evil warlord named Hister, the German of the crooked cross.

My apocalypse continues the decline Nostradamus predicts.

Sorry, no fire and brimstone, tidal waves or earthquakes-we are all going to have to live through every painful minute of it, knowing that we had chances over the last two decades to right this ship (Alan Keyes, Ron Paul), and we chose deception and mediocrity over true leadership.

So, continuing the apocalyptic timeline…

(1)    The population of the Earth grows increasingly dumber (think “Idiocracy”), resulting in the election to President of the spawn of a demon and a human woman, born in Kenya in 1961.

(2)    At the same time, the European union foretold in the verses above will start to crumble due to the proliferation of fiat currency and insurmountable government debt funded by printing money.

(3)    China continues to fund the overspending of the west, and in 2036 takes posession of Hawaii, San Diego and Arizona’s Grand Canyon in exchange for forgiveness of 25% of the accumulated US debt. President Malia Obama had offered Los Angeles and San Francisco for another 25% but China declined. Too friggin’ liberal.

This fulfills the Biblical prophecy of moral decay and decadence.

"But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." (Matthew 24:37 NKJV)

The Bible says in Genesis 6:11-13 that: “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”

(4)    In 2040, Islamic terrorists take control over the entire air traffic control system, but realize if they bring the US to its knees, which they could easily do, we’d stop buying oil, and basically China and OPEC would be the only ones hurt. They return control of the air traffic system to the US in exchange for one hundred cases of Twinkies. Although the snack cakes had not been manufactured since 2012, there was still a quarter century left on their shelf life. President Sasha Obama had tried to negotiate Los Angeles and San Francisco in exchange instead of America’s last Twinkies, but again there were no takers.

This fulfills the Biblical prophecy of the increase in knowledge (air travel, technology).

Daniel 12:4 says: “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”

(5)   Former president Malia Obama marries Kim Kardashian's son and her son, Barack Hussein Obama-Kardashian, although born in Hawaii, moves to Kenya, applies for dual citizenship and eventually runs for public office. In 2046, President Obama (Sasha) declares war on Lichtenstein for refusing to allow US inspectors to examine their weapons of mass destruction.  When asked how she knew about the weapons, President Obama III said, "I looked at the receipt," outing her sister and predecessor for selling the nukes to the small principality.

This fulfills the Biblical prophecy regarding nuclear weapons that are used in the Tribulation.

(6)    In 2066, the United States files for bankruptcy, and discontinues aid to Israel, who promptly declares war on the economically depressed nation as Jewish Americans repatriate to Israel in alarming numbers, taking with them what little business remained in the country.  surrenders

This fulfills the Biblical prophecy regarding the nation of Israel.

In Zechariah 12:2-3 the Lord declares

"Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it."

The return of the Jews to their homeland is foretold in many different places in the Bible including Ezekiel 36:24 which says: “For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.”

(7)   For the rest, just go read the Book of Revelations in the Bible. And you may want to make friends with your Mormon neighbor, since they have a year's supply of food stores on hand.

So don't worry, the world won't end today. Go buy those Christmas presents...pay the mortgage, and show up for work wearing this tee shirt...

But start making friends with your Mormon neighbors...they have a year's supply of food stores on hand and who knows if I have some calculation errors in my timeline?

ONE LITTLE HITLER

"Two little Hitlers will fight it out until
One little Hitler does the other one's will"
-Elvis Costello


With Barack Obama back in the White House for another four years, the threat of overturning ObamaCare is as empty as most American’s retirement funds.

I just hope America is careful what it wishes for.

You see, back in 1883, a country in Europe initiated a national health care plan. As is the way with political movements, the plan started out small and grew into a national compulsory plan.

The plan slowly grew, and doctors found themselves in partnership with the government, becoming advocates for the health of the general population.

Traditional individual ethics and Christian values were supplanted by a collective ethic for the benefit of the health of the nation.

That nation was Germany.

As Germany’s fortunes waned in the early twentieth century, the health care plan started by Otto von Bismark was faced with the need to perform cost-benefit analyses, leading to the selection of strong individuals worthy of support, and the elimination of the weak.

And this was before the National Socialist Party (you may know them by their warm and fuzzy name-Nazis) came to power.

 

 

The Nazi’s built upon  this philosophy, and more than half of the doctors signed on to the policy that “the ill-concieved ‘love of thy neighbor’ has to disappear.”

It was seen as the duty of the state to grant life and livelihood only to the healthy and hereditarily sound. Sterilization became a common practice, and grew widespread, and under Hitler, the atrocities grew. In May 1939, Hitler directed that “lives not worth living” be put to an end, and deformed and retarded children were euthanized.

All this was before the Jews were singled out for extermination-this is how Hitler treated Germans.

This is how German doctors treated fellow Germans.

And this is how German people treated other Germans.

Why do I point all this out?

Because it can happen again.

I am not trying to say our newly re-elected president is a Nazi, not am I accusing the health care plan of having Third Reich overtones.

But I am saying that there will come a time, and that time may be sooner than we think, where the demand for medical services exceeds the amount of money allotted to pay for them, and choices will have to be made.

Who will make those choices?

How will those choices be made?

Alan Keyes once wrote that our society’s ability to rationalize the murder of unborn children is the primary reason for its decline.

 He said, “we are not going to remain a free people if we arrogate to ourselves the right to destroy the rights of others...and that's exactly what we are doing when we embrace… pro-choice."

I am not trying to bring up the pro-life debate in this post (there are other posts for that).

I am just pointing out that the same people you will be counting on to fight for your rights when you are older and need medical care will be the same people who decided that an unborn child does not have any rights.

Are you sure they are the people you want to count on?

THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME

 

“It's the same old song
But with a different meaning
Since you been gone”

 

President Obama opened his first White House press conference in eight months Wednesday with a familiar refrain: Blame the last guy.

Before diving into an explanation of how he wants to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff" -- and imploring House Republicans to approve legislation to raise taxes on high earners -- Obama sought to once again remind Americans that he took office, four years ago, during a recession that started with the George W. Bush administration.

 

"Right now our economy is still recovering from a very deep and damaging crisis, so our top priority has to be jobs and growth," Obama said. "We've got to build on the progress that we've made."

How long does a candidate get to blame his predecessor before accepting responsibility for his own failed attempts to right the ship?

 

 

I know in corporate America, we set a maximum of three months, but so far the people are giving the Communist-In-Chief a full four years.

Apparently, now that the campaign is over, “forward” is being replaced by a rehash of the Kenya Boy’s repertoire from his first term.

 

An oldie but goodie, I guess, since America seems to lap it up!

 

The president on Wednesday also renewed his call for the Republican-controlled House to make top earners “pay their fair share,” another one of his chart hits that liberals such as Bruce Springsteen and Katy Perry embrace.

 

"We should not hold the middle class hostage while we debate tax cuts for the wealthy," Obama said.

Republicans worry that failing to preserve the current rates for everyone will end up hurting the economy by hurting small businesses.

 

The appearance marked the first scheduled, solo news conference for Obama since March. The president spent much of the year campaigning for a second term -- now that he's won it, the president faces a barrage of challenges and controversies.

Most pressing on the domestic front is the so-called "fiscal cliff," the combination of tax hikes and spending cuts that will hammer the economy come January unless Congress and the White House strike a deal.

Congressional budget analysts say that a failure to avert the cliff would trigger another recession next year.

 

I seem to be the only American who takes exception with the fact that politicans get to spend “much of the year campaigning” on my dime but want to vilify the “wealthy.”

Hey Barry-you’re one of the 1% and you didn’t even work at your friggin’ job most of the year!

Stop pontificating!

DOUBLE PEPPERONI

 

 

Daniel Wetter is just 16 years old, but his plan to support pizza chain Papa John’s amid a backlash of liberal criticism is no pie-in-the-sky idea.

Wetter is part of an upstart group called Rebooting America that is proposing that today be a national day of appreciation for the pizza chain, whose chief executive officer is being attacked for saying employees’ hours might be cut to cover the cost of implementing their health insurance under ObamaCare.

The conservative group has hatched a social media-based campaign that centers on encouraging people to buy a pizza pie at a Papa John’s store, taking a photo of the outing and then posting it on a Facebook page or tweeting it.

“We just wanted to stand with Papa John’s because it is under attack,” said Wetter, who volunteered with Mitt Romney's campaign and credits fellow conservative activist Justen Charters with coming up with the idea.

 

 

Papa John's founder and CEO John H. Schnatter said after Election Day that franchise owners might have to cut hours because the health care law requires companies with more than 50 employees to provide insurance for those working at least 30 hours.  He also estimated the law will cost the company $5 million to $8 million more annually.

Other companies, such as Olive Garden and Applebee’s, also have faced criticism and threats of boycotts for voicing similar concerns.

Supporters of the Affordable Care Act more recently pounced on comments by New York-area Applebee's franchisee Zane Tankel, who told Fox Business that cost increases related to implementing ObamaCare might force a halt to expansion and additional hiring. Critics appear to have interpreted Tankel’s comments to mean he will lay off employees as a result of the changes.

Wetter said he hopes the activism will move beyond the appreciation day for Papa John's.

“This is not just about Friday or one group,” said Wetter, adding he already was a fan of Papa John’s. “I just had some pizza yesterday, and I’m going to have some more Friday.”

The other elements of the plan call for supporters to “like" Papa John's Facebook page and buy an extra pizza Friday “to share with someone that is struggling right now,” such as a neighbor who lost a job.

CREATION MYTH?

Why is it that when liberals attack people of faith, they always throw out the argument that Christians believe in creation which allegedly sets the world at about six thousand years old. Therefore, Christians must be idiots since they do not believe in  things that science can prove, like dinosaurs, for example.

I don’t know how I would classify myself when it comes to faith.

I was raised Catholic, and still think of myself as one even though I do not practice the faith as prescribed.

I was educated in a Catholic school system through ninth grade, and was taught things like dinosaurs and the big bang theory alongside the book of Genesis.

By nuns who hit me with rulers and dust brooms (mostly for behavior that warranted such attacks).

Is it possible that the schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia were rebels, or uniquely enlightened?

Maybe so.

When I went through grades 10-12 in the public school system I was able to sleep through most of the advanced placement classes and get A’s and B’s, so the Catholic system was doing something right.

Or maybe the public school systems were doing something wrong.

This was before the Federal  Department of Education was signed into law in 1979, so maybe the performance inequities would be fixed by this massive tax dollar drain (budget of $71 billion in 2011).

Or not.

Since the ED was founded, combined math and verbal scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) fell from an average of 1,039 to 1,028.  

Not a huge drop, but considering the trillions thrown at public schools over those three decades, we certainly di not get a return on investment!

But I digress. I will attack the publisc school situation in a future post.

So back to creation versus evolution.

I asked if it were possible that the Catholic schools I went to were particularly enlightened.

The other possibility would be that the liberal atheists are not as intelligent as they see themselves, and are simply spouting bile with naught to back it up.

 

Hmm….could that be possible?

(by the way liberal readers, "naught" is a synonym for "nothing")

Christians ARE presented with both views of the advent of mankind on this rock, and the liberal myth that Christians believe it is less than 10,000 years old is just that-a myth.

Many religious denominations accept that biological evolution has produced the diversity of living things over billions of years of Earth's history and have issued statements observing that evolution and the tenets of their faiths are compatible.

 

Many scientists have written eloquently about their awe and wonder at the history of the universe and of life on this planet, explaining that they see no conflict between their faith in God and the evidence for evolution.

Religious denominations that do not accept the occurrence of evolution tend to be those that believe in strictly literal interpretations of religious texts.

So it is the fringes of religion that believe the earth is not very old.

Kind of like it's the fringe liberals who think that mocking people with different beliefs than their own demonstrates their open-mindedness.

 

SKI COLORADO!

Need I say more?

ROMNEY STYLE

This is must-see TV!

Just in case the video does not play, here's a link directly to You Tube:

Mitt Romney Style (Gangnam Style Parody)

 

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE....

Earlier today, workers at a Philadelphia polling place, after being ordered by a judge to cover up a mural of President Obama "in its entirety," slapped up a few pieces of paper that only partially covered his image -- while leaving the Obama campaign logo and a quote from the current president in full view for voters.

Some northern Florida voters also arrived at one polling station early Tuesday to find two pictures of Obama on a wall.
But whether these were dirty tricks by liberals and their ilk, new Islamic/Kenyan terror tactics or simply oversights, by the time everyone reads this tomorrow morning, they'll all be moving FORWARD towards more HOPE and CHANGE....

Yep, four more years of the Kenya boy! 1,461 more days of the Marxist stooge! Another term for the Muslim/Christian tax-and-spend-and-borrow-what-you-can't-tax-from-China idiot!

This is NOT sour grapes-I have been predicting BO as a two-termer since before he won in 2008.

I've also been calling him an imbecile and all of those other names for that long. Hey, if the Secret Service nailed you for disrespecting the president, I would have been buried with the fishes a few years ago!

Don't get me wrong-we were fucked if Romney got elected, too. I'd be dogging Mitt if he'd gotten the nod, it just would have been a little more creative effort.

Obama will probably be elected with fewer electoral votes than he received in 2008, and as I type this Romney is winning the popular vote.

Watch the Democrats talk about their "mandate" and their "landslide" victory.

I hope the illegal alien is happy with his victory.

I wish the American people luck.

I'm leaving the Ron Paul sign on my lawn so everyone knows not to blame me.

Last one in America to leave-please turn the lights out!

COMMUNIST RANT

RY COODER "ELECTION SPECIAL"

Ry Cooder’s Election Special is meant as a wake-up call as the United States heads into the fall election season. Sadly, Cooder has served up a pro-Obama, anti-Republican rant that I would expect from a college student, not from someone eligible for Medicare.

Ry Cooder came to fame as a supreme `guitar technician' reinterpreting old folk and R&B but his last four records have seen him concentrating on writing his own songs to express his political views, although I find these views a bit naïve and over-simplified, often resulting in subpar lyrics that detract from the music.

On "Mutt Romney Blues," Cooder spells out the evils of the Republican candidate, but on "Cold Cold Feeling" he looks for sympathy for the devil....I mean the incumbent. In his own words in an interview with American Songwriter, Cooder says " The president, alone in the dark, walks the Oval Office floor. Before you criticize and accuse, walk a mile in his shoes."

The mystery to me is why Cooder is so willing to accept Obama as a savior, but so confident that every Republican deserves bile? How can he not see how adept both parties are at mistruth, and more importantly, that there are times to be liberal and times to be conservative?

More from the same interview where he comments on each song on the album::

”Where did Mitt Romney learn that hollow laugh of his? He sure scares me, I don’t mind telling you." (Mutt Romney Blues)

"As a mother, will Sarah Palin lead the Republican convention in a prayer for Treyvon? Will “Stand Your Ground” stand? Don’t forget your bed sheet and keep your money in your shoes." (Going To Tampa)

"A lament for this guy Zimmerman, and all the many Zimmermans. Too late, they find their masters have given them gun rights and new “Stand Your Ground” lynching laws instead of good paying jobs and secure futures. They drank the Kool-Aid, they really drank it down." (Kool Aid)

"The 90 and the 9: A possible political discussion between a father and child. Here in Los Angeles, they allow military recruiters in public schools. If you speak against it, they come down hard on you. I don’t even know what name you give to a criminal conspiracy like that." (The 90 and the 9)

So if you haven't figured it out, I am not thrilled with the lyrical content on the disc, and this disc will be collecting dust on a shelf for years to come. Musically I have to give credit where it is due-Cooder is a master of his instrument, which sometimes shines through all the liberal rhetoric.

Cooder produced the album and wrote all of the songs, save for one co-written with Joachim Cooder. He sings and plays mandolin, guitar, and bass on the album, with Joachim on drums.

So if you are a fan of Ry Cooder and like your roots music servied with a side of Marxism, this is for you. Wanna buy my copy, comrade?

WE DESERVE THE LEADERSHIP WE GET

No matter which candidate wins Tuesday, it’s clear the media didn’t just cover this election, they shaped it.

If you were President Obama, you got the best of coverage and photos of you with halos around your head. Your made-up autobiography and “composite” girlfriend were a blip in the news, your radical positions downplayed and the ongoing failures of your administration – economy, fast and furious, foreign policy in general – were all glossed over by the major media.

Things like the massive decline in the job participation rate and Obama’s $16-trillion nation debt were turned into triumphant steps that needed to be kept moving "FORWARD" by liberally biased news coverage.

Even his massive failure on Libya where four Americans were killed was somehow ignored.

CNN’s Candy Crowley even covered for him during the debates.

Heck, I expected her to go down on the Kenya Kid after flat out lying for him during one exchange with Romney during the second debate.

If you were Mitt Romney, the media turned you into a caricature.

They dug into long-forgotten high school pranks and tried to depict him as radical right-wing, as well as bash him for his faith. A casual comment about the “47 percent” was magnified into a major issue and became a disaster.

The 2012 presidential election wasn’t as bad as the media spin during the race of 2008.

It was worse.

It was a war on truth and truth lost most days.

According to voters, the big issue was the economy, but you’d never know it from the news coverage. 

Bullshit social issues were pushed to give Team Obama ample distractions from the 23 million under and unemployed.

When economic news was covered, journalists found or created a silver lining inside every dark cloud.

High gas prices weren’t bad, they were “improving,” and lousy economic growth was seldom called a major Obama failure.

For journalists, “fact checking” was one-sided, as facts about the current administration were manipulated to reinforce Obama talking points rather than having anything to do with the truth.

And now, we've arrived at the election tomorrow.

All that’s left is the counting, and perhaps, the recounting.

If there is some dispute with the vote, look for journalists to pull out all stops to herd their man Obama once more to the top spot.

But no matter who wins, the media ensured that the American public was fed a lot of fertilizer.

But I still hold the American public to blame.

In a jingoistic age of “Proud To Be An American” bumper stickers, the majority American public has no idea what it means to be an American.

For most of us, we did not do a damn thing to be American-we were born into it.

We have a responsibility to learn about what it means to be an American, why this country was founded, and why the Constitutiton says what it does.

Most of us have not.

Most Americans are only willing to commit the time it takes to buy a bumper sticker or car magnet to America. Any more than that would eat into Survivor, Resident Evil or ESPN time.

So Americans are experts on “American Idol” but ignorant on the United States Constitution.

Which allows idiots like Obama to come in and usurp the Constitution for the personal gain of the people who pull his strings, all the while fooling an ignorant populace into thinking he’s one of them.

Because that’s what matters these days-they poll on whether the candidate is “likeable.”

And I guess a lying, Kenyan-born Muslim Communist is more likeable than Mitt Romney.

Who was more likeable than Ron Paul.

And for the record, Ron Paul was the only candidate telling the truth.

We deserve the leadership we get.

THE NUMBERS NEVER LIE

And now for something completely different....

 



 

SPEED TRAP

Remember in the old days, when a police cruiser would find a nice spot just around a bend on a road where everybody speeds, set up his radar gun, and then try to nail you?

That was back in the day when drivers coming the other day would flash their lights to warn you of the speed trap, and it gave both sides a sporting chance.

Then radar detectors invented, and although in many states it was legal to buy them, it was illegal to use them, but they still gave the drivers a bit of an edge, so the police came up with new kinds of radar that the detectors could not detect.

Nowadays we have photo enforcement systems that utilize digital cameras, computers and radar sensors to detect violations of speed limit and red light laws.

I would think that if the goal of this new technology was to have traffic abide by the speed limit, but for some reason, at least in Arizona, they put out signs warning you of the speed trap.

I'm not kidding-they do the same thing for red light cameras!

Is this somehow a throwback to the old west tradition of calling your opponent out? In Philly, they would just hit you over the head with a bat. And that was Mayor Frank Rizzo's method-other people were a little less civilized!

If you see the sign, and still get a ticket, what does that say about you?

I've got to wonder-is this a fight against traffice violations, or a fight against illteracy?

WRECKING BALL

Rocker Bruce Springsteen may be Chris Christie's musical idol, but the Republican New Jersey governor and the Jersey rock icon have different political views.

 

Next week in Parma, Ohio, Springsteen will be performing on behalf of our favorite Kenyan, Barack Obama.

 

Ohio, of course, is a key battleground state; no Republican has ever won the presidency without taking Ohio.

 

Obama campaign officials are delighted.

 

The Obama/Biden team has been emphasizing its fight for the working middle class, and that’s certainly been Springsteen’s philosophical and political soul ground over the decades.

 

"Bruce Springsteen's values echo what the President and Vice President stand for: hard work, fairness, integrity," campaign manager Jim Messina said in a statement.

What I find amusing is that Americans are so gullible.

Bruce Springsteen represents the working man, right?

Bruce Springsteen has never held a job in his life.

That's a fact. Go read any of the books Dave Marsh wrote about him.

Bruce was proud of that fact in the seventies-he swore he'd NEVER hold a job that was unrelated to music..

But when it helped to sell records he sure started acting like he'd worked in factories and the like. That became his image, and it was a farce.

It's kind of like Obama himself. He surrounds himself with celebrities, and acts like he's just plain folk, and America eats it up.

Earlier this year, it seemed unlikely that Springsteen would work on behalf of Obama again this year as he did in 2008, and at the time he seemed somewhat disappointed in Obama.

“I would like to have seen more activism in job creation sooner than it came,” he said, according to an ABC News report in February. “I would like to have seen people helped out, seen some of these [home] foreclosures stopped somehow.”

Springsteen said Obama was “more friendly to corporations than I thought he would be."

Trust me, I am not waving the Romney flag here.

I just wish Americans would actually look at what these liars DO and stop voting based on bumper-sticker slogans and rock star appearances at rallies.

WHERE'S WYATT WHEN YOU NEED HIM?

It's hard for me to believe sometimes that the people living in Arizona are the offspring of those who settled here before air conditioning (talk about tough), braved the untamed western years (the Kurt Russell movie romanticizes it, Tombstone really was one tough town), and once had the cajones to tell the rest of the country to shove its political correctness and that naming the third Monday in January a state holiday was not representative of the desires of the majority of its population (30% are Hispanic, only 3% are black).

Of course the state later caved on that so the NFL would place the Super Bowl in Arizona.

I think many of the settlers who braved the elements to settle the state rolled over in their graves on that one.

And they are doing six-foot-under-flips again.

The Sound Strike is a collection of bands and musicians who chose to boycott the state in response to the passing of Arizona's controversial anti-immigration law SB 1070.

Faithful followers will remember my prior posts on this topic encouraging people to boycott these artists who fell victim to the sound bytes, calling Arizonans jingoistic without understanding either the situation in the state or the nature of the actual bill.

Now, organizers of the Sound Strike have shifted their focus and are no longer boycotting the state.

I say, Arizonans should still boycott the bands involved, but so desperate for attention is Arizona that the local media will kiss the ass of anything that gives them the opportunity to show that Arizona resembles a city rather than a loose collection of surburbs with no real identity to speak of.

It's been three years since Chicago punk band Rise Against last played a show in Arizona.

And the youth of Phoenix went to see this band last Friday, the same band that labeled them rascist not so long ago.
Perhaps a bit ironically, the Sound Strike movement chose to lift their ban on bands playing Arizona just as SB 1070's most controversial portion of the law, the part that states that law-enforcement officials should try to determine the immigration status of a person when reasonable suspicion exists, was passed into law.

Even with that being the case, Rise Against, whose music and members have always been politically outspoken, didn't mention the subject Friday except to explain why they chose to become a part of the Sound Strike in the first place.

The Airheadzona crowd was happy to dance and crowd surf while Rise Against played what they allegedly pass off as music.

According to what passes for a newspaper in Phoenix,  Rise Against put on a solid performance, much to the delight of their fans, who, after all, had been waiting some time for that performance.

Sadly, Phoenix lost a chance to send a message to the Sound Strike movement and to Rise Against, telling them that we'd rather separate politics and entertainment in the future.

But that would mean people in Phoenix actually would need to understand politics.

Which involves accepting the responsibilities of citizenship.

Which involves work. And reading. And thought.

Three things that Phoenix is not very good at anymore.

But there really used to be some tough motorscooters living here. One hundred and twenty degrees with no air conditioning, and these people were ranchers?

That's bad ass!

Where's Wyatt Earp when you need him?