Wake Up And Get A Clue

No doubt an indictment of our educational system as an incubator of imbecilic snowflakes, there is a large amount of folks who are so far out to lunch on international relations that they may well end up dead. And sooner than they think.

You better get yourself together 
Pretty soon you're gonna be dead

-Instant Karma, John Lennon

Indeed, you better get yourself together, or you might end up dead, as it is not possible to get along with folks whose top goal in life is for your conversion to their religion or your death.

As the folks at Conservative Review adequately stated in review of a Blanco editorial cartoon, these idiots had better wake up and get a clue.

Watching the Wheels

I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round, I really love to watch them roll

 

Thinking of John Lennon, who was murdered 36 years ago this evening. RIP John. Your brilliance lives on!

America sits watching the wheels go round and round.

 "It’s been 36 years since Lennon was gunned down by an assassin’s bullet on December 8, 1980, but his legacy and the lessons he imparted in his music and his activism have not diminished over the years. 

All of the many complaints we have about government today were present in Lennon’s day and formed the basis of his call for social justice, peace and a populist revolution. Little wonder, then, that the U.S. government saw him as enemy number one. 

Because he never refrained from speaking truth to power, Lennon became a prime example of the lengths to which the U.S. government will go to persecute those who dare to challenge its authority." --John Whitehead.

Well stated!

Power to the People: John Lennon’s Legacy Lives On by John Whitehead

Who On Earth Do You Think You Are?

"You have got to say what we know in the booth" ABC Sports Frank Gifford said to ABC Sports Howard Cosell during the ABC Monday Night Football telecast of the game between the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins from the famed Orange Bowl in Miami.

That was a different day for our millennial followers. It was through the words of the legendary Cosell that the greater majority of our nation learned the news.

The news broke the hearts of millions.

Ex-Beatle John Lennon had been tragically murdered in front of his apartment in the Dakota Building off Central Park in New York City.

It was 35 years ago. December 8, 1980.

For all those who fail to respect the rights of our citizens and think their individual problems are solved through violence, it is my great hope the karma for you is instant and swift.

Losing Legends

Frank Gifford was a legend in the NFL, a Hall of Fame player with the New York Giants and a longtime staple in the booth of ABC's Monday Night Football. Gifford still holds the record for the most touchdowns scored by a New York Giant.  In those years, Gifford was rivaled in the Big Apple by only New York Yankee Mickey Mantle.

By all accounts, Gifford was wonderful man who lived a storybook life in a game we all cherish.  But suddenly on Sunday, the nation learned Gifford died of natural causes at 84.

Gifford, who starred at Southern Cal before entering the NFL, had retired before I became a big fan of the game, but I was very familiar with him with his announcing career. Gifford was well known to many from his lovely wife, Kathie Lee, who rose to incredible fame due to her hosting, with Regis Philbin, of the daytime talk show Regis and Kathie Lee.

It was Gifford, in the ABC Monday Night Football booth with Howard Cosell, who pressed Cosell that they needed to convey to the country the horribly sad news that came their way via ABC News flash, the news that former Beatle John Lennon has been shot dead outside of his Manhattan apartment.

Prior to internet and in large measure cable television, it was how America learned of Lennon's death, which affected many of us deeply.  I saw and heard it live, for it was my Miami Dolphins in action hosting the New England Patriots on that evening, December 8, 1980, from Miami's Orange Bowl.

Gifford was a part of Americana, and the large impact he had on the American sporting landscape was invaluable and greatly appreciated.


We woke up this morning to learn that NASCAR legend Buddy Baker has passed away at 74.

It was shortly after the Coke Zero 500 when Baker, the 1980 Daytona 500 champion, announced he was stepping down from NASCAR broadcasts due to an inoperable tumor in his lung. Baker, at 6'6" and nicknamed the "Gentle Giant" due his stature coupled with friendly demeanor, will be greatly missed in the NASCAR community.

 

"Do not shed a tear. Give a smile when you say my name." Consider that done!

Sadly, we are starting to lose many of the legends we grew up with.  We need to keep their memories alive.

Shine On

“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” George Orwell.

There is an escalating amount of deceitful action taking place in the political arena in recent years.

Propaganda from elected officials, buoyed by their political strategists and a complicit news media, remains hidden from a public drowning in a sea of irrelevance, enabling the government to clandestinely seize additional power over the citizenry.

As Winston Churchill once said, socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy.  That eerily encapsulates the mindset of the majority of protesters we see wreaking havoc on our streets.

Those who seek to divide our nation through race and class war, fueling suffering and violence, with no respect for the rule of law, will get their comeuppance.

Instant Karma going to get you, hit you right in the head.

 

Remembering the brilliance of the great John Lennon, lost 34 years ago this evening to a gunman in front of his home in NYC.  Shine on!

Beyond Visible Range

The reasoning for the silence is quite puzzling, as the consequences to our nation as founded by President Barack Obama, the actions of a lawless and imperial presidency are profound and quite dangerous.

Among the very few who will speak candidly about the peril our nation finds itself in is Mark Levin, and in a recent appearance on Hannity of FOX News Channel, he gave the grim details.

 

There are a multitude of areas where President Obama is transforming America, working from within to diminish our presence on the world stage, militarily and economically, under the premise of social justice, but the attack on the sovereignty of the United States of America is forefront.

While many consider the Obama presidency a failure, and by common statistical and historical measure it is, it is actually a most successful tenure if your mindset matches Obama, where the goals are the destruction of the Constitution being implemented beyond the visible range of a citizenry seasick on a sea of irrelevance.

In other words, we have an enemy from within operating in plain sight, with the citizenry, and many elected officials, finding the motive of actions, the destruction of America, inconceivable.

John Lennon, in his brilliant song Instant Karma, an epic noting that while the liberalism and narcissism of your world may mask the real world externalities and geopolitical issues from your mind, facts, economic realities and increasing terrorist threats are omnipresent and will present themselves.

If the American citizenry does not soon wake to the mounting perils facing this nation, lyrics from Lennon's masterpiece may be prophetic.

You better get yourself together
Pretty soon you're gonna be dead

About the lack of a plan Obama has for ISIS.  Is he derelict in duty, of is he on their team?

We All Want To See The Plan

When conservatives are in power, government strives to cultivate free markets and empower the individual with limited taxation and regulation.  In the spirit of Adam Smith, a moral compass is a requirement for optimal market efficiency, with those who violate common decency guidelines quickly defeated in the open market.

With progressives in positions of power, due to perceived lack of confidence in the individual, government seeks, in the name of seemingly good ideas and worthwhile initiatives, to diminish individual power and freedom by increasing the role of government in the marketplace.

An illustrative example may be identified on this day while many celebrated Earth Day.  Seemingly worthwhile and innocent regulatory actions for the perceived good of the environment actually place increasing limitations individual property rights and escalate numerous forms of costs for property owners.

Another example is an extremely nefarious piece of legislation, seemingly vague and harmless in its cloaking presentation, which if passed, will challenge our Constitutional rights by an endless erosion of the rights of free speech.

The piece of legislation, “The Hate Crime Reporting Act of 2014″ (S.2219), is sponsored, in their arrogance, by Democrats Ed Markey of Massachusetts in the Senate and Hakeem Jeffries of New York in the House of Representatives.  The bill seeks:

"To require the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to update a report on the role of telecommunications, including the Internet, in the commission of hate crimes".

Let us look at the opening sentence of the bill we outlined above. Who is the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and what would be considered their mission statement?  Why not, let us check Wikipedia.

In review of the stated goals of the agency, while much of it seems unnecessary, it follows a logical process for our government during these times with respect to utilization and growth of global communications. Investigatory actions with respect to any form of criminology was not identified within the agency tasks and they appear to have no such legal authority.

So, exactly why are we attempting to travel down this road? Are these two legislators seeking additional power for their personal resumes or are they sponsoring legislation as a front tentacle for a web of enacting widespread governmental control over what is exactly able to be communicated over the Internet?  The distinctions are critically important.

Tying their bill to this week's alleged white supremacist shootings in Kansas, Markey says it is "critical to ensure the internet, television and radio are not encouraging hate crimes or hate speech." He brushes aside expected First Amendment arguments, saying "criminal and hateful activity" aren't covered by the Constitution. HT/Inside Radio.

At quick glance, the bill seems to have merit. After all, who does not want individuals who engage in the commission of hate crimes to be punished to the fullest extent of the law?

However, if law, it would allow a non-elected bureaucrat to cast a wide net in search of such violators, trampling over the first amendment rights of the citizenry in a typical progressive power grab. However, with progressives, as we have learned all too well, the issue is never the issue, and this legislation is no different.

Those who recognize what is actually at play here are appalled by the legislation, including political pundits from opposing sides, ranging from Alan Colmes to Glenn Beck.

The legislation is a back door attack on freedom of speech and an attempt to eliminate the power of the first amendment so that political opponents can be silenced.  The administration is working this angle from many fronts, most notably through the IRS, one of many current scandals engulfing the administration.

Think I am kidding?


Mark Lloyd

We need to take a moment to learn more about an early appointee by President Obama, Diversity Czar, Mark Lloyd.  Investors Business Daily, in an editorial in August of 2009, accurately depicted Lloyd as a disciple of Saul Alinsky and a great admirer of Hugo Chavez, who silenced freedom of speech as a dictator in Venezuela.  SOS Venezuela!

IBD references Glenn Beck, who points out Lloyd, in his 2006 book, "Prologue to a Farce: Communication and Democracy in America," wrote: "It should be clear by now that my focus here is not freedom of speech or the press. ... This freedom is all too often an exaggeration. ... At the very least, blind references to freedom of speech or the press serve as a distraction from the critical examination of other communications policies."

Alarmed yet? With Lloyd unleashed to implement his ideas, we would have the Fairness Doctrine on steroids.

David Horowitz, over at his Discover the Networks website, noted the following regarding Lloyd:

*Seeks to use "diversity" and "localism" as pretexts for shifting the political balance of talk-radio programming leftward.
*Suggests that private broadcasters should pay an annual licensing fee in an amount equivalent to their total yearly operating costs; that money, in turn, should be redistributed to public broadcasting stations.
*Opposes virtually any private ownership of media.
*Disciple of Saul Alinsky's tactics for revolutionary social change.
* Greatly admires Venezuela's Marxist President, Hugo Chavez.

So, we can conclude that, with respect to media operations, Lloyd much prefers governmental control of media outlets, vehemently opposing media outlets operating in the private sector. And much like his mentor Hugo Chavez, Lloyd thinks the government should determine what can be voiced or written on the said media outlets.

Would Lloyd, and those charged with implementation of the Markey-Jeffries bill, apply equal governance over The Huffinton Post as they would The Drudge Report?  As John Lennon of The Beatles wrote in Revolution, "well, you know, we'd all love to see the plan".  TRUST NO ONE!

The shooting Senator Markey referred to in Kansas City was undertaken by a deranged individual, who was white supremacist.  His antics had nothing to do with what radio station he listened to, or which political figure he admired.  He was not a man of principle and character, but an individaul who violated the law and must be judged by a jury of his peers.  God will be the ultimate judge.

Senator Markey utilizing this crime as a motive for him crafting the bill is a smokescreen.  While the bill itself seeks to contain the first amendment, tying the Kansas City shooting to it places cards on the table in the effort to increase gun control, an attack on the second amendment.

These progressive elites think their thought processes, enacted in governance, are superior to those of our founding fathers.  Imagine, for a moment, the arrogance.

Those seeking to curtail freedom of speech, as has been the case throughout history, are opponents of liberty.  In most cases, these efforts were masked under some presentation of the action having been implemented for some greater good.  Historically, it has worked oh so well.

HT/Tea Party Command Center

Senator Markey and Representative Jeffries, likely under direction of others, moved forward with the bill as one of many avenues to attack the first amendment.  I will let you decide if you think they fail to see the "real plan" or are among the players who are actively seeking limitations of your freedoms outlined in the Constitution.

I have seen the plan. I'll go with the latter.

Bright Are The Stars That Shine

On this Sunday, fifty years ago, America changed forever.



On February 9, 1964, Ed Sullivan welcomed The Beatles to make their US television debut by performing live in the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City on The Ed Sullivan Show before what turned out to be a television audience of an unprecedented 77 million people.  The first song The Beatles played was "All My Loving".

Such a success it was, The Beatles remained at The Warwick Hotel and performed again the following Sunday, promoting their new single, "I Wanna Hold Your Hand".

The Beatles are part of the fabric of America, four talented individuals from Liverpool, perhaps divinely inspired to meet, who transformed music and inspired a collection of musical artists, many of whom comprise what has been referred to as part of the British Invasion during the mid to late sixties.

It is worth noting the innovation exhibited by this group is second to none, emerging with what many consider these days as pop music, to releasing the first real hard rock album in "The Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and continuing to release stellar efforts individually after the breakup of the band.  Each had great success, with both John Lennon and Paul McCartney each individually releasing singles considered among the best of all time.

While many these days do not speak of The Beatles as one of their favorite bands, only musical nincompoops fail to adequately recognize their place as one of, if not the greatest, band of all time.  The greater majority of music composed by The Beatles are a brilliant, timeless collection of art, which will never be matched, particularly considering the small window of time, 1962-70, the band was together.

Without a portfolio of tunes second to none, would anyone be crazy enough to attempt to list the best Beatles songs in order?  Many have, and the variances are welcomed and no doubt personal preference.   As such. few can mount a legitimate argument against any such list.

Below is my list, a Top 25, which is mostly comprised of The Beatles early material. 

1.      In My Life
2.      While My Guitar Gently Weeps
3.      Abbey Road Medley
4.      Revolution
5.      And I Love Her



6.      I Wanna Hold Your Hand
7.      If I Fell



8.      Here There and Everywhere
9.      Tax Man
10.    Let It Be
11.    Ticket To Ride
12.    She Loves You
13.    Please Mister Postman



14.    Help
15.    Do You Wanna Know A Secret
16.    Something
17.    Nowhere Man
18.    You Can't Do That



19.    Eight Days A Week
20.    Should Have Known Better
21.    Eleanor Rigby
22.    Tell Me Why



23.    The Long And Winding Road
24.    Yesterday
25.    Things We Said Today

I love many songs left off the list, such as Twist and Shout, Drive My Car, Day Tripper, Helter Skelter, I Feel Fine, Paperback Writer, A Day in the Life, Strawberry Fields Forever, Don't Let Me Down, Penny Lane, Oh Darling and Please Please Me. 

In an unspeakable tragedy, John Lennon was murdered in New York City on December 8, 1980, shortly after emerging with a very strong comeback album, Double Fantasy.  Most of America found out the horrible news from ABC's Howard Cosell, broadcasting an NFL Monday Night Football game with the New England Patriots visiting the Miami Dolphins. Lennon's talent was immense.  George Harrison sadly died in 2001 of lung cancer at only 58 years of age.  Ringo Starr, who had the first individual hit to reach #1, is doing very well and traveling around performing with his  All Star Band.  Always great to see Ringo and that infectious smile of his.  Peace and Love!  Paul McCartney is still performing, selling our venues all over the world.  The individual efforts of McCartney, beginning with his early work with Wings, continues to cast in stone his place as simply the greatest singer songwriter of all time.

This Sunday evening, 50 years to the day, CBS will broadcast a special event, The Night That Changed America, a Grammy Salute to The Beatles.  It should be mandatory viewing.



Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr

Bright are the stars that shine.



And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love, you make!

Sunday Night Song #007

Earlier this month, a historic milestone was noted, as 50 years ago Britain, and America, were introduced to two cultural phenomenons which are among the fabric of our societies. 

Britain's Channel 4 has a full report on Bond and The Beatles at 50 years old:

 

From Ian Flemings "Dr. No" to The Beatles "Love Me Do", James Bond and The Fab Four began a historical and timeless rise in film and music which continues today.

For agent 007, with gadgets galore, fine women and cars, our favorite spy has kept us riveted over the years. No matter which of the five gentlemen who have played the part, from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig, Bond has been an intriguing figure captivating our fascination battling evil across the globe.  Bond movies have been thrilling and have advanced with the times in seamless fashion.  The 23rd James Bond movie, Skyfall, is due out this fall.

Over on Abbey Road, a revolution in music unparalleled over time began behind the unrivaled musical writing tandem of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The Beatles, although only lasting approximately 8 years as group, wrote and performed a lifetimes worth of timeless music. Individual efforts by each member of the group reached the top of the charts, and without question, they easily remain the greatest collection of musical talent ever assembled.

With London recently hosting the Olympics, "Bond" was able to interact with The Queen in welcoming the world to London. Beatle Paul McCartney closed out the ceremonies with a strong performance, bookending the games with the best of Great Britain.

James Bond and The Beatles have a many linkages, but for me the most notable is relevant to the first Bond movie I saw, with my Aunt taking me to see Live and Let Die.  I will never forger seeing Bond jump that street in his Glastron boat with the 135HP Evinrude!

I will also never forget seeing Paul McCartney perform Bond theme song Live and Let Die, tonight's Sunday Night Song, in person.  With a common date of announcement to the public, it is only fitting the top Bond theme song was performed by Beatle Paul McCartney, "Live and Let Die".  Enjoy!

 

Sunday Night Song

I heard a series of news stories this weekend regarding the murder of John Lennon, which happened 30 years ago this Wednesday. Hard to imagine how time has flown by.

It was just five years ago I attended a gathering of tens of thousands in Central Park marking the 25th anniversary of Lennons passing. It was a moving event.

Lennon had more talent in one hand than the greater majority of artists we find today. The body of work with The Beatles is beyond reproach, and individually, with a wide range of material, Lennon also shined.

In honor of John, tonight we present a Lennon solo composition, Instant Karma. I believe in karma, so those of you in set in your ways to destroy America better keep an eye out over your shoulder. Instant karma is going to get you, and Lennon's work and America will continue to shine on!

From February of 1970, John Lennon and Instant Karma!

Pink Floyd and Money

It is Friday and I am off to the Hard Rock Live in Orlando for Classic Albums Live performance of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here". These artists, who after performing the highlighted album note for note song for song, take a break and return to play other hits by the featured band. They are nothing short of outstanding!

While at the show, during these economically tough times, I am sure one item won't be far from the mind of most patrons: Money! With that in mind, here is Floyd from Dark Side of the Moon with Money!



See ya post show at the John Lennon room!

Watching The Wheels

Beatle John Lennon was murdered by a complete moron outside his upper west side Dakota apartment building in New York City 28 years ago today. On the 25th anniversary of Lennon's death in 2005, I joined tens of thousands of fans in a tribute held in Strawberry Field in Central Park.

The news of Lennon's death, which obviously occurred before the current 24 hour news cycle, was brought to the attention of most Americans by Howard Cosell on an ABC Broadcast of Monday Night Football between the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins. A very sad day for us all.