R.I.P Rush Limbaugh

 Rush Limbaugh passed away at the age of 70. He was controversial, he was a strong voice of the political right, his opinion was probably hated as much as it was loved. However he was successful.  He was a radio personality, a talking head who ended up being inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame and the National Association of Broadcasters  Hall of Fame. 

His radio show was one of the biggest. Spreading into the written word Rush Limbaugh was a best selling author. President Donald Trump honored him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He died due to complications of lung cancer.

He will be remembered by his fans, critics, friends and family. Regardless if you agreed with his opinion you have probably heard of Rush Limbaugh. 

Battle of the Bands: Goes Political

I heard it said somewhere "everything is political." I read all the comments on my blog. I don't reply back to most of them. However, I do quote some of them or give a shout out here and there. Sometimes they inspire my Battle of the Bands battles. I wing out the posts on my blog anyway so ideas are always welcomed.

A strange comment I received was "Unfortunately BOTB is all about politics, with is why it was no fun for me."

So in response my song this go around is "Apolitical Blues" by Little Feat...

Contestant One : Little Feat

Contestant Two: Van Halen

Contestant Three: Phish

Forget the rules! Vote for the one you like the best. You can vote for the original one. Wasn't my plan to have three but to keep it fair. I wanted to keep at least two studio versions. Phish was live, but it was the only fairly big name I could find.

So you have Little Feat, Van Halen and Phish. Enjoy and shake out who else is participating. The master list can be found here.

Seven Year Itch: Farewell to Yahoo! Contributor Network

Continuing on my series..Here is what going on Yahoo! Contributor Network..AKA Yahoo! Voices which used to be Associated Content and a site I have published my writing at for seven years will be calling it quits at the end of the month. So you can stop in and read my articles while they last here.

I signed up for Associated Content back on this date in 2007. My first article was a humble article about a baseball trade published on July 30, 2007.

My first non-sports article was a restaurant review of the Rib Room in Charles Town, West Virginia in August. Followed by an article on Health Care fraud an industry I was working in at the time.

In October I wrote my first political article about the Democratic Primary in New Hampshire.

In December of 2007 I wrote my first music article on what I thought were some of the better releases of that year. Regular readers of this blog might be surprised it took me 5 months to do that.

That is a look at some of my firsts. A lot changed over the course of seven years. Now looking at the end which is really just a new beginning.

Reflections on Memorial Day

Memorial Day has become a holiday marking the unofficial start of summer. It is a much bigger day than that. It is a day to remember those servicemen who gave the ultimate sacrifice. It should be a somber reminder to all the cost for conflicts, military actions, and wars.

Politicians and diplomats need to be reminded of this cost before they decide to enter a new confrontation. The Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guards have highly trained personnel. They deserve our support and our gratitude.

Certainly their are times to fight. Sometimes sacrifices need to be made. Diplomats need to find peaceful solutions. Politicians need to seek out peaceful policies. Peace is what we should be looking for and fewer graves filled with young people who gave all.

A Walk in the Nation's Capital: What's Wrong in America

A small walk in the Nation's Capital reveals a lot about what is wrong with America. A human being shouldn't be laying on a busy sidewalk like a chalk outline. All the people who bustle around, someone should have checked on them. I am guilty as well as the hundreds, the thousands of others who passed by him. Homeless is a problem that needs to be eliminated as well as poverty.

Further down the road I was approached by a Vietnam Veteran begging for money on the same street. A generation (or more) ago our government sent people to fight half way across the world. We've repeated it since then a few times. People who risk their lives for our country shouldn't be reduced to begging in it! Gulf war veterans, Iraqi veterans, Afghanistan veterans is this what your future looks like? I hope not.

I was also approached by an ex-convict who said he was trying to raise funds for a program to rebuild his life. Gee, it looks like prison had  worked for this person. Perhaps he was ready to turn his life around, move away from crime but then he is roadblocked by lack of funds. I told him I couldn't help him due to my circumstances. He shook my hand and told me "Respect." Over  the years I have given to panhandlers. Very few have given me a  warm thank you. Here I turned the guy down but he understood why and respected that. The respect is mutual. If a program is so great it needs to be accessible. This man should be in the program, not begging.

What is even worse than these three stories? The fact the street was full of more of them. Maybe politicians should get a way from the secret service, the office, the cubicles, and take a walk down a street. Open their eyes and ears. 

It's over..the election

I've seen so much hate, intolerance, and anger over this election. I thought we were getting past that and we lived in a better place. Well my rose colored glasses certainly were knocked off! I saw it from Republicans and Democrats. Perhaps it has been there all along in the past. Maybe I didn't see it then since social network is a newer thing. I hope it gets better.

I hope the close election wakes Obama up! I hope he does more in the next four years. I hope the Country is better in four years! I hope he understands a lot of people aren't satisfied with what he has accomplished. I'm not bashing him, being President is a tough job and no matter what he does not everyone will be happy. I know he has to work with congress to get things done, but that his job.

I hope he can improve the economy, the environment, and make it a more peaceful world. If Mitt Romney would have won I would hope he would do the same. I hope education improves. I hope the hungry are fed and the homeless sheltered. I hope tomorrow is better than today..I have a lot of hope.

Good Things, Louisiana Politics and a Friends Blog

A friend of mine made a post about a Louisiana Candidate for a political office. And yes, he made some comments about how this persons life had some bad twists of fates. This candidate is also an entertainer, which is why my friend was blogging about him in the first place. He said this person was putting there life back together, and would be good at the position due to his talents. He also said this person had a passion for the position he was running for, but some how people attack him for being down on the person. I don't get it. When life doesn't or isn't going like we plan and it kicks us down a bit(or a lot) isn't it natural to put it back together? Isn't that a good thing?

Isn't having skills a good thing? Especially when the skills could help him with the job he is running for?

Isn't having passion for the job a good thing?

Isn't having a desire for the job a good thing?

In my opinion, I think the people of Louisiana would care more about what a candidate for any political position was going to do for their great state.

Louisiana has a long way to go in rebuilding from Katrina. New Orleans has a long way to go before it is back to being like it was before Katrina. How are they going to prevent such devastation the next time? What are they going to do with the levees? We hear a lot about New Orleans since it is a major city, but what about the smaller towns? What's being done to clean up the waters, were so many make a living? Or just for preserving the treasure of those wetlands. Or the concerns any citizens have of the economic development, taxes, roads, education, social services, and their safety.

My interest is 1) it was a friends blog, 2) as a tourist I loved what the state had to offer, 3) as a supporter of several outreaches to the area, and 4) the musical heritage of the area.