Palin death panel update

I wanted to post a brief follow-up to my Tuesday post on Sarah Palin's statement that Democrats planned to ration care under their healthcare plan, and would be instituting "death panels" by which they would carry this out.

Palin had indicated that under the Obama plan, rationing would take place and that "my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of [President] Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care."

Palin's beyond the pale (beyond the Palin?) comments, and the subsequent run this has had all over right-wing is extraordinary, and shows the length to which idealogues will now go to distort and bend truth if it serves their political endgame.

Fortunately, Media Matters for America has provided an antidote in the form of a report that clearly debunks this craziness, once and for all (let's hope).

The report offers 40 different media sources discrediting Palin's claims that President Obama and fellow Democrats ever intended to institute death panels. It also shows clearly that there isn't some phrase, or subclause hidden in the bill that could remotely be construed as supportive of anything resembling Ms. Palin's science fiction scenario.

The death of the (record) album

If you are of a certain age and music mattered to you, then you remember the days of buying albums at your favorite record store (mine were DeOrsey's and Manassas, Ltd.).

Radiohead's Thomas Yorke recently issued a pronouncement that the band may never make a full-length record/album again, citing that "...it's become a real drag," from a creative standpoint. Sasha Frere-Jones, on her blog at The New Yorker offers this and then, this.

Her take as a musician is that albums are a mere "widget" that is produced to keep record companies happy. She adds,

Only a crazybones would deny the magic of “London Calling” hitting the Earth. But that kind of perfect chain comes along only once in a while, and even when it does, how often do you listen to it in the original order, without interruption? Unless you’ve got lots of free afternoons or long rides, you probably don’t. And most people with more than a few albums like to mix those public documents into private orders that reflect preferences and personal associations.

I would respectfully disagree with her opinion that great albums are an aberation. Well, let me back up a minute. There was a time when bands/artists regularly made great records, and in fact, there is a genius to the sequencing of songs that contributed to the magic of a great album, like London Calling.

Most of the music I listen to regularly, I know the track order and often listen in that order (although, not always). Is that the experience of others? Is this limited to age, as in older music fans prefer order and sequencing and younger listeners are happy with their iPod shuffle play music experience?

It's apparent that the day is coming, I think, when albums and blocks of songs won't matter, and Yorke and Frere-Jones comments indicate that it's not that far away.

I'm curious if readers have a particular record/album that they couldn't imagine life without?

Palin's death panel pastiche

I happened to check the news from New Hampshire, curious about the president’s visit to the Granite State, on Google, at the end of my work day, before leaving the office for home. Curiously, the LA Times, a newspaper with a conservative credo chose this headline, Obama says ‘death panels’ aren’t on his healthcare overhaul agenda, to introduce reporter Christi Parsons’ update for readers.

I continue to find the various angles by which mainstream outlets spin out the news quite interesting, and obviously biased, but not necessarily towards a liberal bent as malicious, misinformed parrots often claim. Here is the lede Parsons used for her 700 word article on Mr. Obama’s town hall visit to Portsmouth.

“Addressing one of the more volatile complaints about healthcare reform that he is proposing, President Obama said today Tuesday that he doesn't want to set up government "death panels" that decide which Americans get health services and which don't.”

Until yesterday, I was ignorant to the furor being stirred up once more by right-wing talk radio concerning President Obama’s attempt to spearhead healthcare reform in the U.S. I had stopped by my parents on my way back to the office from Brunswick. I spent about 20 minutes with them, and as I was getting in the car, my mother mentioned something related to her own healthcare situation, then made an offhand remark about government “death panels.”

I thought, “where the hell did this come from?" I had innocently stopped to pay a courtesy visit and once again, I was about to be sucked into the whirling rotors of the right-wing noise machine and its never-ending Jabberwocky. Luckily, I astutely extricated myself by making a bad attempt at a joke and hopping into my car and I was off. My curiosity had been whetted, however.

Last night, I did some research on the “death panel” topic, and while I shouldn’t have been surprised at how gullible people can be that get most of their news from right-wing talk radio, I was again perplexed and at a loss to ever counter this ongoing misinformation campaign foisted upon many good seasoned members of the U.S. population. Actually, the topic was so taxing, I had to lie down at 8:45 and the next thing I knew, I was snapping awake and it was 11:15 pm, just in time to catch Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree swapping Moxie stories with Stephen Colbert.

I’m not sure what makes some people so fearful of their government that they think their president is considering euthanizing them. I actually recognize how incapable government is of getting anything done, let alone killing off a considerable segment of the population. If you want to target your fear at a large institution visiting death on the U.S. population, and anywhere else they set up shop in the world, think McDonald’s, not Barack Obama and his supposed "socialistic" tendencies.

Actually, people like my parents are the last people Palin’s death panels are going to target, because they’re pillars of health, and drain little from the public health system. Thankfully, I’ve made some changes in my own way of living, and losing weight will ensure that if by chance I wake up in the midst of some dystopian nightmare ala Rush Limbaugh’s active imagination, I too will be able to skirt the long reach of a bureaucratic death czar or czarina, or internment at some remote work camp (they're coming to take me away, ha-ha!) being set up as I type away at my keyboard.

Staying on task

Still on my quest to reach my optimal weight (whatever that ends up being). Despite a weekend where I could have gotten offtrack (a Friday night Sea Dogs game, beer and excess junk food), I managed to get on the scale this morning and register another Monday loss.

On Friday, I spoke to a group of graduates from a training I helped recruit for, held at CMCC. This group of precision manufacturing trainees completed a rigorous 12-week program, and my topic was reinvention, a topic that is familiar to me.

Making changes in our lives continues to be a necessary requirement as the world continues to change. Yet, so many people resist change with every fiber of their being.

Change is difficult, and I'm not always open to all possibilities. I am trying to be as adaptable as I can be, however, and roll with things more often.

Shuffle play Friday

Music may, or may not be the universal language. For me, however, music plays an important role in life, helping me over some of the difficult parts, and sharing in the good times.

I don't have the time to develop a longer post, so for the sake of throwing up some paint on the wall, here are some tunes that I'll be listening to, as I wind down the long work week.

Kings of Leon-California Waiting

Southern rockin' good 'ole boys who've hit it big after paying the requisite rock and roll dues. I actually don't know much about them other than each time I pick a KOL track at Last.fm, I'm never disappointed.

Nada Surf-Blizzard of '77

Nada Surf, who could have been just another one hit wonder when "Popular" broke them to MTV Nation back in the summer of '96, instead, have perservered and carved out a nice rock career of literate songs, and catchy melodies. "Blizzard of '77" is one of those tracks that will have you longing for winter snows, and school cancellations.

Hot Tuna-Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning

One of my all-time fave bands, I've seen Hot Tuna live several times and met Jorma Kaukonen. In fact, Jorma shared some guitar tips with me (not that they've done me much good, given my woeful chops) at Raoul's Roadside Attraction, a former Portland musical hotspot that is sorely missed~RIP

My Dad is Dead-The Only One

Mark Edwards is MDID, a veritable one man band. MDID was one of my Guided by Voices era discoveries, when GbV opened me up to the rich rock and roll vein of Dayton/Cleveland area bands, through Robert Griffin's Scat label.

Edwards has since relocated to North Carolina where he continues to toil in obscurity, churning out solid output, which now spans more than two decades. Highly recommended.

BTW, Edwards has a blog that he updates periodically.

Loud Family-Idiot Son

Former Game Theory frontman Scott Miller's band. Another amazingly talented, but sadly neglected rock genius, ala Mark Edwards. Miller writes smart, melodic power pop (I know, too cliched) that the world should know about. Instead, poser bands make the millions and Miller toils away in California obscurity.

Happy Friday, all. Rock out and rock on!