Marty's Album of The Month, November 2007

What happens when a computer game music composer wants more out of life? Mind.in.a.box happens. I'll always have a love of industrial electronic music, and Lost Alone satisfies that itch. This CD is rich with contemplative lyrics, well-used synthesizer chords, and hypnotic beats. Now I'm just waiting for someone to open a club that will play this...

American ADD

I've been a ridiculous slacker as of late and have been remiss in my blogging duties. Therefore, I've decided to pledge an entry a day for at least a week! Can I do it? Of course. I'm not promising to be the most original blogger in the sphere, but I do promise that each day a new entry will appear. Today's topic...


Ten Things We Should Care LESS About...

10. Who Killed Natalie Holloway - Seriously, people? A rich white girl from Alabama goes to Aruba for drunken graduation trip, disappears TWO YEARS AGO and we're still talking about it? Sure, the guy they think did it is cute, but how many people die from car accidents in this country each year?
9. The Middle East Peace Process - I think WE need a disengagement policy... from the entire Middle East. An area of the world arguable smaller than Texas is controlling our foreign policy? Why don't we have an African Peace Process? Let's pull out of Israel, Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, and start making our gas from corn.
8. Canada's Super Currency / Our Wussy Currency - People might start buying our crap again!
7. Anne Coulter
6. Iran - see #9. I'll probably own a beach house in Boca before they get nukes.
5. Going "green" - We all know that when a company goes "green", they're still polluting just as much as they were and probably using as many resources as they were before. They just planted some trees and put up a few commercials telling us to turn out lights off when we leave the house. I'll bet you anything Al Gore uses more electricity and petroleum in a year than I do.
4. Dancing With The Stars - I have nothing to say about this.
3. Cyber Monday - we dignify the fact that people shop online at work with an actual name for the day?
2. Black Friday - either people will buy crap or they won't. It probably has more to do with whether or not they can make their mortgage payments than the %15 off sale at Macys.
1. Hillary Clinton - she's getting PLENTY of attention right now.



Ten Things We Should Care MORE about

10. China is going to the moon and wants to "mine it's riches"!
9. The Google phone
8. Our national voting process
7. The national debt - yes... again.
6. Cancer research - less people are dying!
5. The DC Tax Scandal - it's a sad state of affairs when $20 million is lost to fraud and an entire city just says says "Eh".
4. The writer's strike - what the HELL am I going to do without the Daily Show and 30 Rock? If this doesn't affect you now, it will...
3. The Republican presidential primary race - one of these crazies is going to have to go up against Hillary/Obama/Edwards. We should be paying more attention to these guys and shining the light of day on their strange pasts. If we'd only done that in 2000...
2. We can grow stem cells from skin!
1. Bees - remember this summer when the disappearance of bees for just a short period of time was more dire than the disappearance of Natalie Holloway? We were being warned that we were going to have to live without fruit and honey for the rest of our lives! What ever happened to all that?

Get It Done, Already

It's no secret that I'm disappointed in our 110th Congress. So far, they've bungled passage of bills on children's health care, withdrawal of American troops from Iraq, and our BUDGET, among other things, while minor issues (non-binding resolutions and the whole Armenia thing) take center stage. Now, I understand that our Executive has the power of veto over bills he finds distasteful, but a Congress that was "swept" into power to challenge a President with a sub-30% approval rating should be able to at least make their case to the American people that they are right and he is wrong. I see Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid behind a lot of podiums, attempting to react to the rhetoric of W, but we have yet to get a veto-proof majority on issues which the country clearly supports. They should be out there on the morning talk shows and the Daily Show explaining the reasons why we all should be in favor of giving these kids a shot at a real future.

The worst example of this is the demise of the DREAM Act. Because I'm lazy, I'll let Wikipedia describe this bill...

The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (also called "The DREAM Act") is a bill that has been introduced several times in the United States Congress that would provide a path to American citizenship for immigrant students and those wishing to join the United States military.

To qualify, the immigrant student or soldier would have to meet certain requirements such as:

* Proof of having arrived in the United States at age 15 or younger.
* Proof of residence in the United States for a least five (5) consecutive years since their date of arrival.
* Must be between the ages of 12 and 30 at time of bill enactment.
* Having graduated from an American High School, or obtained a GED.
* "Good moral character," essentially defined as the absence of a significant criminal record (or any drug charges whatsoever).

During the six years of conditional status, the eligible immigrant would be required to either (1) graduate from a two-year community college, (2) complete at least two years towards a 4-year degree, or (3) serve two years in the U.S. military. After the six year period, an immigrant who meets at least one of these three conditions would be eligible to apply for legal permanent resident (green card) status. During their temporary time, immigrants would not be eligible for federal higher education grants such as Pell grants, though they would be able to apply for student loans and work study.

If the immigrant does not meet the educational or military service requirement within the six year time period, her or his temporary residence would be revoked and he or she would be subject to deportation. During the six years, the immigrant must not commit any crimes other than those considered non-drug related misdemeanors, regardless of whether or not they have already been approved for permanent status at the end of their six years. Being convicted of a major crime, or drug-related infraction would automatically remove the six year temporary residence status and he or she would be subject to deportation.

If the immigrant meets all of the conditions at the end of the 6-year conditional period, he or she would be granted a permanent green card with the same rights as a permanent resident alien, including the right to apply for U.S. citizenship

The fact that a small cadre of racist Republicans has managed to mount a campaign to derail this bill is not what sparks my anger. It is sparked by the inability of Senate and House leaders to LEAD against this campaign. A bill that is so obviously good for our country and THE RIGHT THING TO DO has suffered criticism and a filibuster, but the leaders of Congress should be able to rally their troops to push ahead something so fundamentally beneficial to both immigrant children and our national interest. Even a few stand-up Republicans have expressed support for the idea of the DREAM Act, but even with this bi-partisan semi-support, Nancy and Harry just couldn't get the job done.

The sad truth that I have come to realize is that our current Congress is led, as it always is, by men and women more interested in reelection and donor payback than legislating for the national good. I'm loosing faith in our democracy. Can anyone help me to get it back?