Interpretation?

The topic of Revere's Freethinker Sunday Sermonette this week at Effect Measure has to do with contemporary American religiosity as a driver of atheistic books. It's worth a read in itself, of course, but what caught my eye was a comment by The Ridger:

I remember hearing that BBC reporter, Tara Gadomsky, saying that the Amish "don't believe in" helicopters, cell phones, or ambulances. Well, that's ridiculous, because they certainly know they exist. What they don't "believe" is that such things are useful, sanctioned, or moral.

Many theists have a hard time with "I don't believe in God." They think it must be this use of "don't believe in" - the "reject" use - rather than the "don't think it exists" use.

Now that I've realized this, I'm trying not say "I don't believe in god" any more. I'm being more explicit. I don't want people to think I refuse to worship a god I know exists for some bizarre reason of my own.

Hmmm...

Could it be that believers tend to interpret "I don't believe in God" to mean "I reject a God that I know exists"? I guess I'll have to ask some believers or try to find others' answers to this question.

New Blogger Beta (second update)

I've been meaning to check out the new Blogger beta, and was finally prompted to switch by the posting troubles Blogger has been having with the older version.

So far so good. I have not played with the new template features, and though I've played with the labelling tool I have not yet see how (or if) it looks after publishing.

Update 1: Ah, now I see... The labels appear at the bottom of the post after publishing. Publishing itself seems somewhat faster, as they said it would be. So far I've had a very similar experience to that with the old Blogger, though I read a post somewhere that made mention of a consequence to commenters who are still on the old version. I'm guessing that has to do with the change in how you sign in to Blogger, which is now done via a Google account.

Update 2: Now I see, too, that whereas the RSS feeds ("live bookmarks" in Firefox) of the blogs of other Blogger bloggers whose opinions I value are failing to load (as mine almost certainly would have before converting to the new Blogger), mine loaded as they are supposed to. To any Blogger blogger who happens to see these words, I suggest going to the new Blogger at the earliest opportunity. It's a little different but not that much, and their new equipment and software seem to be coping much better than the old.

The God Delusion. By Richard Dawkins - Books - Review - New York Times

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The God Delusion. By Richard Dawkins - Books - Review - New York Times

Here's an interesting review of a book I'm not likely to read. I'm a slow reader with a few other books already open, besides which I've only got one toe, if that, left in the doorway to Dawkins' choir hall.

As stated early in the review, and as I understand from other exposure to his ideas, Dawkins allows for some small uncertainty. I think that disqualifies him from out-and-out, strong atheism, and it places me in his camp. Sure, there might be something out there that a deist could be comfortable with, but the traditional God, the one who sits up there monitoring everyone's thoughts while answering all prayers and guiding the seasons, is so improbable as to be dismissed.

The reviewer wonders what sort of event it would take to unsettle an atheist's conviction. Actually, he's more elegant than that:

But what possible evidence could verify or falsify the God hypothesis? The doctrine that we are presided over by a loving deity has become so rounded and elastic that no earthly evil or natural disaster, it seems, can come into collision with it. Nor is it obvious what sort of event might unsettle an atheist's conviction to the contrary.

I'm not sure I go along with (or understand) the bit about doctrinal elasticity, but Ironwolf addressed some possible evidence a couple of days ago.

I have no problem with some religious people. I have known, respected and loved a few of them over time. What I detest is the aggression of the religionist who seems to think he's got a lock on truth to go with a mandate from his god to shove it down my throat.

It's interesting that such people invariably claim belief in an omnipotent god, but at the same time, they limit that god's power to be different things to different people. Religionists are simply involved in a power play, their own or that of some annoying memeplex.

Hat tip: The Revealer

Coping with Climate Dread :: thetyee.ca

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Coping with Climate Dread :: thetyee.ca:

Depleted fish stocks, species extinction, SUV and oil obsessions, Kyoto rejections, disenfranchized youth, the Alberta tar sands and deadly methane gas: Condon says 'an emerging consensus' is setting in among his colleagues; 'Every hour of [our] work is in the context of 'Can the madness be stopped?'' he relates. 'And when you're looking critically at the information, and using your critical functions, you often conclude that it can't be.'

I don't often conclude that the madness can't be stopped. It is my conclusion, period.

Which is a bitter pill to swallow, when the conclusions you draw from your professional life spell a disastrous future for your own children. When she's at her lowest, Campbell has moments where she looks at her son and second guesses the wisdom of having brought a child into the world.

That's the hardest part of all.

Rees gets philosophical: "I suppose I'm an existentialist: you have to decide what you're going to do," he says. "I mean I could go and shoot myself, I'm wealthy enough to put my feet up, go out and buy myself a boat and a case of rum and enjoy the remaining days of my life."

But, like the others, Rees has resolved to continue the fight, and to see global warming through, in whatever shape or form life on earth takes in the coming decades. Just because this is the grimmest thing we've ever faced as a species doesn't mean they're throwing in the towel. Far from it.

But it's going to take some work.

"The very tendencies that gave [us such] a leg up in the competition with the other species 50,000 years ago are maladaptive today," Rees concludes.

"Now, if we are intelligent enough to recognize that, at least in theory we should be able to over-ride our biological predispositions. If we don't, we're doomed."

If we don't, we're doomed.

The title of this piece is "Coping with Climate Dread". Expanding the scope only makes the outlook worse.

My own prescription for coping is one of resignation, acceptance, hoping against hope that I'm wrong, and trying to live in the present.

Morals and Ethics...

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300 Million Reasons to Vote Republican by James P. Kelly:

This March, the Texas Institute of Science named American scientist Dr. Eric Pianka, a world renowned ecologist, its “Distinguished Scientist of 2006” for offering a creative solution to Man’s ecological woes -- the killing of 90% of mankind with the Ebola Virus.
...
Morals and ethics represent our only protection...
...
Unlike those who see killing mankind as its only hope, I believe that far more practical solutions exist. ... When I first read of professor Pianka’s proposal -- and more importantly of its enthusiastic acceptance by his peers ...

Morals and ethics, one on each fork of the tongue.

This author did not read any proposal by Pianka to kill mankind, nor did Pianka's peers enthusiastically accept any such proposal, nor did Pianka receive the award for making any such proposal.

There was no such proposal.

Morals and ethics. Sure.

WARNING! Stable Strangelets Ahead

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Andart: Warning Signs for Tomorrow

Memetic hazards: a black lightbulb to represent really bad ideas.

Heh...

More cool ideas there.
HT

Prominent Republican Calls For Republican Ouster in November

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NOW . Transcript . October 6, 2006 | PBS:

HINOJOSA: California Republican Pete McCloskey should know about cover ups. He was in Washington during Watergate … serving in Congress from 1967 until 1983.
...
PETE MCCLOSKEY: The only way it's gonna change in Washington, I think, is if the Democrats take over the House in November. That's the only possible way to restore good ethics. And then you've gotta watch the Democrats-- two to four years hence, because they will be abused by power. It is in the nature of the beast.

Well, that's certainly how I will be voting - against something rather than for something. It would be nice to vote FOR something, someone with ideas about taking power away from the extremes, making it impossible for the parties to collude in shutting down ethics committees, someone with ideas on how to curb lobbyists, someone with ideas on shifting loyalties from the parties first to the nation first, ... * POP * Well, that was nice while it lasted.

Let the population grow | Chicago Tribune

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Let the population grow | Chicago Tribune

So, there's literally too much food in the world, there's plenty of room for lots more people, productivity will continue to trump reproductivity, sustainability means consigning billions of poor people to lives that threaten the environment, while the usual boogeymen Malthus, Sanger and Ehrlich, the Holocaust, eugenics and gas chambers, ...

These days, overpopulation is primarily a hang-up for environmentalists, though suburbanites and feminists occasionally whine about it too. And an important part of the argument has changed. While before, Progressives were worried about the "muck" at the low end of the global population, they're now vexed by the fat cats at the top.

Americans consume more of the earth's resources, they complain, and produce piles more greenhouse gasses. At the environmentalist fringe, there's even a growing movement to convince eco-friendly Americans to voluntarily reduce or eliminate their own reproduction in order to ease the strain on Mother Nature. Since the political orientation of your parents is the single best determinant of your own politics, you can expect a lot fewer environmentalists in a couple of decades if this idea catches on.

So be it. The meek and the assholes shall inherit what's left of the earth.

god god god god god god

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BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iran warns of revenge over Israel

Mr Ahmadinejad called Israel's leaders a "group of terrorists" and appeared to threaten any country that supports it.

"You imposed a group of terrorists... on the region. It is in your own interest to distance yourself from these criminals... This is an ultimatum. Don't complain tomorrow."

Ultimatum? One of these days there'll be a cure for religion.

The Ergosphere: Open letter about the ethanol lobby

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The Ergosphere: Open letter about the ethanol lobby

What he said!

And that's why YOU, dear voter, should be skeptical about ethanol or even opposed to it. There are benefits from it, but those benefits aren't for you.

Music Videos

In no particular order... Latest additions on top...

Rick Springfield - Jesse's Girl

Crossroads Guitar Duel - Steve Vai vs. Ry Cooder (Ralph Maccio)
INXS - Suicide Blonde

Village People - Macho Man
The Monkees - Daydream Believer
Alannah Myles - Black Velvet
Saraya - Love Has Taken Its Toll
Robert Palmer - Simply Irresistible
Pearl Jam - Wishlist
The Bangles - Manic Monday
Ministry - New World Order
Mary Chapin Carpenter - He Thinks He'll Keep Her
Joan Osborne - What If God Was One Of Us
Iron Maiden - 2 Minutes to Midnight
Iron Maiden - Number Of The Beast
Hooters - And We Danced
Golden Earing - Radar Love
Bad Religion - American Jesus
Montrose - Bad Motor Scooter

Chris deBurgh - Lady in Red
Mike and the Mechanics - The Living Years
Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit
Leann Rimes - Cowboy Sweetheart
Pink - Get This Party Started
Pink - Don't Let Me Get Me
Juan Luis Guerra - Ojala Que Llueva Cafe - La Bilirubina
Jose Luis Perales - Un Velero Llamado Libertad
=======================
OK, that does it. I just found another worthy music video on YouTube. Rather than post embeds to all these videos I like, I'll just put them all in one post that I'll update as time goes by. I'll include a link to this post at the top of my links list so that I'll always be able to find it when I want to. I think one can also change the date of the post so that when it's updated it it'll show up as if fresh. We'll see. Here goes:

Chambers Brothers - Time Has Come Today The Chambers Brothers were on stage playing this song as I arrived at the entrance of the 3-day First Annual West Palm Beach Music and Art Festival in Florida back at the end of November 1969. We still had quite a way to walk before we could see the stage, but the music was clear and memorable, a great intro to an unforgetable experience.

Joan Baez - Sweet Sir Galahad The video's end is taken up with credits, but I just close my eyes and it doesn't matter. I wish I could find a video of Baez doing Dylan's With God on Our Side, which was the reason I became a Joan Baez fan 35 years ago (having previously hated her for her activism - what can I say? I was a young, stupid dropout enlistee in the Vietnam era). What an absolutely beautiful voice to go with Dylan's fantastic lyrics. With God On Our Side still moves me deeply, but it makes me sad because, in part, on another level my attitude has hardened into a nihilistic kill them all.

Elefante - Mentirosa
Tina Marie - Lovergirl
Sheena Easton - Sugar Walls
Sheila E - The Glamorous Life
Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take It
Quiet Riot - Metal Health
Starz - Cherry Baby
Pat Benatar and Martina McBride - Independence Day
Pat Benatar - Promises In The Dark

OK, now I'll go include this post at the top of my links list on the lower left of the main blog view.

Obsidian Wings: Ban Interstate Traffic In Nonhuman Primates

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Obsidian Wings: Ban Interstate Traffic In Nonhuman Primates

I'm a bit late here, but I support this notion for the reasons well stated in the link.

I was attacked by a "pet" monkey that got loose when I was 12 or 13 years old. It was a bit scary and he drew a little blood, but that's not my interest here.

The long and tall of it is that the animal should never have been kept as a "pet".

Elefante - Mentirosa

I really like this song, Mentirosa, by the Mexican band Elefante (not to be confused with vocalist John Elefante formerly of the rock band Kansas, or Joe Elefante's big jazz band from Noo Yawk City (which reviews seem to indicate is well worth checking out)).



Artist: Elefante
Song Title: Mentirosa
Album: Elefante

Sorry, my translation eesn't perfec, bat jew get de idea.

Que le vamos a hacer?
What's there to do?
si la vida es asi,
Life is like that,
le aposte todo a tus besos
I bet everything on your kisses
y asi todo lo perdi.
That's how I lost it all.

No me pidas perdon, que ni tu te lo crees,
Don't ask me for forgiveness, not even you believe it,
esas lagrimas son falsas, como falso fue tu amor.
those tears are fake, as fake as your love.

Pero no me digas nada, que el tonto he sido yo,
Don't say anyting, the dummy has been me,
si la luna no es de queso, ni las nubes de algodon.
the moon's not made of cheese, nor clouds of cotton.

Para que seguir con cuentos, con amores de ficcion,
Why continue with stories, with loves of fiction,
si tu boca no es de fresa ni en tus ojos sale el sol
your mouth isn't of berries and the sun doesn't rise in your eyes.

Mentirosa, traicionera
Liar, backstabber
y yo que daba por ti la vida entera
and I who'd have given my entire life for you
Mentirosa, embustera
Liar, cheater
basta ya de tanto ruido, este cuento se acabo.
that's enough with so much noise, this story is over.

Para que decir mas, si todo termino,
Why say more, it's all over
todo lo que sube baja, todo lo que viene va.
what goes up comes down, what comes goes.

No me pidas perdon, que ni tu te lo crees
Don't ask forgiveness, not even you believe it,
vete por donde llegaste y ojala te vaya bien.
go the way you came and bon voyage.

Pero no me digas nada, que el tonto he sido yo,
But don't tell me anyting, the dummy has been me,
si la luna no es de queso, ni las nubes de algodon.
the moon isn't of cheese, nor the clouds cotton.

Para que seguir con cuentos, con amores de ficcion,
Why continue with stories, with loves of fiction,
si tu boca no es de fresa ni en tus ojos sale el sol
your mouth isn't berries, the sun doesn't rise in your eyes.

Mentirosa, traicionera
Liar, backstabber
y yo que daba por ti la vida entera
and I who'd have given my entire life for you
Mentirosa, embustera
Liar, cheater
basta ya de tanto ruido, este cuento se acabo.
that's enough with so much noise, this story is over.

Mentirosa, traicionera
Liar, backstabber
y yo que daba por ti la vida entera
and I who'd have given my entire life for you
Mentirosa, embustera
Liar, cheater
yo contigo no regreso aunque me muera
I won't go back to you even if it kills me

Mentirosa, traicionera
Liar, backstabber
y yo que daba por ti la vida entera
and I who'd have given my entire life for you
Mentirosa, embustera
Liar, cheater
basta ya de tanto ruido, este cuento se acabo.
that's enough with so much noise, this story is over.

More YouTube

I'm coming to love YouTube. I don't know to what extent enjoying YouTube depends on having a broadband connection, but it seems likely. I noticed that sometimes there are duplicate versions of the same video on YouTube, and that the quality of the duplicates can vary. In any event...

update -

I've noticed that sometimes it's better to go straight to the YouTube site to see the videos rather than click on the embedded video. Just click on the link I included above the embed to do that.

I just watched Independence Day again, and am reminded that at the end, though it's not shown in the video, Martina makes a comment about Pat's performance making her cry. I agree, it's that outstanding.

Here's a video I probably haven't seen since college more than a couple of decades ago. A highlight of my week was to pick up a six-pack of Oly pounders on my way home from classes on Friday afternoons, down one or two of them on my 20-mile drive home through the beautiful Palouse countryside (perfectly legal by the way), drop the books at my desk, and sit back to put on a buzz and watch the MTV Top 20 Countdown. (Back then MTV actually played music. Nowadays it seems they've always got some stupid reality show going.)

These videos place me back in those days:

Teena Marie - Lovergirl:


Sheena Easton - Sugar Walls:


Sheila E - The Glamorous Life:


One of my profs used to use Twisted Sister in examples having to do with signal analysis.

Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take It:


Quiet Riot - Metal Health:

Starz - Cherry Baby:


OK, that's enough. Changing gears, I spent a little time looking for Luciano Pavarotti's rendition of Ave Maria from some Christmas concert a few years back. That particular performance of the piece gives me chills and goosebumps, and can bring tears to my eyes. I didn't find it, but I did find clips of Pavarotti doing the Ave Maria with a number of other singers like Bono, Roberto Carlos, Dolores O'Riordan, Jose Carreras and Roberto Carlos.

All I can say is that nobody should be allowed to sing the Ave Maria with Luciano Pavarotti. Nobody should want to sing the Ave Maria with Luciano Pavarotti. It only makes them look and sound inadequate. There should be one, official version of the Ave Maria, and it should be by Pavarotti. Schubert wrote the Ave Maria for Luciano Pavarotti knowing that God would eventually bring him along to sing it.

Well, OK...

Great Stuff!!

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I absolutely loved the rendition of Independence Day by Martina McBride and Pat Benatar on the CMT show Crossroads. For some reason the only DVD I could find of the show was a used one on eBay, and I passed it by. A while later I found Independence Day on Google Video and bought it, but for some reason it was cut off after about a minute and a half, and all Google could manage was to refund my $2.

Something moved me to check iTunes this evening, and when I saw that they had it I didn't think twice. It's just outstanding. Cheap at twice the price, as they say.

Turns out you can see it on YouTube, too:

Independence Day


And here's Pat Benatar doing Promises in the Dark. Great Stuff! I'm going to have to look into YouTube some more. They must be doing something right for Google to have shelled out a billion or two for them. Anyway...

Promises in the Dark

XP - SiS PCI to USB Enhanced Host Controller - Unknown Device - Simple Things First!

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[Update:

No, sorry, I don't have the hotfix. When it didn't work for me I un-installed it and trashed the download.

It really wasn't much trouble at all to get the hotfix from Microsoft. I just called them on the phone, gave them the KB article number and explained that the KB article said to contact them for the hotfix. Then I got transferred to someone who made sure I knew what I was talking about, and that I understood the hotifx might not work and had not gone through all the testing. This second person then sent me the link and a time-limited password to open the file via email.

You did try unplugging everything for half an hour and holding in the power button for a minute, didn't you? ;>) I'm still mad at myself for not trying that first.]

Summary:

If your XP computer's integrated USB hardware stops working, try shutting it down and disconnecting it from the power source for half an hour.

Long version:

The integrated USB2 hardware on my confuter's motherboard quit working.

The machine is a three or four year old 1.6 GHz Pentium 4 running Windows XP Home SP2. The motherboard itself (Gigabyte RZ Series, 8S651MP-RZ) is newer, having replaced the one whose cazapitors blew a year or two ago. The machine is kept up to date with OS patches, and is as well protected from creepware as I can make it. It's also reasonably well protected from power glitches.

Nothing lasts forever, but there wasn't any reason for the USB to have quit working. What might have precipitated the problem was installation of the APC PowerChute Personal Edition software that came with my new APC UPS, and connection of the new UPS's comm port to one of the ports on a powered USB hub connected, in turn, to one of the computer's USB ports. The APC software is supposed to allow the UPS to shut down the computer if there's a power outage of a given duration. I didn't test that function while things were still working, but if I re-install the UPS software and reconnect the UPS to the computer, I will certainly test it. For now, though, I'm a bit hesitant.

I became obsessed with fixing the motherboard's integrated USB hardware, and probably spent more time on it than I should have. At first I was pretty happy because a bit of googling pointed to the "SiS PCI to USB Enhanced Host Controller" part of the USB setup in the Device Manager*. Following the suggestion, I disabled the "SiS PCI to USB Enhanced Host Controller" in the Device Manager and, like magic, USB started working again. That being the case, I started an incremental backup to my USB hard drive before I went to bed.

(*You can get to the Device Manager through Properties on My Computer, or by hitting the Windows and Pause/Break keys on the keyboard at the same time.)

In the morning I was surprised to find that my incremental backup was still running. That led to the realization that what I had actually done was to disable the faster USB2 while reviving the glacial USB1 functions. Better than nothing, but unacceptable. Back to Google.

I was reasonably certain there was nothing wrong with my hardware since the USB still worked under version 1, so I carried out different suggested remedies such as obtaining the latest drivers, removing the USB entries in the Device Manager and re-booting and so on, most of which I'd already tried.

One authoritative-sounding suggestion was to simply give up early and install a USB card instead of wasting time trying to fix the integrated USB.

I tried a few things I thought might help, like disabling USB support in the BIOS and then running my registry fixer program immediately after rebooting. RegSupreme Pro found a lot of stuff to toss, but this did not solve the USB problem. Nothing I did solved the USB problem. The Microsoft web site was not helpful at all when I went looking for USB-related help (or maybe I didn't look hard enough). My motherboard manufacturer didn't help either, simply saying something to the effect that due to Microsoft licensing they only made the drivers available on CD.

Eventually I found something referring to a known issue with XP and USB, so I went back to the Microsoft site and searched a little harder, eventually finding an article (892050) acknowledging the known issue and mentioning a patch file. One would have to contact Microsoft to obtain the patch file, though, apparently because it hadn't gone through all the testing they do. I contacted Microsoft on the phone and in short order had a link in my email inbox to download the patch. I applied the patch to zero effect, and since the problem persisted I uninstalled the patch.

I was about to break down and install a USB card, feeling like an ass for not heeding the earlier advice to give up early on fixing things, but it was already past my bedtime. I remembered the advice to shut down, unplug the machine from the wall, push the power button for one minute and then wait half an hour before firing it up again. I went a little further than that and unplugged all peripherals in addition to the power.

After a minute of holding the power button in, and about 40 minutes of waiting, I came back, plugged everything back in, fired it up and, you got it, it worked like a champ.

Lesson (re)learned: Try the simple things first.

Police spokesman surely knows better

The Ely Times - elynews.com :: News: Clergy members support effort to legalize marijuana:

[Las Vegas police Lt. Stan Olsen] said the argument that Nevada should legalize marijuana because laws have not stopped the use of the drug, is like saying the state should legalize burglary because laws have not stopped burglars.

The police spokesman surely knows better. I'd venture to guess he knows that he knows better. This is almost as bad as that stupidity the other day.

Gore Cigarettes NewsMax Drudge Limbaugh Bullshit

A few days ago NewsMax went with a story making the fantastic claim that Al Gore had addressed the United Nations, and that he had told them that cigarette smoking is a significant contributor to global warming. (my earlier post)

The clear but false implication in the writing, and the one picked up and transmitted by the likes of Drudge, Rush and a whole shitload of similarly-minded people, was that the smoke from cigarettes was the significant contributor to global warming.

There is no way in hell that Gore meant any such thing.

The thing that amazes me is how fast and how far this story spread, how uncritically it is received, and how brazenly it was spread by the puppeteers.

Drudge picked up the bullshit from NewsMax, apparently, and for two or three days had a link prominently displayed on the left hand side of his page. You'd click on that link and be taken to a page with a few paragraphs repeating the ridiculous assertion about Gore's talk to the UN, and breathlessly baiting the reader with the final line, "Developing...".

That there was noting to develop, that the whole thing was a smearing propaganda play, and that the likes of NewsMax, Drudge and Rush were in the thick of it is one thing. What really surprised me was the silence from the other side.

Obviously, it's not possible to read everything, but by using search engines you can try to find things. There just wasn't anything out there countering this onslaught of bullshit. There was a forum somewhere in which the participants expressed disbelief and discussed a few things that Gore might have actually been talking about, such as soil disturbance or the overlap among prominent smoking cancer and global warming denialists, but essentially there was nothing out there responding to the nonsense. It was unopposed.

Why was that? I suppose one possibility is that smarter people than me have concluded that this sort of thing is just a large-scale analog to newsroom trolling, best left unanswered. Maybe the smarter ones recognize the whole episode as something designed by the right to help keep control of political discourse, with a response simply furthering the right's aim.

I don't know. What I'm left with, though, is a deepened disrespect for dittohead puppeteers and political dirty tricksters. I can't say much for people's uncritical reactions to the thing, either.

Oh well, I guess we need cannon fodder.

Jeff Beck

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Jeff Beck put on a great show last night at the Mesa Arts Center's Ikeda Theater. Beth Hart was very impressive, particularly on Morning Dew. What a set of lungs!

Rock Radio:

Jeff Beck will open his fall tour with a show on Wednesday, September 6th, at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Florida. He's often surprised fans with the material he plays live, and this tour is no exception. Beck told us that for these dates, he's pulling stuff out from his earliest days as a solo artist, and the reason is that he's got the right group for the songs: "The setlist, it looks a little bit like (a) leftover from the early days, but the fact of the matter is, we're having to play this stuff partly because the players are not techno players -- they're pure musicians. We play the stuff that has the most challenging parts in it, plus we got a, you know, vocalist now, which can cover some of the Rod Stewart stuff. So it's like a sort of mini-life story on stage."

Beck's band for the tour includes Beth Hart on vocals, Jason Rebello on keyboards, Randy Hope-Taylor on bass, and Vinnie Colaiuta on drums.

The guitarist and company will be on the road through an October 1st date in Mesa, Arizona.

Review. Another review.

Gov. Acts on Last of New Bills - Los Angeles Times

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Gov. Acts on Last of New Bills - Los Angeles Times:

Acting on the last of 1,172 bills sent to him this year by the Democratic-led Legislature, Schwarzenegger...

Wow! Maybe they should have a law that says something like "No more than 100 bills, and each one about only one thing."

I'm sure they don't really need a law prohibiting teens from riding in the trunks of cars. Surely there's already a law covering that sort of thing.

I'm happy to see that gay and lesbian couples can file joint returns now, but disappointed that the Governor vetoed the hemp measure. Who cares about the Feds? Where's the States Rights attitude when you need it?

Oh, well, I'm from Arizona anyway.