Let's. . .

. . . all agree. . . NO MORE LOOPHOLES!

 (By Scott Stump, TODAY contributor http://todaynews.today.com/_news/2013/02/13/16925098-activists-pols-how-did-mentally-ill-killer-amass-an-arsenal?lite&lite=obnetwork)
In 1995, when Minnesota teen Christian Phillip Oberender killed his mother with a shotgun, he was deemed mentally ill and dangerous by a juvenile court and committed to a psychiatric hospital. Eight years later, at age 22, Oberender was released after living in a halfway house. But in January, 13 guns were discovered in his home, including an AK-47, a Tommy gun and shotguns, according to court documents. He was charged with being a felon in possession of firearms.

“I think everyone was quite scared to be honest with you,’’ Oberender’s neighbor, Dennis Hilk, told NBC News.

Police also found a chilling note addressed to Oberender’s deceased mother, according to court documents.

“I feel the good part of me fade away,’’ he wrote in the note. “I don’t know how long I can hold it in for. The monster want out. I know what happens when he comes out. He only been out one time and someone die.”

Oberender’s arrest has left gun control activists and local politicians vowing to close the loopholes that allowed Oberender to amass an arsenal.

“In the polarized world that we're in right now it seems as if you're either for quote-unquote gun control or for addressing the mental health issues when the reality is that we need to reduce gun violence by doing both,’’ Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak told NBC News.

Oberender, 32, is believed to have obtained a legitimate firearms permit due to a number of snafus, including the fact that the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension had no record of him murdering his mother (an issue that is currently being investigated). Oberender’s attorney did not respond to an interview request by NBC News.

Police were tipped off to his weapons stash when Carver County Sheriff Jim Olson, who was a young detective 18 years ago when Oberender was sentenced, heard that the man had posted pictures of guns on his Facebook page. Olson went online and found photos of Oberender toting weapons and posts expressing sympathy for the shooters in the school massacres at Columbine High School and Newtown, Conn., according to court documents. A warrant was obtained to search the house, which led to the discovery of Oberender's arsenal.

“He should not have guns posted on Facebook,’’ Olson told NBC News. “He should not have guns.’’

Olson shudders to think what could have happened if the name Christian Phillip Oberender had not rung a bell when he heard about the Facebook page.

“This certainly could have turned out differently for us — for Carver County, for Minnesota, and for America,’’ he said.

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Ahh. . .

. . . humor. . . thank God (did I say that?)

(http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/columnists/joe-bennett/8324052/Meteor-message-for-unbelievers%5C)  by Joe Bennett
An amazing thing happened in Switzerland last weekend during the annual Peace and Light Symposium. This inter-faith conference, renowned for its catering, had attracted leaders from every major belief system. Top of this year's agenda was the Russian meteor. All the theologians except the Archimandrite of Easter Island had seen it on television and were frightfully excited.

At the plenary session, held in the Davos Convention Centre, the Peace and Light Moderator told journalists that despite two days of commitment to the gravy train, the thinkers had been unable to reach a consensus on the meaning of the meteor. So the various factions would present their conclusions separately.

First to step to the microphone was a mullah, gravely wiping crumbs of strawberry gateau from his beard. "God is not mocked," he said. "And neither are his faithful followers. So when a member of the New Zealand Parliament chooses to denounce all 2 billion of us as misogynist troglodytes from Wogistan, it is hardly surprising that He should choose to express his wrath meteorically."

A journalist interrupted to ask why the meteor should have been biffed at Russia rather than New Zealand, but the mullah was not fazed. "Do you have any idea where New Zealand is?" he asked.

The journalist shook his head and conceded the point.

Next up was a cardinal from Omen Dei (De Imaginis in Pane Immolatis), the powerful Vatican committee for the interpretation of portents, cloud shapes and pieces of toast burnt with the image of the Virgin. "With all due respect to my friend the mullah," he began in Latin, "God could hardly have spoken more clearly. In the same week as the Holy Father resigns, whoompha. Coincidence? I don't think so. Our Almighty has a long history of communicating through celestial show, and this meteor is a clear warning to the Russian Orthodox church and other eastern schismatics. Now is the time for them to renounce their heresy and to return to the one true mother church. And I am assured by the Vatican Bank Enforcement Division that a suitable accommodation can be reached with regard to centuries of unpaid . . . "

"Poppycock," exclaimed a small man, leaping to his feet and shrugging off a straitjacket in what looked like a practised manoeuvre. He grabbed the cardinal by the chasubles and flung him into the wings, to applause from the Eastern Orthodox churches.

Seizing the microphone the little man glared at the gathering with eyes that swivelled independently. "As president of the Mayan Calendar Straw Clutchers I am thrilled to announce the imminent end of the world. We were right, you were wrong, so suck on that, sceptics."

"Wasn't it meant to be December?" shouted a journalist.

"What's a few months in an 18,000-year calendar cycle?" bellowed the little man with glee. "We're talking stone-age people here. They didn't have digital calculators, you know. We're all going to die."

"I refuse to share a stage with a doom-saying poltroon," exclaimed a Texan Baptist, rising to his enormous feet.

"Not so fast, big boy," exclaimed the swivel-eyed Mayan. "All of you have got a doomsday scenario, same as we have. Fire, brimstone, rapture, apocalyptic horses and so on. We're just the only ones prepared to put a date on it."

But the Texan had seized his chair and was advancing on the little man with obvious intent. Other divines rose to their feet, shouting. An ecclesiastical donnybrook seemed seconds away, with the journos cheering them on. The Archbishop of Canterbury squealed "No violence, please, I beg you," but no one paid him the least attention, which made him feel at home. But then just as the Texan raised the chair above his head there came a mighty crack and the roof of the convention centre split asunder.

The divines fell to their knees as one and gawped in awestruck silence. Above them lay the sweep of the cosmos in the form of a limitless multi-dimensional skittle alley. Meteorites by the billion criss-crossed the alley at dizzying speed.

And as their eyes grew used to the darkness of forever, the clerics made out a huge dim figure hunched in the heart of the cosmos, launching the meteorites arbitrarily into space like intergalactic bowling balls. And though the figure had neither ears to hear with, nor yet eyes to see with, whenever a meteorite struck a celestial body, wiping out a race of dinosaurs here, a whole planet there, a huge and eerie cackle rang through the reaches of eternity.

"Gosh," said the Archimandrite of Easter Island, reaching for an anchovy sandwich.

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Don't . . .

. . . like to advertise (at least without receiving adequate compensation), but. . .

(by Michael Isikoff, MSNBC.com) 

". . . Hubris: The Selling of the Iraq War, a documentary special hosted by Rachel Maddow that will air Monday night on MSNBC at 9 p.m. (and based on a book I co-authored with David Corn), provides new evidence that the dissent within the administration and military was even more profound and widespread than anybody has known until now.  “It was a shock, it was a total shock–I couldn’t believe the vice president was saying this,” Gen. Anthony Zinni, the former commander in chief of U.S. Central Command, told me in an interview for the documentary. Zinni, who had access to the most sensitive U.S. intelligence on Iraq, was on a stage in Nashville, Tennessee, receiving an award from the Veteran of Foreign Wars on August 26, 2002, when he heard the vice president launch the opening salvo in the Bush administration’s campaign to generate public support for an invasion. “Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction,” Cheney said. “There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies and against us.” Zinni, sitting right next to Cheney’s lectern, says he “literally bolted” when he heard the vice president’s comments. “In doing work with the CIA on Iraq WMD [weapons of mass destruction], through all the briefings I heard at Langley, I never saw one piece of credible evidence that there was an ongoing program.” He recounts going to one of those CIA briefings and being struck by how thin the agency’s actual knowledge of Iraqi weapons programs was. “What I was hearing [from Bush administration officials] and what I knew did not jive,” Zinni says. . . "

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Marketing. . .

. . . at it's worst. . .

To my dearest love
Or current resident
Sending you these lines
To show you how much I care
How can I convey
To you this sentiment
You're the one for me
My dearest
Please insert your name on the dotted line_ _ _ _ _

There's no obligation
There's no purchase required
There are over five thousand
Who are qualified
And eligible to win the grand prize
Rules and regulations
Must be read carefully
Entries must be postmarked by the thirtieth
At quarter to three

To my dearest love
Or current resident
Sending you these lines
To show you how much I care
How can I convey
To you this sentiment
You're the one for me
My dearest
Please insert your name on the dotted line_ _ _ _ _


Once I made a solemn
Vow to someone I knew
And I thought her vow was also solemn too
But I thought with my heart
And didn't see it through
Not that any lesson
Of great value has been learned
Such experience should teach us something good
Or maybe I enjoy getting burned

It's not a weakness to be
Predisposed toward sharing
I might survive all alone
But I'm just not that daring
Desperate men will seek desperate measures
to get what they think that they need

To my dearest love
Or current resident
Sending you these lines
To show you how much I care
How can I convey
To you this sentiment
You're the one for me

My dearest
Please insert your name on the dotted line_ _ _ _ _


You're the one for me

My dearest
Please insert your name on the dotted line_ _ _ _ _



The Dotted Line
©1997 Raymond M. Jozwiak




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Who . . .

. . . said What? . . .

(from  Juvenal 55 AD - 127 AD, Roman poet & satirist)
"A healthy mind in a healthy body."
   
"Be gentle with the young."
  
"Be rich to yourself and poor to your friends."
 
"The people that once bestowed commands, consulships, legions, and all else, now concerns itself no more, and longs eagerly for just two things - bread and circuses!"


(from The Baltimore Sun, local news publication)

". . . the venture looks like a success. Outside and in, the bistro is full of charm. The outdoor bar was bustling when we arrived, and tables on the wooden deck quickly filled up. Inside, dark gray walls gave the small dining room a cozy feel. Stacks of books and offbeat art created a quirky vibe, but white linens dressed the space up. . . "

(from Ray Jozwiak, creative musician)

". . . You are invited to Bread & Circuses Bistro
27 E. Chesapeake Avenue
Towson, MD  21286
410-337-5282
http://bandcbistro.com/

Friday, February 22, 2013, from 6:00 til 9:00PM for an evening of great food, drink, ambiance and Gonzo Piano (eclectic, original [mostly], jazz-inspired solo piano) by . . . me,  Ray Jozwiak. . ."

(For my complete schedule, see http://www.rayjozwiak.com)
Now You Can Get RAY JOZWIAK-GONZO PIANO Ringtones for your Cell Phone Absolutely Free at: "http://www.myxer.com/artist/14413289/" http://www.myxer.com/artist/14413289/

Also, please visit:  "http://www.rayjozwiak.com" http://www.rayjozwiak.com
http://pianogonzology.blogspot.com/
http://cdbaby.com/all/rjozwiak
 http://www.myspace.com/gonzopiano
 http://www.sonicbids.com/RayJozwiakGonzoPiano

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Ragin'. . .

(from allmusic.com)
". . . 1969 was a pivotal year in the musical career of Doug Kershaw (born Douglas James Kershaw). An appearance on the premier broadcast of The Johnny Cash Show, on June 7, brought him to the attention of his largest audience and led to a contract with Warner Brothers/Seven Arts. Two months later, Kershaw's autobiographical tune, "Louisiana Man," became the first song broadcast back to Earth from the Moon by the astronauts of Apollo 12. Kershaw capped the year with a much-publicized, week-long engagement at the Fillmore East in New York as opening act for Eric Clapton's Derek & the Dominos. While it seemed to many rock and pop fans that Kershaw had appeared out of nowhere, he had already sold more than 18 million copies of the records he had done in the early '60s with his brother, Rusty. "Louisiana Man" had been a Top Ten country hit in 1961 and its follow-up, "Diggy Diggy Lo," had done almost as well. The son of an alligator hunter, Kershaw was the seventh born to a family that eventually included five boys and four girls. Raised in a home where Cajun French was spoken, he didn't learn English until the age of eight. By that time, he had mastered the fiddle, which he played from the age of five, and was on his way to teaching himself to play an amazing 28 instruments. His first gig was at a local bar, the Bucket of Blood, where he was accompanied by his mother on guitar. After teaching his brother Rusty (born Russell; February 2, 1938) to play guitar, he formed a band, the Continental Playboys, with Rusty and older brother Peewee in 1948.

Although they initially sang in French, J.D. Miller, owner of the Feature record label, persuaded them to incorporate songs in English into their repertoire. With the departure of Peewee from the group in the early '50s, Doug and Rusty continued to perform as a duo. The brothers quickly built a solid reputation for their high-energy performances of Cajun two-steps and country ballads. In 1955, they recorded their first single, "So Lovely, Baby." Released on the Hickory label, the tune became a Top Five country hit in August 1955. Shortly afterward, they were invited to become cast members of the Louisiana Hayride, a popular radio show broadcast from Shreveport, LA. In 1957, they recorded a Top 40 country hit, "Love Me to Pieces." They became members of the Grand Ole Opry the following year. Despite the demands of his music career, Doug enrolled in McNeese State University and earned an undergraduate degree in mathematics. At the peak of their early career, in 1958, Doug and Rusty decided to simultaneously enlist in the United States Army. They devoted their attention to the military until their dismissal three years later. Picking up where they left off in February 1961, the two brothers recorded "Louisiana Man," a song Doug had written while in the Army. The song was eventually covered by more than 800 artists. By the time their debut album, Rusty and Doug, was released in July 1964, however, the Kershaw brothers had elected to go their separate ways.
Two Step Fever

It took another three years before Doug signed a songwriter's contract with BMI. Despite the success of his solo career, Kershaw continued to be plagued by depression and sorrow. His father had committed suicide when he was only seven. Until 1984, Kershaw battled drug and alcohol abuse and he became known for erratic behavior. Although he continued to perform and record, his albums of the 1970s failed to duplicate the commercial success of "Louisiana Man" and "Diggy Diggy Lo." In 1981, Kershaw rebounded with his biggest selling hit, "Hello Woman," which reached the country music Top 40. In 1988, he recorded a duet, "Cajun Baby," with Hank Williams, Jr., that became a Top 50 country hit. Marrying his wife, Pam, at the Astro Dome on June 21, 1975, Kershaw began raising his own family, which included five sons -- Douglas, Victor, Zachary, Tyler, and Elijah -- and two grandsons. His son Tyler plays drums in his band. Kershaw released a French-language album, Two Step Fever, in 1999. Michael Doucet of Beausoleil is featured on the duet "Fievre de Deux Etapes." Hot Diggity Doug was released in mid-2000 and Still Cajun After All These Years followed in early 2001. Easy appeared from Cooking Vinyl in 2002. . . "

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Bits. . .

. . . pieces. . .

The eighteenth century is the Age of Enlightenment.  The Enlightenment popularizes the ideas developed during the Age of Reason.  The Enlightenment is basically the view or belief that modern science and our understanding of the social world derived from modern science can help us to improve the living conditions on this planet.  War, poverty, and injustice are not God-given punishments for our sinfulness but bad management.  Oppressive governments can be reformed or overthrown.  Social inequality can be alleviated and, maybe, overcome.  Disease is not to be accepted stoically but to be fought with new medicines.  Poverty can be reduced through the productivity of new inventions and technologies.  Ignorance can be overcome through universal public education.  Human societies are perfectible if only we have the will and use our scientific knowledge to plan and socially engineer for a better future.  There is no limit to what human reason and ingenuity can achieve. The French Enlightenment thinkers are known as the philosophes. They are not really philosophers but what we would today call journalists or popularizers. One of the great achievements of the philosophes was the publication of the Encyclopédie.  All those who contributed articles are known as the Encyclopedists.  Philosophes and encyclopedists are often used as interchangeable terms when describing the French Enlightenment.

Opponents of the French government's plans to legalize same-sex marriage and adoption took to the streets of Paris in January. With an estimated 350,000 marchers, the demonstration was considered one of the largest in years. The French government took note, but vowed go ahead with its plans for the law anyway.

France now joins Britain in taking a major legislative step in recent weeks toward allowing gay marriage and adoption — making them the largest European countries to do so. The Netherlands, Belgium, Norway and Spain, as well as Argentina, Canada and South Africa have authorized gay marriage, along with nine U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

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