And now, a few quick thoughts:


1.Call me a bad American if you like, but I can’t get too worked up over this illegal immigration issue. These are people who will work jobs that most Americans won’t do for the wages being offered. This is not to say that I don’t understand some anger or agree with some of the anti-immigrant position. On one hand, I can’t get too worked up over illegals getting medical care through tax dollars. It’s not like I’m going to get that money back if they were all shipped out. Besides, I’m too damn busy working on my on hustle. On the other hand, I do agree with the governor of my state when he says if you are going to ask for state benefits, you must prove legal residency. The fact that illegals are here don’t usually affect unless they are playing their music too damn loud while my wife and I are trying to sleep and I have to show my color to make them stop. If the Pook were blonde, I would seriously have toget a fucking shotgun to keep the vatos away: It's bad enough now, but it would be more so if she were blonde. Believe me, I know from personal dating experience. I’m a libertarian. I believe that anyone who is willing to abide by the laws should be able to roam in this country. Then again, after I visited that big hole in lower Manhattan that used to be the Twin Towers, I realize that you’ve got to see who’s coming through here. I guess I’m torn.

Can people actually talk about the issue with out this xenophobic spew? Now, the question is whether or not our borders need to be secured. The answer, which I think is obvious, is yes. On the other hand, it is high impractical to cross the country to round up 12 million illegal immigrants and send them back to Mexico. I might also like to add that no one is bitching about illegals from Canada and other countries, so there is a part of me that feels that this has some skin prejudice attached to it. When I watch Anderson Cooper talk to this gang of white men bitching about the “brown people”, I tend to get scared. We need to find a way to secure the borders and work on getting ALL illegal immigrants legal. As Cracker said, I guess I will leave that up to someone wiser.

2. This really pisses me off. In all seriousness, I am going to try really hard to get my point across without flying of the handle. USA Today report that several landline telephone companies have been work with the NSA, a government agency, into gather the records of the phone calls made by its customer. Needless to say, the officials stated that they have not be doing anything illegal and that there are no recordings, transcripts or names attached to the calls. Then again, can you truly believe anything that this administration has to say? This is an abomination of the worse degree. I’m no lawyer, but I do believe in the strict interpretation of the Fourth Amendment to the country, which say that the government leaves me and my property be unless they have a warrant. From a personal and a political standpoint, I truly believe in the concept of privacy. What’s worse is that the American people doesn’t seem to care. The masses in this country are willing to trade its civil liberties for the illusion of security. When I hear stupid stuff like, “I don’t care if the government listens to my phone calls because I have nothing to hide” and “If you have nothing to hide, then you shouldn’t have any problems”, I truly believe that the people who utter this ridiculous nonsense have no true idea what it means to be an American and not a goddamn idea as to what this country is about. In the interest of civility, I’m going to leave it at that.

3. Note to Barry Bonds: You are not being crucified in the media because you are black, as USA Today may suspect. You are being crucified because you are an asshole. You are being crucified because you are a jerk and a primadonna. I pray that you get injured so that you fail to break Hank Aaron’s all time home run record. Yes, part of it is that because Aaron played for the Atlanta Braves and that no matter where I wind up, I will always be ATL. However, another part is because you are a big tool.

4.The more that I listen to Bob Dylan’s records, the more I know that he’s right.

5. Mandy Moore, if you’re reading this, I apologize for underestimating your talent. Your episodes on Scrubs were funny. I like Joe Jackson and Elton John. However, I feel you did pretty awesome covers of Breaking Us In Two and Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters. Just saying you get props from me.

6. I like the new Pearl Jam album. I’ve always liked Pearl Jam since the beginning: I even carried him while he stage dived back at Lakewood Amphitheatre in 1992. On the other hand, they haven’t been doing their best to keep in the public eye. I think that lack of doing videos killed them. Yes, music matters. Yes there are a great live band. However, you have the play the game from time to time to get your music heard as well as make great albums. I’d say their last great album was Yield., I do hope that the PJ will rise again with this one. Anyway, hope this album goes well.

7. The Dixie Chicks doesn’t have anything to apologize for and never had. Saw the 60 Minutes interview, which make me like them even more. They’re right: Country has turned into music for conservative alpha male rednecks, many of which drive around here in Atlanta. President Dubya IS an embarrassment to this country because of this stupid war that will increase rather than decrease the number of enemies that we have. It’s a sham that so many of their fans chose to desert them. They get props for the new joint, Not Ready To Make Nice. Don’t get it twisted. I agree with them when they say country music today sucks. However, these three are one of the few exception to my “no country music” rule. I liked the last album. I think this new CD will be rocking.

More later.