Shane's Babblings

Original Date of Post: Saturday, March 04, 2006

Social Distortion When: 8 p.m. Dec. 26-27 and Jan. 27 and 28 Where: House of Blues San Diego, 1055 Fifth Ave., San Diego Tickets: $27-$30 (December shows are sold out) Info: (619) 299-2583 Web: www.socialdistortion.com

By: Sean Moeller - For the North County Times

Charlie Quintana ruminates on his band's West Coast swing of upcoming winter dates without the faintest undercurrent of pomposity. There's something of an invisible, disbelieving head shake to his words, but there's a firm simultaneous knowledge to them that reinforces the fact that nothing about legendary Orange County punk band Social Distortion's nearly complete string of sellouts is fluky, especially not when it's become a SoCal winter tradition in its fifth year: Social D at a House of Blues (usually) near you.

"I don't know how to say this without sounding cocky or ungrateful, but just about all of our shows are sellouts," he said from his apartment.

Social D is 27 years old this year but has released only two albums over the last 10 years. The staying power of a group that unproductive ---- in the face of new and quasi-punk bands releasing records rapid-fire every Tuesday morning ---- is owed to a back catalog that is overloaded with gritty passion, wayward living and a morality that usually encourages the betterment of the self.

The band found larger and larger audiences for those songs in the early '80s, combining the sounds steaming out of New York and England at the time into an original sound that became synonymous with the West Coast scene. A video for "Another State of Mind" was one of the first few punk videos to air on MTV, and the band gained a massive following largely because of the raw and honest spirit of Mike Ness, its scratchy throated, muscle-bound and tattooed frontman.

"Mike is Social Distortion. He is who he is. He's a very charismatic person," Quintana said of the singer that he's played with for the last eight years after stints as a touring musician for everyone from Bob Dylan to Joan Osborne, following his early gig as the drummer for '70s punkers the Plugs. "I think Mike has stayed true to himself and to the band through the years. I think that has a lot to do with why people keep showing up at our shows."

Ness endured and eventually overcame a serious drug problem near the end of 1985, just before the band's major breakthrough to a wider mainstream audience. Numerous hospitalizations and arrests prompted Ness to check into a drug recovery program. His self-destructive nature was corrected and Ness has been living on a new lease since.

"We were just talking about this the other day. There used to be a saying, 'Die young and leave a good-looking corpse behind,' " Quintana said of the mantra of '70s and '80s punk musicians. "But I want to live to be 100 and Mike wants to live to be 100 also. He's lucky to be alive and, damn, man, I'm lucky to be alive. Back (when we started playing), your sense of the future was, 'Where am I going to get something to eat?' Your priorities change.

"I'm very happy to say that I didn't know Mike back then. I knew who he was and he knew who I was because we played in bands, and back then, you'd get your f---- ass kicked just walking down the street, so there was safety in numbers. But he's a good guy, a good person. He hasn't changed much except for the changes for the better."

The same Mike Ness is selling out every House of Blues he walks into and still shaking hands after shows with all the die-hards, which turns show nights into old-time events in whatever city he's in that night.

"There are always people hanging around the venue when you get to sound check," Quintana said. "It's still cool, man. You could be walking around a city on an off-day, and you're shopping or you're eating and people will come up to you and say, 'Hey, we're going to be there tomorrow.' "

Original Date of Post: Saturday, March 04, 2006


found at : http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/02/catholic.town.ap/index.html

New Florida town would restrict abortion
Domino's founder building community around Catholic university


Thursday, March 2, 2006; Posted: 9:35 p.m. EST (02:35 GMT)

NAPLES, Florida (AP) -- If Domino's Pizza founder Thomas S. Monaghan has his way, a new town being built in Florida will be governed according to strict Roman Catholic principles, with no place to get an abortion, pornography or birth control.

The pizza magnate is bankrolling the project with at least $250 million and calls it "God's will."

Civil libertarians say the plan is unconstitutional and are threatening to sue.

The town of Ave Maria is being constructed around Ave Maria University, the first Catholic university to be built in the United States in about 40 years. Both are set to open next year about 25 miles east of Naples in southwestern Florida.

The town and the university, developed in partnership with the Barron Collier Co., an agricultural and real estate business, will be set on 5,000 acres with a European-inspired town center, a massive church and what planners call the largest crucifix in the nation, at nearly 65 feet tall. Monaghan envisions 11,000 homes and 20,000 residents.

During a speech last year at a Catholic men's gathering in Boston, Monaghan said that in his community, stores will not sell pornographic magazines, pharmacies will not carry condoms or birth control pills, and cable television will have no X-rated channels.

Homebuyers in Ave Maria will own their property outright. But Monaghan and Barron Collier will control all commercial real estate in the town, meaning they could insert provisions in leases to restrict the sale of certain items.

"I believe all of history is just one big battle between good and evil. I don't want to be on the sidelines," Monaghan, who sold Domino's Pizza in 1998 to devote himself to doing good works, said in a recent Newsweek interview.

Robert Falls, a spokesman for the project, said Tuesday that attorneys are still reviewing the legal issues and that Monaghan had no comment in the meantime.

"If they attempt to do what he apparently wants to do, the people of Naples and Collier County, Florida, are in for a whole series of legal and constitutional problems and a lot of litigation indefinitely into the future," warned Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.

Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist said it will be up to the courts to decide the legalities of the plan. "The community has the right to provide a wholesome environment," he said. "If someone disagrees, they have the right to go to court and present facts before a judge."

Gov. Jeb Bush, at the site's groundbreaking earlier this month, lauded the development as a new kind of town where faith and freedom will merge to create a community of like-minded citizens. Bush, a convert to Catholicism, did not speak specifically to the proposed restrictions.

"While the governor does not personally believe in abortion or pornography, the town, and any restrictions they may place on businesses choosing to locate there, must comply with the laws and constitution of the state and federal governments," Russell Schweiss, a spokesman for the governor, said Tuesday.

Frances Kissling, president of the liberal Washington-based Catholics for a Free Choice, likened Monaghan's concept to Islamic fundamentalism.

"This is un-American," Kissling said. "I don't think in a democratic society you can have a legally organized township that will seek to have any kind of public service whatsoever and try to restrict the constitutional rights of citizens."

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Original Dtae of post: Tuesday, March 21, 2006


SO. Back to work as they say. Anyway. I really don't care who sees this and if they are at the school and have cause for concern good. There are far too many people in this world that want to be responsible without having the obligations of the accountability that is attached. It drives me nuts.


We have a strange concept here at school. You want to attend class you must pay for it. Yes, new concept. And in fact it must be paid in full.


Well let me explain the full scenario. Here at Utah State University we live in a culture where many misperceive the dogma of a culture mixed with religion is what becomes their purported and quote on quote doctrine. No wonder half the world believes that we are weird little Mormons. (Yes I am LDS, and rather active too).


I'll continue. We have a problem in the Higher Education here in the state of Utah, like who doesn't right. So we have those struggling to pay for classes. OK get this. The avg. tuition for in state and a full load in our tier based 13-17 credits tuition is about 1800 a semester. Yes folks that's right. You too can receive a fully accredited degree in a program considered rather good at a next to nothing price. Then you get to bitch and moan and complain like you just paid for a full load at Cornell, or Harvard, or you local JC that costs twice as much as it does here in Utah. Not only that, if you complain loud and proud and squeal long enough, some administrator, no some advisor, will mis-inform you to procedures that have long since past and tell you that you will get your way.
So now that the scenario though a little vague is on the table, let me explain. It is a very simple concept. We at Utah State have been told by the state legislative body that we are to use a new system that is called BANNER. The ever so unjustly incriminated student records system that has its varied strengths and weaknesses. This wonderful system is backboned by a relational database that is Oracle ready, optimized and all the other jargon that I will not pass as buzz-words. Anyway. The payer of our checks says this is the system you will learn and use. We have those here that have the audacity to tell there employer to shove it and I will wait until I retire and bide my time. What the hell? When did France infest Logan Utah? Oh and by the way, Wal-Mart is evil according to the local Loganites tribal council.


I could go on and on. All I want is this. I would like to see students and administrators alike adopt the idea of partnering one with another. In doing so a synthesis of ideas in a University environment might be achievable. Researches, students and professors alike could encourage and foster ideas that will allow our university to remain accredited and also involve further private funding as our state dividends continue to fail. The students might then begin to rise up an see that each time a tax cut happens the oppressive AARP is finding away to cheat away from their taxes by burdening the legislature with the only option of making up deficits through tuition requirements (yes folks, this is not anecdotal, many many many data sets support this idea). In the end all parties would understand the importance of their own personal role in the station they are in. Students will learn and try to gain knowledge. Professors will try to offer the most current and up to date knowledge available. Researchers can push the envelope to its furthest imagine possibilities. And our ever beloved administration will stop treating students as their children and assist them properly by standing by their own policies, guidelines, and rules. Instead of undermining our students and leaving them ill-prepared with a degree that has prepared them for a world that does not exist.

Yes I am frustrated from all sides. I think we are finally developing a core group here though that can adopt the idea of progressive though and evolve into something dynamic and creative. I am hoping that we can achieve the partnering idea and see its benefits while my tenure exists here at USU. If you are a student here at USU and read this, please help your self and demand a higher bar so that you can achieve the stars and not settle for the moon. Instructors, researchers and administrators please discontinue the practice of enabling persons that will only learn to depend on something other than their own. Help empower them with the sword of knowledge tempered by accountability of action, thought and desires.

I know I am hoping for too much. And one last thought for all.

***LACK OF PRIOR PLANNING ON YOUR PART, DOES NOT REQUIRE AN EMERGENCY ON MY PART.***

Date of Original Post: Friday, June 09, 2006

http://www.wired.com/news/wireservice/0,71125-0.html?tw=rss.index

Check this story out. I am getting sick of politics. it is always driven by the almighty non backed dollar. One day maybe in my son's lifetime things will be really back to the way it once was. A person's word was there bond, people actually accepting accountability for their own choices and actions.

This is a scary move towards quote en quote 'Net Neutrality'. THe only thing neutral about this is that money is still money, an those who have the money break the rules.

-cheers