I believe that vote fraud, no matter who commits it (although the democrat party has refined it to a science), is one of the most despicable crimes there is. It doesn’t just victimize one person, but rather it is a rape of the rule of law and the principles on which the Republic was founded, and, as such, it victimizes us all. Frankly, it is akin to terrorism.
Vote fraud, in any form (including voter intimidation), should be subject to a minimum of a mandatory jail term of no less than five years — no exceptions.
Many of us are familiar with and may even have experienced the blues that often follow the holiday season. The post-holiday season blues are even more acute for wounded and otherwise hospitalized veterans. Recognizing that attention is lavished on hospitalized vets between Thanksgiving and Christmas only to evaporate after Christmas, two excellent non-profit organizations, Cooking with the Troops and Pin-Ups for Vets, have decided to team up to brighten the spirits of hospitalized vets and caregivers after the holidays are over.
Cooking with the Troops is an organization that brings its culinary mastery to the troops in the form of special meals, often prepared by guest chefs. Gina Elise, who founded Pin-Ups for Vets, raises money for hospitalized vets by selling calendars in which she re-creates nostalgic WWII pin-ups. She also gives the calendars to hospitalized vets and sends them to deployed military personnel.
Cooking With Troops and Pin-Ups for Vets plan to prepare special meals and make visits to hospitalized vets in January. They need your help to fund Operation Fight the Post Holiday Blues. The details of Operation Fight the Post Holiday Blues are HERE.
I made a donation. It would be great if you could help out.
Jerry Brown, who has twice before served as Governor of California, had this to say about running for office, obviously at a time before he decided to inflict himself on the citizens of California yet again.
It would be downright comical, if it weren’t so horribly sad.
I know, you’re thinking, Are you nuts? I should click a link to see a high school marching band, particularly one from the 80’s? To which I answer, just farookin’ do it.
Click over to here, watch the video, and read about it. Be absolutely sure to click on the HCAN link to learn about the makeup of the organization that is funding this exercise.
In July 2009, when a friend pointed me to a few You Tube videos of Tommy Emmanuel, my reaction was “Holy crap! I’ve never seen anyone play a guitar like that – ever!†I blogged about it here and resolved that if Tommy Emmanuel was ever playing anywhere near the House by the Parkway, I would go see him play.
Months ago, the Surflight Theatre, not far from the House by the Parkway (South), announced that Tommy Emmanuel would be performing there in September. Mrs. Parkway surprised me with tickets to the show as a Father’s Day gift, which means I waited in anticipation to see the performance for just about three months. When the big day rolled around, I was even more pleasantly surprised to see that our seats were second row, center (I guess that’s because she bought them so early). I would be sitting approximately fifteen feet from this amazing musician. I was stoked.
Turns out that Tommy Emmanuel had an opening act that day, Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo. Having never heard of either of them, I admit to having thought at the time, “Feh! An opening act? I came here to see Tommy Emmanuel.†I soon learned how wrong I was to have thought that.
Frank Vignola (who played for years with Les Paul) and Vinny Raniolo (who is only 26!) took the stage and, within thirty seconds, my jaw dropped at what I was hearing and seeing, and it stayed that way through their entire performance. They played a wide array of music, from beautiful ballads (containing luscious jazz riffs) to tunes permitting them to display their warp speed fingerings. Simply fabulous.
Tommy Emmanuel then took over and I thought my head would explode hearing him play the guitar in a manner that starts with a Chet Atkins style and from there flies off into the guitar stratosphere, often using his guitar as a percussion instrument. Amazing. Tommy Emmanuel closed the show by bringing back Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo and the three of them drove the audience into a frenzy of applause. I thought my brains would fall out.
Subsequently, I learned that Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo would be appearing on October 20th in Toms River, NJ, also not that far from the House by the Parkway (South). I immediately snapped up two tickets. It was a small venue, so you felt as if Frank and Vinny were playing in your living room. Once again, they positively floored me. At times, their strumming hands were literally a blur. And, for what it’s worth, although they are gifted artists, they seem like genuinely nice guys.
Here is a homemade video I found of Frank and Vinny playing at Lincoln Center
Whew!
Here they are just pickin’ and having some fun.
Yowza!
Bottom line: If they are ever in your area, buy a ticket. You will not be sorry, except that if you’re a guitar player, you might want to return home and throw your guitar into the fire.
