Ten Great Songs From One Great Year

Shayneblog All-Time Top 100

The Top 10

Over the years, many of my friends and I have talked about the best songs ever written, or what our favorites were. I think, over the course of this past year, I have shared many of my favorites, as well as yours on this blog.

Now that this is the one-year anniversary of my “Ten Great Songs From One Great Year” list, I decided to open my memories a bit more and allow you to see exactly what the soundtrack of my life sounds like.

Over these ten weeks, I will countdown my top 100 favorite songs – some hits, some misses – ten each week, until we reach number one. I’m sure some songs will surprise you that they ranked so low, high or even made the list at all didn’t). I can promise you that I paid no attention whatsoever to the songs charting success. These are simply my all-time favorite songs.

This is the tenth and final week.

#100-#91

#90-#81

#80-#71

#70-#61

#60-#51

#50-#41

#40-#31

#30-#21

#20-#11

#10 Cherish – The Association

Of all the songs that bring me back to my childhood, this one does it best. Perhaps my memory plays tricks on me, but I can still see myself sitting in the back of the family car, with my brother in sister there, hearing the whispers of my parents as we were driving through the night, on the way to Florida.

#9 Waiting For A Girl Like You – Foreigner

First there was one girl, and then before I knew what hit me, it was someone else. 1981 was a pivotal time for me as I fell in real love for the first time and got my heart broken for real. That part sucked.

#8 Deacon Blues – Steely Dan

Coming of age is what they call it. At 16, this song said what I felt. I’m sure I wasn’t alone, but I certainly felt that way. An anthem for my time; “This brother is free, I'll be what I want to be…”

#7 It's Too Late – Carole King

Carole King’s voice was an enormous part of my childhood. My sister listened to “Tapestry” all the time and this song gave me a good hint what life and love was all about. My memories recall driving through southern Georgia in the rain on yet another Florida trip. I wonder why that stuck with me?

#6 Old and Wise – Alan Parsons Project

Like “Deacon Blues” (#8), this was anthem for me. Playing guest-DJ on my old radio station, this was the very last song I ever played doing the one job I loved more than any other. It’s sad when we look back and regret. But I wouldn’t trade the experiences I’ve had for anything in the world.

#5 (They Long To Be) Close To You – The Carpenters

That voice! Karen Carpenter can make me cry singing about puppies! Anyone who didn’t have this in their all-time top ten is either heartless, or lying.

#4 Leader of the Band – Dan Fogelberg

Anyone who knows me knows how much Dan Fogelberg meant to me - especially in the early 80’s. “The Innocent Age”, in my opinion, was one of the finest bits of poetry ever put to music and this song was the glue that held it together. The singer himself once said that he believed he was created as a singer just to sing this song. I don’t doubt him for one moment.

#3 Sister Golden Hair – America

No list of mine would be complete without a song by my favorite band. I really got into America a year earlier, when “Holiday” was one of my first two album purchases. But from the very first note of the subsequent “Hearts” LP, I knew I was hooked for life. Whenever your favorite band hits it big, it’s huge. This song went #1 and I’ve never forgotten that feeling.

#2 Wasted Time and Wasted Time (Reprise) – The Eagles

To me, there is no album more remarkable that “Hotel California.” Not one song on the LP disappoints (which is why there are two other songs from that album on this list – and there could easily have been 2-3 more). But as remarkable as this song is, with it’s mournful piano and vocals, the violins in “Reprise” take it up another level. The hits were great. But what made this album the classic it was are the albums cuts, which still stand the test of time.

#1 Sailing – Christopher Cross

Everyone has to have a favorite all-time song and to me, “Sailing” by Christopher Cross fits the bill. I know, a lot of people hate this song because it’s repetitive and a bit nasal. But to a 17-year-old, spending his day lying on a raft in the Atlantic Ocean, too young to really have any real cares in the world, this was as close to heaven as I could imagine. This time, it wasn’t about a lost love, or a breakup or about tears. Just a dream and the wind to carry me and soon I will be free…

I've never been a big fan of the song "Imagine" by John Lennon. While I readily admit that the former-Beatle oozed talent out of his pours, I just never really gave into the "let's all hold hands and sing 'Kumbaya'" scene.

However, I also never really hated the song, either. Like much if Lennon's post-Beatle career, I was mostly apathetic. Oh sure, I digged "Jealous Guy" and really fell in love with "Beautiful Boy" - especially after watching the movie Mr. Holland's Opus. And yes, I was stunned and deeply saddened when his life was taken so early.

But as much as I didn't much care for his later music, I knew enough not to criticize it in public. For a long time, Lennon's music was considered on a different plane than most mere mortals. And based on his incredible writing while a member of the Fab Four, deservedly so. But like so many others who pass away before we are ready to let them go, Mr. Lennon became a martyr, where nothing negative can ever be said.

That's why I couldn't help but laugh when I read the following article by Kurt Schlichter. Schlichter is a former stand-up comic and comedy writer and spent over 20 years in the Army on active duty and in the National Guard, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel and commanding the elite 1st Squadron, 18th Cavalry. He also served in both Desert Storm and in Operation Enduring Freedom in Kosovo, as well as in several civilian support missions from the Los Angeles riots of 1992 to the San Diego fires of 2007.

Read it, I don't think you'll forget it:

The Worst Song of All-Time: "Imagine"

In a world of Starland Vocal Bands, Lady GaGas, Bon Jovis, Snoop Doggs and 1910 Fruitgum Companies, it takes real talent to write a song so unbelievably horrible that it transcends mere awfulness and crosses the frontier into a whole new realm of sheer crappiness. An artistic, musical and philosophical failure of staggering proportions, John Lennon’s “Imagine” is the worst song of all time.

Many feel this ballad is a touching hymn that gives voice to man’s yearning for a better world. They are wrong. “Imagine” is a cloying, boggy, sonic swamp of numb-skulled sentiments that sound like they were recycled from a bong-fueled, 2 a.m. bull session between a couple of pampered, credulous UC Berkeley lit majors. It’s the national anthem of the hopey/changey crowd — all at once pretentious, smug, tiresome and intellectually bankrupt.

“Imagine” should – no, must – be banned and all remaining copies of it destroyed. Its continued existence makes mankind a stupider, more boring race.

Some shortsighted people might consider this assessment a bit harsh. They are wrong. Sure, it was a hit in 1971 and still today Imagine remains a radio staple. It has sold millions of copies and inspired a legion of cover versions. Rolling Stone even ranked it third on its roster of the Greatest Songs of All Time.

But these are not testimony to the song’s transcendent quality. They are signs of the apocalypse.

The song begins with a dull piano chord progression that telegraphs to the listener that Something Waaay Profound is in-bound. Then Lennon’s atonal voice pipes up. Let’s leave aside the lyrics for a second – he sounds awful, like some over-earnest troubadour trying too hard to impress the four friends he guilted into coming out on a Wednesday to see him play his new tune over at the Common Grounds coffee house’s weekly open mike.

It’s so ponderous and booorrrinng, seeming to go on forever. It’s the musical equivalent of passing a kidney stone, only not as much fun.

What was Phil Spector, who produced this mess, thinking? Right now, he ought to be thinking that “Imagine” was the second biggest mistake of his life.

And the lyrics – give me a break. Never have so many fawned so shamelessly over such utter nonsense.

The first lines are: “Imagine there’s no heaven/it’s easy if you try.” No, it isn’t, because if there’s no heaven then there’s no hell, and we know that there’s a hell because when this song is playing we’re in it.

And how about “Imagine all the people/Living for today?” Yeah, he’s put his finger on our problem – too many people planning ahead and preparing for the future. This is the kind of powerful, incisive reasoning that led a guy who could take his pick of pretty much any woman in the world to shack up with Yoko Ono. Let me put it another way for emphasis – this guy chose to see Yoko Ono naked. Many times. The only response to someone with that kind of judgment is to listen carefully to what he says and then do the exact opposite.

There’s also the gratuitous commie babbling: “Imagine no possessions/I wonder if you can/No need for greed or hunger/A brotherhood of man/Imagine all the people/Sharing all the world.” To quote a better song by the infinitely more talented Frank Zappa, a man with an admirable lack of patience for such treacle, gag me with a spoon.

I’m not sure of the Lennon timeline, but didn’t he write this nonsense about the same time he ditched England because of the tax bite he was taking to help pay for its socialist welfare state? Sure, depriving a rapacious lefty government of revenue by moving to someplace with a more sensible tax rate is clearly the morally correct thing to do, but isn’t the transparent hypocrisy of this poser a bit much to stomach?

And if all that’s not insipid enough, we also get: “You may say that I’m a dreamer/But I’m not the only one.” Oh, please.

The most galling thing about “Imagine” is how it urges the listener to assume the mantle of that “dreamer,” thereby joining the ranks of the free spirits, bohemians and other assorted loafers, chislers and social parasites who are only too happy to belly up to the table that is our society but who are nowhere to be found when the check arrives:

“Sorry, I can’t be bothered to work to build something or to fight to defend anything – you see, I’m a dreamer, so you just let me know when you’ve gotten everything ready for me to enjoy. Until then, I’ll be here relaxing on my parents’ sofa, pretending to read Gravity’s Rainbow. ”

The only bright spot is that so few folks actually seem to pay attention to its inane lyrics. How else could one explain American Idol’s David Archuleta, the all-American Mormon kid, covering an ode to atheism that even Lennon conceded was pretty close to being the Communist Manifesto set to music? Simon Cowell should have slapped him. Several times.

Fortunately, there’s plenty of music out there that rejects this kind of hippie crap. Sadly, for every one kid whose mind is opened by, say, The Clash or Husker Du, dozens more will sit slack-jawed and nodding vacantly at the moron-bait songs like “Imagine” dangle in front of them.

For me, I smile when I imagine a world without “Imagine.” I guess that would make me a dreamer, except I have a job.

Courtesy of Big Hollywood

I love it...

Repeat offenders.

Just typing the words gives me the creeps.

A week ago, a beautiful 20-year-old young lady from a Chicago suburb was killed while crossing a street near her school (Johns Hopkins University). The girl, Miriam Frankl (the daughter of a friend's friend), was a junior researching amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease. She was headed to an event at the Baltimore campus when she was killed this month by a hit-and-run driver.

What makes this death even more tragic is that the driver of the vehicle that hit her has 21 motor vehicle convictions, including six for driving while intoxicated and two for driving under the influence, according to the Baltimore Sun. Authorities have filed a slew of charges against Thomas Meighan, 39, including negligent driving, reckless driving and failure to stop at an accident involving death.

Also according to the paper, Meighan white Ford F250 truck terrorized Baltimore for hours before and after its driver struck Frankl, according to a half-dozen witnesses who told police they saw the vehicle running red lights, tailgating other drivers and driving the wrong way on a one-way street throughout the day.

21 motor vehicle convictions!!!

And yet, according to a Baltimore Police spokesman, the best the city can do is put him away for 10 years.

And then what?

Listen, my grandfather was killed by a drunk driver 27 years ago. As bad as the laws are now, they were far worse in Texas in 1982. I'll give you that.

But 10 years??

And just how are they going to keep this asshole from getting behind the wheel again? Our judicial system is broken and it's only getting worse. My heart bleeds for this young girl and her family and friends.

The only good news that came out of this horrific episode is that the family is donating the young lady's organs so others may benefit from her death. Again, this is something obviously near and dear to me.

And then I read the story of David Sanchez, out of Orlando...

From WFTV in Orlando: “An illegal immigrant in Palm Bay faces multiple counts of sexual battery after officers say he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl. David Sanchez, 28, investigators say, used a family friendship to rape the child. Sanchez is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador who has already been deported once for doing the same thing to another child in Alabama. Investigators say he returned to the U.S. in mid-2008 where he began having an unlawful sexual relationship with a then, 12-year-old child.”

Don Surber asks,

"Why are we deporting child molesters?

Put them in the can for 50 years and then deport them.

The expense?

Some 13-year-old girl — victim No. 2 — just paid a helluva price for our cheapness."

I would throw up, if I wasn't so busy crying.

Dallas Cowboys
Heroes & Zeroes
Game Six

Dallas Cowboys 37 Atlanta Falcons 21

For the first time all season, the Cowboys took on a team with a winning record. Atlanta, coming off a solid victory over Chicago and a 4-1 record, seemed to be a tough challenge for Dallas. The Cowboys, on the other hand, while 3-2, had not played very well in their last game (two weeks ago against the lowly Kansas City Chiefs). On paper, it looked like a game Dallas was destined to lose.

But someone forgot to tell the Cowboys. Even after the Falcons ran a 16-play, 80-yard touchdown drive to start the game, the Cows looked focused and prepared. This was a far cry from the previous few games and once the Falcons second drive started, Dallas' defense took over. Marcus Spears and DeMarcus Ware sacked Matt Ryan on back to back plays (Ryan, who is sacked an average of less than once a game, had not been taken down in 143 pass plays before those two sacks).

The rest of the game belonged to Tony Romo, who resembled the same Tony Romo of seasons past. He scrambled, he got out of sure tackles and he was deadly accurate all game long. His 5-yard touchdown pass to Patrick Crayton was a work of art.

HEROES

Tony Romo, Quarterback -- Romo had been much-maligned in recent weeks, but he came up big today. He was sharp throwing the ball, confident in the pocket and really resembled the Romo who made the Pro-Bowl two years ago. Without realizing it, he is turning in a terrific statistical year. His 311 yards passing broke the team record for most 300-yard passing games. Not bad for a guy who was a bench warmer 3 1/2 short years ago.

Miles Austin, Wide Receiver -- Making the second start of his career, Austin proved he is no fluke and has quickly turned into Romo's #1 receiver. Simply put, the guy runs sharp routes, catches everything around him, has blazing speed and is hard to bring down. His style is very reminiscent of Hines Ward of the Steelers. Over the past two games, Austin has caught 16 passes for 421 yards and 4 touchdowns. Remarkable.

DeMarcus Ware, Linebacker -- After finally getting his first two sacks of the season two weeks ago, Ware finally regained the form that made him the runner-up to Defensive Player of the Year. He recorded two sacks, which as I mentioned above is no easy talk against Matt Ryan, and he forced a key fumble, which led to Austin's 59-yard touchdown catch on the very next play. For Dallas to compete, they need Ware to continue to have games like this.

ZEROES

Allan Rossum, Kick Returner -- Rossum was signed this past week because the Cowboys felt it was too much for Patrick Crayton, Miles Austin and Terrence Newman to handle, since they are so involved in their other responsibilities. It came to head a couple of weeks ago when Crayton muffed a punt and almost fumbled a second one. So they signed the veteran Rossum to handle kickoffs and punts. However, on his very first attempt, he pulled a hamstring and was lost for the game. However, when given his second chance, Crayton returned a punt 79 yards for a touchdown, to put the game out of reach.

Cowboys' Running Backs -- Supposedly the strength of the club, the dynamic trio of Marion Barber, Felix Jones and Tashard Choice only mustered 84 yards on 22 carries - which included 20 yards in garbage time at the end of the game. While the team went over the century mark, due to Tony Romo's 31 yards (on 6 carries), that is a huge let down - especially when you realize that Barber and Jones were both healthy for the first time in 5 weeks.

Roy Williams, Wide Receiver -- 12 months ago, the Cowboys gave up two number one draft choices for the former Longhorn star receiver. They are yet to see the dividends. Clearly surpassed by Miles Austin as the number one go-to guy, Williams had perhaps hos worst game as a Cowboy. He had just one catch for 16 yards, two dropped passes, an interference penalty and seemed out of sync with his quarterback. However, Williams is not only a very talented receiver, but a very proud one as well. I would be surprised if he sulks the way Terrell Owens did.

Over all, it was a big win against an upper-echelon team. Not only did they beat the Falcons, but they outplayed and out hustled them. On the downside, they still committed too many penalties and had to rely on Romo's heroics to put the game away. But the defense was stout and the emotion, which seemed missing just a few weeks ago, was back with a vengeance. Overnight, the Cowboys went from mediocre to a legitimate contender.

Let's see if they can learn some consistency.

Here is my pick for next game (in two weeks):

Dallas..............................27
Seattle.............................16

Ten Great Songs From One Great Year

Shayneblog All-Time Top 100

#11-#20

Over the years, many of my friends and I have talked about the best songs ever written, or what our favorites were. I think, over the course of this past year, I have shared many of my favorites, as well as yours on this blog.

Now that this is the one-year anniversary of my “Ten Great Songs From One Great Year” list, I decided to open my memories a bit more and allow you to see exactly what the soundtrack of my life sounds like.

Over these ten weeks, I will countdown my top 100 favorite songs – some hits, some misses – ten each week, until we reach number one. I’m sure some songs will surprise you that they ranked so low, high or even made the list at all didn’t). I can promise you that I paid no attention whatsoever to the songs charting success. These are simply my all-time favorite songs.

This is the ninth week.

#100-#91

#90-#81

#80-#71

#70-#61

#60-#51

#50-#41

#40-#31

#30-#21

#20 Here I Am – Air Supply

Wow, I can’t believe this song is 27 years old. It really does seem like yesterday that I was crying over this breakup (it wouldn’t be the last time). Yeah, we were young. But it was devastating, nonetheless.

#19 Rocket Man – Elton John

In the summer of ’72, I went to Atlantic City with my sister and grandparents. He beach was fine, but we stayed in a hotel where the average age of the residents was 75 – and that included my 18-year-old sister and me! But the music was great.

#18 A Hard Day's Night – The Beatles

I don’t know why this was always my favorite Beatles’ song. Maybe it was the innocence of the time. But even though I have listened to them for years, this song still reminds me of then. Way back then. I was only 2-years-old, but my soundtrack was growing.

#17 Crystal Blue Persuasion – Tommy James and the Shondells

Another “period” piece that stuck with me. The song made no sense (unless you were on drugs). But I guess that was the point of the psychedelic era. I really miss those innocent times.

#16 Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond

Neil Diamond played a big role in my soundtrack. He may be just a caricature of himself today, but he was definitely talented. This song takes me back to those summer trips in the car to Florida. I can still remember hearing my brother yell at my sister to stop singing “that stupid song!”

#15 I Won't Hold You Back – Toto

Maybe I loved her, maybe I just wanted to. She was such a pretty and sweet girl, how could I not? But I was young and stupid and I let her go. But she’s happy and has a good life. I do think about her sometimes and wonder “what if”. Sometimes we just don’t understand the ramifications of our decisions and sometimes, we’re too weak to make the right ones.

#14 Telephone Line – Electric Light Orchestra

As talentless as I was, I was in a band in 8th grade. At the time, I was absolutely mesmerized by ELO and their album “A New World Record” and all I wanted to do was emulate the great Jeff Lynne. While I failed miserably, I had the time of my life. Before you laugh, how many of you would have the nerve to sing in front of an audience? My band mate and best friend was Stuart Altman. Just 2 years later, a car accident took his life way too early. It’s been 30 years now and I still miss him every day.

#13 My Cherie Amour - Stevie Wonder

My brother loved this song. I, as a 6-year-old boy, idolized my brother. Plus, this was Stevie Wonder and it was Motown. Perfect.

#12 The Smile Has Left Her Eyes - Asia

Back in ’83, MTV was all the rage. Asia was made for this new venue and we all loved their sound. It climaxed with this video. A month later, the hype of their live concert on MTV (“Asia in Asia”) was unreal. Then the lead singer quit. Although the show went on, it was a joke and the band was no more. It’s a terrible shame when egos get in the way.

#11 The Times of Tour Life – Paul Anka

Let’s see, a song about memories, a commercial about puppy dogs and a 12-year-old emo kid before there was such a thing as emo. Pure gold. I still get choked up when I hear this song. Green Day’s non-version was good, but they couldn’t hold a candle to Paul Anka.

Quick Takes

So Keith Olbermann is horrified that President Bush (41) called him (and Rachel Maddow) "sick puppies." Yet, where was Olby's horror when he himself called Michelle Malkin a “mashed-up bag of meat”?

Speaking of the sick puppies, the two "stars" of MSNBC were among the invitees to an off-the-record meeting at the White House, with President Obama. I find it very interesting that Obama will go completely unhinged over the fact that FOX News employs opinionators, and therefore is labeled "not a news organization," yet Olby and Maddow are exactly that on MSNBC, and that's ok.

It's not okay, but it is the "Chicago way."

Why don't the Dems realize that we just don't want it?

Alan Grayson, your 15 minutes of fame ended hours ago. Go away and DLTDHOTWO*

According to Gallup: The 9-point drop (in popularity) in the most recent quarter is the largest Gallup has ever measured for an elected president between the second and third quarters of his term, dating back to 1953." Yikes, and whoa.

Anybody who thought that they years had mellowed Louis Farrakhan must be sadly disappointed. His comments - that the "flu vaccine is a plot to kill black people" would be so funny, if it weren't so sad. How many children (and adults) will suffer from Louie's audacious lies?

I realize many in the black community look up to this idiot (as well as those other race hustlers - Sharpton and Jesse Jackson). But how is but possible that these folks don't understand the damage being done to them by these crooks?

And lastly, a little humor to end this post. Yes, these people really exist.

*don't let the door hit you on the way out

Heading Home

From dust to dust
The night settles down
Across the winding roads
Through the lonely ghost towns

Where it will take you
Is all in your mind
Far off dreams and clouded paths
Echoed signals you've left behind

Heading north
The sky turns bright
The lights flash on and lead your way
Running from a past that's fading away

Once you find the signs
That tell you that you're home
Stop and rejoice
You're not alone

This is one of the best commentaries I've read, regarding the Iranian leadership (and I use that term very lightly). I simply can not understand the naivete of our President. If he isn't naive, than he is criminally negligent and traitorous. So I think I'll go with simple-minded and foolish (naive).

How else can he dare compare the purpose of American nuclear technologies, of Israeli nuclear technologies and other free democracies, with that of North Korea and Iran?

One of the saddest aspects of this current rendition of liberalism, which seems to have overrun our government (of course, of which they are responsible for encouraging and following) is the vile belief in moral equivalence. To today's liberals, The genocidal suicide cult that is the Islamic Republic of Iran is of equal moral standing to that of the United States of America, and probably more so than the State of Israel - whose only real crime is defending herself.

There is a certain sickness to these kind of beliefs, just like there is a certain sickness environmentalists who forget that human beings are a product of nature as well. But I will rant later about the hypocrisy of the environmentalist movement (this is not to say that caring for the earth is wrong).

I have watched Obama attempt to do all of the things liberals blamed George Bush of doing. I have watched as Obama has made friends with our worst enemies, and then made enemies of our friends. I have watched as Obama meddled in the affairs of Honduras and Israel, yet refused to lift a finger to help the freedom movement in Iran. I have watched as he promised Poland that he would keep his word and place a missile defense system in Poland, only to renege - for nothing in return - in order to appease a growling Russia.

I have watched as Obama appoints extremely radical "Czars" without congressional approval, only to have them embarrass the President when FOX News discovered who these radicals were. I watched as peaceful rallies popped up all over America, only to have the administration call those citizens "Nazis", "Racists" and "rednecks". I've watched as the President of the United States ignores the majority will of the people he was elected to serve by continuing to push a health care bill we not not only afford, but do not want.

And I have watched as the administration continues to shame themselves by getting into a pissing contest with a major news network. I mean, does it seem odd that the President would meet with the worst thugs of the world, but won't meet with Mike Wallace at FOX News?

Even Nixon met with the press he hated. George Bush never refused to be on MSNBC. Each and every day, President Obama makes himself into a smaller man. What many moderates felt was a man who "stood above the fray" has turned into a man who fiddles while Rome (Afghanistan) burns.

Anyway, check out this article. I know you will be glad you did:

Regime Is Iran's Disease; Nukes Are Just a Symptom
Jonah Goldberg

The Nobel Peace Prize has renewed prestige in my book. No, not because Barack Obama won it for accomplishments to be determined later. It's got new luster because Shirin Ebadi has, at great personal risk, effectively come out for regime change in her native Iran.

Ebadi, who won the Peace Prize six years ago (under the old rules whereby recipients were expected to do something to earn the prize before receiving it), is Iran's premier human rights lawyer. In an interview with the editors of the Washington Post, Ebadi "suggested that the nature of Iran's regime is more crucial to U.S. security than any specific deals on nuclear energy."

Her point is precisely the same point made by so-called neoconservatives for years. The problem with Iran is its regime; its nuclear program is merely a symptom of that problem.

Do you lay awake at night worrying about Britain's nuclear weapons? France's? Israel's? Of course not, because stable democracies in general, and stable democratic allies in particular, aren't a threat.

If your neighbor is an upright and responsible citizen, who cares if he has a gun? If your neighbor is a complete whackjob and criminal, you sure as Shinola care if he has a gun. Armed neighbors aren't a problem, dangerous ones are. The same logic applies to nations.

"Imagine if the government actually promised to stop its nuclear program tomorrow," Ebadi told the Post. "Would you trust this government not to start another secret nuclear program somewhere else?"

It's a profound and fundamental point. We've gotten many such promises from the North Koreans. They are worthless. Promises from oppressive regimes cannot be trusted any more than promises from Tony Soprano could be. If a government is willing to betray its own people on a daily basis, what makes anyone think that it won't betray its geopolitical adversaries?

A democratic Iran, Ebadi says, would be unlikely to pursue a nuclear program. The Iranian people fear sanctions more than the country's corrupt, economically insulated rulers do. Moreover, the Iranian regime needs nukes for its own survival. The Iranian people may like the prestige of being a member of the nuclear club, but they aren't eager to pay any price to join. More important, the Iranian people aren't interested in preserving the current regime, as has been demonstrated by the historic protests this summer.

But even if Iran did go nuclear, who really cares as long as the nutty, messianic, totalitarian leadership is gone? A stable, democratic regime concerned with economic growth and normalcy might not be perfect, but which sort of government would you rather see in charge of nuclear weapons?

Democracy is not necessarily a cure-all. Palestinians in Gaza held elections and swept Hamas to power. But the Iranians aren't Gazans. And while America is despised by most nations in the region, the U.S. is actually popular with the Iranian people.

Ebadi doesn't want America to topple the Iranian regime the way it toppled Saddam Hussein's. Or, if she does, she's certainly smart enough not to say so outright, given that her family is under constant surveillance by Iranian authorities. What she wants is for America to get its priorities straight. Iran, which has been sponsoring terror for 30 years, is a threat because the Iranian regime is a threat. Change the regime and the threat diminishes or vanishes instantaneously. We had a golden opportunity to accelerate regime change in June, but Obama blinked.

Enamored with the idea that "engagement" with evil will produce good, and convinced that a brutal, undemocratic regime is the legitimate representative of the Iranian people, Obama was slow to recognize the moral authority of the democracy movement. By the time he did say what he should have said at the outset, it was clear that his grudging and qualified support for the protestors had no steel to it. The Iranian regime recognized that it would have a free hand to murder and intimidate its own people in order to reconsolidate power after it stole the election. This was a sad moment for the leader of the free world. "Mr. Obama has extended the hand of friendship to a man who has blood on his hands," Ebadi told the Post. "He can at least avoid shaking the hand of friendship with him."

There are rumors -- unconfirmed at this point -- that the Supreme Leader of Iran, the Ayatollah Khamenei, is either dead or in a coma. If true, the resulting power vacuum might give Obama the chance for a do-over. That is, if he's interested in earning a peace prize, not just winning one.

I hate to admit, these are some really good questions. I wonder how liberals would answer. Actually, no I don't. I already know.

10 Questions to Ask About Radical Muslims
by Tawfik Hamid

I pose the following rhetorical questions to promote better understanding of radical Muslims.

Question No. 1: What would liberals say to women who are stoned to death for adultery, to gays facing capital punishment, and to Muslims beheaded for converting from Islam to another faith, all according to Islamic law? Will liberals say that they must show “tolerance” and accept this barbarism as a matter of respect for religious values or stand against inhumane laws?

No. 2: Where can we find Shariah books that clearly stand against the above violence? Instead of trying to convince the world that Shariah is peaceful and that it is all a matter of different interpretations, it would be much better if the liberals asked the leading Islamic scholars to declare unambiguously that stoning women, killing gays, and beheading apostates are unacceptable.

No. 3: Why do the liberal thinkers try to find justifications for terrorism such as poverty, lack of education, and the historical “feeling of injustice” among Muslims at the hands of the West? The Jews were exposed to some of the worst forms of suffering and torture in human history at the hands of the Nazis, yet they have not performed terrorist acts against German civilians.

No. 4: Muslims in the West enjoy rights as equal citizens. However, leading Islamic scholars call Jews in the Muslim world pigs and monkeys, Christians are not allowed easy access to build churches, and the Baha’i community is discriminated against in many parts of the Muslim world. Who really should feel angry?

No. 5: Why are socioeconomic conditions and political circumstances often used to justify acts of terrorism committed by Muslims? Christians, Buddhists, and Hindus live under the same circumstances and do not instigate such a level of violence. What is the reason for this selectivity?

No. 6: Why do liberals demonstrate against Israel for killing Palestinian civilians, which is unintentional and happens because Palestinian terrorists hide among the victims, yet do not use their passion to demonstrate against Hamas, which has killed "Palestinian" civilians intentionally? Note: Hamas assassinated three children of its opponent Dahlan, who was the head of Intelligence of the Palestinian Authority.

No. 7: The Arab-Israeli conflict often is viewed as a historical source of modern-day terrorism, yet how could this possibly explain why Muslims have killed and mutilated the dead bodies of fellow Muslims in areas such as Iraq and Algeria?

No. 8: If non-Muslims were to begin promoting the idea that “Muslims are pigs and monkeys,” would the liberals stand against this or would they remain silent, as they usually do when Muslims call Jews by these names?

No. 9: If a Muslim decided to follow in the “footsteps” of the Prophet Muhammad by marrying and having sex with a 9-year-old girl, would liberal thinkers stand against this or allow it to happen out of respect for religious freedom? Note: This story is mentioned in Al-Buchary, the most authentic hadith book in the Sunni world, but it is not in the Quran and the age of marriage is different in Shia books.

No. 10: How would liberals respond if radical Muslims declared war on them and used the standard Shariah rule to offer the three choices of conversion to Islam, paying a humiliating tax called the jizya, or be killed? Would liberals respect these religious values by accepting one of these options OR stand against such barbarism in order to protect human civilization?

Dr. Tawfik Hamid is the author of "Inside Jihad." He is a former associate of Dr. al-Zawahiri (second in command of al-Qaida) who now is a reformer of Islam. For more information, visit www.tawfikhamid.com. Hamid's writings in this blog represent only his thoughts and not the views of the institute where he works.

Ten Great Songs From One Great Year

Shayneblog All-Time Top 100

#21-#30

Over the years, many of my friends and I have talked about the best songs ever written, or what our favorites were. I think, over the course of this past year, I have shared many of my favorites, as well as yours on this blog.

Now that this is the one-year anniversary of my “Ten Great Songs From One Great Year” list, I decided to open my memories a bit more and allow you to see exactly what the soundtrack of my life sounds like.

Over these ten weeks, I will countdown my top 100 favorite songs – some hits, some misses – ten each week, until we reach number one. I’m sure some songs will surprise you that they ranked so low, high or even made the list at all didn’t). I can promise you that I paid no attention whatsoever to the songs charting success. These are simply my all-time favorite songs.

This is the eighth week.

#100-#91

#90-#81

#80-#71

#70-#61

#60-#51

#50-#41

#40-#31

#30 I Go Crazy – Paul Davis

Most of my friends loved the song “Sometimes When We Touch” by Dan Hill, which was the top ballad at the time. Instead, I loved the tragic beauty of this Paul Davis classic, which really has passed the test of time.

#29 Somebody's Baby – Jackson Browne

I just arrived in Manhattan for college and the very first social event (there were many, many more) was going to see “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” I wasn’t so into Rhonda, but her 5-foot friend was adorable.

#28 Take Me Home, Country Roads – John Denver

This came out when we took our first driving trip from Dallas to New York. The interstate wasn’t completed yet, so we drove through these winding country roads in Virginia and West Virginia. From there, a romance with the open road was born.

#27 Make It With You – Bread

David Gates’ angelic voice simply mesmerized me. This song takes me back to a summer trip back in 1970 (Florida). I can still feel the comfort of hearing my parent’s voices from the back seat. For a while, the world worked the way it was supposed to.

#26 Side Show - Blue Magic

I don’t know what made me sadder – the lyrics or the mournful sound of Ted Mills voice. But the story was so tragic it used to make me cry. Maybe that’s why I haven’t been to circus in 40 years.

#25 Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves – Cher

I was never a Cher fan, but I did like the Sonny and Cher show. Regardless, Cher had a way with rhapsodizing about the downtrodden and forgotten. The song sounds cheeky today (and probably did back then). But it was infectious and a huge hit.

#24 Alone Again (Naturally) – Gilbert O'Sullivan

No one song reflected my inherent sadness as a child quite as well as this one did. “I cried and cried all day” was what I did a lot of when I was young. Plus, the fear of losing my parents was so strong that I sometimes couldn’t breathe. How did that happen?

#23 Keep The Customer Satisfied - Simon and Garfunkel

I loved Simon and Garfunkel growing up (see #43 – “The Only Living Boy in New York”). But I’m told I used to sing this song out loud constantly in my house. I can understand why.

#22 Traces - The Classics IV

Some kids are lulled to sleep with nursery rhymes and children’s songs. I fell asleep to the radio and rock and roll. As I’ve mentioned countless times, I often cried myself to sleep by sad music. This Classics IV tune still affects me the same way whenever I hear it still.

#21 One On One – Daryl Hall & John Oates

No one was bigger than Hall & Oates in 1983. I can still see myself riding the “A” train to Midtown to go on a date, with this song ringing in my ears. It’s a song that had it come out 10 years earlier; it would have had the same effect on me that “Traces” did. But being 20, at the time, it simply set the romantic mood for the time.

I first heard about this from Glenn Beck. But after doing my own due diligence, I can only say "HOLY CRAP!"

Anita Dunn, White House Communications Director, Has a Favorite Politician: Mass-Murderer Mao Tse-Tung (But Fox News Is Her Enemy)

Posted at Doug Ross

Detecting a pattern yet?

• Van Jones, a self-described Communist, was Barack Obama's "Green Jobs Czar" until he was forced to resign over his alleged support for 9/11 Truther insanity.

• Mark Lloyd, the so-called "FCC Diversity Czar", is a Statist thug that has carefully devised plans to silence conservative talk radio using a racial quota system.

• And Anita Dunn, who stated that the White House is "treating Fox News as they would treat any other enemy." Anita Dunn, the White House Communications Director who lists Mao Tse-Tung as her political idol. Mao! The same Mao Tse-Tung that The New York Times calls a "mass-murderer" on par with Hitler.

It is impossible to imagine official homage in Germany for Hitler or in Russia for Stalin. And yet Mao was a destroyer of the same class as Hitler and Stalin. He exhibited his taste for killing from the early 1930's, when, historians now estimate, he had thousands of his political adversaries slaughtered. Ten years later, still before the Communist victory, more were executed at his guerrilla headquarters at Yan'an.

Hundreds of thousands of landlords were exterminated in the early 1950's. From 1959 to 1961 probably 30 million people died of hunger — the party admits 16 million — when Mao's economic fantasies were causing peasants to starve and he purged those who warned him of the scale of the disaster.

Many more perished during the Cultural Revolution, when Mao established a special unit, supervised by Prime Minister Zhou Enlai, to report to him in detail the sufferings of hundreds of imprisoned leaders who had incurred the chairman's displeasure.

One of the chairman's secretaries, Li Rui, wrote recently, "Mao was a person who did not fear death, and he did not care how many were killed."

During a June 2008 speech, Dunn described her political inspirations.

And the third tip actually comes from two of my favorite political philosophers, Mao Tse Tung and Mother Teresa... the two people that I turn to most to basically deliver a simple plan.

...which is you're going to make choices, you're going to challenge, you're going to say why not, you're going to figure out how to do things no one's ever done before... here's the deal, they're your choices ...

In 1947, when Mao Tse-Tung was being challenged within his own party... to take China over, Chiang Kai-Shek [and his soldiers] held the cities, held the armies, held the air force... the people can say can say how you can do this? Mao said, 'You fight your war, I'll fight mine'... you don't have to accept the definition of how to do things... you fight your own war.

So Anita Dunn, White House Communications Director, has a favorite politician: the Hitler of China, Mao Tse-Tung. The man who slaughtered 70 million innocents.

But Fox News is the "enemy".

Un-f***ing-believable.


Hat tip: Brutally Honest. Others on the case: Michelle Malkin, Ace o' Spades, Hot Air Pundit.

No wonder we now want to change back! I can only imagine what the world will be like on my 48th birthday. Even Hillary is looking better, when compared to this disaster-in-chief.

Is it my imagination, or is the Obama administration the most petty administration since Nixon? I mean, yeah - it was pretty lame when the Clintonistas removed all the "W" keys from all the White House computers. Also, Hillary's ridiculous notion of a "vast right-wing conspiracy" was not only foolish, but it made her look very weak.

But none of that compares to Obama's "war" on FOX News. I know there are many people who do not like FOX (although, the numbers tell a different story). But it is not the job of the mainstream media to be "friends" with the government. In addition, the President only lowers himself when he comes across as petty and divisive (Nixon, anyone?).

Simply put, Obama not only won't win a pissing contest with FOX, but he will embarrass himself (and his administration) trying.

************************

It was nice to see that common sense finally prevailed in the case of the 6-year-old boy who was suspended from kindergarten, for bringing his favorite camping tool to school. The tool, a Swiss Army-type combination of fork, spoon, bottle opener and knife, that he uses for his Cub Scout trips, was brought to school because he wanted to use it with his lunch. According to the published account:

Zachary had no idea that it was wrong to take his favorite camping tool to class. When the teacher asked for it when he got off the bus, he handed it over, unaware that he was already in serious trouble. He went to class while his principal called his mother.“She said that I needed to come to the school immediately; that Zachary had brought a dangerous weapon into school, and I needed to come and pick him up. He would be suspended for five days pending a disciplinary action committee hearing. She said that he had a knife,” Christie told Vieira.

In addition to his suspension, the school determined that as punishment, the child would be forced to spend 45 days in a reform school.

Thankfully, the school board reviewed their zero sanity policy and realized that sending him to a reform school for what was unquestionably an accident was ridiculous and they took back the suspension and punishment.

Did I mention the child was SIX YEARS OLD? A number of school districts around the country are beginning to see the stupidity of having a set-in-stone policy, regarding zero tolerance. Waco, Texas, for example, has already removed the policy from their district and others are beginning to do the same.

The problem was not the idea of zero tolerance. It's that nothing is black and white. There are always going to be extenuating circumstances. But by creating a blanket policy, they lump the criminals in with the unaware and punish them equally.

That is always going to be a problem with blanket policies. It is also why ObamaCare is a mistake. By setting up a blanket policy for everyone, those who fall in the cracks, or those who do not really fit the exact criteria will be lumped in with those who completely don't. There is no gray area where their is bureaucracy.

If you don't believe me, tell me how I'm wrong. Better yet, show me where it's worked.

************************

Well apparently, the group attempting to buy the St. Louis Rams has decided to do so without Rush Limbaugh. I think the whole thing is ridiculous. First of all, I have listened to Rush on many occasions and while there is no doubt he is a lightning rod, I have never found him to be a racist. As a matter of fact, I have read a number of glowing articles by prominent conservative African-Americans regarding their respect and admiration for the man.

The people portraying Rush (as well as conservatives in general) as racists are those who prefer to keep the black community in its place - poverty stricken and drug infested. Why? Because as long as they stay "down", they will continue to need the Democrats to give them their fixes.

Think I'm racist for saying that? Then that means you find Thomas Sowell, Colin Powell, Condi Rice and Michael Steele racists, as well. And don't forget Bill Cosbie.

Think about this, what would Al Sharpton do if he wasn't creating a race war? Perhaps instead of screaming about the Rush Limbaugh's of the world, he should do something about all the kids in Chicago who are murdered each year. But if you blame it on the lack of male role models in the black community, you're deemed a racist.

Face it, the experiment doesn't work. Taking away incentives to work simply creates poverty and dependence. Of course, with what Obama is doing to the unemployment numbers, we'll all be out of work soon, anyway.

************************

One last comment on Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

Whether or not he deserved it, as an American, I am proud of our President for winning it. However, under no circumstance do I feel it was deserved. In fact, I have no doubt in my mind that it was awarded not because of "Hope and Change", but as a way for the Norwegians to promote their own philosophy of the world. Don't be fooled by these awards - they are ALWAYS political.

************************

Speaking of hope and change...

It's been a while, but some times you just need a little Garth in your life. I know I do.

The River

You know a dream is like a river
Ever changing as it flows
And a dreamer's just a vessel
That must follow where it goes

Trying to learn from what's behind you
And never knowing what's in store
Makes each day a constant battle
Just to stay between the shores...and

I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I'll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry

Too many times we stand aside
And let the waters slip away
'Til what we put off 'til tomorrow
Has now become today

So don't you sit upon the shoreline
And say your satisfied
Choose to chance the rapids
And dare to dance the tide...yes

I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I'll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry

And there's bound to be rough waters
And I know I'll take some falls
But with the Good Lord as my Captain
I can make it through them all..yes

I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I'll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry

Yes, I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry

Dallas Cowboys
Heroes & Zeroes
Week Five

Dallas Cowboys 26 Kansas City Chiefs 20 (OT)

If you are what your record says you are, then the Cowboys are better than they seem to be. Under no circumstances should Dallas have played so close to the level of the Chiefs, who are now sitting at 0-5. O the bright side, the Cowboys out-played Kansas City by a wide margin. The total yards (498-304), the time of possession (at one point it was almost 2-1) and the quality of the two teams should have made this a blowout. But two terrible fumbles, an outrageous 13 penalties (including four offsides on one drive!) and perhaps the most unforgivable, a personal foul on Alan Ball - which turned a 4th and 28 to a 1st and 10 late in the game.

But the real culprit was the fourth quarter defense, once again. After allowing the Giants to come back late in game two to win it, the Cowboys did it again last week, when they let up a 78 yard drive late to allow Denver to win. This time, after Miles Austin made the play to finally give the team their first lead with about 3 minutes left, this same Cowboy "D" gives up a 74 yard drive against a team that - at this point - had amassed a grand total of 107 yards all day.

But the defense stiffened in the overtime and Miles Austin came to the rescue again.

HEROES

Miles Austin, Wide Receiver -- Making the first start of his career (replacing the injured Roy Williams), Austin made the most of his opportunities. It took a while, as he dropped a sure TD in the first quarter and then another in the second. But he made up for it in a big way, as he caught 10 balls for 250 yards and two touchdown - including the 60-yard game winner in overtime. Along the way, he broke Bob Hayes 33-year-old record for most yards receiving by a Cowboy.

Keith Brooking, Linebacker -- For the second week in a row, Brooking, was all over the place today. He made his first sack of the season and led the team with 11 more tackles and assists. His enthusiasm is also a very welcome sign for a team that seems to be lacking a lot of it. But credit should also be given the Anthony Spencer, who made a number of big plays (finally) and DeMarcus Ware, who contributed his first two sacks of the year (finally).

Tashard Choice, Running Back -- While making the most of his limited opportunities, Choice once again showed why he should be in the running back rotation. With Marion Barber still looking less than 100%, Choice made a huge difference in the running game, totalling 92 yards on just 8 carries. If he can improve against blitzes, he could be starting for this team.

ZEROES

Flozell Adams, Tackle -- Flozell had perhaps hos worst game in many years. The Cowboys can ill afford mental breakdowns, and the team accepts that Flo will jump offsides at least once a game. But today he was called for three penalties and was constantly beaten by Tyson Jackson, and whoever else he was assigned to. On one critical play in overtime, he didn't even manage to get out of his stance before the defender got by him.

Alan Ball, Safety -- It was Ball's boneheaded play that allowed Kansas City new life after being faced with a 3rd and 28. There was no reason for him to come in so hard with his shoulder (and ultimately, his helmet). While the Chiefs were unable to score after that (they had their field Goal blocked), a stop there would have given Dallas the advantage in field position and they may never have needed overtime.

Wade Phillips, Head Coach -- 13 penalties and a lack of fire. This team was poorly coached once again. A good coach gives his players the tools to perform on the field. However, a team that commits as many errors as Dallas did today is a team that is undisciplined. Once again, the Cowboys were unable to get out of their own way and the lack of discipline is a direct reflection of the head coach. In addition, Dallas was unable to come up with an interception (again) and only sacked the most sacked QB in the league three times - and one of those was barely a sack. This team is ill-prepared to face the better teams and unless something drastic happens, will be exposed brutally in the coming weeks.

Thankfully, Dallas enters the bye week and now has time to heal their wounds. Tony Romo was sharp today and although he was credited with one fumble, the blame belonged to Andre Gurode. His passes were on target and he never seemed to panic. The running game was also solid and getting Felix Jones back in two weeks will help. Perhaps they have found the answer at receiver in Miles Austin as well. But unless the Cowboys stop making stupid errors - at that will not happen as log as Wade does not dish out some serious punishments - the will continue to find themselves in dogfights against even the weakest teams.

Here is my pick for next game (in two weeks):

Dallas..............................24
Atlanta.............................17

I found this over at Atlas Shrugged. This is perhaps the most elegant response I've yet heard to the honor bestowed to President Obama. Nidra Poller is an American writer and journalist who has lived in Paris since 1972 and a devout friend of Israel.*

YES VIRGINIA, BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA DESERVES HIS NOBEL-PEACE-PRIZE

Paris 9 October 2009

Nidra Poller

Surprised? Shocked? Outraged? Not me. I’m delighted to see that the Nobel-Peace-Prize has been awarded to the person who most richly deserves it. Not only has he made gigantic efforts to promote Nobel-Peace in his nine short months in office but as president of the residually powerful United States of America he has the superforce to impose Nobel-style peace.

President and Nobel Prince of Peace Obama is not naïve, inept, inexperienced, or wet behind the ears. He is practicing what he preached. He has already fulfilled more promises than most voters ever suspected were being made. And the way things are going, only a miracle will keep him from delivering on the rest.

Bat Ye’or teaches us the meaning of peace in our times, the peace of dhimmitude, the peace that Nobel Norwegians have dutifully honored. It is the peace of convert or die…or hang in by the skin of your teeth. When the heads have been severed from the stiff necks that refuse Islam, when the converted have been folded into the prostrate masses of the ummah, the dhimmis hand over the keys to their granges, their wives and children, their hearts and minds, their lands and dwellings in exchange for a fragile peace requiring endless sacrifice and constant restraint.

This is the peace of dhimmitude, this is the peace Nobelly rewarded in…uhhh…Oslo, right? And B Hussein O is the most deserving laureate. On the very day the prize was announced, forty people were killed in a jihad attack in Peshawar Pakistan. Do you remember, way back when, during the campaign, he narrowed his eyes and said Iraq’s a distraction, let me get my hands on the trigger and I’ll take care of Pakistan. There you have it. A promise keeper of the first order. Iraq was also a distraction from Afghanistan. So mister Taliban tally your bananas, we’ve got other fish to fry, do your jihad thing and we’ll lower our eyes, peace be upon you.

President Obama’s Cairo speech alone earned him enough points to get this prize hands down. His bow to the king of Saudi Arabia. His consistent snubbing of European leaders. His betrayal of Poland and the Czech Republic. His outstretched hand that reaches all the way to Iran’s nuclear sites and protects them from rain, hail, and Israel. His betrayal of Persians yearning for democracy. His reluctance to look into McChrystal’s ball and find some kind of half way plausible strategy for the overseas contingency whatchamegig in Afghanistan.

Am I being coy? Why haven’t I mentioned his master plan for the nuclear disarmament of… Israel!

Leaving the best for last. Even if he had not done all of the above, dayenu, he would be worthy of being hoisted on high in the Nobel firmament because he has declared war on Jewish construction in choice neighborhoods of al Quds and wannabe Palestine. Donche know, if you want peace be prepared to make war. And if you want the peace of jihad, make war on the Jews. Point your finger at them like a smoking gun. Sock it to ‘em like a latter day koranic saint. Grab them by the scruff of the neck and scold them for all the world to see. Sic ‘em with Goldstone, saddle them with Abbas, and send them to bed without dinner and ammunition. They wanted planes to fight to win? Stop the program, cancel the contracts, and if they holler strangle them with peace. Play footsy with Hamas, set up a mahjong date with Ahmadinejad, make cuddly eyes at Assad, and secretly decorate the private quarters of the White House with shahid posters, who would dare to protest?

Did you hear the latest? Anonymous sources have leaked to the press a flood of indignation from the peaceful Obama to you know who in the holy land. Aha! You thought he was fed up because his moderate ally Abu Mazen has reverted to PLO same o same o? Stirring up trouble on the Temple Mount because a bunch of French tourists got in the way of some irate Palestinian rocks? Which naturally led the Palestinians to go on a rampage in the narrow lanes of the Old City. How can President Obama call for the creation of a Palestinian state the day after tomorrow when his protégés are rousing a billion and a half Muslims to protect al Aqsa…from French tourists?

No. That’s not why the Nobelly anointed young man is indignant. He is pissed off because Israelis are badmouthing him. Big shots and little guys in the street and on the beach, officials and cab drivers and housewives and left wing columnists are criticizing him.

Watch out. Even a Nobel-Peace-Prizer can lose his temper and explode. But then, who would blame him? What’s more dangerous for world peace, a flock of Taliban or a gaggle of chuzpadike Israelis?

Hail to the Chief for reaching out to the Taliban and forgiving them for he knows not what they do, reaching out to the Muslim Brotherhood in all its forms and machinations, reaching out to the democratically elected Ahmadinejad and drawing a veil over the rape of the innocents, reaching out to Putin over the half dead body of Georgia…and trying to close Gitmo if only the jack-in-the-box would sit down and shut up.

And if he manages to push his health care revolution bill down US throats, they’ll give him the Nobel Prize for Medicine next year. On the other hand, if he can maintain double digit unemployment and bring the dollar down to parity with the yuan he could outdistance Mugabe for the Nobel Prize for Economics.

A Nobel Prize to the wise is sufficient: when you hear the word “peace” praise the lord and pass the ammunition.

*This blog post was composed on Friday and forward-posted for Sunday.

Ten Great Songs From One Great Year

Shayneblog All-Time Top 100

#31-#40

Over the years, many of my friends and I have talked about the best songs ever written, or what our favorites were. I think, over the course of this past year, I have shared many of my favorites, as well as yours on this blog.

Now that this is the one-year anniversary of my “Ten Great Songs From One Great Year” list, I decided to open my memories a bit more and allow you to see exactly what the soundtrack of my life sounds like.

Over these ten weeks, I will countdown my top 100 favorite songs – some hits, some misses – ten each week, until we reach number one. I’m sure some songs will surprise you that they ranked so low, high or even made the list at all didn’t). I can promise you that I paid no attention whatsoever to the songs charting success. These are simply my all-time favorite songs.

This is the seventh week.

#100-#91

#90-#81

#80-#71

#70-#61

#60-#51

#50-#41

#40 Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey – Paul and Linda McCartney

Even though the Beatles broke up before my 8th birthday, I was a big fan. Of course, like many (but obviously not all), I loved Paul the most. Ironically, as I got older, I discovered the awesome talents of George and John as well. But in the 70’s, it was Paul McCartney for me.

#39 Downbound Train – Bruce Springsteen

I admit I am not a huge fan of the Boss, and never was. But “Born in the USA” made me listen and take notice. This song was my favorite from that LP and my favorite of his all together. That middle verse still just haunts me.

#38 The Love You Save – The Jackson 5

I’ve talked before about my strange obsession with Motown. Strange - because I’m a 46 year old, white Jew. Still, it pretty much began with the Temptations. But very soon after I fell in love with the Jackson 5. It’s really just my memories of those innocent times that I mourned Michael Jackson’s death.

#37 She's Leaving Home – The Beatles

And speaking of The Beatles, the funny thing is that this song does not tae me back to the last 60’s. In fact, it isn’t even the Fab Four who turned me on to this. As I was preparing to move away from home (although I lived with my sister for a year then, it was still close to being home) and heading out to a yeshiva away from them, I listened to this song off of the movie soundtrack of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” I was a big Bee Gees fan at the time and while the movie was horrible, this rendition was beautiful and very apropos.

#36 God Only Knows - The Beach Boys

This is my absolute favorite Beach boys’ song. It’s so innocent, simple and beautiful. Plus, it played in the closing credits of my absolute favorite romantic comedy, “Love Actually.” It was perfectly placed.

#35 I've Loved These Days – Billy Joel

Although I had been a fan of his since the first time I listened to “The Stranger,” it wasn’t until 10 years later that I took a real interest in Billy Joel’s earlier, lesser-known work. But during 1987, it seemed that was all I was listening to. This is my favorite.

#34 The Night They Drove 'Ol Dixie Down – The Band

For years, I loved the Joan Baez version of this song. But it always bothered me that it was sung by a woman (the story is told from a man’s perspective). When I finally heard Robbie Robertson’s original, I was mesmerized. Like “Rose Of Cimarron” (#55), it’s a Civil War era story and it really makes you feel like you were there.

#33 Angie - The Rolling Stones

I remember when I was a kid and people used to argue “Beatles, or Rolling Stones?” I was always in the Beatles’ camp, but there were some Stones’ tunes I liked a lot. But “Angie” has special meaning to me, as it was the song on the radio when I slow danced with a girl for the first time. Yeah, I still remember you, Pam – even if it was only a “mercy” dance.

#32 Hey Jude - The Beatles

“Hey Jude” has always been my second favorite Beatles’ song (for #1, wait just a couple of weeks). My memory of it, however, is from the video “The Complete Beatles.” If you haven’t seen, you’ve missed out (I have never found it on DVD, but that may have changed). It’s a powerful video and an epic song.

#31 Reaching Out – The Bee Gees

Well, I’ve admitted I was a fan of the Bee Gees and even though I liked them before they sold out and went disco, I actually did like them then, as well. 30 years have made this song more cringe-worthy, due to Barry Gibb’s falsetto. But the song is very moving regardless and it brings me back to 1979 with all its force.

Found this at Doug Ross...

Difference Between Liberals and Conservatives
If a Conservative doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one. If a Liberal doesn't like guns, they believe no one should have one.

If a Conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat. If a Liberal is, they want to ban all meat products for everyone.

If a Conservative sees a foreign threat, he thinks about how to defeat his enemy. A Liberal wonders how to surrender gracefully and still look good.

If a Conservative is homosexual, he quietly enjoys life. If a Liberal is homosexual, they loudly demand legislated respect.

If a Conservative is a minority , he sees himself as independently successful. Their Liberal counterparts see themselves as victims in need of government protection.

If a Conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation. A Liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.

If a Conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels. Liberals demand that those they don’t like be shut down.

If a Conservative is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church. A Liberal wants all churches to be silenced.

If a Conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it. A Liberal demands that his neighbors pay for his.

If a Conservative disagrees with a Liberal president, he is called a racist. When a Liberal disagrees with a Conservative president, it's patriotic dissent.

If a Conservative expresses his political view, he is called an idiot. A Liberal expressing his political views is expressing his right to Freedom of Speech.

“I never use the words Democrats and Republicans. It’s Liberals and Americans.
- James Watt, Ronald Reagan’s Interior Secretary