It's 2016, and We're Barbarians

For Pee's Sake

"The law is a sword, not a shield!"

The United States Justice Department has functioned as a political wing of the Obama administration since Day One.

Anyone hoping for an improvement following the departure of Eric Holder and the confirmation of Loretta Lynch should have known better.

Under Attorney General Lynch, there has been a remarkable stonewalling effort regarding Hillary Clinton's illegal email server, barely-disguised threats to Constitutional freedoms, and fostering the erosion of laws designed to protect the integrity of our elections.

Now the AG has finally found a cause worthy of Justice Department prosecution: North Carolina's new law requiring people
to use the bathroom designated for their birth sex.

On Monday, AG Lynch announced her intention to punish North Carolina for
having the audacity to suggest that privacy rights trump the feelings of the so-called "transgendered" (who might, in fact, be mentally ill).

As is typically the case with this sort of political grandstanding, the progressive left and the mainstream media (but I repeat myself) completely misrepresent the issues involved, and argue for a legal position which makes no sense.

"Aren't these the same people who brag about how much they LOVE science?"

Yes...except when science gets in the way of their political agenda...

Early O

"BOOM!"

My beloved Kansas City Royals snapped their three-game losing streak yesterday night, beating the Yankees 7-3 at Yankee Stadium.

The offense had its second productive day in a row, with All-Star C Salvador Perez's three-run homer being the key hit in a four-run 1st inning.

"Just tryin' my best to help the team."

For only the third time in the last 15 games, the Royals got a "quality start" from a starting pitcher. RHP Yordano Ventura earned his third win by allowing just three runs in his six innings of work.

The bullpen only allowed one base-runner over the final three innings to secure the much-needed victory.



With two outs and a big lead in the 9th, All-Star closer Wade Davis plunked the Yankees' LF Brett Gardner, in retaliation for All-Star CF Lorenzo Cain (who had hit three homers on Tuesday night) getting hit in the 1st inning. Wade Davis is old school.

The Royals go for a split of the four-game series at Yankee Stadium this afternoon before heading back to Kauffman Stadium to begin a six-game homestand against the Braves and the Red Sox.

"Our boys are gonna keep on choppin' wood, playin' 'em one game at a time."

Very funny...

Happy Birthday!

Today is the birthday of two remarkable people...

On May 12, 1925 Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra was born in St. Louis, Missouri.

As I have written on previous occasions, 

Yogi's career as a player was basically over by the time I began paying attention to baseball as a kid, but once I became a true fan of the game I learned about his remarkable Hall of Fame career.

After hanging up his spikes for good, of course, Yogi became one of baseball's most famous good will ambassadors.

On May 12, 1907 Katharine Houghton Hepburn was born in Hartford, Connecticut.

Her legendary acting career spanned the stage (including two Tony Award nominations), television (an Emmy Award), and motion pictures (a record four Academy Awards, and eight other nominations).

In 1979 Hepburn was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame, the same year she received a Life Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild. In 1990 she received the Kennedy Center Honors, one of the most prestigious awards in the performing arts.


One of her Oscar-winning roles was Eleanor of Aquitaine in one of my all-time favorite movies, The Lion in Winter...

Pandering Level: Amateur Hour

From the pen of Henry Payne, whose editorial cartoons you should read often, as I do.

Until Next Time...

We're coming up on the first anniversary of this blog, yet even though I have at least one song featured in this section every day, today is the first time The Rolling Stones have made an appearance. Considering how big a fan I was of the band during the '60s and '70s, that is a bit surprising.

The Stones never tried particularly hard to be a band that produced hit singles, as
The Beatles and other contemporary groups did. The Stones' fondness for American blues idioms had something to do with that, blues not being all that popular in Top 40 terms. It was also true that they had no trouble selling out concerts everywhere they went without having a recent charting single.

At any rate, as the '70s began the Stones went through a typically spotty stretch of singles releases. Their first three singles of the decade didn't chart at all, but the fourth, "Brown Sugar," hit No. 1 in 1971. The band then released three more singles that year, only one of which even charted (peaking at No. 28).

In terms of albums, however, the band was having an incredibly productive streak: Beggars Banquet (1968), Let It Bleed (1970), Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out (1971), and Sticky Fingers (1971) were all must-have albums during my high school days, and contained some of the band's most legendary songs.

As I approached the end of my freshman year in college in the spring of 1972, the band reached their creative zenith.

On May 12, 1972 the Stones released the album that would eventually come to be regarded as their best. Exile On Main St, their tenth studio album in the U.S. and first double-album, was not an immediate success commercially, and critical response was mixed.

As usual with a Stones album there was little Top 40 success, with only two of the five singles released from the album even charting (neither reaching the Top 5). Still, the album slowly moved up the charts, and wound up spending five consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart that summer.

Today's send-off is "Rip This Joint," the first song I ever heard from the album.
Not released as a single, it might be the fastest song the Stones ever recorded, and the saxophone work from the late Bobby Keys is great. Enjoy...