Committee-d to Death

Thank Dark Specter It's Friday!

"I prefer my burgers well-done, human! AND NO KETCHUP!"

Shocker!

To the complete surprise of absolutely no one who follows Republican politics, the party voted yesterday not to change a single rule regarding this year's convention, and buried a proposal to free delegates to vote their own consciences.




In doing so, the party officially embraced the plan of marching off a cliff with Trump as its nominee. Just peachy.

Rather than deal with all of that icky political controversy, the party's Rules Committee decided to do nothing at all, after a meeting that lasted over 14 hours. They did, however, vote to form a committee to study some stuff and maybe, possibly, make some trivial recommendations for down the road...

Exactly...what a joke...

Feast Day

Stained glass at St. David's Church, Pantasaph

Today is the feast day of St. Bonaventure, the 13th century Franciscan friar who became one of the most important Medieval philosophers and theologians.

As a young man Bonaventure studied at the University of Paris, and was classmates and close friends there with
St. Thomas Aquinas. They both achieved the degree of Master (the equivalent of a modern PhD).

Bonaventure was canonized on April 14, 1482 by Pope Sixtus IV, and in 1588 he was named Doctor of the Church by
Pope Sixtus V.




Among other things, Bonaventure is the patron saint of those suffering from intestinal illnesses, since he himself was cured of a grave such illness in his youth by the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi.

GOP Dog-Walker

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

Until Next Time...

On July 15, 1946 Linda Maria Ronstadt was born in Tuscon, Arizona. The daughter of a successful ranching couple, Ronstadt moved to Los Angeles at 18 to pursue a career as a singer. She would enjoy a stellar recording career.

Ronstadt first came to wide attention with a band called Stone Poneys, whose 1967 single "Different Drum" reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart. That band dissolved in 1968, and Linda soldiered on as a solo artist, trying to blend folk-rock and country-rock into a unique sound.

Her first three solo albums barely registered on either the pop or country charts. Her fourth album, Don't Cry Now, reached No. 45 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and No. 5 on the Country Albums chart. Good, but not great.

With her fifth solo effort, Heart Like a Wheel, Ronstadt exploded onto both the rock and country music scenes, with a sound quite unlike anything people were used to hearing in either genre.

Released in November 1974 and propelled by the smash hit single "You're No Good," the only Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 of her career, Heart Like a Wheel spent 51 weeks on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 1 on February 15, 1975. It was the first of her three Billboard 200 No. 1 albums.

The album also reached No. 1 on Country Albums chart, the first of her three No. 1 albums there, and one of two to hit No. 1 on both charts (1978's Simple Dreams being the other).


Heart Like a Wheel eventually earned two platinum certifications from RIAA, and was also nominated for the Album of the Year Grammy Award. It is included on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, and in 2014 it was added to the National Recording Registry curated by the Library of Congress.

Today's send-off is Linda's performance of the Hank Williams classic "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love With You)," featuring the angelic Emmylou Harris on harmony vocals. This song won Linda the first of her 10 Grammy Awards, for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. Enjoy...