Transient Scribe

Clubs

When you hear the word "clubs" what do you think of? 

Well, if you are like me, it means Golf - five iron, driver etc.  If you are like my brother it is probably some lame NYC bar or dance hall.

I am dealing with a situation now involving my clubs or the actual thievery of my clubs.   A while back some one broke into my car and took the only thing of worth I possibly own.   Well, lets say they took my "hobby tools"...and I am in the process of getting them back or reimbursement.   Crime does pay sadly and there is nothing you can do but fight back and then forget it.   Stealing Golf Clubs is really on the very, very low end of awful things to occur but non the less - it still sucks.   Especially, with the weather getting better.  Agh!   

I will be looking for new sticks soon enough...I just miss my clubs.  (Insert violin music here and baby crying in the background)

World's Greatest Rock Band - U2

Another U2 tour was kicked off Tuesday night in San Diego.   Bono, the Edge, Larry and Adam stepped on stage and began what will certainly be another kick -butt world tour.  These guys do love to perform and they especially love the USA.    I had the opportunity to see one of the least popular U2 Tours - the "Pop Mart" tour and it was still a fantastic time.   U2 is at essence a gospel rock band.   Most lyrics have some Christian theme or meaning while the sound could be a mix of rock, blues, techno, and gospel. 

On stage Bono lets it all hang out - his voice and emotion drenched performances hammer the audience with boundless energy and hope.  While,  lead guitarist Edge - sings haunting backup harmony and drives searing guitar riffs echo-ing across the stadium and into your conscience .    He proves mastery of his instrument in nearly every song bringing concert-goers to a breathless high.   

Bass player Adam Clayton and Drummer Larry Mullen are the steadying influence of the band and the foundation of a great show.

U2 will be in Washington DC next fall...not sure I will be there due to family matters but I would encourage all to attend if possible.   

'Roids and Baseball

Major League Baseball's appearance before a Congressional committee Thursday showed two flawed institutions collide in a historic showdown.    Embattled politicos and mumbling  baseball players faced off in a race to say next to nothing and promise little in ways of reform and regret.    Our nations former past time took another shot to its already diminished image under relatively soft questioning by members of both political parties.   MLB commissioner Bud Selig once again proved a mere puppet of owners and a toothless steward for the fate and future of the game.  Former slugger Mark McGwire may have been the most pathetic witness to appear yesterday.  His demeanor was that of a person knowing his image was forever changed and stained.  One could see the pain and regret on his face and in his voice when urging others not to use steroids...while not admitting he ever used himself.

President Bush was derided for bringing up the issue of steroid abuse two years ago, I think unfairly.  Should we not mention causes or problems just because they not at the top of the list?   

Like so many other problems, in free societies, it is only a matter of time before the truth comes to light.  MLB has gotten away with much over the last decade, but cheating should not be tolerated and certainly not when it can kill the young people aspiring to be the next Mark McGwire or Barry Bonds.   

Middle East Reform Round-Up

Australian Mark Steyn summarizes the situation afoot in the ME directing his energy on Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Syria.   He has been way ahead of others on the fallacy know as the EU, the abomination that is the UN,  and the emerging democracies set to flower toward the Mid East.  Read and comment.  Steyn quote below...

Prof Glenn Reynolds, America's Instapundit, observes that "democratisation is a process, not an event". Far too often, it's treated like an event: ship in the monitors, hold the election, get it approved by Jimmy Carter and the UN, and that's it. Doesn't work like that. What's happening in the Middle East is the start of a long-delayed process. Eight million Iraqis did more for the Arab world on January 30 than 7,000 years of Mubarak-pace marching.

Maybe Bush and others were right?

Hitchens on old cliches

When do old adages or terms officially hit the trash heap?   Christopher Hitchens explains.  Quote below...

In retrospect, it's difficult to decide precisely when this annoying expression began to expire, if only from diminishing returns. There was, first, the complete failure of the said "street" to detonate with rage when coalition forces first crossed the border of Iraq, as had been predicted (and one suspects privately hoped) by so many "experts." But one still continued to hear from commentators who conferred street-level potency on passing "insurgents." (I remember being aggressively assured by an interviewer on Al Franken's quasi-comedic Air America that Muqtada Sadr's "Mahdi Army" in Najaf was just the beginning of a new "Tet Offensive.") Mr. Sadr duly got a couple of seats in the recent Iraqi elections. And it was most obviously those elections that discredited the idea of ventriloquizing the Arab or Muslim populace or of conferring axiomatic authenticity on the loudest or hoarsest voice.