John Edwards

I was sad to hear that John Edwards dropped out of the presidential race today. He was my choice for president. I feel that he had the best chance to win against any Republican nominee. I also liked his stand on most issues. His messages about poverty in America, his work with strengthening unions, universal healthcare, the environment and the war in Iraq struck a chord with me. It appears that now, whoever is elected, we'll be in Iraq for years to come. Of all the viable candidates, he stuck to his policies and ideals and didn't get caught up in personal insults being hurled between Clinton and Obama. The media did him a great dis-service in marginalizing him and making it a race between Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama from the beginning. The fact that he is white, good looking, rich and from the South didn't help either. Too bad. I think we missed another good one. Sort of like electing George Bush instead of Al Gore. I am really torn about what to do now. It looks like John McCain will be the Republican nominee. If it comes down to him and Clinton, I would have to seriously consider him. I don't really see alot of difference between the two in terms of policies. I would trust him on a personal level much more than Hillary. As to Obama, I am not convinced. I hear the inspirational talks about change, but not alot of substance. What a mess. We're faced again with a choice between two people we're not really for. It will be interesting to say the least.

Some clarification.

These are pictures of two Christians. The one on the left is my niece Rachel. She is what I call a true Christian. (She has her own blog that chronicles her works to make a better world. Check it out here. RAQUEL) The other is Jay Sekulow, the other type of Christian I wrote about yesterday. Rachel added a comment to my post asking why I listen to people like Jay Sekulow. First of all, I am not anti Christian, anti God or anti religion. I hate it when people with a powerful voice and a large following spew hate and lies to serve themselves and their followers with their warped view of God and their belief that they are the only ones that know what God wants us to do. Christians and others of different religions are not the only ones guilty of this. Obviously people that never mention God or their particular religion can be just as or more destructive and hateful. Why do I pick on these guys? Because they they prey on the fear and uncertainty of the masses and cloak their own hate in something that at its core is truly beautiful. Yes, I am a wise ass. I Photoshopped horns on his picture and made rude and nasty comments. Why do I listen to people like this? Because I need to hear what people with loud voices and large followings are saying. People like Jay Sekulow are dangerous. They need to be exposed. People with greater intellects and writing skills than me need to expose these guys for what they are. Dangerous. If I can help that along by making others aware of them, I'm happy. It's also therapeutic for me. Rachel my dear, I love you for the works you do. You humble me. I love you for the love you have for others, and the actions you take to make the world better, four small African children at a time. I love you because I haven't ever heard you say a mean thing about another person that doesn't share your faith. I know there are Christians on the radio and television that speak of the true meaning of Christianity. Occasionally I find them and listen to them as well.

News From The Religious Right

Meet Jay Sekulow. He runs an organization called ACLJ (American Center for Law and Justice) He has a daily talk radio program on quite a few Christian radio stations called Jay Sekulow Live. This guy is a real piece of work (Note the crooked smile, raised eyebrow and horn buds) His program is basically a 1 hour rant against Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, gays, liberals, women, Muslims, Buddhists, Democrats and everyone else Jesus said we need to hate. He calls himself a Constitutional Lawyer and the ACLJ is a well funded, well staffed lobbying organization. This is not some lunatic fringe guy. He has the ear of a large and dedicated group of people. The ACLJ is involved in quite a few lawsuits making sure that Christian ideology remains a part of American law and culture. Yesterday he announced that his organization successfully got congress to authorize moving the phrase "In God We Trust" moved from the side of the 1$ coin to the front where Jesus said it should be. I think that was a fine use of time and money. I mean, they could waste their efforts on food for hungry children or mosquito nets to help prevent Malaria or something. Today they were discussing the 1000 page document they are presenting to the United Nations (did I mention that Jesus says we should hate the United Nation also?) and members of the US Government arguing against the partition of Jerusalem being negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians. This being a talk radio program, Jay was taking calls on the subject. One caller said he was a minister and was recently at a minister meeting and one of the other ministers said he felt that Hurricane Katrina was sent by God as punishment because America was going against His (God that is) plans for Jerusalem. Wow, I never thought of that. Gives one pause for thought. Anyway, Jay's response was not; "Are you a fucking moron?'" or; "Is that really the kind of God you believe in?" or "Wow, I never thought of that." No, his response was; "I need to get a Biblical prophesy expert on the show to discuss this." Wow. This guy spends a good deal of time ranting against Planned Parenthood because they kill unborn babies, but he seems to be perfectly comfortable with a God that kills born babies because He's (God that is) pissed about our political decisions. I need to get out my Jesus Speaks Bible (the one where what Jesus said highlighted in red) to see what He says about the proper placement of "In God We Trust" on coins and the punishment of innocent people with hurricanes because politicians make decisions that make His (Jesus) Father (God) angry. I'll let you know what I find out.

New Music

That's me in my back yard contemplating something or maybe just posing for a picture. Anyway, I have a MySpace website (doesn't everybody) where I am posting new music as I finish it. There are 2 new pieces there. One is called "Chill" which is in the Silk Road vein but a bit more kicked up. I am working on a new project and this is one of the pieces from it. I have invited collaborators to write and record their own parts to the basic structure so this tune may change before the project is done, but I think it stands on its own pretty well at this point. The second new song is "Love I've Been Waiting For" I decided to branch out a bit and try my hand at some Pop or R&B type stuff. This is the first completed tune of three I am working on. It is a collaboration between me and 2 very talented women. Kristen Carlson wrote the lyrics and part of the melody. Check out her MySpace page (after you check out mine) Kereli Jones (My good friend Ed "Tinker" had the good sense to get engaged to her) did the vocal work. Wow. I had heard her sing before, mostly as a back-up vocalist is some local bands, but I had no idea she had this kind of voice. She absolutely blew me away. She came in to my studio and did 4 or 5 takes and we were done. Perfect intonation, really clear diction, great tone. She nailed it. I added just a bit of reverb to the vocals and that's it. No computer processing or tuning. I intend on working on some other songs with her. You can listen to it and Chill here. www.myspace.com/vincentfloresworldmusic Let me know what you think.

We'll miss you Bill

We lost good friend last week. Bill Harris died on December 31st after a 3 year battle with a very aggressive brain tumor. We met Bill when he and his wife bought the house next door to us six years ago. They purchased an older home and Bill did a really fine job remodeling it. He was really good with his hands. He was a warm, friendly, happy man. He worked in high tech as a marketing guy and helped me design my CD cover for Silk Road. He was a guitar player as well and we enjoyed talking about music and computers. We also shared a passion for food and cooking. Shortly after learning that his wife Jamey was pregnant, he also learned that he had a tumor in his brain. It turned out to be non-cancerous but very aggressive. After the initial shock, his approach was very positive. He started to make a documentary about his and other peoples experiences with this kind of tumor. He must have learned that the prognosis was not good. I don't think he got very far with the documentary. Over the course of the next three years he had several rounds on chemotherapy, radiation and many operations to remove the tumor

as well as plastic surgery to repair the damage. He spent a good deal of his last year with half of his head shaved and large sutures showing. He recieved most of his treatments as UC San Francisco for free because he was involved in some new treatments. Most patients with this type of tumor live for about a year, but Bill lasted three. The last year was really hard to watch. Bill was working on and off but his life was really centered around his son Logan and his wife Jamey. A final surgery was done to try an new treatment but it failed. His drug treatments made it very difficult for him to carry on a coherent conversation. You could tell he knew what he wanted to say, but couldn't get it out. Sort of like a stroke victim. The steroids made his face puffy and the scars and missing hair made him look like the subject of medical experiments, but his attitude remained positive to the end. He was a really good man. I don't really see any point in asking why this sort of thing happens. As far as I can tell there is no answer. We love you Bill, and we'll miss you.

President Huckabee?

I'm a liberal. I listen to a lot of conservative and Christian talk radio. I figure why should I listen to liberal talk radio. I already know what they're saying. I figure I should listen to the other side so that I can get a better understanding of what they're saying. I was listening to Sean Hannity (what a moron) interview Mike Huckabee. The interview focused on the recent flap over the release of convicted rapist/murderer Wayne Dumond. You can read more about that story here
I'm sure there are two sides to the story. There always are. Lots of spin on both sides. Since Huckabee has become a serious contender for the Republican nomination, there will be a lot of dirt being dug up. There has been a lot of focus on Huckabee and his religious beliefs. He was the youngest ever head of the Arkansas State Baptist Convention and produced video Bible lessons with his friend Pastor Jay D Cole. His Baptist background and beliefs were not mentioned in the Hannity (what a moron) interview, but he makes no bones about the role his religion plays in his personal and political life. The part of the interview that really caught my attention was when Huckabee was talking about how the Dumond incident would be spun by his opponents as him being soft on crime. His response was that he presided over more executions than any governor in the history of Arkansas. Wow. As everyone knows, executions really lower the crime rate. He also stated that he had increased the prison population in Arkansas by something like 40%. That certainly qualifies him to be president. When I got home I thought I would see what Jesus had to say about executions and incarceration so I got out my bible that has what Jesus said highlighted in red. It's really funny, I couldn't find a single thing relating to executing criminals or increasing the prison population. Maybe I missed it. I don't know, maybe I have the wrong idea of what a Christian really is. I thought it had to do with helping the poor, healing the sick and caring for those less fortunate, that sort of thing. There were alot of references to those kinds of things in red. Maybe I should look a little more closely since most politicians that say they're Christians say the same kinds of things that Huckabee says. I wonder why he chose to release Dumond? Maybe it was an act of Christian charity. After all, Dumond claimed he was "born again" after spending alot of time in prison reading the bible and praying with Pastor Cole.

Italians and their food

Every great culture will tell you that their cuisine is the best. Gourmands will tell you that classical French cooking reigns supreme. It is what most "Fine Dining" restaurants base their dishes on. Chinese, real Chinese, not the typical overcooked, greasy Chow Mien found in most Chinese restaurants, Italian, Thai, Spanish, Indian and various other cuisines can make their case as well. People from those cultures will tell you their food is the best. It's what they grew up eating and what they are the most familiar with. I grew up eating Italian food. I won't tell you it is the best cuisine in the world, since you may have grown up eating other types of food, but I will tell you that Italians celebrate great food more than any other culture I know. A great meal is almost a religious experience. Friends and family gather to eat, drink, talk and argue, but the focus is always on the food. There's always too much. Maybe we fear we'll run out of food tomorrow, or someone will waste away. Great food and lots of it is a sign of prosperity even if we're not really well off. During the Depression, my Grandmother would feed her family and half the neighborhood great meals (always more than enough for everyone) even though they were no better off than any one else and worse off than most. Whenever my family gets together, no matter how many their are, we always wind up congregating in the kitchen, no matter how small the kitchen may be. We talk about what is being cooked at the moment and what we're going to have for the next meal, or some great dish we had recently, or some great dish we want to try. It's not an obsession. Nobody in my family is overweight or has an eating disorder. It's just an appreciation for one of life's great pleasures. Oh. The picture above is a seafood cous cous my wife had on the last night of our most recent trip to Sicily. As in most Italian dishes, it was made with ingredients caught or harvested that day, prepared simply, served with great pride, and proportioned to feed a family of four.