TheLastManInAmerica

It’s been a one topic day in the news. Every TV station and every news site on the web has been crammed with every possible story revolving around the imminent landfall of Hurricane Gustav approaching the Gulf Coast and if you’re looking to find a topic in politics, sports or human interests, it’s likely it will have something to do with the impending disaster.

However, I’m pleased to bring you a completely unrelated subject, one that I’ve been waiting a long time to talk about. And that is the return of Metallica! For the better part of two decades, the band that ruled the 80’s metal scene has been putting out hard rock albums that are mediocre at best and while they dominated the charts, they managed to ostracize lifelong fans that lamented the band’s departure from the Thrash/Speed Metal sound that had come to define them.

Now they are set to release their ninth studio album entitled, “Death Magnetic,” a title meant to recall those in the industry who have been lost, such as Alice in Chains’ Layne Staley. The first single from the album, “The Day that Never Comes” is nearly 8 minutes long and while it starts out reminiscent of “The Unforgiven,” a sub-par effort from their staggeringly successful and eponymous ”Black Album,” it finishes up with several minutes of a refreshingly heavy rhythm and a solo from Kirk Hammett that reminds the listener “One,” the  epic single from 1988’s “…And Justice for All.” This track is said to be the most downbeat of the entire album and a few of the other tracks I’ve heard, including “My Apocalypse,” which can be heard here, seem to confirm this.

The album is produced by Rick Rubin, whose notable partnerships in the genre include Slayer, System of a Down and Slikpknot, and it appears he may have had a hand in returing the band to its previous form as they have returned to E tuning at his insistence. Since the “Black Album” up until 2003’s ”St. Anger,” the band had worked with Bob Rock who is known for his work with such acts as Motley Crüe and Bon Jovi and it is considered by some that Rock’s influence was partly responsible for Metallica’s second rate efforts. It is likely this departure will only bear fruit for the group.

“Death Magnetic” is due out in stores on September 12th and for the first time that I can remember, I’m anxiously awaiting a record from this band. Hopefully it isn’t a little hasty on my part but I want to be the first to say, “Welcome back boys!”

  An historic moment. An important time in the history of civil rights. We were reminded of these things last night and they were again echoed this morning as John McCain announced his choice for his Vice Presidential running mate.She is Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and she is the first female to be chosen as a running mate for a GOP candidate. Just as last night with Barack’s historic acceptance as the first African-American Presidential candidate, that coincided with the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a dream” speech, we’ve been given another historic candidate around the anniversary of another civil rights milestone, a female VP candidate chosen just ten days after the anniversary of  the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment that grated women the right to vote. 

It’s like watching a bad chess game; the moves are telegraphed and transparent. McCain is up against an opponent that comes with massively historic implications should his election take place. Not to be outdone, McCain is looking to load up his campaign with near equally daunting historic implications. The Democrats may have gotent a woman closer to the White House than anyone with Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House. But not to be outdone, the GOP is looking to get a female IN the White House.

It also seems they may be looking to take a page from the Dems and draw some flak for inexperienced candidates. Palin has spent only two years as Gov. of Alaska and prior to that, she was mayor of a town of 6000.

I’m reminded of that song “Anything you can do, I can do better!”   

 ”Attend 2 Services, Get a Free ‘Jesus is my Homeboy’ T-Shirt!”

No it hasn’t gone quite that far yet. But the trend of churches using marketing to draw the flock into the nave is growing. Most are using ploys involving ways to make it easier for parishioners to fill up their tanks, whether it’s a gas-card raffle or 99-cent gas at the local fill station.

Sure it’s nice gesture; yes the church wants you to know they’re there for you during the tough times. But if they have to resort to bribery to attract people on Sundays doesn’t that show that people just don’t care?

If you have to market salvation and bribe folks to come by offering them gas money what does that say about your church? Put simply: people don’t want to be there! Think of it this way -  you invite someone to a party at your house and they say “Uh, you got ups on gas?” How would you feel?

But they’re promoting their god, not some kegger. That should be enough in itself to bring in the flock, right? You offer incentives when you are desperate to attract people. So are we witnessing a decline in worship in this country, one that requires churches to entice people to come with kickbacks?   

 John McCain out of touch? Well, he’d like you to think otherwise. While the Democratic Party makes history by becoming the first major political party to nominate an African-American for the Presidency of the United States, with Barack Obama, talks are heating up regarding the Republican senator choosing a woman, Texas senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, as his running mate.

It makes sense. There are likely many disillusioned female supporters of Hillary Clinton who have now officially watched their candidate’s hopes become a memory and if you’ll recall a recent ad from the McCain camp that featured a “Hillary Supporter” who is now voting for the Republican nominee, it’s likely McCain is looking to finagle some of them to his side with the promise of a female VP.

And with recent claims that he is out of touch, this bit of progressiveness on behalf of the “Maverick” senator could do him well. On the one hand, you could help make history by electing an inexperienced African-American man to the Oval Office or on the other hand, you could do the right thing and elect a seasoned veteran and his sexy piece of arm candy. Hell, Obama’s only got another old white guy!       

I respect what John McCain endured during his service of our country. He sacrificed 5 1/2 years of his life defending our country during Vietnam as a prisoner of war. These actions make him a hero.

But to use it to evoke sympathy for him and his campaign is low.

Having fallen under criticism for not knowing how many houses he owns with his wife Cindy, McCain countered on the Tonight Show by saying, “I spent 5 1/2 years in a prison cell, I didn’t have a house.”

To me this is pathetic. He’s side-stepping the criticism by reaching out for sympathy. “Oh, poor John. He was a POW, no wonder he can’t remember how many houses he has.”

Are we to expect him to keep this convenient excuse up his sleeve when he’s elected president? “The economy may be in shambles but we can’t blame McCain, he spent 5 1/2 years in a POW camp.”

In addition, if he is to play the POW Card on something as minute as this, how are we to assume he won’t pull it out in the future, when something more serious comes up?

While I respect what he’s done, this is shameless and really insults our intelligence to think we are so naive to believe such a lame excuse.

It’s like the pitcher who comes in and gives up 7 runs in two-thirds of an inning or the kicker who blows a potential game-winning 27-yard field goal with four seconds left. The opposing team heralds these players as heroes of their cause.

Right now, Hillary Clinton and her supporters, whether intentionally or not, are turning out to be the Democratic Party’s Byung-Hyun Kim to John McCain’s New York Yankees in the ‘01 World Series.

Since the primaries began, there has been, no matter how much they deny it, a lack of unity in those who collectively look to defeat John McCain come November. Now this rift that they have been feigning to mend could potentially give the Republican senator some breathing room against his Democratic counterpart, Barack Obama, as the two race towards the White House.

Even though it would prove a futile investment, some delegates who pledged themselves to the senator from New York, are staying true to that commitment by planning to cast their votes for Clinton at the DNC.

Add to that the use of footage of Hillary Clinton during the Democratic Primaries in a new ad for Senator McCain. In the footage it appears sounds like Clinton would prefer McCain to Obama.

Speaking of experience, Clinton said, “McCain brings a lifetime of experience, I bring a lifetime of experience.” And what about Obama? He brings “a speech he gave in 2002.”

Of course she denies feeling that way anymore and says her support is with Obama &100. I believe her, after all, they were embroiled in a heated fight for the Democratic nomination.

But now, it might be too little, too late. Despite the offensive explosion of Senator Obama during the primaries that catapulted him to this point, his bullpen that should be helping to close the door on the McCain campaign, they are serving up beach balls that McCain and Co. can knock right out of the park.

But there maybe hope yet for the Democrats who support Obama. If you know your baseball history, you’ll remember that the Diamondbacks, despite Kim’s great help to New York, rallied to win the Fall Classic in one of the most dramatic finishes of all time.    

Say you weigh 1,000lbs, you’re arm would probably weigh a modest 75lbs.Then say you used that fleshy sledge hammer to strike a two year-old child in the head. The appendage most likely weighs more than the toddler and with all that weight and momentum transferring at the child’s skull the results are likely to be ghastly.

A woman in Texas is charged with just that. Tipping the scales at nearly half a ton, police are saying 27 year-old Mayra Lizbeth Rosales struck her two year-old nephew in the head twice, crushing his skull and killing him.

Now police and prosecutors are faced with the heavy task of jailing the woman and bringing her to court.

Her girth does not allow her to fit through the doors of her house to be brought to jail and the constant medical attention she requires would be impossible for  Hidalgo County to provide.“She would die,” says Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino.

So, honestly, what do you do with this woman?

She is considered incapable of fleeing without assistance and is pretty much imprisoned by her body. Do you post guards outside of her house and turn it into a makeshift jail and then allow her to appear before a court via satellite?

It’s almost as if ‘why should we bother?’ but that wouldn’t be doing justice for the little boy who died.

But do you take the risk of letting her die in prison and having human rights groups up your ass for not providing her with adequate care? It’s quite the predicament for  Hidalgo County. If she’s guilty she needs to be brought to justice but how? Does she actually weigh more than the burden of justice?

Backed into a corner, taking the offensive onslaught of John McCain with both gloves over his face and losing points on the judges’ scorecards Barack Obama has pushed the Arizona senator back with a right and a left and is now swinging for the fences, looking to land his own knockout blow.

Responding to criticisms from the McCain camp that he is inexperienced and not ready to lead, the result of which has seen a 12 swing in favor of his opponent, Obama’s campaign has released two cutting ads, attacking the Republican nominee, in the past 24 hours, the latest one linking McCain to Ralph Reed, former head of the Christian Coalition.

The ad claims that McCain, who chaired a Senate panel three years ago, never called Reed to testify in the Jack Abramoff scandal in return for political favors. 

Reed also promoted a McCain fundraiser in Atlanta last week that earned the Republican Senator $1.75mil.

Feeling these attacks to be below the belt, McCain’s camp is ready to fire back with some low blows of their own.

Brian Rogers, McCain Campaign spokesman says if Obama wishes to take cheap shots at “questionable associations” there is always the Democratic Senator’s ties to “unrepentant terrorist William Ayers, at whose home Obama’s political career was launched.”

William Ayers was co-founder of the radical group known as the Weather Underground, and linked to several bombings of police stations in the ’60’s.

 It is unclear how Obama will counter this shot but it appears certain that the fight will go the distance but at this point in the middle rounds, both opponents are swinging wild, desperate to land any blow that can daze the other long enough to land the final shot. 

Federal Law describes Child Abuse as “Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation;” discipline is the defined as the practice of teaching and enforcing acceptable behavior. In regards to the physical and emotional, the lines can sometimes become blurred for parents when disciplining a child but one thing that would seem to be a given is that no parent would ever want another adult physically disciplining their children. But according to Department of Education statistics, over 220,000 students were recipients of corporal punishment, the most common of which is a paddling. And while proponents of the act claim it’s a good deterrent of unruly behavior, its opponents say it only deters learning and can actually provoke bad behavior in the future. No matter its effects, it still seems absurd that parents would actually condone their children to be disciplined in such a way by someone who at times are hardly closer to them than a stranger.      

      There is undoubtedly a real lack of respect and discipline in the younger generations that seems to get worse with time. Teachers, police, adults in general, even kids’ own parents are viewed with scorn and as nothing more than a hurdle to absolute freedom. This lack of respect for authority most likely stems from a lack of discipline as a while growing up but isn’t that something that needs to be imparted on the child by the parent? And if it is to be taught to the child by someone else, is it a good idea that they should be using force to get their point across?      

      It’s a sad fact that this world we live in often sees children spend more time with teachers than with parents. And as such, the teacher often must take up the reins of parental responsibility, helping to shape the child’s behavior and groom them into respectable young people. As with parenting, this task is difficult and certainly tempers will boil over on occasion. But if the teacher resorts to physical means of disciplining a child what is to be learned other than humiliation? And if students aren’t learning the kind of discipline at home that would keep them from acting out in class, a paddling probably won’t do anything other than lead to further insubordination from the child.      

       I, on the other hand, do not object to restrained physical discipline by parents. As a child I received spankings from my father and was at times snatched up by hair for getting out of line. I learned to control myself but I also learned it in context with love and respect and that my parents just wanted me to be well behaved and not such a little hellion. It’s difficult for that message to be conveyed from a teacher because rarely do they form such a close bond with their students. And if the only thing a student is learning is, “I’m hitting you because you were bad,” then they really learn nothing that they can better themselves by.

            Discipline is a precarious practice; sometimes it works, sometimes not one iota and some kids are just plain bad seeds that trying to discipline them will only make them want to act out even more. Add to that the physical element and you’re liable to swing it to the extreme. It is this uncertainty that makes even more dangerous to leave in the hands of someone who isn’t a parent. There are certain things that can and should only be taught to children by their parents. It’s a shame that more parents today don’t take the time to enlighten their kids in these areas but that doesn’t mean teachers or any other adults have the right to take it upon themselves.  Teachers teach math, health, science English and history, leave the rest to the parents.      

That might as well be the fight song for higher education as a whole if a group of about 100 college presidents have their way. The heads of such renowned schools as Duke, Syracuse, Ohio State and countless others are urging lawmakers to consider the possibility of lowering the legal drinking age from 21 to 18. They say that as it is now, laws actually encourage binge drinking and unethical behavior and are hypocritical to boot. But honestly, what are the real motives of these people? What can they hope to gain by making alcohol accessible to younger people, other than lowering crime rates at their schools?

            The group of 100 some-odd university presidents is called the Amethyst Initiative, headed by former President of Middlebury College, John McCardell. And while at the moment, the group is not directly calling for a reduction of the drinking age, they are looking for an “informed and dispassionate” debate on the subject. They claim the hypocrisy inherent in our society of giving 18 year-olds the freedom to vote and enlist in the military but denying them the right to drink has created “a culture of dangerous, clandestine binge-drinking.” They also go so far as to say that the age limit sees students making “ethical compromises” by choosing to use fake IDs.

But what would change if the drinking age was lowered remains unclear. It’s not as if binge-drinking is only common among the 18 to 20 year-olds. On the contrary, I’m willing to bet that binge-drinking increases once alcohol become legally obtainable. And the statement on using fake IDs is so fanciful that can’t imagine such educated people would agree with it. They can’t honestly tell me that they don’t think if the age were lowered that 16 year-olds wouldn’t be picking up fake IDs that say they’re 18; no matter what the legal drinking age is those who are younger will still want to get it. Then you’re left with the problem colleges have but now it’s in high schools and instead of it being “I know someone who knows someone who can get us booze,” it’s now, “I know someone who can get us booze,” for any student who knows a senior.

The only logical idea as to why these administrators would endorse such a plan is to reduce the amounts of students who are arrested for underage drinking. Nothing else makes sense! Honestly, what good could come from lowering the drinking age? Sure, they say that those who the law is directed at find it unfair and discriminatory and that’s why they are lashing out by binging. “If you treat students like children, they’re going to act like children,” said one senior from Duke. Isn’t that a convenient excuse? Blame the law for it getting broken, that’s a good one (“If it wasn’t for murder being illegal, my client never would’ve killed that man!”). I have been drinking (sometimes in excess) since I was 14 and drinking in bars since I was 18 and never once was I doing it because I felt it was unjust that I could go off and die for my country and not be able to get a beer. I was drinking because I wanted to drink!

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Lowering the drinking age to 18 won’t solve anything, quite the opposite, I think it would become an even bigger problem for 18 year-olds and those even younger as anyone who doesn’t quite meet a given restriction wants even more what they can almost have. The simple fact of the whole situation is drinking is a potentially dangerous activity and there will always be those who behave irresponsibly while doing it; I’m 22 and know several people my age and older who aren’t responsible enough to drink. Maybe we should raise the legal age to 30.