“I maintain against the grain.”

In addition to being one of my favorite Bad Religion lyrics, it is, I believe the unfulfilled wish of punk rock. At least this generation of punk rock, Conformity has become the new norm of punk. Where as the punk came out of the desire to swim against the tide, it slowly turned the tide to the point where the new generation of punk bands dominates the hard rock charts and radio stations.

The dress code for punk set long ago, has maintained to this day. It’s like a uniform you get when you buy your first punk CD. If you go to a punk show as I did last night (Bad Religion and Pennywise at the new Nokia Theatre) the overwhelming majority of those in the crowd are in uniform and those that aren’t, are normally segregated to the sides and rear of the venue.

The worst of the conformity comes from the thought police. The Lefts control on punk is absolute. Those that dare defy them are as marginalized and insulted, as most punks are in the general population of your average high school. Where as “think different” could be used to sum up the early philosophy of punk (think Johnny Rotten walking down the streets of England in a “I Hate Pink Floyd” shirt) now those that do dare think differently, and not just about politics, are objects of ridicule from those born of ridicule.

I hope it strikes others as much as it does me, that I feel more punk being a 27 New York Jew, who is politically conservative, wearing jeans and polo shirt at a show, then most of the kids there?

Happy Birthday to the Marine Corp

I would love to write something about the Marines how much I appreciate what they and really what all the Armed Services do, but I am afraid i dont have the words so instead I point you to a article about them on National Review (i do that alot don'tI?) Perhaps in the future I will try to do them the justice they deserve, however for now I say Happy Birthday. You serve us proud!

Go Vote!

It is Election Day! Go Vote!

One Story, with Two Positive Sides

I saw this one story and it caught my interest on two fronts. To sum up, a 418 pound man wanted to join the Army but obviously he was not fit enough to do so. Without the aid of pills or surgery this man lost over 200 pounds and is now a Private in the Army. Now their certainly are those of us so just cant lose the weight naturally. It does happen. And this is not to disparage those who suffer through diets that don’t work and choose the surgery root. But there are those of us, most of us in fact, who CAN lose the weight on our own. What we need is both the motivation and the will power to start, continue and follow through on it. I lost 30lbs at one point. Without pills or anything like that, I got on the treadmill, I cut back on the snacks and lost the weight. I put it back on (and then some) when I stopped trying. McDonalds didn’t make me fat. Me eating McDonalds, and not exercising, made me fat. Well enough is enough. If that man can do it, so can I! I will get back in shape (not that I was ever in shape but still). This week I will post my before shot. And some day, hopefully not to far off, you’ll see the after shot.

The other side of the story is that is despite all reason coming from the left, a positive story coming out of military recruitment. You constantly hear these stories about how no one wants to join the Army anymore. Well that is not true. This is obviously an extreme case but it points to the fact that there are still people who believe enough to fight for our great country. As we approach Veterans Day this week, take the time to thank them, for there service, and our freedom. And as we approach the holiday season consider donations to USO. To many of our men and women will be serving our country overseas away from there family at this special time of the year, they deserve all the support we can show them.