Chik-Fil-A - the bird of Hate

Some in the LGBT community have questioned the usefulness and wisdom of boycotting companies (Chik-Fil-A being the latest example) that actively work against LGBT rights. Whether one’s motivation for opposing a boycott is driven by a desire to appear accommodating or a weakness for processed chicken, it’s worth remembering that groups like the American Family Association have regularly called for boycotts of companies like Disney, Starbucks, JC Penney, and many more. What’s good for the goose is good for the chicken gander.

The Olympic opening ceremonies

The difference between Britain's moving, humorous, and humanistically dazzling ceremony and the regimented fearful dazzle of Beijing 2008 is the difference between a free country and a totalitarian one.

Sony's Complete Toscanini

Over fifty years after his death, it must be difficult for audiences to grasp the importance of Arturo Toscanini's contribution to music. George Szell summed it up best, in reaction to hearing Toscanini in 1930: "This was orchestral performance of a kind new to all of us. The clarity of texture; the precision of ensemble; the rightness of balances; the virtuosity of every section, every solo player in the orchestra - then at its peak - in the service of an interpretative concept of evident, self-effacing integrity, enforced with irresistible willpower and unflagging ardor, set new, undreamed-of standards literally overnight." Today, we take for granted what Szell marveled over, and that's mainly thanks to Toscanini and his successors - including Szell. Thus, it's no exaggeration to say that Toscanini initiated the modern era of conducting.

Click here to read the rest of my review

Aurora

No comparison can be made between the weapons used by James Eagan Holmes and those envisioned by the nation's founders when they codified the Second Amendment. There is nothing in the Constitution that justifies the posession of assault-type "AK" and "AR" weapons any more than there's justification for the posession of nuclear weapons. Need anyone be reminded that Holmes purchased these weapons legally on the open market?

Two Maps, Two Stories

Here are two maps which tell two different stories.

Atlantic magazine has created a Tolerance map, based on such factors as racial integration, number of immigrants, and percentage of LGBT people. NorthEast Ohio ranks high on the map.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has created a hate map, based on the number of hate groups within the state. Naturally, a larger state will have more groups. Paradoxically, several groups are located in NorthEast Ohio - one of the most integrated areas in America. Significantly, the SPLC map fails to list at least two groups which hide behind the cloak of religion to spread a message of hate: the American Family Association and Focus on the Family. However, the Westboro Baptist Church of Kansas is listed as a hate group - with their protests at military and celebrity funerals, they cannot be ignored.
Addendum: Here's another map worth considering:

5 facts about Romney

                  We need to face the truth of what Romney really is...