Way back when… about 20+ years ago, I was just starting out in what was then called Data Processing. Today it’s called Information Technology. Same shit, different name. The suits earn their money changing the names of departments.

Ah, but this is supposed to be about music. Specifically about music on my MP3 player.

In the very first data center I worked in we had a boom box, and each person was allowed to pick the music for one night, on a rotating basis. We had this one guy who liked what I would then call “weird music”.. being the rocker that I was.

I absolutely loved some of this weird music, but non more than Jean-Luc Ponty, the electric violinist.

My favorite Jean-Luc song is his take on Chopins Prelude 20. Very sad song, but full of emotion.

First things first. The image to the right is from AmericasWonderland.com, they have some absolutely amazing shots of Kansas for sale.

Got to thinking about the 4th of July, and what it means. There are so many things it means to Americans.

Some just think of it as a day off from work. Others think of it as a day to cook outdoors and partake of adult beverages. A few don’t even stop to think of it as anything special.

The official name of the holiday celebrated on July fourth of every year in the United States is Independence Day. Unofficially, people think of it as the symbol of the day the United States of America declared its independence from England and the monarchy.

July 4th is all those things to me. Even “just another day”.

But it is also more to me. Its about the reasons we declared our independence. Not just the symbolic act of giving the crown the middle finger, but the underlying sentiment that brought about that figurative gesture.

It started because England imposed laws on people who had almost no say in those laws. They had no chance of changing those laws, no representation to the parliment in London. The Governors of the colonies were appointed by, and ultimately reported to Englands crown. Many of these laws denied the residents of the American colonies certain rights they believed they still had as English citizens.

Of course we know that just declaring our independence on a piece of paper didn’t mean the English crown stopped trying to exert control over what it felt were English subjects.

Americans fought and died for the freedoms expressed in the Bill of Rights… and more importantly they fought for the rights that AREN’T expressed there. You see, the guys who wrote those documents knew that power corrupts, and someday someone would say “its not in the Constitution, so you don’t get it”. Well, they forsaw that. That is why the ninth and tenth amendments are probably two of the most important rights… they don’t specify one.

The 9th amendment says “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people”, meaning the authors of the document didn’t intend for this to be used as the “Be All/End All” of your list of rights.

The 10th amendment says “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people”, meaning the authors knew the Federal government would move to usurp power (or rights) not expressly granted to it, but those powers are to be retained by the people at local levels (state), not the national government.

To me, The Fourth is about remembering not only how we physically declared our independence in a document and subsequent war… but more importantly… WHY. To protect our rights. Something many Americans seem all to willing to give away to a federal government bent on destroying what made this country. Individuals. Lots of individuals, yes… but each wanting a government that would leave them to live their lives, so long as they didn’t interfere with their neighbors rights.

As a libertarian I can honestly say that I feel we’ve given up the ship. We’ve allowed the government to take from us what the men in 1776 KNEW IT WOULD WANT TO TAKE.

Have a safe 4th of July. And maybe think about it. Not just today in 2008… but WHY we actually celebrate the day.

I’m not talking about the ones in Cambodia. This particular killing field is a lot closer to home. In a small town not really known for death and destruction, but maybe it should be.

Or at least one particular section of highway should be.

Edwardsville, Kansas… at Interstate 435 and Kansas Highway 32 to be exact.

I drive on I435 past the ramps for K32 a lot. So does Mrs. Old Fart. I’ve never really thought it to be a particularly treacherous stretch of road, but how else can the following be explained.

Between the I435 bridge over the Kansas River, north to Kansas Avenue, there have been at least 5 major accidents in the last 6 months. At least 3 of them involved fatalities. If you go back one year, you can include another fatality from the tractor trailer that went over the bridge at Metropolitan Ave.

The latest accident, last night, killed two (a husband and wife), and sent their two children to the hospital. I was diverted off the interstate last night on my way home from work, and reading the story today has been surreal. How does a vehicle cross the grass median and go into oncoming traffic? It’s a rhetorical question. I know the driver can fall asleep, suffer a sever medical problem, etc… but what I am asking is… why isn’t there a guard rail separating the northbound lanes from the southbound lanes? Something as simple as that would have prevented last nights accident. I’m not sure it would have saved lives because who knows whether the husband would have regained control of the vehicle. But it would have stopped the vehicle from crashing almost head on into a Fed-Ex truck.

Government believes they need to protect us from second hand smoke… but not crossover traffic accidents at 70 mph.

You are far more likely to be killed at I435 & K32 than you are inhaling the smoke in the Red Balloon.

So, stay away from the killing field if you can. The fewer of you folks driving there, the safer I’ll be.

The Old Fart… enjoying a Sunday on the deck, drinking and gambling online.

Damn… life is still good.. although I gotta get to the store for some razors, starting to look like a freakin hippy!

Reports from Six Flags Over Georgia are that a seventeen year old moron was killed at the Batman The Ride inverted roller coaster earlier today.

But he was killed in spectacular fashion… decapitated while wondering around in the secured area, after scaling TWO six foot fences and ignoring numerous posted warning signs of the dangerousness of being in that area.

So, why did he climb those fences and ignore not only the posted warnings, but the obvious to any thinking person danger?

He’d lost his hat while on the ride.

BRILLIANT! Now he doesn’t need it.

Time for the next (second) installment of The Saturday Night Song. In these posts, I pick a song from my MP3 player, find a video of it, and share it with you… possibly adding some comments.

Tonights song is actually going to be multiple songs, on a theme.

Superman

First up will be Superman by a band called Lazlo Bane. If you watch the TV show Scrubs, you’ll know this is the theme song to that show.

Lazlo Bane is a group from California that has basically “made it” as independents. Most of their material is self released, and actually pretty good stuff. Their latest album is called Guilty Pleasures and is nothing but covers of hit 1970’s songs.

Next up is Kryptonite by 3 Doors Down

This band is from Mississippi, and became popular on the heels of this song. It is certainly a fun video.

Last up is Crash Test Dummies, Superman’s Song. I’ve always enjoyed Brad Roberts voice, and lyrically this is one of the best Superman songs ever written.

So, I hope you’ve enjoyed this installment of The Saturday Night Song, Superman Edition. FYI, my MP3 players Superman folder has eight total songs.

Can’t understand how I scored so low.

We folks here in Johnson County Kansas have a real problem. I’m not sure why, but we seem to elect fairly retarded people into office to run our local justice system.

Phill Kline wasn’t technically elected, but it fits.

Now we have the JoCo Sheriff being quoted in news articles about the proposed 1/4 cent sales tax on the August ballot.

Sheriff Frank Denning wants the tax to pass, and I can see why. His department will get lots of new stuff, including jails and a crime lab. He’d be foolish to not support this tax.

But that isn’t why I’m implying that he’s as mentally challenged as our illustrious district attorney. No.

If the sales tax is rejected, the sheriff said the jail expansion and the crime lab projects will still move forward, but the county will have to find another way to pay for them.

Uh, Sheriff Denning… when exactly did the county appoint you “the decider” for what gets paid for? If the citizens vote against this (and they should, it will never “sunset”), the county commissioners, not the Sheriffs office, will have to decide what can be paid for, and whether they need to find some other type of funding. Of course, the commissioners will become mentally challenged if they decide to go against a no vote by the residents and impose some other tax to pay for all this.

Being libertarian I am anti-tax. I strenuously oppose any tax that is a “forever” tax, and this particular tax would never go away, not even after paying for all the new toys that would make up a JoCo crime lab. Taxes with no expiration date are a misuse of the taxing ability of government, especially on a local level.

So, to Sheriff Denning I say… don’t make promises with your mouth that your ass can’t deliver on. You do not have the authority to tell the citizens what will be built with their tax dollars. To the JoCo County commissioners I say… tread carefully on this tax issue. If the citizens vote it down, it will be a message, loud and clear.