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Tuesday, February 24, 2004 |
Switchfoot. Have you heard of them? My friend who reviews music let me listen to their CD "The Beautiful Letdown." This CD, however, is not a letdown. Switchfoot is an Alternative Christian Rock band, originating from San Diego, California. Lead by Jonathon Foreman, this CD is a noteworthy compilation, with a marketable sound, engrossing and memorable melodies, and good vocals. Unlike Creed, this group’s sound is more pop-rock and punk-lite, more like Good Charlotte, Coldplay, Green Day, to name a few.
I appreciated the fact that their lyrics have a bit of substance to them. They are relevant, they make sense (unlike a few of Creed's stuff), and they are universal in meaning so that anyone with religious beliefs can listen and enjoy. In all, their lyrics are thoughtful and hopeful.
Lead by Jonathon Foreman, the vocals are highly memorable and easy to sing along to (reminiscent of my favorite CCM group Jars of Clay), most especially in the tracks "This is Your Life," "More Than Fine," "Dare You To Move," The Beautiful Letdown," "Gone," and "Twenty-Four."
Every once in awhile, Foreman's vocals reminded me of the Tears for Fears frontman, Roland Orzabel, especially on the beautiful track "On Fire."
In regards to the substance of their lyrics--It doesn't take long for the effects of life, such as world events, political issues, war, prejudice, etc., to seep into our collective consciousness and become the focus of and/or commentary within music and movies. (Consider Radiohead’s CD "Hail to the Thief" released last year.) Switchfoot doesn't tackle issues, necessarily, except in the opening track "Meant to Live," in which Foreman sings: "we want more that this world’s got to offer. We want more than the wars of our fathers."
Rather, they seem to invite us to focus on higher levels, without being preachy. The result is that we find meaning and a bit of our own desires and longings in these lyrics. Consider the lines to the chorus of the thoughtful closing sontrack "Twenty-Four":
I want to see miracles.
To see the world change.
I wrestled with the angel.
For more than a name.
For more than a feeling.
For more than a cause.
Singing spirit take me up in arms with you
You’re raising the dead in me.
10:01:58 PM  | |
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The Senate is preparing to vote on the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. This act, if passed, will give gun manufacturers, wholesalers, dealers, and trade associations immunity from being prosecuted. The House passed this bill last April.
In a letter to the New York Times, the mayors of four major US cities (Michael R. Bloomberg [New York City], Richard M. Daley [Chicago], James K. Hahn [Los Angeles], and Scott L. King [Gary, Indiana]) urge Senators to vote against the bill. Here are excerpts from their letter:
Guns destroy thousands of lives every year and spread fear in our neighborhoods. It is much too easy for criminals to get firearms. And when a handgun is readily available, a minor argument or domestic dispute can quickly escalate into a homicide.
We've worked hard to get illegal guns off the streets, through tough law enforcement, by supporting reasonable gun laws - and by suing gun manufacturers and dealers to get them to take responsibility for their actions....
But Congress is on the verge of passing legislation that would undercut the ability of local governments to hold the gun industry accountable for its role in flooding our cities with guns. The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act would shield irresponsible firearms manufacturers, wholesalers, dealers and trade associations from any form of civil liability in cases in which they recklessly or negligently supply firearms to criminals.
By immunizing gun manufacturers against civil liability, the bill would remove much of their legal incentive to behave responsibly. It would encourage bad manufacturers to remain bad and good manufacturers to become lax.
Most firearms dealers are responsible business people selling to law-abiding customers. But a small minority are not, and their unlawful actions are largely responsible for the gun violence on our cities' streets. According to federal data from 2000, 1.2 percent of dealers account for 57 percent of all guns recovered in criminal investigations. Many of these guns were illegal "straw purchases," a common street-gang tactic in which someone with a valid state firearms card buys large quantities of guns for resale to people with criminal records.
And yet the gun industry refuses to police itself. Gun manufacturers and wholesalers know who the problem dealers are, because when guns are recovered at crime scenes, they receive firearms tracing reports that show them which dealers sell disproportionately to criminals.
The gun industry claims it's merely seeking protection from frivolous lawsuits. But federal and state courts are recognizing the legal validity of many of these cases....
Almost 7,200 people were murdered with handguns in the United States in 2002, the most recent year for which figures are available. It is obvious that something needs to be done at the federal level. But rather than pass gun legislation that would make our streets safer, Congress proposes basically to immunize the gun industry from efforts to make it act responsibly.
All senators should oppose this bill. If they don't, they ought to explain why the one industry deserving of this extraordinary protection should be the one that makes a product that kills thousands of Americans each year.
Send a letter to your Senator to urge him to vote against this bill.
7:40:23 PM | |
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The Center for American Progress reported today that Paige has a record of questioning the values of public school teachers:
This is not the first time Paige has attacked the integrity and morals of public school teachers as Secretary of Education. Last April, Paige said, "The reason that Christian schools and Christian universities are growing is a result of a strong value system... That's not the case in a public school, where there are so many different kids with different kinds of values." Paige, who oversees a public school system that serves 47 million students said, "All things equal, I would prefer to have a child in a school that has a strong appreciation for the values of the Christian community, where a child is taught to have a strong faith."
Yesterday, Paige quickly issued an "apology" saying his comment was "an inappropriate choice of words to describe the obstructionist scare tactics that the NEA's Washington lobbyists have employed against No Child Left Behind's historic education reform." In his apology Paige also accused the NEA of "fighting against bringing real, rock-solid improvements in the way we educate all our children." Paige's outrageous comments, and his subsequent "apology," raise an important question: are there legitimate criticisms of the NCLB program? The answer, according to a growing number of states and localities (many of whom are led by conservatives), is a resounding yes.
7:31:48 PM | |
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