Al-Zarqawi dead

Rove off the Hook

Bush making, not reacting to, the news in Iraq

If the GOP keeps getting/creating good news over the next 4 months, we can expect few if any shake ups in November.

Democrats, please stop assuming a Republican implosion is going to restore our power in Congress. We need to focus on promoting an agenda that is distinctive, compelling and convincingly explains why we can do a better job.

Playing kids games are fun. But I'm really hoping the next craze will be forgetting our pasts while we work and sacrfice to raise healthy children -- not to mention striving to better understand complex sociopolitical events. If increased voting and reading are involved, I'm definitely in.

Can't wait!

Or the era when Randy Newman, Lou Reed, Leonard Cohen and Steely Dan were younger and made stronger statements with their music?

Cultural archetypes change, but you can still find Jews doing something cool and creative. Same with Hindus, Muslims, Christians, athiests, etc.

As much as I dislike Pres. Bush, his cursing doesn't bother me. Almost all of us use profanity whether expressing frustration or shooting the sh.. with friends and colleagues.

What bothers me is the way Bush delegates duties Prime Minister Blair and Sec. of State Rice without betraying any comprehension of the disasters unfolding -- or any vision for promoting stability. Why isn't that the focus of today's news?

Funny, my devoutly Irish Catholic friends love the New York Times on Sundays. And my non-religious wife and I love to join them for the occasional church service.

The great thing about friends, and people in general, is that they can embrace a number of seemingly contradictory /incongruous traits. In fact, the odd complexity of their behavior and beliefs is what gives them genuine personality.

Miles and her friends, on the other hand, seem desperate to be "types" -- snooty liberal intellectuals and misunderstood/ostracized believers.

I'll be presumptuous and accuse Miles of simply wanting to congregate with more substantial, and less shallow, people. I just hope she realizes that painting this conversion in such broad strokes ignores the fact that many others -- regardless of politics and lifestyle -- are also capable of accepting new thoughts, feelings and beliefs.

If you equate Rock Stardom with iconic rebellion reverberating across all strata of society (al a Jimi, Jim, Lou, Rotten), then it has indeed died. But not at the hands of the GenX-Grunge movement. Blame the evolution of media scrutiny in the '90s.

Only 20 years ago, bands like REM and U2 were able to build audiences over several years and a handful of albums before becoming household names. Musicians in these bands were able to use this time and space to deepen their artistic perspective and build success on their own terms. As a result, we got a 15-20 year run of above-average albums with no drug-related deaths (just a drunken airline rant from Peter Buck).

But at the same time, MTV, Entertainment Tonight, People, Spin, Rolling Stone, etc. pushed entertainment coverage into a massive, self-referential, machine that would not profile new artists without comparing them to older Rock Stars or chronicling chemical and behavioral excesses as proof of their worth.

So when Nirvana releases "Nevermind," worldwide success is immediately bestowed on them -- with the implicit expectation that they would indeed be as big as the Beatles. And for a physically and emotionally tortured guy like Kurt Cobain, that level of pressure is just the thing to begin a downward spiral.

But Nirvana's example is the most extreme. If they had thrived before the '90s, bands like Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden wouldn't have had David Fricke screaming "Masterpiece" with every new single and would have probably developed their music and audience more effectively. Conversely, even a young David Bowie wouldn't have had the stamina to cater to the relentless level of publicity, scrutiny and expectations that drove music magazines and video channels in the '90s.

So it's no surprise that thoughtful, artistically substantial, musicians are more content to avoid publicity and play to small, savvy, audiences. And it's no surprise that the only "Rock Star" who is able to thrive on the endless exposure afforded by today's media is Paris Hilton.

Given the age of the Hall's nominating committee, I think they just forgot about T Rex.

It's no suprise that Captain Beefheart hasn't been inducted, just as it's no surprise that X, Wire, PiL and Black Flag won't be inducted. Despite their considerable contributions to rock music, these artists haven't "reached across" enough listeners(aka, sold enough albums). There's no other reason why mediocre acts such as Aerosmith and Black Sabbath are in.

Rap acts will doubtless suffer from the same criteria. Expect Run DMC, Public Enemy, Queen Latifah, NWA, Diddy and OutKast to make the hall in the coming years -- but few others.

RIP Marc Bolan.

I believe Keith Richards snorted -- because when people have been rich, pampered and idolized for more than 30 years they tend to be outrageously decadent.

Of course, the reason why someone like Keith gets to that point is because of people like you and me -- and companies like Disney. No one else is heaping millions of dollars in sales and publicity on him or other members of the Stones, all the while goading them to be rebels.

But the reality is that Richards is just too old and comfortable to take the heat when he takes off his mask and we flinch.

Not that there's nothing wrong with that. By writing "Ruby Tuesday," "Gimme Shelter" and "Beast of Burden," Keith earned the right to make dumb moves. We'll be listening to those songs long after Disney drops Keith and Mogwai finally fades into alt-oblivion.