Soundpolitic Sundays: Coffee Table Book Edition

by: Soundpolitic

Mon Mar 29, 2010 at 11:17:25 AM EDT

Sometimes, I need to take a break from politics.  And sometimes, even when I try to take a break, like in last weeks edition, I still end up writing a freakin' book about the stuff.  Last week, I felt like Monty Python.

This week, I feel a little more like Kramer.

So in this weeks' edition, I won't get into too much detail about the Coffee Party I hosted or the other two I attended, even if they were part of over 400 National Coffee Party Issues Summits this weekend.  Instead, I'll just take a quick look at some of the books I haven't written that inspire me to get involved to the point where I just need to take a break and be a day late on all this.

Soundpolitic Sundays: Super Bowl of Crap Edition

by: Soundpolitic

Sun Feb 07, 2010 at 12:46:43 PM EST

Nowadays, after a years' worth of depression "due to" unemployment in my chosen field of paralegal studies and growing and frustration for lack of professionalism in indie rock, I've got the writing bug again.  Out of respect for all living beings, I refuse to swat it.  I've been feeding it like a fiend.

I had big plans for my return.  Summarizing the Talking Heads shows, going topical again, ect., ect., ect....but this proved to nothing more than some intangible idea to make a move back to wind-baggery.  It wasn't real.  

What follows below the fold certainly is:  I just starting writing an e-mail to a very dear friend of my father while he generously offered use of his computer to compose a freelance piece on traditional-string-based contemporary rock.  The two of us had gone to dinner last night and spoke a bit about the Big Game coming up today.  Naturally, we talked more about commercials than about football.

I decided to shoot her a quick e-mail link to the famous Apple 1984 commercial on YouTube.  Then I added a couple of blurbs from the web to give more information.  Then I kept writing and, voila!  I was blogging again, just for the love of putting words together.  I blind-copied it to a bunch of friends, but then decided if I left it at that, I'd have left all of you guys out.  So no fair...read on for the first installment of Soundpolitic Sundays.

The Sutras of Abu Ghraib: An Interview With Conscientious Objector Aidan Delgado

by: Intrepid Liberal Journal

Tue Nov 20, 2007 at 21:50:22 PM EST

The topic below was originally posted in my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal, as well as the Out of Iraq Bloggers Caucus, the Independent Bloggers Alliance, the Wild Wild Left and Worldwide Sawdust.

In 2001, Aidan Delgado was twenty-years old and in need of a life anchor. Delgado had primarily grown up abroad in far away places such as Cairo, Egypt, Thailand and Senegal due to his father's career as a diplomat. While attending college in Florida, Delgado felt culturally out of place and adrift. Having led an "ivory tower" existence of academia and privilege, Delgado opted to join the United States Army Reserves for a different perspective.

By sheer coincidence he signed his enlistment contract on September 11th. Those closest to him questioned the wisdom of Delgado's choice. The terrorist attacks convinced Delgado he made the correct decision as the country underwent a surge of patriotic feeling and rallying to the flag. At the time he was proud of having decided to join the United States Reserves before September 11th. Delgado didn't know it yet but the next three years of his life would transform his entire being.