By Staff
It saddened me Veterans Day to think that the Greatest Generation who fought so bravely to protect our freedoms such as the First Amendment feel more betrayed by and powerless before their government than, say, the punk band Green Day.
The trio also includes bassist Mike Dirnt (Michael Ryan Pritchard) and drummer Tre Cool (Frank Edwin Wright III).
These California slackers have come far from their first hit, “Longview,” in 1994, maturing into full-fledged rock stars with something to say.
Green Day won a Grammy and swept the 2005 MTV Video Awards in Miami, earning Best Video for “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”
American Idiot, John Colapinto writes, “is a fearless and politically astute rock album, a richly melodic song suite that gives voice to the disenfranchised suburban underclass of Americans who feel wholly unrepresented by the current leadership of oilmen and Ivy Leaguers, and who are too smart to accept the ‘reality' presented by news media who sell the government's line of fear and warmongering.”
Armstrong, who has been married to Adrienne for 11 years, began writing the album not to bash Bush or to preach, but to “purge” feelings building inside him and to process what happened after Sept. 11, 2001.
We are the government.
We get the leadership we deserve based on what we demand.
And if you tune out, like 70 percent of Dowagiac skipping a pivotal election that decided the direction of city government and reduced the presence of its greatest asset, Southwestern Michigan College, you forfeit your place at the political table just as much-needed moderation is finally returning to the menu.
Michael Sessions, a high school student who mounted a write-in campaign against incumbent Doug Ingles, 51, was elected Hillsdale mayor Nov. 8.
Detroit re-elected Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and added Motown singer Martha Reeves to its City Council.
Jerry Kilgore, personally endorsed by President Bush for Virginia governor, lost.
St. Paul voters threw out Democratic Mayor Randy Kelly a year after he publicly backed Bush's re-election.
California defeated four ballot initiatives backed by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Retired: Judith Miller, 57, the New York Times reporter at the center of the CIA leak case, resigned, the newspaper announced Nov. 9. “I have become the news,” said Miller, at the Times since 1977 and part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2002 for reporting on global terrorism. She spent 85 days in jail last summer for refusing to testify, but came under attack in her own pages from Maureen Dowd.
Some great characters in Shonda Rhimes' nine-actor ensemble, to be sure. All episodes are named for songs.
Hard to believe that the same woman responsible for “Grey's Anatomy” also wrote Britney Spear's film debut, “Crossroads.”
Miranda “the Nazi” Bailey (Chandra) Wilson, 36, the sassy surgical resident who has been married for a decade, will see her real-life pregnancy written into the show. Intern George O'Malley (T.R. Knight). A potential pairing of Alex Karev (Justin Chambers, who has five children in real life) and Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl).
Peter Horton directs “Grey's Anatomy.” Horton, 52, died as professor Gary in ABC's “thirtysomething” (1987-91). They haven't made “fiftysomething” yet, but that cast reunited recently at Polly Draper's Los Angeles home.
Ken Olin (Michael Steadman), 51, produces and directs “Alias.” His wife, Patricia Wettig (Nancy Weston), 53, who won three Emmys, plays the villainous vice president on “Prison Break.” Timothy Busfield (Elliot Weston), 48, directs “Without a Trace” and has a recurring role on “The West Wing.”
Photographer Melissa (Melanie Mayron, 53), also directs - “Ed” and the movie “The Baby-Sitters Club.” Mel Harris (Hope Steadman), 48, runs a home-remodeling business. Draper (Ellyn), 49, still acts on television.
She's never been a likable character. Right after the plane went down she painted her toes in a bikini. Now we learn she's grieving her father as well as step-brother Boone.
Quips, quotes and qulunkers: “It's deeply regrettable that the president is using Veterans Day as a campaign-like attempt to rebuild his own credibility by tearing down those who seek the truth about the clear manipulation of intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war. Instead of providing open and honest answers about how we will achieve success in Iraq and allow our troops to begin to come home, the president reverted to the same manipulation of the facts to justify a war we never should have fought.”
15: Number of days notice the U.S. Labor Department agreed to give Wal-Mart stores before inspecting for child-labor violations. A settlement made Wal-Mart pay all of $135,540 with no admission of wrongdoing, despite 85 violations.
Scalito: That's a nickname for Federal Appeals Court Judge Samuel Alito Jr., 55, because he's Catholic, Italian-American, conservative and hails from Trenton, N.J., just like Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
The comparison is misleading, however, because Alito is the antithesis of the brash, zealous Scalia.
Pardon me: President Bush granted no pardons in 2001 or 2002, but he approved four in 2003, 22 in 2004 and 29 so far this year.
Anniversary: Bruce Springsteen's “Born to Run,” the New Jersey rocker's third album which landed him the covers of Time and Newsweek the same week, 30.