Osama bin Later

"As for me, all I know is that I know nothing."

-Plato

I'm already sick of it. The conspiracists, the news, the celebrations, the over-analysis... ENOUGH!

This is not to deny something so historic as an evil mastermind being taken out.

But we have to be the bigger country. When we danced in the streets after World War II it was not primarily because Hitler's body itself could no longer breathe, eat, fart and sleep, it was because OUR citizens got to come home. And Obama can only take so much credit for taking him out. What call would you have made? Hand the guy a smoothie?

Some will say Osama's death does nothing to curb terrorism and that nay, it may even galvanize the movement. But we'd neutralized Al-Qaeda's abilities several years ago already. It was the fact that this one man, a figurehead to both those who love and hate the US, was able to evade the most advanced nation in the world for 1o years that gave strength to a movement who's warriors relied on crude weapons and earthen caves for shelter.

But our media and society are wrapped up in the details. We want to know the gory details, see pictures (I wouldn't mind), know exactly how we got him. The media stands to gain from outing every single detail possible and the government stands to gain from restraining the galvanization of terrorists, world-wide, by not showing pictures of Osama's body.

This is where the conspiracists jump in. They will say that the absence of a body is questionable, which I can agree with. That's why creationists are so annoying. The burden of proof should be on the party claiming that there is something invisible out there, to have "faith" in.

I understand this notion. But what I do not understand is a belief, one that seemingly many adults my age subscribe to, that someone or something else, some New World Order, took the towers down and continue to create media events, such as Bin Laden's death. This is supposedly to control you and me, some sort of Brave New World where Big Brother is a Bank with Bombs.

Talk to a former Navy SEAL or wife of a marine and they might lose their mind on you, citing how the US has to protect it's sources, can't reveal info because people in the field will lose their lives.

And my favorite part about it, is everybody KNOWS. The plumber, the doctor, musicians and artists, kids that do nothing but take bong hits on the couch all day. Everybody KNOWS what happened and I'll tell you one thing, when New Orleans found out that Osama was dead after drinking all day in the hot sun at JazzFest, tensions ran high.

Here's a news flash from the desk of TJMUSIC that I hope you enjoy: YOU DON'T KNOW. Remember learning about primary and secondary sources in elementary school? You're a secondary source. So is the media. Take everything with a grain of salt, for sure. But some sort of overarching conspiracy theory, involving media and government, pulling the shades down over our eyes, is ludicrous.

I'll tell you why: because the media stands to gain far more from outing a conspiracy like that, than covering it up. And a conspiracy involving four planes, three locations (DC, NY and Penn), two ensuing wars and media coverage to support it all the whole time, takes a number of people and amount of money operating in total secrecy that would be impossible to cover up.

Politicians are outed for sending sexy text messages to a young page or not paying a couple thousand bucks in taxes. Bill Clinton got caught based on one snail-trail! Those scandals are a media frenzy, but somehow "they", whoever "they" is, planned an attack on our own soil and keep the media quiet to this day... have you people gone completely banana-rama bonkers?

I truly do not care what YouTube video you've watched, which paper you've read, how you interpret politician's comments. Far be it from me to tell anyone to trust a politician, but look at the whole picture and follow a scientific concept most call Occam's Razor. It says the simplest explanation is most often the correct one, and it holds true in most areas of the universe. Either the banks, corporations, media, military and by the way, thousands of civilians who work on government contracts are ALL out there in one cohesive conspiracy, or the truth resembles what the truth always resembles: a gumbo of events that are filtered through special interests (secondary sources), to get to you.

But don't sit around and tell me the world conspires in one big cohesive way to fuck you over. That's a pity party.

Tell me you can admit what you don't know for sure, or get on a plane to the Middle East and become a primary source.

WTF Politics?!

This is a music blog. Actually it's my blog, so it can be about unicorns and red wine and you'll like it! But one thing that grinds my gears, torques my chain and downright gets my goat is politics. The only real reason I care about national politics is the fact that the world is watching, too. Terrorists use our policy ideals to recruit more terrorists. Conversely, people around the world look to America's policy and politicians as examples. Why? I'm increasingly not sure but it's true and if you don't think so, ask yourself why Obama won a Nobel Peace Prize. He won largely on the fact that he stands for an America that has at least moved toward tolerance or the idea of such. George Bush talked about the war on terror as a "crusade". We saw how violent and irrational a perceived non-tolerant Pres could be and the Nobel Prize was the world's relief, expressed to a man who hadn't really done anything on the world stage, yet.

But this pendulum of relief is only temporary and always swings back toward anxiety and fear again. This is especially true within the United States. We live in somewhat of a culture of fear. We choose our diets because we fear high cholesterol, choose safe cars or safe neighborhoods because of fear, all we get from talking heads on TV is information about what is to be feared. We were so afraid in 2001 that George Bush pulled the biggest one on us yet. He managed to convince us, or our representatives at least, that we needed to waste billions of dollars and thousands of lives, invading a country that had nothing, NOTHING, to do with 9/11. All to finish daddy's business.

We caught up to wily W's plan around the time he was to leave office and the ills of the GOP galvanized Obama's massive movement of youth to the polls. Now, I believe, we are experiencing yet another shift, a pendulum swing back to the right. Look at the highly fragmented Tea Party movement. In the 90's they wouldn't have stood a chance. Newt and his Contract with America solidified the GOP's personality such that plat-formless, libertarian-minded groups could do little to penetrate the Grand Old Party. But the lines are creeping to the right. People are scared and reacting to the huge, but necessary, financial bailouts.

Now it's like a free for all. Democrats are anxious to support their president, while fearful of opponents who spew off ridiculous claims regarding taxes and the deficit. Listening to economists you realize this whole deficit situation is pretty simple. We have three major sources of spending: Medicare, Social Security and the Military and one major source of revenue, taxes.

SO...GUESS WHAT'S GOOD IN THE HOOD PEOPLE? If we clean up unnecessary spending for programs that don't make people healthier in Medicare and stop considering the notion that rich people shouldn't pay taxes, we could maybe get ourselves out of this hole. Oh yeah, that multi-billion dollar, needless war that Bush and Dick started didn't help either. Let's neutralize Osama bin Laden and the Al-Queda sects in both Afgani/Pakistan AND Yemen. Yemen is where that lowly sack came from who tried to blow up the Christmas party plane last year over Detroit.

Then we can return to making policy decisions that don't help terrorists recruit more terrorists. Right now, all they have to do is turn on the news.

TOUR PHOTOS

Pics from last couple years of tour...

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

WTF People?!?

After a string of shootings in places far, and way too near to myself and loved ones, I have only one question to ask.

WTF America?

Gun violence is nothing new, even in (typically) quiet, suburban Denver. I can still vividly remember that day, before school lock-downs were commonplace, when our middle school class was told that students had been shot right down the road at Columbine High School.

Gun culture has always been pervasive in our society. The American Revolution, Frontiersman and Settlers, Cowboys and Indians, GI Joe... the list goes on. All of these inherently American institutions involve fire-arms and I don't see the trend going away any time soon. The NRA, military-industrial complex and a strong Washington gun lobby will make sure that gats and 9's are here to stay.

But still, WTF last week??? First, a psychologist goes psycho on those he was sworn to help at a military base in Texas. A laid-off engineer in Florida goes ballistic. A recent college grad gets shot in the chest in the Denver suburbs. A 20-year local in Vail lets loose with a hand-cannon in a bar. Not to mention a hostage situation at the same hour that night, just down the road in Beaver Creek, and a Seattle police shooting which occurred just as officers were filing out of a funeral for the last police officer who was slain.

I've never been a sensationalist and I do think the media over-covers negative news. But I think several of the events mentioned above hit a little close to home last week. Our band, Frogs Gone Fishin', played at the very bar where the Vail shooting occurred, exactly one week beforehand. The dude who was murdered in South Denver lived less than a mile from my house. Oh yeah, he played guitar and was in my high school graduating class, too.

I believe serious thought needs to be applied to gun control by the Obama administration. In the past, his attorney general has said there are "only a few gun related changes we'd like to make". And of course, I'm all for people doing whatever, and I mean whatever, they like to do. But let's think about our society and how all of us are prone to make momentary mistakes which we later regret. Mistakes made with guns, however, are oftentimes irreversible.

Funky Obama

Hello this morning from foggy Boulder, CO. The clouds are misting their way up the flatirons and the result is magical, mysterious and unusual for Colorado weather; CO normally sees more than 300 days of sunshine per year. The natural beauty of mountains in the mist makes me happy that I can spend more than just a week in Denver and the rest of my beautiful state.

Although it will be comfortable for us Frogs to relax in our natural habitat, by no means are we ceasing the flow of booking, performing and rehearsing over the next month before heading out on tour through the South . In addition, I am focusing energy on the final New Orleans talent For/Sure Productions will be contracting to play at Mountainside Mardi Gras (exactly one year from today!). As usual, I can't release specific names... but one of the headliners is a Doctor, the other rhymes with prophylactic... I bet you can figure it out...

I've written about how Colorado inspires me creatively before. Soon, a major influx of minds both creative, political and otherwise will storm the city for the Democratic National Convention. Despite overly expensive lodging and no parking to speak of 17 days before the convention even starts, Denverites are tickled with excitement every time the convention comes up in conversation.

And so it is now that I, Trevor Colin Jones, officially endorse Barack Obama for the next President of the United States (I'm sure he'll be relieved when he reads this..). Considering this blog is about music and occasionally zombies, I have no problem operating on a completely biased, subjective basis. If you don't agree with me, start your own blog! The following is my perspective on American politics for as long as I've been jaded enough to follow them.

Bill Clinton was an excellent leader who got a great BJ accomplished. That's right, the Balance Job Clinton did on the budget in the mid-90's makes me wonder if Bush has ever done a BJ in his life (he now holds the record for biggest budget deficit ever). When Bush took over, some really scary stuff happened in New York and the scary images from that day played over and over on TV until we were collectively scared enough as a country to elect a tyrannical leader. That was our mistake and it wasn't a novel one. Abusive leaders have been coming to power in times of uncertainty for ages. I recently read that Bush was rated #1 worst President ever as determined by Worst President in the History of America Magazine's Worst President Ever Poll.

But now we can move past all that, and with the help of Denver and the DNC we have the chance to become a more progessive, even funkier country. Do I think Obama is funky? Yes. But, do I think that is a reason to vote for him? Yes. If we had a national dance during the Bush administration it would look something like a mix between line dancing, square dancing and a drunken wobble.

Obama can make America funky again.