Pinocchio Lives!


PinocchioSo it is that the Supreme Court has ruled that the individual mandate within Obamacare is a tax after all. This contradicts what the president himself said when selling the policy to the American people in 2009 and 2010. It also contradicts Obama’s repeated promise that taxes would be raised “not a single dime” on the “middle class” making less than $250k per year. For obvious reasons, Pinocchio comes to mind when I think of this situation.

Beyond the nose-growing bold-faced liar aspect of this issue, there is also a less than obvious, yet more profound allegory which brings the Pinocchio story to mind. It is the dramatic sequence involving Toyland.

Pinocchio turning into donkeyIn this sequence Pinocchio is lulled away from his responsibilities by Lampwick, who leads him to a place called Toyland where everyone plays all day and never works. At first, they have a wonderful time until one morning Pinocchio awakes with donkey ears. It turns out that Playland was just a trap entice little boys into a life of servitude as donkeys. Aside from the great irony that the donkey is the official symbol of the Democratic Party, this is perfectly symbolic. Those who actually believe the promise of all this “free” stuff in Obamacare without regard for the crippling debt which awaits on the other end may someday wake up and find their donkey ears and tail are permanent.

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Father’s Day

Pat AlbanoI’ve been twice told that this day would never come.

My father has a whole assortment of chronic conditions including heart disease, kidney failure, and diabetes. In March 2010, I got a call from his physician (the first such call I had ever received) and was told bluntly that the convergence of all my father’s conditions left him no more than 3 months to live. During those subsequent months my father lost his right leg as well as one his best friends, circumstances which may have broken most people, but somehow he persevered. This past April, my father suffered his fifth heart attack and my wife, children, and I went to his bedside late at night because we were told there was a chance that would be his last night on Earth. But somehow he pulled through and he’s still here with us.

Although still in dire shape (he was brought to the emergency room just last night), I am going to cherish the time I spend with my father this weekend. Through the years he has offered me little tidbits of potent wisdom at times when I had least expected it. I believe he is still here for a purpose and, perhaps, he has one more lesson to teach me.

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Update – Pat Albano passed away on August 15, 2012. An online memorial has been set up at Albano-USA.org

The Beatles First Abbey Road Session

At the end of the Beatles last ever live performance (on a London rooftop) John Lennon jokingly said “I hope we passed the audition”. Well, there was actually a time when the band had to pass auditions and the last of these instances happened on June 6, 1962, 50 years ago today, when the band entered Abbey Road Studios for the first time.

Although the actual recordings made that day were nothing spectacular, several events happened that day which would change the course of rock history…

Read entire article at Classic Rock Review