the frig blig

If elected president, Senator John McCain would reserve the right to run his own warrantless wiretapping program against Americans, based on the theory that the president’s wartime powers trump federal criminal statutes and court oversight, according to a statement released by his campaign Monday.

That’s the lead from Ryan Singel’s story in the June 3 issue of Wired.com.

What is Obama’s position on warrantless wiretapping? The following is from the Council on Foreign Relations‘ website:

Sen. Obama’s response to the NSA spying controversy was mixed. On one hand, he opposed the nomination of former NSA chief Michael Hayden to the position of CIA director because of his role in the warrantless wiretapping program and said that he disapproved of Bush’s avoidance of FISA oversight in the NSA eavesdropping efforts. But on the other hand, like Clinton, Dodd, and Biden, he did not join in Sen. Feingold’s efforts to censure Bush over the warrantless wiretapping of U.S. citizens.

The current issue of Eat The State contains a very plausible explanation for Hillary Clinton’s continued attacks on Democratic candidate Obama, in the face of impending defeat; to wit: she knows she can’t win this nomination, so she’s attempting to help McCain win the November election in order to run against him (McCain) in 2012. This makes perfect sense for a politician as ambitious as Clinton. Of course, should McCain end up with the presidency in 2008, Clinton may very well end up facing Obama again in the race for the Democratic candidate in 2012.

But the relevant point here is that she doesn’t give a damn about her party (much less, the citizens), she only gives a damn about Ms. Clinton. Surprise, surprise.

A month ago I decided to learn the song Misterioso on guitar, which seemed excruciatingly difficult but I figured if I could learn that one I could learn almost anything (and I’ve always loved those notes). I dutifully practiced it almost daily, and after 3 weeks it started sounding like the actual tune, and I started playing with alternate rhythms and figured out my own riff at the end and which blues chords sounded natural to transition into.

For my upcoming birthday, the fish paid for a couple of lessons from a real guitar teacher. My first lesson was a week ago yesterday, during which time I discovered when playing with my teacher that my guitar was at least a half-step out of tune. Upon returning home I tuned it to my trusty old pitch-pipe. An in-tune guitar is good, and I felt satisfied.

Since that first lesson I have been learning the notes — not that they’re called A, B, C etc., but which strings produce which pitches when plucked, etc.

Today the horrible realization struck me that the notes I’d learned to play Misterioso with are actually a half-step off! I quickly confirmed this by listening to the first few notes of Monk’s recording. Apparently I taught myself to play this piece in the key of f#. Which is very cool until you want someone to accompany you.

Of course this has occurred on the most fiendishly difficult fingering I’ve learned, and moving it down a half-step on the fretboard totally changes the fingerings. Should I relearn the piece in it’s true key, or stick with the key of f-sharp?