Happy New Year 9.1.1.

or, "will it be the same old same old?"
Happy 9.1.1. I hope.

Back on the "original" 9/11, 2001, the radical Islamic arm looked to take down the United States. They hated us for our freedoms, our permissive views on how the world should run, and, by and large, because we had hitherto been so successful.

They probably also hated us because we had engineered said permissions and freedoms OUT of their status quo, but that's probably a different story for another day.

So on 9/11, they sent a couple of planes to take out the World Trade Center.

They also succeeded in goading a knee-jerk reactionary government into taking unnecessary steps which eventually led us into a war in which we had no need, and no true purpose.

Part of what happened was we began in earnest to build a Police State. It began in our airports and, soon, extended to our train depots. In some places, it is present in our subways and, of course, it is present at our state borders.

We have played right into the hands of what these terrorists wanted. In fighting this "war on terror", a war against "an unseen enemy", we have stripped down the basic rights of our citizenry and reduced ourselves to the enemy we once feared.

If the basic goal of the terrorists was to eradicate this country because of its principles, they have already won, and we have handed them their victory.

Here at 1/1/2009, or 9.1.1, we are sitting in a country which is sitting in a financial quagmire in very large part because of the offensive we launched back in 2003 because of something that happened in 2001, even though the two causes were not connected.

Not Really.

And we are looking at a very bleak picture: Thus far, we are being socially reduced to rubble. We cannot shine as people when we must concentrate on making the ends of the shoestring meet, living hand-to- mouth. The economic problems we face are directly connected to our success socially. The renaissance we enjoyed for that brief moment in time gave us so much, and yet while our top brass is bailing out the banks and the carmakers, they are letting the very elements of the soul of this country wither and die. The arts. The social programs.

A friend of mine recently pointed out the difference between Conservative Equality and Liberal Equality:

"Liberal Equality states that the end result is equal, no matter the path one takes in life to get to the end. Conservative Equality is on the other end: We all start with a level playing field and it is up to us to make something of it."

I agree with this in principle, but there are the ever remaining issues that we do not all start with a level playing field, and even if we start there, those of us who play fairly get screwed over by those who play without ethics, by those who hide behind a shield of righteousness to promote discriminating agendae, by those whose definition of fairness means "fair for me and screw everybody else". In short, "after me, you come first."

We are, ever more, becoming that which we so feared back in the Cold War. We are turning into the old U.S.S.R. with all its trappings. Yes, we have the "right to vote" -- for either of two sides of a flawed single-party system. Yes, we have the right to freedom of expression, so long as we do not express anything against our government or rally dissent. Yes, we have the right to our capitalism, as long as we acknowledge that the government has the right to walk in and take everything we own by brute force if need be.

There is no longer a difference between what was, over there, and what is, over here.
...and this is not going to change until we, the people, nut up, and hold the gun to our government, cock the hammer and demand that they admit their responsibility, their irresponsibility.

And if they refuse, we, the people, can no longer sit idly by and not pull that trigger.

The Good and The Bad

The Good

Okay, we have Barack Obama, our first African-American...no. Our first BLACK president, or President of Colour. Let's call it as it is. Political Correctness must die if we are to achieve anything of substance in this world.

No, I'm not upset by this at all. In fact, I'm THRILLED that we don't get FOUR MORE YEARS of the McSame Old Same Old.

But we need to quit hyping this up as "A Great Day For The Heritage Of African-Americans". That is NOT what this election stands for.

It stands for the promise of change. Change for the better, or so I can hope. He has TWO YEARS, at most, to establish his mandate. If he does it right, he gets two more years. We'll need that left-swinging mandate in order to get back to centre.

The Bad

As happy as I am about this, I am also very very upset at the two measures in California that are passing that shouldn't:

Proposition 8 - Banning the Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry

1. What is the problem with this? Where does the difficulty exist?? I'll grant that "traditional marriage" is between members of the opposite sex, given lack of documentation to the contrary. But you f*cking right-wing fear-of-god MORONS would deny them rights as individuals? Is it really wrong for two people to love each other? Does it matter what RACE they are? How about what their financial status is? Hell, why don't we prohibit Democrats and Republicans from marrying?

...So why does it matter what their sexual ORIENTATION is? Don't say "preference", because you're demeaning the natural order of things and DON'T gimme your "God says this" bullshit because I Have HAD it with you bigots and your playing on the fears of otherwise good people. Go jump into a pit of concrete and be gone with you.

2. I have the SERIOUS problem with this in that the majority of funding and effort to defeat this measure has come from OUT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA. That means that other states are trying to tell California how it should be voting on matters of state. This needs to STOP.

3. We need to put something into place to reject the ability to change the state's constitution with a simple majority vote. It should be a two-thirds majority for something that important. That this was not in place for this initiative is a Very Bad Thing.

Proposition 9: Rights of Victims AND THEIR FAMILIES to show up at parole hearings and keep people in jail.

It's easy to see the perspective on this: Someone kills your family, you want to make sure they stay in jail.

But you idiots who only see the one side of this argument are missing something very important: There are a LOT of people incarcerated who have served their time and should not be denied their chance at parole who will end up serving a longer sentence than is reasonable for their crime.

So you who passed these two bits of legislations should be ashamed of yourselves. You are not only not interested in truly being a co-operative part of society, but you thrive on the conflict you create.

Shame on you, all of you.

The Wall - Political Edition

[Note: Original credit for music goes to Roger Waters, David Gilmour and Bob Ezrin, of course. The lyrics are somewhat mine.]

The concept for this is that the current political climate lends itself rather well to the politics and reactions within The Wall as it was. The lyrics have been rearranged/rewritten to reflect the real world. The story is simple: We note the recent past and go from there. "In the Flesh?" and "The Thin Ice" might seem a touch out of order, but I think they carry pretty much the same flow as the original work on which this was based, i.e. _The Wall_, by Pink Floyd. As dark as it is, it's a true masterpiece -- either you'll love it or you will abhor it. Some people saw the original as a very whiny self-pitying act; I think it goes much broader and much MUCH deeper than that. _The Wall_ strikes me as catharsis as well as reflection, and if you've never dealt with a loss that messes up your head and tried to find your way out of it -- or you don't know of anyone who has dealt with this -- you may well not understand that point of view.

At the time of this writing, I am still marching on the stairway in hell -- whether it's up and out or just up, over and down, I don't know, but Churchill had the right idea: "If you find yourself going through hell, for heaven's sake, KEEP GOING!"

Without further ado, I present an adaptation meant to inflame emotions and rain fury as never before seen upon any branch or individual in government who intends to limit the freedoms of individuals in the name of their own private economy. This is The Wall - Political Edition.

...oh, and if anyone gets the bright idea that I mean physical harm, here, get a clue.

---

IN THE FLESH?

(Waters/Greywolf)

So ya   Thought ya
Might like to
Go to the polls

To feel that thrill of election
As they all poke their holes

Tell me, is something eluding you, sunshine?
Is this not how it's expected to be?
We're quite sure that you'll win the presidency
You just have to know the right people, you see...

RIGHTS!
DRAW UP THE PATRIOT ACT!
ACTION!
DROP IT ON 'EM....DROP IT ON 'EM!

THE THIN ICE

(Waters/Greywolf)

Mamma loves her baby
And daddy loves you, too
And we'll make sure you lead this nation
Though the states all look blue
But oooooooooooh, babe
Ooooooh, baby -- blue,
Ooooooooooooooooh, babe...

If you should take office
On the coattails of your old dad
Dragging behind you the riotous hatred
Of the people you've made mad
Don't be surprised when a crack in your ice
Sullies everything that you've done
You'll slip out of your depth
('cos you don't have a mind)
And no cares to what comes behind you
-- Let them claw the thin ice...

ANOTHER GLITCH IN THE POLL PART I

(Waters/Greywolf)

Dad's sent troops across the ocean
He's gone and tried to kill Saddam
His mission was a dismal failure
Daddy, what else did you leave to bomb?
Daddy, what'd you leave for me to bomb?

All in all it was just a glitch in the poll
All in all it's just another glitch in the poll

THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF OUR LIVES

(Waters/Greywolf)

When we were young and running comp'nies
There were activist idjits
Who would try to hurt us any way they could
By sneering their derision as they watched us get shut down
Exposed all our agendas and rode us on a rail out of town

But in time, as they would celebrate and drink to victory,
We planned in private hives to wreak the perfect mis'ry on their lives

ANOTHER GLITCH IN THE POLL PART II

(Waters/Greywolf)

We'll make cuts to education
We'll step up our thought control
We'll disenfranchise all the voters
Congress, leave them votes alone...
Hey! Congress! Leave them votes alone!

All in all, it's just another glitch in the poll
All in all, it's just another glitch in the poll

DADDY (MOTHER)

(Waters/Greywolf)

Daddy, should I go and drop some bombs?
Daddy, should I go and get Saddam?
Daddy, will the people figure out the holes?
Ooooh, pa...
Daddy, should I rig the polls?

Daddy, will I stay the President?
Daddy, should I rig the Government?
Daddy, should I really favour Big Oil?
Ooooh, pa...
Daddy, am I really spoiled?

Hush, my Georgie, Georgie, don't you cry...
Daddy's gonna help all your opponents get screwed
Daddy's gonna make all of their nightmares come true
And though I can't keep you here under my wing
Daddy still knows how to pull a few strings
Daddy can make sure that nothing goes wrong
Ooooh, George
Ooooh, George
Ooh, George
Of course, Daddy's gonna help rig the polls

Daddy, what if there's no WMDs ... to see?
Daddy, are the blue states dangerous ... to me?
Daddy, will they blow your little boy apart?
Ooooh, pa...
Is it true I have no heart?

Hush my Georgie, Georgie, don't you cry...
The Fed's gonna help skyrocket interest rates
Cheney's gonna help join up the church with the state
Donnie's gonna 'splain that first Iraq war away
Condi's gonna tell the people that it's all okay
Karl's gonna help strip out the whole Bill of Rights
Ooooh, George
Ooooh, George
Ooh, George
-> When You Travel...JUST TURN OUT THE LIGHTS! <-

...Daddy, does this have to last so
Long?

GOOD BYE BLUE SKY

(Waters/Greywolf)

"...and the happy little goat sai--"
(whisper whisper whisper whisper)
"...and the happy little goat said, 'Thank You, Mama'"

[If someone can get me a quote from the book the idiot was reading when the towers went down, send it to me.]

Ooooooooooh
Ooooooooooh
Ooooooooooh

...Did did did did you see the towers fall?
...Did did did did you hear the lifeline calls?
...Did did did did you ever wonder why we had to run for shelter
as the flag of the new Fourth Reich unfurled beneath the great blue sky?

Ooooooooooh
Ooooooooooh

...Flames are all gone, but the threat lingers on

Good bye, Blue Sky
Watch our rights die...
...goodbye, goodbye...

EMPTY SPACES

(Waters/Greywolf)

What shall we use to fill the empty spaces
That show the votes not for me?
How shall we rig the polling places?
How shall we corrupt the polls?

YOUNG LUST

(Gilmour/Greywolf)

I am just the new guy
The stranger to this land
Where's Mr. Bin Laden?
Has anybody seen him 'round?

Ooooh, I need a quick distraction...
Ooooh, to throw 'em off the trail

Well, I guess he isn't here
I'll go play off my people's fear
I'll show them all the truth is plain
-- IT WAS ALL DONE BY SADDAM HUSSEIN!

Oooooh, I need a quick distraction...
Oooooh, to throw 'em off the trail

    *dialing*
    *ringing*
    "Hello?"
    "hello, this is the American Civil Liberties Union calling for Mr. Bush -- will you accept the charges?"
    *ka-click!*
    ("Damn self righteous bastard hung up!" "Try him again.")
    *dialing*
    *ringing*
    "Hello?"
    "Hello, this is the ACLU...are we reaching--"
    *ka-click!*
    ("I can't get through -- he keeps hanging up!")

ONE OF MY TURNS

(Waters/Greywolf)

[ Oh, my GOD!
Look at this room!
Is all this your surveillance equipment?
That one's looking at my apartment!
I'm gonna get a brandy...you want one?
Oh my GOD, look at this DOUGH!
...wanna spend some caaaaaaaash?
Who you watchin'?
...HelLO?
You feelin' okay?]

Day after day
My hair turns gray
Like the matter my head don't contain
Night after night
They say it's all right
But I have grown older
And my moves just get bolder
And I think they're not all so blind anymore

And I...can...feel...one of my turns coming on
I...feel...
like they all make fun of me,
say I don't have a brain in me
-- should I just go and whip out my gun?

Come to my press speech!
In the press room on the right
You'll all be told what to ask!

Don't look so angry,
This is all just the way
I can control what we say!

Want to know about my War?
Or how I really beat Al Gore?
Contemplate your brand new silence,
Get My God delivered to your door?
So you want to see me lead?
Do we own you? Yes, indeed! WOOOOOHOOO!

Do you want to vote me in?
Do you think I'll win again?

...Why are you running away?

DON'T LEAVE ME NOW

(Waters/Greywolf)

Hey, guys,
Don't leave me now
Don't say it's the end of the road
Remember the tax cuts I made
I need you
To come put this country ahead of the Earth
Hey! Guys!
Don't leave me now
How could you turn
When you know how I need you
'cause Kerry and Dean are just arrogant stiffs
Uhhhhh, Guys?
How could you treat me this way
Running away...
I need you, guys!
Why are you running away?
Heeyyyyy, Guys?

ANOTHER GLITCH IN THE POLLS PART III

(Waters/Greywolf)

I don't need no House around me
I've got the Senate to uphold me
The Court's the only thing I don't control
...I wish O'Connor'd resign and leave a hole...
...yeah! Leave me a hole to fill and take control.

All in all it's just another glitch in the poll!
Here we come to take away all your control!

HELLO SECOND TERM

(Waters/Greywolf)

Hello, second term, I welcome you today
Hello, hello, hello.

The people who are not with me, THEY ARE IN MY WAY.
I'll have them taken out...hello.

---

HEY YOU

(Waters/Greywolf)

Hey you, standing in the cold
Trying to get into the polls --
Will you pick me?
Hey you, with your child against your ... breast?
Geezus, lady! GO GET DRESSED!
Oh...would you pick me?
Hey you, don't help them to carry the light
Help me erode that big Bill of Rights

Hey you, With your prescription running out
I'm gonna get you guys some clout
Please elect me?
Hey you, paying taxes to your town
I'm going to bring your taxes down
If you elect me...
Hey you, average couples who manage a ho-o-ome
Why do you leave your kids home alone?

This was his deepest fantasy
To screw all the people -- you and me
No matter how we try, we cannot break free
And the worms went to search for his brain...

Hey you, over where the desert boils,
With your vast supplies of oil,
Would you help me?
Hey you, in the upper-class elite,
I'm trying to stand back on my feet --
Would you help me?
Hey you
Don't tell me there's no hope at all
Democratic, they stand;
Dictated, they fall...

IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE

(Waters)

[Is there anybody OUT there?]

NOBODY HOME

(Waters/Greywolf)

I got a little black book with my code in,
Got a bag with a headset and a comb in,
If I'm a good boy, they might let me hear who you're phonin'

I got tax breaks keeping my moolah,
I got those falling poll blues,
I got five hundred paths of national treason to choose from

I got support from whites
And I'm killing civil rights
I've got amazing powers while ruling this nation

(And that is how we know
When we try to get through
In the voting polls to you
...there'll be no going home)

I got the obligatory white-bread sneer
And the inevitable contempt for the queers
All down the blue regions of each state

I got political blood-stains on my fingers
I got the power of command on a chain
I have a plane flying in with our soldiers' mortal remains

I've got shifty little eyes
And I've got a strong urge to fly
But I've got nowhere to fly to...

(Oooohhh!! GEORGE!! PLEASE PICK UP YOUR BRAIN!! We know you're completely insane.)

I got a pair of Hitler's boots
And I got...family roots...

ORWELL (VERA)

(Waters/Greywolf)

Does anyone remember "1984"?
Remember how we said that we would rule once more
Some blessed day...

Orwell, Orwell, we've made your book come true
Does anyone else in here feel the way I do...?

BRING THE BOYS BACK HOME

(Waters/Greywolf)

Bring the boys back home
Bring the boys back home
After we finish off this war, whoa, whoa, then we'll
Bring the boys back home

...is there anybody OUT there?

[From this point on is more or less very very wishful thinking.] EDIT: 2007.2.14: ...or have we finally come to our senses?

COMFORTABLY DUMB

(Gilmour/Waters/Greywolf)

(Hello...
is there anybody IN there?
Just nod if you can hear me...
Is there anyone at home?
Come on, now,
I hear you're feeling down
Well, I can ease the pain
Get you on your feet again
Just relax
We'll give you our opinion first
Just the basic facts:
This administration is the worst!)

I have no brain -- I am defeated
A sinking ship's smoke is a-risin'
The protesters are coming through in waves
Their lips move, but I cannot hear what they're saying

When I was a child, I had a company
I ran it deep into the ground
Now I've got that feeling once again
I can't explain -- you would not understand
Why this is who I am...

I have become comfortably dumb

(Okay
You're such a little dim prick
We'll have no more "AAAAAAAAAAAHH"
Of you we've gotten really sick
Can you still stand up?
I think we need to kick you -- good!
This'll keep you going for the show
Come on, it's time to go)

What is this pain, why am I bleeding?
What is that thick smoke on the horizon?
The angry mob is getting through in waves...
Their lips move, but I do not get what they're saying

When I was brought in, I had a fleeting glimpse
Of dollar signs up in the sky
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The polls have dropped, the dream is gone

I have become comfortably dumb...

THE SHOW MUST GO ON

(Waters/Greywolf) [extra verse adapted from the album IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE?, the recording of a concert from their 1980-81 WALL tour.]

Oooooh, ma, Ooooh, pa
Must the show go on?

Oooooooooh, ma,
Take me home!
Oooooooooh, pa,
Let me go!

I don't want to stand up
Shifty eyed talking in a hot mike
My teleprompter's down!

Oooooooooh, ma,
Take me home!
Oooooooooh, pa,
Let me go!

There must be some mistake
I didn't mean to let them take away my brain
Am I too dumb?
Is it too late?

Ooooooooh, ma...
Where's my money gone?
Ooooooooh, pa...
What have I done that's so wrong?
Ooooooooh, ahhhhhhhhh....

THE DOLT MUST BEGONE!

IN THE FLESH

(Waters/Greywolf)

So ya Thought ya
Might like to
Go to the polls
To feel the unending confusion
As your stomach rolls

I've got       Some bad
News for you, Sunshine:
Bush isn't well, he's sent us all to Hell
And he sent us along as a replacement regime
We're gonna find out how it sounds when you scream

Are there any idiots in your government tonight
Vote 'em up against the wall...
That one -- in the White House -- He don't look too bright to me!
Vote 'im up against the wall...

And that one looks Stupid! And that one's a GOON!
...who voted all of this riff-raff into the room?
There's one tapping my phone, and another watching my thoughts
If I had my way, they'd all be drawn, quartered and SHOT!

RUN LIKE HELL

(Waters/Gilmour/Greywolf)

Run! Run! Run! Run! Run! Run! Run! Run!
Run! Run! Run! Run! Run! Run! Run! Run!

You better paint your face up in your favourite disguise
        With your oil-filled lips and your dollar-sign eyes
With your hungry wallet and your clueless heart
        Feel your bile rise from your horrid past
And the bombs a-blasting and the windows smashing
        And the PEOPLE bashing down your door

YOU BETTER RUN!

Run! Run! Run! Run! Run! Run! Run! Run!
Run! Run! Run! Run! Run! Run! Run! Run!

You better run all day and run all night
        Keep any real feelings deep inside
And if you're visiting troops late tonight
        Keep your true lack of thought well out of sight
'Cause if we catch you unaware -- here OR IN IRAQ

WE'RE GONNA SEND YOU BACK TO DADDY IN A CARDBOARD BOX YOU'D BETTER RUN!

WAITING FOR THE TROOPS

(WAITING FOR THE WORMS) (Waters/Greywolf)

"...burn 'em! Burn 'em! BURN 'em! BURN 'Em! BURN 'EM! BURN 'EM!"
[EINS...ZWEI...DREI...ALLE!]

We will not save you now
No matter how you cry
Get out of power, you morons,
Choke and die.

Sitting in your deskchairs
There behind your wall
Waiting for the troops to win

In perfect isolation
There behind your wall
Waiting for the troops
To win

"We can hear you now
We can see you now
Stand back to back -- do not touch
We are watching and we will be

Waiting...to put on a black shirt
Waiting...to rally for justice
Waiting...to follow them home

Waiting...to bring home the soldiers
Waiting...to weed out the fascists
            to smash in their windows and kick in their doors
Waiting...for the final solution to your inferior brain
Waiting...to follow them home

Waiting...to stone all the fat cats and religious fanatics
Waiting...for the idiots, the morons, the zealots and the goons
Waiting...to follow them home"

Would you like to see peace and freedom reign again, my friend?
(Would you like to see peace reign again, my friend?)
All we have to do is VOTE OUT THE WORMS!

Would you like to send your white-bread leaders home again, my friend?
(Would you like to send them home again, my friend?)
All we need to do is VOTE OUT THE WORMS!

"...BURN 'EM! BURN 'EM! BURN 'EM! BURN 'EM! BURN 'EM! BURN 'EM! "

"We are tired of everything you, the leaders, have done.
It has become the right and the duty of the citizens of this country
To abolish its government and start anew.
We have the right to due representation.
You have taken this country and turned it into the very enemy we feared.
You have destroyed 1,500 years of history in the course of three years!
In the last five years, you have taken us backwards by fifty five!
You have helped to plunder the planet of its natural wonders and beauty!
You have sold this nation down the river!
YOU HAVE SOLD THE SOULS OF OUR FOUNDING FOREFATHERS FOR THIRTY SILVER PIECES!
YOU HAVE EARNED THIS COUNTRY -- ONCE A SHINING BEACON OF TRUTH, JUSTICE AND FREEDOM -- THE ENMITY OF MOST OF THE REST OF THE WORLD!
YOU HAVE MADE THE SAME MISTAKES AS EVERY EMPEROR BEFORE YOU AND YOU HAVE BUNGLED EVERYTHING IN A MORE SPECTACULAR FASHION THAN THE EMPEROR NERO!
YOUR LACK OF COMPASSION, FORETHOUGHT, AND TRUE UNDERSTANDING AND YOUR EFFORTS TO MANDATE DOCTRINES OF A SPECIFIC RELIGION MAKE YOU MORE OF A DEMON THAN ANY OTHER FREE WORLD LEADER--"

STOP

(Waters/(Greywolf))

STOP!

...I want to go home,
Take off this uniform and leave the show.
I'm waiting in this cell because I have to know: (have to know... (have to know...)
Have I been stupid all this time? (no...time, no...time, no...time...time)

THE TRIAL

(Ezrin/Waters/Greywolf)

Good morning, WORM, your honour
The crowd will plainly show the morons who now stand before you
Were caught red handed doing dealings
Doing dealings of a quite immoral nature
This will not do!

(Call the Speaker of the House!)
I always said he'd bring us to no good
In the end your honour
If we'd got to have our way, we could have
Kept his hand in check
But our hands were tied -- the corrupted House and Senate
let him GET AWAY WITH MURDER!
May we hammer him today?

Crazy -- toys in the attic!
I am crazy to take this position
They must have taken my wiretaps away!

(Crazy, void of compassion, he is crazy!)

(CALL THE SENATE WHIP!)
You little SHIT, you're in it now
I hope they throw away the key
You should have worked WITH us more often than you did
BUT NO!
You had to have your own way
Have you blown up any countries lately?
Just five minutes, worm, your honour
-- him and me, ALONE!

...Geo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-orge!
Come to daddy, Georgie, let me hold you in my arms
M'lord, I never meant for him to cause us so much trouble
(Why'd I ever have to have him?)
Worm, your honour, let me take him home...

Crazy -- over the rainbow!
I am crazy -- why's there bars on my windows?
There must have been a mole there in the polls!
Why can't I leave?

(Stuuuuupid, cursor's not blinking -- he is stuuuuuupid)

"THE EVIDENCE BEFORE THE COURT IS
INCONTROVERTIBLE! THERE'S
NO NEED FOR THE LYNCH MOB TO RETIRE...

IN ALL MY YEARS OF LIVING, I HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE ONE SO DESERVING TO BE TRIED AS A CRIMINAL OF WAR

THE WAY YOU'VE MADE US SUFFER, YOU STUPID LITTLE MOTHER,
FILLS ME WITH THE URGE TO DEFECATE!

AND SINCE, MY FRIEND, YOU HAVE REVEALED YOUR DEEPEST FEARS
I SENTENCE YOU TO BE STRUNG UP --

BY YOUR EARS!

and....

TEAR UP THE POLLS!!!

AFTER THE POLL

(Waters/Greywolf) All alone or in twos
The ones who couldn't stand you
Voted against you at the polls

Some hand in hand
Some gathered together in bands
The good decent people made a stand

And while we waited for you to fall
We'd stagger and fall -- after all it's not easy
Having your rights clobbered by some mad bugger's wall.

(...isn't this where

Democracy to Empire (While-U-Wait)

I look around at the ascent and misuse of power which has dominated the progress -- or regress -- of this country. It frightens me. We are daring to wander down the slippery slope and become the Imperial Yankee Dogs the other countries feared we already were. And it's a venture on the part of this country's elite -- whom I did not elect, by the way -- which is dooming those of us who had nothing to do with the advancing of them.

In my lifetime, I fear I will see this country become the equivalent of the Russian Empire, followed by its fall into socialism (those of you thinking of voting for Hillary Clinton better do your research. She's bad news for this country.), followed by its fall into abject ruin, followed by its imminent takeover, plundering and rending asunder by any other countries or factions that can get their hands on it. Mexico will take over California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas ("Screw Louisiana -- they flooded!"), and Cuba will reappropriate Florida. Canada, if they're smart, will grab the states on their southern borders. Everything else will become "No man's land" (or the Middle East will move in. Won't THAT be fun?).

But of all of this, I'm fortunate at the moment: I'm a forty-something whose parents are still alive. Yes, both of them. No, they're not married anymore, but so what? They're still alive and we're still in contact.

I dread the day they leave. Do you know why?

Because you'll be sad and you'll miss them.

Sure. Who wouldn't feel that way? But no.

It's because I feel somehow safer, somehow more secure knowing that they are alive and well and still here and I can still talk to them. I can call them and talk to them about nigh anything truly important, and somehow knowing that they're just there is more helpful than almost anything else in my life.

And with the world in the state it's in right now, I'm still kind of afraid of the future.

I'm not dependent upon Mom and Dad the way I used to be. I'm not looking to them to solve my problems. But their insights, even from older times, are just nice. They're not a security blanket, per se, but they are something of a comfort.

Mom, Dad, you've been wonderful. I can honestly say I have no nightmares or fears or issues with the way either of you treated me as you raised me.

The rest of the world could take some lessons and not be so uptight.

I'll leave the rest of my comments regarding legislation of morality for another post.

Meanwhile, in Amerika (five years later)...

I'm positive this isn't to be the only reflective blog on what happened five years ago today.

If you go and look back in my archives, you'll find my thoughts about what happened.

Meanwhile, in Amerika, what has happened since then?

Our civil rights are being trampled, our natural resources are in danger of being raped, the innocence and brilliance which comprise our children -- our future -- have been left to fall through the cracks, and the wisdom and experience of our elders -- our past -- have been left to rot.

Not, all in all, a very good track record, by any reckoning.

So what now? What do we do? How do we manage this?

"Sorry, I got nothin'." I have NO ideas. It is all I can do to slog through the day-to-day bull manure that comprises the bottom layer of my current existence. I find myself quite glad to be at work, because it helps take my mind off that layer.

It may seem very cold, very self-serving, just to think of where I'm going, but if I can't take care of even myself, I can't help anyone else. So I have to fix me first.

And this, too, may seem cold, but here it is:

Five years ago, we got off EASY.

We lost somewhere in the vicinity of 3,000 to 5,000 people that day.

Since then, we have lost probably very close to 3,000 military and paramilitary personnel, reporters and missionaries.

We have probably taken ten times that number in foreign casualties, mostly civilian.

We have committed at least 1,000 reported hate crimes toward people, citizens of this country who looked like our aggressors.

We probably have committed a great number of unreported hate crimes towards more of these citizens.

Are you feeling proud to be a 'Murkin, yet?

We chose our battles unwisely. We changed our focus from Afghanistan/Pakistan, where our instigator is STILL purportedly in hiding (I think he's dead, and our clueless leadership is thinking they're going to show us his body and say, "See? We got 'im!".).

And in doing what we did in Iraq, we won the initial battle.

But we lost the war.

We need to bow out and let whatever will happen happen. "What happens in the Middle East stays in the Middle East," as the saying goes. Or is that Las Vegas? Either way.

Taking out Saddam Hussein was a mistake. Sure, he was a dictator, and his regime was oppressive, but was it more oppressive than anything else going on over there? Come on, what are we going to do, take out every country that doesn't foster democracy?

Something occurred to me a while ago. We're not out to spread democracy, or our politics. We're out to spread our brand of capitalism, to spread our poisonous economy of artifice to the rest of the undeveloped world, even if that means undeveloping other parts of the world.

We were complicit with what happened five years ago. If you don't believe that, you haven't been paying attention.

So we deserved everything we've reaped since then.

Pay Attention. Your future depends on it.

Home, Sweet Home? Not for long...

or,

Legalised Plundering for Fun and Profit

A man's home is his castle.

"Home, home again,
I like to be there when I can
When I come home, cold and tired
It's good to warm my bones beside the fire..."         -- Pink Floyd, "Breathe (Reprise)"

Home.

What do you think of when you think of home? A warm fire, candle-lit dinner for two? Friendly chaos of you and your love and your children?

...just a place to sleep, shower and keep your stuff while you work and play and party away from it? Hey, don't laugh. For some people, this is home.

Or how about a place to hold gatherings with your closest friends?

What if the city decided that your property would be more valuable for the city in terms of tax revenue were it to be sold and developed?

Thanks to the Supreme Court ruling made today, this is now possible. A developer of any influence can approach the city and attempt to convince them that your property would be worth more if they could develop new business on it.

If they are successful in convincing the city of this, the city can seize your house and land and sell it to the developer for purposes of redevelopment.

So much for home, sweet home. I don't think you can protect against this even if you homestead the property.

I don't know about you, but I think this is just plain wrong. Remember when "at-will employment" became widespread? Well, we now have "at-will residence." The worst thing is that with a residence, you have just pumped much of your life's earnings into it. The city has the right to undercut your property's value when they seize it. Equity means nothing.

Welcome to the third American era of the robber baron.

---

---

Congratulations, Amerika. You have what you wanted, and you will get to watch it turn into what we have always fought against.

Bush spoke of "Freedom, Justice and the American Way."

He has no more of a clue on any of the above words than the average person does on the subject of quark theory and rocket science.

You, the people, have doomed this country. Are you so blindly unaware that in 2001, Bush sold us down the river for oil interests? Was it that inobvious to you?

You, who have family over in Iraq, who have watched him turn attention away from the supposed culprit who plunged our nation into terror and to some puppet THAT WE PUT INTO POWER IN THE FIRST PLACE, to remove him from power and declare the world a safer place, how in the WORLD can you say this is a good choice? You have born offspring into the world and cared for them, nurtured them for 18 years or more, only to watch them die, and you think this is a GOOD THING?

You far-right Christians who think that you were created in God's image, that the world belongs to you above nature, that it is yours to rape and pillage and rend asunder, I hope you think it is all right when your civil liberties are violated, too, because they will be. Doesn't that saying go, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap"?

The demographics in this race are close enough that it should tell you that the reasonable, thinking people are not going to put up with the shenanigans of a dictatorship. We still hold dear the true values on which this country was founded: Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of the Press, Freedom to redress our government for grievances.

Remember that once it was stated, roughly:

"When a government fails to meet the needs of the populace it represents, it is the right AND THE DUTY of the People to abolish it and start anew."

I think we are not far off. George W. Bush and his cronies, both domestic and foreign *cough*AlQaeda*cough*, have undone, in four years, the progress it has taken forty to achieve. In the next four years, they will probably succeed in undoing the other two hundred plus.

So Good Day, Amerika, with your bent on controlling people who do not think like you. Someday, we will reap a very bitter crop, and it will be your sown seeds to fault for this. I shudder to be counted among the people of such a nation.

Remortance, Revisited

or, This age hits home.

"Death. It's not so bad. It beats the alternative." -- Unknown

This year has been quite the year, it would seem. Most of you are familiar with the events which have inundated the world, the Nation, and California in particular. This piece addresses something a little closer to home.

A long running tradition, the Northern Renaissance Pleasure Faire, has closed its doors, much to the dismay of a good many of us. I was a visitor there in 1980 and 1981, and I became a participant in 1985, recruited into the Guild of St. Patrick, the Wild Irish. I owe my prowess on the mandolin and the guitar to this induction.

Like others, I made many friends there and have had the misfortune to lose at least one of them to the faded pall and the black shroud of Death himself. Like others, I wandered through several loves there, only to eventually wander out of them again. Like others, I have helped raise children there.

I will never forget the first threat of losing Black Point, watching RPFN go from the elder Pattersons to be bought by the Renaissance Entertainment Corporation. I will never forget the second attempt on Black Point, which ultimately succeeded after a lengthy battle.

I remember turning my back for ten seconds in front of New Irish Camp, and turning around again only to see someone hauling my baby girl out of the Washing Well (how DID she get there that fast!?).

...and we still have the flower wreaths, complete with ribbons, given to the girls in 1997.

Losing Black Point in 1998 was devastating; to hear that the Northern Faire has closed is a duller pain, but it is still there.

The friend of a friend has summed it all up well, and I shall include her missive here (with some formatting liberties):

---

"There was a time when the Faire was rich and alive
With demi-gods who swaggered through the crowds,
Plucking moments in time and making magic.
Their names were legend...St. Germaine, Kahn, Perry, Zepeda, Hall, Moore, Springhorn, Morales,
And the world was ripe with gigs.

The crowds were alive with eager hearts and minds
Hoping for a chance to make the dream come alive.
And we were all there to help them along.
Some of us sang,
Some of us brought the crowd to their knees with laughter,
Some of us just added amazing color and beauty to the background,
And some of us just stank to high heaven, but that was ok too....

We all were alive and insane!
The gig was all that mattered, not the politics, or the money or whatever.
We would have plucked out our eyes
Rather than break BFA, use an anachronism or
Wear something that was not allowed.
We were possessed with a need to create a world
Where we could gorge ourselves with ripe possibilities
For new and exciting things to do.
We were careless then. Like a kid in a candy store,
We would stuff ourselves and move on as if it would last
Forever.

Then, something happened.

Perhaps we got bored or burnt out.
Perhaps we had our hearts broken one too many times, or
We started to let the "real" world in.
We got greedy, we got mean,
We started treating each other like the enemy
Or at least someone to keep a guarded watch on.
We put ourselves first.
We got lazy and made excuses,
And we let the show go...

Some of us went away,
Some of us passed on to a better place,
Some of us came every weekend
But just "phoned it in".

I am just wondering if maybe it is time to just
Let this all go.

My wish is that there will, once again, be a place
Where Bruno dance and girls run by, giggling and winking.
I dream of a place where there is music again in the streets,
And people laugh and greet each other with the fever of old friends
Meeting after a long absence and desperately missing each other.

I am tired of Patterson vs REC, of all the politics,
Of the drama and anger and angst and death and sadness.

I miss old friends who are gone and will never come back,
I miss old friends that stay away for stupid reasons
That really don't matter anymore.

Some of us will cry, some of us will get mad,
Some of us will say "ah ha! We've won!" or "I told you so",
And some of us will hold onto some meek hope that
Somehow it will all be like some weird dream where
"Bobby" isn't really dead, but just taking a shower
And this last year really didn't happen
(obscure Dallas reference-sorry-I'm an old broad, humor me)
And there will be a Northern next year.

I propose that, instead,
We try to get together whenever we can
And remember when it was good.
When we loved it and it wasn't some odd private D&D game
And audience-be-damned.

When my father died,
I built a new family from the people I knew at Faire.
They have (for better or worse) been in my life
And I have loved/hated/fought/shared a laugh/shared a drink/shared a life with them all.
I met and married my husband,
Felt the joy when dear friends got married,
Felt the pain when they divorced,
Brought my son here to grow up from a grub to a wonderful little boy,
Cried when friends died. Jocelyn, Larry, Damien, Am.
I will now have to make a life where something else defines me.
This is an odd thing for me.

No matter what else happens, keep the stories alive
And wherever you go, try to make the magic.

My hope is that we will meet again soon-

Sandra Cadell

---

Running events in life are very much like a school, I note. After the last day of being in school -- not just for the Summer -- you wake up and wonder, "Gods, what now?". Everything changes. Everything you have taken for granted over the last N years is gone, and no matter how much you may have tried not to take it for granted, you did anyway.

And it's all right if that happens after a fashion. We are all mortal.

Let us all meet again, soon and relatively often -- we from the Renaissance Faire, we from the College, we from the innocence of the neighbourhoods of our past.

Interestingly enough, we will probably find that we're not all that different than we used to be, and it will be this which will keep us all connected.

Memories are life. Pass them on. Bright blessings have visited those who have played. May they continue to visit us, and those who have yet to play.

Welcome to the Remortance

or, "I didn't think time could go backwards."

"What did I know? Those days are gone forever, I should just let 'em go."
-- Don Henley, "The Boys Of Summer"

---

"Alas, poor Yorick; I knew him...well..."
-- John McDill as Captain Hook in "Peter Pan"

---

What a time it was. Learning became available beyond the monasteries, trade flourished (pirates notwithstanding), artisanry abounded, music and dance came to represent life, and morale had never been higher.

I speak, of course, of the Renaissance. The more astute of you will query, "Which one?"

Good question, for we have had several in the history of this great planet. The first Renaissance began in Europe -- specifically in Italy, somewhere around the latter half of the fifteenth century, carrying forward and flowing outward to the borders of Europe and farther, covering France, Greece, Basque, Prussia, Spain, Holland, Ireland and, at long last, England. For various reasons, I am convinced that England was the distant last to become overwhelmed by the phenomenon which was to be the Renaissance -- the joys of which were over all too soon, thanks both to Elizabeth Tudor's stranglehold on Ireland and to her demise, which left many issues in Ireland unresolved.

There are also probably far too many countries left unnamed above. But I digress.

After the first Renaissance in Europe, the world would never be quite the same, although it would not find a true glow again until sometime in the nineteenth century, when an upsurge of creativity happened again during the Industrial Revolution. This Renaissance period would last until its death in 1929, when the Stock Market crashed quickly, suddenly, taking untold fortunes with it. Castles in the sand, and all that.

The third Renaissance would have to have been the 1960s -- still more creativity, more exploration, more music, more art, more expression, and we *still* got a man on the moon in spite of it all. The third Renaissance ended, near as I can tell, somewhere in the mid 1980s.

The fourth Renaissance to date was the Technological Revolution, and some might even say it was riding on the wave of its predecessor. I'd say it was intermingled with the third one, to be sure, but it was under its own power.

The next Renaissance has yet to happen. I'll be quite surprised if it happens in my lifetime, as the thumbscrews which have been emplaced after every outbreak of creativity, expression, outrage against authority, life, for heaven's sake! have been tightened down. We have been encumbered with more rules, regulations, laws, decrees, taxes, fees, policies, acts and constitutional amendments, all supposedly for the good of the people. This is also not to mention the amazing growth of litigation over creativity.

Oh, wait -- you're reading this. I must be preaching to the choir here.

The aforementioned outstretches of the human(oid) mind and spirit have been met with such amazingly hostile repressions of late that I fear we are in for a tragic reversal of events. True, our accomplishments cannot be taken from us, but we will be forced to rest on our laurels unless we can find a way to grow from beneath this ground cover under which we now find ourselves.

Music is meant to be enjoyed, and the people who make music should surely be paid for it, but the Recording Industry of America is ensuring that they get their percentage off the top, even if the musician must then pay the RIAA. This is an insult to the integrity of music, as much of it that remains, anyway. Several musicians have decided that sharing music is the best incentive for getting people to buy it. But the RIAA is probably searching for a way to circumvent this.

Of late, the Motion Picture Academy of America has voted not to accept for nominations movies which are sent directly to Academy members. This is going to severely restrict the exposure which independent filmmakers get.

Also of late, we in California have been unfortunate to acquire yet another actor in the position of Gubernatorial Marionette. And, of course, a Good Ol' Boy, in the political sense.

Do we see a trend here? The status quo is not going away, in spite of our best efforts, because the status quo keeps changing the rules by which they play. This leaves the rest of the people at a disadvantage.

Of course, if the boat starts rocking too much, it won't take too much more to help tip it over. The timing would be critical, though.

Yes, this is rambling. I apologise.

To go back to the Renaissance, though, something to take into account:
How much of the innovation, invention, exploration, creation of all that was would have come about had there always been such creatures as, say, patent lawyers hanging around?

Think about it. The patent process is heinous. Creativity has always been borne of improvements upon existing processes or machines. Hell, if the patent laws had been around at the time of Leonardo da Vinci (and carried forward), how much innovation would have been completed?

The current copyright laws (and resultant licensing agreements) are as horrid (look them up -- they're nasty). Michelangelo could have probably gone after a number of artists for painting in a similar style as he. By current laws, his family/estate could have gone after them for eighty years after his death.

If pro is the opposite of con, what is the opposite of congress?

I think it's ironic, incidentally, that the mechanisms of political interaction have outlived the mechanisms of social interaction. Socially, we've gone backwards. We entered a brief period of civilisation in which we actually learned to say hello to one another, and over the last thirty or so years, we seem to have forgotten it completely.

Music has gone dark. The arts and entertainment are attainable by and large only by the wealthy. Education, likewise. More people are working longer for less, and the price of living continues to rise. We have a cadre of people running the country who think, more than ever, that the genders do not deserve equivalent compensation for what they do, let alone equivalent consideration for who they are.

A difference is that we do not have a plague or a war or a blight reducing our numbers at any significant rate. Also, we have procedures in place to keep the stock market from dropping out of existence.

These, I feel, will hinder, rather than help the re-emergence of progress, creativity, life.

What we have now as a world is not life. It is existence. It is the journey, in the literal sense: Getting from day to day, hoping to see the next one, never mind the one after that.

What we have now is the Remortance: The re-death of that which was alive. No period after a Renaissance has been as dark as this.

The Great Depression left a scar on the financial optimism of this country, but that was overcome. The events which have transpired since 1980 have left more scars, and we have not yet borne them out. How will we overcome them? We will forget them, and that is the greatest travesty of all.

We must find our way through this and shine as beacons of light. We must give our children hope that the world can be better; if they enter the real world with the thought that it is hopeless, then the world is lost, and it will only be a matter of time.

Let us be light for our children. The world still has so much potential.

The Smoking Gun

(or, Where Did We Go Wrong?)

"Teach your children well
Their father's hell did slowly go by
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picks, the one you'll know by

Don't you ever ask them why
If they told you, you would cry
So just look at them and sigh
And know they love you."
- Graham Nash

---

"One Ring to rule them all,
One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all
- and in the darkness bind them"
- J. R. R. Tolkien

---

Okay, it's been a while. Sorry about that.

I have a rant. Okay, I have several, but I'll start with one. This will probably not endear me to my Mom, but I need to hit on it anyway.

I'll start with smokers. Gods and Goddesses, just get me a fire extinguisher. Water will do fine. No blood, no foul, just let me douse each one of their flames into oblivion.

Some smokers are considerate, as much as they can be in relation to my point of view. They smoke outside the house, they field-strip their butts, and they dispose of them properly instead of leaving them for me to find later. Some of them even manage not to make my porch smell like stale burnt tobacco, which is a big plus (thank you, Mom; sorry I don't share or tolerate your habit in close quarters, but I had quite enough of it growing up. I'm grateful that you were considerate enough to ventilate the area while you indulged...).

Most of them, however, are truly cluelessly vile individuals who would just as soon breathe on you as look at you. Pity the one who breathes on the militant asthmatic gorilla. Evolution in action (film at 11).

I guess the ones I will hit upon are the ones I see every day over the couple of hours which constitute my daily journey from bed to waking indentured servitude and back again.

I'm talking about the ones in their cars. You know the ones. They hang their arms out the window with a lit cigarette firmly scissored between their fingers, they blow their smoke out the window and then -- this is the REALLY insulting part -- THEN they flick the lit butt out into the middle of the roadway where it becomes so much solid detritus.

Now, I won't argue against the fact that highways are litter themselves, but they're *useful* -- they let us get rapidly from one place to another (the "rapid" part is the subject of another rant, but I digress).

But if you're a motorcycle rider (I have several friends...) or a bicyclist (I have two bicycles), there is a danger in being behind someone who carelessly flicks a cigarette butt into the air without thought to consequence of their actions. If you're lucky, it will miss you; but anyone who's ridden a motorcycle to have a shower of sparks suddenly appear in the dark from some MORON who thinks that the world is their ashtray will tell you it's a very startling, if not frightening or potentially injurious experience. Something like that will send you careening off the road. If you're a bicyclist, you might also get hot ash in your eye. This is No Fun.

I'm just peeved that these people who fight so hard for their RIGHT to inhale burnt chemically-treated carcinogen-soaked tobacco-like fumes can't seem to keep it contained in their car while they drive. I mean, what are they trying to do, keep the car from getting cancer? If I'm sitting in rush hour behind a yutz like that, I sure don't want to smell the smoke! Keep it in your car. You wanted to be able to smoke freely, breathe it for a while. If you don't want to breathe it, STOP SMOKING, and think about how other people around you might have felt breathing in your noxious fumes.

The second deep thought to hit my mind this morning was triggered by the fact that higher taxes on vices do not reduce the committal of these vices; in fact, all the higher taxes do is increase the Cool Factor -- sometimes known as the Defiance Factor -- of the vices in question. In any case, the taxes don't work. They bring in money for who knows what (it isn't always going where I want it to go, to be sure, however noble the aim may be), but ultimately all it does, to put it politely, is to peeve them to the depths of the Underworld and several laps around the River of the Dead.

Tangent: If you're going to anger people, at least be prepared to tell them the truth about it; and if you're going to tell the truth, you should at least TRY to make them laugh. If you don't, they will kill you.

But I digress.

The tithes, tariffs and other devices on vices Do Not Work. I still buy beer as often as I ever did (which isn't much, to be honest), because I like a decent beer. I'm a bit incensed that a decent beer is so expen$ive because the H7C2OOH tax is so blasted high (and going up continually!), but I still buy it nonetheless. I'd really rather that the money didn't go to supporting the government, though.

Criminalisation doesn't work. To criminalise human(oid) nature is futile. You are not going to stop someone from doing something simply by punishing them for behaving in a certain way which is a part of who they are. All you are going to do is make them madder, and if there are enough people of like mind, you are going to find an unsuppressable revolt on your hands.

I really wish the powers that attempt to govern society would get that message through their heads, although it hasn't happened over the last couple of millennia (about five), so I don't expect it to change any time soon.

We live on a world chiefly governed in an authoritarian manner, and it is ever-present, no matter how much we would like to say it isn't. It's becoming more pervasive than it has been in recent years, though. The private schools are mostly parochial, and the learning material in the public schools is becoming so Bowdlerised and bland, I wonder that the kids are learning anything of substance.

There have been fad diseases over the last few decades; in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was ADD. Oh, my goodness, my child excels in only one area and can't focus on anything else -- we'd better medicate him.

Great. Now your child can't focus deeper than a gnat's wing on anything at all. You now have a "normal" child. Congratulations.

Then it was Asperger's syndrome, which was like ADD except a bit broader and a slight bit deeper, with socially repressed tendencies (gee, do we dare wonder on that one?). Oh, my goodness, we'd better medicate again.

Great. Your child is now not only socially repressed having suffered all the damage already, but can't grasp with the depth he used to on some of those wonderful things he used to do so well. You now have a "normal" child. Congratulations.

What is happening is these sparks, as irregular as they may seem, indicate a deeper perception, a propensity for investigating what is wrong and how to fix it, and a determination to be an individual instead of being stirred into the homogeneous ooze which coats us all to some degree.

But being that we live in an authoritarian society, we can't have individuals. Free thought is far too dangerous an anomaly to permit in a crowd. The few who still think on their own and make their way through are dismissed as radicals, crackpots, and eccentrics (the last one I proudly wear, thank you), and the authority attempts to stir the rest into the pot and plane them, shard them, prune them, melt them down.

Here are the multi-million-zorkmid questions: Why do we suppress or fail to encourage individuality, and why do we depend on authoritarianism?

Answer: Individuality and Freedom are not profitable.

Think about it. Corrections facilities generate an economy. The more jails are built, the more in tax money Corrections takes in. When the jails and prisons are full, they must build more, and so they take in more tax money. After a while, a constant is hit, which means that the profits they reap level off. So what do they do?

They find new deeds and practices to criminalise severely, dragging the net of the law as low as they can in order to catch more people so that they can justify more criminals.

(This next part is going to appear disjunct, but bear with me.)

We live in an economy of total artifice. Our economy as it stands has no viable basis for being an economy. This has been going on since at least the Great Depression era, likely before, when it was determined that the laws of supply and demand could be viciously manipulated by creating an artificial shortage. What makes it worse is that the farther up the chain of economic command you go, the easier it is for them to control the shortage. If some muckety-muck decides that they have a vendetta against a region (for example, California), they will pick something that region uses extensively (gasoline and/or energy) and then they will find some way to drive the price through the roof, usually by scapegoating just one of the many inroads the energy may have. It doesn't matter how readily the product is available -- if just one channel shuts down, it will spike the cost of the product in a severe way.

And then there's federal aid to the region which might be altered by said vendetta, which might contribute to the tipping of the budget balance, which paints its Governor in a very bad light, which makes the region rife for what is effectively a coup.

But I digress. I'm sorry. Do I sound bitter or cynical?

Supply and demand is no longer a valid system because all the checks and balances have fallen out, and supplies can be cut on a whim with no thought given by those who must afford the supplies.

In fact, the supply doesn't even have to be cut. The price can be raised on anything just by declaring a shortage, even if it doesn't exist.

The artificial economy is made even worse by the fact that the two-income household is now the status quo. Because there were some couples who dared to go out and break the one-works-one-raises mold in order to afford more, or to live a bit more comfortably, the fad caught on, and everyone started doing it. This, naturally, drew the interests of commerce who figured out, "Hey, everyone has more money, let's charge more and get more of that money."

And right there is where it went wrong. If commerce could have been content to sit back and just let it flow, they'd be doing fine. But they decided to get greedy, and that was ultimately the first straw.

Not that this hasn't happened before, but never mind that. Someone always has to have more, which gives them more control.

Because of this altered flow, we have found ourselves in a society in which both parents MUST work in order to make ends meet.

Because both parents must work, the City-State-Nation is now seeing after our children, because we the parents cannot. The children are not getting the education they deserve because it is not in the City-State-Nation's best interest to give it to them. Because they are not being educated, they will never see a decent-paying job in their lives. Couple this with the fact that most jobs which would carry a decent wage in this country are being farmed out overseas to people glad of the opportunity for the same jobs for far less than we will pay, and we have a total economic disaster on our hands, one which is going to cost us probably a generation and a half of some otherwise promising young people. What a waste of human(oid) life.

The higher-paying jobs are disappearing. Housing prices are not dropping, nor is the cost of living. Now both parents must work more than one job in order to make ends meet, or be relegated to depressed neighbourhoods with higher violent crime rates.

And we, the nurturers, the upbringers of children, are losing time with them which we shall never recover, because in order to even maintain a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs, shoes on our feet and food in our bellies, we are spending fully three quarters of our lives working to bring in profits to people who have enough money in their personal accounts to purchase a small depressed Third World country or two.

Think also of this:

• The government aids the corporations in this country by giving them tax breaks which, if distributed amongst the workers properly, would allow regular people to breathe.
• These same corporations, by sending their services overseas, are biting the hand of the government that feeds them, but they don't feel it yet.
• Two Words: Credit Debt. Need I say more?

The real question, of course, is what can we do about it?

Not much. Appreciate what we have, and keep only what we need to stay truly sane. Vote, no matter how futile it seems. It is the ONLY way you will be heard right now.

Spend time with people who are important to you.

Love your Mother. Those of you who are fortunate enough to have a corporeal one, whether adoptive or biological (or both!), love them, too.

Teach your children well.

I don't know about you, but it won't take much for me to do this. I'm doing my part, and I'm going to be happy, and raise smart kids, and live without material excess. The world will be a little better for it.

And Mom: I love you to pieces. Thanks for letting me use you as a classroom example of a considerate smoker.

The Roman Empire, Version 2.0

(or, "The State Of The World: F. U. B. A. R.")

You don't get something for nothing,
You can't have freedom for free.
You won't get wise with the sleep still in your eyes,
No matter what your dreams might be.
-- Neil Peart, 1976.

"The time has come", the Walrus said, "to speak of many things..."

[This is going to be somewhat of a rambling rant, although I will try my best to put it into some semblence of order. Bear with me (I really gotta get rid of this damn bear!). Anyway...]

We are the Empire of Rome, Version 2.0. And we are going to go down in the same way unless we make a quick 180. Since I don't see that happening, all I can do is wait for the fires.

What do I plan to do about it? Nothing. My plate's full. I expect that everyone else's is, too, except for the robber-barons running the world's governments.

It's all about grabbing territory to further our own causes for our wealthiest people instead of working together to further everybody.

I was saddened to read about the book-burning going on in Iraq. Now, the library there may not be as diverse, but its fate is the same as the Great Library of Alexandria under EoR v1.

No matter how you slice it, it is Wrong. Censorship is Wrong. "Protected Speech" (i.e. the exceptions to Freedom of Speech) under the First Amendment to the Constitution is Wrong. The destruction of historic documents is so Wrong it makes Wrongness look almost Right.

However we may disagree with the religious doctrines in Iraq, we cannot accept those which we practice and preach (in a large sense) as being any more right.

I am dismayed to hear of the "Faith-based" Correctional CRAP that is happening in our country. There is a separation of Church and State which is GUARANTEED by our Constitution, and Congress shall make NO LAW abridging that.

I am also dismayed to note that the Oldest religion/spiritual practice is not recognized legally as a religion. I rather suspect that it has something to do with empowering women at the very least in their own right, if not in a larger scope. I think it also has something to do with the fact that it promotes cooperation with Nature and harmony, as opposed to pitting Man against Nature.

If you are a Christian, and you consider yourself a good person, you need to go research the missing books of the bible. They are there, they are just not published in a bible, for obvious reasons. You owe it to yourself, and if you have any faith whatsoever in your God, you will research it to the point that it will shake the very foundation of your Faith. It shouldn't destroy you spiritually, but it should open your eyes enough that you might think twice about abdicating your responsibilities to Man's interpretation and perversion of something which really had been started with good intentions before it turned into the most massive profitable non-profit non-taxable corporation on the face of the planet.

I'm an eclectic agnostic. I'm Pagan, by and large. Yes, I wear a pentacle. Proudly. Do I follow the Wiccan religion? Not precisely. It appears as though I do, to a degree, because my path just happens to match what they practice. I've never been too comfortable with ritual, and I should probably give more back to the world than I take, and certainly more than I have, but by and large their viewpoint just makes sense.

And if we are not careful, the Empire of Christendom is going to try and tromp it into the ground, just as they did with the Inca, Maya, Aztec, Celtic, Viking and Native American ways of spirituality.

You don't believe me? Look it all up.

What's the common theme? There are several. Among them:

• True Equity. Females had equality, if not power, and they were respected, if not revered. Some bunch of misogynistic apes got the idea that the women were a threat to their way of life, and so they stirred up the pot and subjugated the women to a demoralizing and dehumanizing extent. Thus was the Patriarchal society born.
• Unity with Nature. They respected their environment and worked with it in harmony in order to feed and protect their people and to ensure their continuity. They listened to the forces around them. They were in tune with what was happening, and they were better prepared to deal with any natural tragedies which came their way. We are not separate from Nature. We are a part of it, and it's time to re-recognize that fact.

• Social openness. They shared amongst themselves. There were still differences in wealth but they were not as extreme as we see today. If you chipped in to the best of your ability, you would be taken care of. If not, well, you learned that you weren't taken care of. Everyone looked after everyone else, because survival depended on it. This is not to say there wasn't conflict, but the closeness was much more pervasive than it is now. We are not an open society. We are very uptight, withdrawn, private, paranoid -- in short, we are an extremely and overtly hostile society.

• Absolute wrong. Maybe this is a large turn-off for most people, but the attitude that we have achieved from the forgiving of extreme wrong is that of, "Oh, well, I've killed someone or two, God will forgive me in the end, so who cares? I mean I'm sorry, but not really." Sin is one of those forgiven things. I think if we had a lot more Taboo -- a wrong which is NOT forgiven EVER -- than Sin, we would probably have a lot less which was egregiously considered to be morally Wrong, and we'd address the serious issues, and people could get on with their lives. As far as I am concerned, the government of this country has committed no sins but one LONG list of taboos, for which I do not think they should ever be forgiven, let alone forgotten.

• Sexual openness. This is the big one. Sex was treated as power not in the power-trip sense, but as in a necessary sense. The release and respect of energy, and the recognition of its ability -- not its certainty -- to create life. There were no moral issues hovering around polygamy if that was what you were in to (I'm not, for my own personal reasons), and there was nothing considered to be "borderline public lewdness" (i.e. "Oh, look. It's a topless lady. Nice day, isn't it?"), and the like. Exploration which is considered to be "perverted" or "kinky" in our views was looked on more as something by which a pair or so might establish a ritual, a stance; relative station by consent rather than by decree.

We are SO WRAPPED UP in ourselves as a society that we have completely forgotten where we came from, and thus cannot see where we are going. We constantly deny our nature, and we are doomed if we continue in this way.

We are the Empire of Rome, version 2.0. And even if it means the demise of a lifestyle to which I have become accustomed, so long as it will give us a means of reconstruction and an opportunity to build the future in a better way, I say: "Bring on the flames."

If You're Part Of The Solution, You're The Problem

(or, "There will always be bullies.")

A bumper sticker says it best: "It will be a great day on Earth when education has all the funding it needs and the military will need to hold bake sales to build a bomber."

"Heads, I win; tails, you lose." -- Anonymous

I am sitting here reflecting on the state of the world, the state of the union, the state of the state of California, the state of the San Francisco Bay Area, and, perhaps most importantly, the state of my own household, the last of which I will probably spare most of you the details.

We are destined for war. This country is about to be plunged directly into what I'm sure the Christians are wailing as the Apocalypse. The war to end all wars. It says so in the Bible that the war will be fought in the Middle East, where the "Holy Land" originated.

I think it's been subconsciously planned that way for the last dodecade. Mr. Bush, Jr., says that he does not want to go to war, and yet here we are, not backing down. He says that Saddam Hussein and Iraq represent a direct threat to the United States of America and we need to disarm them.

Now, the logic as I understand it regarding the approach to Iraq (i.e., "bomb the hell out of them") versus the approach to, oh, let's say North Korea for the moment (i.e. "Hey, let's talk.") is that Iraq has been asked to disarm for the last twelve years and Gen. Hussein has not been exactly what I would call compliant.

Normally, I think I'd object to this behaviour on our part except that we're stepping in to enforce a treaty which was signed at the UN in 1991. Had that treaty not been signed on by the majority of the UN, I would go so far as to say we really do have no business going after Saddam Hussein.

I'm disturbed, though, by our ****less leader's approach. He evaded the question regarding removing Hussein from his position. He doesn't want Hussein taken out as much as he wants Iraq disarmed. I disagree with this. No country should be disarmed, or all of them should. They have the right to defend their own country, more so once they get a saner government in place.

But Mr. Bush wants them to completely disarm, ousted Hussein or no.

I think we are losing sight of the issues. What is our goal in completely destabilising the region? What is the point?

Another approach was brought up to me regarding this whole thing: What right do we have to play Big Brother and Moral Dictator, Inc. to the entire world? Where do we get off stating what is uncivilised? Where do we get the right to decide what is right and what is wrong in the world? Of course it's wrong according to us. But we don't live there. We don't have our history steeped in that culture; in fact, one would look at us and say we've had our history steeped in oaken casks filled with various fermented liquids, of which most of us have probably had more than enough.

But I digress.

Yes, the treatment of the citizens in other countries (Iraq, just to pick one) is abhorrent BY MOST STANDARDS. The dominant figures of the country don't see that they are doing anything wrong, and until we can convince them that they are doing something truly wrong by means of logic and deduction, we don't have the right to march in and put our foot down and say "Stop that."

It is not our job.

In fact, doing so as we are trying to do is a direct violation of the Prime Directive. For people unacquainted with the Prime Directive, it is summed up as such: "There shall be no interference with the progress of other cultures in such a manner as to be completely disruptive to the flow of events." At least this is as I understand it. Educate them, show them why it is horrible. I think if we are to do something like that, perhaps we should at least invert the power pyramid and put the overlords in the position of the subjugated and give them something to think about. But that will take the effort of the subjugated, and it will take some thought and consideration on their part. That said, I think it would not be a bad idea to educate them. This will take probably ten generations of constant effort to get them out of that situation, and I think it's probably a good idea to start.

But bombing the hell out of them is not going to achieve this. It will be like kicking a hornet's nest. There are probably hundreds of nationals over here who are ready at the drop of the first bomb to take out our centers of communication, thus rendering most of us by and large cut off from each other. I guarantee it would not take much to cause mass chaos in the area. A couple of guys driving around in an SUV loaded with Molotov Cocktails at 3 in the morning and tossing them out the window in random wooded areas and places where we have built our homes in natural -- and highly flammable -- settings. It would only take a single catastrophically scaled fire in any given area to draw out most of the reserves in a region. Imagine what happens if there are MANY of them.

And there are not enough funds given to the states to cover this because it's all gone to war; what remains to be given is not given because the government is deciding to punish the states that did not elect them.

But I digress.

On to North Korea. Why are we not demanding that North Korea disarm? Why are we not using strong-arm tactics against them? Because they would kick our butt through the ceiling on the way down. They have nuclear weapons capable of a first strike on the left side of this country. What are our defenses? If we have a means of disarming them, perhaps we should, but it is very clear that we will not be able to do so by force.

The difference between North Korea and Iraq is pretty simple:

• Daddy didn't start a war with North Korea.
• North Korea doesn't have a heck of a lot of liquid petroleum investment fodder.

It is all about the money, folks. Wake up.

This brings me to the state of the union.

We're sitting here on the brink of war, with our economy in the toilet and the scum still clinging to the rim. We have NO reserves for our states. We were, at one point, in a true recovery, potentially able to keep ourselves from going into debt. We were able to begin to rebuild educational standards, and we were making some serious headway after a long ethical recession.

And now, thanks to all the money being sunk into this war, we the people are paying out of our lower intestines for something most of us do not want to pay for, and this is just the tip of the ice cube.

Why are we doing this? Is an oil field in the Middle East really that much of an answer to the energy woes of this country that it will prove to bail us out once we reclaim it? I seriously doubt it.

Speaking of energy and money (the two do, after all, seem to go hand in hand), get what's going on in Sunny California.

The state wants to surcharge customers who provide their own power, whether by the Sun or any other means.

They insist it is the duty of the customers to pay for the shortfalls and the mistakes and the federal screwovers (thank you, Enron and Govt.). What is up with this? The corporations cannot be made to be accountable for their own actions? It always gets passed down? This is horse hockey, folks. This is NOT the way it needs to work.

If anyone out there has a solar-assisted energy solution, and you find yourself with a surcharge, I would urge you to fight it. Take it as far into the system as you can. It is not right that we are researching ways to decrease our dependencies on the corporations, on the pollutant fuels, and ways to reduce our strain on the energy grid and still being penalized for it.

This has got to stop. (You have no idea of the restraint with which I am currently authoring this article.)

In the meantime, the Public Utilities Commission has voted that the public will not get relief from the higher rates, that the power companies will be bailed out at our expense. This comes as no surprise, really, considering that the Federal Energy Commission would not pay us restitution for the bilking that happened in 2000. Thank you, ****less leader, for your oh, so unprejudiced approach to government. Thank you, o administration, for your willingness to run the country instead of paying off your own self-interest.

Where does it stop?

More to the point, where can We The People start to make it stop?

There will always be the bullies, but it has been shown that sheer numbers of lesser beings can overpower them.

We're already in this war thing. Since we've already invested the money, we might as well go. Make it fast, take out the target, and get us back here in our respective individual pieces.

Oh, and without going into too much detail, the Total Information Awareness act and the Homeland Security Act can just take a long trip into a deep sewer.

To the soldiers fighting this war: Keep in mind that you are doing a job. I do not fault you, but I will remind you that you are no longer fighting for the America for which your forefathers fought. You are now fighting for an empire with a dubious lifespan unless we can seriously address the way in which we behave.

You are fighting for a dying way of life, but you are also fighting for the possibilities which come with a new way of life. This country must open its eyes and take care of its own before it can even consider taking care of anybody else.

Regime change begins at home.

The Game Needs To Be Called

(or, "Next, Please.")

By and large, life is good, except for this excuse of a shadow of the ghost of the dream which used to be America...

"If his reign goes unchallenged, then everything that is green and growing and good in this world will be destroyed. There won't BE a Shire anymore, Pippin!" -- J. R. R. Tolkien, "The Two Towers"

I may be a bit skittish. Perhaps I frighten easily. Either that or I'm one of the (apparent) twelve percent of the people who has some sense in his head.

May I ask, please, just what in the world the current government of this country thinks they are doing?

We were on the brink of an educational recovery which had the potential to get us back to being one of the best places in the world to get an education. Now we are facing federal fund shortages which are being diverted to a war over something of little consequence, and they will toss our educational potential into the toilet.

The President has issued such promises as money for the prevention of the spread of AIDS. Ordinarily I'd say this is laudable except that he is sending the money abroad to Africa instead of keeping it here, where it would be better put to use, oh, say, looking for a cure.

Our borders remain open to illegal aliens who are coming in through the national parks which hug the borders because we can not afford to staff them because of all the money being poured into the Military effort. And now we, the taxpayers, have to shoulder the brunt of their weight on our system with the multi-lingual invasion which has taken over California and threatens to undermine the rest of the nation.

Please don't mistake me as a cultural bigot, because I am not. But when you go to a foreign country, you HOPEFULLY have learned something about speaking their language, and something about their culture. And you typically don't intend to stay there and leech from them. If you're going to live here, please be prepared to learn to FLUENTLY read, write and speak ENGLISH!

But I digress.

The current total government scheme in place seeks to undermine everything this country was built upon. We are being rocketed back to the middle ages in terms of our rights concerning freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press. Our economy is in the tubes because all the available funding is being redirected to this War over the biggest oil field in the country. Instead of researching alternate energy, we are still fighting over oil. Instead of looking for ways to energise our people and make them into a nation of the most positive minds on the planet -- which would eventually find a way to reason their way through the BS borders which separate our nation from other people (not national borders or cultural ones, but other illogical ones) -- our Republic is keeping us all in the dark, inciting Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt and Despair (FUDD).

Wow. Hi. Please keep all arms and legs inside the handbasket at all times.

I offer up a solution to this madness, and it is as such:

Mr. President, 

I call upon you to do the right thing for this country and resign your
office immediately.  Please remove your Vice President, as well as all
UNelected officials you have hand-chosen to serve as your Cabinet.

I am calling upon you to resign based on the lack of competence you have
demonstrated as the leader of the people of this country.  You have done
nothing to mitigate the influx of illegal aliens, nor to ease the minds
of the people of this country, nor anything worth a positive note regarding
domestic policy.  Indeed, you are treating the citizens of this country
-- SOME OF WHOM ELECTED YOU -- tantamount to criminals.

I and many others grew up in a time when Nuclear War was a threat to this
world for the third time and the fourth time.  We remember when the Cold
War was still going on.  I personally know someone who was one button-push
away from starting World War III while your father was running the country
through Ronald Reagan.

That was 20 years ago, and the threats were very real.  We do not forget
that easily.

Many others remember Viet Nam, and the Bay of Pigs is a documented
failure.  There is a common theme here:  These conflicts arise without the
true support of the people.  If you really believe that 88% of the people
out there really want a war, you are deluded beyond reason and are hence
incapable of running this country competently.  There is more to our
lifeblood than oil.  There is more to our existence than money and
conspicuous consumption.

We have had to continuously import talent from other countries because
we do not have the educational system present and sufficiently affordable
to produce this talent domestically.

And with everything which has happened to the economy in this country --
which your decisions and policies affect a great deal -- our companies are
not only reducing permanent work forces and forcing families to pay
astronomical health care out-of-pocket, but they are opening offices
abroad because they can recruit the talent locally to the company's new
office and not have to suffer the rigmarole of bringing them into this
country.  We are losing our hold on the world.

I and many others have watched this country slide from a country which
could have been recovered to greatness in perhaps half a lifetime to
one which will never again be great in my life.  We are but an excuse
of a shadow of the ghost of a memory of the dream which used to be
America.  We are no longer the America for which millions have fought
and died over the years.  Those millions did not set their lives forfeit
for this country as it stands now.  This administration is running this
country into the ground in an iron-fisted attempt to lay down the laws
in the name of God, and this makes us no better than any of the countries
we have attempted to destabilise, past or present.  In fact, we are
becoming very much like the Soviet Union we so much feared.

Unless you can prove that you are wise enough and mature enough to LET GO
of the hold we have on the world and retreat and rebuild internally, heal
and progress, I am of the opinion that you are no longer sufficiently of
sound mind to run this country, and I suggest that you step down from
office and let a more forward-thinking soul begin the true healing process
and rebuilding of this nation so that it can become the shining beacon it
once was.

It is the FUDD which will drive us down. One does not run a truly great nation through the ultimate control of the people. It is the people who make the nation great, through their own individual strengths, not vice versa. One cannot have a great nation without the people.

So if I'm a bit skittish, or a bit frightened, or a bit angry because I am skittish and frightened, over this issue, I am certain I am not the only one.

Fifty-five percent of our population support a war on Iraq? I don't think one can even take a poll of fifty-five percent of the population, considering that barely half of us vote, and that's in an important election.

And I can guarantee that the people who were polled -- and recorded -- were not a representative slice of the people of this country.

Next. Please!

State of the World

Hey, all, sorry it's been a while, but I've been incredibly busy as per usual. I know, I know -- I still have pictures to scan in and all sorts of other rigmarole.

Since I last wrote, I've become unemployed - again (anybody need a UNIX Man For All Seasons, a session keyboardist/guitarist/mandolin player/singer, a freelance artist?) and have spent weekends working down at Casa de Fruta, just north of Hollister, CA, as the manager of the Brass Rubbings booth. It's been my first interpersonal outlet in four years. Wow, I'd forgotten what social fresh air felt like!

In other news. Well, the world is a huge mess, which is something I'm going to attempt to address in this page. Perhaps I do complain and not act; I'm never sure what I can do to make this world a better place. Just being myself doesn't seem to be enough for the people who want to see the world change for the better, and it's too much for the people who are changing it for the worse. It seems I cannot win this one. Full speed ahead, then...as usual, comments and queries are accepted.

---

So, what are we doing?

Okay, clue me in here. Let me make sure I have my facts straight, first.

• The President wants to wage war, full-scale, on Iraq.
• The President wants to continue, indefinitely, a war on terrorism which will probably be ultimately as successful as the war on drugs, which has proven to cost untold sums of money and has only served to further the purpose and profit by the religious right.
• The economy in the tech industry continues to slump, and the job market in every other industry on the face of the planet has seen a glut of people who are eminently unqualified to enter any other industry, and so they are stuck, with no help forthcoming on cross-training for any occupations which will sustain them and their families. But I digress.

We're doing this why, exactly? Whatever happened to Osama Bin Laden? Whatever happened to focusing on the initial threat of terrorism which brought down the twin towers?

Hello? Anyone? Bueller? ...Bueller?

So, okay, we're preparing to engage in a full-scale assault on Iraq. Does anyone else find it suspicious that we're doing this in a mid-term election year?

...how about that the figurehead who is "initiating" the action happens to be the son of the last President who went after Iraq?

And what of Bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda? What's up with them?

...and who's funding them?

I'm sure you're all familiar with the practice of arson by firemen who are out of work and have nothing to do to fill their time. They set fires in the hopes that they'll be called to help deal with it. These fires claim the homes and, in some form or other, the lives of the very people the firemen are supposed to be protecting. Untold damage is done. Materially, it's a drop in the bucket. 80% of everything is replaceable. The things that are not replaceable are the photographs taken years ago, the memories of growing up in their houses, or the memories of spending summer vacations in "the place that used to have trees".

By comparison, does anyone else find it so completely and totally out of the question that the Al-Qaeda is still alive and kicking and in our country and is probably turning into something of an inside operation?

Face it. Our government is a bored entity, for some stupid reason or other. If they can't get their jollies out of eroding our civil liberties, or of getting in the face of the Mommenpops who define the very character of our country, what we used to stand for, they're going to take us to war, like it or not.

I think Roosevelt knew about Pearl Harbor before it happened.

I think our current administration -- and its father's -- knew about 9/11/2001 before it happened.

Throwing a war is a dicey proposition. In Roosevelt's case, he threw us into the war, and it worked. We rebounded from the worst economic circumstance this country had ever seen to become the mover and shaker of the latter half of the 20th century.

Whomever decided to toss us into Viet Nam made a VERY poor choice. We had no public support for that war in the lower eschalons.

In Bush Sr.'s case, the net effect of us attacking Iraq was null, and the Cold War was over already by that time.

In Bush Jr.'s case, economically, it didn't work. Our economy was just seeing signs of possibly recovering and thriving again, and it wasn't 9/11 that kicked us down again. It was our declaration of war, that we were going to pursue the terrorists until we stopped them, regardless of the cost, I think, that has kicked us down again.

The fact that our current administration is technophobic isn't helping matters, either.

...so why, exactly, again, are we going after Iraq?

To gain a foothold "over there" and take over the planet, bit by bit by bit?

I'm going to say something that many people will not like to hear.

I hope we lose this war we're starting. I hope we lose it in a big way -- big enough to force us to close our doors and regroup internally. Big enough to show us that we're NOT the greatest nation on the planet, and big enough to show us that we need to take care of the things with this country which are seriously wrong on all levels.

Economically, we need to bring the costs of education, health care and livable housing back into line with reality. The minimum wage keeps going up, but the cost of living rises exponentially in comparison.

Ecologically, we need to start pursuing alternate forms of energy with a vengeance.

Spiritually, we need to stop exerting a Puritanical stranglehold on any beliefs which are non-conforming.

Morally, I think we need to practice what we preach.

Ethically, we need to stop promoting big business while squashing the little guy.

I'm going to digress. I may or may not return.

I saw something posted by a friend of mine recently. It had to do with a cross-talk of God in/out of public places and child discipline in/out of the hands of the parents and the people who have to raise them.

Personally, I think that the two have nothing to do with each other. God doesn't belong in our state-run places. Spirituality is a very personal thing. I won't fault you for believing in your God, or worshipping him or whatever, so long as you don't come around my house with an angry mob with pitchforks and torches "in the name of God". Take responsibility for your own actions, please.

Discipline is another matter. We've come to coddle our children, catering to their every whim. "Physical discipline is bad," we are told. Well, to a certain extent, sure. Getting rapped on the hand with a ruler isn't right at all -- that's seriously damaging. (Of course the insult is that it's because your child is evil for writing with the left hand!). On the other hand, a spanking or a very firm talking-to followed by a very firm placement into a time-out spot is not at all out of line.

The Government does not see things this way. They have taken all the teeth out of parental and community discipline. It's all well and good for us to say "Now, Johnny, don't punch Kevin," and "Now, Andrea, don't pull Katarina's hair", isn't it? But you can't give their butt a whack if they're really uncontrollably out of line to the point where nothing else will register. That's "child abuse" and can land you in hot water with Health and Human Services, the Child Protection division.

I have words for this, and I'm enough of a gentleman not to print them on this page, but the literal translation equates to "Feces from the Bovine of the Male persuasion".

Needless to clarify, but I will anyway, I'm not a big fan of "hands-off management" of children. We must be allowed to set some very hard guidelines for them that they must not cross. It seems hypocritical to say "Don't hurt someone" and then turn around and smack the kid, but we're not doing this to hurt them as much as we need to be able to get their attention and show them that this is not right. If you're spanking the kid to hurt them, to show you're stronger than they are, or out of anger, you're not doing it right.

We've spent a generation and a half in hands-off child-rearing. What DO we have to show for it? Although childrearing isn't the only issue at hand, here, it's a contributor to the cause. We have gangs, violent career criminals at levels the country hasn't seen since the era of prohibition, and they end up in this way because nobody had the authority at that time to demonstrate the difference between right and wrong.

Another reason that we have this happening to our children is because we don't have the money to survive in this nation anymore. Most households are double-income households, and because the divorce rate is skyrocketing, they are turning into single-provider households, the head of EACH, now, which must achieve an income double that of which they had been earning just to cover the cost of the living space (they EACH have one now, remember!), as well as the fact that both sides are still paying for the children in one way or another.

We now have nobody at home to watch the children.

And there is no money forthcoming to help care for the children after school because we're all away working to support them and pay taxes which are supposed to be going to the programs which would help care for them after school, but the taxes aren't going there...

BECAUSE THEY'RE ALL GOING TO SUBSIDIZE THIS BLOODY STUPID WAR THAT OUR PRESIDENT AND OUR CONGRESS THINK IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN LEADING AND BUILDING A NATION OF ENRICHED, ENLIGHTENED INDIVIDUALS WHO COULD ADVANCE THIS PLANET INTO A REALM OF PEACE, PLENITUDE AND GENERAL HARMONY!

(ha! I came back!) What is UP with this!?!? Why is the Bush clan SO OBSESSED with this whole Iraq thing, forgetting about their original cockamamie plan against Osama Bin Laden, that they can't see that this conflict is going to result in the death of a country which was based on tenets far nobler than they could ever perceive?

...did I just answer my own question?