Sunday, June 19, 2005

Why Are We in the Middle East, Anyway?

I think that George Bush should level with the American people but he won't. He can't. He wouldn't have the support of the American people if we knew what his agenda was all about. We, the people of the United States of America, are more enlightened than we were in the 1960s, yet we're letting our government run amok. They're operating under the guise of family values, morality and Christian theology. What I see is radical Christian fundamentalism and that my friend, scares me more than radical Islamic fundamentalism. Let's face it, we have more money, more guns, more tanks, more bombs. We can wreak more havoc in 30 seconds than all of the Islamic terrorists can in a decade. And we are.

Why are there Islamic terrorists? Because they feel helpless. They feel ignored by the world community. There must be something wrong. What are we doing to them to make them feel so helpless? Could it possibly be that we are the new Roman Empire? Why does the Bush administration feel the need to spread democracy throughout the world? Like democracy is the only way. It's barely working for us. Let's talk about Italy for a moment. Is that a democratic government? I don't think so? Are they declaring war on anyone? I don't think so. They're not a democracy. And it seems to be working out quite well for them. They're just riding around on scooters with no helmet on going, "Ciao!"

If Islamic fundamentalists want us out of the Middle East, then we should leave! If your next-door-neighbor doesn't want you in his house and you don't leave, he's going to take some action. And it's legal to do so. All we've been doing in the Middle East is meddling with their politics. Islamic Fundamentalists overthrow the government of Iran and depose the Shah. We give him safe harbor and they retaliate by taking our embassy staff hostage. Then, to make matters worse, we give chemical and biological weapons to Sadam Hussein's regime because he hates the Iranians, too. We back him and give him military hardware and then he feels he's free to run amok and invades Kuwait. We backed the wrong regime. We're always backing the wrong regime. We shouldn't be backing any regime. We should be looking after our own problems - our own social woes.

This is what I see when I watch the news. And let me preface this by saying I try very hard not to listen to the rhetoric but actually watch the video, being the independent thinker that I am. I see children throwing stones at Israeli military. I see a Bradley fighting vehicle, made in the United States of America come to a screeching halt. I see Israeli soldiers jump out of the back of the vehicle holding American made M-16s and gun down a child. What's wrong with this picture? And then we wonder why the Arab world hates us so? We're backing a government that doesn't share the same values that we do or do we? Well, George Bush's values perhaps:

"You throw a little rock at me, I'll mow you down with an automatic weapon, you dangerous 12-year-old you!"

As the American-made helicopters hover overhead, the citizens of this tiny little slum chant, "Death to America!" Go figure.

The problem with Israel is that it is a religious state. Now I'm not anti-Semitic, by any means. I'm not anti-any theology. I'm anti-religious state. This is the guise that George Bush is operating under. He wants a Christian state. Just last week, the governor of Texas stated, as he signed a new bill into law in a church, that "of course we can legislate morality. We must legislate morality." Well, so much for the separation of church and state.

I think that George Bush and the RNC were brilliant in capturing the mindless, gullible sector of our population. Family values. Who can argue with that? No one. Family values are good! But just exactly whose values are they? And what are those values based on? Is it "religious" morality? Is it Christian fundamentalism? Family values are just that. Family. Not government values. The government has no business legislating what they think is moral. I'll tell you what's immoral. Preemptive war. What's next? Precrime?

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Siamese Record Producers

I've been recording some tracks in my studio and they're being produced by Simon and Gracie. Everything is going well except yesterday we lost about half an hour when Simon got distracted by a blue jay stuck in the window screen. It's a good thing cats are nocturnal. So am I.

Gracie after a hard day in the studio. "I'm not sure about these lyrics. I think I'll sit on them for awhile." Posted by Hello

Simon checking the tuning of the snare drum. "I think I hear a rattle." Posted by Hello

Sunday, June 12, 2005

Marijuana and the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell Mentality

I went to see a musician friend of mine play last night. It was the first show of the tour and I was happy to see him perform with a respected recording artist. This is hard for me to put into words as I have so many points of reference to draw from. I think I'll take this one step at a time.

(1)There are several states that allow medical marijuana to be prescibed legally for cancer patients who suffer pain and nausea, etc. for glaucoma patients to relieve pressure on the eye. Terminal problems.
(2)Last week, the United States Supreme Court handed down a decision contrary to the above mentioned states' laws on the legality of the dispensing of medical marijuana.
(3)Over fifty percent of our nation's prison population have been convicted of marijuana possession or the sale of marijuana.
(4)Mandatory drug testing was deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court.
(5)We, the people, under the Bill of rights, cannot be compelled to incriminate ourselves.

Here I go on a rant again!

Why do we put up with this disparity? I think I have the answer........WE'RE STUPID!
It's the same reason we will pay $1.19 for a small bottle of Pepsi while looking at a
two liter bottle that cost 99 cents..........WE'RE LAZY!

"Oh, I'll have to go home first....... and get a glass....... and fill it with ice and........." (sound like you?) Well, I'm just as guilty. I WANT IT NOW! It's too hard for me to think five seconds ahead, grab a bottle, fill it with ice and bring it with me! I'll just drive five miles out of my way and buy a bottle for $1.29.

What does this have to do with marijuana? Stay with me on this Mr. Short Attention Span!

This is what was not in our history books: During the "Great Depression", there was a movement to deport Mexican immigrants from the southwestern states (sound familiar?) as it was thought that they were taking jobs away from "Real Americans". With the help of a prominent newspaper magnate that I won't mention (William Randolph Hearst........and by the way, "Rosebud" wasn't a fucking sled), a lie was propagated in all of his newspapers that the Mexicans were smoking marijuana, raping our women and killing people, and pissing in our beer!

"Oh, pissing in our beer is the last straw!"(They seemed to say).

Politicians, eager to distract the population from the real issues of the day, jumped on the band wagon. In record time, laws were passed to criminalize marijuana. Break the law, get deported! Sounds like the Patriot Act, doesn't it? Marijuana was classified as a narcotic and the rest is history. How could this happen? People were stupid back then as well! Still with me? What does this have to do with my musician friend? First a few more points of reference.

(1)Murder is a crime.
(2)Murder is a sin.
(3)Lying is just plain wrong. Under oath it's a crime. Lying is a sin (unless you're a robot and you're preventing a human from hurting himself.......just kidding!)
Let's play "Find the disparity"! It seems by today's moral standards in the world according to "George", it's not a sin or a crime to lie about "Weapons of mass desruction", and invade another country. It's okay to drop a million tons of high explosives on a country that hasn't declared war on us.You can delare a "War on Terror" and kill as many people as it takes to put a few more billions of dollars in Dick Cheney's--I mean, Haliburton's bank account! It's not a crime, it's not a sin! No, no, no! It's a pre-emptive war! Let's not forget that our government also declared a "War on Drugs". Soon they will declare a "War on Corn Flakes" if it serves their hypocritic, greedy, money-grubbing, lying, cheating, stealing-for-their-own-monetary-gain, purposes.

And for God's sake,let's not forget the Axis of Evil! Korea, Iraq and Iran. What's that got to do with 9/11? They're about as pertinent to the destruction of the Twin Towers as hair cuts, tomato juice and fabric softener! And don't forget, God is with us all the way! says George W. Bush. Sounds crazy, doesn't it?

The rise in cancer has nothing to do with the hundred or so atomic bombs that were "tested" (it's the politically correct way to say EXPLODED) above-ground on U.S. soil during the '40s, '50s and '60s. There really was a magic bullet in Dallas in 1963. It wasn't a military or political coup d'etat! Oliver Stone just made that up! And while I'm talking crazy, during the American Revolution (the first one) the British didn't call us "insurgents" and the French weren't "foreign fighters" they were just "tourists" waiting for Jerry Lewis to be born! If you don't know what I'm talking about, you don't know your own American history. If you don't know where we've been, how can you possibly know where we're going?

But what does this have to do with a respected recording artist? Hey, you're still with me! Okay, I'll get back to it! I loved the show! He sang the song "I'll Never Smoke Weed with Willie Again" and when he came to the last verse and sang "I broke down and smoked weed with Willie again", all 15,000 people screamed and yelled and loved it. He said: "Anyone who plays 200 shows a year and is 72 years old can smoke anything he wants!" The crowd went crazy!

These aren't the same people who vote for politicians who spend billions of our tax dollars on the "War on Drugs". I'll bet the only vote they ever cast in their lives was for their favorite American Idol!

My point is: it's illegal to smoke marijuana but if someone of prominence stands before 15,000 people with enough sound and lighting, and says, "I smoked weed with Willie Nelson," then it's OK. If someone says something with a big enough production and enough conviction, even if there's disparity, people don't pay enough attention to recognize it and question it. They'll agree with whatever is on Fox News. If it's on TV, it must be true. If it's in a William Randolph Hearst newspaper, it must be true. No one would ever lie to the American public to suit their own purpose ... not Ronald Reagan, not Jerry Falwell, not Bill O'Reilly, not Richard Nixon, and especially not Rush Limbaugh. He doesn't do illegal drugs. He had prescriptions. 15 of them. For the same drug. From different doctors. That's OK, isn't it? Sure. As long as it's not marijuana.

If this is the land of the free and the home of the brave, then we should all be brave enough to stand up to our politicians and demand they legislate in this fashion: Don't ask me if I smoke marijuana and you can't fire me if I don't tell you!

Saturday, June 04, 2005

Call Out the Fumigators, Because There's Something in the Air

From WEBMD via FoxNews.com:
Vaccine May Prevent Cervical Cancer
Thursday, April 07, 2005
By Salynn Boyles

A vaccine that could prevent both cervical cancer and genital warts may be available as early as next year. In a newly reported study, the vaccine was found to be 90 percent effective for preventing the majority of viral infections that cause these sexually transmitted diseases.

Experts say the highly anticipated cervical cancer vaccine could have a huge impact on the thousands of women with this cancer worldwide. About 500,000 women get cervical cancer each year, mostly in developing nations without screening programs. Half end up dying from the disease.

"This is a very exciting time," researcher Luisa L. Villa, PhD, tells WebMD. "We have shown that this vaccine is highly effective. Universal vaccination could lead to dramatic declines in cervical cancer."

100 Percent Protective Against Disease

Cervical cancer is almost exclusively caused by the human papilloma virus, or HPV. There are more than 100 types, but only certain high-risk strains cause lesions that over time can develop into cancer if not treated.

Routine screening with Pap smears can detect abnormalities and prevent cervical cancer. The widespread use of Pap smears has been shown to reduce cervical cancer rates in the U.S. It is recommended that women begin screening within three years of becoming sexually active or age 21, whichever comes first.

From CNN news channel program "Crossfire":

CARVILLE: If you think the right is merely stupid and not colossally assinine in stupidity then listen to what I'm getting ready to say. A successful vaccine to treat a widespread sexually transmitted infection that is responsible for 70 percent of cases of cervical cancer you would think would be supported by everybody. Well, you would be wrong. The Family Research Council, a pro-Bush, right wing operation says they should not approve this because it may encourage people to have premarital sex. [...] Stupidity at this level is beyond explanation.

WATKINS: It's really about values. And I applaud the Familiar Research Council for having values.

CARVILLE: If you applaud them for trying to keep a drug off of the marketplace that would cut the is cervical cancer rate by 70 percent, that's...

WATKINS: Well, the idea is to provide every incentive for young people not to have premarital sex.

CARVILLE: So, in other words, you have sex, you get cancer. That's a real incentive. That's -- I'm floored.

Just ahead, we'll tell you why federal election officials could have learned by watching "American Idol." Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CARVILLE: The producers of "American Idol" may have come up with the right formula for getting a good voter turn-out. In case you weren't watching, Carrie Underwood, a 22-year-old country singer from Oklahoma won the singing competition last night. The field was narrowed and the winner was decided all by viewer voting.

Over the course of the season, about a half a billion votes were cast either by phone or text messaging, roughly 125 million people voted in last year's presidential election. Either people care more about "American Idol" than an American president or candidates need to spend more energy appealing to the couch potato vote.

WATKINS: Can you imagine if we had text messaging in the presidential election? That would be just crazy.

CARVILLE: Well, it was Bo Bice from Alabama.

(CROSSTALK)

WATKINS: Bo Bice was awesome.

CARVILLE: The only Bo I ever knew from Alabama was Bo Jackson. He was my man.

WATKINS: Congratulations, to Carrie, she did he a great job. But Bo was awesome.

CARVILLE: Awesome. All right. "American Idol."

Moonfredi: Fair and balanced? Your ass. My balls. The Fox News network is a weapon of mass distortion propagated by the Bush administration for his own evil gain. At one point I thought he was the anti-Christ, but he's not intelligent enough for that.


I'm just getting ready for the inevitable. Posted by Hello

The Way Things Are Going, They're Going to Crucify Me

If the contents of my blog offends you, you're either ultra-conservative Christian or Republican or both. But in the words of your good book, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

You have two choices: get out of my face, or go stand in the driveway while I back up my car.


Today's sermon is taken from a magazine I found in a hedge. This season's lipstick color is in the frosted pink area, with nail polish to match. This rather reminds me of our Lord Jesus. For surely he liked to get tarted up a bit before he visited Nazareth on a donkey. Now we shall sing hymn 192, "Oh God, What on earth is my hair-do all about?" Posted by Hello