Fare Thee Well, Terri Schiavo

In the Spearhead song Everyone Deserves Music, Michael Franti tells the story of the creation of the first human being. This story comes from the Iranian poet Hafez.

The first human was sculpted out of mud by the Creator. There was a soul that was flying around, and the soul was able to fly anywhere, and the soul was so happy because it was FREE! But the Creator said, "Soul, I have big plans for you. I want you to go into this body of mud so the first human can come to life." The soul looked back at the Creator and said, "Are you fucking kidding me!? Why would I want to go inside a body of mud when I am so FREE!" So the Creator looked at some angels that were sitting nearby, and the Creator said, "Angels, I want you to play some of that beautiful angelic music." So the angels played the music, and when the soul heard the music, it was so inspired that it thought, "What better place to be, than inside a BODY! Where I can dance if I want to! Where I can sing if I want to! Where I can throw my hands up in the air if I want to! Where I can scream if I want to!"

Go forth, spirit, explore and be FREE!

Do Republicans know where does the buck stops?

Remember when our primary reason for invading Iraq was to root out the Saddam Hussain's WMD stash?

No one in the Bush Administration seems to remember. A report by a presidential commission on the WMD debacle has turned up what most anti-war protestors in this country and around the world have been screaming for the last 2 years. The intelligence on WMDs in Iraq was "dead wrong", and suggests that the Bush administration was not to blame for sounding the gongs of war, rather it was the faulty intelligence. In statistics, we learn that a conservative estimate of significance requires a larger test statistic. In other words, the conservative estimate requires more sources of evidence to refute the null hypothesis (i.e. no WMDs in Iraq) vs. the alternative hypothesis (i.e. there are WMDs in Iraq). Isn't Bush a "compassionate conservative"?

This brings up a very important question that most so-called conservatives don't take time to contemplate, "What makes this current set of Republicans conservative?"

This current set of Republicans are not statistically conservative in intelligence estimates, otherwise they would have consulted many other international intelligence agencies to get a complete picture of the WMD situation (or lack therof) in Iraq.

Modern day Republicans are not ecologically conservative in perserving our natural resources.

Today's Republicans are not fiscally conservative as evidenced by the tremedous debt that continues to accumulate for our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to pay.

Even on the areas were they appear to be the most conservative, the intellectual and social realms, the Republican conservative rhetoric machine breaks down. Republican lawmakers continue to claim to be members of a "culture of life", yet deny all Americans a living wage, send our young people to die in foreign theatres created by the oligarchy of large multi-national corporations, and deny quality health care for all citizens, not just those that are fortunate enough to have enough funds to buy into privitized health insurance which can range from superior to mediocre depending on how much money one is willing to invest. Are not all of these issues central to a "culture of life"? What about pollution of our air and water? After all, promotion of a "culture of life" should also include access to the most basic of requirements for sustaining life: clean air and water. Where are these moral high grounders when it comes to exploiting the people of other countries so that we have the freedom to ride our giant vehicles into swamps and mudholes for pleasure? Most likely, they are behind the wheel.

Intellectual conservativism has always been the bane of humanity's advancement. Intellectual conservatism has brought us such gems as the Spanish Inquisition, The Geo-Centric Universe, The Flat Earth Theory, and all sorts of despotic regimes including Nazi Germany. While intellectual conservatism doesn't eliminate all questions from the public discourse, it does seem to eliminate the most important question: Why? Without the ability to understand why something is happening in the world, it becomes virtually impossible to get a full picture of the situation. Earlier this week, intellectual conservatism was brought to the table when 3 people were removed from one of President Bush's town hall meetings about privitizing social security because they rode to the meeting in a car that had a bumper sticker condemning the actions of our government in Iraq. Open dialogue considering all viewpoints is necessary to break the strangle hold intellectual conservatism has on the mind of this country. Unfortunately, until we come to a dialogue with ideas instead of ideologies, the United States' intellectual promise will continue to be marginalized.

2/3rds down, 1/3rd to go!

"A report backed by 1,360 scientists from 95 countries - some of them world leaders in their fields - today warns that the almost two-thirds of the natural machinery that supports life on Earth is being degraded by human pressure."

So let me get this right, we're more worried about Michael Jackson, Terri Schiavo, Gay Marriage, and whether our favorite Survivor makes it on to the next round than we are about the state of the planet thanks in part to human intervention. I'm not saying that I'm innocent of doing my share of damage to the planet. I humbly admit that I am at fault for several tons of greenhouse gases in the air thanks to this modern life all of us have to fit into one way or another. I shudder to think that mankind will never know it's full potential because it's flittering away it's future on the riches of this world...on the shiney stuff. However, there are some of us that are primed and ready to make a difference. We recognize that a cup of clean water and a breath of fresh air are some of the greatest treasures on the planet because everyone can share in them. Now the materially rich want to comodify our air and drinking water. What is that, people? It's laughable, but then again, so is the ownership of land? The earth that you say you own could just as easily turn on you and make you the bitch. Just like the ownership of an idea. After all, if you keep your ideas to yourself and never share them, then what good do they do? At that point, they're only good enough to atrophy and rot, not to further the ever expanding human consciousness.

Ok, let's snap back to reality. Where did I hear this information. Well the first place I heard about it was on BBC News this morning. After doing a little poking around, I became painfully aware that unless you happened to hear about this story through the British Press (i.e. BBC or one of London's Newspapers) you would have never been aware of this study. Here is yet another example in the ongoing drama that is craptastic news. It is really sad when we have to go halfway around the world to get any degree of balanced news about this country. The BBC was also the only broadcasting outlet that reported on the UNOCAL pipeline deal in Afghanistan and how Hamid Karzai, former UNOCAL executive, got to his previous post as interim president of Afghanistan and eventually led to his election as the official head of a reconstituted (with U.S. Yes-Men and Warlords growing Opium) Afghan government. Freedom on the march indeed. A weak press leads to propoganda, jingoism, and flat-out ignorance. In a word, craptastic.

So, instead of paying attention to this news story that might lead people to think twice about buying that gas-guizzling SUV or big duely work truck for getting to and from work every day, the corporate news gives us "psychic" John Edward to tell us that Terri Schiavo is well aware of what's going on around her. OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE ALREADY! I remember when psychics were written off as a bunch of hokey, supersticious hoo-hah, a bunch of smoke and mirrors, yet here's a "reputable news organization" parading this sideshow out to boost the ratings and hypnotize a few more with that all to familiar drone..."Your leaders know what's best for you. To question them is to question your very existance. You are a good 'merican, aren't ya, son? Good. So what ever George W. Bush says must be true because he's Jesus' little brother." News Flash, Mr. Fair and Balanced: I'm not buying it. Now put on the Simpsons and stop pretending to tell the news to me.

Bitch.

Setlist 3/24-25/05

I owe everyone a big apology.

Last week's show was the first of the two Loose Logic Set fund drive shows. It was also the first show to officially wish KEOS a Happy 10th Birthday. I was hoping to sing happy birthday to KEOS, and then launch right into the midnight rant. This week's rant was cut short by a request to repeat the happy birthday song. Rants take quite a bit out of me. If I don't keep them going, then I just drop it. Last week's rant was, unfortunately, cut short. It's really too bad because I would have loved to have delved into the Schiavo Case a little bit more. I feel that I let the station down because there were no funds collected during this show. This is the first show that has ever happened to me. As a result, I got a little upset with you folks. I know I shouldn't have, but if KEOS is as big a part of your life as it is for me, then you'd be upset to know that for the 3 hours we were on the air last week there was nothing, zilch, zero, nada, and kaput! Anyway, please accept the apology of your kind and friendly Hippie From Mississippi.

That was quite possibly one of the hardest shows I've ever had to do...even the one when I was hung over was easier than this one because while I got no pledges, I got calls, but they were inconsistent requests, one for Dave Matthews and one for Foo Fighters. When I got the one for Dave Matthews, I thought it was my friend Frank pulling a prank. Foo Fighters, while they are a good band, do not fall anywhere near the genre of jam band or political rock that has become the brand of the Loose Logic Set. Dave Matthews on the other hand, could be considered in the jam band genre, but he's more custie, schwagg, frat boy side of the jam band universe. A black hole that I don't like to steer the show toward that much.

Lastly, I have a challenge to you, the listeners, for this week. Last week, one volunteer came in shortly after 1 am to drop off stuff from the party over at the 7F Lodge. I told this valuable friend of KEOS that I was kinda bummed that I didn't bring in any cash to the station, to which this person replied, "Well, Randy, look at your audience, they're a bunch of hippies, and hippies are notorious freeloaders." Are you gonna let someone get away with calling you that? I wouldn't if I were you. My challenge to you is to provide me with evidence to the contrary.

We can do this. You can do this!


3-24-25-05 setlist

Artist - Song (Interview) - Album (Show)

Jerry Garcia - Commercial Radio - Acid Test Reels
Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Tea Leaf Green - Earth & Sky - Vail, CO 7/9/04
Yonder Mountain String Band - No Expectations - Mountain Tracks, Volume 2
Jamgrass Slammers - Bouncing Round The Room - A Phish Tribute
Leo Kottke - William Powell - Live
Harry McClintock - Big Rock Candy Mountains - O Brother, Where Art Thou Soundtrack
Acoustic Swing Duo - Milestones>Jam>Dinah - Zoner Music Volume 1
Kevn Kinney - Fly You Flag High - Sun Tangled Angel Revival
Steve Earle - F*** the FCC - The Revolution Starts Now
Phil & Friends - Happy Birthday* - The Warfield, San Francisco, CA 12/19/04
Grateful Dead - Death Don't Have No Mercy - Napa, CA 2/22/69
Mofro - Lachaloosa - Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa, FL 11/7/03
Keller Williams - One Hit Wonder - Laugh
Trey Anastasio Band - Alive Again - Austin City Limits Music Fest, 2004
Particle - Battle Without Honor Or Humanity - Wakarusa Music Festival, 2004
Robert Randolph & The Family Band - Squeeze - Bonnaroo 2003
Allman Brothers Band - Pegasus>Hey Bartender>Pegasus - Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ 4/20/79


The end of a VERY long night...

See, I didn't even have the heart to play We Bid You Goodnight which is the song we always close on.

Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds - Little Thing & Halloween - Live At Luther College
The Wailers - Exodus - Bonnaroo 2003

Remember the challenge, you must show your support for KEOS if for nothing more than the pride of our kind ideals, our sense of community, and all the good karma that you stand to gain by contributing to a community radio station.

*Happy Birthday was played for KEOS at midnight. Happy 10 years KEOS.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk 3-20-05

I started the first Sunday Morning Sidewalk with a fizzle. Thanks for calling in Ryan, if you hadn't called in then I would have felt kinda bummed considering the caliber of music I was putting out...capturing the essence of Sunday.


Sunday Morning Sidewalk 3-20-05

Artist - Song (Interview) - Album (Show)

Jerry Garcia - Commercial Radio - Acid Test Reels
Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
The Other Ones - Rainbow's Cadillac - The Strange Remain
String Cheese Incident - Take Five - Tucson, AZ 1/31/00
The Wailers - Exodus - Bonnaroo 2003
Gov't Mule - John The Revelator - The Deepest End
Edwin McCain, Warren Haynes, Kevn Kinney, Artimus Pyle, & Andy Hess - Straight to Hell - Warren Haynes Christmas Jam, 2003
REM - Driver 8 - Eponymous
U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday - U2: Best of: 1980-1990
Grateful Dead - Ripple - American Beauty
Nirvana - Jesus Don't Want Me For A Sunbeam - Unplugged in New York
Keller Williams - God Is My Palm Pilot - Laugh
Kudzu Kings - Bound For Zion - Jubilee Jam, Jackson, MS 2001
Allman Brothers Band - Firin' Line - Hittin The Note
Moe. - Let It Be - Camden, NJ 12/31/03
Particle - The Banker - Launchpad
Vida Blue & The DJ Spam All Stars - Pick Up The Pieces - Bonnaroo 2004

Terri Schiavo Case: What It Means To You.

Unless you've been hiding your head in the sand over the past few days, you have probably heard something about this Terri Schiavo Case. As you probably know, the situation pits a brain damaged woman in a vegetative state between a husband that wants to end his wife's suffering and a loving mom and dad that don't want to lose their daughter. What hasn't been widely reported is that this case has been on-going for 15 years and has been heard by 20 judges (state and federal, Including US Supreme Courts). In the years that this situation has been in the courtroom, all 20 judges have agreed with the husband, Michael Schiavo, to remove the feeding tube and allow his wife to pass with mercy.

This past weekend, an emergency session of Congress was called to keep the feeding tube in Terri Schiavo. President Bush flew in from Crawford for this bill. Within 20 minutes of the vote from the Congress, Bush signed this into law. This forced the case back into court, where a federal judge has ruled that the feeding tube should be removed. Right now, the parents' attorneys are appealing to the 11th Circuit Court in Atlanta.

So what does all of this mean to you and me? Well, first of all, I think this case speaks volumes about the need for a living will that stipulates the terms and conditions under which you wish to be disconnected from any life-support machines, if need for those machines should arise.

Secondly, we are often told that bureaucracy gets in the way of so many bills getting passed by the Federal government. The Schiavo case gives us evidence that these blockheads can put together legislation quickly, efficiently, and without much debate if it suits their political purposes. Do you think any environmental law would be passed through the system like an ex-lax brownie traveling at 100 miles per hour through your colon (i.e. the way the Schiavo legislation was passed)? In this administration, only if it was to further reduce the environmental protections afforded by the laws that remain on the books to protect our environment for future generations.

Third, I don't know about you, but I find it more than a little creepy that the federal government can tailor bills around an individual in this country.

In situations like Mrs. Schiavo's, where there is no living will, there are a couple of questions that need to be answered to determine whether a person should continue to live on life support or if she should be removed from life support and let nature take its entropic course.

• Will the patient be able to return to a conscious state?
• What will the quality of life be for this person?

In Terri's case, after 15 years, her internal organs have begun to shut down and degrade, including that organ that would bring her back to a conscious state, her brain. In mid-1996 CAT scans confirmed that her cerebral cortext has been severely damaged (i.e. beyond the healing abilities of modern medical science). Even if stem cell research was readily available in this country, it would not be at the level to return any cognitive ability to a patient as deeply damaged as Mrs. Schiavo. This should have never been an issue put before the courts or Congress.

How does this play into the sanctity of marriage? After all, once married, if a person falls into a comatose state, the spouse becomes the guardian of that individual, and, if worse comes to worse, the person to make the final call on keeping life-support on or to shut it off. According to Congress, they are the final arbitrators of life and death, not the loving spouse of a comatose patient. Gay and Lesbian couples trying to get marriage rights, I know this is one of the reasons you wanted the ability to marry. If these attacks on marriage rights continue to persist, then it could get to the point where straight couples will have the same rights as gay couples instead of the other way around.

I'll close this post with the following issue. It is fortunate that Mrs. Schiavo is not in Texas. In 1999, Gov. George W. Bush signed the Texas Futile Care Law into Texas Law. Under this law, doctors and hospitals can refuse to maintain life support of any patient, even against the will of the next of kin, if the patient does not have health insurance or any other way to pay for the care in exchange to tranfering the patient to a county hospital. Thus, the burden for maintaining life support falls to the taxpayer, not to the expert (i.e. the physician). Might I add that this appears to be a real slick way of getting out of a lawsuit. All of this coming from the same guy who later on said in this year's State Of The Union Address, "human life should not be a commodity".

It's the hypocrisy, stupid.

Why Moron DEA Agents and Guns Don't Mix...

It takes a little while to load this one, but man, is it ever worth it! So you got this DEA agent telling kids to be afraid of drugs and just being a general baligerant DEA tool. He starts telling the kids in this seminar that this is the kind of gun that 50 cent uses...he then proceeds to tell the children that he is the only one qualified to handle a gun like that in that classroom when all of the sudden...BANG! bullet right in the foot! Not to seem like a total hypocrit, he continues his lecture on how guns are dangerous and motions for his assistant to hand him a rifle. After the kids saw what just happened to this guy, blood gushing from the wound and all, they respectfully yell to the DEA agent to put the weapon down.

Fuckin' classic. Now do you understand why the "War on Drugs" is a stupendous boondoggle?

Setlist 3/17-18/05

With Leann in Florida this week, I was on for a 5 hour marathon I've grown to call "The Brokedown Logic Set". It's a sort of fusion of Brokedown Palace and The Loose Logic Set. Last night's Brokedown Logic Set featured a show that is nominated for a Jammy (the Jam Band genre's award ceremony): Phil & Friends at The Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, CA 12/19/04. The show is up for "Live Performance of the Year". Voting ends on April 22nd so I would encourage you to for it at the Jammys website. I also featured this show last night as a belated birthday wish to Phil Lesh, Bassist of the Grateful Dead, who turned 65 years old on Tuesday, the 15th. Happy Birthday, Phil! Keep those Bass Bombs flying!

Additionally, if you enjoyed this show and want a copy of your own, shoot me an e-mail at rsappington@neo.tamu.edu, and I will get those copies burned and ready for you as early as Sunday morning. Just drop by the station at 207 East Carson Street in Bryan between the hours of 10 am and 1 pm and I will have your show ready for you.

But enough about that, on to the setlist


Phil & Friends, The Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, CA 12/19/04

Set 1

• He's Gone>
• Box of Rain
• Like A Tumbleweed In Eden
• Row Jimmy
• The Dolphins>
• The Stranger (Two Souls in Communion)
• Unbroken Chain

Set 2

• Imagine
• Help On The Way>
• Slipknot!>
• Eyes Of The World
• St. Stephen>Millenium Jam>
• The Eleven>
• Lovelight
• Dark Star>
• The Elevator
• Comes A Time>
• Happy Birthday*>Franklin's Tower
• Not Fade Away

Encore

• Donor Rap/Band Intros
• The Wheel>
• We Bid You Goodnight
  

But that wasn't the end of the night...not for us at least. Since the show spanned time between 9 PM and nearly 1 am Friday morning, the weekly Midnight Rant was postponed till the end of the Phil & Friends show. Last night's midnight rant was specifically about the failure of an amendment to the fiscal year 2006 Federal budget which would have stricken any language concerning exploratory drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil. As has been stated on this blog, the amendment failed by a narrow margin: 49 yea to 51 nay. With the passage of this budget almost certain given a right-wing strangle hold on both the House of Representatives and the Presidency, and a considerablely un-friendly grip on the throat of the U.S. Senate, we launched into a discussion about a future with conservation, sustainable/renewable fuels that function the same as the fuels we use today, but without the emissions that the fuels of today secrete into our atmosphere. In addition to the news stories that have just pissed me off over the course of the past week, look forward to a critical commentary about mainstream news in America today.

So this is how the rest of the show shook out...


The short remainder of the show...

Moe. - Mexico**>Happy Hour Hero*** - Tweeter Center, Camden NJ, 12/31/2003
Phish - Julius - Coral Sky Amp., West Palm Beach, FL 11/2/96
Grateful Dead - We Bid You Goodnight - Nightfall of Diamonds

See ya on Sunday. Also, I'm probably going to be out at the Harvey John Happening this Saturday at Brazos Natural Foods at the corner of Texas Ave. and Rosemary just at the College Station/Bryan divide. We'll be out there from 10 am to 2 pm to take donations in our change jar, hand out bumper stickers and program schedules.

* "Dead"icated to Phil Lesh. Happy Belated Birthday!
** Going out to my advisor, Dr. Heather Bortfeld, who is vacationing in Mexico this week for Spring Break. Wait a second, shouldn't I be the one in Mexico and she the one here in College Station...I digress.
*** This one goes out to Dr. Eric Wruck, a good friend that just completed his Dissertation defense. One more bottle for this Happy Hour Hero!

ANWR: The Oilman's Baked Alaska

Well, it's got the green light from the Senate. ANWR is now up for grabs. Republicans put it in as a provision of the Fiscal Year 2006 budget. Democrats under Sen. Cantwell proposed an amendment to this budget to strike out any language concerning drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge. The amendment failed 49-51. Just saw it on "The Span 2". With a strongly contolled Republican House and a Republican Presidency, well, it's fair to say that ANWR is fair game.

For some reason, I'm reminded of Gil Scott-Heron's song about these dark times: Winter In America.

Take care, it's scary out there.

I don't like spam.

Evidence that spamers do not pay attention to who they send their crap offers to.

If you click on the picture, you will be able to zoom in to see that the name of the sender is "You can be a cop" and the title of the e-mail messege is "Homeland Security is Everyone's Job". Two words: Fuck Off!

There are three occupations that make me completely uneasy: cops, millitary, and clowns. There's a parallel that binds all three, but I will let you take a stab at figuring that out. I'm not terrified of these occupations, there's just something that makes me a little more guarded around these folks than any other group.

And since when has being a tattle-tale to the government been an honorable profession. I suppose that the folks at the intelligence agencies in this nation would tell me that it's a fine and rewarding profession, but they're cops...and we've already gone over how I feel about cops in general.

Clowns, I'm sorry to do this, but I'm lumping politicians and evangalists in with you guys. This is because they use cheap tricks for a good laugh all the time...you know, like clowns.

Now before any cops, soldiers, or clowns get upset and start heading to my door with torches and pitchforks, let me make it perfectly clear that I've known good people in all these areas, and if you come to me as a human being needing help from his or her fellow human being, I'll be on it, but I'm just telling you that your profession creeps me out.

This week's setlist

Sorry I was a little late on getting last week's setlist up, but...no...no excuse. I've just been a lazy bastard. Which is exactly what I shouldn't become given that Spring Break is this week and I need to be working on my thesis. This week, I will also be filling in for Leann for yet another 5-hour music marathon, and I'll be on the Sunday Morning Sidewalk next Sunday.


This week's show...

Album - Song (Interview) - Album (Show)

Jerry Garcia - What is a hippie? - Acid Test Reels
Galactic - The Beast - Ruckus
Michael Franti & Spearhead - Stay Human - San Francisco, CA 11/5/03
Particle - Make It Real - Bonnaroo 2003
Sam Bush & John Cowan - Sailin' Shoes - Warren Haynes Christmas Jam 2003
Little Feat - All That You Dream - Boston, MA 10/31/75
Allman Brothers Band - Intro>Statesboro Blues - Atlanta International Pop Festival 7/3/70
Phil & Friends - Beautifully Broken> Get Up, Stand Up Jam > Ramble On Rose - St. Louis, MO 8/1/02
Trey Anastasio Band - Alive Again - Austin City Limits Music Fest 2004
Calexico - Quattro - Bonnaroo 2004
R.E.M. - She Just Wants To Be - Reveal
Kevn Kinney - This Train Don't Stop At The Millworks Anymore - Sun-Tangled Angel Revival
Keller Williams - Above The Thunder - Home
Jimmy Page & Robert Plant - Kashmir - No Quarter
Stockholm Syndrome - Couldn't Get It Right - Holy Happy Hour
Gov't Mule - Lay Of The Sunflower - The Deepest End
Nirvana - Where Did You Sleep Last Night - Unplugged in NY
Grateful Dead - We Bid You Goodnight - Nightfall of Diamonds

NIMBYism draws out the hypocrisy

For those of you that don't know, NIMBY is an acronym for Not In My Back Yard. Got it? Good, because it's going to play a big part in this post.

So the news story you should get if you click on the title for this. Six thousand suburban Salt Lake City citizens had to be evacuated because a rail car that was carrying corrosive acid though this pristene, white bread neighborhood was not appropriately equipped to contain this acid. I'm not saying that these folks don't have the right to complain about this distribution of deadly chemicals into their neighborhood...but...

Consider that the margin of victory for Bush in Utah. Slightly over 71% of Utah citizens that got out to the polls voted for George W. Bush and his corporate croney administration that just cut back on EPA spending by 500 million dollars for the next fiscal year. Now the EPA would have been one of the government agencies responsible for checking this rail car to see if it was suitable to carry highly corrosive acids such as nitric and hydrochloric acid.

So congrats to Utah, for voting for looser domestic environmental protections because they didn't want gays and lesbians to marry or thought that this puppet, George W. Bush, would keep them safe from the terrorists. C'mon Utah, you've got desert, rocks, a land locked salt lake, and mormons. In the country of the terrorists origins, they can get three of these four easily. Expansive deserts, rocks are common the world over, the Dead Sea makes the Great Salt Lake look like a mud puddle. That only leaves Mormons, and I don't know about you, but I just don't trust stealthy cultists that look like they came from The Villiage of the Damned.

Ok, so I'm generalizing about Utah. Sorry, progressive Utahites, I know that there are a handful of you out there. I have to defend a similar kind of flack here in Texas. The point is, those that vote to give away their freedom in exchange for safety are ultimately bound to lose both freedom and safety.

Enjoy.

VW, prepare to make a killing: "bio-hybrid"

I was just thinking, a diesel engine can burn biodiesel fuel, and there are battery powered hybrids...why not combine the two. I mean, it's not completely emmission free, but hell, it's pretty close when used correctly. Now put all that into the body of the classic 1965 microbus...or consider the dymaxion design...and sell it like hotcakes.

A standard diesel can run on biodiesel, nothing special about that. If somebody would start giving small businesses the same kind of discounts for hybrids that they used to give for huge ass SUVs (yes, last year was the final year for that tax break), then you would see more of them out there, which would up demand and start bringing the price down...it would take a little while, but I'm saying give it 5 years, and you'll start seeing the things all over the place.

Setlist 3/3-4/05

I got a new Dylan show in the mail on Thursday so while I was getting ready for the show, I decided to dedicate the first hour to Bob Dylan...taking a sample from 3 different eras. From the acoustic days with a show from The Royal Albert Hall in London in 1966, An electric set from 1976, and finally a collaboration with the Grateful Dead from 1989.

We didn't have any playlist sheets so I had to make my own setlist sheet.


This week in Loose Logic Land...

3/3-4/05

Artist - Song (Interview) - Album (Show)

Jerry Garcia - What is a Hippie? - Acid Test Reels
Galactic - The Beast - Ruckus
Bob Dylan - Visions of Johannah - Royal Albert Hall, London, UK 5/26/66
Bob Dylan - Maggie's Farm, Mozambique, Isis* - The Warehouse, New Orleans, LA 5/3/76
Bob Dylan & The Grateful Dead - Joey, All Along The Watchtower, Knockin' On Heaven's Door - Dylan & The Dead

* With Joan Baez

After the first hour and the newly christened, Rain Report, it was back to business as usual: random selections & righteous grooves.

Particle - Reed's Revenge - La Zona Rosa, Austin, TX 2/19/05
Allman Brothers Band - In Memory of Elizabeth Reed - Atlanta International Pop Festival 7/5/70
The Wailers - Jammin' - Austin City Limits Music Fest 2004
Groovin' Ground - Wiggin' - Dome
REM - King of Birds - Document
Phil Lesh Quintet - Into The Mystic - Chicago, IL 11/19/03
Phish - Ya Mar - West Palm Beach, FL 11/2/96
Vida Blue & The D.J. Spam All-Stars - Most Events Aren't Planned - Bonnaroo 2004
Gov't Mule - Mr. Man - Deja Voodoo
Railroad Earth - Terrapin Station - Terra Alta, WV 8/7/04
Michael Franti & Spearhead - What I Be - San Francisco, CA 11/5/03
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Sun Green - Greendale
Grateful Dead - We Bid You Goodnight - Nightfall of Diamonds

__________________________________________________________

I'll see ya next week...or at the David Rovics show on Tuesday.

David Rovics at Cafe Revolution!

Wow!

That was my first impression when I saw that David Rovics, Mr. "Democracy Now! w/ a guitar", will be performing at the kindest, hippest, and all around coolest venue in the B/CS "metroplex": Cafe Revolution.

This Tuesday evening at 6:00 PM. If you want to hear politically progressive charged music, then I highly recommend coming out to hear David Rovics play.

If you want to learn more about David Rovics, then check out his website: www.davidrovics.com.

File Sharing Suppression from the Religious Right...big surprise.

You know, considering the view of the Religious Right on so many other issues, I'm not surprised that they have taken this point of view on file sharing. However it's an interesting reason that they cite, "File-swapping services make pornography easily accessible to minors, the social conservatives submit." This is not even close to the reason the mainstream entertainment industry cites for dissapproving of file sharing: stealing.

Let's weigh that for a second. Which is more dangerous to a child: telling them that stealing is ok, or telling them that sex is ok? Regardless of which reason you cite, it's laughable to think that you can own an idea. Almost as silly as you think you can own a piece of the planet. My land...my ideas...mine, mine, mine! Seems immature to me.

Historically, fundementalist theocrats have been successful because they were able to supress thought. Of the small sliver of the population in the Middle Ages that was literate, the majority were priests. Mass was performed in Latin, but most of the church's patrons at that time did not know what the priests were saying. I submit that it is no different today. The world has expanded greatly since those dark ages, but the cost of being both socially and cognitively literate is still high. Thus, any technology...any advancement that causes people to think is a threat to fundementalism. A threat to thought supression. The Naltrexone of the Masses, if you will.

I suspect that unless we allow for the free exchange of ideas, that we will eventually be driven back into those dark times. Into a neo-fudalism theocracy...now there's a scary thought!

Supreme Court bans death penalty for juveniles!

I first saw this news story on MSN, but seeing as how MSN and MSNBC represent that wonderful conglomeration of alphabet soup that is known as Mainstream Media...I was somewhat skeptical. I just got a confirmation e-mail about this from the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty mailing list stating that the US Supreme Court has ruled that sentencing juvenile offenders to the death penalty is unconstitutional because it falls under the cruel and unusual clause of the 8th amendment...part of that classy document we call the Bill of Rights!

Make no mistake, this is a victory, but the next question that should be on our lips is, "When is the death penalty going to be abolished for everyone on death row?" Continuing to institute the death penalty only perpetuates the wicked tautology.

Wicked Tautology - A term I have coined to describe the nature of those actions that stunt our social and cognitive progress. These actions only serve to undo our advancement as a species.

War brings more War
Violence begats Violence
Hatred breeds Hatred

Our world would be much better off if we were to approach peace, love, and cultural understanding with the same zeal which we approach war, violence, and hatred. That, would be a wonderful world.

Ohhhh....yeaaaaah.