If, like most people in the Western world, you watch television with anything approaching regularity, you may have recently witnessed one of the latest ads - brought to us by the Office of National Drug Control Policy � attempting to equate drug use with terrorism:

Moral Loophole with Nick and Norm

Norm: I got it.
Nick: Got what?
Norm: The moral loophole.
Nick: The moral loophole?
Norm: Um hm. I buy drugs, I might be supporting terror. Might is the moral loophole.
Nick: So you might be helping drug dealers shoot little kids, and you might be helping drug cartels slaughter innocent families, and you might be helping terrorists do things so awful that we can't even conceive of them yet.

As the saying goes, the first casualty of war is the truth. Nowhere is this truer, perhaps, than in the so-called War on Drugs as waged by the United States Government, itself one the greatest pushers the world has ever seen:

The CIA: A History of Drug Dealing

The propaganda currently being engineered by the Bush Administration for the purpose of forming/swaying public opinion regarding the so-called Iraqi Crisis (which they have also engineered through the use of deception, lies and forgery) is as nothing compared to the vast ocean of misinformation spilled over the years about the use and abuse of drugs.

As evidenced by Nick and Norm�s absurd dialogue above, the sea of drug lies is growing daily, and now jointly with the ever increasing lake of lies about that latest boogeyman to haunt the American Dream: Terrorism.

I don�t mean to imply that terrorism is not a real threat. On the contrary, it is all too real and it is imperative to know just who the terrorists are. But how can one determine the good guys from the bad without a program? Pay Attention.

Good �ol Norm, for instance, might do better to turn his attention to a question regarding terrorism that doesn�t even have the benefit of his ridiculous moral loophole:

What am I supporting by paying taxes every year?

Iraqi Women and Children Killed; Baghdad Battered

School of the Americas

Civilians killed as US targets Iraqi missiles

The truth about Waco

Wounded Knee

I ain't gonna' study war no more.

Not tonight, at least. . .

My heart is sick with it as you can see if you scroll down the screen a bit.

No, tonight I'm gonna study myself.

Five facts about me (unknown to even long time readers of this blog)

1. As of this writing, I have four tattoos. The first - a celtic band with a knot symbolic of fidelity- circles my right bicep and was inked about 12 years ago, jointly with Sarah as this is our wedding band. She has an identical band on her left bicep. I also am illustrated by, in no particular order: an anklet of silhouette crows and cats chasing each other around my left ankle, a necklace of stars not unlike an upsidedown halo and also illustrative of where my head is at most of the time (i.e. in the stars), and a rendering of Krazy and Ignatz enacting their timeless ritual of adoration and redemption in bricks and hearts across my left shoulder blade.

2. Buffalo Bill Cody is a direct relation to me, something like my great, great uncle. Yes, that Buffalo Bill Cody. Young rider of the Pony Express, scourge of buffalo, founder of Cody, Wyoming (I've not been in this life), and, of course, visionary showman.

3. I am in the habit of giving blood on a regular basis, every 60 days or so. Blood type? AB Negative.

4. My middle name is Todd. In German, the word tod means death. I will, someday, die. . .Coincidence?

5. I have 12 toes on each foot.

well, ok. . . one of the above is not a fact.

As American, British, Iraqi, Human blood soaks desert sands under his command, Bush and his partners in crime are killing we here in the U.S. softly:

Bush to Alter Clinton Order on Secret Documents

The Bush administration plans to make it easier for government agencies to keep documents secret by revoking an order issued by President Clinton that said information should not be classified if there was "significant doubt" as to whether its release would damage national security. . .

The new policy would also permit reclassification of documents that have already been made public, and give the Central Intelligence Agency special authority to resist decisions by an interagency panel that considers classification appeals, typically from researchers.

Ashcroft expands use of search powers -
Number of secret inquiries has gone way up since Sept. 11

Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the Justice Department and FBI have dramatically increased the use of two little-known powers that allow authorities to tap telephones, seize bank and telephone records and obtain other information in counterterrorism investigations with no immediate court oversight. . .

Somebody please wake me up. . . Or, better yet, rouse the foggy headed people of this nation from their hungry, media fueled dreams so that they can see the country they claim to love crumbling into the dust of history as a police state rises in it's place.

Somewhere in America � perhaps in New York, perhaps in Washington DC, Boston, Philadelphia, Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Baltimore, Miami, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Detroit, San Francisco, Cleveland, Atlanta, perhaps in all of them simultaneously � there will be an explosion. A group that cares nothing for the well being of Saddam Hussein will take responsibility, in the name of those thousands of Iraqi Muslims slaughtered in the initial aerial bombardment of Baghdad.

The body bags will come out, here at home and across the sea in Iraq, as Americans begin to die in terrible numbers.

Martial law will be declared, habeas corpus will be suspended, posse comitatus will be left aside, and the strictures outlined by both Patriot Acts will come to full bloom. 227 years of constitutional law in America will draw to a close.

- a prediction from Into the Darkness by William Rivers Pitt, Truthout-

(link stolen from The Wonderchicken)

I am going on the record here as seconding Mr. Pitt's above prediction, or some variation thereof. Martial law is only one tragic and violent event away, my fellow Americans. Bush and his cronies have been working toward this since long before they engineered the 2000 election fiasco. I hope Mr. Pitt and myself are wrong but there is a sick dread blackening my heart that fears we are not.

Unpredictable events do occur, however (quoth the prophet and the weatherman).

In the meantime, and while we here in The States are still allowed to amass in large groups, Sarah and myself are attending another candlelight vigil tonight. Tiny flames pushing back the darkness just a little.

What is happening to this country? When did we become a nation which ignores and berates our friends? When did we decide to risk undermining international order by adopting a radical and doctrinaire approach to using our awesome military might? How can we abandon diplomatic efforts when the turmoil in the world cries out for diplomacy?

Why can this President not seem to see that America's true power lies not in its will to intimidate, but in its ability to inspire?

- US Senator Robert Byrd, Arrogance of Power - a speech delivered on the floor of the US Senate
March 19, 2003 -

Mother Earth is pregnant for the third time
For y'all have knocked her up.
I have tasted the maggots in the mind of the universe
I was not offended
For I knew I had to rise above it all
Or drown in my own shit.

- Eddie Hazel, George Clinton, Maggot Brain -

The shit is rising faster than I am, I fear. The sick brown tide bubbling just below the pulsing chambers of my heart even as I type. Not mine alone, though. I can tell by the smell that this is the dark expulsion of a World gone mad with bad dreams.

We must all taste those maggots in the mind of the Universe to move beyond them. But too many have lingered at the squirming table, making a meal of grubs. Nightmares result from this too rich repast and bad air.

Do you smell it too?

Don't be offended.

Make of yourself a light.

Shine and rise above the reek, if you can.
If not, hold on tight.

Mother Earth is pregnant for the third time, as the man said.
Things are likely to shake a bit when the contractions hit.

The nasty storms that were predicted for we here in the San Francisco Bay Area this past weekend never developed beyond a few scattered showers. With the weather gods thusly smiling upon our little corner of the planet we were treated to a cool but clear and peaceful night for our watch during the Global Vigil for Peace.

There were at least 105 candles burning at the vigil we attended. I am glad to report that we were not troubled by any pro-war hecklers. In fact, many cars passing by our glowing throng tooted their horns in support.

Click here to view photos of the vigils from around the world.

Meanwhile, as we pray and hope and act for peace in a world already soaked with blood, George W's war machine keeps churning and he speaks of a moment of truth as if the truth possessed any kind of value for this man who has raised an edifice of lies so monumental that we may never see its entirety.

Due to personal reasons that I won't go into here and now, it looks like we will be attending the March 15 peace rally in San Francisco in spirit only.

I am hoping, however, that Sarah and myself can make it out to shine our light on Sunday the 16th as part of the Global Vigil for Peace. We've got a wet and windy storm blowing through the Bay Area this weekend, though, so "hoping" is really the key word here. Follow this link (same as the previous link, I know, but I'm trying to make things easy for you, dear reader) to find a vigil near you or to organize your own.

The Punchline

Alone,
I walk the length of the pier
and stand reflected in choppy water.

There are a thousand other things
I could be doing.
Even more I should be doing.
Cool wind tosses my hair
and blows all such considerations
into the bay.

Let those things
that could be done, should
be done, wait.

Right now
wind and sun and water
are enough.

So thinking, I see
a sleek brown seal
break the water
just yards from where I stand.

Bobbing on his back
amid shimmering, wind cut waves
he gazes in my direction
and seems to grin beneath his whiskers �
as if the two of us were privy
to the punchline
of some great and secret joke.

And, of course, we are.

Originally published in Talking Raven - Hope, Faith & Good News, Spring 1995.

Wind tossed hair? Is that what happened to it?

In his painfully funny 1997 film, The Big One, the indefatigable Michael Moore suggests that we here in the good 'ol (boy) U.S.A. (or Big One of the title) change our national anthem from Francis Scott Key's mostly unsingable Star Spangled Banner to Queen's bombastic rocker, We Will Rock You.

I think this is an excellent idea in general. One problem I have, speaking as an American whose paternal forebears have been in this country since the mid to late 1690's (before it was a country, in fact), is that We Will Rock You, while a most excellent and rocking tune, is performed by a British band. No, the National Anthem must be written by an American.

With this assertion boldy and patriotically stated - that the National Anthem of our GREAT country must be penned by an American hand - I submit the following as a possible candidate for the National Anthem position. A pretty good beat, easy to sing with fairly simple words, and so true to the heart of our GREAT nation's foreign policy, Randy Newman's Political Science:

No one likes us-I don't know why
We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try
But all around, even our old friends put us down
Let's drop the big one and see what happens

We give them money-but are they grateful?
No, they're spiteful and they're hateful
They don't respect us-so let's surprise them
We'll drop the big one and pulverize them

Asia's crowded and Europe's too old
Africa is far too hot
And Canada's too cold
And South America stole our name
Let's drop the big one
There'll be no one left to blame us

We'll save Australia
Don't wanna hurt no kangaroo
We'll build an All American amusement park there
They got surfin', too

Boom goes London and boom Paree
More room for you and more room for me
And every city the whole world round
Will just be another American town
Oh, how peaceful it will be
We'll set everybody free
You'll wear a Japanese kimono
And there'll be Italian shoes for me

They all hate us anyhow
So let's drop the big one now
Let's drop the big one now

It's easy to see this is the right choice for a national anthem. Certainly closer to the modern American sensibility and much more action than that dreary old hymn. Just imagine Britney singing it! A sexy fake thrust of the hips with each "boom", a gyrating navel, shiny blonde hair fanning the air. . .

Well, I'm on the other side of 36 now and, truth be told, it doesn't feel any different from 35.

Thanks to all of you out there in the blogosphere who wished me a happy birthday (including the formerly unknown blogger called Cleophas over at Fresh and Juicy who found me via the Globe of Blogs birthday listing and dropped a line full of birthday cheer into my in-box).

My Big Sur birthday get-a-way was a delight but, despite the timeless nature of the place, the hours passed too quickly and I now find myself right smack dab in the middle of the work week with our stay at Deetjen's Big Sur Inn fading like a dream into memory. We easily exhausted a 27 exposure disposable camera on the scenery, however, so I may have some pictures of that dream to share in this space soon. Assuming, of course, that any of the shots we snapped develop. Not that photos do any kind of justice to the grand geography of the place or it's quiet, holy spirit. Still, we tried.