Working Ann's Dead

Will wonders never cease? It has been disclosed in this interview that Ann Coulter is an avid Deadhead. The anorexic right-wing hack with rhetorical Tourette's Syndrome seems to have been to her share of shows, and has the tapes to prove it. What's next- Dick Cheney admits to a fondness for Pink Floyd? Newt Gingrich longs for the good old days of following the Jefferson Airplane? Just where did the hippies go wrong that one of their ranks could turn out to be a trash-talking conservative she-devil? Needless to say, Ann Coulter won't be sleeping on MY couch any time soon.

On the other side of the fence, it has come to light that Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Mickey Hart are annual attendees of the Bohemian Grove festivities, and have drawn the ire of the Bohemian Grove Action Network. This certainly represents the ultimate in selling out, and one wonders just what goes on out there. Do Bobby and Micky cajole Henry Kissinger and others into tie-dye t-shirts while they all drink blood from Geronimo's skull? Maybe so. The greater question, though, is, why were they invited? I guess it's mighty impressive that a rag-tag group of nominally-talented reprobates could create a financial empire off the backs of young burrito-vendors, hat-makers, and trustafarians. And, after all, they don't work- they play. That's doing it the opportunistic, I mean, the American way. Excuse me, but the colors are getting in my eyes.

The NAFTA Super Highway To Hell

At some point in 2007, work will begin on the Texas leg of the NAFTA Super Highway. Ten lanes wide, it will run from the interior of Mexico well into Canada. An environmental impact statement has been filed, and public hearings are scheduled for next month. This super highway will allow containers from China to enter the U.S. from Mexican ports, and will negate the Longshoreman's Union. The Mexican truckers will not be members of the Teamster's Union.

Incredibly, President Bush has never mentioned this rather ambitious project in any of his speeches. The mainstream media coverage of it has been obscure at best. And yet, ground will be broken in Texas in just 6-12 months. Once completed, our country will never again be the same, as much of our union clout will have been subjugated and made irrelevant by this Pan-American monster.

Even more significantly, this project portends a North American Union that will essentially erase the U.S. borders north and south. The net result is bound to be a third world economy bereft of union benefits and protection. It's astonishing that this is taking place with no media scrutiny whatsoever, but that's how it goes in the modern world. Consent is a concept that's seen it's better day. Isn't it a shame that we so took it for granted.

Well Abe said, "Where do you want this killin' done?"
God says, "Out on Highway 61"
-Bob Dylan

For Whom The Bell Curve Tolls

Intelligence, and that which puts it to the test, is relative to one's challenges. Contextual intelligence, which does not register well in standardized intelligence testing, is perhaps the most relevant to survival, and it is in the worst times of economic and environmental stress and upheaval that we see who has game. And, given current conditions, those times are not far in front of us. Towering debt, a failing dollar, massive job out-sourcing, and a general Wal Mart-ization of the economy all signal a rough road ahead. Those whose talents are of a corporate nature will not fare as well under such conditions as those who have lived at or below the poverty level, or even on the street, and have managed admirably through difficult circumstances, and even raised families to do likewise.

In the midst of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, a re-ordering took place among those who were in harm's way. Suddenly, one's property holdings or expertise in the stock market were of no use in finding the resources for survival. Those who were more familiar with crisis and a low level of comfort were the most able to deal with the shock and difficulty of the situation. The sense of looking into the abyss was not unfamiliar to them.

It was reported in the news recently that a pair of prison inmates braved a steep cliff and adroitly saved a man from a burning truck. Would soon-to-be inmate Kenneth Lay be so resourceful in such a situation? It's not too likely. Class privilege does not confer intelligence, and hardly even gives the appearance of it, and one need look no further than our own president to see the truth in that. There is no real pressure in a situation where the deck is stacked in your favor, and there is nothing to be learned, except that it sure is easy when you're sitting in the catbird seat.

The heart of the matter, which Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance author Robert Persig sought in such convoluted fashion, is quality, and the lack of it. It was Persig's cleaning lady who clued him in on that pearl of wisdom, giving him the epiphany he sought. One need not hold the philosophy chair at a prestigious university to arrive at such a clear conclusion, but, in this society, the pedigree weighs more than the truth. Once tenured, smugness tends to replace any sense of discovery. Imagine discovering that your assets are a fraud, and the bank is taking your house. Nouveau riche, it tolls for thee.

"It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows."
-Epictetus

Cash Rhymes With Crash

In consulting my cab driver's manual for the economy, I found the following equation: trade deficit + housing bubble + gravity = falling dollar. Most every cab driver in this city knows where the Federal Reserve is, but few, if anyone, would understand that those inside are busily engaged in the business of turning our cash into trash. Some of us do know that a fiat is not just another car taking up space on the road. The Feds' ever-expanding dollar supply is now at the point of driving major foreign lenders away from the weakening dollar. Thus, the skids are greased for calamity. The Bush administration is now buying back what it can of it's own debt, hoping for a soft landing, but they're still hold up in an economic Alamo, and living on borrowed time.

An orderly devaluation of the dollar is not likely now that Russia has launched an oil bourse, and will be trading in rubles. Likewise, Iran and Venezuela will be opening bourses, and will trade on the Euro. These actions sound a death knell for the dollar, and lead many to believe that, with such weapons of mass economic destruction now trained on us, an attack on Iran is inevitable. That the dollar is the main reserve currency for oil dealing is the only thing that keeps the U.S. economy from collapsing under the weight of it's massive debt. The likes of Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and George Soros are now shorting the dollar, and thus, the fat lady can be heard from out here in the lobby.

One might wonder, could this all be by design? When you consider that the world economy has been as finely managed as a Shakespeare play in Stratford-On-Avon for the last two hundred years by The House of Rothschild, I'd say we're seeing a new, and very brutal chapter. What's in it for the predator class? Oh, just a grand opportunity to sieze assets, dispose of legion usless eaters, and set up a biometric police state.

Doesn't that seem to be in keeping with much of what is happening lately? Let's see, now- eminent domain, pandemics, and NSA surveillance- can I swing a dead cat without hitting one of those items in the news these days? No, and we can certainly extrapolate from there that more of same is on the way, and, unless we suddenly rise up in unison, these phenomena will reach their full conclusion. To assume otherwise is to live in the land of wind and ghosts. Just ask any German who was alive in the 1930's.

A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

Oh, where have you been my beady-eyed son
Oh, where have you been, my clueless young one

I've stumbled on the floor of five greasy barrooms
I've walked and I've crawled in six crooked strip-joints
I've stepped in the middle of seven steamin' cowpies
I've been 10,000 miles of watchin' NASCAR

And it's a hard
And it's a hard
And it's a hard
And it's a hard
And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall

The Faithful Brave The Fangs Still

Some red state folks sure are something for hanging on to their sad and pathetic faith in George W. Bush. The time will come when they, too, get bit, but, for now, that mad St. Vitus dance of anti-hero worship goes on. Soon enough, though, there will be much wailing and gnashing of the teeth, as the price of gasoline, a failing dollar, and fear of immigrants will make this country seem like a bad dream to them. They can hide from the Dixie Chicks, but they can't hide from reality.

What could they possibly expect from Bush at this point? He has offended voters all across the spectrum, and seems intent on running the ship aground. As the rest of us now know, his agenda is far from conservative, and even Bill O'Reilly has called for Bush to go. And yet, these mildly retarded Republicans keep coming back for more. They identify with Bush because, for them, his smirking pride, monosyllabic vocabulary, drunken demeanor, and anti-depressant dementia bring it all back home. Republican trailer park family values are sacred, no matter what. And so, at least for now, pretzel logic still rules the day.

If I went into a coma, and woke up in 2008, what should I expect to find? Another stolen election, and president Jeb Bush? I wouldn't be too surprised, as you just can't underestimate the voters' gullibility, or overestimate the neocons' depravity. They can, and will, steal another election if left to their own devices, and our friend Greg Palast knows how. Someone had better have a remedy for this situation, or it's sundown on the union. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s piece on voter fraud in this month's Rolling Stone does much to illuminate the whole insidious process. I sure hope people read it and take heed. It's time to climb out of the snake pit.