Here is the latest news from David Gans, producer and host of the Grateful Dead Hour.
The Bush Adminstration vs. nature
This administration and the congressional majority are profoundly anthropocentric, following a line of thinking that nothing is doing any good unless it is producing a commodity for human beings. Human beings are, according to the fundamentalist theology of this administration, God’s chosen species. We have have therefor been authorized to despoil as necessary in order to accumulate rich trusts, houses on steroids in gated communities, Cadillac SUVs, and golf memberships on exclusive links. Commodity outdoor recreation is the closest thing to a commodity that a national park can produce; it’s quantifiable in user-days and park admission dollars and is focused on what is fun for the people involved, not what is good for America’s crown jewels of nature.That’s Jordan Fisher Smith, author of Nature Noir: A Park Ranger’s Patrol in the Sierra, a memoir of his years as a Ranger on the American River in northern California. He’s being interviewed right now in inkwell.vue, an online interview forum I am involved with. Smith goes on:
…in this administration, science and resource protection are subordinated to the will of big business and a kind of posturing toward freedom–freedom to drive a snowmobile in a national park. Meanwhile real personal freedoms–freedom from unreasonable search and siezure under the Fourth Ammendment, for example, are curtailed in the name of national security. We’ve been seeing multiple cases where environmental scientists report findings and the president’s people change those findings before they’re released.The interview is a good read, and I expect the book is, too.
Photos from August festivals
I played the Gathering of the Vibes in Mariaville NY August 12-14, and GratefulFest at Nelson Ledges OH August 19-21.
A gift from the coffee lady
I got the sweetest note from Jen, the proprietor of the Dark Star Coffee Company – one of my favorite vendors at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park, where I played two festivals this summer:
I grew up on folk music & feel that I learned more American history from music than school. When I listen to your lyrics, I feel like a kid again. You are the folk singer of the Deadheads. You tell stories and keep it alive for our children. Thank you story teller. – Jen ‘The Coffee Girl’
Now, I struggle daily to establish a musical identity for myself that’s separate from my identity as the Grateful Dead radio guy, but it is an undeniable fact that much of my original music arises from and talks about my Grateful Dead experience and my music-festival experience. There are songs that deal directly with my adventures on the road (e.g. “River and Drown“); there are songs that deal directly with the Deadhead experience (e.g. “Who Killed Uncle John?”); and there are songs that deal obliquely with my experiences in the belly of the beast (I’m not telling). Jen’s kind note is a very satyisfying acknowledgement of my success at telling that story.
Trent Lott
I saw Senator Trent Lott on The Daily Show and heard some of his interview on Fresh Air with Terry Gross.
He sounded so damn reasonable and affable, such a regular guy. But I wasn’t amused. I just thought, “That fucker spent three decades smearing the halls of democracy with shit, and now he writes a book complaining about the smell?”
Pat Robertson advocates assassination of Hugo Chavez
Initially gleaned from Media Matters for America:
ROBERTSON: There was a popular coup that overthrew him [Chavez]. And what did the United States State Department do about it? Virtually nothing. And as a result, within about 48 hours that coup was broken; Chavez was back in power, but we had a chance to move in. He has destroyed the Venezuelan economy, and he’s going to make that a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism all over
the continent.You know, I don’t know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he
thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to
go ahead and do it. It’s a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And I
don’t think any oil shipments will stop. But this man is a terrific
danger and the United … This is in our sphere of influence, so we
can’t let this happen. We have the Monroe Doctrine, we have other
doctrines that we have announced. And without question, this is a
dangerous enemy to our south, controlling a huge pool of oil, that
could hurt us very badly. We have the ability to take him out, and I
think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don’t need
another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm
dictator. It’s a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives
do the job and then get it over with.
As a friend on the WELL said, this story has legs (as well it should). Bloomberg reports as follows:
Evangelist Robertson Says U.S. Should Kill Chavez (Update1)
Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) — Television evangelist Pat Robertson told
viewers of “The 700 Club” program that the U.S. should kill
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to stop the Latin American country becoming a “launching pad” for extremism.
[snip]
“We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come
to exercise that ability,” Robertson said yesterday on the program,
an audiotape of which was posted on the Web site of the Christian
Broadcasting Network, founded by the cleric and based in Virginia
Beach, Virginia. “This is a dangerous enemy to our south controlling
a huge pool of oil.”
BBC News: TV host urges US to kill Chavez
Voice of America: US Christian Broadcaster Calls for Chavez
Assassination
Isn’t it time America stopped listening to these bloodthirsty creeps? Isn’t it about time decent Christians started policing what is being said and done in the name of their Lord?