In an interview on Wednesday with the BBC World News America service, one time U.S. President Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, denounced Vice President Dick Cheney as a "disaster" for the country and a "militant" who has had an excessive influence in setting foreign policy.
Cheney has usually been on the wrong side of the debate on many issues, including a current "internal White House discussion over Syria" in which Cheney is pushing a bellicose approach, Carter said.[ed. note: With Iraq blown up in his face, does he hope to save face by going to war with Syria or Iran?]
"He's a militant who avoided any service of his own in the military and he has been most forceful in the last 10 years or more in fulfilling some of his more ancient commitments that the United States has a right to inject its power through military means in other parts of the world," the former President told the reporter.
"You know he's been a disaster for our country," Carter said. "He's been overly persuasive on President George Bush and quite often he's prevailed."
In an interview in May, Carter called the Bush administration the "worst in history" in international relations. ---o0o---
It took me a while (e.g., nearly six weeks) to finish writing about this, but Bumbershoot--the Seattle end of summer music and art festival had a decent line-up this year. Better than some years past, but still under-serving the 40 and over crowd among which I number myself. At some point you're though being cool and just want to hear what you came up with. The hottest attractions this year were probably Wu Tang Clan, The Frames, Kulture Shock, The (local) Shins, and Crowded House.
We only attended on Monday, mainly to See Roky Erickson and Steve Earle. But we were also able to see the amazing rockers, Kulture Shock and the hugely popular, but disappointingly emo The Frames.
Kulture Shock were a blast! They are a sextet of "Balkan punk rock gypsy metal wedding-meets-riot music." The band includes players from Bosnia, Bulgaria, Japan and Seattle. I'd categorize their music as extremely energetic art-punk outfit around. The enormously entertaining lead singer--Gino Yevdjevich--conceived of the band while he was sitting in a Croatian refugee camp. They are similar to another band that played this year: Gogol Bordello.
Roky Erickson - You may have heard of this legendary Austin musician. I have wanted to see him for many years. In the 60's he led the seminal and influential 13th floor elevators. They released a tune in '66, "You're Gonna Miss Me," that has been on every compilation of psychedelic music, and was also on the soundtrack of High Fidelity. Other tunes have been covered and seveeral tribute albums have appeared. Some of his covers were by bands like REM, the Jesus and Mary Chain, and the Butthole Surfers. Peter Buck was a big supporter, and I think has been something of a lifeline for Roky in the last few years.
Roky's subsequent life is a tragedy. If you want to know more, see Kevin McAlester's documentary "You're Gonna Miss Me." In 1967, the Elevators looked like they might be the next Byrds or Doors. But that didn't happen. By 1968 Roky was hearing voices. His mother says in the film that she found him in the back yard one day in 1968, babbling and covered with sores. Cycling between periods of clarity and musical activity, over the years, Roky's voices shifted between aliens, devils, and monsters. In 1969, he was arrested for possession of a couple of joints. His lawyer pled insanity and Roky was sent to a maximum-security unit for the criminally insane where he underwent electroshock and was even possibly tortured and tormented by guards. He would never be the same again. Under the care of his family, he declined over the years. He was eventually rescued by a brother, was finally put on medication, and has come to live approaching like a normal life. I was ten feet away from him at his show, and let me tell you, his face is a testimony to all that he endured. Brian Wilson or Daniel Johnston look like the picture of health and sanity compared to Roky.
He put on a good show of psychedelic-tinged rock-blues. It was good to see him. . .not intact, but more or less back.
The Frames
The Frames - A band with a small but steady fan base. . .although they have reportedly had five double platinum albums (which means they sold at least 600,000 copies each (assuming they were certified in Ireland). Unfortunately, they were too emo for me. They were clearly accomplished players, but the songs didn't do much for me.
Steve Earle with his wife Allison Moorer
Steve Earle - Was Steve Earle, funny, gruff, and very Steve Earle, telling some good stories and spinning some yarns. I didn't enjoy his love songs nearly as much as I do his more topical songs. I think falling in love has been good for his life; maybe for his music, not so much. ---o0o---
Sifting through it all—the "facts," misinformation,
Speeches, debunkings, skeptics, videotapes,
Photographs, confabulations, eyewitness accounts, And the endless reams of forged and redacted documents, Lies, hype, shuck and jive, Government moves and countermoves— Leaves us about where we started, With a broken roadmap of UFO lore.
The government was spooked By all the strange flying objects in the 1930's. In World War II, the Foo Fighters Appeared to be witnessing the conflict As interested observers and historians. The Nazis not only had alien contacts But came to be in cahoots with the Greys, Working together on UFOs and moon bases.
It wasn't until July 2, 1947
When the greys crashed a saucer at Roswell That it became clear aliens were at the wheel Of the unidentified flying objects and saucers. MJ-12 was formed in response to some low-level flights The greys made over the White House. Majestic arranged a meet with the greys.
After hearing tales of the impending invasion Of man-eating reptoid aliens. MJ-12 signed a treaty That allowed abductions of a limited number of people Who were returned mostly unharmed. In exchange, Americans received a technology transfer And Area 51 became the testing ground For newly acquired saucers and technologies. By the mid-1950s America was on the moon (secretly of course). Around 1968, MJ-12 began to suspect That the greys were not Living up to their end of the bargain. They took far more people than planned And implanted them with two millimetre mind-control devices. The throwbacks were now all Manchurian Candidates The greys corralled three million Greys, humans, and hybrids to live In underground bases, like Dulce, in the South West. And then the reptoids arrived. On cue, the greys will release an army Of zombies from the underground bases. The implanted abductees will then be switched on And instructed to blow up power stations And create mayhem. In short time, the reptoids
And their faithful grey allies will rule the earth. Even with captured and controlled human zombies The reptoid-grey alliance know they can't go it alone. They've got their own human accomplices: In government, the UN, the banks, and the media. MJ-12 has its own back-up plan. If the invasion story ever gets out,
Majestic will declare martial law, Imprison abductees and stick them in camps Before they can even take over a kool-aid stand. Of course, majestic also knows They'll have to deal with the true patriots, Who will be interred in the camps as well. No one knows how this ends. No one knows how this begins.
Almost There In No Timetakes another pot-shot at All This Is That. You may have noticed they can dish it out, but they can't take it. And now, they desperately try to engage us in a blog war to pump their ratings up. The beleagured editor-in-chief of ATINT clearly has a paranoid streak, and is attempting to suck ATIT into his morass. We're not biting. Sorry, ATINT, we just report the facts, and only the facts. No matter what accusations that deranged Captain Queeg over there flings at us, we're sticking to the high road.
[Thanks to Jeff Clinton for passing along this news tidbit...]
Senator Larry Craig is about to be inducted into Idaho Hall of Infamy Fame. And no, this is not All This Is That pulling your leg! Check the AP story on CNN.com.
According to the Associated Press today, Sen. Larry Craig was selected for induction into the Idaho Hall of Fame in March, well before he pleaded guilty to foot shuffling and disorderly conduct charges (a/k/a cruising). Earlier this year, you will remember that the Senator was busted in a sting operation in Minneapolis aiport's men's kaybo.
"Larry Craig has made a great contribution to Idaho over the period of 20-some years. At the time it was considered, this other matter had not come up," Harry Magnuson told The Spokesman-Review newspaper Saturday.
A few Republicans think "this other matter" should put a stop to the Hall of Fame induction. "Maybe in 10 or 15 years we can think of this hall of fame stuff. Now is not the time," said one Republican leader. "It's a sad day to be a Republican." ---o0o---
In this YouTube clip, Entourage's Jereny Piven sits in with Metal Skool in a show at the Key Club. The band are hopelessly foul-mouthed knuckledraggers, but they grant Piven his "make a wish" moment. In this clip, Piven never actually gets through an entire song, but does seem to enjoy the band's references to his pride and joy ("bigger than Tommy Lee's"). This is on the order of some of Paul Allen's sit-ins, or that flute player who used to run Borland. His work on Entourage is great, but his drumming is pathetic. Hey, Metal Skool...next time bring in Tony Ravo!
This is a very early Beatles tune...a cover of Please Mr. Postman, written by W. Garrett, B. Holland, F. Gorman, G. Dobbins & R. Bateman. The video is, naturally, an old American Bandstand style lip sync rendition, but still fun to watch nonetheless.
Please Mister Postman, look and see (Oh yeah) If there's a letter in your bag for me (Please, Please Mister Postman) Why's it takin' such a long time (Oh yeah) For me to hear from that boy of mine
There must be some word today From my boyfriend so far away Pleas Mister Postman, look and see If there's a letter, a letter for me
I've been standin' here waitin' Mister Postman So patiently For just a card, or just a letter Sayin' he's returnin' home to me
(Mister Postman) Mister Postman, look and see (Oh yeah) If there's a letter in your bag for me (Please, Please Mister Postman) Why's it takin' such a long time (Oh yeah) For me to hear from that boy of mine
So many days you passed me by See the tears standin' in my eyes You didn't stop to make me feel better By leavin' me a card or a letter
(Mister Postman) Mister Postman, look and see (Oh yeah) If there's a letter in your bag for me (Please, Please Mister Postman) Why's it takin' such a long time
(Why don't you check it and see one more time for me, you gotta) Wait a minute Wait a minute Wait a minute Wait a minute (Mister Postman) Mister Postman, look and see
(C'mon deliver the letter, the sooner the better) Mister Postman ---o0o---
