Grateful Dead

Smith was on Morning Joe this morning talking about his interactions with different musicians in the 60s and touting his new book: Off The Record. He kept bringing up the Grateful Dead and how he was petrified of being dosed by members of the entourage to the point where he was freezing in NYC one evening as he got into the backstage area of a Dead show and Garcia offered him a coffee to warm up but he said -- "No thanks, I'll get my own coffee." This anecdote has been cited several times somewhere on this site. Apparently he got quite scared as he was told that he would never understand the music of the Grateful Dead unless he tried acid, which he was certain he would never do. The Grateful Dead, an American icon of the 60s still making the morning talk shows now and again.

"Who did the council fight?""It split in two and fought itself." "That's suicide!" "No, ordinary behaviour. The efficient half eats the less efficient half and grows stronger. War is just a violent way of doing what half the people do calmly in peacetime: using the other half for food, heat, machinery and sexual pleasure. Man is the pie that bakes and eats himself, and the recipe is separation." "I refuse to believe men kill each other just to make their enemies rich." "How can men recognize their real enemies when their family, schools and work teach them to struggle with each other and to believe law and decency come from the teachers?" "My son won't be taught that," said Lanark firmly. "You have a son?" "Not yet." - from Lanark by Alasdair Gray.

I just watched the special on the 20th anniversary of the LA Riots, the worst single riot in American history: 58 dead and 1 billion in damage in three days of rioting. It was brutal. I don't think enough attention was paid to our system of justice in this country that allowed the 4 cops to walk after the whole thing was on video for the world to see -- Rodney King being beaten by baton wielding maniacs. Rodney King, recently found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool shortly after the 20th anniversary of the riots... The footage in this video was gripping. Reginald Denny being pulled from his truck and bludgeoned with a brick. The mania that grips a crowd and turns it into a wild animal bent on blood lust. This is something that every person would rather forget and in forgetting we are doomed to repeat it in the future. Apparently corporate America decided that no white people would be interested in watching this special. The only sponsor of commercials was Burger King. In 1993 the Dead started to play the LA Sports Arena and did 9 or so shows there through the end in 1995. This venue is in South LA and borders the trouble area. There was a couple of years following the riots where everybody just chilled out and caught their breath. Race relations between the Koreans and the black community have improved. Race relations between blacks and whites remain largely the same. As long as we just spend money to contain pockets of poverty we will never be rid of this problem. Slaves brought from Africa become free, gain rights and are integrated into a social welfare system. A very few of the best and brightest and most athletically capable break out of this cruel segregation while the rest, including a large percentage of talented, above-average people, are doomed to lives of poverty and mediocrity based simply on the color of their skin. If ever there was a recipe for anger and frustration periodically over-boiling, this is it.

While there are a lot of baby-boomers in their fifties who are already suffering greatly after being buffeted about by strong economic winds they haven't really felt the intense shock that will be surely be coming as they reach old-age and find that the social safety net is being pulled out from under them. Medicare cuts, higher retirement age and reduced social security benefits are three things that are surely coming. We shouldn't have our heads in the sand regarding these looming issues. Why? Because the national debt is soaring. The interest on the debt is now 250 billion diollars a year and will shortly shoot up to one trillion dollars a year unless drastic steps are taken. The Bowles-Simpson approach to cutting the debt will surely be adopted in some modified version by a bi-partisan commission. There will be many other cuts to social programs as well as deep cuts in the military. It'll be worse if these cuts come with a Republican president rather than a Democratic one but the crunch IS coming, no matter which is in power. An interesting thing to know would be what percentage of baby-boomers don't have steady occupational jobs till age 65 that would allow them to retire with social secuirty, 401k, pension and investment income... I would venture to guess that the figure is somewhere around 80% who don't have that kind of security. Probably another 30% have some combination of two or more of those. That leaves a probable 50% who are counting on a meager bank account and a social security check to see them through retirement. If the social safety net is cut, the age at which social security may be collected raised and the amount of social security reduced -- as well as section 8 housing and food stamps -- the vast majority of baby-boomers will be suffering greatly. Their ability to pay for rent, groceries, utilities and health care will be slight. If their kids are not in a position to help them for whatever reason, who can they turn to? This is going to be a horror show. This is something to think seriously about and plan for in the future. I could make predictions about what this 50% would do, but it would be dark and depressing. I don't see any way out of this for the people who haven't worked hard and scrupulously saved for their retirement.

I'll be doing two shows this summer: Furthur on July 5th and Mickey Hart's Mysterium Tremndum at Salisbury Beach on July 18th. Both are tour openers. They should be good shows. After that I've decided to call it quits on attending further Grateful Dead related acts. I've supported a lot of the post-Jerry acts in the past and for the most part haven't been disappointed but there comes a time to say "It's been a great ride! Thanks for the memories...". I think now is that time. I wish the younger fans and the older "young-at-heart" heads the best times in the future. My interests will now gravitate to folk and blues and bluegrass, looking for the best in each of those genres. Thanks for the memories!

Since the US bombed a Pakistani troop position and killed 24 troops last October the Pakistan government closed down resupply routes through that country. (Speaking of which, Obama recently declared that any military age male in the vicinity of a Coalition air strike is an enemy combatant. Guess the Coalition is done apologizing and compensating for that class of collateral damage) Anyway, that left a huge pipeline filled with supplies backed up in Karachi. The US has been resupplying through northern routes, utilizing Turkey and Russia and other countries to the north of Afghanistan. There is one tunnel going under a mountain in Afghanistan that is now backed up for almost three days with thousands of trucks waiting to pass. The US Quartermaster Corps is crowing that they are moving even larger amounts of goods now than they were before, albeit at a much greater cost. Still, the US would be very grateful if Pakistan would reopen the routes through it's country. Not likely. The Pakistani government and people have basically told the US to stick it. The US has come, in return, to recognize that powerful elements within the elites in that country are the enemy. "A fine state of affairs, General Olllie!" "Don't start with me, General Stan. I've had quite enough of your fly-boys bombing the wrong people!"

Lets all stick our heads in the sand and pretend there is nothing wrong. That will certainly take care of the problem! Barnum-like con-men can continue to front for rich interests and swindle people who don't feel they need to pay attention to the news. I don't know how anybody can be that much in denial. I was outside for two hours yesterday at the peak of a bright, sunny day that might have been 75 degrees and I got a sunburn! I gather the newest topic at conservative think tanks is: How do we make money as the planet crashes and burns? They have to get that last load of gold bricks lowered into the survival bunker. The timing is quite tricky...

Reserving the right to discriminate. Three cheers for those crazy no-ka-lah republicans.

What with the polar ice caps melting and sea level rising as a result, planning coastal develpment can get to be a little tricky. With predictions for as much as a meter rise in sea level by 2100, the last thing that you want to do is build homes, hotels, and roads in places that will be underwater in 20 or 30 years. Fear not, though. The NC legislature has figured out a nifty way around this pesky problem: a Bill currently making the rounds would mandate the method used to predict how quickly and how much the waters will rise, to the exclusion of all other means of projecting rising sea levels. Specifically, only historical (going back to 1900) trending data can be used for these calculations -- current data and extrapolations from those trends MAY NOT BE CONSIDERED. Not coincidentally, the "historical" method for making these projections shows only an 8" increase in water levels through 2100. Note that scientists who argue that our current climate warming trend is not the result of human activities, who argue that it is part of the natural warming/cooling of the earth and not due to manmade GHG emissions, generally do not deny that we ARE going through a warming period. Some politicians, it seems, disagree. I'm thinking that future Wishful Thinking legislation could be key in solving nearly all of our country's problems. If only we don't let the facts get in our way, the future is bright, my friends. Buy those sunglasses today! Matt Cain, what a game. I'm hoping for his sake, and the Giants, that he doesn't suffer the same fate as Phil Humber, who seems to have forgotten how to pitch since he tossed his perfect game. A lot less likely for that to happen to Cain, I think.

Maybe this tells you what you need to know about the North Carolina Republican party...Article III from the party's platform: "Government should treat all citizens impartially, without regard to wealth, race, ethnicity, disability, religion, sex, political affiliation or national origin. We oppose all forms of invidious discrimination. Sexual orientation is not an appropriate category." I'm so glad that the authors oppose all forms of invidious discrimination, except the forms that they don't oppose. Come on folks, don't be shy, tell us what you REALLY think. Note that the first qualifier is "wealth?" Maybe I'm reading too much into that one. Naaahhh...