didn't listen to the radio again today. well, a little this morning. local show touting SOS aggrevated because peacemongers will have a drum circle competing with prayer. bad idea if you ask me. i've spent half a day trying to get inkjet printer to print quark postscript files correctly. not quite there yet. more interesting than radio. see you at the picnic.

black frezzing rain sideways in the dark. days to stay inside. personally i plan to visit both the SOS (support our soldiers) and the SOS-BTH (support our soldiers - bring them home) contingents this saturday. if i can get out of bed.

ok, ok, i can't seem sustain one topic for a week. anyway i can't do it today. so here is some feedback i have recieved on am radio gadflies:
-----
"James w." wrote:
>
> more than anyother group in my lifetime, these folks have a lot in common
> with "flower children". wanna know why? next time God willing.

> huh?

it doesn't read like i meant. "next time God willing." is supposed
to mean i'll tell you next time etc.

> oh i forgot: heard on the (fm) radio that the authorities have the legal
> power to redirect a web site to their sight and then do what they have to do
> with your name etc.so that means it won't be long before we can't use words
> like "coup d'etat".

> huh?
> I'm not sure exactly what this means, but my worst imaginings are
> pretty grim

i plead sickness. i was pretty ill when i wrote this. WIM (what i
meant): maybe you want to be careful about the words you use on the net nowadays.
and you do.

> OK, lets see.. the analogy with the "flower children".....could it have
> anything to do with fuzzy, simplistic thinking?
>
no what i'm getting at is an group identity thing. there were about 6
months in the 60s when you could tell who your friends were on sight. we
had sort of like... common memes.

the AM talk radio people have the same phenomona working for them. they
can tell each other instantly, even over the phone. and they share a common language and story line.

make any sense?
--

"James W" wrote:
>
> megadittos, Chris
>
> Actually, I haven't been listening much lately, though I did catch a Ken
> Hamblin session a couple of weeks ago. Remember when the Repubs took over
> Congress in the 1908's? They were treating Limbaugh with great deference,
> as will they should have, as they largely owed their elections to him. Some
> were calling it the "Limbaugh Congress."

yes i remember. friend ludie remarked at the time she thought
they would run amuck and lose the next election. that it would not
stand. she guessed good, huh?

> I believe the listenership has
> declined somewhat since then, though I haven't followed it closely.

i have the opposite impression, mainly because i heard shaun henedy say
that today 25% of americans get their news from am talk shows double
what it was 2 years ago. this is what got me going on the topic.

> By the way, while I think it is important and worthwhile to give "the other
> side" (Christian right, etc.) credit for good faith, and try to understand
> their viewpoint, I feel very little charity toward the right-wing talk show
> hosts.

i'm trying to see what happens when the right-wing talk shows are looked
at with credit for good faith, ie they are expressing something they
truly believe and that is not totally wrong. so far i am not succeeding.
>
> For an amusing look at the notion of the "cultural elite," check out this
> Richard Reeves column:
>
> http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=123&e=1&cid=123&u=/030207/7
> 9/37r0g.html
>
thanks for the tip i'll check it out.
(make sure URL is on one line if you copy and paste)
--

and Dr. J wrote:

> Hey Chris.....
>
> That was Spiro who spoke of the pointy headed intellectuals.
>
i stand corrected. but didn't wallace have a line like "can't park a
bicycle straight"?

you hear a lot of riffs on the AM Talk Radio. these are a form of rhetoric, and they change from day to day.

here are the big topics this a.m.

the president remains focused on freedom�s survival despite the peace demonstrations. the demonstrators are either anti-american or not american.

but they have the right to express their opinions. they would not have this right except for soldiers . a lot of vets phone in.

the amercan society of friends was picked out by name this morning as one of the anti-american groups.

jane fonda�s name comes up often. they pass over her name as quickly as possible, with a tone like she is outside the pale and good folks don�t even mention her name.

the phrase �hollywood left� has been used quite a lot lately, usually with indignation that �they think� they�re so smart, when they�re just celebreties.

a lot of the criticism of the war is characterized by the buzz words �that�s right, blame america and the american people again.�

another reoccuring motif is that the critics think they know so much (remember wallace�s �pointy-headed intellectuals�?) but really bush and condeleeza rice are privy to so much more information that we don�t know about, it�s best to let them decide things. daddy knows best.

more later if i can stomach henedy and savage.

spent a very strange night, not in real good shape, maybe coming down with something. i am just now starting to feel right. seven in the evening.

about am radioland - the social discourse is pretty well standadized, and these folks recognize each other at once. even over the telephone. many of the callers thank the talker for his good work etc. "we" and "they".

these folks are quick and well educated for the most part. it's fascinating how they use rhetorical devices - along with the ability to transform the "dialogue" into a "monologue" - to win the discussion, putting out the word. straw man argument constantly. complaign of ad hominym attacks while doing the ad hominum sniccker.

more than anyother group in my lifetime, these folks have a lot in common with "flower children". wanna know why? next time God willing.

oh i forgot: heard on the (fm) radio that the authorities have the legal power to redirect a web site to their sight and then do what they have to do with your name etc.so that means it won't be long before we can't use words like "coup d'etat".

shakey nite, shakey morning.

i'm going to try something new this week. content is king you know, so i am going to write about only one thing all week.

just kidding about "content is king". i just want to see what happens.

next saturday there will be 2 rallies held in downtown asheville NC: one is a "support our soldiers" group and the other is peace people who have adopted as slogon "support our soldiers - bring them home". the first group has ties to am radio talk show land. i've been listening to these talk shows for about 2-3 months. oh i forgot, the 2 groups will be not far at all from each other. could be enlightening week. in the narrower sense of the word.

nice day. went to friends meeting this morning, and a really nice 109th birthday Meher Baba celebration. in between talked to my friend ira. feel like the first spring morning after a long winter - altho there were snow flurries this AM. internal weather.

the solution to the iraq in the world problem is profoundly simple. everybody helps everbody to wake up.

finished today

it's true, i'm no longer on the old cyberchannel. email address stays the same.

what's next? well if i'm at peak performance mode as my counsler puts it, i'll redesign this site. remove old site files (this is where mp3s might go). make sure archives work. whittle them way down.

the war thing i just can't talk about - because it's clashing worldviews - and it would take a long time to understaand - i know, because i don't.

well i done did it. this is the new home of modernpeasant. i'll be redisigning site, edit archives to eliminate the mundane or somehow reduce it in size. got lots of mp3 to put up, i'll be interested in how they sound to you.over and out.

Pundits are scratching their heads over Saturday's surprise announcement that Google had bought weblog publishing heavyweight Pyra Labs, but a look at the big picture reveals some intriguing scenarios for "Bloggle's" future.
SearchDay - Puzzling Out Google's Blogger Acquisition - 18 February 2003

TestinG

"Big news: Yes folks, it's true. As you may have read, Blogger's parent company, Pyra Labs, was purchased by Google. This should only mean good things for Blogger users."
from
BLOGGER

i have no idea of what it means.

Taking over our election systems? Is that really possible in the USA?
from
"If You Want To Win An Election, Just Control The Voting Machines"

an example of what i don't like about today's web: when you go to this page, a well done animation loads and plays, probably flash. after a bit it stops and tells you to register if you want to see the whole thing. NOT NICE.

Salon.com Politics | Green alert?

here's an item pointed out to me by a friend who saw it on bill moyer's pbs show. talk radio hates - not too strong a word for those folks - both moyers and pbs so there is probably something to it. you really ought to check it out.

"There's an important story developing tonight at the Justice Department. The non-partisan Center for Public Integrity obtained a closely-guarded document that shows plans for a sweeping expansion of the government's police powers."
from
NOW: Politics & Economy - Breaking News | PBS

sent to me by cousin bob. there are a lot of these floating around on the web, to my mind very reminiscent of the samizdat pieces floating around soviet russia towards it's end. it happens when citizens can't communicate to thier government. (don't know who did it but it is really a work of art. kudos!)

good morning. busy week ahead. i'm aiming to transfer this site to another ISP so get ready for

"http://modernpeasant.com"

as per usual without the commas. since i'm aiming for this week it will probably be the next, but soon anyway.

which brings up the old question, what is this site for anyway?

after dinking around with it for awhile, i still don't know.

but i think i'm going to slant it towards being a little more personal - although i skitter away from the confessioanal mode which has grown so much over the last 25 - 50 years.

it certainly will not be one of those pre-digested web surfing sites (although i think they are great) - because i don't surf the web much anymore.

heavy cultural & political commentary? well maybe a little bit, but along the lines of a thought snatched here and an observation snared there.

the artist as an old geezer? yeah, probably mostly that - since that is what i spend most of my time being.

so expect a few pictures, songs, lyrics, word salads served up with flair, and MP3s. some eccentric links. maybe a running commentary on creativity - some call it self-expression - as a backdoor to the REAL Me and the REAL You. in other words remebering in the platonic sense.

oh yeah, i'm going to edit the archives, preserving only the most cogent, deep, monumental and otherwise significant posts.

but don't expect too much.

one of the misunderstandings of the web in my opinion is that it is "aimed" toeards the whole world. while a site might be accessible to the whole world, i expect the net to evolve into a holding mechanism for sites of interest to a smaller world than all humans. small circle of friends? a la Phil Ochs? maybe.

i watched the TV news last nite... oh boy (winston o'boogie).

1 - Bethlehem steel just revoked health benefits for retired employees. i guess they worked for 30 years or so under the illusion that part of their paycheck was being tucked away for pension & benefits, as part of their agreement with the employer.

according to one commentator, "expect a cascade of pension, benefits revocation this year.

2 - piece about states being broke. Oregon was the example. forget about safety net, it's gone.

3 - you may have seen or heard the NASA spokesman, ron (?) ditmore, after last week's shuttle disaster. it was such a relief to hear somebody in a position of authority speak frankly and openly, kind of like a human being. apparently the govt. told him to shut up. this is not to be confused with the investigation of the tragedy being shifted to outside agency, that is SOP in aviation disasters. but it sure was refreshing to hear straight talk instead of politicalspeak.

another subject: for the last few days (weeks?) a song lyric has been playing in my head; one line:

"look at the sun, sinking like a ship". mr dylan, a song on the album - no i mean cassette - no i mean CD - oops maybe it's a DVD - "desire".

last night i was reading "5 stages of the soul" by moody when i noticed this was playing over and over in the background of what is left of my mind. the next sentence i read was:

"it's like we're all passengers on the same big boat...when i was younger i thought i was steering the ship. you know, captain of my soul, master of my fate...now i know i'm just another passenger. it's even starting to look as if one day the whole crew of us is going to...just quietly sink".

today is my Be Day (born on earth). spent most of day tuning chinese fiddle and constructing a scale (no frets - in fact no fret board).

after a lot of thought, or something that vaguely resembles it, all i have to say is what i already said:

we're living in a time and place where a coup d'etat took place, but nobody knows it. because it's a secret.

and it seems to be the end of the institution. in all my life i have never experienced such a universal disconnect between institutions and us, i.e. humans.

got this in email from friend tucker; signs seen at antiwar gathering a couple of weeks ago:
>
>Who would Jesus bomb?
>
>Bush is proof that empty warheads can be dangerous.
>
>Let's bomb Texas, they have oil too.
>
>How did our oil get under their sand?
>
>If you can't pronounce it, don't bomb it.
>
>1000 points of light and one dim bulb.
>
>Preemptive impeachment.
>
>Look, I'll pay more for gas!.
>
>It's the stupid economy.
>
>Our grief [over 9/11] is not a cry for war.
>
>You don't have to like Bush to love America.
>
>Stop the "excess" of evil [gives figures for the multibillion dollar
>defense budget].
>
>$1 billion a day to kill people -- what a bargain.
>
>What's the difference between me & God?
>He might forgive Bush, but I won't.
>
>Big brother isn't coming -- he's already here.
>
>An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind (Gandhi).
>
>Mainstream white guys for peace.
>(Sign held by three mainstream-looking white guys)
>
>Let Exxon send their own troops.
>
>How many bodies per mile?
>
>War is� so� 20th century!
>
>9-11-01:� 15 Saudis, 0 Iraqis.
>
>Don't waive your rights while waving your flag.
>
>A picture of Bush saying "Why should I care what the American people
>think? They didn't vote for me."
>
>A picture of Bush saying "Ask me about my lobotomy."
>
>Beneath a picture of Osama bin Laden dressed as Uncle Sam: I want
>YOU to bomb Iraq. [my personal favorite because it is absolutely true - maybe i'll explain tomorrow.]
>
>Patriotism means being loyal to your country all the time and to its
>government when it deserves it. --Mark Twain

whoopie doopie i'm back online. little glitch popped up last night.

meanwhile try this:

ColorQuiz.com - The free five minute personality test!

interesting test altho you have to wonder about monitors and gamma and color. there are every personality test that you ever want to play with at this site.

here is part of the results i got from the ColorQuiz:

"Unwilling to participate and wishes to avoid all forms of stimulation. Has had to put up with too much of a tiring or exhausting nature and now desires protection and noninvolvement."

well i did it. six days of no computer. turned it off and left it off, with the exception of a minute here and a minute there.

so what happened? i slept a lot, saw some TV that i would not ordinarily see, and didn't paint a lick.

speaking of TV, last night's Frontline was a real eye-opener, showing what we were told during the last gulf war and what was really happening there are two very different stories.