Having, as I do, a Macintosh, and preferring, as I do, OmniWeb, I’m not sure how automatic (read: ‘easy’) it is to use the Xangazon ‘Now Listening To…’ feature.

But I think it’s changed my view of some of the ‘blogs I read regularly. Like, ‘that guy likes Hole???’ It also seems horribly non-sequitur, detracting from what would otherwise be a well-formed, heartfelt ‘blog.

And, FYI, at this moment, I’m listening to ‘Dissidents’ by Thomas Dolby, from the album ‘The Flat Earth.’

Proud To Be An American by The Tubes

I’m proud
to be an American
I’m proud
of the groovy things we’ve done
There’s television, free religion, Rock ‘n’ roll, Standard Oil,
Times Square, Jimmy Darren, Corey Wells, and Smokey Bear,
price reduction, reconstruction, Peace Corps, and lots more
Culture that we got to lend

I’m proud
to be an American
And I’m proud
Had a great time bein’ one
There’s your school and my school and both of us in high school,
surfboards, cigarettes, homework, Southern Comfort
Boy’s dean was real mean,
Made us keep our locker’s clean
Failed nearly every class
Ditchin’ was a gas

I’m proud
to be a young American
I’m proud, just think about it
All the far out things that we’ve begun
There’s revolution, constitution, land, sea, and air pollution,
cold wars, hot wars, gas wars, and confrontutions,
constipation, consternation, open hearted palpatations
Muscular Dystrophy

I’m proud to be an American
Because we got department stores
full of cheap guitars
But when Sputnik plays ‘em, you just go go go go

I’m proud to be an American–we got two chickens in every garage
And I wish every other kid could be one–in my country,
the medium is the massage
‘Cause it’s impossible to give
Equality and justice to inferior foreigners
too jealous to trust us

Gimme your weak and your homeless
How ’bout checkin’ the oil ah, fella?

I’m proud to be an American


(You’ll also want to check out The Tubes’ ‘What Do You Want From Life?‘)

“God Bless America”

I see this phrase everywhere. I hear it from every two-bit politician looking for a cheap heart-warm. I’ve never seen anyone say it without an accompanying look of desperation. Every time you see this phrase, there should be fine print underneath it saying: ‘God Bless America’ is a registered trademark of US-Centric Enterprises, Inc.

God Bless The World

David Bowie has a new song called ‘Sunday,’ and part of its chorus will be my 9/11 blog:

In your fear

Seek only peace

In your fear

Seek only love

So it’s official. I’ve been diagnosed with PDD/Asperger’s Disorder.

I’m a little pissed at the medical community at the moment. When I was a kid, my parents dragged me back and forth between a zillion specialists, and no one said, ‘Hmm. Maybe some kind of developmental disorder?’ Even into my early 20s I was going from shrink to shrink, and none of them clued in. They didn’t have context. Nobody does.

I feel like a person missing a leg who’s been going to doctors that tell him to quit relying on the crutches. I think I’ve felt that all along, since I diagnosed myself, but only now do I get to feel it in the context of real, actual, written-in-black-and-white evidence.

My mom says nothing is lost, and that ‘what is, is.’ She’s not wrong, of course, but she’s also not right. What is, is… allowed to SUCK.

I’ll be done being frustrated in a little while and move on to some other seemingly arbitrary emotion.

And after that, the real study will begin. Be prepared to read more about Homer With Autism.

If you don’t want to think about how completely public sentiment has been shaped after 9/11, you won’t want to read this. It explains that Donald Rumsfeld, our esteemed Defense Secretary, was asking for plans to attack Iraq a mere 5 hours after the first plane hit. It also says this:

Now, nearly one year later, there is still very little evidence Iraq was involved in the Sept. 11 attacks. But if these notes are accurate, that didn’t matter to Rumsfeld.

“Go massive,” the notes quote him as saying. “Sweep it all up. Things related and not.”

Reading the links from my last ‘blog, I was reminded of my own obligatory 9/11 ‘blog from a year ago.

I said, among other things:

Our hurt as a nation comes from seeing our fellow citizens incinerated and crushed in a huge catastrophe. We’re dealing with that hurt. Where does the hurt of the terrorist come from? Where does hope begin for him? Answer these questions and the process of peace has begun. If you believe that these questions sound naive and unjustified, then peace is not your goal.

Robert Wright, in the 5th of his Slate articles on A Real War On Terror, says this:

And the point of these most recent two installments in this series is that, judging by the 9/11 hijackers, there are at least two other conditions that appear to be necessary—a lack of political freedom and a lack of economic opportunity. And by definition, if we successfully address any necessary condition, it won’t matter what other necessary conditions may or may not exist. Focusing on politics and economics will get the job done—and the moderation of radical Islamic doctrine, I maintain, will then take care of itself.

When anyone explains to you that the terrorists want to kill us because they ‘hate our freedom,’ remember that what they want is freedom: Freedom from oppression at home and from abroad. The dots they connect that lead from being in a shitty situation to bombing the US are not exclusive of US foreign policy in their home countries. By any means.

Interesting set of articles in Slate outlining A Real War On Terrorism.

Particular interest should be paid to the one that supports the argument that the amount of discontent in the world is becoming a highly significant national-security variable. It’s the key element missing from our foreign policy.

If you use Mac OS X, you’ll want to check out this list of recommended utilities and best practices for organizing your mind around OS X (and vice versa).

You’ll want to read this: George W. Bush Scorecard Of Evil