This is a record of the times…

An amazing day personally. Days away from being finished with our new album, and we are ecstatic at how it sounds. But any personal wins are overshadowed by the state of current world affairs. On a world level, things are getting worse for us. 

From ABC: 

“After months of silence, a man believed to be Osama Bin Laden has released a new message. Broadcast just moments ago by the Arab satellite station, Al Jazeera, Bin Laden calls on all Muslims to fight the United States and unite to defend the Iraqi people.  He calls on Iraqis to carry out suicide attacks against Americans.  The statement says the attack on Iraq is being led by the United States in order to tip the regional balance of power in favor of Israel.

The existence of this audio tape became widely known earlier today after Secretary of State Colin Powell mentioned it during a Senate hearing. Secretary Powell argued that this tape shows why the world needs to be concerned about Iraq's connection to terrorism.

All of this comes just a few days after the U.S. government raised the terror alert to orange, the second highest status level, in reaction to what is described as serious threats of new terrorist attacks against the U.S. or U.S. interests abroad.  Government officials have advised all Americans to stockpile a survival kit in case of a chemical or biological attack, including duct tape, batteries and a three day supply of food and water.  Here in Washington, where residents were already concerned that their city is a potential target of terrorism, local hardware stores are already reporting a run on duct tape.”

This is a sampling of the types of things we see and hear everyday now in America, and I suspect all over the world. My friends from other countries, friends I communicate with often from London, Germany, France, Iran, Israel, Brasil, have a different tone. If it was once rebellious and kind of cool and controversial to think of Americans as these big bad evil bullies who go around doing whatever they want, picking on smaller countries, it is now just downright mainstream. The tone of some friends has changed. No one wants us to invade Iraq. The whole world is just watching and hoping we won't do it—fearing that it is just going to make matters worse for everyone all over the world. My friends now feel sorry for us as Americans, that we are stuck in this position with this president. I can feel my pride as an American disappearing. The country seems controlled by a dictator who just wants to do what he wants, who lacks character and diplomacy and who is willing to sacrifice thousands of other peoples lives for a cause that very few are even sure they understand. Certainly we learned from Sept. 11^th. something. Certainly there is a way for us to accomplish our goals of guaranteeing safety and security to America without using brute force against Iraq and killing more people. I can’t say. I think most of us, citizens, are so far removed from this, no matter how much we think we know, that we really cannot say for sure. But I assume that some of these other countries in the UN who now disagree with our plans do have the same information that our government has. So the question still remains for most of us, why isn't the whole world backing us up here? What’s really going on?

Something I never spoke about before, only to a few close friends, who at the time thought I was crazy. Back in ’92 and ’93 I would always have this recurring thought or vision; it would go something like this: I would think something about my future, you know, caught in the moment type personal thoughts, and then I would think, “but yea after the middle eastern people attack our financial centers in New York, then everything is going to get really awful…” and then I would get really depressed and try not to think about it. I even wrote about it a few times. I don't suppose it was a psychic thing as much as just a logic thing, I guess a little bit of both. You just always knew that all these Middle Eastern countries hated us because of what Bastards we have been the last couple of decades. You could see the hatred on TV. I just saw it all the time in my head. it was something I knew was going to happen at the turn of the century. I was sure of it. Even though all logic and everyone around said it was silly because it was so incomprehensible. But there it was. 

And when I saw it on TV in the hotel room in Costa Rica, I couldn’t believe that I was seeing it. I had seen it in my head for ten years but just never believed that it was possible. I screamed my head off so loud that the hotel staff came running up to the room. I assume they thought I had cut myself or something or who knows. They stood there and watched from the door and I sat on the bed of my room screaming bloody murder and crying. I couldn’t believe that this really happened. Because the visions I have had in my head over the last ten years after this event happening have not been good. And I have been trying very hard to try not to think about it over the last year since sept. 11^th. but it's just totally following the course. Things are getting worse and worse. I think we have seen the best of our times for a while now, you know, the year 1999 and 2000 were it for us as far as the good times go. it was our last hurrah. I hate to say it. I mean who wants to think like that? but now when I think of it, this invasion of Iraq, the threat of constant terrorist attacks as retaliation in the US and abroad, I get this pit in my stomach. Like it's only just begun. Of course they are going to retaliate. What do you think sept 11^th was? A joke? A game? It was retaliation. And in this new age, where anyone can get anything and we’re still letting anyone into our country and from what they say they are already in our country now, yes this is a serious threat. 

If we analyze how we feel, this fear we now have, imagine how these Iraqi people must feel. Hundreds of thousands of American troops positioned all around their country saying they are going to invade. So are we scared here in the states? Sure. But imagine the fear that must be going through the Iraqi people. 

Craig Gordon from Now Age Press just called me. I told him I was writing about this and he said, “hey don't sweat it. this is the last gasp of our old world; of this patriarchal system here. so lets just try to hang on. This will be it. it will be ugly and a lot of us are probably going to die, but after this, we aren't going to let men run things anymore. I think we just have to go through this last gasp of ugliness and then things will turnaround. Let women take over for a while.” Interesting perspective. Personally I don't think you can blame this on men as much as just the kind of men that have controlled things for a long time.