GOD BLESS AMERICA

And here's a link from Miss Templeton to a story in Time about how the leaders of mega-churches just can't stay out of trouble.

WATCH OUT POLAND!

Would you believe I used to lend this man a quid ‘til Friday? That I let him eat the cheese out of my fridge? That he and I wrote a bunch of tunes together? Well, we did, and here’s one of them, “Damage Case” being performed by Metallica with Lemmy as a special guest.

THE CAT SLEEPS

I wish I slept too.

DR WHO WAS NEVER LIKE THIS

Andy, Tom, and I played some dynamite music at the Hyperion last night -- or so I was told -- so today has been mainly dedicated to small literary chores and recovery until I stumbled across this image. It would appear that, before the current Dr. Who revival, the Daleks had sunk so low they were forced to act in porn. I only have this still so I have no idea what exactly they were doing or whether they were Dalek-shouting “Fornicate! Fornicate!” while doing it.

ALEX THE PARROT HAS JOINED THE CHOIR CELESTIAL

Valerie was kind enough to send us this clip Alex the Parrot who died at age 31 but left the legacy of a video of his vocabulary and language comprehension that must be seen to be believed. It’s a hell of a long way from Polly want a cracker. Also, in my travels, I discovered a clip of Marc Bolan performing “Children Of The Revolution”, a tune of which I am very fond, although Marc and I had fairly different concepts of revolution and also a highly divergent taste in shirts, the gods rest him and Alex.

The secret word is Fiord

I also have a short squib in this week’s LA CityBeat about the TV reality show Kid Nation.

A REMINDER

“You’ll get down to the Hyperion Tavern tonight and watch Mick & Andy performing their deviant blues if you know what’s good for you. Now I gotta go trap a fly in my gun barrel.”

And you can find all the details of this fabulous show if you scroll back two days to Tuesday where the info is right below a lovely picture of Maggie Gyllenhaal on a black fur rug.

A QUANDARY

HCB sends me a link to a site called Philorock where they seem to be celebrating the 40th anniversary of psychedelia, and there’s Ptooff!, the Deviants first album, in some pretty intense company like Love, The Doors, and Captain Beefheart. The only trouble is that the whole thing’s in Spanish, and I don’t have a clue whether the writer thinks it’s a masterpiece or a load of shite. Like the headline says, a quandary…

"Este grupo no alcanzó la fama ni el éxito comercial (dudo que ni siquiera lo pretendieran), pero su existencia fue imprescindible para el surgimiento de lo que hoy entendemos por punk. En 1966, cuando el movimiento hippy estaba en su apogeo, los Deviants, primero llamados Social Deviants, lanzaban con sus canciones auténticos cuchillos a los mensajes de paz, amor, flores y “buenos viajes”, a través de unas letras subversivas e incluso antiautoritarias, que hablaban del rechazo a la sociedad y de las drogas en su sentido más oscuro y autodestructivo, a veces con una frialdad extrema, a veces con ironía. Arrasaron en la escena underground de Londres (este disco, producido por ellos mismos, vendió más de 10000 copias al poco de salir), dando conciertos rabiosos y llenos de excesos con todo tipo de drogas, convirtiéndose en el grupo-banda sonora de los más álgidos momentos de protesta juvenil de finales de los sesenta en Inglaterra.En Detroit los MC5 ya habían puesto la semilla del punk (los Stooges no habían nacido aún), pero al otro lado del charco no se experimentaba con música parecida. Entonces los Deviants traen al mundo este “Ptooff!!”, un pequeño monstruo de 34 minutos que mezcla la psicodelia, y el punk al modo de un engendro a medio camino entre los Mothers of Invention y el grupo de Iggy y compañía, sobre el cual ejerció alguna influencia a buen seguro, no sólo en la música sino también en la actitud. No hay más que oír la primera canción, “I´m Coming Home”, una auténtica punkada al modo Stooges, en la que Mick Farren, líder y vocalista del grupo, canta a su propio ego en una progresión enfermiza que acaba llevando a la pura psicosis. Toda una delicia, una joya imprescindible en cualquier colección.Las increíbles “Charlie”, “Garbage” y “Deviation Street” siguen en ese estilo, si bien en las dos últimas se notan más las influencias de Frank Zappa a la hora de imprimir un poco de demencia en lo que ya de por sí es salvaje.“Nothing Man” pone aún más de manifiesto dicha influencia, pero en su vertiente más freak, pues es una composición cacofónica y perturbadora de más de 4 minutos. La sorprendente balada “Child of Sky” y la instrumental “Bun”, ponen un poco de calma dando el toque melódico entre la distorsión reinante en un disco anárquico que, aun siendo corto y un poco extraño, se ha ganado su hueco indiscutible en la historia del rock.Varios miembros del grupo formaron en 1971 The Pink Fairies."Magnífico comentario extraido de la página.

FREE JOHN WATERS

John Waters gives an amazing address on free speech. (Thanks Munz) I guess – just to prove we don’t have any free speech – children shouldn’t watch this because it would probably get Doc40 into a mess of excrement. So, if you’re under 18, piss off and don’t click the link. We mean it. Go watch Fat Britney or idiots sticking bottle rockets up their rectums.

The secret word is Dirty

KILLER MICROROBES FROM OUTER SPACE

Some girl sends us this somewhat worrying report on the behavior of germs in space. That also, as she puts it, “might be a corollary of some sort to the Peru asteroid story.” (See last Wednesday)
“Spaceflight is known to have profound effects on human physiology, weakening astronauts' bones and muscles and impairing their immune systems. A new study shows that its effects on microorganisms may be just as dramatic: Salmonella grown onboard the space shuttle was many times deadlier than its terrestrial counterparts. The study suggests that NASA and other space agencies may need to worry that long manned missions will increase the virulence of microorganisms that astronauts inevitably carry with them.” (The picture is not salmonella, but it looked threatening.) For more.

THE MELT GOES ON

Meanwhile Valerie links us to the fact that the North Pole is the smallest it has ever been.
“Arctic sea ice shrank to the smallest area on record this year, US scientists have confirmed. The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) said the minimum extent of 4.13 million sq km (1.59 million sq miles) was reached on 16 September. The figure shatters all previous satellite surveys, including the previous record low of 5.32 million sq km measured in 2005. Earlier this month, it was reported that the Northwest Passage was open. The fabled Arctic shipping route from the Atlantic to the Pacific is normally ice-bound at some location throughout the year; but this year, ships have been able to complete an unimpeded navigation." For more

The secret word is Screwed

POPEYE STATES BASIC INDIVIDUALIST PHILOSOPHY

Without which we all become foul thralls of Mordor. (Although there was a time when I considered that Witch-king of Angmar might not be a bad gig.)

FREE BOB DYLAN

Including the epic (and complete) Maggie’s Farm from the 1965 Newport Folk Festival with a whole mess of Michael Bloomfield and the booing fools at the end. I know it’s from Amazon, but what the hell.

This blog is still affiliated with The White Panther Party

THEY'RE DOING IT AGAIN. THEY CAN'T BE STOPPED.

“Oh course I’m going to see Mick and Andy, why do you think I’m dressed like this?"

Mick Farren and Andy Colquhoun will once again be romping and stomping their two-man psychedelic deviant future blues – with new tunes and special guest Tom Gardner at Tequila Mockingbird’s Club Fluffer at the Hyperion Tavern in Silver Lake this Thursday (September 27th) and you are sooo cordially invited. Showing up between 9.30 and 10.00 PM would be about right.

Hyperion Tavern, 1941 Hyperion Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027. 323-665-1941 (Look for the red lights.)

Drink it up, tip the bartender, forget your troubles and come on down. (Still our current slogan.)

We understand that Dick and Jane, Slobbery Jim, Angel and Love, Vaseline Tuner and burlesque queen Madame Miss La Diva will also grace the stage.

KITTENS WITH MACHINE GUNS

Twice in the last 24 hours I have encountered a cat with a machine gun. It could just be coincidence, but too many people have told me there are no coincidences in this life, so I wonder if we should take all this a little seriously. Are felines arming themselves with automatic weapons? And, if so, why and against whom? I’d also wonder how they were getting them, except I’m well aware, after decades of strife in the Middle East, Central America, and the former Yugoslavia, you can pick up an Uzi or AK47 dirt cheap from any Tom, Sergei, or Achmed. Just be vigilant if your calico companion starts getting long narrow packages from UPS and claims they're curtain rods.

See the Cat With The Golden Gun in motion.

The secret word is Thompson

Marcel Marceau -- RIP (ssssh)

Bush or Bud?

I don’t quite know what to think about this pretty damn unique portrait of George W. Bush by Steve Lazarides (and sent over by Doug the Bass.) Does the loathsome oaf even deserve the attention? I recall something similar was done to John Ashcroft when he was the Holy Roller Attorney General. This, however, is a great deal more subtle and takes a little figuring out, but start from the top of his left ear (your left) and move out across all the pornographic contours of the face. Left clicking for a bigger image helps.

I’m also unsure about this Budweiser commercial from the 2002 Super Bowl that's been making the web rounds in the wake of 9/11 hindsight. Is the damned thing dignified or a piece of tawdry beer bathos? Those Clydesdales are damn fine horses, though.

The secret word is Decide

FASCINATING...

Fascinating.

WELCOME TO THE WEEKEND

This is meat. Doesn’t it look yummy? Don’t you just love vintage advertising? The red tint alone is an argument for vegetarianism. Or liquid nourishment. See how it coordinates with the nail polish. But don’t expect anything too profound from me in the next 48 hours. Even Strindberg had a day off.

The secret word is Cocktail

DOC'S PAPERBACK CLASSIC'S # 27

Maybe I should join the Hordes of Mekh. A strange adventure on another world in the company of an erotically implausible redhead with a double edged axe might do my mental health a power of good.

AS IF BEES DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH TROUBLES

At least enlisting in the Hordes of Mekh might get me away from the gratuitous madness of this damned planet where the military is now attempting to turn bees – who have enough trouble already – into little flying bomb detectors. (Also Valerie notes "If you check out the applications on the company web, they´re already marketing all this, which means they´ve been messing with the bees for a long time.")

“Honeybees are trained to recognize particular odors (for example, that of explosive compounds), and then to associate that smell with a food reward. Bees are able to recognize odors that are as faint as only a few parts per trillion in an air sample. When the bees detect the special odor, they extend their proboscis in expectation of receiving food.” More

IS THE PERUVIAN METEOR A DEAD SATELLITE?

Ready for the latest conspiracy theories in the matter of the Peruvian meteor and the unknown X-Files-class contagion that would appear to be emanating from the crater? I would also note that I have seen at least a dozen science fiction movies or read stories that have started like this -- including, of course War Of The Worlds. (Not the film version with Tom Cruise.)

“Reports from Peru now claim that more than 600 people have fallen ill after coming into contact with the "glowing rock" or having inhaled 'toxic gases' while visiting the massive 30 metre wide crater. The Peruvian Regional Health Directorate has been forced to set up medical tents near a health centre in Carancas to deal with the casualties, which most reports now claim are well above 600 people.” More

FROM THE ORIGINAL GERMAN
I had previously failed to notice that GEheimSTAdts POlizei freely translates as Homeland Security

HCB
Our pal has a piece on the movie The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford in American Heritage.

MUSIC? Fancy some Brecht/Weil by Bowie? (The end, I would add of the current Doc40 Bowie cache.) Although I do know the way to the next whisky bar.

The secret word is Mekh

HE SHOULD NEVER HAVE GIVEN UP COMMUNISM

ATHENS, October 18 (RIA Novosti) - A prisoner in a Romanian jail is suing God, Greek state television reported from Bucharest Tuesday. "God received different material valuables from me, as well as prayers in exchange for promises of a better life. In reality, this did not happen - I found myself in the devil's hands," the plaintiff said.
The convict is serving 20 years in the west Romanian city of Timisoara. He apparently blames God for the troubles in his life and wants God brought to account for failing to fulfill the commitments He undertook and for taking bribes. The plaintiff said that when he had been baptized in childhood, he concluded a contract with God that had legal effect - God was supposed to protect him from evil. The plaintiff said the Romanian Orthodox Church, which, according to him, directly represents God, should compensate him for the alleged God-inflicted damage. In line with the law, the lawsuit was submitted to court. However, as the defendant is neither an individual nor a company, and is not subject to a civil court of law's jurisdiction, the case is unlikely to be heard regardless of how justified the plaintiff's demands may be, court officials said.

OJ'S BACK -- WE CAN STOP THINKING

OJ, the ultimate distraction, has been deployed. Forget the war, forget the planet, forget the election, forget health care. Forget it all and sit and drool at the smirking, smug, sociopath, murdering sonofabitch like it was 1994.

WHAT US WORRY?

Meanwhile, in this week’s LA CityBeat, I re-discover MAD magazine. And wandering YouTube, I re-discovered the Grateful Dead, which is always tricky. Middle-aged punks stare at you like you were a puppy molester caught en flagrante. (Or maybe OJ) “Farren is a closet Deadhead!” Which is actually not true. As Boss Goodman used to put it. “You like the songs and the singing, not the solos.” Whatever fashion might dictate, though, I am unashamedly fond of New Speedway Boogie.

The secret word is Tromp

BLUE LAKES BOB

The following story, forwarded by Doug the Bass, but I believe to be circulating on the net has a naïve neo-Norman Rockwell quality that suggests those in power can't fool all of the people all of the time forever and ever, amen. On the other hand, how long and how much does it take for supposedly decent citizens to wise up to what is being done to them and theirs? Does it always require mutilated children before they grasp there's something wrong with this picture.?

THE BALLAD OF BLUE LAKES BOB ! (In memory of 9/11) by Purple Gene. I remember that Monday morning when I was driving to work ...9/11/01. I'll never forget it...ever!
The following weekend I was walking on a little dirt road behind our cabin on Blue Lakes. I ran into a larger than life old Vet named Bob walking his aging black Lab. I said Hi and the first thing out of his mouth after Hi was, "Fuckin' Ragheads!"
A year later, around September of 2002, I saw old Bob again and he told me that his oldest son had enlisted in the Army and was going to Afghanistan. I said, "Bob, I'll keep your boy in my thoughts. I mean it"!
A year later, around September of 2003, I saw old Bob again and he told me that his youngest son had enlisted in the Army and was going to Iraq. I said, "Bob, I'll keep your boys in my thoughts"! And I did!
Another year later, around September of 2004, I saw old Bob again and he told me that both his boys were doing O.K., but he started complaining about what his sons were saying in term of lack of protection on their Humvees and body armor and the heat and the sand and. I said, "Bob, I hope those boys of yours stay safe!"
A year later, around September of 2005, I saw old Bob again and he told me that his oldest son was back from Afghanistan but that his youngest boy re-upped in Iraq. Bob said, "my youngest is kinda crazy and I'm a little worried". I said, "Bob, I hope we can get him back home soon!"
Yet another year later, around September of 2006, I saw old Bob again and he said that his son was writing him less and less and that more of his buddies had been blown up by I.E.D's and he didn't give a shit who won the congressional elections. They’re all the same up in Washington...I said, "Bob, I would like nothing more than to see thiswar end and your youngest come home...and besides, I think they're spending too much of "our" money over in that "shit hole"!
Well I just saw old Bob this last weekend (September of 2007) up at Blue Lakes. He had on his usual army fatigues and hat and his black Lab was still limping along behind him. This time Bob said something that really struck me hard. "I think these "Chicken Hawks"in Washington have been lying to us all along. They just want that black gold. Oh and by the way my youngest made it back in one piece, but his head is kinda screwed up." I said, "Bob, tell your sons thanks a lot for trying over there...and I think you're rightas rain about Washington and the War!"
I wonder what he'll have to say next year?

And all I can follow this grim Americana with is Elvis singing “Trying To Get To You.”

THAT DAMNED PERUVIAN METEOR

(See yesterday’s comments. I felt challenged.)
"A meteorite fell Saturday night in the Peruvian area of Puno, close to the border with Bolivia, forming a crater with a 30 meters diamater, and six meters in depth, the local press reported today. A luminous object fell a little before midnight of the day before yesterday in the town of Carancas, in the province of Chucuito, about 1.300 kilometers to the south of Lima. According to sources of the Territorial Direction of the Police, the alarmed inhabitants of the area heard a great noise, similar to that of an airplane falling. Later, the witnesses saw a luminous object in fire in the sky that hit the ground, producing an explosion that left the earth charred. The meteorite didn’t hurt anyone, but the authorities are investigating if the remains found in the area are of animals that may have died because of the explosion. The farmers of the place fear the appearance of some disease, since chips of lead and silver were liberated in the shock of the meteor with the soil, the local broadcasting station “RPP” informed. The member of the National Academy of Sciences, Modesto Montoya, told to the “Andean” state agency that the fall of meteorites in Peru doesn’t present any danger, unless they hit some structure. “None of the several meteorites that fall in Peru and make perforations of varied sizes are harmful for people, unless they fall over a house”, Montoya said. In June, another meteorite fell in the Mascapampa hill, in the province of Arequipa (south), leaving the population alarmed. Curiously the meteorite fell exactly one month after the terrible earthquake that hit Lima on August 15.
Other more dubious stories told of tiny people emerging from the meteor."

The secret word is Scully

NOW… You wanna see the Sears Tower struck by lightning?

THIS BLOG IS STILL PROTECTED BY...

The advanced societies of the future will not be governed by reason. They will be driven by irrationality, by competing systems of psychopathology.- J.G. Ballard

WE KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE, MR RINGLING

Doc 40 was never designed as an animal rights blog, but humanity is spends so much of its time fucking over the other inhabitants of the planet it becomes impossible to ignore. I am not fond of zoos, and I loathe circuses that feature animal acts. (I don’t much like clowns either, but that’s a whole other story.) Part of my loathing for circuses stems from knowing, from nothing less than personal experience, that much of so-called animal training is based in calculated cruelty. This clip send by blu reveals a little of the nastiness involved in training an animal act, in this case elephants. Be warned, though. This video is not pleasant.

The secret word is Bastards

DOC'S PAPERBACK CLASSIC'S # 26

(Do I feel the depression coming back or is it a conversion to nihilism?)

FLEEING THE MENACE OF THE BOB DYLAN MACHINE...

Now here’s where it really gets complicated. In this message from Dan, Bob Dylan (helped by Antonio Lopez) warns us of the Cylon menace, while out there across the galaxy, the human survivors have All Along The Watchtower ringing in their ears, and we poor schmucks back on Earth are going to have to wait maybe a year to find what the fuck is going on and what the writers are up to. (Why do I watch TV? It only makes me dissatisfied.)

But if I actually lived in the TV all of this would be the primary mythology, not to say some high-octane motherfucker metaphysics of possibly catastrophic dimensions and I’d be thinking, right here, roll on 2012 and let’s see what that’s going to bring. In space no one can hear you scream, but on Earth, mind-snapping terror is completely audible. (Although if I lived in the TV I would be nano-tiny and speak in binary code. Word?)

CRYPTIQUE – God is just an out-of-control vending machine. (But what currency does he/she/it accept?)

The secret word is Relief

WATCH THIS ADMIRAL

Munz has sent us this highly salient warning about how Admiral William Fallon, commander of CENTCOM, which covers the Middle East and Southeast Asia – and who is essentially the boss of Bush lapdog Gen. David Petraeus – “privately vowed that there would be no war against Iran on his watch, implying that he would quit rather than accept such a policy." Since he remains CENTCOM commander, there does not appear to be an imminent invasion of Iran. If he quits, get nervous. (He also called Petraeus an "ass-kissing little chickenshit.”) Click for chapter and verse.

AND I clean forgot with all that’s been going on that I have a couple of snappy riffs on drunk driving in the current issue of LA CityBeat.

FIFTEEN CENTS?

I have a nickel and a dime and one fuck of a toothache. I’m off to Hudson Avenue, Albany.

The secret word is Bicuspid

CAN YOU SPELL GYLLENHAAL?

Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal has long been a solid favorite of Doc 40, and the above picture is published to mark the fact that she taken over from Kate Moss as spokes-whatever of lingerie line Agent Provocateur. Yeah. Right. We take note of lingerie promotions. Would you believe that we’re publishing the post because the much admired Miss Gyllenhaal seems to have definite inclination for erotic restraint? I mean, she was locked into all those intricate devices in the 2002 movie Secretary and now this. Or maybe we’re posting this out simple animal voyeurism?

But talking of animals…

"WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO THE EARTH?'"

The following horror story comes out of China…
"The pelts of 27 snow leopards were recently seized from a black market trader in China. The record bust highlights the menacing threat to one of the world's most endangered cats, experts say. Acting on a tip, agents from China's State Forestry Administration raided an apartment in western China last month, according to state media. Police arrested the fur trader, identified only as Mr. Ma, after discovering the cache of pelts, along with 104 bear skins and parts of clouded leopards and lynx "Police found three snow leopard heads and two snow leopard skeletons in the raid," Ge Yun, of the China-based nonprofit Xinjiang Conservation Fund (XCF), told National Geographic News. The seizure is reportedly the largest haul of leopard pelts since Chinese officials began keeping records in 1949. An official with China's State Forest Administration, who identified himself as Mr. Li, confirmed the arrests in a telephone interview but declined to offer details. "The snow leopard is endangered, and the government is working very hard to protect it," he said." Click for more

"WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO OUR FAIR SISTER?'"

We’re Iberian lynx* and this is our tale of woe. (Sent by Valerie) When the fuck are you humans going to leave us animals alone?

* Is lynx the plural of lynx?

"THE SCREAM OF THE BUTTERFLY"

Having been using lyric fragments through this post, here’s a full 12 minutes of The Doors doing a live version “When The Music’s Over”.

Oh yeah, Andy and I had a really swell time playing the Hyperion Tavern last night. Great crowd, great reception. We resolve to make it regular haunt. We also discovered it was formerly gay bondage bar called Cuffs. (Which kinda takes us back to the top of the post.)

The secret words are Turn Out The Light

THINGS CAN'T ALWAYS BE PERFECT

Sadly the ladies of the QMAPDP may be unable to make the gig but Mick Farren and Andy Colquhoun can be counted on to be rolling out their two-man psychedelic deviant future blues at Tequila Mockingbird’s Club Fluffer at the Hyperion Tavern in Silver Lake TONIGHT! (September 13th) and you are cordially invited. We have still not been informed of show time, but we figure showing up between 9.30 and 10.00 PM would be about right.

Hyperion Tavern, 1941 Hyperion Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027. 323-665-1941

Drink it up, tip the waitress, forget your troubles and come on down. (Our current slogan.)

The secret words are Be There

THE ROAD TO QUAGMIRE

Aeswiren, who we depend on to keep an eye on these kind of things sent this acute analysis of how the Reagan Administration taught the Saudis the art of advanced corporate fraud. (The kind that involved oil, rather wives, camels, or goats.) And, of course, at precisely the same time, the CIA was pouring billions of dollars into the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan to support their guerrilla war against the Soviets. And, needless to say, one of the Mujahedeen’s most prominent organizers and financiers was a wealthy young Saudi named Osama Bin Laden.

“Oil is so important to the strength of a nation’s economy that it was the United States’ final plan of attack to crush the Soviets. During the late summer of 1985, the Reagan administration had a sudden stroke of genius. Tired of the stalemate, the American government knew that the only alternative to physical destruction of the Soviet Union was to nuke their economy. And knowing that much of its economy was based on two exports— oil to Europe and military weapons and training to anti-Western countries—we found an in. Mindful of the saying “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” we decided to make a little pact with Saudi Arabia—an offer the Saudis couldn’t refuse. You see, high oil prices from OPEC kept Soviet exports to Europe and other countries profitable. It also allowed Iraq, Iran and Syria to purchase advanced Soviet weapons and training. And those countries had been threatening Saudi Arabia for years. The high oil price also allowed the Soviet Union to keep a military presence in South Yemen, Syria, Ethiopia and Afghanistan. The idea was to bankrupt the Soviet Union by having Saudi Arabia drop its oil prices far below what the Soviets could afford to sell for. Once non-Soviet prices were lowered, former Soviet oil clients would cease buying from the USSR, killing the communist giant’s income. It would also harm the Soviet economy because Iraq, Iran and Syria would no longer be able to sell their oil at prices high enough to be able to afford Soviet weapons and training. It was a sucker punch to end the Cold War, a numbers-crunching accountant’s wet dream . . . and it was just crazy enough to work. But that’s also where the problems begin. In short, we taught the Saudis how to cook the books and how to make their supplies appear larger than they really were to keep the oil prices low. In December 1985, the price of oil was $26.46. And then, suddenly, on March 31, 1986, it plummeted to $10.25. The Soviets couldn’t keep up, and their economy began to collapse. Our part of the bargain for Saudi Arabia’s aid in bankrupting the Soviets would become known as Operation Desert Storm. But the book-cooking lessons learned by the Saudis would soon become widespread among OPEC nations— and even among Big Oil companies. And after decades of inflating their actual reserve numbers without finding any more significant oil resources, the future of the world’s oil is falling apart faster than a canvas shoe on a rainy day.” From Report -- Energy and Capital.

The secret word is Hydrocarbon

And, for the rock & roll section of our show, what better than David Bowie live and “Putting Out Fire With Gasoline.”

1-800-CALL-GOD

And God thunders...

“THIS IS NOT MY BLOODY PHONE NUMBER!!!”

Or however the angry voice of God might look in print. (This is all the fault of Munz.)

THE BEES AND THE BEARS AND NOW THE US NAVY IS SCREWING WITH THE WHALES

As the Army in the form of Gen. David Petraeus, recommends that decisions on the contentious issue of reducing the main body of the American troops in Iraq be put off for six months, the Navy has made it their mission deafen, disorientate and kill whales. The following letter from James Taylor (yes, that James Taylor) was forwarded by Sky. Do what you can.

"The Navy's sonic assault on whales should be stopped immediately. I'm asking for your help to make it happen. Let me be clear: I have the deepest respect for the U.S. Navy. When I was growing up, my father was a doctor and commander in the Navy. His role in helping to establish a base at the South Pole in 1957, as part of the International Geophysical Year, had a lifelong impact on me. We loved the Navy because it helped win World War II. But we also loved the Navy because it was a leader in the scientific study of the natural world. That's why I feel so strongly that today's Navy should be using its vast resources to protect not just our nation but the health of our planet's oceans as well. And it's why I am so distressed by the acoustic onslaught the Navy is now waging beneath our planet's oceans -- an onslaught known to kill whales with dangerous mid-frequency sound waves. Mid-frequency sonar is designed to detect enemy submarines. The Navy's warships deploy underwater speakers that blast the ocean with noise in excess of 235 decibels -- a sonic barrage roughly comparable to a Saturn V rocket at blast-off. That explosive level of noise can cause whales -- who have an exquisite sense of hearing -- to panic, surface too quickly, and hemorrhage internally. Many beached whales have been found bleeding around their brains and ears after their fatal encounters with military sonar. Imagine a sound so disorienting or so painful that you jump out of the sea and die on the beach rather than be subjected to it for another minute! From a whale's point of view, the Navy's sonic assault must seem like torture. But that torture isn't just cruel, it's unnecessary. You see, the Navy could adopt simple safety measures when training with sonar that would prevent the needless infliction of pain and death on these magnificent animals. For example, the Navy could avoid marine habitats where whales are known to migrate, feed, and raise their young. These common-sense precautions would not compromise military readiness. But the Navy refuses. So the maiming and killing of whales goes on. This callousness toward nature -- toward the ocean itself -- does not reflect the Navy I grew up with. We deserve better. And, as Americans, it's our right to demand better. Our message is simple: Whales should not have to die for military practice. Please join me and millions of other people in getting that message to the U.S. Navy and to Congress. Click here now and tell the Navy to do the right thing.

Sincerely, James Taylor, RDC Action Fund"

AND IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE...

…the only person on the planet who hasn’t seen the Britney Spears MTV Awards train wreck, here it is again.

The secret word is Over

WE'RE DOING IT AGAIN

“We’re going to see Mick & Andy next Thursday?”
“Of course, darling, we’re purple-haired, future-retro space lesbians, what else could we do?”

Mick Farren and Andy Colquhoun will be rolling out their two-man psychedelic deviant future blues at Tequila Mockingbird’s Club Fluffer at the Hyperion Tavern in Silver Lake next Thursday (September 13th) and you are cordially invited. We have not been informed as yet of show time, but we figure showing up between 9.30 and 10.00 PM would be about right.

Hyperion Tavern, 1941 Hyperion Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027. 323-665-1941

Drink it up, tip the waitress, forget your troubles and come on down. (Our current slogan.)

But now we move to something considerably more grim...

FIRST THEY FUCK UP OUR PLANET AND NOW THEY WANT TO SHOOT US FOR FUN

The following distressing item was forwarded by some girl. “An…Independent on Sunday investigation has found that polar bears are being shot in alarming numbers by rich trophy hunters from the US, Europe and Japan, even as their increasingly fragile habitat melts beneath them. Campaigners know that climate change and pollution are the biggest threats to polar bear survival, but believe that stopping sports hunting is symbolically important.” Yeah? My initial reaction was to more than symbolic. It was violently angry. I wished I was younger, and had a helicopter and an AK47. It would give me deep satisfaction to shoot some of these rich bastards and see how the fuck they like a burst of hollow points ripping into their ass. Click for the rest of the story.

The secret word is Revenge

FRAGMENTED SUNDAY

Seems to be a lazy Sunday, fit for doing very little except tidying up outstanding stuff. We have two versions of the same story about the latest theory on bee disappearance from Betsy and Mike. And also an intriguing bit from Valerie on just how smart octopi are turning you to be.
And also The Small Faces singing the magnificnent obvious. (Look for Steve Marriot's very brief Jagger impression.)

FREE MUSIC

HCB also forwarded another of those sites where one can get free downloads of old Deviants recordings if you know how to work them. In this instance it’s Disposable

AND AN OPTICAL ILLUSION

The secret word is Headache

ALL THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT

Valerie has sent a fascinating link to Project Censored – News The Didn’t Make The News. It’s long, but some of it really makes the blood run cold. “Project Censored have their new book and list for 2006-2007 (Still don´t understand why the books called "2008").”

The secret word is Smokescreen

LEVEL 5 TASTE WARNING! (Help is here!)

"Darlings, we're to save you from the Crocs. And we have heels!"

CHARLIE IS STILL TV's DARLING

The media constantly prove themselves such suckers for the combination of death, Hollywood, and the 20th century. This week MSNBC felt the need to drag out poor, 72 year-old Charlie Manson as the personification of psychedelic evil in a show luridly titled The Mind Of Manson. They didn’t even bother to wait until some kind of anniversary or parole hearing. In the interview segment, Charlie made the point that he was the squares’ scapegoat for all the stuff they hated and feared about the 1960s. And, to a degree, I have to sympathize with the guy. Beside Pol Pot, Charlie was a rank amateur. Click for some of Charlie’s recent rantings that MSNBC didn’t get. (By the way, Charlie will be next considered for parole in 2012. One more factor for a year already gathering unhealthy significance.)
Meanwhile, in this week’s LA CityBeat, my media column is all about the mass attempts to subvert Wikipedia and names the guilty.

The secret words plainly have to be Helter and Skelter

SURPRISE! This has to the Web Toy of the Week! (Thanks some girl)

LEVEL 5 TASTE WARNING!

THESE ARE CROCS. SHOOT THE WEARER ON SIGHT. TAKE NO PRISONERS. ACCEPT NO EXCUSES.

I TOLD YOU RONALD REAGAN WAS HAUNTING DOC 40

Yeah, Ron? And when the hell is America going to wise up to the fact that socialized medicine in one form or another is the only practical and civilized solution, unless a nation is so extreme and alarming in its moral bankruptcy that it is quite prepared to allow its poor to suffer and die (yes, die) while supporting the obscene profits of insurance companies, HMOs, the medical profession and pharmaceutical industry? Hey Ron, your family wasn’t financially devastated by your Alzheimer’s, but hundreds have been. To demonize functional, organized, single-payer healthcare as “socialist” is as fundamentally absurd as talking about a “socialized” army or “socialized” sanitation and highways. (Although Bush seems to be busy privatizing the bloody military.) Healthcare is simply another facet of national defense, or, if you like, the national infrastructure. If the idea of altruism bothers anyone, look at it as self-interest. Is capitalism simply too obtuse to realize that, if the poor have no health care, they represent, in the event of an epidemic (or pandemic) an untreated vulnerability vector that points the virus straight at the rich? I would go on at length except everyone seems to glaze over at this point in the rant, refusing to accept that, in the matter of healthcare, the USA willfully chooses to be a third-world hellhole for about 40 million of its citizens. (Pic from Tom Sutpen)

The secret word is Sick

And all this talk of health care provides, I guess, the thinnest pretext for running Elvis Costello and Steve Naïve playing “Pills & Soap”

Luciano Pavarotti – RIP

IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU'RE YOUNG OR OLD, YOU JUST HAVE TO BE A ROCK STAR

Thanks HCB