“All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America arise not from defects in the constitution or confederation, nor from a want of honor or virtue so much as from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation”

John Adams in a letter to Thomas Jefferson, 1787

Here we stand
Like an Adam and an Eve
Waterfalls, The Garden of Eden
Two fools in love so beautiful and strong
The birds in the trees are smiling upon them
From the age of the dinosaurs
Cars have run on gasoline
Where, where have they gone?
Now, it's nothing but flowers

There was a factory
Now there are mountains and rivers
you got it, you got it

We caught a rattlesnake
Now we got something for dinner
we got it, we got it

There was a shopping mall
Now it's all covered with flowers
you've got it, you've got it

If this is paradise
I wish I had a lawnmower
you've got it, you've got it

Years ago
I was an angry young man
I'd pretend that I was a billboard
Standing tall by the side of the road
I fell in love with a beautiful highway
This used to be real estate
Now it's only fields and trees
Where, where is the town
Now, it's nothing but flowers
The highways and cars were sacrificed for agriculture
I thought that we'd start over
But I guess I was wrong

Once there were parking lots
Now it's a peaceful oasis
you got it, you got it

This was a Pizza Hut
Now it's all covered with daisies
you got it, you got it

I miss the honky tonks,
Dairy Queens, and 7-Elevens
you got it, you got it

And as things fell apart
Nobody paid much attention
you got it, you got it

I dream of cherry pies,
Candy bars, and chocolate chip cookies
you got it, you got it

We used to microwave
Now we just eat nuts and berries
you got it, you got it

This was a discount store,
Now it's turned into a cornfield
you got it, you got it

Don't leave me stranded here
I can't get used to this lifestyle

Why do guys like you and I know what a duvet is?

Is this essential to our survival
in the hunter-gatherer sense?

Born and raised American, I met an English Rose in 1993, asked her to marry me in 1994. Applied for a "Fiancee Visa" in January 1995, didn't get approved until eight months later, August 1995, a couple of weeks before our marriage in the states in September.

My parents paid for an immigration lawyer for us as a wedding gift (the gift that keeps on giving)

For the next SEVEN YEARS we were on the treadmill to get my wife a green card. Neither of us have a criminal record, I was always gainfully employed, I have a military record including honorable discharge.

At one point our file was LOST by the INS. Our lawyer said it was a "miracle" it was found, because all the lost files (!) he knew of stayed lost.

Every single person at the INS we talked with during these seven years was rude, incompetent, ignorant, or any combination thereof. By the time we moved back to the UK in Jan 2002, my wife still had not received her Green Card.

I kid you not, if (for some reason) we have to move back to the States, my wife will be illegal. I'll go to some back alley in LA (where we lived) and BUY a Green Card.

I would never, ever, deal with American Immigration again. Ever.

(oh, btw, to get permanent residency in the UK, a couple of forms, one year probation, then a couple of more form, and done. Sorted. No muss, no fuss, how it should be.)

California Uber Alles
California Uber Alles
Uber Alles California
Uber Alles California

Zen fascists will control you
100% natural
You will jog for the master race
And always wear the happy face

Close your eyes, can't happen here
Big Bro' on white horse is near
The hippies won't come back you say
Mellow out or you will pay
Mellow out or you will pay!

California Uber Alles
California Uber Alles
Uber Alles California
Uber Alles California

My favourite Carlin speech, from Parental Advisory Explicit Lyrics. No other so-called "comedian" did stuff like this:

"I don't like words that hide the truth. I don't like words that conceal reality. I don't like euphemisms, or euphemistic language. And American English is loaded with euphemisms. Cause Americans have a lot of trouble dealing with reality. Americans have trouble facing the truth, so they invent the kind of a soft language to protect themselves from it, and it gets worse with every generation. For some reason, it just keeps getting worse. I'll give you an example of that. There's a condition in combat. Most people know about it. It's when a fighting person's nervous system has been stressed to it's absolute peak and maximum. Can't take anymore input. The nervous system has either (click) snapped or is about to snap.

In the first world war, that condition was called shell shock. Simple, honest, direct language. Two syllables, shell shock. Almost sounds like the guns themselves. That was seventy years ago. Then a whole generation went by and the second world war came along and very same combat condition was called battle fatigue. Four syllables now. Takes a little longer to say. Doesn't seem to hurt as much. Fatigue is a nicer word than shock. Shell shock! Battle fatigue. Then we had the war in Korea, 1950. Madison avenue was riding high by that time, and the very same combat condition was called operational exhaustion. Hey, were up to eight syllables now! And the humanity has been squeezed completely out of the phrase. It's totally sterile now. Operational exhaustion. Sounds like something that might happen to your car.

Then of course, came the war in Viet Nam, which has only been over for about sixteen or seventeen years, and thanks to the lies and deceits surrounding that war, I guess it's no surprise that the very same condition was called post-traumatic stress disorder. Still eight syllables, but we've added a hyphen! And the pain is completely buried under jargon. Post-traumatic stress disorder. I'll bet you if we'd of still been calling it shell shock, some of those Viet Nam veterans might have gotten the attention they needed at the time."

#21

Well then, it's a good job that large puplishing houses aren't in the hands of money grubbing a-holes then.

/sarcasm

"*STEAMPUNK! STEAMPUNK! STEAMPUNK! Isn't that the most lovely word you've ever heard? I just want to say it all day long! STEAAAAAAAAAAMPUNK!"

oh....kay.......

We'll leave you two alone, shall we?

(walks....slowly........away.......)

I'm thinking this is more like the CIA's tribute to that great abstract artist Ad Reinhardt and his famous black period.

Here is some of his work at the
Guggenheim

OR:

"Where these gentlemen live, they don't have vehicle ferries."

"Ferries? Where we're going, we don't NEED ferries!"

Turns out the men, both citizens of a European Union nation, were captivated by the car-carrying capacity of local ferries.

"Where these gentlemen live, they don't have vehicle ferries."

One of the tourists were quoted as saying:

"Jagshemash! These are much so nicer than the boats in my country of a Kazakhstan.

Can I say again, we support your war of terror!"