Security was tight during the Democratic National Convention, but not so tight that the Republicans are going to tolerate being ‘out done’. As Glen Greenwald reports, things have been transpiring in Minneapolis prior to the RNC that take the cake…

“Protesters here in Minneapolis have been targeted by a series of highly intimidating, sweeping police raids across the city, involving teams of 25-30 officers in riot gear, with semi-automatic weapons drawn, entering homes of those suspected of planning protests, handcuffing and forcing them to lay on the floor, while law enforcement officers searched the homes, seizing computers, journals, and political pamphlets. Last night, members of the St. Paul police department and the Ramsey County sheriff’s department handcuffed, photographed and detained dozens of people meeting at a public venue to plan a demonstration, charging them with no crime other than “fire code violations,” and early this morning, the Sheriff’s department sent teams of officers into at least four Minneapolis area homes where suspected protesters were staying.”

I awoke this morning to a photograph of a US soldier in full combat gear standing in downtown New Orleans. As some of you are aware, that city has been ordered evacuated due to the approach of hurricane Gustav. Given the federal government’s completely incompetent response to hurricane Katrina, it only stands to reason that the Department of Homeland Security is going to take preemptive measures to help secure the city and aid in the evacuation. But even given that, there’s still something about the image of a soldier holding a combat weapon in front of an army vehicle on the street of a city in a free society that disturbs me (even though I have seen it many times in Europe).

I am currently sitting in a little bit of paradise in southern Ontario called Niagara-On-The-Lake. Tonight I perform acoustically at the Jackson Triggs winery. It’s been a fun day so far – warm and relaxing. The people here are fantastic and I am looking forward to the show – primarily because I’m going to just drink a lot of Pinot Noir and wing it. I had a hard time deciding what to play, so the set list ended up being 20 or 21 songs long.

By way of another Facebook advert, more single ladies waiting at home, glued to their computers, waiting for lonely men to find them. In this particular case it seems to be four close friends, all of whom are having difficulties finding dates. From what I can tell, all four are employed in the promotions field.

The following entry is by Daniel Regelbrugge, one of matthewgood.org’s first contributing authors. Dan is a veteran member of the United States Army, served in Iraq and throughout Europe, and currently works at the Pentagon. His area of expertise is in linguistics, primarily Russian.

Dark matter spreads surely across space and time. Currents of pestilent history and futures, as yet ill-described, lurch on and on toward the breech. An artery has been cut; just a prick at first, but now the pressure from the deep is rising. Scarlet fingers grasp at air, only to find the earth, and soon what was stirring feebly below surges once again upon the surface of things; upon the land, and into our lives. All vessels eventually spill their disease once more into the world.

To hear Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (known in some circles these days as “the dark lord”) speak of the strain the current abhorrent situation in the Caucuses has put on Russian/U.S. relations, one would think he were a pouting little boy wandering in from the playground after having been betrayed by the other bully.

To hear U.S. President George W. Bush (known in some circles as “soon to be ex-President”) speak about the same topic, one might conclude that he had an ace up his sleeve somewhere that would somehow force Russia to comply with his demands for immediate Russian withdrawal; neither supposition approaches the truth, nor the crux of the matter.

For several years Georgia has been living under the assumption that the advocated political and military partnership with the United States had somehow supplanted previous allegiance, or submission to the will of the Former Soviet Union—or the Russia of today. Clearly, both Georgia and the United States overestimated their ability to sow deep and lasting seeds quickly and firmly enough to withstand even the rumor of a resurgent Russia.

Clearly, the undercurrents of what was never really went away. Bygones are not bygones, and the perceived weakness or vulnerability that had characterized post Soviet Russia is being washed away-with blood.

But this resurgent Russia is not the great Bear that was the Soviet Union. This is not a monolith that instills fear by means of overwhelming and efficient use of might. This Russia is a hybrid of all possible means of achieving objectives without ever having to openly fight the other bullies on the playground-this Russia is more clever out of necessity, more industrious out of dogged desire to have as much or more than anyone else, and it is a country that will use the specter of it’s remnant WMD arsenal to instill horror in the hearts of any foe.

For several years Russia was forced, as a result of economic instability and pervasive reforms and restructuring of military and governmental organs on the operational level, to more or less turn a blind eye to the then burgeoning ties between Georgia and the United States.

Russia could do little but sit and watch as U.S. Special Forces Units equipped and trained Georgian troops. It was thought then, from the American perspective, that squeezing Russia at it’s underbelly, and stifling its ability to really thrive economically or politically in the 21st Century without eventually relenting and joining NATO would at the very least tap a catheter into Russia’s rich natural resources from which the U.S. and others could drink at will–at reduced, “friend” prices.

Russia needed time to understand fully the new lay of the land. Direct confrontation, both militarily and politically, is a thing of the past. So the Dark Lord waited. He waited for the Russian oil industry to come into synch with his political agenda so as to facilitate veiled control of Europe. He waited, and then he began the methodical construction on an international network of power—power, that is not necessarily plainly apparent, but which courses through the veins of the network like a disease shifting in dormancy until it’s handlers desire it to be bled on-demand wherever the need or opportunity presents itself.

Within the framework of the present situation in Georgia, The United States has proved itself, yet again, to be painfully naïve and ignorant in the ways of the dark arts of the Old World. It prances about like a powerful neophyte that just wants to play-no matter how roughly. For a long time it was enough to go on that way. The events of the twentieth century required the presence of such a strong, benign entity that could be trained by the old masters and turned onto whatever threat became manifest.

During the Cold War, however, the neophyte began to mature and to acquire a taste for power. It began to dabble in the dark arts of political manipulation in Central America and in the Middle East among other places. The world, it seemed, could be mapped, mined, and divided into portions–tributaries that provided different, but equally nourishing benefits. Oil from this place, diamonds from that—toys, sneakers, records, jump rope; you name it—all of it came from somewhere else. It was a not so subtle, if not altogether nefarious way of expanding a sphere of influence; or network, and the nation thrived, but eventually the rest of the world caught on to what was happening.

Russia had been paying very close attention to its old Cold War adversary. Uncle Sam’s tactics were deemed to have been effective to an extent, but ultimately crude, and limited in scope. The Dark Lord decided that Russia’s sphere of influence needed to be transformed; reestablished and broadened on different, more contemporary terms; terms that take into consideration all the best and worst lessons that the rise and potential fall of the United States portends.

Vladimir Putin spoke of “fairness” and “respect” the other day in an interview with a CNN correspondent that aired on the Vyesti Russian website. He spoke with what seemed like great concern about the need for a cease fire and for renewed dialogue as a means to bringing about a peaceful resolution. He reassured his interlocutor that Russia just wants a chance to live freely in peace and harmony, and then he seemed genuinely human in lamenting the loss of so many lives in the Georgian conflict.

Mr. Putin defended Russia’s current tactics in Georgia as being necessary to ensure the stability and safety of Russia’s people and its national interests. Moreover, he suggested that America had incited Georgia into action in South Ossetia as a means of drawing Russia’s fire prior to the upcoming Presidential elections to bolster U.S. national pride.

All of this is speculative, of course. I no longer discount any possibility that exists on the political stage.

But make no mistake: all that has come about in the Caucuses… all that has been released into the world as disease in the guise of war over the course of this past month among the Caucuses has been pre-meditated and dispassionately planned.

The United States is simply unable to commit fully to the defense of Georgia for a few reasons; reasons which were all too obvious to Russia as far back as 18 months ago when it was first mentioned that Russia would no longer participate in the Conventional Forces Europe Treaty (a treaty that was designed specifically to prevent a signatory from massing troops and equipment along any border without the other signatories stepping in—basically, to prevent a nation from doing exactly what Russia did)—The U.S. military is already stretched far too thin in Iraq, Afghanistan, and increasingly in Africa in support of the Global War on Terror. To imagine that America would be able to conjure anything but Black-Op support and tough talk for the defense of Georgian territory is simply not realistic; nor is it consistent with U.S. interests, based on what we’ve seen since roughly September 2001.

The Dark Lord sits back and smiles at the spectacle of U.S. and other Western officials pleading impotently for a ceasefire that cannot be forced; nor can it be brought about by means of tough talk or threats. For with every empty threat and pumping of fists that bear no strength, the new, resurgent Russia is empowered and made to seem even more so in the eyes of the world, to say nothing of the Russians, themselves.

And in the death tolls rising, the spreading of rumors recounting Russian brutality in Georgia, and the lack of any authoritative response or reprisal wrought from the West; America, in particular, the Russian Bear that is now a hybrid, porous vector bled softly as nocturnes into foreign lands rather than loudly onto sunlit fields of wartime glory, is recognized and quickened.

Vladimir Putin says he does not fear a renewal of the old hostilities, nor does he fear a possible descent into a new Cold War.

No, all things considered one should not suppose that he does.

Perhaps it is we who should be wary of what is yet to come.

There is no side to be taken but that of the innocent, of those who pay with their lives for the corruptions of others. Hostilities between South Ossetian and Abkhazian separatists and the Georgian military didn’t suddenly begin earlier this month, they began more than a decade ago. During that time, as is always the case when fools employ guns to solve their problems, innocents have lost their lives.

I have removed every entry that I have made about the conflict, and my reason for doing so is quite simple. Because the only side that is worth taking is that of those that pay the price for the agendas of others that would rather have lived in peace.

I am tired of it. I am tired of the justifications of death. I am tired of sides, of the rhetoric spewed to criminalize the actions of some while defending the actions of others. I am tired of the altogether defensible actions of military giants and the condemnation of those that haven’t the historical mythology to excuse or glorify their behaviour. The deliverance of death is the deliverance of death, its method is of absolutely no concern to me. I could care less if it comes in the form of a suicide bomber than has been corrupted by some radicalized religious ideology or from 20,000 feet and delivered by someone that has been propagandized into believing that they are defending life by taking it.

I am tired of the deafening silence of the majority and the sensationalized wailings of the world’s minority voices that have always been able to produce the loudest of human misrepresentations. I am tired of politicians that don misleading new suits but care nothing for change and of so called activists that are so in love with ‘the struggle’ that the purpose of it no longer matters. Both are equally as revolting to me.

All of us, no matter what parts of this world we inhabit, get one kick at the can – religious promises to the contrary be damned. If we are to allow ourselves to be controlled, to be divided, to listen to those minority voices that misrepresent our true interests – of simply living our lives in peace – then we might as well commit global suicide. In truth, we are already in the throes of just that, even though confronting that reality is something that far too many people are uncomfortable admitting.

There is only one absolute in this life – death. As a species we have perfected more ways to deliver it than we have cures to combat it, which says something grotesquely significant about our inability to demand better. For the sake of our children, for the sake of our neighbour, for the sake of nature, for the sake of ourselves.

Fuck who you are, where you come from, the colour of your skin, and the God you worship. You have a greater responsibility - a responsibility to ensure that all of those things do not result in the promotion of division, willful ignorance, and suffering.

What ‘side’ am I on? I’m on a side that is considered by most an impossibility. And that is precisely why it remains one.

Tonight a nation holds its collective breath, waiting for Barack Obama to deliver the speech that may define his candidacy, and perhaps his presidency and legacy… His is an amazing story indeed, for eight years ago Barack Obama couldn’t even get into the Democratic Convention as a spectator… Obama carries with him the hopes of a wounded populace, tired of war, broke, hungry, and despondent…

Sadly, the reality is that even if Obama wins, there will be very little he can do to drag this once great nation from the edge of abyss…

You see, the die has been cast… the men behind the curtain… those in REAL power will see to it that if Obama fails to acquiesce to them… if he fails to tow their line… if he has other ideas than theirs… they will yank the economic rug from beneath him… they will destroy his presidency as sure as day is light…

They’ll give him some symbolic victories… societal matters that bankers have little interest in… but in the end, the grift will be the same as it has been for 100 years… for 1,000 years… for as long as it has been since we first escaped the primordial ooze of the swamp…

Should Obama prevail, we might as well say hello to the next Carter presidency… 1976… where a good honest man took over at the helm of a nation that was rocked by a ruinous war and epic scandal… (Sound familiar?)

Carter was laughed at and demeaned for preaching energy conservation… he was considered weak because he chose diplomacy over war… he was called an alarmist because he understood that being dependant upon foreign oil would lead to instability and conflict… he committed the mortal sin of telling Americans that indeed their country was in trouble economically… he had the foresight to appoint Paul Volker to the post of Federal Reserve chief, who faced the music and guided the country through a period of tight monetary policy, which eventually brought inflation into check… he attempted to be an honest broker to the Israel-Palestine issue, being one of the only American politicians to call Israel to the mat for its policy of apartheid… In 1979, Carter was derided for being truthful about where we were headed in what was called his “Malaise” speech… In it he spoke these prophetic words…

In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit communities, and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. But we’ve discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning. We’ve learned that piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose.

I urge you to read the full text here… The “Malaise” speech

In 1979 Jimmy Carter was considered to be wrong about so many things… in 2008 he couldn’t have been more right…

Carter’s 1980 re-election campaign was unraveled when agents for the Republican nominee Ronald Reagan struck a deal with the Iranian government to hang onto the hostages until after the 1980 election, in exchange for weapons and aid… and six years later the Reagan Administration was charged with the Iran-Contra conspiracy… coincidance? I think not…

Had Carter been given another four years, perhaps he could have changed things… probably not, as the powers that be would have done everything possible to continue his demise… Yet George W. Bush somehow got a first AND second term to wreak his havoc upon our nation…

Four years and out…

Expect the same to happen to Obama… he is charismatic, educated, bold, intelligent and capable… he has captured the hearts and minds of much of this nation… the last thing the old white men in the smoke filled room want to see is a successful black presidency…

All you need to comprehend Obama’s challenge is to understand how pissed off the old school golf club culture is that a black man, Tiger Woods, is dominating “their” sport… And you think they’ll let a black man have free reign over his own agenda? Think again…

And even if Obama had everything going for him… if he were the great Messiah the left portends him to be… the task of bringing this nation back to prominence might be too great to bear… with another war on the horizon, a nonexistent manufacturing base, inflation and energy costs spiraling upwards, real estate and the currency plummeting, increasing joblessness, crumbling infrastructure, a filthy environment, millions with no access to viable health care, a public beholden to mafia organizations known as the Federal Reserve Bank and the IRS, and last but not least… a crippled debt-ridden economy patched together by a never-ending string of ponzi schemes threatening to unravel like your grandma’s old moth-eaten cardigan…

I watched something interesting this morning… JFK’s acceptance speech at the 1960 Democratic Convention in front of 80,000 people at the Los Angeles Coliseum… Kennedy was seen in the same light as Obama is today… He was a minority… Irish Catholic… He was young and idealistic… He tried to change things… and he was murdered…

What struck was how many of the things Kennedy had to say still hold true today… It’s as if we’ve done nothing but go steadily downhill for the past 48 years…

See for yourself:

JFK 1960 Democratic Convention Acceptance Speech Part 1

JFK 1960 Democratic Convention Acceptance Speech Part 2

Today Barack Obama will give a speech in front of 75,000 at Mile High Stadium in Denver… he will intoxicate a nation… he will believe… he will give hope… and if given the chance, most likely, he will fail… because if he really tries to do what he says he wants to do, if he really tries to change things…

Barack Obama will be removed from office… one way or another…

Same as it ever was…

When it comes to live records, or at least those made back in the day when entering a studio afterwards and cleaning it up wasn’t an option, there are always intrigues and little tidbits of information that diehard fans find out and revel in.

Live At Massey Hall is no exception.

As I wrote in a previous entry, the recording is untouched - it is completely live. There was no re-tracking in a studio afterwards. But there is one interesting little turn that will be of interest to fans.

During the choruses of Everything Is Automatic I typically step away from the microphone and let the crowd sing them. On that night, the crowd mics crapped out, producing nothing more than a giant audio blur. Thankfully we were smart enough to record the show the night before in Peterborough, during which I did sing the choruses. Thus, the only alteration on the forthcoming album is that when you hear me sing the choruses of Everything Is Automatic (and just the choruses), the vocal was taken from the show recorded the night before.

There are obviously video clips of the song taken that night that clearly show me stepping away from the microphone, so someone would have figured it out sooner or later. Thus, to claim that the recording is completely taken from the Massey Hall show, and then to have such video clips discovered, would have raised some eyebrows. That would be why I’m writing about it, to inform those that will be purchasing the recording that that bit is still live, just that it was taken from the performance the night before – which is, I must admit, unfortunate, because it would have been cool to have captured the audience singing the choruses.

So there you have it. It’s still purely live, it’s just that the choruses of Everything Is Automatic come from the recording of the show the previous night.

Interesting Album Trivia

I have not heard the recording, nor do I plan on listening to it. I am, as those that know me well will tell you, a perfectionist. And while am I sure it is replete with the sorts of quirks and flaws that always end up being the best parts of live recordings, I just can’t bring myself to listen to it because I would, no doubt, tear it apart.

Seriously, Who Are They Trying to Kid?

You can vote on advertising content on Facebook now. You can label an advert misleading or uninteresting and so forth. That said, and as I mentioned last night, there is no way that the girls in those pictures are single – and if they are, they’re certainly not on the dating website that the pictures are promoting. How do I know this? That’s right, I fucking looked! Busted!

On a related note, I ended up watching You Don’t Mess With The Zoltan last night and if the girls on the beaches of Israel are that hot (and like to unabashedly disco) - I’m moving there.

Short jaunts sort of suck. You leave home in the early afternoon and arrive back east at 10 at night. Then the challenge of trying to sleep properly happens, which, for me, results in watching movies until 5 in the morning because of the time change. Thankfully tomorrow is a rehearsal day, so I’ll get to sleep in a little, at least until check out. Then it’s off to run the show and then on to the bus and to the border for a late night arrival in Buffalo. After that it’s one-two-three and then back on a plane home.

Sometimes, when I find myself in new places, such as hotel rooms, and visit the website, I get the urge to delete everything. I don’t know why, I just do. Some part of me wants to go back to writing strictly fiction. Things seemed so much less of a hassle back then – no headaches, no incredulous emails.

I’m flipping through the movie selections and there’s nothing of interest, as is usually the case. I’ll end up watching something stupid in hopes of falling asleep during it but won’t. I’ll order some food and it’ll make me feel ill in a few hours. Nothing much changes.

My shaving cream exploded in my bag during the flight, so cleaning that up was a treat. Now most everything I’ve brought with me smells like mint.

I used to write ridiculous stories, some of which I find embarrassing now when I look back on them. But at the time it was a lot of fun. In truth, it sort of beats spending hours every day doing background research for entries. The problem, of course, is that I’ve come to be known for the current content of this website, so altering it isn’t something I could easily do. I haven’t written a Dear San Diego entry in a while, so maybe that’s what I’ll focus on this weekend, who knows.

One thing I am certain of is that none of the girls in the singles adverts on Facebook are actually single. Fuck I hate advertising.

Update: I just realized that it is technically tomorrow, so that just makes everything sound weird.

This listeriosis thing is somewhat troublesome being that I consume a great deal of deli meat - actually, I just eat a lot of Prosciutto, all of which is imported from Italy, so. But it’s troubling for the public nonetheless. If you haven’t heard about what’s transpiring, the CBC has details.

Anthropologist, Dr. Michael Wesch, makes plain the power of not your computer, but the social media device that you’re currently sitting in front and using…

Though very early on in his presentation, pause the video and seriously take a moment and think about the statistics that he provides regarding ABC as compared to YouTube.

Being ‘gifted’ independence is a tricky thing. In some parts of the world more than others…

“Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki said Monday there would be no security agreement between the United States and Iraq without an unconditional timetable for withdrawal— a direct challenge to the Bush administration, which insists that the timing for troop departure would be based on conditions on the ground.

“No pact or an agreement should be set without being based on full sovereignty, national common interests, and no foreign soldier should remain on Iraqi land, and there should be a specific deadline and it should not be open,” Maliki told a meeting of tribal Sheikhs in Baghdad.

Maliki said that the United States and Iraq had agreed that all foreign troops would be off Iraqi soil by the end of 2011. “There is an agreement actually reached, reached between the two parties on a fixed date, which is the end of 2011, to end any foreign presence on Iraqi soil,” Maliki said.

But the White House disputed Maliki’s statement and made clear the two countries are still at odds over the terms of a U.S. withdrawal.

“Any decisions on troops will be based on conditions on the ground in Iraq ,” White House spokesman Tony Fratto said in Crawford, Tex. , where President Bush is vacationing. “That has always been our position. It continues to be our position.”

Fratto denied Maliki’s assertion that an agreement has been reached mandating that all foreign forces be out of Iraq by the end of 2011.”

Of course any future decisions will be based on conditions on the ground. And as long as foreign troops occupy the country you can bet that there’s going to be unrest on some level. It’s the ‘favourable’ catch 22.

The Russians can get the hell of out Georgia though. The Bush Administration can push Moscow’s buttons infinitum and we can label it justified. But as far as the Iraqis are concerned, well, demanding that foreign forces set a timetable for withdrawal isn’t in the cards. Their real estate is too valuable.

Funny how that works.