January 4, 2016
Here is my first proffering of the New Year…
Readers of Arthur C. Clarke\’s Childhood\’s End know that the children of Earth came together in various groups and created a critical mass of energy allowing them to blow this joint! I don\’t know if the recent TV mini-series addressed this theme correctly (as I didn\’t watch much of it) — but if Arthur C. Clarke has predicted our future correctly — there will be no stopping this evolution of our children.
I don\’t know how close we are to the End-of-Times, but I am noticing more-and-more sentiments in the pages of my beloved Times that mirror what I\’ve been saying for months (and sometimes years). More-and-more regular folk are concurring with my framings of our social ills and offering up similar solutions. I feel a groundswell replacing the-Speaker\’s-Corner-exits of Colbert and Stewart!
Letters range from the pitfalls of US imperialism to the ugliness Frankentrump reflects of US to scrapping the bullet train and seriously getting desalination going here in California. Hell! I\’ve been talking about oil-company-price-gouging-of- California for years — but it took my letter-writing brethren to clue me in on how Pelosi, Boxer and Feinstein have-been-in-bed with Big Oil! Yech! What an image!! The Home of Chevron sells gas for 50% more than the rest of the country: crucifying us at the pump with oil at $34-a-gallon and the same tired-old excuses while these 3 play at royalties! The best Times contributor quote cited Patrick Henry, who suggested that nothing ever goes well after a revolution! Though US is over-200-years-old, those Oregonians may be getting the new one started!
Speaking of revolutionaries — I never realized that I had a kindred spirit in Noam Chomsky! Since Stephen Krashen (the \’other\’ internationally famous linguist) was a mentor of mine — and his theory of language acquisition differs sharply from Chomsky\’s — I never thought old Noam had anything worthwhile to say. Come to learn, Noam\’s been calling out the US government for years on much of its bullshit.
Even Steve Miller\’s recent words regarding his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Shame echo my sentiments:
But Miller, who is on the board for Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, said that while the Rock Hall was started with good intentions, \”it\’s time for a real change.\”
\”It needs to be ours, the American people,\” Miller said. \”It was co-opted by these guys who took it and ran it the way they wanted to. But they\’re getting old and getting weak and it\’s harder for their fingers to hold onto the levers of power.
\”I see the kids behind me coming up, and I want to see them take control of this, open it up and make this a modern, intelligent force for good.\”
Who would have thunk that Carly would have revealed the identity of the Vain One? We all thought it was Mick Jagger…but childhood is ending…