Update from George

[jeremiah]

Thanks to John from Cobra Verde ( http://www.CobraVerde.com ) for sending me this update from George!

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Hey everyone,

As my e-mail indicates, some of you have already heard the news. Our tour has come to an end one week before it was anticipated. Let me first say that everyone is basically OK. On Sunday as we driving from Oslo to Germany,our tour van was involved in a rather scary accident. Just a few kilometers south of Göteberg, Sweden, in the small town of Fälkenberg, is where it took place. We were traveling on the highway at about 120 kmh when we went to overtake a slower moving vehicle. Out of nowhere, a silver Volvo wagon was next to us in the passing lane. When I saw it (I was in the passenger seat of a British vehicle, albeit on the continent they drive on the same side as the US) I screamed to the driver, and he swerved right before we made contact with the Volvo. Being in a top heavy van loaded down with all of our gear, the van started rocking back and forth and became impossible
to control. We swerved once to the right, then started sliding to the left, at which point the van flipped over, careened into the guardrail, and finally came to rest in the middle of the highway.

Fortunately we were not hit by any of the vehicles behind us. Let me tell you that all of this transpired in about 2-3 seconds, though it seemed like an eternity. Fortunately, I had my seat belt on. It was really bizarre dangling from the top side of a vehicle on its side.

The worst injury was to J. He has two fractured vertebrae, luckily there is no risk of neurological damage. He is in the hospital here in Halmstäd in quite a bit of pain. He will be traveling back to NYC in a couple of days, and will make a full recovery.
David, our tour manager, has a nasty gouge taken out of his knee that required several stitches, but he will be fine as well. Noel, our soundman, has some bad cuts and bruises and Watt came out unscathed. I have a sprained wrist and am generally sore, but the
worst of it is five cases of totally frazzled nerves.

Without pontificating, I can’t stress how important wearing seatbelts is. Watt and myself walked away from the crash without assistance. Not surprisingly, we were the only two to be wearing our seatbelts. I also feel that I should tell you how lucky we all are.
No one is going home in a box, and all of our injuries will heal.

In closing, I would also like to thank the Swedish people who stopped to help us out. They were all very calm and acted quickly. Their demeanor really helped to keep us from freaking out too badly. These folks are also well trained in first aid. Emergency
personell arrived unbelievably quick, and the ER staff was top notch. When I paid the bill for all of our treatment, it only came to about 250 US dollars. The scene over here really makes the US situation ever more Draconian than I previously thought. I wish that we could learn something from these folks.

Unfortunately, as long as our society is ruled by greed and selfishness, (i.e. George W.) I don’t see much hope for our country’s future.

We’ll be home soon!

Later,
-George-

[everyonelovesjaron]

I’m glad J.’s ok… I’m glad George hates George W. [img]images/smiles/converted/biggrin.gif[/img]

[AGAP]

Hey,

From checking out the news last week seems
The Swedish don’t think much of George W either…all kinds of demonstrations [img]images/smiles/converted/biggrin.gif[/img]

Just thought I’d add that bit of useless info…

Allison [img]images/smiles/converted/newangel.gif[/img]

[Bartman]

Thanks for the update George, glad to see everyone is more or less OK.
About George W.: not only the Swedish, but most of the Europeans aren’t to fond of him, believe me.
Bart

[trensidoh]

yeah, g.w. is not that much of a hero here in europe. it´s weird listening to someone talking about bombs and stuff AND not being interested our worlds ´health´ (these are the main reasons people don´t like him here, i figure. oh yeah, and it was a weird ´voting strategy´.) BTW: Thank you George Berz for pointing that out with them seatbelts. It really can´t be said enough. [img]images/smiles/converted/smile.gif[/img]

[everyonelovesjaron]

The funniest thing with Bush is his hypocritical views on certain positions (hope I’m not getting too off topic for this thread, but it seemed to be the way the thread was going). For example, he wants this ridiculous star warsesque missile defense program, but when dealing with the U.S.’ energy crisis he thinks nuclear power is too "new-age" and "scary." Makes me wonder…

[hager]

Well, I’m glad everyone is okay, but I could have done without the political "insight" of a professional musician. George W is basically a power mongering big-government-aholic, as has every Democrat and Republican since anyone can remember. There is nothing wrong with greed and selfishness…serving your own self-interest is healthy, and it assures that no one else has to carry your ass and do it for you. All the stupid liberal voodoo about being altruistic and self-sacrificing is the cause of all the evil institutional (and forced) redistribution of wealth taking place in America. I have to look out for you because you are looking out for your neighbor who is busy looking out for his neighbor…it never ends, all at the point of a gun. The government is enslaving us to eachother. Things cost too much in America not because of the greed of businessmen, but because of the overregulation by the government. It’s an indisputable fact. Yeah, I hate George W, too…but no more that I hated Clinton, Gore or any of the other evil big-government fucks. Wake up people. Read some Ayn Rand and stop swallowing all this bullshit brotherly-love propaganda. Everyone agrees with me when I start talking about personal freedom and the freedom to do what you choose if you don’t hurt anyone else…and then all the people around me who seem to agree go and vote for the big-governent, prohibition-happy, freedom-stomping Democraps. Talk about being blind…they are as much the "establishment" as any Republican ever was.

<FONT>[ July 04, 2001 05:24 PM: Message mutated 1 time, lastly by hager ]</font>

[everyonelovesjaron]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hager:
<STRONG>Well, I’m glad everyone is okay, but I could have done without the political "insight" of a professional musician. George W is basically a power mongering big-government-aholic, as has every Democrat and Republican since anyone can remember. There is nothing wrong with greed and selfishness…serving your own self-interest is healthy, and it assures that no one else has to carry your ass and do it for you. All the stupid liberal voodoo about being altruistic and self-sacrificing is the cause of all the evil institutional (and forced) redistribution of wealth taking place in America. I have to look out for you because you are looking out for your neighbor who is busy looking out for his neighbor…it never ends, all at the point of a gun. The government is enslaving us to eachother. Things cost too much in America not because of the greed of businessmen, but because of the overregulation by the government. It’s an indisputable fact. Yeah, I hate George W, too…but no more that I hated Clinton, Gore or any of the other evil big-government fucks. Wake up people. Read some Ayn Rand and stop swallowing all this bullshit brotherly-love propaganda. Everyone agrees with me when I start talking about personal freedom and the freedom to do what you chhose if you don’t urt anyone else…and then all the people around me who seem to agree go and vote for the big-governent, prohibition-happy, freedom-stomping Democraps. Talk about being blind…they are as much the "establishment" as any Republican ever was.</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

All joking aside, and with all due respect, you scare me, sir. No, to be more exact, your lack of knowledge about the fundamentals of politics scare me. I still love you though. [img]images/smiles/converted/smile.gif[/img]

[hager]

I know more about politics than you do. I have been following it for years. You are one of those people that swallows every bold-faced lie Clinton pissed into your hungry gaping maw without questioning a word. Fuck you. Don’t pretend you love someone you don’t know, it’s a completely ignorant thing to fool yourself about. It’s a totally Judeo-Christian lie. Grow up a bunch.

<FONT>[ July 04, 2001 05:29 PM: Message mutated 1 time, lastly by hager ]</font>

[AGAP]

I think everyone is entitled to their opinion no matter who they are or what they are made up of…only my opinion though.

Allison

[hager]

Well, I agree with you. I enjoy talking about freedom and liberty. If everyone agreed all the time, the world would be very boring. I merely stated a passionate opinion, and ELJ had to jump in and say that I lack knowledge in the area of politics (an area I am extremely well-read and active in BTW), without stating any opinions or facts himself. I can only assume from that that he cannot speak intelligently about his opinions, or that, as is often the case, he has no clear and solid ideas of his own. If he would care to state an opinion rather than critisizing my own ides, he might be worthy of respect.

[AGAP]

Hey Hager,

Glad we agree, I have used that if we all agreed line the world would be a boring place many times it makes perfect sense to me. I can see that this topic definitely means a lot to you, and the fact that you are well read on the matter is obvious to all no doubt. I try hard not to make any assumptions about anyones intelligence with the limited info shared thru posts to this bbs. We are a community of all kinds…varied ages, locations, spaces and occupations. .. some fully cooked and ready to go others still in the formative stages, which is one of the cool things about freakscene. So opinions shared are cool, no matter how developed or underdeveloped they are at least its a start.

BTW good to hear from you again

Allison [img]images/smiles/converted/wink.gif[/img]

[everyonelovesjaron]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hager:
<STRONG>I know more about politics than you do. I have been following it for years. You are one of those people that swallows every bold-faced lie Clinton pissed into your hungry gaping maw without questioning a word. Fuck you. Don’t pretend you love someone you don’t know, it’s a completely ignorant thing to fool yourself about. It’s a totally Judeo-Christian lie. Grow up a bunch.</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

At what point did I say I was a Clinton supporter? I think Clinton was a filthy, filthy liar and an adulterer and I feel God will judge him as such. I also think he was the best President we’ve had in years. The economic record alone holds that fact up. It’s a strange paradox, but it seems sometimes that the possession of one trait does not exclude the possession of another; even when it happens that the two are counteropposites.

Clinton got things running so well (following the 12 years of presidential mismanagement that was the Reagen/Bush years) that he made people not need to care about politics. It’s true, think about it. He allowed the nation to fall into such a stupor because things were running so well, that policy and political agenda became irrelative and personality and likability and other such schemantics came into play.

Politics is often cyclical, and this happens following many of our great leaders extended administrations run out. And then, after mismanagement sets in, we head back to serious leaders. It always happens.

Democrats, Republicans – yeah, there’s alot in common. Ask Nader supporters; they’ll tell you that. But the fundamental policy differences between the two are tantamount. When those become secondary to the similarites in one’s mind, then I become scared from their lack of knowledge in the political machine.

And do not think I’m a democrat hardliner. Quite the opposite. While I do support much of the DNC’s agenda, some issues I come to a serious difference on: abortion rights for example.

I live in the state of Virginia. I do not know how knowledgeable you are in Virginia politics, but it has become an entirely Republican run entity. It was not 6 years ago. In those 6 years, I have seen despicable actions. I’ve seen the passage of mandatory moments of silence for "prayer and meditation." I’ve seen movements towards allowing concealed handguns. I’ve seen zero-tolerance policies in school systems that throw out kids for no reasons. I’ve even see laws go into consideration mandating the posting of the 10 commandments in public buildings, and forcing students to recite the Pledge of Alliegence despite religious protests. I will not stand for these things.

And so, when people become greatly concerned with attitudes and behaviors and likeability of politicians instead of policy, I tend to get very annoyed. Your politics fall where they fall and I respect that, but do not tarnish the system by playing mind games claiming the two sides are more alike then different. No sir, the differences are too great.

<FONT>[ July 04, 2001 10:14 PM: Message mutated 1 time, lastly by ELJ ]</font>

[Goodvibes]

Shut up ya dickheads. Take it somewhere else, this is a Mascis site, yr polluting it.

[trensidoh]

mike w. should read this, he´s be surprised. [img]images/smiles/converted/smile.gif[/img]

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