First, for those of you who might be wondering, I dont know the man, obviously, but David Icke seems to me to be a bit of a self-aggrandizing nutter. I've known a few guys sort of like him over the years, (one does, when one gets into the alternate history world)and actually liked a lot of them personally, but I'll never forget what happened to one of them...

He'd spent decades, literally, gathering documents, getting copies of FOIA stuff, building a world view, and it was pretty compelling, when he presented it to you. I saw him speak a number of times and even entertained him at my home. Another friend of mine got him some media attention, and not long after the riots of 92 found himself on the Arsenio Hall Show, which I think was on NBC. That little bit of attention revealed in him a terrifying bent towards tyranny and violence, much like he'd been railing against, just as long as he could run the show. In other words, he didnt hate Big Brother. He wanted to be him.

I'm inclined rather to believe that the four horsemen of our particular apocalypse have more humble explanations than Icke offers, namely our old friends Greed, Fear, Ignorance, and Power. I think almost any evil human activity can be better understood if one whips oneself into a frenzy of the above, and 20 centuries of murder, slavery, rapine and plunder become understandable, if not necessarily OK.

I think that what a lot of people who get deeply into conspiracy history, (or alternate history, as I prefer to call it) are doing is trying to get at the Root Of The Evil. If they could only find the root, they could tear it out, and humanity could re enter Eden, together.

It's a fond hope--if it's a small group of evildoers who are to blame, why then all we need do is find them, arrest them, and interrogate them until they reveal the branches and stems of their evil doings. That may be a good idea on principle, but even if you could find the evildoers, it wouldnt wipe out evil. Most likely, you would yourself become as insular, ruthless, and megalomaniacal as both Bin Laden and Cheney, or whoever your favorite bad guys are.

I compare Icke and my unnamed friend's, um, viewpoints with another friend of mine, Michael Ruppert, who was at one point possibly in danger of becoming a bit demagogical, but managed overall to resist the temptation, because he recognised that his true strength lay in his humility and sincere desire for the truth of any given situation. As a result, he's surrounded himself with strong-minded and distinctly unsycophantic people who provide a good ballast for the inevitable ego-rush that comes after having long-despised views come into vogue, and is thus able to continue to do valuable work.

Icke, conversely displays a distinctly demagogic, cult-leader sort of mentality, and even if its true that Kris Kristofferson drinks virgin blood (which I kind of doubt, but who knows), or that Barbara Bush is a giant lizard in disguise (could be, you never know), Icke would be better served by letting those particular facts emerge to be proven in an indisputable way, and instead focus on the more sane-sounding stuff, lest he be considered a wacko of the highest order.

Why look further than the coming oil crisis for an understanding of why we're heading into the Middle East again?

Why look further than a growth-dependent global economy and population growth for our environmental woes?

Anyway, I didnt intend to go on so long on that, I just felt like I should put my two cents in.

No offense, Kent. I understand very well your passion. I just think it might be a little misplaced.

On to musical news, exciting things are burbling with the orchestra. What we are going to do is 6 separate shows in a local club, I'm not sure which, over the course of which we will learn 72 songs, plus instrumental segues. We're starting with a smaller crew: 4 strings, 2 brass, two woodwind, orchestral percussion and mallets, pianist, a keyboardist, and the NFU, building in size until we arrive at the ideal one. At the end of the six-month run, we're going to move the now-complete orchestra onto a soundstage for probably about ten days. We'll dress the room magnificently, and light it gorgeously, and bring in some very high-quality recording and digital video equipment. There we'll both film and record each show, one nighrt at a time. Each show will have a particular theme, and songs will be picked dependent on that evening's theme. What we'll end up with at the end, God willing, is 1) six CD's each with twelve songs, 2) a filmed live performance of the orchestra. and 3) a documentary on how it all goes. The results of those ten days will be what we make available to the public for sale. All performances leading up to that will be considered primarily rehearsals and wont be made available. But you'll have a pretty good idea what youre getting at that point. I'm pretty tickled about the whole thing, myself.

So there you go,

I see four fingers,

Winston