Night off in Vegas! After a stuporous 2 days at home (endured the Birthday That Wouldn't End while de-lagging) and a show at The Joynt at The Hard Rock that everyone thought was good but I can't remember, I had to find entertainment in the City That Wouldn't Survive The Heat If It Didn't Have Hoover Dam To Power The AC.

I'd seriously considered going to see Tom Jones at the Humongous Green MGM Hotel, but I had no underwear to spare and probably nodded around my room til it was too late anyway. Instead, I got backstage to see Cheap Trick and sat in on Surrender for about the 6th time and forgot important guitar parts for about the 6th time. After the show we all shot up heroin and went out with a bunch of topless dancers from the Follies Brasiere.

I heard that Neil Young had to bail out Eddy Vedder at the concert in Golden Gate Park. The kids of today should defend themselves against the kids who need guys from the seventies to finish the set for them. I personally have puked my way through more than 20 minutes onstage.

The Japanese are apparently relentlessly political, but most of the issues are irrelevant to me (somebody apologizing to somebody about something) so I was lulled into a forgetfulness of our own oppressive politicizing. It was probably helpful in making me receptive to the message that the "revolutionaries" wanted me to hear. It goes like this: "The revolution is about the De-evolution of power to the states." Of course! Vive la De-evolucion! We are DEVO!!!

There is a definite consistency here on the part of the conservatives. Most have wanted no US involvement in the Balkans, preferring a Darwinian solution. I think they actually look forward to the Balkanization of this country. I thought about the possibilities and they seem pretty exciting:

¥Welfare devolves to the states. Any state that invests in practical solutions experiences an influx of welfare recipients and homeless, collapsing the system. States compete to see how crappy they can treat the underclass, driving them to other states.


¥Medicare/Medicaid devolves to the states. Something of the same result except that the impact will be on the poor and old. States like Florida and Arizona will collapse, unable to support the high ratio of untaxable, unproductive citizens.


¥Environmental regulation devolves to states. Unable to resist competing for corporate taxes and jobs, standards will be relaxed on environmental impact. States will regularly sue each other over pollution/exploitation rights on resources that cross boundaries, like air.


¥Arts and education assistance devolves to the states. All art is in a museum. You pay to get into the library. Desperate states no longer required to provide equitable education privatize school systems like crazy. Teachers will compete and finally get paid what they deserve. Public school (poor) children will get lousy teachers.


¥Civil rights enforcement and equalization devolves to the states. I'm old enough to remember.

I'm sure most people would rather think of themselves as like, "Citizen of Iowa", than "Citizen of the United States". Proud holder of a South Dakota passport. Vice President of Rhode Island. You've got 30 days to move to the state of your choice before we all secede from each other.