[GrnVillageGirl@aol.com]

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First of all, I can remember what this country looked like before chain-store 
glut, as I drove across it back in '72 (well, someone else did the actual 
driving, but let's move on). There were actual Main Streets and Mom-&-Pop 
shops were where you actually ate, purchased items and conversed with locals.

Sure, even then there were McDonald's and Woolworth's (oh, I miss that 
store), but there were OPTIONS. You could, and did, support your neighbors 
with your needs.
There were idiosyncratic little places that could only have been created by 
individuals, and pretty wacky ones at that.

Now, every damned highway in the country looks exactly the same. You could be 
anywhere. There are no more Main Streets in most locales; they were 
devastated by the Wal-Marts and Home Depots.

And I, for one, don't think this is a good thing, but am helpless to do much 
about it except to patronize the little hardware store across the street from 
me, rather than go down the block to K-Mart; and buy produce at the 
Greenmarket rather than the supermarket (fresher and even cheaper, on 
occasion, plus you get to talk to the farmer or the family about how best to 
use the stuff); and so on. Y'all get the picture.

I COULD go off on a rant about buying stuff that's made in China, probably by 
slave labor, instead of paying more for an item made here in the USA (if you 
could even find something similar; most places won't even bother trying to 
compete), but I won't.

Now, about Bali: maybe I'm the only person in the States who reads overseas 
newspapers and other media online, but I doubt it. I hope not, anyway. I hurt 
for those who lost loved ones and for anyone affected by this horror. I'm 
sorry to generalize here, but many Americans don't seem to care much about 
what happens outside these shores, which is one good reason WHY we're in the 
mess we're in today. But the media should at least attempt to displace that 
blinkered comfortable-place-on-the-couch mentality whenever possible. The 
problem is, they lose their audience if they do, so they go right back to 
fluffy fried-Twinkie stories. The people get what they deserve, I'm afraid. 

Speaking of which, we come to Jello Biafra, who most certainly is NOT getting 
what he deserves. He's going into legal battle again with his former 
bandmates, who are hot to sell off the Dead Kennedys' musical legacy to the 
highest bidder. Or ANY bidder, come to that. He's dead set against 
commercializing the music -- a topic we've covered here recently -- and is 
having to pay through the nose for those principles. When I saw him do his 
spoken-word rant at Warsaw in Brooklyn the other night (very 
funny/sharp/informative; catch him if you can), he put his shoe on the stage 
before intermission and asked that spare change be put in it for the 
Alternative Tentacles Legal Defense Fund.

There are many parallels, I think, between the Oils and Biafra: they started 
their own labels (although Biafra, against all odds, still has his -- and 
uses it to support artists who would otherwise go unsigned); they have no use 
for the cheapening of their music by greedy idiotic corporations, and they 
speak truth to power, even if it winds up hurting them in the pocketbook. 

I would like to suggest that anyone here with a few nickels to spare, and I 
know times are tough but every little bit helps, might go to the AT website 
and use PayPal to help out a guy who's still fighting the good fight (and 
hates the fact that the DKs not only sold out "Holiday in Cambodia" to 
Dockers -- !! -- but are currently on the road with Brandon Cruz, the child 
actor from "The Courtship of Eddie's Father", substituting for Jello).

<A HREF="http://www.alternativetentacles.com/">http://www.alternativetentacles.com/</A>

Check out the left-hand side of the page, where the Legal Defense Fund is 
mentioned, and click through to find out more.

On behalf of Biafra, if I may be so bold -- thanks!

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<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff"><FONT  style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">First of all, I can remember what this country looked like before chain-store glut, as I drove across it back in '72 (well, someone else did the actual driving, but let's move on). There were actual Main Streets and Mom-&amp;-Pop shops were where you actually ate, purchased items and conversed with locals.<BR>
<BR>
Sure, even then there were McDonald's and Woolworth's (oh, I miss that store), but there were OPTIONS. You could, and did, support your neighbors with your needs.<BR>
There were idiosyncratic little places that could only have been created by individuals, and pretty wacky ones at that.<BR>
<BR>
Now, every damned highway in the country looks exactly the same. You could be anywhere. There are no more Main Streets in most locales; they were devastated by the Wal-Marts and Home Depots.<BR>
<BR>
And I, for one, don't think this is a good thing, but am helpless to do much about it except to patronize the little hardware store across the street from me, rather than go down the block to K-Mart; and buy produce at the Greenmarket rather than the supermarket (fresher and even cheaper, on occasion, plus you get to talk to the farmer or the family about how best to use the stuff); and so on. Y'all get the picture.<BR>
<BR>
I COULD go off on a rant about buying stuff that's made in China, probably by slave labor, instead of paying more for an item made here in the USA (if you could even find something similar; most places won't even bother trying to compete), but I won't.<BR>
<BR>
Now, about Bali: maybe I'm the only person in the States who reads overseas newspapers and other media online, but I doubt it. I hope not, anyway. I hurt for those who lost loved ones and for anyone affected by this horror. I'm sorry to generalize here, but many Americans don't seem to care much about what happens outside these shores, which is one good reason WHY we're in the mess we're in today. But the media should at least attempt to displace that blinkered comfortable-place-on-the-couch mentality whenever possible. The problem is, they lose their audience if they do, so they go right back to fluffy fried-Twinkie stories. The people get what they deserve, I'm afraid. <BR>
<BR>
Speaking of which, we come to Jello Biafra, who most certainly is NOT getting what he deserves. He's going into legal battle again with his former bandmates, who are hot to sell off the Dead Kennedys' musical legacy to the highest bidder. Or ANY bidder, come to that. He's dead set against commercializing the music -- a topic we've covered here recently -- and is having to pay through the nose for those principles. When I saw him do his spoken-word rant at Warsaw in Brooklyn the other night (very funny/sharp/informative; catch him if you can), he put his shoe on the stage before intermission and asked that spare change be put in it for the Alternative Tentacles Legal Defense Fund.<BR>
<BR>
There are many parallels, I think, between the Oils and Biafra: they started their own labels (although Biafra, against all odds, still has his -- and uses it to support artists who would otherwise go unsigned); they have no use for the cheapening of their music by greedy idiotic corporations, and they speak truth to power, even if it winds up hurting them in the pocketbook. <BR>
<BR>
I would like to suggest that anyone here with a few nickels to spare, and I know times are tough but every little bit helps, might go to the AT website and use PayPal to help out a guy who's still fighting the good fight (and hates the fact that the DKs not only sold out "Holiday in Cambodia" to Dockers -- !! -- but are currently on the road with Brandon Cruz, the child actor from "The Courtship of Eddie's Father", substituting for Jello).<BR>
<BR>
<A HREF="http://www.alternativetentacles.com/">http://www.alternativetentacles.com/</A><BR>
<BR>
Check out the left-hand side of the page, where the Legal Defense Fund is mentioned, and click through to find out more.<BR>
<BR>
On behalf of Biafra, if I may be so bold -- thanks!</FONT></HTML>

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