2003-06-25 - 1:33 a.m.

Sacramento has for the past few days seemed like an Orwellian nightmare come to life. And the goddamn helicopters won�t let me escape it, not even in my sleep. Since Saturday there has been at least one bird in the sky, if not several at a time. The ever-present drone of the chopper(s) is driving me nuts. Armies of police in full riot gear patrol the streets, harass civilians and arrest dissidents. They are armed to the teeth, most sporting guns and batons while others walk around with M-16�s slung about their chest. The last bastions of free speech, the public parks, have been barricaded and left vacant in order to squelch dissent. How ironic � the wolves are having to protect themselves from the sheep. And yet this is what is happening. I am ashamed of this spineless city. By transforming Sacramento into a virtual police state for the sake of the Corporate Agriculture Ministerial being held in town, the city leaders have truly proved themselves to be the bitches of their corporate masters. I want to cry out and grab my flag-waving, freedom-loving neighbors and choke the living fuck out of them and scream at them to �WAKE UP!� The freedom and liberty that you so cherish are being eroded right before your eyes and you roll over and take it. Want some vasoline with that?

Ok. I�m done ranting. My mood is such that I�ll let 4 Non Blondes finish my thoughts on the subject. The song touches a chord deep within:

�Twenty-five years and my life is still
Trying to get up that great big hill of hope
For a destination

And I realized quickly when I knew I should
That the world was made up of this brotherhood of man
For whatever that means
And so I cry sometimes
When I'm lying in bed
Just to get it all out
What's in my head
And I am feeling a little peculiar
And so I wake in the morning
And I step outside
And I take a deep breath and I get real high
And I scream at the top of my lungs
What's going on?
And I say, hey hey hey hey
I said hey, what's going on?

and I try, oh my god do I try
I try all the time, in this institution
And I pray, oh my god do I pray
I pray every single day
For a revolution
And so I cry sometimes
When I'm lying in bed
Just to get it all out
What's in my head
And I am feeling a little peculiar
And so I wake in the morning
And I step outside
And I take a deep breath and I get real high
And I scream at the top of my lungs
What's going on?
And I say, hey hey hey hey
I said hey, what's going on?

Twenty-five years and my life is still
Trying to get up that great big hill of hope
For a destination�