Author Archives: The Philosophical Cowboy

Quick comment – one thing I did notice during the Beeb’s coverage of the election was that their trailers did at least refer to one of the choices being “who spends your money”…

: “the AG could read from the phonebook and the New York Times would run the headline, ‘Ashcroft Lists Innocent Americans to be Interned.'”

Was Radio 1 really making the right choice when it opted for Black Eyed Peas’ “Where is the Love?” as the backing music for a report on Arnie’s election to the California governorship, and potential future ambitions? Is the lyric “terrorists in the USA, the big CIA, the bloods and the crips and the KKK” really appropriate? Ignorance or bias, you decide…

I listened to the lyrics of this song a couple of weeks ago, as I was heading out the door in the morning. Caught it again today, and looked them up to check. And yes, Black Eyed Peas – Where Is The Love is nuts….

“What’s wrong with the world, mama

People livin’ like they ain’t got no mamas

I think the whole world addicted to the drama

Only attracted to things that’ll bring you trauma

Overseas, yeah, we try to stop terrorism

But we still got terrorists here livin’

In the USA, the big CIA”

The CIA are terrorists? This may be chatting about various cold war stuff, in which case we’re in well charted regions of politics, fine, let it slide. But the context makes me feel much more suspicious that we’re talking crack epidemic/September 11th/Oklahoma conspiracy theories

“The Bloods and The Crips and the KKK

….

It just ain’t the same, always unchanged

New days are strange, is the world insane

If love and peace is so strong

Why are there pieces of love that don’t belong

Nations droppin’ bombs

Chemical gasses fillin’ lungs of little ones”

Other than tear gasses etc, which can be dangerous but which don’t come from bombs normally and aren’t intended to be fatal, what chemicals have been used as weapons recently? (I include Russian use of sleeping gas). Last use of chemical weapons I know of by a nation state was by Iraq, over a decade ago…

“With the ongoin’ sufferin’ as the youth die young

So ask yourself is the lovin’ really gone

So I could ask myself really what is goin’ wrong

In this world that we livin’ in people keep on givin’

in

Makin’ wrong decisions, only visions of them dividends

Not respectin’ each other, deny thy brother

A war is goin’ on but the reason’s undercover

The truth is kept secret, it’s swept under the rug….”

Did I mention conspiracy theories?

There’s other stuff in there too that seems a little suspicious. But it strikes me that odd facts and at least hints at conspiracy theories are on the play list at Radio 1 (and I think high in the charts, though the catchiness of the tune may be a factor there….)