It is a time of freedom and fear, of Gaia and of borders, of many paths and the widening of
a universal toll road, emptying country and swelling cities, of the public bought into
privacy and the privacy of the public sold into invisible data banks and knowing
algorithms. It is the time of the warrior's peace and the miser's charity, when the
planting of a seed is an act of conscientious objection.
These are the times when maps fade and direction is lost. Forwards is backwards now, so we glance sideways at the strange lands through which we are all passing, knowing for certain only that our destination has disappeared. We are unready to meet these times, but we proceed nonetheless, adapting as we wander, reshaping the Earth with every tread. Behind us we have left the old times, the standard times, the high times. Welcome to the irregular times. When George W. Bush visited Baton Rouge, Louisiana on May 21, 2004, citizens of that city who were pro-Bush were permitted to stand on the curb and wave their supportive signs as Bush passed in his motorcade. Citizens of Baton Rouge who carried anti-Bush signs were roped off 100 feet away from the street behind an oak tree. Ward Reilly, a veteran who attended that day, pointed out that security doesn't explain this action; any assassin with an IQ above 75 would simply carry a pro-Bush sign to the rally to get closer. So what is the reasonable explanation in this land of liberty? I'm still waiting to hear it. (Source: Baltimore Chronicle and Sentinel May 27, 2004) Return to the Irregular Times Main Page
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