Free Tommy Chong! --- No joke here, Tommy Chong (of Cheech & Chong) yesterday was sentenced to 9 months in Federal Prison for his business which sells glass pipes over the Internet. That business, Chong's Glass Pipes, is a licensed, legal business. This is the first arrest under Ashcroft's new "Operation Headhunter" and "Operation Pipe Dreams" wars. Click here to urge your representatives to end this outrage = Free Tommy Chong. We think this is a cheap shot in a cultural vendetta being waged by the forces of evil on the neo-Con right. We think they chose Tommy because of his celebrated role as a dope-smokin' comedian, guilty of impiety and corrupting the Youth of America (as was Socrates). This is un-American. These new laws and "operations" belong in a repressive, totalitarian society, not ours.

Two Years After September 11th --- This morning I slept until 7am, unlike two years ago when a phone call woke me up before 6am to tell me that an airplane had been crashed into the World Trade Center. The images of that day still burn in my mind, and I recall the feeling of having the bottom drop out of my soul. The magnitude of cruelty, and the callousness with which some people can turn on their fellow humans, made me despair for our species. Here it is, two years later. Take a few minutes today to reflect on those who died that day, and maybe take another few minutes to contact your friends and family and tell them how important they are to you. No politics today, just a remembrance of the nearly 3000 persons who died in the attacks. There, but for the grace of God, go I.

The Strokes --- New tour, new album, performances on Conan O'Brien. They will be performing every Tuesday in November on the show, debuting a new song from their sophomore release, "Room On Fire." It will be released Oct 21st and the track listing is:
1. what ever happened?
2. reptilia
3. automatic stop
4. 12:51
5. you talk way too much
6. between love & hate
7. meet me in the bathroom
8. under control
9. the way it is
10. the end has no end
11. i can't win

tour dates in North America are:
10/09 - PHILADELPHIA, PA - Tower Theater
10/10 - PHILADELPHIA, PA - Tower Theater
10/12 - BALTIMORE, MD - UMBC Fieldhouse
10/14 - TORONTO, ONT - Hershey Center
10/16 - DETROIT, MI - State Theater
10/18 - CHICAGO, IL - UIC Pavillion
10/21 - SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
10/22 - LOS ANGELES, CA - Palladium
10/23 - LOS ANGELES, CA - Shrine Auditorium
10/25 - SEATTLE, WA - Stadium Exhibition Center
10/29 - NEW YORK, NY - The Theater @ MSG
10/30 - NEW YORK, NY - The Theater @ MSG
10/31 - BOSTON, MA - Tsongas Arena
11/06 - DALLAS, TX - Next Stage
11/07 - HOUSTON, TX - Verizon Wireless Theater
11/09 - ATLANTA, GA - The Tabernacle

we like the strokes! so what.

87 Billion Times The Pain --- That's a reference to Husker Du's "59 Times The Pain" but it ain't no joke. On Sunday, Bush asked Congress for another $87 Billion to spend on Iraq. That's more than the Feds spend on education every year, and more than double what they spend on highways, bridges, and road repairs (as mentioned by Sen. Graham on Larry King Live). It's hard to believe this is really happening, especially after all the "lessons" we learned from Vietnam, including about 87 billion Vietnam war movies made to remind us: 1.) how awful war is, and 2.) we's better have a real strategy, goal, and exit plan before sinking into another quagmire. Well, those lessons weren't learned after all. The Atlantic Monthly ran a cover story in January or February of this year describing how a war in Iraq would make that country basically the 51st state, because to "win" and establish a functioning democracy would take about 50 years of occupation. It was no secret. The Bushies are now claiming they were "too optimistic" in their post-war plans. How about, "too focused on oil profits" or "too controlled by the defense corporations running the country?" Iraq is not the main front in the global war on terror, it's a country in near-total anarchy precipitated by some lousy American planning. The terrorists are out there, why not go have a look and see if you can find them? It would be nice to finally see the 9/11 masterminds brought to justice, the anniversay being 2 days away and all. Iraq is a quagmire, ladies and germs.

Sometimes it just blows my mind that Americans are swallowing the nonsense and lies coming out of the White House, Congress, and the Senate. When Sen. Graham (D-FLA) asked Sen. Kyl (R-Arizona) if it was worth it to spend more on Iraq than we spend on education, the Republican could not even answer the question, but instead parroted an established Republican soundbite about "the longhaul" and "failure not being an option." Well, Kyl, if it meant the wholesale destruction of America's educational system, massive unemployment, skyrocketing deficits, runaway stagflation, a record Federal deficit, and the squandering of our armed forces to the tune of 52,000 dead soldiers (like in Vietnam), would "failure" then become an option? Or, to put it another way, Hey Kyl: do you think maybe we're barking up the wrong tree in Iraq?

Oh yeah, read Al Franken's "Lies And The Lying Liars Who Tell Them." It just came out and it's hilarious as well as providing a withering rebuttal to rightwing rabidity spouted by the Ann Coulters, Bill O'Reilly's, and Sean Hannity's of the world.

Culture Bunker: Nearly Back On Our Feet! --- The Culture Bunker has rebounded from our traumatic server switcheroo and is now nearly back to its old self. Most pages are again displaying correctly, thanks to The Color Council, proud makers of our site. Thanks for sticking with us. We also now think we know how to load the Message Board into the new server, so we'll find out tomorrow if it worked or not. Other good news for us, check out our ad on the 2nd to last page of this month's Destroy All magazine with Black Flag (bars) on the cover. We have made up a batch of Culture Bunker badges (buttons). To get yours, send us a SASE or type us an email (if you're a cheap bastard). Stickers are being made and soon they'll be popping up in Your town.

Rock Star Birthdays --- We got curious and found some b-days for some of our favorite rockers. So Happy Birthday, in a fan clubby, stalker, deranged teenage fan sort of way.

Paul Weller (The Jam, Style Council, solo) turned 45 on May 25.

Glenn Danzig (The Misfits, Samhain, Danzig) turned 48 on June 23.

Jack Grisham (TSOL, Cathedral Of Tears, Tender Fury, The Joykiller) turned 43 on July 22.