RE: Please see my previous posts from "I'm scaling back to a 5 or less. This is my valedictory. (Brian McLaughlin, brianm@ims.com, 2000-01-04)" --Patrick Lastella

Here are the lyrics from the song "The Ghost of Tom Joad" from Bruce Springsteen's most recent Album "The Ghost of Tom Joad" (same titles) - a modern day spinoff of Steinbeck's classic "The Grapes of Wrath": * * *

Men walkin' long the railroad track Goin' somplace but there's no goin' back Highway patrol chopper's comin' up over the ridge Hot soup on a campfire under a bridge Shelter line stretchin' around the corner Welcome to the new world order Families sleepin' in their car in the southwest No home no job no peace no rest The highway is alive tonight Nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light Searchin' for the ghost of Tom Joad

He pulls a prayer book out of his sleepin' bag Preacher lights up a butt and takes a drag Waitin' for when the last shall be first and the first shall be last In a cardboard box 'neath the underpass You gotta one way ticket to the promise land You gotta hole in your belly and a gun in your hand Sleepin' on a pillow of solid rock Bathin' in the city aqueduct The highway is alive tonight Where it's headin' everybody knows I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light Waitin' on the ghost of Tom Joad

Now Tom said ma wherever there's a cop beatin' a guy Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries Where there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air Look for me ma I'll be there Wherever somebody's fightin' for a place to stand Or a decent job or a helpin' hand Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free Look in their eyes ma you'll see me The highway is alive tonight Nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light With the ghost of old Tom Joad

-- Patrick Lastella (Lastella1@aol.com), January 05, 2000

Answers

Evidently, someone forgot to alert Brian about changing the calendar. The time to make predictions has passed.

And as for Bruce, give me his E-Street days any day over this, ummm, material.

-- Bad Company (rnr@fantasy.com), January 05, 2000.

Being a great fan of John Steinbeck, and having read the Grapes of Wrath a number of times, I think this song is Great!! Perhaps its a little too historic for you. But this old hen remembers!!

Taz

-- Taz (Tassi123@aol.com), January 05, 2000.

Give me the "Rage Against The Machine" version...much more visionary... lot harder version too.

-- Billy Boy (Rakkasan101st@Aol.com), January 05, 2000.

Grapes of Wrath is one of the reasons I believe in the serious economic consequences of Y2K/BurstBubble.com.

Serious situations, not of their own making, have overwhelmed and ruined people in the past. They couldn't see it coming, but we can. Don't give up your preps just because the lights stayed on.

-- JIT (justintime@rightnow.net), January 05, 2000.

Patrick,

I'm not sure of the connection with my earlier thread, but The Grapes of Wrath was one of the first truly "grown-up" books I read, at age 13. It affected me deeply. Good luck.

Bad Company,

>> The time for making predictions is past... <<

If you say so.

In my estimation, the time for making a prediction is when there is some data coming in to base the prediction on, but not enough data to constitute sound knowledge.

There was not much real data before rollover. Much more now. That is why (if you cared to notice) I made very few predictions pre-rollover, and I was careful to predicate them. But then, you don't seem to care much for nuance, or for facts either.

-- Brian McLaughlin (brianm@ims.com), January 05, 2000.

Oh, uh, Brian, how about a small caveat to you 'you don't care much for facts' accusation, please. I don't care much for CONTRIVED facts, sir. It seems to me that the doom brigade gladly inserts contrived accounts and allusions to y2k as they see fit. To their eyes only, there is some grand conspiracy taking place, subverting the truth and skewering their message of impending cataclysm.

One year ago, I happened upon this forum and took to task the idea of sources. In particular, the question was put forth: how can one determine what is credible and what is not? The answer spoke volumes from myriad posters who basically stated that information which confirms one's mindset must be credible.

With January 1st now safely in the rear view mirror, the posturing among the doom crowd is taking place again.Whether tripping over their tongues to explain how their words of wisdom do not make them culpable in the just-passed scam of the century, or reconstructing their past remarks to now state that they never said everything would take place on the 1st of the year, their line of logic shows an incredible lack of responsibility and their way of thinking can only be termed convoluted.

If these are the facts you speak of, Brian, may I suggest that you discover a whole world of information via a multitude of sources that are respected and are bound by laws that concern slander, libel and the rendering of truth.

You can't say the same for much of the garbage you find here on the net.

-- Badco (amused@shootingstar.com), January 05, 2000.

>>Grapes of Wrath is one of the reasons I believe in the serious economic consequences of Y2K/BurstBubble.com. Serious situations, not of their own making, have overwhelmed and ruined people in the past. They couldn't see it coming, but we can. Don't give up your preps just because the lights stayed on.

-- JIT (justintime@rightnow.net), January 05, 2000.<<

Well put and prophetic. What was that shadow passing by?... (..)

-- Patrick Lastella (Lastella1@aol.com), January 06, 2000.