Bighouse For Bush And His Buddies!

Your prayers have been answered. The Subhumans (Canada) are on tour once again and coming to a city near you (if you live in western Canada that is). If you're interested (and I just know you are), you can look up the dates, cities and venues at our website at http://www.subhumans.ca/.

Okay, so slowly, but surely we are moving toward a post president Bush world. Thank god! Many of us will breathe a sigh of relief when we reach that point. But the question of the decade then (if not the century), is what happens to George W. Bush and his cronies. What happens to Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle and John Bolton to name a few? Will they go free and be permitted to carry on schmoozing, plotting, and fund raising in the circles of the American power elite as many of them have been since the Reagan years? Or will they be tried, convicted and imprisoned as the criminals they obviously are?

Every day, people in America are thrown in jail for relatively small offences like possessing pot, shoplifting and stealing cars. Bush and his cronies pushed for and engaged in an illegal war that has left close to a million people dead and thousands more disabled and mutilated. They lied to other branches of government and to the American people repeatedly to support their military campaign. They oversaw and implemented programs of unlawful confinement and torture that ruined (and continue to ruin) hundreds of people's lives. They are directly responsible for the slaughter of not just Iraqis, but Americans as well. Are these crimes not vastly more serious than petty crimes such as those mentioned above that can still land you in jail? If so, one would think that these people should go to jail for a long, long time.

One thing is almost for sure, if these guys get off with a mere slap on the wrist (or worse yet, no reprimand at all), they, or people very much like them will be back to bite us in the future. If they get away with this, it will be a clear signal to them and other right-wing war mongers like them that there's no reason not to try this again (once the dust settles and they've managed to install another malleable Republican president in the Whitehouse). If they get away with this, count on another Iraq or Vietnam within the next 10 or 20 years. These people believe in US world domination at all most any cost (if you don't believe me check out their own websites like "Project for a New American Century" or "American Enterprise Institute") and they will continue working towards that goal behind the scenes until they are stopped.

That's why it's crucial that Bush and his cronies are actually brought to justice. These individuals must be made to answer for their criminal arrogance and deceit. Those of us that see this bogus war as the crime it is, need to seriously push toward this goal. We need to make sure that justice is actually done (unlike in Nixon's case) and that it is done swiftly (unlike in Pinochet's case). For the sake of the dead, the living and the unborn, let's nip this malignancy in the bud. And besides, even Paris Hilton had to go to jail.

Hey there Georgy boy, look at all the bullshit you employ!

Here's a good one for you. While loudly trumpeting itself as the world leader of the "War on Terror" and castigating other countries that are supposedly soft on terrorists, the Bush administration itself appears to be funding and/or protecting terrorist groups within Iran and elsewhere in an attempt to destabilize the Iranian government.

According to a number of news reporters including one from the Sunday Telegraph, several guerrilla groups within Iran that have been involved in terrorist type actions against the Iranian government are receiving funding directly from the CIA. Many of these guerilla organizations consist of ethnic minority groups such as the Kurds, the Ahwazi and the Baluchis who oppose the current Iranian government. Some of the actions carried out by these groups include kidnappings, executions and bombings. Most of the attacks have been directed towards Iranian soldiers and government officials, but of course civilians that happen to be in the way are often injured or killed as well. A Baluchi group calling itself Jundallah (Army of God) recently claimed responsibility for the bombing of a bus carrying Revolutionary Guards in Zahedan, Iran which killed 11 people and injured many more.

At the same time, over 3000 members of a guerilla group calling itself Mujahedin-e Khalq (The People's Freedom Fighters) or MEK who are responsible for numerous attacks against Iranian officials (and some Americans), enjoy safe haven in Iraq, courtesy of the US military. Despite repeated requests from the Iranian government for the handing over of MEK members to stand trial in Iran for their actions, the US government has yet to comply. Declared a terrorist organization by the US State Department in 1997, the MEK appear to have more recently become useful allies of Washington in its "cold war" against Iran—particularly since the MEK were the first ones to claim that the current Iranian governments' nuclear ambitions were anything but peaceful.

Now while I have to admit I'm no great lover of the current repressive government of Iran, nor the ultra conservative Ayatollahs, nor the brutal, fanatical Revolutionary Guards and while I do have some sympathy for some of the stated goals of the MEK, I do find this double standard on the part of the Bush administration to be just a tad hypocritical. You can't be truly against terrorism and be supporting it at the same time. But of course, as a true study of history will show, neither Bush nor previous US administrations have actually been against terrorism (state terrorism or otherwise). Despite what they say, they're just against terrorism that is against them or runs counter to their interests. And it's precisely this double standard that successive US administrations feel perfectly comfortable in engaging in, that is one of the main reasons why so many people around the world are fucking furious with the US.

Besides being blatantly hypocritical, this policy of supporting "good" terrorists is dangerous as well; it's backfired on the US more than once in the past with all sorts of nasty consequences for a lot of people. One of the more recent and memorable instances of this is when the Reagan administration provided funds and armaments to a bunch of hardened, Islamist warriors (also calling themselves "Mujahedin") in Afghanistan who were fighting against the Najibullah government and its Soviet backers. The Soviets finally gave up and left the country and the Najibullah government eventually fell. Victory for the USA? Hardly; newly emboldened and armed, many of those same Mujahedin fighters went on to form an extremely conservative, repressive, militant Islamic government in Afghanistan. This same government provided safe haven and moral support to Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda while they prepared for the September 11th, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington. The name of this government in Afghanistan?

You got it; the Taliban! In other words, the Reagan administration, employing the same type of brilliant foreign policy back then against Afghanistan as the Bush administration is now employing against Iran, inadvertently helped to lay the groundwork for the 9/11 attacks. As well, they helped to create the mess in Afghanistan that NATO countries (including Canada) are now expected to help cleanup at great cost and loss of life.

It's time the Bush administration (and all US administrations to come) stop supporting violent opposition groups (terrorists) in other countries as proxies to destabilize governments they don't like. It's time they start showing real respect (instead of mere lip service) for concepts like sovereignty, multilateralism and democracy. Otherwise they can't expect their enemies (imagined or real) to show respect for such concepts either. The rules have to apply to everyone, otherwise they can't possibly work and the violence will only escalate. Countries that claim to have the moral high ground need to set a good example. Because, as everyone the world over knows (outside of Washington that is), "what's good for the goose is good for the gander".

(For a sort of musical version of this posting, check out the Subhumans song, "Moving Forward" from our new album, New Dark Age Parade. You can hear it at our Myspace site at www.myspace.com/subhumanscanaduh.)

The Subhumans Are Home!

There's no place like home. Finally I'm well enough to write here again. We all got brutally ill on the New Dark Age Parade tour and I'm only just starting to recover. This is gonna be short. I'll talk about the tour and other stuff later. I just wanted to say thanks to all of the excellent people that helped us out on the tour and thanks to all of our dedicated fans that braved all sorts of weather to come out and see us. You people made it worthwhile and are greatly appreciated. We'll talk more soon.

Subhumans (Canada) "New Dark Age Parade" Tour

Well here we are, merely a few days away from heading out on our cross-Canuckistan tour in support of out new CD, New Dark Age Parade. We'll be starting the tour with a show this Friday, October 13th (how fitting) at the Lamplighter in Vancouver. From there, it will be over to Victoria for a show the following night and then it's off to points east, eventually going as far as Montreal. The tour will be 3 weeks long ending on November 4th with a show in Calgary. Jeez, it'll pretty much be winter by then. Good thing we gotten ourselves some good transportation lined up!

Yep, solid, reliable and good on gas too. Of course, we would've liked to have played all of the great urban centers of this vast land, but time constraints just wouldn't allow it (we couldn't pry Jon away from his new job as beer taster for Big Rock Brewery for any longer than 3 weeks). But hopefully we'll be coming to either your town, or a town near you. This will be the first time the Subhumans (Canada) have played Toronto in 25 years and our very first time ever to play Montreal! Needless to say, we'll be playing only the finest rock and roll establishments on our journey, such as this happening joint in Duck Ass Lake, AB.

Looks like a good place to empty out our Stephen Harper porta-potty. It should be pretty near full by then. Yes indeed. For a detailed list of our tour dates, check out our website at www.subhumanscanada.com.

So we're working really hard, getting ready for this tour. We've spent many long and hard hours locked in our dingy, dirty rehearsal space denying ourselves life's little pleasures so that we would be prepared for this tour (and we practised a couple of songs while we were in there as well). Besides playing many of our old favourites, we'll being playing quite a few new tunes from New Dark Age Parade as well. And of course, Brian will be doing his much loved and widely celebrated, fully flatulented rendition of "Having My Baby" while riding unicycle and eating tapioca pudding in the nude. A sight and sound extravaganza not to be missed! So all and all it promises to be a series of delightful shows you simply won't want to miss. And besides, at our age, who knows if we'll make it back to your town again; it gets tougher and tougher to haul around those wheelchairs, I.V. bags and bedpans everytime! So come on out and see the show!!

We're All Subhumans Now

"We're all Americans now." (French magazine Le Monde, September 2001,
in aftermath of 9/11 attacks)






"You're either with us or against us...." (George W. Bush, November 2001)

"We're all subhumans now." (myself, September 2006, in the aftermath of Israel's attacks on Lebanon)

New Dark Age Parade

Well, seeing as how this is my first entry I'd better get right to the important stuff. My name is Gerry Hannah aka "Gerry Useless". I'm the bass player and one of the three song writers for the original Subhumans from Vancouver, Canada. We've just released a new, 14 song CD titled New Dark Age Parade on G7 Welcoming Committee Records in Canada and on Alternative Tentacles Records in the rest of the world. It's the first time the band has released brand new material since 1982!

I think this record is really, really good. Now, of course you'd expect me to say that, me being a member of the band and what not, but the truth is, I don't plug records I don't like. In fact, shortly after our first album, Incorrect Thoughts came out in 1981, I was asked what I thought of the album on a live radio interview in Texas. My response was, "I wouldn't buy it" (of course, that comment was very popular with the rest of the band!). I only really liked about 3/4 of the songs on the album and I was really disappointed with most of the production. I actually like that album now, but back then I didn't and I said so. So when I say that I think New Dark Age Parade is really, really good, I do mean it.

From a musical standpoint, New Dark Age Parade is for the most part, mid tempo with a few faster punk rock forays here and there, as well as a couple of slightly slower tunes too. It's mostly hard driving rock (without the posturing and without trying to be slick) and there's a bit of a garage pop sound in there too. I would say the album draws on influences as diverse as the Clash (circa Complete Control days), to the New York Dolls (circa their first album), to Steppenwolf (Monster), to Bowie (Man Who Sold the World), to Stereolab (circa Refried Ectoplasm, without the keyboards and Latietia Sadier's angelic vocals). Now of course, that's just my opinion. You may disagree and indeed, my bandmates may disagree, but I'm just trying to give you an idea of the sound of the damned thing.

Lyrically, the album speaks on topics ranging from poverty and drug addiction, to alienation from one's self and society, to unity and a sense of belonging, to psychological healing, to macho posturing, to religious fanaticism (both christian and muslim) and last, but not least, to war! (how could there not be songs about war on a Subhumans album, when clearly, we live in a world at war?). I guess you could say that the record from a lyrical standpoint is just a tad "political", which will come as no surprise to those of you that are familiar with our earlier stuff. None of the songs are anti-American in content though (as has been suggested by some reviewers), but a few of them critique American foreign policy, both current and past (how could any sane person not critique 60 years of madness?).

Anyways, if this CD sounds interesting to you, I urge you to go out and buy it from your favourite record store or order it from G7 or Alternative Tentacles. If you like us and/or like the record, please don't pirate the damn thing. Honestly, how do you expect indie bands and labels to keep on going if they can't make any money from record sales? More about that on another posting perhaps.... I guess that's all for now.