California was built on a car.

Our first freeways were laid down in the '20s, and since most communities out here were orange groves until after World War II, urban planners articulated designs for almost all Golden State cities around four rubber treads and a gas-charged engine.

By that time, cars had long been affordable and commonplace everywhere in America. But since California's instant metropolises were actually conceived with automotive transportation as a given, our cars aren't just conveniences, or sporty penis-surrogates.

Cars are necessities.

Remember, we gave the world urban sprawl; every facet of our social dynamic is so spread out, across the landscape, we can't even consider walking as a transportation alternative. Our public transit systems are mostly new, balky and barely contrived. We gotta have our rides. Yeah, baby! They're basic necessities. Like water, oxygen and bread. (At least, breadsticks, with tomato bisque and a sassy little chenin blanc from Maison Akira.)

So... when gas prices skyrocket, overnight, we tend to notice.

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Remember President Bush's 16 little words in the 2003 State of the Union Address - the slander that Saddam was seeking uranium from Africa which helped serve, along with nonsense about mushroom clouds pluming over American cities, as our impetus to invade Iraq a few weeks later?

They're at it again.

This time the spurious Middle East Media Research Institute snookered the Washington Times into publishing some credulous twaddle that al Qaeda is planning a "bio attack" from Mexico.

"Four pounds of anthrax -- in a suitcase this big -- carried by a fighter through tunnels from Mexico into the U.S. are guaranteed to kill 330,000 Americans within a single hour if it is properly spread in population centers there," the recruiter said. "What a horrifying idea; 9/11 will be small change in comparison. Am I right? There is no need for airplanes, conspiracies, timings and so on..."

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I love old westerns.

That admission puts me on thin ice politically, I know. I risk barrages of moral theatrics and dime-store psychiatrics just making it. American western expansion of the 19th century forever is scarred by ethnic cleansing of Native Americans and exploitation of the environment. It served primarily industrial barons and land speculators... blah, blah, blah... Imperialist!... blah... "Why can't you honkies be perfect - like me?"... blah... Rapacious!... blah, blah...

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Aside from being a fine actor, and supplying voice-over narration for just about every documentary needing a touch of world-weary raspiness, Peter Coyote writes a blog for the SF Gate - taking on all issues great and small. Early last month, in an insightful series of ruminations on hate crime legislation he proposed:

It seems that we either have to take the position that every life is sacred and protected with the full weight of the law or that they're not. If they're not, the protected categories could shift with political winds in the same way that Affirmative Action protections have been altered and weakened by white people who have no idea of the extent to which their ticket was punched at birth and feel that they're behind the eight ball.

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