The Scream Read Online Free PDF

Your families are in trouble. This country's in trouble. And a big part of it is pouring out of your kid's stereo system. When he turns on the latest record by The Slabs or The Scream or Jacob Hamer or what have you, he is leaving himself wide open for a sound that promotes sexual permissiveness, drug abuse, alcoholism, disobedience of parents, rebelliousness, violence, Satan worship, occult practices, abortion, and suicide."
    Jake looked over at Yke Dykeburn, the blond-maned giant to his immediate right. Yke was making a goon-face and jabbing his thumb at Furniss as if to say,
Duh, yeah, wut he say
. It would have been difficult not to laugh; and Jake obliged.
    "Of course, these gentlemen find it amusing," Furniss continued, unruffled. "They're the ones who are creating the problems, and reaping the benefits. They, and others like them, are directly responsible for the death, debasement, and misery plaguing our youth-"
    Boos and applause, in equal frenzied parts, cut him off. He shrugged, grinned, and nodded in a way that dismissed his critics and acknowledged his supporters simultaneously.
You can't say he's not slick
, Jake thought, and then Furniss got another shot in.
    "I just pray that America will be strong enough to come to its senses, 'cause we'll be in one heck of a mess if we don't get back on the track, and I do mean pronto." He deferred, then, to the crowd's mixed response and Dick Moynihan's next comment.
    "So, on the one hand," Moynihan said, "we've got one group saying that the devil is making our teenagers do it; and whether you believe in the devil or not, you've got to agree that rock music is dangerous in that it promotes destructive and anti-social behavior in our young people.
    "And then"-indicating Jake's side of the panel at long last-"we've got these guys over here."
    A healthy portion of the audience laughed: for the first time during the show. Moynihan was a master of comedic timing and the subtle release of tension. Even Furniss grinned, giving credit where due. Jake had to do the same, despite the fact that Furniss was the most pernicious rectal grievance in his life at the moment.
    "Let's start with Jerry Crane, promoter of the Rock Aid concert being held this Saturday at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia," Moynihan said. Jerry cast a tanned and robust nod to the crowd. He was pushing fifty in style, and it was clear that he knew it; at the same time, the stress he was under was equally clear. "Now, in a generation that has witnessed Band Aid, Live Aid, Farm Aid, Hearing Aid, AIDS Aid, Amnesty Aid, Nature Aid, Space Aid, and even the Florida-based Gator Aid-a benefit to preserve the Everglades from developers-Rock Aid is still something of an anomaly. It is, to the best of my knowledge, the first time that the rock industry has thrown a benefit concert in self-defense. They claim that the proposed legislation is the thin end of the wedge, that it attacks freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the separation of church and state . . ." He let it trail off, hinting that the litany of accusations was nothing new.
    "With Mr. Crane are two men whose rock bands will performing at Rock Aid: Yke Dykeburn, lead singer for the heavy metal group The Slabs, and Jacob Hamer, founder of the aptly named Jacob Hamer Band."
    Jake's calculated third of the crowd came through with applause. It was interesting to note that fewer Christians than rockers booed the opposition. He tried to imagine Aunt Bea standing up, raising her fist, and shouting POLITENESS RULES! at the top of her lungs. Somehow, it didn't quite jibe. Maybe that was the difference between the good guys and the bad guys. Or maybe not. Who knew.
    "Mr. Hamer," the show host said. "You came to notoriety with your recent hit song, 'TV Ministries.' Not only is it enjoying its seventh week on the Billboard charts, it has also aroused the ire of virtually every evangelical group in the nation."
    Jake smiled.
    Moynihan smiled back. "We'd like to show a clip from