Letter Never Sent

There is more Big Brother legislation in the works. The president is seeking to increase surveillance powers further by taking advantage of the fear and uncertainty of the populace. Next on the law enforcement wish list is the ability to snoop email without a court order. All of these recent attempts to expand police state powers are pointing out more and more how scared large undemocratic institutions like the government are worried about recent democratizing trends. When people can communicate easily outside of the roving eye of government you will see a diminishing of their power. They are seeking to reverse this. It is no different than what the Chinese have recently done by closing internet cafes and attempting to create a wall around their internet. Of course, technology is neutral and can be used to decrease or increase freedom. It is up to everyone to force the issue. One should not obey laws and edicts that are plainly wrong. Also, everything must be done to fight this power grab on the political and technological level. We are at an important place in history that will decide the course of the future.

More evidence of the fear taking hold in the minds of our corporate/governmental slave masters:

• Ashcroft seeks authority to spy on political groups.
• Feds bugging cable modems
• Ashcroft wants to dump habeas corpus
• More on the propaganda war…keeping the press in line.
• Government retreating into secrecy.
• On the propaganda (aka public diplomacy) war from The Economist.

Want to show your support for peace without getting your ass kicked by some american brownshirt? Buy a peace flag and represent.

More innocent blood on america’s hands. 300 more civilians die in american bombings. Do you think this father wants revenge? War is pointless murder and destruction. Anyone who thinks differently is an idiot. (Editorializing *smile*) See more destruction wrought by ‘the light of freedom in the world’.

• “US fundamentalism is the root cause of the horror inflicted on Washington and New York, says John Pilger”
• The US has no problem with terrorism as long as we are not the victims. “They’re our terrorists.”
• Interesting BBC interview with the Taleban’s Mullah Omar. How come our leaders sound more insane than this guy? With all the references to God he sounds like Bush Jr.
• The Bushes and the Carlyle Group. A chronology of crookedness from Bushwatch. (Great site!)
• The SS (Secret Service) comes calling on a Durham activist because of a poster on her wall: It’s illegal to make threats against the president, to burn him in effigy, or to announce a desire for his death. Can you announce a desire to shrink him to the size of a mouse or to doctor porn photos to include him in? I better bust out the photoshop.
• Analysis of the latest spin from prwatch.

The military is obsessed with this idea of a “revolution in military affairs” or RMA in government speak. (There was a good story about this on This American Life). It is the idea that military strategy is about to undergo a paradigm shift. Seemingly immutable laws of warfare are becoming outmoded. The US has for a long time practiced the so-called doctrine of ‘overwhelming force’. The idea that to win a war we would basically overwhelm the opponent with our military might. This strategy in a world where the US is the dominant super-power is no longer relevant. The new paradigm is what has the powerful institutions worried. This is one of the reasons for the strength of response to the September 11th disaster. It is becoming more and more evident that governmental institutional power is extraordinarily easy to combat. In other words, the emperor has no clothes. After the USS Cole attack I was amazed. A massive, expensive symbol of american military hegemony was destroyed by two men in a rubber dingy? The idea is extraordinary. The ability to multiply the effects of an attack by targeting weaknesses. It is the same with the destruction of the World Trade Center. How can you fight these sorts of attacks? In Israel, where they are as tough as can be on terrorists you still have these attacks. The power of the government exists more in the mind than in reality. It presents an image of omnipotence and omniscience but this image is under attack on all fronts. It is now grasping at straws hoping to stem the changes wrought by advances in global communication and data transmission. The buffoonery of the government is showcased in the media for all to experience. We still have no leads on the terrorist attacks or on the anthrax-laden letters. Even our response to the WTC attacks is unlikely to affect those responsible. The US is like a wounded cyclops. It has been blinded and is impotently attacking everything around it in its anger and frustration. Yet, it tries desperately to appear as if everything is under control.

Last night I watched the new Richard Linklater movie, Waking Life. It was great. Alex Jones made a nice appearance in it. I wish I had a transcript of his piece. It was very stirring.

The membership rolls of Masonic organizations has been on a steady decline for the past 40 years. After reading The Historical Illuminatus trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson I became interested in the Masons and did some research on them. While it does seem shrouded in mystery it didn’t seem to be worth the trouble to find out by joining. Not to mention the requirement that the male initiate has to believe in a supreme being. Since it’s a fraternity, exclusively male, I’m assuming they do not believe in a female supreme being. Also, the masons always came off as being a little right-wing which is not appealing. Anyway, there was a interesting article on freemasonry in the washington post.

A few police chiefs are standing up to the federal government in its pursuit of a police state. They are questioning the constitutionality of an order by the FBI to investigate Muslims in their jurisdictions. It’s good to know there are still some good guys left in this world.

Ever aware of the power of the media (look on the television) the US government is spending an “eye-popping” 500 million dollars to create an arab language satellite news channel to compete with Al Jazeera. Canada is looking better and better every day.

Look, even the government likes to check out our site to get the scoop. I got a hit from the Department of Justice, (19 November 17:11 US Dept of Justice, Rockville, United States ). I have had some hits from the military before for some stuff I posted about some people involved in the Iran-Contra scandal, but never from the ironically named Department of Justice. If I turn up missing you know where to look (scared laugh). That reminds me, if you ever get hassled by ‘the man’ for opposing an unjust war or some crazy government policy you have to know your rights. At the ACLU they have some brochures in arabic, spanish, and english about what your rights are when your are approached by the police or the secret police, the FBI.

Some good links from antiwar.com:

• US bombs kill 1000 more civilians in Kunduz this past weekend. Will we stop when we kill as many innocent people as the terrorists did? I’m guessing the answer is no.
• Al-Qaeda’s Nuke Plans Were a Joke, Literally
• US Efforts to Make Peace Summed Up by ‘Oil’

Are Americans getting the full picture of the war? Hell no! Not unless they work at it. You have to give our government credit for one thing, America is number one for propaganda! Doesn’t that make your chest swell with pride? If you’ve seen Manufacturing Consent it can be explained like this: totalitarian regimes maintain control through force, so-called democracies like our own maintain control through the skillful manipulation of information which is called propaganda. People don’t have a clue about the barriers to freedom unless they are able to hear about them somehow. The media is complicit and helps to maintain control. If someone has an inkling that something is not right and this feeling is not at all represented in the media they will feel like they must be mistaken. The result is that society is atomized and people are isolated from one another and afraid to speak out.

Creating panic through planted disinformation.

U.S. Kills 150 civilians with carpet bombs in Afghan town You have to use newspapers outside the U.S. to get the news. What is the death toll now? I wish I had some numbers.
The anti-war protests are getting louder and louder. In the UK, 100,000 people marched in an anti-war rally. That’s amazing. Here in Austin, the group Austin Against War has been organizing. The people are mobilizing against this stupidity. A 16 year old girl registered her feelings about this war by poking the Prince of Wales on the cheek 3 times with a red carnation. For her act of protest she could be given fifteen years in prison.

America, the uber rogue state, accused 5 other countries of developing chemical/biological weapons. The United States while supporting controls of chemical weapons in theory stops short when it comes to inspections of its own plants and facilities. The United States rejected a legally binding inspection plan under the terms of the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention signed by 144 nations. “American officials shocked other countries last July by rejecting more than six years of negotiations on enforcement measures of the 1972 treaty, arguing they were ineffective.” The United States has become a ‘rogue-state’ operating unilaterally wherever, however, and whenever they wish. We will not stop terrorism until we destroy its roots, United States-style state-sponsored terrorism. U.S. foreign policy has caused all of these problems. The U.S. throws its weight around in the world supporting the causes of its resident transnationals and then it is suprised when something catastrophic happens as a result. In more shadiness, the islamic militant group, Hizbullah, said the U.S. offered to forgive them for past attacks against westerners in return for dropping its struggle against Israel. The U.S. has a dirty past when it comes to the Mideast. If you want a glimpse of some of the terrorism and covert action that the U.S. is responsible for there is a good article titled, A History of Folly. It describes some of the background behind this latest debacle and this new ‘war against terror’. Most likely the U.S. will use this same reasoning to engage in war against Iraq, Indonesia, Libya and whomever else it likes. This will be a war without end. It echoes of 1984. The Pentagon is building a case for future military playthings. Next is Iraq. This Machiavellian thinking has gotten us nowhere.

In other news:

• The new ‘PATRIOT Act’ allows formation of a DNA database
• Secrets of MI5/MI6, the British secret police

The Human Cost of the Afghan War. I can’t imagine having bombs dropped on my country and neighbors for 6 weeks and then being invaded by the world’s largest military power. This is not even to mention the million or so people who might starve this winter thanks in part to the United States and the Taleban. If this has taught us anything, these terrorist attacks and now this war, it’s that human life is cheap. There is no thought given to human life. The Northern Alliance massacred 500 people, the United States has killed who knows how many, 5000 people died in the World Trade Center, and the Taleban has killed at least 150 deserters. This is not even over. Our government no doubt has plans to kill many more people in order to somehow ‘even the score’. Then the cycle continues. Human life is seemingly worthless. According to Fox News, civilian casualties are ‘not news’, but what would you expect from them?

This is something that always struck me as funny about anti-abortionists. As most anti-abortionists are fundamentalist christians, they are most likely pro-death penalty and pro-war. This is despite the self-applied moniker of ‘pro-life’. Pro-life would suggest something quite different, at least a bit more consistency. If you were pro-life you would be against execution, eating meat, and warfare. I think anti-abortionists are more about getting upset that people are having sex without horrible consequences.

Why can’t I see what bin Laden says on television? Bush and co. say it’s not good for the war effort. We don’t want the terrorists to spout their vitriol. Where are we living? Nazi Germany? China? The decision about what we are allowed to see and read is being made by a group of people who have their own motives and interests. I thought we were supposed to be the shining light of freedom and openness in the world. I guess not. I found some good links at www.antiwar.com. You should check it out.

The more information that comes out the more it would appear that we’re sliding inexorably towards fascism. When I read this I felt like I was living in a bad dream. Hollywood and the White House are getting cozy again. Hollywood wants to cash in on patriotic zeal and the White House are eager to use the media power of Hollywood. Basically, the White House brought some rules over about how to tell the story of this war. In any other country, this would be considered the skillful manufacture of propaganda. Here are the administration’s “talking points” (Is this some sort of corporate speak? This term just started appearing like 3 years ago), I will take the liberty of translating into real words when necessary:

• The war is directed against terrorism, not Islam. Don’t point out Islamic opposition to the ‘war’.
• Americans must be called to service. Americans must obey
• Support for the troops is needed. If you dissent, you are a murderer
• The terrorist attack was a global attack, which requires a global response. We have the right to take this perpetual war anywhere we want.
• This is a war against evil. Anyone who disagrees with this war is evil
• We have a responsibility to reassure our children. Brainwash the children.
• Instead of propaganda, the war effort requires “concrete information told with honesty and specificity.” We need propaganda that doesn’t look like propaganda.

Jean Baudrillard has an interesting analysis about the WTC crash as a spectacle. If you can read french get the whole thing here.

An advertising call to arms! It’s always time to make a quick buck.

Some German teachers got into some big trouble for daring to question the American War. That’s a definite downside to teaching. You have to always toe the official line.

Why is the Mideast less then thrilled with the United States? Look to history. We’ve been fucking that whole region over for 50 years. Political coups, assassinations, invasions. You name it. This reminds me of the last chapters of Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard. There is a good exchange between Jamie, the young protagonist and Mr. Tulloch, an adult prisoner at the same Japanese internment camp.

“Mr. Tulloch, is the war over?” Jim asked. “Really over?”
“The war…?” Tulloch seemed to have forgotten that it had ever taken place. “It better be over, lad — anytime now the next one’s going to begin.”

That passage just reminds me how much of the past is a sick joke. In the past fifty plus years since the last World War there has never really been peace. There has not even been an attempt at peace. The United States has been fomenting war and destruction non-stop. Our military has become nothing but a hired gun for the multinationals that own the country.

Shortly before September 11, the Bush administration ordered the FBI to back off on the bin Laden family. Yes, the Bushes and the bin Ladens have an intertwined family history including Bush 1 getting paid by the bin Ladens through the Carlyle Group. It’s funny how this stuff is never reported in the United States. I don’t even try to watch the television ‘news’ anymore. It is completely useless for the gathering of any real information and only serves as a spigot for the ideas and themes that are useful to those in power.

I read a great interview with Jim Garrison from October 1967 while he was investigating crimes involved with the Kennedy assassination. He made some astute observations that are becoming more and more true:

But I’ve come to realize that in Washington, deceiving and manipulating the public are viewed by some as the natural prerogatives of office. Huey Long once said, “Fascism will come to America in the name of anti-fascism.” I’m afraid, based on my own experience, that fascism will come to America in the name of national security.”

In accordance with this observation we have more evidence of this free-fall to fascism as if any further proof were necessary. A cornerstone of american jurisprudence, attorney-client privilege has become yet another casualty of the ridiculous war on terror. The Justice Department will now monitor communications between detainees and their attorneys. Mind you, these are people who haven’t even been charged! Patrick Leahy was one of the few senators to say shit about it. Looks like 99% of the Senate is worthless. Terrorism is a vague term that can be used to label anything not sanctioned by the government. Piracy is terrorism. Hacking is terrorism. Direct action is terrorism. Graffitti is terrorism. Smoking cannibis is terrorism. Any unlawful act can be labeled terrorism. Where will it end?

• National Security Liars. (Haven’t gotten all the way through this, but its interesting)
• Big Brother is coming. Look busy.
• The Bush infatuation with keeping their dirt little secrets secret. Impeach Dick Cheney!
• “Terrorism Bill does too much and not enough.”

By the way, if anyone has any extra information I may have missed on this and other subjects please forward it to me. Also, feel free to link to this page anywhere you like.

The Pentagon has hired Rendon Group, a public-relations firm to make sure they look good while killing people and destroying their homes. Cost to tax-payers: $397,000. What assholes.