Well, I met this nice guy who knows a shitload, and his websites (some of them), are as follows:
http://www.brainsturbator.com/
http://www.humpjones.com/
http://www.skilluminati.com
and the others are linked up from there. They are good. They are scientific and hilarious at times. and some are awfully sexy. :D
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
the long war of no reason
I read recently of the five-year anniversary of the war in Iraq. That surprised me, because I remember being in Wal-Mart when I worked there, and watching the invasion on the teevee. Within a couple of days, we had Desert Storm T-shirts, and sold out immediately. Gas mileage entered my worldview, as gas climbed to $1.50 per gallon for the full-service (rural county) fill-up, and my very old and big car got 7 miles to the gallon. That was 17 years ago, half my life exactly, our government's robot soldiers (funded by all our good middle-class tax dollars) killing citizens of this little desert nation, formerly the Fertile Crescent, possible home of the Garden of Eden, as ordered by the original King George, the slightly smarter elder one.
Bill Clinton doesn't get let off the hook either. The sanctions imposed and held in place during his ridiculous reign killed about a million Iraqi citizens, disproportionately children. Horrible.
People who have come back from serving in Iraq over the last 17 years are scarred, much like the veterans of the last dumb war of no reason in Viet Nam. Tim McVeigh could tell you all about it, if he were still alive. So could all the other people who have lived with mental illness, homelessness, and diminished physical and mental abilities. One in every four homeless people in my town is a veteran. I forget the stats for what percentage of veterans become homeless, but it is quite a lot.
W can be held responsible for his actions, fabricating a war for no reason, except to create democracy for our oil that is currently under Iraq soil. Not for long. But giving money to Halliburton to run a war for us hasn't worked out all too well. More graft than ever, more bribes, more scandals, more ridiculous behavior and lost tax money. I saw an estimate of $2 trillion spent for the Iraq war, for the current mess of affairs. More than our mis-spent taxes, there's more torture and death for Iraqis, more disease, scars, orphans (35% of Iraqi children are orphans). It goes on, and what next president is going to order any order and get our interests elsewhere? None.
When will enough be enough? What brought on the end of the Viet Nam war? Nixon? Wow, we can't even find someone as nasty as Nixon to elect to end this useless war? I don't know what to do, other than talking to people about it. Of course, that is mostly places like here, where there is a willing ear. Also, on the bus, and poor people of this town get it. They know there is nothing to gain, except the loss of a family member who needed a job, and found one in the service.
Sad, and nothing to do but grieve and sympathize.
--
On the other hand, happy easter! We are celebrating the holiday named for the Teutonic goddess Eostre, woo hoo, and no plastic grass in sight. We made a happy easter banner, and filled it with budding trees, robins, bunnies, spring flowers, sunshine, rain, and kids flying kites--what spring means to us. I asked my daughter what she knew of, of Easter, and she replied that she knew it had something to do with Jesus. But since we just celebrate the spring worshiping context, why does Jesus need to be a part of it? We saw the first robin today.
sharqi
Bill Clinton doesn't get let off the hook either. The sanctions imposed and held in place during his ridiculous reign killed about a million Iraqi citizens, disproportionately children. Horrible.
People who have come back from serving in Iraq over the last 17 years are scarred, much like the veterans of the last dumb war of no reason in Viet Nam. Tim McVeigh could tell you all about it, if he were still alive. So could all the other people who have lived with mental illness, homelessness, and diminished physical and mental abilities. One in every four homeless people in my town is a veteran. I forget the stats for what percentage of veterans become homeless, but it is quite a lot.
W can be held responsible for his actions, fabricating a war for no reason, except to create democracy for our oil that is currently under Iraq soil. Not for long. But giving money to Halliburton to run a war for us hasn't worked out all too well. More graft than ever, more bribes, more scandals, more ridiculous behavior and lost tax money. I saw an estimate of $2 trillion spent for the Iraq war, for the current mess of affairs. More than our mis-spent taxes, there's more torture and death for Iraqis, more disease, scars, orphans (35% of Iraqi children are orphans). It goes on, and what next president is going to order any order and get our interests elsewhere? None.
When will enough be enough? What brought on the end of the Viet Nam war? Nixon? Wow, we can't even find someone as nasty as Nixon to elect to end this useless war? I don't know what to do, other than talking to people about it. Of course, that is mostly places like here, where there is a willing ear. Also, on the bus, and poor people of this town get it. They know there is nothing to gain, except the loss of a family member who needed a job, and found one in the service.
Sad, and nothing to do but grieve and sympathize.
--
On the other hand, happy easter! We are celebrating the holiday named for the Teutonic goddess Eostre, woo hoo, and no plastic grass in sight. We made a happy easter banner, and filled it with budding trees, robins, bunnies, spring flowers, sunshine, rain, and kids flying kites--what spring means to us. I asked my daughter what she knew of, of Easter, and she replied that she knew it had something to do with Jesus. But since we just celebrate the spring worshiping context, why does Jesus need to be a part of it? We saw the first robin today.
sharqi
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Support Marie Mason!
Marie is my friend and comrade. Solidarity if you can please. -Werebrock
First we want to thank you for expressing interest in supporting recently
arrested Eco defense organizer Marie Mason. Below you will find the an overview
of what we know as well as the latest updates about Marie's case and current
situation and ways you can help support Marie. If you wish to be removed from
this list drop us a line.
Send Marie your letters of support!
MARIE MASON #134001
Butler County Sheriff's Office & Correctional Complex
705 Hanover Street
Hamilton, Ohio 45011
If you send Marie a letter and it gets returned to you, please let us know
about it so we can add any other restrictions to the guideline list. When
writing please use your common sense; don't write about anything that is
likely to get a prisoner in trouble in any way. Avoid discussing any
details of her case and/or any potential charges against her.
Please do NOT send in any books/zines to Marie yet. We are in the process
of getting a system going for her to receive books. If you would like her
to receive books we would prefer you donate money. We will be releasing a
list of books Marie would like in the very near future.
When writing Marie, Do NOT ever write "legal mail" or anything implying
that you are an attorney unless you are.
Complete jail mail rules can be found
http://www.butlersheriff.org/divisions/corrections/corrections_inmate_info.htm
UPDATE
We were able to briefly speak with Marie Monday night (3/10/08) and that is
when we found out she was in the Butler County Jail and was promptly placed on
suicide watch on arrival. We were able to assure her that her daughter was safe
(her 16 year daughter was at Marie's home when the FBI, Homeland Security, and
local Police served a search warrant and detained her for over an hour), that
her pets were being looked after and several other personal affairs would be
attended to.
Several of us drove to the Butler County jail the next day (3/10/08) with the
intention of putting money in Marie's commissary account. Apparently prisoners
with the first letter of their last name k-z can only get visitors Thursdays
and Sundays. To make things more difficult the prisoner must add visitors names
to a pre-approval list prior to the visit and prisoners are only able to update
their visitors list once every 30 days. We quickly wrote Marie a letter
detailing all this and that we had deposited funds into her commissary account
as well as a list of friends #s she can call collect at any time and dropped it
off at the post office a few blocks from the jail in hopes she would get the
letter before visiting day.
We got a call from Marie's Mother (3/12/08) today who had received a collect
call from Marie. Marie told her that she needed funds to obtain vegan food as
well socks and basic toiletries in prison. She asked her mother to contact us
to and request we put money in her jail commissary account. This news was
frustrating to us as we had already driven up to the Butler County Jail and
deposited ample money in her account and was told she would be given a receipt
of its deposit detailing her current balance and she would have access to it by
3pm of the day of deposit. Since we have not heard from her since Monday we
assume she has not gotten our letter with all the contacts yet and that as of
2pm today had not been given access to the funds we placed in her commissary
account. The last thing we want is Marie to feel alone during all this. We will
be driving up to the Butler County jail tomorrow in hopes of seeing her and at
the least depositing more money into her commissary account. We will keep
everyone posted.
How you can help
1. We are currently collecting funds for Marie's legal defense. One lawyer told
us it will likely cost between $20,000 - $60,000 to represent a case like
this. Its important we begin our fund raising immediately. We are in the
process of setting up a website (freemarie.org coming soon) where folks will be
able to use PayPal to donate direct but until then ask folks to send funds in
the form of a check or money order made out to “Books for Prisoners”.
Please put in the notes section Marie and/or include a letter detailing that
the enclosed funds are for Marie Masons defense.
We are grateful to have been contacted by an anonymous donor who will match
dollar for dollar up to $1000 for Marie's legal defense fund. This offer is
good up until April 15.
2.We are looking for artists who are willing to donate their talent and time to
the cause.
3. If you know of any activist attorneys in the Grand Rapids, MI area please
pass along their contact info ASAP.
4.Write Marie! Mail will be a life line for her during these troubling times.
Its all about the Struggle,
Got Your Back
Friends of Marie Mason
P.O. Box 19065
Cincinnati, OH 45219
freemarie@riseup.net
First we want to thank you for expressing interest in supporting recently
arrested Eco defense organizer Marie Mason. Below you will find the an overview
of what we know as well as the latest updates about Marie's case and current
situation and ways you can help support Marie. If you wish to be removed from
this list drop us a line.
Send Marie your letters of support!
MARIE MASON #134001
Butler County Sheriff's Office & Correctional Complex
705 Hanover Street
Hamilton, Ohio 45011
If you send Marie a letter and it gets returned to you, please let us know
about it so we can add any other restrictions to the guideline list. When
writing please use your common sense; don't write about anything that is
likely to get a prisoner in trouble in any way. Avoid discussing any
details of her case and/or any potential charges against her.
Please do NOT send in any books/zines to Marie yet. We are in the process
of getting a system going for her to receive books. If you would like her
to receive books we would prefer you donate money. We will be releasing a
list of books Marie would like in the very near future.
When writing Marie, Do NOT ever write "legal mail" or anything implying
that you are an attorney unless you are.
Complete jail mail rules can be found
http://www.butlersheriff.org/divisions/corrections/corrections_inmate_info.htm
UPDATE
We were able to briefly speak with Marie Monday night (3/10/08) and that is
when we found out she was in the Butler County Jail and was promptly placed on
suicide watch on arrival. We were able to assure her that her daughter was safe
(her 16 year daughter was at Marie's home when the FBI, Homeland Security, and
local Police served a search warrant and detained her for over an hour), that
her pets were being looked after and several other personal affairs would be
attended to.
Several of us drove to the Butler County jail the next day (3/10/08) with the
intention of putting money in Marie's commissary account. Apparently prisoners
with the first letter of their last name k-z can only get visitors Thursdays
and Sundays. To make things more difficult the prisoner must add visitors names
to a pre-approval list prior to the visit and prisoners are only able to update
their visitors list once every 30 days. We quickly wrote Marie a letter
detailing all this and that we had deposited funds into her commissary account
as well as a list of friends #s she can call collect at any time and dropped it
off at the post office a few blocks from the jail in hopes she would get the
letter before visiting day.
We got a call from Marie's Mother (3/12/08) today who had received a collect
call from Marie. Marie told her that she needed funds to obtain vegan food as
well socks and basic toiletries in prison. She asked her mother to contact us
to and request we put money in her jail commissary account. This news was
frustrating to us as we had already driven up to the Butler County Jail and
deposited ample money in her account and was told she would be given a receipt
of its deposit detailing her current balance and she would have access to it by
3pm of the day of deposit. Since we have not heard from her since Monday we
assume she has not gotten our letter with all the contacts yet and that as of
2pm today had not been given access to the funds we placed in her commissary
account. The last thing we want is Marie to feel alone during all this. We will
be driving up to the Butler County jail tomorrow in hopes of seeing her and at
the least depositing more money into her commissary account. We will keep
everyone posted.
How you can help
1. We are currently collecting funds for Marie's legal defense. One lawyer told
us it will likely cost between $20,000 - $60,000 to represent a case like
this. Its important we begin our fund raising immediately. We are in the
process of setting up a website (freemarie.org coming soon) where folks will be
able to use PayPal to donate direct but until then ask folks to send funds in
the form of a check or money order made out to “Books for Prisoners”.
Please put in the notes section Marie and/or include a letter detailing that
the enclosed funds are for Marie Masons defense.
We are grateful to have been contacted by an anonymous donor who will match
dollar for dollar up to $1000 for Marie's legal defense fund. This offer is
good up until April 15.
2.We are looking for artists who are willing to donate their talent and time to
the cause.
3. If you know of any activist attorneys in the Grand Rapids, MI area please
pass along their contact info ASAP.
4.Write Marie! Mail will be a life line for her during these troubling times.
Its all about the Struggle,
Got Your Back
Friends of Marie Mason
P.O. Box 19065
Cincinnati, OH 45219
freemarie@riseup.net
Thursday, March 13, 2008
can't see the forest for the pavement
At my daughter's gym class today, a woman said (with disgust), "Those environmentalists! We can't even use our natural resources thanks to them." I didn't have anything to say to that, but we needed to leave anyway to catch our bus. I assume she was referring to gas prices, which are about $3.45 a gallon here in the flat land of corn to be.
And to switch gears, I should warn you: spoilers ahead! I am still reading books by Kim Stanley Robinson, specifically the D.C. series. In the first book called Forty Signs of Rain, you meet the cast of characters, people in offices, in labs, in government, doing what they can to change laws to avert drastic climate change. This book was written in 2004, and I think it is supposed to take place in the near future. We get in touch with how frustrating it must be to be a scientist or a bureaucrat, and knowing what the future may bring, and unable to change it. I know how frustrating it is to be an average citizen, blissfully unaware of what I do not know. At the end of the book, Washington, D.C. is inundated with something like Hurricane Katrina--massive rain, high tides, hurricane moving up the coast. This book was written before Katrina happened, but he has a good synopsis of what could happen.
The second book of his trilogy is called Fifty Degrees Below. Oops, the gulf stream has stalled, and the president and his cronies are still denying global warming exists. People are still in committees, still trying to pass laws, and whaddyaknow, the winter turns out to be about 30 degrees below "normal" winter temps. Weather disasters abound. I'm still in the middle of this book, but I have been so pleased reading it. I feel like I'm in this weird time warp, because some of the ecological nightmares he imagines have happened since he wrote the book a few years ago. Some are yet to come. But, yeah, I can see, if the gulf stream ever stopped, the president would still be denying it, and life would go on as normal as it could, until...
There were a few parts in the book I specifically had to share, and the first is about economics: "The economists should be trying to invent an honest accounting system that doesn't keep exteriorizing costs. When you exteriorize costs onto future generations you can make any damn thing profitable, but it isn't really true. I warn you, this will be one of the hardest things we might try. Economics is incorrigible. They call it the dismal science but actually it's the happy religion." And if you've ever debated an economist, you have heard the objection of Externalities!!! But, really.
I'm a big fan of permaculture. I think permaculture just makes common sense. In the book, there's a Democrat running for president, and he's at the (ice free) north pole, and announces his candidacy, and says: "So we have to grow up. If we were to turn into just another imperial bully and idiot, the story of history would be ruined, its best hope dashed. We have to give up the bad, give back the good. FDR described what was needed from American very aptly, in a time just as dangerous as ours: he called for a course of 'bold and persistent experimentation.' That's what I plan to do also. No more empire, no more head in the sand pretending things are okay while a few rich guys wreck everything. It's time to join the effort to invent a global civilization that we can hand off to all the children and say, 'This will work, keep it going, make it better.' That's permaculture, as some people call it, and really now we have no choice; it's either permaculture or catastrophe. Let's choose the good fight, and work so that each generation can hand to the next one the livelihood we are given by this beautiful world." Yeah, well, if I ever heard a real candidate for president say something like this, I'd probably pass out! I see no major presidential candidate has said anything substantial about climate change, and no one has even promised to end the war in Iraq that has been waged for half my life (I watched the invasion 17 years ago on tv in the electronics department when I worked at Wal-Mart). Not that electing anyone will make a dent in solving any climate problems, but it was fun to read and imagine!
I'm not a fan of bureaucracy, so it was fun to read of a scientist collecting the names and ideas of any group working to mitigate climate change: "Anna had waved a whole sheaf of lists in her hand, not appalled or angry like Frank had been, more astonished than anything. 'There's so much information out there. And so many organizations!'
'What does it all mean?' Frank had said. 'Is it a form of paralysis, a way of pretending?'
Anna nodded. 'We know, but we can't act.'"
And lastly, I liked that one of the characters (a middle-aged man) had read the Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and declared it the best book ever. Of course, living through a winter of temperatures thirty degrees below normal might make you appreciate something like that.
---
An aside to explain climate change, and sorry if this is old news to some of you. I had the fortune of attending a talk by a climate expert for our local museum, who explained it very clearly. There is a river in the ocean that circulates cool and warm water mostly in the Atlantic and Indian oceans called the gulf stream. It brings warm water up from the Caribbean, and goes up to northern Europe, where it sinks to the bottom of the ocean and becomes cold, and then circulates around Africa, almost to the Pacific, where it warms, and then rises and then comes back to the Caribbean. This gulf stream keeps northern Europe warmer than it should be, given its latitude.
So, now we're in the age of global warming, and what does that have to do with anything? The ice caps at the poles reflects light and heat, but as the world is warming, the ice is melting and calving, and more heat is absorbed, and more ice melts. This cold fresh water is pouring down into the north Atlantic ocean, where it is presumed that one day there will be enough cold unsalty water to shut down the gulf stream. This has happened many times before, resulting in an ice age. If the gulf stream gets shut down, northern Europe and north America will be colder, allowing the water that now makes up the great lakes to freeze, allowing our general climate to be cold, allowing glaciers to grow, and voila, ice age! As you can imagine, it might cause quite a consternation if suddenly rich white people were flocking to poor warm countries in an effort to stay alive. You might also imagine how hard it will be to feed 6.something billion people when we don't have nearly the land mass to grow food. Add to that a population that is still growing, and a grain production that has plateaued.
And this is all terribly depressing, right? Depressing for us if it happens in our lifetimes, awful to think of our children and grandchildren living through it. But really, the future depends on us, which makes it not depressing at all. If we want to mitigate climate change, we need to examine our own choices, be responsible for our own waste and consumption. It is relevant. We can also chuck those anti-depressants that don't do anything anyway except enrich pharmaceutical companies, and go on our own vision quests, have fellowship with our communities. It's up to each of us, and I don't think of that as depressing at all, but terribly, awfully exciting!!! Way more exciting and relevant than voting.
love to all my friends far away,
sharqi
And to switch gears, I should warn you: spoilers ahead! I am still reading books by Kim Stanley Robinson, specifically the D.C. series. In the first book called Forty Signs of Rain, you meet the cast of characters, people in offices, in labs, in government, doing what they can to change laws to avert drastic climate change. This book was written in 2004, and I think it is supposed to take place in the near future. We get in touch with how frustrating it must be to be a scientist or a bureaucrat, and knowing what the future may bring, and unable to change it. I know how frustrating it is to be an average citizen, blissfully unaware of what I do not know. At the end of the book, Washington, D.C. is inundated with something like Hurricane Katrina--massive rain, high tides, hurricane moving up the coast. This book was written before Katrina happened, but he has a good synopsis of what could happen.
The second book of his trilogy is called Fifty Degrees Below. Oops, the gulf stream has stalled, and the president and his cronies are still denying global warming exists. People are still in committees, still trying to pass laws, and whaddyaknow, the winter turns out to be about 30 degrees below "normal" winter temps. Weather disasters abound. I'm still in the middle of this book, but I have been so pleased reading it. I feel like I'm in this weird time warp, because some of the ecological nightmares he imagines have happened since he wrote the book a few years ago. Some are yet to come. But, yeah, I can see, if the gulf stream ever stopped, the president would still be denying it, and life would go on as normal as it could, until...
There were a few parts in the book I specifically had to share, and the first is about economics: "The economists should be trying to invent an honest accounting system that doesn't keep exteriorizing costs. When you exteriorize costs onto future generations you can make any damn thing profitable, but it isn't really true. I warn you, this will be one of the hardest things we might try. Economics is incorrigible. They call it the dismal science but actually it's the happy religion." And if you've ever debated an economist, you have heard the objection of Externalities!!! But, really.
I'm a big fan of permaculture. I think permaculture just makes common sense. In the book, there's a Democrat running for president, and he's at the (ice free) north pole, and announces his candidacy, and says: "So we have to grow up. If we were to turn into just another imperial bully and idiot, the story of history would be ruined, its best hope dashed. We have to give up the bad, give back the good. FDR described what was needed from American very aptly, in a time just as dangerous as ours: he called for a course of 'bold and persistent experimentation.' That's what I plan to do also. No more empire, no more head in the sand pretending things are okay while a few rich guys wreck everything. It's time to join the effort to invent a global civilization that we can hand off to all the children and say, 'This will work, keep it going, make it better.' That's permaculture, as some people call it, and really now we have no choice; it's either permaculture or catastrophe. Let's choose the good fight, and work so that each generation can hand to the next one the livelihood we are given by this beautiful world." Yeah, well, if I ever heard a real candidate for president say something like this, I'd probably pass out! I see no major presidential candidate has said anything substantial about climate change, and no one has even promised to end the war in Iraq that has been waged for half my life (I watched the invasion 17 years ago on tv in the electronics department when I worked at Wal-Mart). Not that electing anyone will make a dent in solving any climate problems, but it was fun to read and imagine!
I'm not a fan of bureaucracy, so it was fun to read of a scientist collecting the names and ideas of any group working to mitigate climate change: "Anna had waved a whole sheaf of lists in her hand, not appalled or angry like Frank had been, more astonished than anything. 'There's so much information out there. And so many organizations!'
'What does it all mean?' Frank had said. 'Is it a form of paralysis, a way of pretending?'
Anna nodded. 'We know, but we can't act.'"
And lastly, I liked that one of the characters (a middle-aged man) had read the Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and declared it the best book ever. Of course, living through a winter of temperatures thirty degrees below normal might make you appreciate something like that.
---
An aside to explain climate change, and sorry if this is old news to some of you. I had the fortune of attending a talk by a climate expert for our local museum, who explained it very clearly. There is a river in the ocean that circulates cool and warm water mostly in the Atlantic and Indian oceans called the gulf stream. It brings warm water up from the Caribbean, and goes up to northern Europe, where it sinks to the bottom of the ocean and becomes cold, and then circulates around Africa, almost to the Pacific, where it warms, and then rises and then comes back to the Caribbean. This gulf stream keeps northern Europe warmer than it should be, given its latitude.
So, now we're in the age of global warming, and what does that have to do with anything? The ice caps at the poles reflects light and heat, but as the world is warming, the ice is melting and calving, and more heat is absorbed, and more ice melts. This cold fresh water is pouring down into the north Atlantic ocean, where it is presumed that one day there will be enough cold unsalty water to shut down the gulf stream. This has happened many times before, resulting in an ice age. If the gulf stream gets shut down, northern Europe and north America will be colder, allowing the water that now makes up the great lakes to freeze, allowing our general climate to be cold, allowing glaciers to grow, and voila, ice age! As you can imagine, it might cause quite a consternation if suddenly rich white people were flocking to poor warm countries in an effort to stay alive. You might also imagine how hard it will be to feed 6.something billion people when we don't have nearly the land mass to grow food. Add to that a population that is still growing, and a grain production that has plateaued.
And this is all terribly depressing, right? Depressing for us if it happens in our lifetimes, awful to think of our children and grandchildren living through it. But really, the future depends on us, which makes it not depressing at all. If we want to mitigate climate change, we need to examine our own choices, be responsible for our own waste and consumption. It is relevant. We can also chuck those anti-depressants that don't do anything anyway except enrich pharmaceutical companies, and go on our own vision quests, have fellowship with our communities. It's up to each of us, and I don't think of that as depressing at all, but terribly, awfully exciting!!! Way more exciting and relevant than voting.
love to all my friends far away,
sharqi
Monday, March 10, 2008
Food To Be Harder To Get. Or Maybe Easier.
Yikes.
Food is rapidly becoming more expensive. Like, even for spoiled Americans. Becoming unspoiled could be unpleasant. Or it could just mean more fresh local wild chaos food.
I heard about a greenhouse operation in Milwaukee, Wisc., where they lay down a lot of active wormy compost, lay down some finished compost on top, and plant in that. The active compost underneath helps warm everything. Big piles of compost in the corners also warm it up. Worms everywhere. No other power or heat source.
Food is rapidly becoming more expensive. Like, even for spoiled Americans. Becoming unspoiled could be unpleasant. Or it could just mean more fresh local wild chaos food.
I heard about a greenhouse operation in Milwaukee, Wisc., where they lay down a lot of active wormy compost, lay down some finished compost on top, and plant in that. The active compost underneath helps warm everything. Big piles of compost in the corners also warm it up. Worms everywhere. No other power or heat source.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
getting back into writing can take all night
I respond to this fellow underneath his short topic post:
Anthony H
View profile
More options Mar 6, 6:42 am
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/04/AR200...
I am writing an email to the folks at earthliberationfront.com
i...@earthliberationfront.com
If you care about liberty and freedom in this country I suggest you do the same.
Explain to them "pressure from above and below" explained by Colonel Edward Mandell House in his book Philip Drew: Administrator or another term known as "problem reaction solution"
We all know how the establishment use these attacks and crisis to further their police state big government agenda. These folks are well meaning but all their actions do is fuel the other side. More of our rights will be destroyed because of events like this.
"All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order." ---David Rockefeller
---------------------------------
Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.
Reply Reply to author Forward Rate this post:
werebr...@riseup.net
View profile
More options Mar 8, 4:36 am
What an excellent discussion topic! Looking ahead from Highschool, who
would have thought I'd be dining with the conspiracy theorists this
winter? I'm glad to be part of your community, and to whom and how do
I give money for flyin' that airplane banner?
Anyway, looking at
"We all know how the establishment use these attacks and crisis to
further their police state big government agenda."
I completely disagree with your opinion of the ramifications of this
ELF action. I'm going to argue that the tentative theme of your
upcoming letter is unwise; your time is better spent on other
projects. I write to you as someone whose personal history includes
anguish at seeing my favorite greenspace in Northern Kentucky
destroyed for development. I've thought about the ELF a fair bit, and
have a different perspective from yours that I'd like to share with
the group.
The ELF does not deserve to be blamed for giving ammo to Big Brother,
because Big Brother makes all his own ammo! Evil is as evil does. So
while sure, yeah, BB might use this ELF action on Fox News to make
McMansioners shake their heads in self-righteous consumer smug
assuredy, it's not the ELF's fault. When Big Brother needs an
increasing amount of fuel for his big, fiery LIE to keeps his iron
manacles hot (and he always does), than he reaches out and just tries
to take it. The current big obvious example is how he's ordering the
American economy into more than a trillion dollars of debt for fuel
oil, by haphazardly occupying what's left of the dessertified Fertile
Crescent and turning it into something out of Dante.
With that kind of psychological, unlimited need for power and the will
to chase it no matter the costs, why say that the ELF's arson is
adding fuel to its fire? Nothing we do except grovel, slave and die
gives any satisfaction to this faux-Illuminati scum! The ELF is an
element in the same system this Big Brother operates in, so naturally
they have a relationship- same as we all have relationships with each
other- but the relationship is decidedly antagonistic, not
synergistic. I'm not gonna go into that, because other people have
done an excellent job. For a superb story of how people used non-
violent ecotage to effectively smother BB's fire in the '90's in
Britain, read http://www.eco-action.org/dod/no10/empire.htm. It
changed the way I look at the world.
I've established that the ELF is not responsible for Big Brother's
oppression because oppress is what BB tries to do, no matter what we
choose to do or not do. So, what harm is there in the ELF's ecotage?
The only harm I can think of is that a) it's illegal and people should
NEVER do illegal things, (sarcasm) b) there's arguably some hazard of
smoke inhalation to Seattle's denizens, to the limited extent that the
smoke reduces already compromised urban air quality. This is a small
price to pay for anything, relative to anything. Compare to the
emissions one meat-eating car driver is irresponsible for in a year,
it's probably peanuts. If you choose to invalidate their actions by
thinking them juvenile, consider that they might have been juveniles
and idealistic is how juveniles are supposed to act. Speaking of
youngsters, if this civilization, this bastard son of Gaia,
meaningfully makes it off the planet than I hope somebody else (maybe
the Greys?) shoots it dead. That's neither here nor there, though.
Is there any good coming from this latest ELF action? I suggest you
choose to be inspired by them instead of thinking they're well-
intentioned dumbasses. If you're inspired, than they're accomplishing
much of what they set out to do. A lot of Sierra Club people would
have no heart to participate in bureaucracy, if they didn't think
there were folk who were passionately acting on their Deep Ecology.
But following your own inner, guiding stars is courageous and probably
seems absurdly romantic to a lot of environmentalists. After all,
putting one's despairing soul under the ELF banner comes at a
tremendous risk of self-sacrifice in prison. But if you try and see
it from their angle (though I'm not suggesting anybody walk a mile in
their shoes), what the ELF does takes a lot of compassion for
humanity.
Do you see a problem of approaching environmental oblivion? You
probably do, and so you're already in their ballpark. Who is taking
the problem seriously enough to radically alter the unfolding of world
events and avert future devastation? It seems like almost noone else
is seriously considering HOW to get us through this, so you
hypothetically might start to think you're responsible for the weight
of our collective sins because if you're not, who will be? What do you
do?! The signature ELF answer is torching McMansions and other gross
despoliations to symbolically say that, heavens no, we are not gonna
let these gobsalves carry us all to hell. Not to praise them too much,
but to put yourself on the line for arson but rule out killing the
owners of those "green" McMansions and making an example of them like
AK-toting Jihadists do, when they have public American G.I.'s
beheaded, this takes a lot of compassion. The Viet Cong tortured and
died by the millions and suicided and abandoned individual identity,
until even the American Leviathan had to go back to the drawing board
and opt to let Ho Chi Mihn have a go- and yet people with the same
radical understanding of how bad things can get, the same drive and
willingness to self-sacrifice, plus a vision of how good things can
be, these elves foreswear any significant personal violence against
our fellow humans. Who does this remind you of?
The Roman Governor Pilate had similarly mythical, non-violent,
revolutionary Jesus Christ (JC) killed a long time ago. Not that I'm a
scripture buff, but to paraphrase Matt. 21:12, JC went into the Temple
and famously disrupted the operations of international bankers' who
were sacrilegiously conducting capitalist commerce in the one place
you're supposed to be able to completely get away from that shit.
First the Pharisees dismissed this as foolishness, buts as legend has
it they eventually saw that he was popular and talked shit about him,
and then they agitated for him to die. Their Temple got destroyed and
Jesus' cult spread so quick that it eventually had to be co-opted to
be contained. Some people twist what he did into supposed
justification for fascism (because they're evil fucktards,
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/4/4/202358/4778), but some people
are still tremendously inspired and uplifted by him today, even though
historians don't even agree that he existed. Was that mythic hero
responsible for the repression he suffered? I'd argue that's not an
important part of his myth, and if you focus on that you be missing a
lot of the good stuff. It's natural that the Romans saw him as a
credible threat to their consolidated power, because if everyone
started feeling the contagious motivation to act on their love for one
another, as strongly as the central figure of America's dominant
religion did, then soon that Empire would have been turned on its
head. Maybe we wouldn't have spent so much of the last two millennia
turning Earth into Hell. We can take heart now, regardless of past
errors, and spread the good word with 9/11 Truth.
HOW YOU MIGHT DO INSTEAD OF LOBBYING A MYTHICAL ELF
"There has got to be a better way for us all. It's a challenge, but
we're human. We have big brains and we can use them. Changing seems to
be a key. If we keep doing the same things as previous generations,
what are the odds that we'll wander out of the black iron prison that
is also the cave of treasures? Either way you look at it, we're
trapped. But we can smell the paradise outside the prison walls. We
know there has to be a way out."
-Sharqi
Next time I write my ELF pen pal in federal prison (check out
http://www.spiritoffreedom.org.uk/addresses.html for addresses of such
folk that sorely need loving attention) I'm going to point out that
targeting slightly eco-friendly, hypocritical luxury housing actually
IS terrorism, since it scares people, though I imagine he'll counter
that shock value is helpful in waking people up. I might also argue
that it's a drop in the bucket and can't put out the really real fire
that's torching the revolutionary, Enlightenment ideals that you can
see half-heartedly put into practice in the origin myths of this
country. He will probably counter that the Constitution got torched
before it was half-written and that America has been fish shit from
the beginning, to which I might counter that as more and more of us go
for technologically informed, permaculture gardening lifestyles, we
are able to use the antiquated apparatus of oppression that he
described as "fish shit" for spare parts and fertilizer for a truly
new world order. Let's finish out the Eon of Pisces not with a
(nuclear?) bang, but a whimper- a collective moan of pleasure! Then
he'll say "Well of course, that's probably what I'm gonna do when I
get out of prison in a million gazillion years."
If somebody wants to be the change like Jesus or the ELF there are a
lot of ways I see people doing it. Go all the way with alternative
renewable energy, and adopt a raw food diet sourcing only from local
farmers, and live in a home that pays more than lip service to being
natural. If you're in Cincinnati, go take Braden Trauth's upcoming
Permaculture Design Course, or at least come to what's surely going to
be an amazingly enlightening, free introductory seminar (http://
www.civicgardencenter.org/HTML/Education.html). Come participate in
Name: THE REALLY FREE MOBILE MARKET
Tagline: obliterate capitalism through generosity !!!
Host: meg sommer & friends
Type: Causes - Rally
Time and Place
Date: Saturday, March 15, 2008
Time: 12:00pm - 3:00pm
Location: fountain square !!!
City/Town: Cincinnati, OH
Contact Info
Email: iambu...@yahoo.com
Description
it's a market that operates on principles of gift-giving !!!
this saturday and every second saturday of the month.
fountain square !!!
bring a basket full of clothes to give a way
bring a wheelbarrow full of books to share
bring a tray of sandwiches for anyone and everyone.
bring something or bring nothing.
take everything or take one thing.
it's just about free. no trades. free everything.
come come come !!!
(( you don't have to bring anything, but you can !!! ))
more info:
http://www.crimethinc.com/texts/atoz/reallyreally.php
Hope to see you there!
I think I made my point, but to finish off: please, Anthony, don't
bother the revolutionaries with negative-Nancy nay saying. If you want
to contact the ELF, hit up its fallen warriors and show 'em some love
and solidarity. If you establish a repoire with 'em, you might have an
opportunity for dialogue. A warning to everybody: don't overly
identify with targeted hypocrites who are making a bunch of money in
the death-dealing rat race to buy a humongous greenwahsed luxury
house. You're better people than they are and they deserve your
compassion, not your adoration. Their co-opting of the good, green
ideas for ignoble, half-assed solutions (http://gristmill.grist.org/
story/2008/3/4/161419/8700#comment4) to our humongous problems is
exactly the kind of behavior what's gotten us in trouble. -Badger
Anthony H
View profile
More options Mar 6, 6:42 am
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/04/AR200...
I am writing an email to the folks at earthliberationfront.com
i...@earthliberationfront.com
If you care about liberty and freedom in this country I suggest you do the same.
Explain to them "pressure from above and below" explained by Colonel Edward Mandell House in his book Philip Drew: Administrator or another term known as "problem reaction solution"
We all know how the establishment use these attacks and crisis to further their police state big government agenda. These folks are well meaning but all their actions do is fuel the other side. More of our rights will be destroyed because of events like this.
"All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order." ---David Rockefeller
---------------------------------
Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.
Reply Reply to author Forward Rate this post:
werebr...@riseup.net
View profile
More options Mar 8, 4:36 am
What an excellent discussion topic! Looking ahead from Highschool, who
would have thought I'd be dining with the conspiracy theorists this
winter? I'm glad to be part of your community, and to whom and how do
I give money for flyin' that airplane banner?
Anyway, looking at
"We all know how the establishment use these attacks and crisis to
further their police state big government agenda."
I completely disagree with your opinion of the ramifications of this
ELF action. I'm going to argue that the tentative theme of your
upcoming letter is unwise; your time is better spent on other
projects. I write to you as someone whose personal history includes
anguish at seeing my favorite greenspace in Northern Kentucky
destroyed for development. I've thought about the ELF a fair bit, and
have a different perspective from yours that I'd like to share with
the group.
The ELF does not deserve to be blamed for giving ammo to Big Brother,
because Big Brother makes all his own ammo! Evil is as evil does. So
while sure, yeah, BB might use this ELF action on Fox News to make
McMansioners shake their heads in self-righteous consumer smug
assuredy, it's not the ELF's fault. When Big Brother needs an
increasing amount of fuel for his big, fiery LIE to keeps his iron
manacles hot (and he always does), than he reaches out and just tries
to take it. The current big obvious example is how he's ordering the
American economy into more than a trillion dollars of debt for fuel
oil, by haphazardly occupying what's left of the dessertified Fertile
Crescent and turning it into something out of Dante.
With that kind of psychological, unlimited need for power and the will
to chase it no matter the costs, why say that the ELF's arson is
adding fuel to its fire? Nothing we do except grovel, slave and die
gives any satisfaction to this faux-Illuminati scum! The ELF is an
element in the same system this Big Brother operates in, so naturally
they have a relationship- same as we all have relationships with each
other- but the relationship is decidedly antagonistic, not
synergistic. I'm not gonna go into that, because other people have
done an excellent job. For a superb story of how people used non-
violent ecotage to effectively smother BB's fire in the '90's in
Britain, read http://www.eco-action.org/dod/no10/empire.htm. It
changed the way I look at the world.
I've established that the ELF is not responsible for Big Brother's
oppression because oppress is what BB tries to do, no matter what we
choose to do or not do. So, what harm is there in the ELF's ecotage?
The only harm I can think of is that a) it's illegal and people should
NEVER do illegal things, (sarcasm) b) there's arguably some hazard of
smoke inhalation to Seattle's denizens, to the limited extent that the
smoke reduces already compromised urban air quality. This is a small
price to pay for anything, relative to anything. Compare to the
emissions one meat-eating car driver is irresponsible for in a year,
it's probably peanuts. If you choose to invalidate their actions by
thinking them juvenile, consider that they might have been juveniles
and idealistic is how juveniles are supposed to act. Speaking of
youngsters, if this civilization, this bastard son of Gaia,
meaningfully makes it off the planet than I hope somebody else (maybe
the Greys?) shoots it dead. That's neither here nor there, though.
Is there any good coming from this latest ELF action? I suggest you
choose to be inspired by them instead of thinking they're well-
intentioned dumbasses. If you're inspired, than they're accomplishing
much of what they set out to do. A lot of Sierra Club people would
have no heart to participate in bureaucracy, if they didn't think
there were folk who were passionately acting on their Deep Ecology.
But following your own inner, guiding stars is courageous and probably
seems absurdly romantic to a lot of environmentalists. After all,
putting one's despairing soul under the ELF banner comes at a
tremendous risk of self-sacrifice in prison. But if you try and see
it from their angle (though I'm not suggesting anybody walk a mile in
their shoes), what the ELF does takes a lot of compassion for
humanity.
Do you see a problem of approaching environmental oblivion? You
probably do, and so you're already in their ballpark. Who is taking
the problem seriously enough to radically alter the unfolding of world
events and avert future devastation? It seems like almost noone else
is seriously considering HOW to get us through this, so you
hypothetically might start to think you're responsible for the weight
of our collective sins because if you're not, who will be? What do you
do?! The signature ELF answer is torching McMansions and other gross
despoliations to symbolically say that, heavens no, we are not gonna
let these gobsalves carry us all to hell. Not to praise them too much,
but to put yourself on the line for arson but rule out killing the
owners of those "green" McMansions and making an example of them like
AK-toting Jihadists do, when they have public American G.I.'s
beheaded, this takes a lot of compassion. The Viet Cong tortured and
died by the millions and suicided and abandoned individual identity,
until even the American Leviathan had to go back to the drawing board
and opt to let Ho Chi Mihn have a go- and yet people with the same
radical understanding of how bad things can get, the same drive and
willingness to self-sacrifice, plus a vision of how good things can
be, these elves foreswear any significant personal violence against
our fellow humans. Who does this remind you of?
The Roman Governor Pilate had similarly mythical, non-violent,
revolutionary Jesus Christ (JC) killed a long time ago. Not that I'm a
scripture buff, but to paraphrase Matt. 21:12, JC went into the Temple
and famously disrupted the operations of international bankers' who
were sacrilegiously conducting capitalist commerce in the one place
you're supposed to be able to completely get away from that shit.
First the Pharisees dismissed this as foolishness, buts as legend has
it they eventually saw that he was popular and talked shit about him,
and then they agitated for him to die. Their Temple got destroyed and
Jesus' cult spread so quick that it eventually had to be co-opted to
be contained. Some people twist what he did into supposed
justification for fascism (because they're evil fucktards,
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/4/4/202358/4778), but some people
are still tremendously inspired and uplifted by him today, even though
historians don't even agree that he existed. Was that mythic hero
responsible for the repression he suffered? I'd argue that's not an
important part of his myth, and if you focus on that you be missing a
lot of the good stuff. It's natural that the Romans saw him as a
credible threat to their consolidated power, because if everyone
started feeling the contagious motivation to act on their love for one
another, as strongly as the central figure of America's dominant
religion did, then soon that Empire would have been turned on its
head. Maybe we wouldn't have spent so much of the last two millennia
turning Earth into Hell. We can take heart now, regardless of past
errors, and spread the good word with 9/11 Truth.
HOW YOU MIGHT DO INSTEAD OF LOBBYING A MYTHICAL ELF
"There has got to be a better way for us all. It's a challenge, but
we're human. We have big brains and we can use them. Changing seems to
be a key. If we keep doing the same things as previous generations,
what are the odds that we'll wander out of the black iron prison that
is also the cave of treasures? Either way you look at it, we're
trapped. But we can smell the paradise outside the prison walls. We
know there has to be a way out."
-Sharqi
Next time I write my ELF pen pal in federal prison (check out
http://www.spiritoffreedom.org.uk/addresses.html for addresses of such
folk that sorely need loving attention) I'm going to point out that
targeting slightly eco-friendly, hypocritical luxury housing actually
IS terrorism, since it scares people, though I imagine he'll counter
that shock value is helpful in waking people up. I might also argue
that it's a drop in the bucket and can't put out the really real fire
that's torching the revolutionary, Enlightenment ideals that you can
see half-heartedly put into practice in the origin myths of this
country. He will probably counter that the Constitution got torched
before it was half-written and that America has been fish shit from
the beginning, to which I might counter that as more and more of us go
for technologically informed, permaculture gardening lifestyles, we
are able to use the antiquated apparatus of oppression that he
described as "fish shit" for spare parts and fertilizer for a truly
new world order. Let's finish out the Eon of Pisces not with a
(nuclear?) bang, but a whimper- a collective moan of pleasure! Then
he'll say "Well of course, that's probably what I'm gonna do when I
get out of prison in a million gazillion years."
If somebody wants to be the change like Jesus or the ELF there are a
lot of ways I see people doing it. Go all the way with alternative
renewable energy, and adopt a raw food diet sourcing only from local
farmers, and live in a home that pays more than lip service to being
natural. If you're in Cincinnati, go take Braden Trauth's upcoming
Permaculture Design Course, or at least come to what's surely going to
be an amazingly enlightening, free introductory seminar (http://
www.civicgardencenter.org/HTML/Education.html). Come participate in
Name: THE REALLY FREE MOBILE MARKET
Tagline: obliterate capitalism through generosity !!!
Host: meg sommer & friends
Type: Causes - Rally
Time and Place
Date: Saturday, March 15, 2008
Time: 12:00pm - 3:00pm
Location: fountain square !!!
City/Town: Cincinnati, OH
Contact Info
Email: iambu...@yahoo.com
Description
it's a market that operates on principles of gift-giving !!!
this saturday and every second saturday of the month.
fountain square !!!
bring a basket full of clothes to give a way
bring a wheelbarrow full of books to share
bring a tray of sandwiches for anyone and everyone.
bring something or bring nothing.
take everything or take one thing.
it's just about free. no trades. free everything.
come come come !!!
(( you don't have to bring anything, but you can !!! ))
more info:
http://www.crimethinc.com/texts/atoz/reallyreally.php
Hope to see you there!
I think I made my point, but to finish off: please, Anthony, don't
bother the revolutionaries with negative-Nancy nay saying. If you want
to contact the ELF, hit up its fallen warriors and show 'em some love
and solidarity. If you establish a repoire with 'em, you might have an
opportunity for dialogue. A warning to everybody: don't overly
identify with targeted hypocrites who are making a bunch of money in
the death-dealing rat race to buy a humongous greenwahsed luxury
house. You're better people than they are and they deserve your
compassion, not your adoration. Their co-opting of the good, green
ideas for ignoble, half-assed solutions (http://gristmill.grist.org/
story/2008/3/4/161419/8700#comment4) to our humongous problems is
exactly the kind of behavior what's gotten us in trouble. -Badger
Saturday, March 01, 2008
the years of rice and salt
This is a book I read, that Hakim is reading now, by Kim Stanley Robinson. Love history, sci fi, and feel an overwhelming need to change your self and the world? You will enjoy this book, and 600 pages will not be enough. The premise is that Europe's population has been wiped out by plague. The rest of the world keeps happening, and in a much different way than white people taking over everything. The characters are a band of souls, inhabiting different but same characters though a journey of reincarnation, learning and changing, always attempting to live life to the fullest, and giving the human spirit a lift from civilization's never-ending oppression.
I went to a small school, and my knowledge of world history, excluding Europe and America is scant. I felt like I learned a lot, even if much of it didn't happen. The book is definitely plausible, and because it brings up the same themes of this life in this time, it also provides for a lot of brain-poking questions. What are the keys out of the black iron prison? Passion, bravery, love, care, nurturing, knowledge, experimentation, slyness, being true to one's self...
We are illuminating the walls and trying to find what we are seeking: our escape into the world we know is possible. I am sure many of us can feel it in our bones. There has got to be a better way for us all. It's a challenge, but we're human. We have big brains and we can use them. Changing seems to be a key. If we keep doing the same things as previous generations, what are the odds that we'll wander out of the black iron prison that is also the cave of treasures? Either way you look at it, we're trapped. But we can smell the paradise outside the prison walls. We know there has to be a way out. But I am getting very off-topic from discussing the book.
If you have read The Culture of Make Believe by Derrick Jensen, you will recognize it in this book, as it catalogs civilization's wars, and all the cruelty and depravity they engender. It is simply history. I also was reminded of Fredy Perlman's Against His-Story, Against Leviathan, in that it was a history of some of the same places in the same times, and the themes show a cycle of war, suffering, empires rising and falling, which also is simply history. Not that this book is anything like those, but you will see some of the same themes.
I think I recognized my friends in the characters in this book--the magicians, the jesters, the sly foxes, the lovers, the mothers, the warriors, the engineers, the healers, the wise women and men. Did I forget anyone? I have always felt like an underdog, living life against the odds. My own mother will tell you that I have a really rotten birth star chart and it's no wonder I'm not a raving success. When I was a kid, I always rooted for the Indians to shoot John Wayne, and that was before I found out I'm only about 90% white. This book was written for me, for all of us who find ourselves at the bottom of the pyramid, wandering around and thinking there's got to be a better way, while rowing the galleys of MacDonalds and getting coffees and credit cards, watching tv when we get home because we're too tired to think about it, likewise for our fast non-nutritious food.
There is a better way, many of them. There are so many paths, I can't even begin to tell you of them. Actually, I can only see my own fairly clearly, and it has something to do with throwing of the shackles of not good enough, something to do with nourishing my body with nutritious food, laughing heartily, and caring a whole lot, sharing my everything with everyone I love. I still reside in the black iron prison, but I can see the garden popping up here and there. Fractals! as my daughter would say. There's the rise and fall of empires, bell curves of empires, empires of civilization. And here's the big 10,000 year long bell curve of civilization that is skidding down on wars, their technology, and our ignorance in killing off our host.
It's not going back, but forward, on the path that will take us into...something so beautiful maybe we'll never be able to name it.
Yesterday's quote from the zomban calendar, from February 29:
When the day comes that the sky is emptied of stars, and the sun is black, and the distraught winds have only the void for their lament, I am sure that somewhere [people] will be merry together, somewhere good hearts will greet good hearts and somewhere our dreams of unbroken love and good talk and laughter will have come true. This is a glorious Somewhere, and it is nearer to us than the stars.
sharqi
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