Shannon Larratt is Zentastic

OK, I was just going to say hello and go to work (I have an insane amount to do, and then Saira got me a ticket for Man Or Astroman tonight so I have to get it all done early… No working until 2AM today)… But this is just too funny. the US just bombed six more Red Cross warehouses!!!

Those of you that care about your privacy already know about Carnivore systems that can spy on massive amounts of email, and how they were installed at some ISPs days after September 11th. Well, the FBI wants to take it a big step farther — they'd like to restructure the Internet so all US email passes through a series of centralized servers, allowing for incredibly effective monitoring. I'm not convinced they can pull this one off, but it does tell you what they want to do, and what they imagine the world to be… It's strange, because as I understand it, the folks who founded America deeply distrusted government — hence the right to bear arms. That right isn't there so you can defend yourself against criminals or the British. That right is there specifically to allow citizens to form militias and rise up against the government.

Yes, that's my incendiary claim for today: The founding fathers want you to pick up your weapons, organize yourselves, and overthrow the US government for treason. If you don't like it, then don't bet on the founding fathers considering you a patriot, no matter how many flags you're flying.

You know why they'd want you to overthrow it? Because every day America is less free.

So anyway, as you know, the US has been using Pakistan, which has a huge Muslim population, including fanatics, as a staging ground in this war. This has pushed Pakistan to the brink of civil war, with people leaving to help fight the war on the side of the Taliban, and others holding massive anti-war rallys. Now, if the government loses support, it leaves the US with no choice but to take out Pakistan's nuclear facilities.

I think the appropriate word is snowballing.

At least now that it's becoming clearer and cleaer that this war will be far more difficult to win, and that the Taliban strength has been dramatically underestimated, support at home, even from the defense community is waning. The anthrax story is a little more “fun” at least — far less people are hurt and it has an interesting “mystery” aspect to it. Latest CIA and FBI evidence is suggesting that it's the Neo-Nazis, who see this not as a battle against the al-Qaeda, but as a battle against the Jews — Aryan Action said, “Either you're fighting with the jews against al Qaeda, or you support al Qaeda fighting against the jews.”

Because anthrax is relatively easy to make, and all the tools required are easy to obtain, they think it may well have been made by amateurs… This broadens the range of potential suspects enormously.

Quick link #1: The earth has more than one moon and more than one sun?

Quick link #2: Maori vs. LEGO over cultural appropriation.

TV alert: Kevin Mitnick is on Alias this Sunday… as a CIA agent!

“It's like bombing Sicily to try to beat the Mafia“

So I've received a few emails telling me that because I'm not an American I have no right to comment, and that any foreigners killed are insignificant in comparison to the Americans killed. First of all, ignoring the obvious bigotry in the notion that somehow American life is more valuable, all this has made America institute new laws making it dangerous for me to enter the US, which gives me the right to comment. I don't want to be held in prison without charge indefinitely. I work closely with many US companies and organizations and this deeply affects my ability to be involved. In addition, because the US is playing this out internationally, everyone in the international community has the right to speak on it. This is just more of the “free speech” bullshit we've been seeing — freedom of speech means you're free to say what the government allows. I suppose that now I've flipped people perhaps from saying I have no right to be involved, so saying that I'm personalizing it and blindly hating the US. Read the links I provide then. Interpret them differently. All I ask is that you educate yourself and be aware of what's happening in the world. After all, it is where we all have to live.

First just let me say that Dan Rather is a fool. His assistant came down with anthrax, but he refuses to be either tested or treated, saying it's his way of “defying the terrorists”. He does make a valid point that he feels too much attention is being paid to the anthrax and too little to America's actions in the war though… Of course, now that they've shown conlclusively that the source of the anthrax is the US military, I'm sure the conspiracy theorists will have a suitable explanation shortly.

First they reinstitute torture, now they reinstitute assassination… I'm really boggled at some of the government's actions on this one. For example, I understand that the Taleban may well be hiding weapons in “unbombable” locations, but when the US bombs mosques and pledges to keep bombing through Ramadan, do they not realize the effect that will have on the rest of the Islamic world, no matter how much they can strategically justify it? I'm not saying that the US can win this war — if anything, evidence suggests they can't either by ground war or by bombing — but ultimately, the US is calling the shots and has effectively limitless resources to throw at this (unlike the British)… I'd just have hoped they'd choose a more humanitarian response.

Another reason why I have a right to talk about this is because of the “real reasons” behind this war. I want to remind you again that the US announced that it was going to invade Afghanistan in August. So don't believe the lie that they invaded over the attacks — that is simply a convenient excuse that hides the real black gold reason. Now why does that make me nervous? Because Canada possesses the world's largest supply of oil by an order of magnitude. Now that we can process the tar sands, Canada has literally ten to fifteen times as much oil as Saudi Arabia. It's great for me because my grandfather bought hundreds of thousands of acres of land in Alberta and when he sold them kept the oil rights, and my family still receives monthly royalties… but it's not so great for me if the Middle East turns into a warground that produces no oil and the US starts looking for other sources.

And that doesn't even address the fact that the domestic response has included monstrous erosion of rights. It's sad that the more flags get flown, the more rights get taken. The more someone boasts about being patriotic, the more they tell me I have no right to write these words. Until now I was not aware that that is what the flag means, but now, every time I see the American flag flying, all it makes me think of is the erosion of civil liberties and the score of people sending me hatemail and death threats. I have no doubt that many of you brand me a commie or an anarchist or probably even in league with terrorists (and under US law, I suppose I am)… but when you brand me that, just be very careful in remembering what you might be branded should your politics become distasteful to the folks with the big guns.

PS. Want a reason to move to Toronto? Or maybe Amsterdam?

PPS. Need a student loan voided? This will do it.