Monthly Archives: December 2002

What to do?

Monday, December 9, 2002

People are sending me a lot of questions, saying, “what should I do?” Honestly, I don't have an easy answer, I'm sorry. Maybe the US media will start to bring attention to these things, in which case it could resolve itself — in some ways the media are more powerful than the government even since the media alone has the power to control the masses. If you work in the media, even just a school newspaper, getting real info out to people does make a difference. Tell your friends. Tell your parents. Tell your kids. The reason things like this happen is mostly because people on the whole don't know they're happening.

Other people are asking me, “where can I go?”, often asking about emmigrating to Canada. Here's a good overview link page on that, but to do it you'll need either contacts in Canada willing to sponsor you (family, job, partner, etc.), or a chunk of money (which will get you into almost any country). I'm not sure that I would recommend Canada over other options. Plus if you're from the southern states, Canada is miserably cold unless you move to Vancouver.

There are a lot of other options… Everything from funny little ex-pat “countries” like Monaco (which from my investigations appears to have a cost of living no higher than Toronto — I consdiered moving there during my American Psycho period where I thought maybe I'd just say FUCKIT and “play the game”) and Morocco (a quick search turns up help) to places like Costa Rica (historically the oldest and most stable democracy in the Americas, plus it's gorgeous and has a good information and banking infrastructure, plus it's a bridge to the future — South America).

Of course your choices are limited by money; if you are a skilled worker with money and the ability to generate more, you have a zillion choices. If you have few marketable skills and zero money, then of course there are organizations like Idealist.org and WEO that can help you find volunteer work anywhere in the world. (Please note, I just grabbed those from a quick search and I don't know what their political agenda is; I assume anyone interested in such a path can investigate it for themselves).

There are some scams getting advertised on it (money laundering schemes, questionable tax shelters, and other “too good to be true” deals), but I still strongly recommend EscapeArtist.com (most of the links above make that clear), an awesome resource for anyone considering becoming an ex-pat. Other resources include Expat Index (a British site) and ExpatExchange.com.

Other than that, just be careful about the things that the system can use to enslave you. First and foremost that means don't live on credit. Debt = Slavery. If you can't afford something, don't buy it until you can.

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Now that's a lot of links.

Monday, December 9, 2002

I've been thinking that America may legalize some form of narcotic soon… I think it may need its soma (I know I need mine some days!). You can only push the citizens around for so long before they wake up, seize arms, and burn down the Whitehouse. Off with their heads! Eat the rich! It's about time for another revolution. Civl rights was never supposed to mean no rights for people, all rights for the corporation.

There's got to be an easier way...
Now hold on a second, it's burning.
There's a change coming, in my blackened school,
I suggest to you, that it takes 5 seconds, just 5 seconds
To put a morphine sepository all the way inside
Brothers and sisters! Do you know what I'm talking about?
I'm talking about, a full on, motherfucking, REVOLUTION!!!

I think it's important to again mention Elliott Abrams, the Iran/Contra criminal later pardoned by Bush Sr., and now hired by Bush Sr. — realize that Abrams and the rest of that gang were not voted in. They were appointed. Realize also that they've been in power almost indefinitely. What I'm starting to see is that the American political system is a farce democracy — you have two nearly identical right-leaning parties who, no matter who actually is elected, simply choose someone to sit as a figurehead (patsy) for four years while the unelected folks keep running the show.

Just think — how many lefties do you know that would be “happy” when Gore gets elected next? They'll think “oh, now it's all going to be better”. Don't think Clinton didn't play these games too. It's a universal truth of the modern American political system. Short of destroying that system these things will not change.

The inspections are going unhindered. And what does Bush tell us? 'The signs are not encouraging' -- In North Carolina last month, a woman attending a lecture I was giving asked me when America would go to war in Iraq. I told her to watch the front page of The New York Times and The Washington Post for the first smear campaigns against the UN inspectors. And bingo, right on time, the smears have begun.
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You've got to love that the US tries to discredit the UN team because one of the guys (who was appointed because of a request from the US) was involved with pornography. Yeah, I guess that dressing up in kinky leather outfits is worse than the giant financial crimes most of the Bush admin is guilty of — or even DUI. Again, the message is clear: The US government wants and desires war.

Anyone who seeks out war for war's sake is evil.

Then again, Bush is history's most popular president. His approval rating continues to set records as he slashes America's freedoms (and privacy) and brings the world to the brink of war. Now, let me ask you a hypothetical question — if I believe that someone is committing a crime, and I kill them, but it turns out I was misinformed or too stupid to tell the difference, should I be punished? In the real world, I'd at least be charged with manslaughter, if not murder, and would face serious punishment (hell, in Texas they'd execute me even if my IQ was 75).

Now, given that Bush is about to kill an awful lot of people for no good reason, and he has a huge approval rating, what responsibility do the Americans that support him (and the British that support Blair) have? If this turns out to be as unjust a war as everyone but the neo-cons know, should those people have to answer for that support? After all, they put Bush in power and continue to support him.

If you feel that people must answer for crimes, or at least see how someone could believe that then you start understanding why terrorists can “justify” attacking civilians like on 9/11 (I'm not saying I support it, obviously I don't as a pacifist). Under a democracy, the people are (in theory) responsible for the actions of their government. As such, one can reasonably call upon the people to answer for the crimes of that government. (That said, I don't believe that America is a democracy, and I don't believe the American people are free or have a say in what their government does. Too bad the terrorists don't understand that — which means that the US citizen will continue being sacrifical lambs to political games.)

This past week, President Bush made a big deal about signing a military authorization bill with a $30 billion increase. Here we are, 12 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and without a credible enemy in sight we are still spending nearly $400 billion annually on defense. It is not really the cost of defense, but rather the cost of an empire.
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Permanent war.

And short of revolution — and I mean Civil War II — nothing is going to change it. If you were born in America, you will be a (potential) slave — and certainly a monitored slave — until one of the following happens:

  • The US collapses financially, which may well happen
  • The US is overthrown by force internally
  • The US is overthrown by force externally
  • You emmigrate to a free country

As I mentioned about, and I'll point out again here, the same criminals run the country no matter who gets elected. Freedom is an illusion, and it has been for a long time. As long as you're voting Rep/Dem, you're supporting the status quo, which is perpetual war and police state.

And there is stuff happening. But do you really want to find out what it is?

And before you get angry at me for writing these things, please ask yourselves — should you be angry at me for telling you, or at them for doing it to you?

PS. And remember, the American government doesn't care about protecting its citizens (although they'll lie and tell you they do if they want your support). It's going to war with a country that has no way to strike back, but a war that may incite numerous unstoppable terrorist attacks on the American people. In addition, it has all but ignored “Axis of Evil member” North Korea who has flat-out told the US that it will “incinerate Los Angeles with nuclear weapons” if the US continues on with its current pro-Taiwan independence posturing.

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About 27 meg left to go…

Sunday, December 8, 2002

This is from a brief interview I did this afternoon:

Do you feel the current piercing laws and regulations break the rights supposedly granted upon us by the first amendment?

Most of the piercing laws are there to ensure that studios act at a minimum safety level (proper contamination control, sterility, and so on), as well as placing some minor restrictions based on customer age. I don't believe either of these types of laws is contrary to fundamental rights and assuming they are come to rationally and with the input of the body modification community I support them.

That said, there are a number of public schoolboards that have placed restrictions on their students' rights to pursue body piercing (as is considered fully legal under state and federal law). Because these restrictions stem from personal bias and politics, they have no place in setting the laws of a public school. While schools do have a responsibility to act in loco parentis, they do not have the right to overrule the parent's or the student's rights.

It is important to note that regulations of the type I've just mentioned have been shown to be unconstitutional when taken to court. The Supreme Court ruled in Tinker v. Des Moines (393 US 503) that students had the right to dress and appear as they chose. The judges wrote, “it can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”

Do you think minors should be able to have piercings done without a parents consent, or a parent present?

I believe that naming 18 as the minimum age for all piercings is ludicrous — piercing requires dramatically less maturity than driving a car, which we've agreed is allowable at age 16. That said, there should be an age before which parental consent is needed to protect the youth; I would propose that age is somewhere between 14 and 16.

Is denying a person their piercing denying them who they are (thus going against what our founding fathers wanted in a free nation)?

I can't tell you that it always is, but what I can tell you with full certainty is that it sometimes is. Freedom doesn't just apply to the “average” person — it must also protect the exceptional and even the unique.

Do you agree that having to be 18 for piercings is the same as having to wait to buy cigarettes; or to vote? It's something everyone must wait for thus making it fair.

First, I can't see how forcing people to wait for anything makes it more fair. It's also not the same as the two examples you mentioned — piercing is no where near as dangerous as cigarettes, nor does it require the maturity and education voting should require. All forcing someone to wait until 18 does is insult them.

Do you agree that being atheist, or solo, and modded makes you discriminated against? Changing your body is fine for religious reasons, but if you're not part of a large religious group, and it's for personal enlightenment or fulfilment it's shunned?

Clearly awarding special rights to those who swear by an arbitrary religion is contrary to the concept of equal rights for all. Such a system awards rights based on faith, and obviously discriminates against atheists. The law must not be dictated by faith. The truths of law must be absolute and religion may not be considered in determining the rights of an individual in a free and equal society.

Do you think piercings can be dangerous on minors because of growth?

Within reason I don't believe there is any evidence showing that. All of the evidence I've seen over the past ten years suggests the contrary, as does the historical record.

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Traveling in a fried-out combie On a hippie trail, head full of zombie

Sunday, December 8, 2002

Everyone wants to do extreme mods, but no one wants to research them… In pretty much every update I get photos of things that are ill-advised, not thought out, and quite dangerous… But this really takes the cake.

If it's not obvious, it's a cheap acrylic circular barbell being implanted under the skin. Two things are going to happen. First, because it's just regular jewelry, there's plenty of cracks (between the balls and the jewelry, etc.) to both irritate the surrounding tissue, and for bacteria to fester. But more importantly, it's a guarantee that the plastic will break down under the body's chemistry and release toxins.

It's pretty damn obvious that this is a BAD IDEA. It's just sloppy and inexcusable. People really need to think about what they're doing, and realize that when you put something permanently under the skin you have to consider the long term implications. I really hate singling out individual artists, but this person also sent in photos of fair sized implants being placed across tendons and the wrist which isn't the greatest idea either…

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Fixin' to die

Sunday, December 8, 2002

A number of people have passed me this link about wireless networking being identified by the US Feds as the latest “terrorist tool” and how someone with an unsecured/open wireless network would be considered a “terrorist collaborator”. Let me be very clear on the future of the internet: the future of the internet is cheap, anonymous, untraceable, and unmonitorable. That's an unstoppable truth. The only way the US can avoid that is by cutting itself off from the rest of the world and throwing out the civil rights of it's population. Oh, wait…

Before I get into the heavy stuff, I was playing the latest PopCap game last night when Rachel walked behind me, started laughing, and yelled “screen capture! screen capture!” I didn't know why, since I was wrapped up in playing the game, but this is just too perfect:

I don't know if anyone's been paying attention to the story about the Israeli soldier that shot a UN official from close range in the back, but I think the British are crazy if they think they're getting an answer out of Israel. The last few years have made it very clear that nobody pushes Israel around, the US included. I'm sure there's a reason, I'm sure it's a reason the public wouldn't accept, and I'm sure they'll never hear it.

AntiWar.com just published an excellent article on “The Israelization of America” talking about how America is beginning to emulate Israel's policies — covert crimes becoming “points of pride”, pre-emptive strikes, militarization of politics, remote funding, human rights violations against its own people, occupations, and of course playing the terror card. Now, one might be able to make the case that Israel needs to play it that way to succeed. I don't agree, but one could make the argument. But America doesn't live in that world, and one can't make that argument for America without appearing ignorant under any objective scrutiny.

Most of you know about the criminal Poindexter (convicted of five felonies but given immunity for his testimony) being put in charge of the Total Awareness project, but now Elliott Abrams (seriously!) has been made the director of Middle Eastern Affairs. For those that don't know, Elliott Abrams is the aggressively pro-Israel neo-con that pled guilty in 1987 for withholding information from Congress over the administration's support of the Contras (he was then pardoned in 1992 by Bush Sr.). Abrams is also the author of “Faith or Fear: How Jews Can Survive In Christian America” and was a vehement objector to the Oslo peace negotiations.

People have this notion that countries like Iraq, Iran, and so on are these weird “rag-head” nations with people still living in the stone age — yes, that was close to the truth in much of Afghanistan, but rest assured that America would fall back a few hundred years too if it got bombed for twenty years. Take a look just at the photo at the top of this article from a student protest in Iran. The cars are different than you'd see in America, but there's not much different than you'd see in a poorer European country. The people look pretty normal, don't they? They obviously have enough civil rights to organize huge protests. Yes, there was skirmish with riot police, but guess what — that happens in the West too. At this point, thanks to new laws passed since September 11th, American citizens have less freedom than not only pretty much every Western nation, but many developing nations as well.

That said, this article does a pretty good job of characterizing the typical response to such statements:

A friend of mine is an Indian diplomat. He tells a story of being picked up by a cab driver in Texas for a long journey to the airport. The cab driver asked him to tell him something about India and my friend replied that it was a democracy of a billion people. The cab driver did not believe him. "A billion people?" the cab driver repeated. "Impossible. That's bigger than the United States."

...Randomly selected voters were ... questioned on what they knew about America's defence against rogue missiles sent by, say, the North Koreans or Iraq towards the US. Every single participant in the focus group believed -- wrongly -- that the missiles would be shot down by a version of the American Star Wars system. The fact that Star Wars has never worked and may well not be operational for at least a decade had not entered their consciousness.

I'm absolutely blown away that the average American hasn't FREAKED about the civil rights losses in the last year. America is now a place where everyone is a criminal, all private records can be accessed by the government without warrant or probable cause, where uncooperative witnesses can be detained indefinitely and without access to counsel, tortured, and even killed legally, and wide classes of behaviour re-class citizens as “enemy combatants” including aggressive political protest, drug advocacy, and computer crimes, allowing the government to hold them without counsel indefinitely, and even legally execute them on the street without trial. Why are people tolerating these things? I can only assume that the average person is absolutely unaware of them.

As you may know, Iraq handed over its 12,000 page declaration of weapons capability to the UN inspectors yesterday. The US and Britain are pissed though because the UN refuses to hand over an uncensored version — you may remember that in 1998 the inspectors were tossed because it turned out they weren't there as UN inspectors, but were in fact CIA operatives spying. For the report to be complete and honest it has to contain some very sensitive information about Iraq's defensive infrastructures. If the US wants to play the UN game, it has to respect that process.

But we all know that this is warmongering, plain and simple. Let me repeat a truth that Veterans know all too well: War, even when justified, is horrible. War should be avoided whenever possible. War hurts. War kills. War destroys. War should be considered a last option. Look at the actions of this administration — it is very clear that they want war. They fight to make sure war happens. How can any decent person look at that and not see the face of evil? Even if one believes that sometimes war is required, no decent human should never lust for it.

Finally, this story really made me sad… Seriously, don't read it if you're feeling emotional, it's a really heartbreaking story.

Now off to the mines with me.

Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Murder Rag
"apologies to Country Joe & the Fish"

Well come on all you big strong men
Uncle Sam needs your help again
Got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Afghanistan
Put down your mouse and pick up a gun
We're gonna have a whole lotta fun

Chorus:
And it's one, two, three, what are we waiting for?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn, next stop's Afghanistan
And it's five, six, seven, open up the Pearly Gates
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
whoopie they're all gonna die

Now come on Wall Street don't be slow
We gotta pay 'em back for their terror show
There is plenty of money to be made
Supplying the army with the tools of the trade
Just hope and pray they drop The Bomb
Drop it on Afghanistan

(Chorus)

Well come on Generals let's move fast
Your big chance is here at last
Now you can go out and get Rag Heads
'Cos the only good 'Ghanni is one that's dead
And you know peace can only be won
When they blow 'em all to Kingdom Come

(Chorus)

Now come on mothers through out the land
Pack your boys off to Afghanistan
Come on fathers don't hesitate
Send your sons off before it's too late
Be the first one on your block
To bring their ears back home in a box

(Chorus)

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