Stuffed with quotes

Thursday, December 12, 2002

A reminder about heroes and patriots.

Update that came over the wire while I was writing this:
NORTH KOREA ISSUES NUCLEAR THREAT

PS. Don't rely on the “missile shield“.

"You had better all die — die immediately, than live as slaves and entail your wretchedness upon your posterity."
- Henry Highland Garnet, Black Revolutionary, 1843

A quick Iraq re-cap: The weapons inspectors are given a 12,000 page weapons capabilities document by Iraq. They first say that they won't share a full version with the security council. Then the US jumps in and says, “Let US, and ONLY us have a copy and we'll tell you a secret“. The US runs off with the report and takes the only copy back to Washington to copy and distribute to the other members. The official reason is because the US “has the best photocopiers” (seriously). Then Iraq says that the US is altering the report before giving it to the other members of the security council (but don't worry, the US will “let the UN know” when it plans on invading). I thought the whole point of this was to have information on Iraq that we could all agree on internationally, not another US scrubbed lie.

Geov Parrish says “I want a list too!”

I want a full accounting of every weapon in the country. Not Iraq; I could give a fig about Iraq. It's halfway around the world, it has no means of threatening the United States from its territory, its economy is decimated, it has been disarmed more effectively than any other country in the history of the world, its every move is closely monitored by any number of other agencies and countries, and it knows that any move to threaten any other country would be instantly suicidal. There are plenty of threats to the safety of Americans. Iraq is not one of them. Among all the American-trained dictators plaguing the planet, he's the least of our problems.

I want a list of our weapons.

Are you a computer hacker (make sure you don't take a government contract)? Have you ever said anything like what's written in these entries? Have you ever sold drugs? Maybe you've been to an anti-war protest? Good news for you! The military tribunals are almost ready!

You've got to love that the US claims North Korea (who's now selling missiles to the Middle East) is “the world's leading [arms] proliferator“… With $50 to $100 million in military exports, North Korea still falls behind the US, which exports billions of dollars worth of weapons, mostly to third world countries, every year.

"On the answering machine, there was a message: Both of your cousins were killed in the Bureij massacre today. The third is seriously wounded and is in the hospital..."
(more)

At least Germany is anti-war — which is interesting because Germany has been very aggressive in the anti-terror war (although it's been getting snubbed by the US).

"When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader."
- Plato

Another interesting story; as you know, the US does provide massive amounts of foreign aid to the third world. However, some of the aid is kind of screwy:

US to Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, etc: “Here's some grain for you.”

Africa: “But it's genetically modified, we don't know what effect it will have on our ecosystem. Not only that, but if we take this grain from you, we can no longer export foodstuffs to Europe. You have lots of non-genetically modified grain surplus. Can we have that?”

US: “No! Beggars can't be choosers!” [that's an actual quote!]

US: “Only countries willing to switch to genetically modified grain will receive aid from us.”

It's kind of weird… I'm not at all sure what the agenda is on this, but I assume it must be corporate (GM food is generally patented and licensed). But come on! Forcing poor farmers in southern Africa to only grow GM grain is really pushing it. Of course, it's better than Israel, which still hasn't answered for blowing up food supplies owned by aid organizations like the World Food Program.

On this article just I want to make a technical comment about it — it's been OCR'd. For some reason, this article went digital to analog to digital. You can tell because there are some places where zero's (0) are used instead of oh's (O). Notice how one is wider than the other? Anyway, I thought it was procedurally odd. I'm sure there's a comment in there somewhere on the surveillance nation, at least on a metaphorical level.

"Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do."
- Rudolf Giuliani

And I think it really sucks that the US keeps pushing land mines. Yes, they make war safer if you're the one that left the mines. Realistically they probably even mean less casualties for the “enemy” because they make war more predictable. HOWEVER, what they also guarantee is post-war civilian casualties and maimings. And that is unacceptable. It's not hard to understand: killing innocent people is unacceptable.

"The tree of liberty, from time to time, must be replenished with the blood of patriots."
- Thomas Jefferson

Oh, you know how Saddam has lots of doubles. Last night we were joking that he kept them all in his basement or in cages in his back yard. I propose that he bought them all at Saddam-O-Rama.

Well, I thought it was funny.

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Emailed…

Wednesday, December 11, 2002


To: brad.neavin@sugarcreek.k12.oh.us
Subject: Tinker v. Des Moines
CC: chuck.birkholtz@sugarcreek.k12.oh.us, amy.baldridge@sugarcreek.k12.oh.us, 7online@whiotv.com

From your recent behavior, I assume you have little to no understanding of civil rights or the principles America was founded on. In Tinker v. Des Moines, the Supreme Court held up the right of students to protest the Vietnam war (during class). Let's not lie here -- this isn't about a legitimate threat to the President. This was about you attempting to squash legal political protest. A commercially available and legal t-shirt worn by a teen is no threat to the President, and we all know that.

As was written in Tinker v. Des Moines (393 US 503 if you'd like to look it up), "It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate."

The end result of punishing students for political dissension in the way you and the Secret Service did sends a very disturbing message: We are literally being told that "being politically opposed to the president" is the same as being "a danger to the presidency". The logical conclusion to this path of thinking is that voting against the President is akin to treason. Is this what American schools have come to?

Thanks a lot for doing your small part in raising taxes (do you realize how much taxpayer money is wasted by needless investigations like this?), and congratulations on making your small mark on history -- you will now forever be remembered as one of the many unamerican traitors that helped destroy what was once a great country.

For shame.

Shannon Larratt

"That erroneous assumption is to the effect that the aim of public education is to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence, and so make them fit to discharge the duties of citizenship in an enlightened and independent manner. Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim of public education is not to spread enlightenment at all, it is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States, whatever the pretensions of politicians, pedagogues and other such mountebanks, and that is its aim everywhere else."
   -- H L. Mencken

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I ain't no goddamn son of a bitch you better think about it baby!

Wednesday, December 11, 2002

First, I have to promo two AWESOME new products at BMEshop. We've got the rock-and-fucking-roll caps and toques in stock. Here are some photos (I've color corrected Ryan's photos so this is very close to what they look like):

I also got to see the prototypes for the new hoodies and the new vests… They're very slick. I can't wait to see what comes out of BMEshop in 2003.

Thanks to mal for this link:
A student at an Ohio highschool liked to wear a "Not My President" t-shirt (like perk900's). Because of the crosshairs on the photo, the situation was considered "a potential threat to the president". The Assistant Principal confiscated the student's clothing and called the FBI who sent in the secret service.

The Secret Service has taken over the investigation and is taking it seriously. The AP has said that the students who reported the t-shirt should be commended for reporting their classmate, and WHIO-TV as well states they're proud that the students did their part protecting the nation.

Remember: if you don't like what people have to say, make sure you report them as terrorists! Sad because you were born too late to have your neighbor burned at the stake as a witch? Don't fear! Now we have terrorism, the modern day inquisition!

Get real. Only a fool would consider a t-shirt that's currently in mass production a serious threat to the presidency. This was a political statement, plain and simple. So let's look at two issues:

A. COST
How much money does it cost the FBI and the Secret Service to open an investigation, transport the agents out to interrogate the students, and then wrap up the investigation? I can't imagine that number is less than $5000. Even using that low estimate, you only have to have 200 such incidents to burn through one million dollars. Money well spent?

B. FIRST AMMENDMENT
Courts have been very clear that students have the right to political protest at school, especially when it comes to clothing. And this was clearly a political statement, not a serious threat. Everyone knows that. So what we have here is a student being punished for free will. We are literally being told that “being politically opposed to the president” is the same as being “a danger to the presidency”. The logical conclusion to this line of thinking is that voting against the president is akin to treason.

Now, it's also important to realize that this was backed up by the government. This wasn't just some rogue schoolboard. I'll mention another story (thanks to jasonthe29th for reminding me of it):

A school in Georgia which was trying to win $500 from Coca-Cola for finding a good way to get students buying more Coke. When taking the class photo for the day to send to Coke, one of the students wore a Pepsi shirt. That student was suspended for it.

Now, that's clearly wrong as well, and even stupider than the first story, but the important distinction is that the second story was a screw up by a small-town principal, whereas the first story, while kickstarted by ignorant fools, was then “validated” by the government.

Other than that… My Jeep is still in pieces, but at least my Vette's engine work (added a supercharger, hello 700 HP) is done and I'll have it back in the next few days. Also, a friend of mine is looking to trade his 99 sled for a $1000 lift kit (dunno what he's thinking), so it looks like I'm getting a snowmobile for almost nothing. Yay!

Oh, and Kendrick Library at UCE has requested a copy of the ModCon book. Yes, of course we sent it to them. I figure the more serious libraries that carry the book, the better. I was thinking that on my next press run, I should start some kind of a fund to ensure that copies of the books end up in some of the bigger medical libraries as well…

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Yes, another interview…

Wednesday, December 11, 2002

…Just did this quickie with an IAM member who's a journalism student at San Francisco State University. One of the good things for me doing interviews is it really really helps me think about what I'm doing — it's why I try and do interviews, even if it's just for a grade 10 english paper. Dunno if it's interesting, but here it is:

What is your background? How did you get into the world of online publications?

My more ancient history is mentioned in your final question, so I'll answer this in terms of recent history.

When I left highschool I was publishing several zines and had been running a series of computer BBSes where I not only acted as sysadmin but also wrote tutorials on various subversive subjects. On graduation I rejected my success in technical classes and attended York University on a Fine Arts scholarship. I spent most of that year engaged in escalating criminal behavior and at the end of that story found myself fleeing across the country to evade prosecution.

During this process we started a voice telephony business (and cleaned up our acts). We focused on our flagship idea, the "VoiceBBS", which took everything we'd learned from running BBSes and moved it to a voice model. The Internet was taking off, and the IVR market saw it as the future, so a combination of that and discovering USENET's rec.arts.bodyart is how I got online, and the rest is history I guess...

How did you get the idea for www.bmezine.com?

Simple: it's who I am. That's where it first came from. But "it's who YOU are" is what built it. BME is a giant act of personal expression, created by tens of thousands of people who's convergence creates BME.

What are some innovative features you have brought to bmezine.com?

I don't think BME is particularly innovative. Yes, I think it does things better than most (for example, I think the IAM software is one of the best community engines out there), and as time has shown, people seem to agree, but there's nothing truly innovative about it. BME has been successful because it defined a clear philosophy (rather than a business plan) and stuck to it.

What is your philosophy to running www.bmezine.com?

I tried to sum it up at https://www.bmezine.com/why.html

Do you ever refuse to run content and why?

I refuse to run content that I find severely ethically or morally objectionable such as photos of white power tattoos or articles that promote homophobia. Other than that, as long as the content meets the subject mandate, I try and publish it.

Not that everyone agrees on where the subject line should be drawn — one of the more controversial decisions I've made is blocking piercing gun articles from being published on the site, since I feel that the "piercing gun scene" is neither representative the body modification community, nor is it a positive influence on that community.

Is www.bmezine.com profitable? And if so how?

For its first four years, BME received private sponsorship which entirely covered its operating costs. However, when those companies pulled out after advertising negotiations failed, and it became clear that I couldn't reasonably afford to cover the costs personally, I added to BME's charter the requirement to be a traditionally profitable business.

BME makes money by selling memberships to the erotic and more extreme sections of the site. This also serves the purposes of keeping bandwidth down, generating submissions (since they can be "traded" for access), and of keeping gawkers and children out of sections that are inappropriate for them.

That said, when I added "profitability" to BME's statement of purpose, I also added a community mandate — that is, BME must re-invest those profits in the body modification community, rather than into a company's coffers.

Has has BME branched off into other sources of revenue (store, clothing etc.)?

Yes and no. Yes, we sell clothing, supplies, jewelry, and books, but I wouldn't call them "revenue". I first printed shirts because people (myself included them) wanted to wear them, rather than to make a profit. At present, the modest profits generated by BMEshop, coupled with donations, cover the cost of operating the iam.bmezine.com community site and hosting events (hey, fireworks aren't free!).

BMEbooks, our print publishing division, is currently being run as a break-even project (at best). Its primary goal is to publish body modification books that other publishers shy away from, and to provide the world with documentation of a community that has historically not been recorded.

Do you want to publish a print version of BME?

The advantages to publishing BME online are significant. First and foremost, the upfront costs are low and on the whole, cost scales with interest, so it's a dramatically lower financial burden. In addition, the distribution infrastructure required to publish for a demographic which is large but not geographically dense is prohibitively expensive.

Also, a large part of BME is interative and database driven (things like BME/Risks) and continually updated — this type of reference publishing can't reasonably be done in print.

Finally, the other reason that BME is published online rather than offline is that it seeks to be definitive and exhaustive. The sheer bulk of BME can not be published in print at a reasonable cost. Taking a quick look at the current file-set on BME, if the text only (no pictures) were to be printed as a book, it would be nearly 70,000 pages long. For comparison, the average monthly magazine would take fifty years to publish that much, and that's if you include their advertising spaces as content (BME does not run ads).

Do you have any previous experience in the publishing world?

My father was the editor of "Videotext Journal" in the early 80's, so I grew up not just in the publishing world, but also in the online interactive communications world. As a young child I had the opportunity not only to use advanced communications technologies, but to meet and learn from many of the industry's key players and researchers. In addition, ever since I could write, I've published comics, zines, movies, and other small independent media projects.

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Philip Berrigan

Wednesday, December 11, 2002

Thank you, Philip Berrigan.

First, look at that picture. It's truth is simple: “Thou shalt not kill was not a suggestion“. Children understand it. Why do adults forget that it's fundamentally wrong to kill people? Our legal system is built on the concept, “it is worse to imprison one innocent man than to let ten guilty men go free” (even if we don't meet the mandate) — why do we think it's OK to kill millions of innocent people in order to affect political and corporate change? One word: doublethink.

So US District Judge Bates dismissed Walker v. Cheney (seeking a release of documents which would confirm massive corruption in the Bush administration)… Realize this is the conservative Judge that fought aggressively to nail the Clintons. If America is to be a “nation of law” then the law must be unbiassed… Too bad it's becoming clearer and clearer that the law serves nepotism and money, not the American people.

Anyway, thought I ought to share a quote from one of America's leaders to help show where America's headed:

"All the laws of Washington and all the bayonets of the Army cannot force the Negro into our homes, our schools, our churches."
- Strom Thurmond, in his presidential campaign (1948)

"I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either."

- Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) (2002)

But then, maybe it doesn't matter, because it's looking more and more like there's going to be a full nuclear strike on America. The bombs are already in private hands, if I'm reading the news right. As I mentioned a few days ago, radiation detectors have been installed on many public transport systems — but the kicker is that it was all done in secret. We only found out about it because cancer patients were tripping the system.

Now ask yourself — why wasn't this “defense” boasted about by the media? Every single other lame-ass “security enhancement” and “justified” rights violation has been heavily covered in the news. But this one is silent. And then there's the nuclear bunker (caveat lector) being built under Cheney's house. I really only see one likely answer, and that's a nuclear bomb in America that they think may be detonated in the next year.

Let's hope I'm just being paranoid.

Let's hope Dick Cheney's just being paranoid.

I'm in the dark, so I might just be paranoid. But Dick Cheney is not in the dark; he's very well informed. This is calculated. If you want to be really paranoid, ask yourself this question: as anti-war sentiments are growing, and the American people are waking up to the civil rights violations from their government, who will really profit from a nuclear strike on America? Then ask yourself what government has a history of massive military lies and coverups, and already has 30,000 nukes in America.

First strike good — first strike bad? They're both American presidents… Which one do you want to believe? The one that has a Nobel Peace Prize, or the one that's most often compared to a monkey because of his primitive understanding of, well, everything?

I think this guy has the right idea: switch to a hydrogen economy (from our oil economy). Let me briefly and simply explain how it works. All of this can be done with readily available tech — there is no crazy high tech, exotic tech, or even large tech needed (on a relative level):

  1. Using solar, wind, and other renewable power, water is electrolysized (split into hydrogen and oxygen). Most of us have done this in highschool science classes. It's really really easy.
  2. The hydrogen is pressurized and burned in traditional internal combustion engines.
  3. The exhaust is hot air and water — no pollution.

It's renewable, it's cheap, it doesn't pollute, it can be produced locally without international corporations or infrastructure, etc… Want to fix the world's problems? This is one of the solutions we must enact — Remember, all power (and all corruption) on this planet comes from control of natural resources. That's it. That's where it all comes from. And we have the ability to eliminate that power structure using hydrogen fuels.

As more and more prominent folks are pointing out, the mainstream media is doing everything it can to downplay anti-war movements… Because they know that the average person wants to “be like everyone else”. I won't just repeat the set here, but AntiWar.com has an excellent set of links that grows every day documenting all the protests — and the broader and broader crowds they're drawing demographically. The media is the one wildcard in this war — if the media flips, and takes a pacifist stance, the war ends. It's that simple.

Well, time to go read the Windows API documentation for the SetPriorityClass function… I'm 99% sure that's all I need to call to keep the submissions tool from being so rude (that's why the server slows down sometimes).

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