TRAPWIRE APPRECIATION

[tyrannosaurus vex]

Operation TrapWire has been exposed. And it's no surprise, of course. If you've been paying any kind of attention at all, you'd have assumed this was happening already. Of course we're being watched, recorded, recognized, tracked and predicted. This is not news, this is confirmation of the previously obvious. So its sudden inclusion in the realm of the Known To Be Real, instead of the Assumed To Be Real, changes nothing.

If I go to the corner store, the 5 or 6 or so cameras that watch me along the way are in the service of Big Brother. Am I surprised? No. Do I condone this? No. Will I do something about it? No. Why not? Because what the fuck is there to do about it other than complain about it? On the Internet, no less, where words are worth every drop of ink they're printed in.

What are our alternatives? What means of effective protest do we have? Let us count the many ways we can Change The World:

Call or Write Your Congressional Representative. Yes. And wait forever on hold, eventually dumped to a voicemail system that nobody but The System ever checks. Or, alternatively, send in a letter which will be read by exactly zero people, but your name and address will be recorded for posterity, and you might (if you're lucky) receive a meaningless reply letter back that'll be sure to let you know why it's super important to contribute to campaign funds. And be tracked, wiretapped, and possibly videotaped the entire time.

Vote The Bastards Out! Oh! It's so simple, it just might work! Actually no it won't. Your choices in every election are between a scumbag who's been chosen to represent you (or rather, to represent your economic value as a flesh unit) among other scumbags; and another scumbag who's been chosen to represent you among other scumbags. Occasionally, you will luck out and have the chance to vote for a crazy motherfucker who dresses up like Paul Revere on Saturdays and yells through a bullhorn about how important it is that we keep the British out of Boston. Or something. Regardless, your option in an election is a farce, a scam, and a joke. And you'll be recorded while you're doing it.

Occupy Something, or Hold Some Kind of Protest! Yeah. Go stand around in the sunlight for a few hours holding signs nobody will read, grumbling about shit nobody has time for, and standing in the way of people trying to go about their business. That'll get things done, for sure. Oh, and make sure you're standing in a Free Speech Zone miles away from anything or anyone important. And don't yell too loudly or keep people awake past 8PM. And don't forget you're being recorded while you're doing it.

Talk to Your Neighbors. Look, buddy. Your neighbors don't care. It's rude to talk to people about "politics" anyway. What's that? This isn't "politics?" This is about "THE FACT THAT GEORGE ORWELL WAS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT?" No, it's about politics. It has to do with the cretins in DC, therefore it is politics. Therefore shut up and don't talk about it. Besides, the whole time you're out there on your lawn talking over the privacy fence, or calling from a phone bank, you're being watched and recorded.

What do all of these things have in common? Ambition? No. Success? No. Potential? No. Being recorded? YES! They know what you're going to say, because they hear you say it. They know where you're going to be 24 hours from now with a 95% accuracy rate. They know what you think, what you believe, and they know how much of a threat you are.

Did you get that?

They know how much of a threat you are, and they haven't come to lock you up yet.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

If I go to the corner store, the 5 or 6 or so cameras that watch me along the way are in the service of Big Brother. Am I surprised? No. Do I condone this? No. Will I do something about it? No. Why not? Because what the fuck is there to do about it other than complain about it?

Certainly, nobody should use any spraypaint or sandpaper on any cameras.

That would be criminal, and probably treasonous.

Don't do that shit.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

And why would anyone get mad?  They're just doing what we DEMANDED they do.  "KEEP US SAFE FROM SMUDGY PEOPLE", we bellowed, "I DON'T CARE WHAT IT TAKES."

They're just Building The Dream.

[P3nT4gR4m]

They know how much of a threat you are, and they haven't come to lock you up yet.

This is the reason I don't give a fuck about privacy. This is why I can talk about being a criminal right under their surveillance engine's electronic nose and they'll do nothing about it. It's not worth their effort to catch me. I am immune because I do not threaten them. Government inc is like some kind of huge, insane, ultra-paranoid monster, sniffing around manically, looking for threats under the bed and behind the fridge. Convince it you mean it no harm, however, and it'll completely ignore you.

So how do you convince it you're not a threat? Simple - repeatedly state your position on the internet and they'll downgrade your threat status accordingly.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

There's more to it than that, isn't there? I mean, lots of crazy people say fucked up shit on the Internet, sure, and most of them are ignored, but some of them aren't. So being crazy on the Internet isn't a fool-proof plan for avoiding The Man.

You have to be crazy on the Internet but show yourself to be docile in every other respect at the same time: Pay your taxes, go to work, spend money at Starbucks, and do something "crazy" (but condoned) once in a while like rent some porno movie from the On Demand service, or blow $300 on dinner at a restaurant you can't afford, just to show them you've got "pressure release" habits.

Just remember that spending a lot of time looking harmless will eventually make you actually harmless.

Certainly, nobody should use any spraypaint or sandpaper on any cameras.

That would be criminal, and probably treasonous.

Don't do that shit.

Illegal means of revolt (like vandalism) are all that's left open to us. But will we use those means? Fuck no. Why not? Because we're scared? No, no... it isn't that we're scared, it's that, well, you know... once you have a record you're even more powerless.

And other yellow-bellied excuses for lying down in the dirt like a whipped dog and taking what they're dishing out.

[P3nT4gR4m]

The bottom line is, from the government's perspective at least, I am harmless. I couldn't be less interested in their stupid power tripping agenda. I'm not interested in stopping them or changing them or any of that bullshit. They do their thing and I do mine. We have a truce. They're stomping around in some desert on the other side of the world, kicking the shit out of some people they've decided have it coming? What the fuck do I care? It's no different from a local dealer breaking some poor twat's legs cos he owes him tick or stepped in his business. It's got fuck all to do with me, unless I get some bullshit - crusader for all that's right in the world - trip going on in my head.

I aint in the business of crusading for what's right. I just do what the hell I want and, because I'm part of the system to an extent, sometimes this means I have to be careful, and look over my shoulder when I'm sidestepping legislation that only applies to me if i'm dumb enough to get caught.

So we have a truce. If they decide to fuck with me then, fair enough, I'll be as much of a nuisance as I can make myself but, until then, fuck 'em. I stay out their way. My life is way to short to waste it beating my head off a brick wall trying to change the world.

[Lenin McCarthy]

It seems like the Powers That Be^TM have three ways to deal with opposition:
Ignore
Your well thought-out (or not) ideas about how the world works and what should be done to make it a nicer, more compassionate place. You'll never manage to find enough people to agree with you so you can actually achieve anything, so you're allowed to keep shouting them at people. And then the ones who are in charge can say: "LOOK! We're allowing you FREE SPEECH!"
Absorb/Commodify
Punk rock, anarchism, fucking ANYTHING, has become a uniform, a harmless lifestyle, something you wear, something you buy, something you have on your iPod. Here in Norway, we have a bunch of places where anarcho-communist punks and other weirdos are allowed to stay and feel righteous, and go out in the streets and shout and throw stones when a suitable occasion arises. Make rebellion a lifestyle choice, clothes you wear, music you listen to and buy, and BAM! it's neutralized.
Violence/Force
Back in the day, this was the only tool the ones in power had. The old Catholics' way of dealing with the punks of their age was burning them on stakes. Now, other less violent tools are often more convenient to use. Maintaining large armies and police forces, and not least keeping them loyal is expensive and difficult.

[Juana]

back when NDAA was looming, I actually called my rep, got an intern, and told her that the act was treasnous and that he'd deserve to be stripped of office if he voted for it. Hmmm.


See, as a student of history, I feel the need to point out that it always seems like this, that the powers that be have everything locked down. But we do have power because we have ourselves. It just takes a lot of people willing to suffer and be eaten by the machine, plus the right set of circumstances, to change things.
Given the size of the maw this time around, it'll take enormous numbers. If Occupy was willing to camp out in stairways and elevators and bank lobbies and such, maybe it would have mattered.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

back when NDAA was looming, I actually called my rep, got an intern, and told her that the act was treasnous and that he'd deserve to be stripped of office if he voted for it. Hmmm.

And that intern ran straight into the rep's office, told him exactly what you had said, and the rep changed his mind and ran to the Capitol and laid into the Establishment with so much fervent truth that NDAA collapsed on the spot!

Oh wait, no that didn't happen.

See, as a student of history, I feel the need to point out that it always seems like this, that the powers that be have everything locked down. But we do have power because we have ourselves. It just takes a lot of people willing to suffer and be eaten by the machine, plus the right set of circumstances, to change things.
Given the size of the maw this time around, it'll take enormous numbers. If Occupy was willing to camp out in stairways and elevators and bank lobbies and such, maybe it would have mattered.

Occupy isn't willing to do that. They'll never be willing to do that. They're cowards. We're all cowards. We wouldn't be, if it felt like we had something worth fighting for. But long ago, we replaced our inner desire for freedom with an inner desire for shit. That includes Occupy. They're not a movement, they're the fading echo of a dead notion, an involuntary flutter of social muscles that used to control an organ that is no longer there. Ghost Pains. So, by the way, are all the honest (albeit misguided) souls in the Tea Party movement. They're going through the motions, nothing more.

[Juana]

I certainly never thought my comment would matter. Did get a letter telling me I was wrong, though I don't imagine Nunez ever saw it.

I think the organ is there. Just atrophied. It would take much more than has currently come down the pipe to wake it up.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

The bottom line is, from the government's perspective at least, I am harmless. I couldn't be less interested in their stupid power tripping agenda. I'm not interested in stopping them or changing them or any of that bullshit. They do their thing and I do mine. We have a truce. They're stomping around in some desert on the other side of the world, kicking the shit out of some people they've decided have it coming? What the fuck do I care? It's no different from a local dealer breaking some poor twat's legs cos he owes him tick or stepped in his business. It's got fuck all to do with me, unless I get some bullshit - crusader for all that's right in the world - trip going on in my head.

There was this Pastor Martin Neimoeller guy once had a thing to say about that.

And there's something I said, I think it's in my sig.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

It seems like the Powers That Be^TM have three ways to deal with opposition:
Ignore
Your well thought-out (or not) ideas about how the world works and what should be done to make it a nicer, more compassionate place. You'll never manage to find enough people to agree with you so you can actually achieve anything, so you're allowed to keep shouting them at people. And then the ones who are in charge can say: "LOOK! We're allowing you FREE SPEECH!"
Absorb/Commodify
Punk rock, anarchism, fucking ANYTHING, has become a uniform, a harmless lifestyle, something you wear, something you buy, something you have on your iPod. Here in Norway, we have a bunch of places where anarcho-communist punks and other weirdos are allowed to stay and feel righteous, and go out in the streets and shout and throw stones when a suitable occasion arises. Make rebellion a lifestyle choice, clothes you wear, music you listen to and buy, and BAM! it's neutralized.
Violence/Force
Back in the day, this was the only tool the ones in power had. The old Catholics' way of dealing with the punks of their age was burning them on stakes. Now, other less violent tools are often more convenient to use. Maintaining large armies and police forces, and not least keeping them loyal is expensive and difficult.

And we have one weapon they don't have.

Laugh At Their Tiny Atrophied Penises.

Seriously, what kind of fucking people can sit around all day watching videos of other people?  Perverts, that's who.  People who cannot get their rocks off normally.  And that's the killer part of all this:  You are being watched, every day, by the spiritual brethren of Babylon Horuv.



THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO YOURSELF, AMERICA!

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

It seems like the Powers That Be^TM have three ways to deal with opposition:
Ignore
Your well thought-out (or not) ideas about how the world works and what should be done to make it a nicer, more compassionate place. You'll never manage to find enough people to agree with you so you can actually achieve anything, so you're allowed to keep shouting them at people. And then the ones who are in charge can say: "LOOK! We're allowing you FREE SPEECH!"
Absorb/Commodify
Punk rock, anarchism, fucking ANYTHING, has become a uniform, a harmless lifestyle, something you wear, something you buy, something you have on your iPod. Here in Norway, we have a bunch of places where anarcho-communist punks and other weirdos are allowed to stay and feel righteous, and go out in the streets and shout and throw stones when a suitable occasion arises. Make rebellion a lifestyle choice, clothes you wear, music you listen to and buy, and BAM! it's neutralized.
Violence/Force
Back in the day, this was the only tool the ones in power had. The old Catholics' way of dealing with the punks of their age was burning them on stakes. Now, other less violent tools are often more convenient to use. Maintaining large armies and police forces, and not least keeping them loyal is expensive and difficult.

And we have one weapon they don't have.

Laugh At Their Tiny Atrophied Penises.

Seriously, what kind of fucking people can sit around all day watching videos of other people?  Perverts, that's who.  People who cannot get their rocks off normally.  And that's the killer part of all this:  You are being watched, every day, by the spiritual brethren of Babylon Horuv.



THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO YOURSELF, AMERICA!

[The Good Reverend Roger]

It seems like the Powers That Be^TM have three ways to deal with opposition:
Ignore
Your well thought-out (or not) ideas about how the world works and what should be done to make it a nicer, more compassionate place. You'll never manage to find enough people to agree with you so you can actually achieve anything, so you're allowed to keep shouting them at people. And then the ones who are in charge can say: "LOOK! We're allowing you FREE SPEECH!"
Absorb/Commodify
Punk rock, anarchism, fucking ANYTHING, has become a uniform, a harmless lifestyle, something you wear, something you buy, something you have on your iPod. Here in Norway, we have a bunch of places where anarcho-communist punks and other weirdos are allowed to stay and feel righteous, and go out in the streets and shout and throw stones when a suitable occasion arises. Make rebellion a lifestyle choice, clothes you wear, music you listen to and buy, and BAM! it's neutralized.
Violence/Force
Back in the day, this was the only tool the ones in power had. The old Catholics' way of dealing with the punks of their age was burning them on stakes. Now, other less violent tools are often more convenient to use. Maintaining large armies and police forces, and not least keeping them loyal is expensive and difficult.

And we have one weapon they don't have.

Laugh At Their Tiny Atrophied Penises.

Seriously, what kind of fucking people can sit around all day watching videos of other people?  Perverts, that's who.  People who cannot get their rocks off normally.  And that's the killer part of all this:  You are being watched, every day, by the spiritual brethren of Babylon Horuv.



THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO YOURSELF, AMERICA!

DON'T BLAME ME, LADY.  I JUST CALLS 'EM LIKE I SEES 'EM!

[tyrannosaurus vex]

It's illegal to have sex in public
this has nothing to do with morality...
and everything to do with the terms of the contract the NSA has with its cleaning people?