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Punk Rock started in the late 1990's with the help of forefathers xblink-182x, writing the first popular punk song, "Funky Cold Medina", which is still known as the most punk song ever written. However, it should be noted that the aforementioned have little to do with punk proper, and everything to do with stupid fucking white middle-class American fuckwits getting "punk'd" by fat, kiddy-fucking record executives who are far, far more intelligent and malign than the little cock wipes who are buying this shit will ever be.

With said help from MTV, punk has become a larger movement in recent years, reaching out to angst-filled white teenagers who hate their parents. Punk is also sometimes accompanied by music. Music however is secondary to the true punk, as going to shows and looking cool has now taken a front seat in the punk rock lifestyle, a lifestyle which revolves around speaking out about how you hate the corporate pigs and just want to be different and rebel, whilst in the process looking like a bigger dick and buying all your super expensive dick head clothes from the same corporations who you cry about when they fuck you up the arse.

Oh, and some shit happened in the 70's, but that's not really important.


Some shitty bubble gum, super dooper, mister pooper punk bands that suck flaming dog balls are My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy and Limp Bizkit, among others. Some of the most totally RADDEST anarchist punk bands (back from when punk was young and full of life and it wasn't a bunch of dipshits screaming and trying to look tough for their extremely gay, gay lovers who are oh-so gay.) are The Clash, The Ramones, Crass, Mindless Self Indulgence(lol wut?), The Sex Pistols, the BNP, Combat 18, Sex Shotgun, Super Sex Bazooka, and so forth. They would write songs about shitting your pants, drinking too much, and doing inappropriate amounts of drugs during the teenage pregnancy you received in your daze of idol worship. But then they all died over 100 years ago in a horrific tragedy when a grocery store crushed them and their guts popped out of their eyes like anarchists. Underground bands such as Dead Kennedys and Operation Ivy however, dont know how to play their instruments and don't deserve as much recognition as musical gods like Sum 41.

Some people might tell you that bands like Green Day, Good Charlotte, Avril Lavigne and Blink 182 aren't punk. These people are horribly mislead, because everybody knows that true punk involves being a puppet for a major record label that will use you to sell anything but music.

For some reason, punks now are almost all Communist or anarchist. Despite this, they like to copy the Sex Pistols and wear Nazi armbands to look "risqué" and are nearly all middle class. Punks are also against W, but unlike everyone else can be found making death threats toward him (or anyone else with a hint of right-wing or centrist beliefs) at regular intervals, since by buying the CDs of companies who finance Bush's government punks like to believe they really make a difference.


Some argue that punk is the greatest troll in music history ever, as it has inspired outrage among the humorless, created a subculture whose members (even the elite ones) are pretty much laughed at IRL, caused 16 year old girls and 13 year old boys to rebel against The Man by spending over $900 on pieces of shit from Hot Topic a.k.a The Man (see Irony) and made it really hard to take rock and roll seriously

Being punk in our modern era constitutes a great number of actions. These actions include, in random order:

   1. Proclaiming the immaculate glory of fucktard bands such as the Misfits (from that cartoon, Jem!) and Rancid, despite having an i-pod filled with gay ass bands such as Blink 182, Boxcar Racer (the bastard stepchild of Blink 182's Tom Delonge) and Good Charlotte and Angels and Airwaves [which is blink 182 undercover]
   2. Masturbating to Iggy Pop with furries.
   3. Dying your hair and preening in front of the mirror for hours so that it looks perfect, while loudly proclaiming to everyone that you don't care what other people think of you.
   4. Demand rights from a government you seek to destroy.
   5. Wear concert tees of concerts you never went to.
   6. Go around making anti-Avril Lavigne websites and drawings on the basis that "OMG SHES SUCH A POSER!!1111" and then proclaim your love for My Chemical Romance.
   7. Find another punk a year younger than you and berate them endlessly for 'jumping on the bandwagon'.
   8. And from a true punk: "punks just wear ties. it doesn't matter what gender you are"
   9. Oh screw it. Just follow the crowds and do everything the other punks do.
  10. Dress like your normal friends most of the time but put on special clothes to proclaim how punk you are at gigs and shortening your name to just the first letter, eg. Jordan becomes J
  11. ????
  12. PROFIT!!


Life cycle of a Punk

   1. Poser: This punker may have just found Blink 182 on MTV, or may have just learned about his first less famous punk band from the internets. A punk in this stage will reveal himself by speaking constantly of the same three punk groups, Hot Topic, and what color his hair is this week.
   2. Punk Rocker: After so long floundering as a poser, the punk begins to understand. Teh government is evil. Anarchy is the way of the future. Down with government! These punkers know of at least five local punk outfits and dozens of hardcore big-name acts.
   3. Intelligent Punk: Overexposure to an anarchist point of view compels a long-term punk rocker with the notion that anarchy is best executed through communism. Reasonably speaking, every nation on earth needs the largest possible government to enforce the banishment of all government. Intelligent Punks preach Marxism and fiery indignation toward whoever Michael Moore filmed his last documentary about. Many ebay their leather jackets and turn vegan at this stage. Their selection of music more closely resemebles the college radio charts found in Rolling Stone magazine.
   4. Yuppie: After failing to abort at least one child, many punkers put the college education that daddy paid for to good use. They find work for a big company that lets them listen to anti-corporate punk rock on their iPods. Their lifetime of political ideology can be summed up in the single pro-Democrat or anti-W bumper sticker which their homeowner's assocation allows on each minivan or SUV. These punkers speak fondly of the Ramones in an attempt to remain non-offensive, and follow their children to Simple Plan concerts on the weekends.

Linkified version available at http://episkoposcain.blogspot.com/2008/01/book-review-black-mass.html


Over Christmas, I managed to get my hands on a brand-spanking new copy of John Gray's Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religions and the Death of Utopia. Thinking this was perfect reading for the holiday season, I prompty bought it (and got a recommendation from the the guy at the till for Straw Dogs, also by him) and proceeded to give it a read.

I have to say, I'm not too surprised of the content of the book. A lot of people apparently are, but the simple fact is our current political discourse in the Western world is highly warped, with a focus on internal state politics, instead of international political theory. In International Relations, however, we do not have a left/right or liberal/conservative distinction, which, when taken to its extremes, as in the USA political discourse, ends up branding centrist and liberal-right parties as "left-wing", or the NeoConservatives as actual Conservatives, when they borrow heavily from liberal and Communist thought.

Such inconsistencies don't exist. Instead, we have Realism, Liberalism, Marxism and Constructivism. There are also basic offshoots of these, such as NeoRealism, Postmodernism, Idealism, Cosmpolitanism etc but the above are the 4 main theories one will run into on most University campuses and in the majority of the text books dealing with the subjects.

There are no hard and fast rules tying the theories to internal politics either. One of the greatest Realists of this century, Hans Morgenthau, protested so heavily against the Vietnam war he was spied on by the US government, while Nixon and Kissinger, two other Realists, were in charge of the country's foreign policy. You have Marxists who support economic colonialism, and liberals who favour war to open international markets. I suspect the reason for this is that, aside from times of war, foreign policy is not an area usually high on voters priorities, and thus has escaped media and political corruption, for the most part.

Either way, Gray's thesis is similar to anyone who has been following trends in international political theory over the past couple of years. Gray has returned to Classical Realism in order to critique "ideological crusaders" and the fanatics who threaten the world. He goes one step further than most commentators however (such as Robert Kaplan) in blaming both residual millennarian thought within current political theory, and the death of religion as a means of rational enquiry into metaphysical and philosophical speculation. He draws quite a distinction between the Scholastic scepticism of an Aquinas and the unshaking faith of Von Hayek, as a perfect example of this.

Gray convincingly explains how Christian millennarian teleology was inherent in Enlightenment era thinking about human perfectibility and set a terrible precedent for modern theories. Children of Enlightenment thought and those who opposed it while accepting many of its basic assumptions (the Counter-Enlightenment) eventually resulted in the terrible creation of Bolshevism and Nazism in the 20th century. In particular he does an excellent job with explaining the millennarian content of Communist Russian thought, dispelling with ease the racist/apologist "Oriental Despotism" theory of why Communism there was so violent.

He then turns to more modern theories. Being English, he manages to catch the subtelties of British politics far more than many Americans, and aptly starts with Thatcher and the death of traditional Conservativism. The birth of Neo-Liberalism was a death blow for most traditional conservatives over the world. Fully embracing the free market and the revolutionary, chaotic power of the market to overturn traditional relationships, family structures and ways of life, "Conservatives" who bought into the solution of the Free Market became the new revolutionaries.

And so millennarian thought shifted from the syncretic and left wing movements to the right. He then charts the failure of NeoLiberalism and how it morphed into the more "honest" NeoConservativism, which at least accepted that the Market required a violent actor to sometimes ovecome barriers to its operations.

And then, the book's focus shifts. Its understandable, when you understand Gray's own political background, but about half the book becomes devoted to the political opinions of Tony Blair and the American NeoConservative right and how we can see this sort of thinking driving the invasion of Iraq. Much of the book is devoted to this, which is kind of a shame, as I was hoping he would delve more into the philosophical contradictions of the NeoCons some more. He does, interestingly, make a case for Tony Blair being the first British NeoCon, an excellent and accurate description of his deeply held views. A crypto-NeoCon, keeping the public face of a Neo-Liberal.

Gray ends the book by making the case for Realist thought in the modern world. Much of it is well known to anyone who has taken the time to read the above links, so I wont delve into it in any real depth. Suffice to say, while Realism is certainly an attractive option in the face of ideological crusaders, we have to remember that the current political climate arose as a reaction to Realism. We increasingly see the role of state as that of a moral body (rightly or wrongly, I share Realist scepticism on this, but it is the perception) and do feel moral outrage at the wrongs of the world. A return to Realist thinking would look very much like the early days of the Cold War, where it dominated the US foreign policy establishment. And without the checks on US action by the Soviet Union now being present, would the world really look that much different than it already does?

Realism places stability as its ultimate goal, as its own "Holy Grail". The fear of destablization will eventually resolve itself into military interventionism, which will, in the current military/political evolution of the planet, most likely only increase the scope of the conflict. In trying to create a balance of power, where no state can even think it has the advantage to engage in international political rearragenment of the current system, the USA as global hegemon, would end up supporting a balance of terror. One which may spill over in the presence of irrational agents, of which the world has a large supply.

In conclusion, the critique of this book is brilliant, and far more developed than many others like it. However, the solution it provides is weak, and chosen out of lack of current options instead of for any defensible reason. Realism has been tried in the past, and it was not as successful a model as its proponents would like people to think. New thinking is needed on the topic of international relations theory, desperately, but this book does not provide it, despite its formidable intellectual arguments against the current state of affairs.

I can end it all, you know.  War, famine, murder, disease, the many painful facts of human existence.  I think I've solved them all.  You know what this means?  We can liberate the world from suffering and pain.

How?  Well, I have this system, wait a minute I've got it written down somewhere.  Ah, here it is.  You want to read it?  Go ahead.  You see now, don't you?  Yes, I recognize that fevered glint in your eyes.  You understand.  You see the potential.  The pursuit of mankind living in harmony is no longer a dream – it is a possibility in our lifetime.

Do you think...that we should consider sharing the secret with others?  Well, we have to, don't we?  It is a moral duty.  Since we now know why everything is so wrong in the world, the root of all this evil we are mired in, it would be the right thing to do, the rational thing.  Why allow all this to continue if we can stop it.

It's becoming difficult to convince some people, I know.  I simply can't understand why they don't see we have the answer here.  We could help them, but they don't seem to see that we can solve all their problems.  But we must have faith.  I am certain they will come around in time.  We just have to wait.  Time is on our side, after all.  You cannot deny the historic inevitability of our system.

I wonder...if perhaps we should consider forcing events in our favour?  We have to be honest with ourselves and accept that some people are simply too invested in the present way of things, or too stupid or blinded or indoctrinated to understand the truth, as we do.  It's a difficult thing to decide, I know.  But we must weigh the costs of any possible action to the ongoing suffering of an entire world.  Things will come to a head, sooner or later.

We must act.  There is little time left, because if we do not manage to succeed, the last hope for the world will perish with us.  Only we can perfect humanity, make it right and good, so that all of society benefits.  Our enemies, those who oppose us, are either willing or unknowing agents of evil.  Even the latter is no excuse, because our mission is the highest undertaking a human could take.  We may have no choice but to resort to force of arms, in order to protect ourselves and our creation, our vision of a world without pain and suffering.  It will be a small price to pay, when every person hitherto will be in our debt.

Events are now under control.  That was...unpleasant, but unfortunately necessary.  If only they could have been made to understand...nevertheless, what is done is done, and we should stop looking to the past.  Instead, we have a bright future ahead of us.  But there is still much work to do.  We must prepare for hard times in order to succeed.

I don't understand it.  All this hostility...We are here to help.  Once we sort things out, everything will be fine.  Better than fine, better than great even.  It will be perfect.  It must be tradition.  Yes, that is it.  People holding onto the remnants of a failed past.  Failed theories.  Fantasies, warped ideas, poisonous beliefs.  We must break with that past in every way possible.  I don't care about the details, just make it happen.  A revolutionary fervour for the new world can only be built on the dead body of the old one.

The problem is not the people.  It cannot be.  We have educated them, taught them the truth of our way.  Despite a few...troublemakers, they understand and support our project, our aim for the world.  No, the problems must come from outside.  From the rest of the world.  Yes.  They fear us, you know?  Oh yes.  They fear our message.  They know we herald a new dawn for humanity, one in which they will be irrelevant and discarded, so they must sneak in, undermine us, sabotage us at every turn and spread vile lies.  We need to combat this.  There has to be a way to stop this, to save the project.

We have defeated one of the many sources of this evil which has threatened us for so long.  From this victory, new hope springs forth.  While some at home have criticized this action, it was necessary, as the opening shot in a war to liberate humanity.  And it is a war, let there be no doubt.  We did not start it, and we have faced vicious opposition at every step of the way.  But we know, that sooner or later, we will triumph.  The outmoded forces of tyranny cannot stand against the new ways, the modern ways, the right ways.  They will try in the future, as they have in the past.  But I am assured of the historical forces that are driving us towards a better, fairer, more perfect society.  It is only a matter of time.

Things are tough, right now, I know.  Reactionary forces, in alliance with our enemies, attempt to undermine the good we do abroad, just as they have at home.  They are evil, willing to go to whatever lengths necessary to keep a grip on power, to abuse the people they claim to want to protect.  But we will not stand for it!  We will continue the fight, because right is on our side and because we are good!  Our system is not perfect, but it is the best hope the world has.  And we will not allow these savages to drag us back to a dark and violent past.  Not now and not ever!

I don't understand where it all went wrong.  We were right, RIGHT damnit!  Why can't they see that?  We only acted with the best intentions.  We wanted to save people.  We knew what was best for them, but they wont listen.  And now we have been bought to the brink of ruin by their cowardice and treachery!  It could have been so perfect, couldn't have it?  We could have saved everyone...

If only they had trusted us.

Just thought I should remind everyone is either been 49 or 50 years since Discordianism was founded.  Perhaps we should do something to note this occasion?

[This may be the moment when the system breaks]

http://www.scripting.com/stories/2007/11/30/theHollywoodWritersStrike.html

I haven't heard it said in the tech blogosphere that the Hollywood writer's strike cuts right to heart of the philosophy of the entertainment industry and what goes on on the Internet. But it does. It's a classic faceoff, and in this case, the execs, the nemesis of the Internet, seem to be taking the side of the Internet. They can't promise the writers a share of the money they make on the Internet because they don't see how they're going to make money on the Internet. How can you share something that doesn't exist??

When we talk with people from the entertainment industry they explain how they can't just release stuff on the Internet, because they have agreements with the rights holders that assume the realities of the old more restrictive distribution system. Those are the writers.

Now you can see how real the concerns are, when there are real people who express them, and how the execs are in the middle. 

I'm a net native (even though I've heard young people question whether anyone my age can be) and while I appreciate the human concerns, there is no meaningful way to be sympathetic. I'm not going on strike, even though I am a writer. I don't ask to be paid for my writing. I haven't been paid for writing software in a very long time, but I keep doing it. Yet I look in my bank account, and somehow the balance keeps going up. In the end, that's all that matters. 

I don't hold on to a principle that I must be paid for what I do. I look at money as separate from my living. I live through my work. Some of it pays, and it's unfortunately unpredictable what that is. Welcome to the net, welcome to the 21st century.

I heard a report on Nightline how the writers of The Simpsons are producing YouTube videos, and they're funny. Of course they are -- the people who write that show couldn't possibly write something that wasn't. They should keep doing them, I suspect they will.

Never mind how you get from point A to point B, we're going there. Creative work won't be directly paid for in the future. And we're already in that future. Read my essays from the 90s to see how angry this made me. Now the anger has subsided, as a software writer, and it will subside for the Hollywood writers too. This may be the moment when the system breaks. It looks more and more like that.
-------------------------

The question of course is what happens when the system breaks?  If creative enterprises can no longer be made to pay (at least not all the time), what happens instead?

Will creativity become the domain of the rich (rather like essayists of past centuries).  Will artists seek out patrons?  Or will the emphasis shift towards using creative tools merely to market other products?

Personally, I see the third as being most likely.  Content creation has become more and more the packaging, instead of the product.  But that brings with it a whole slew of questions about what happens when art becomes subject to and slavishly beholden to market forces.

Comments?

[- H. L. Mencken]

Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.
- H. L. Mencken

Urgh.  Another day, another moronic attempt at self-justification by a New Labour cheerleader.  The suspects are not new, and neither is the subject, but simply because of the concentration of hideous sentiment that are far too common among the political elite of the moment, it deserves attention.

As the cheerleader in chief, Polly Toynbee points out, Monday was International Human Rights Day, a day that has become increasingly important in a world where rendition, torture and suspension of haebus corpus under the guise of counter-terrorism legislation is a fact of life not only under faraway dictatorships, but supposedly free and democratic countries.

Yet, for the likes of Toynbee and the rest of the Bolsheviks masquerading as Fascists in Parliament, this is not a cause for concern, because the decade of rule under Labour has been the best for freedom.  Apparently independently investigated police are much more important than the fact that the same police can arrest and fine you for insulting Our Glorious (ex) Leader, to make one of many comparisons.

Furthermore, she dismisses the brilliantly concise reply from Henry Porter as enabling the privileged classes to engage in fashionable persecution paranoia.  While some of his claims may have been contentious, can anyone really consider laws that create arbitrary zones of trespass and the interception of all major communication systems without recourse to even a court as being those of a government concerned with liberty and freedom?

Apparently so.  Because, you see, these are individual rights.  Apparently, this isn't done for the individual good, oh no.  This is done because the state has a duty to all, and your rights stop where...well, somewhere along the line to be defined at a later date.  Arbitrarily, knowing this government, for whom "well-defined and limited" is a foreign, and possibly dirty term.  Either way, because your individual right to not be spied on for no reason conflicts with my right to not be murdered in my bed by swarthy foreign extremists, your right is clearly the lesser.

Or something.

The real battles are not to be waged on these grounds.  There are far more important and pressing issues.  Such as neglect.  Liberty is a lesser necessity, don't you know?  If you didn't, you can look it up on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.  See its, science, we cannot start whinging about silly little things like removing the right to be tried by your peers until everything else in society is perfect.  So sit down and put your little banners away (because the police will only beat the shit out of you and throw you in jail if you dare to use them near Parliament anyway).  I presume soon we will bring Solidarity and Vaclav Havel to task for their pathetic right wing agitation which bought down the Warsaw Pact before the Soviets could eliminate poverty.

Best of all, this silly insistence on individual claims is just another right-wing wolf dressed up in leftist clothing.  Oh yes, you may be for the minimum wage, a mixed economy and the use of government spending to help cure social ills, but if you start getting funny ideas about you being a sovereign individual with inalienable rights, then you're a tool of a vast right wing conspiracy.  And no, we wont refund your centre-left club membership card either, you traitorous little scumbag.

Its articles like these that make me question my stated political affiliation.  If left-leaning, Millian liberalism is going to be associated with this sort of morally bankrupt political philosophy, then fuck it – I'm now a rather weak-willed anarchist ("gently push over the State!").  I have no problem with what I think, its just if I don't spend 20 minutes trying to explain the essential ideas from On Liberty to a curious bystander, I'll likely be considered a believer in the above garbage.

Even worse, its allowed the Tories, the bloody Tories, to claim some sort of moral high ground and present themselves as a party dedicated to freedom.  Freedom?  Hah!  Liberty?  Sure, if you're white, male and rich, perhaps.  Maybe one day the Tories will finally realize their plans to combine free market economics with social conservatism are doomed to failure, because the two don't actually mix, but that day is still far off.

Now, I know some of you out there may still be wondering, OK then, well what's your case that the state should be public enemy number one?  Well I am glad you asked, oh literary-device-which-allows-me-to-move-onto-a-new-point.  My position is very simple, and grounded in what I like to think of as common sense.  It goes a little something like this: every single state, regardless of the people who run it, are capable of great evil and the mere existence of such concentrated power in the hands of so few, with so many resources to hand, constitutes a direct and ongoing threat to my personal freedom.

Did you catch all that?  Good.  Its a very simple position, which basically reverses the logic of a police state, that the possibility of threat leads to its actuality, back onto itself.  People might be naughty, therefore we need lots of laws to protect YOU before they commit a crime.  The State might be naughty, therefore we need a lack of laws and well defined limits on their powers to protect ME before they commit a crime.

And of course, the scope for crimes by the State are potentially so much higher than even the most ambitious individual could hope to aspire to.  Ordinary people have, at best, mass murder and grand theft.  Nations can inflict genocide and steal entire regions of resources.  Not only can they, its happened fairly often before.  They can keep hundreds of thousands in fear with their thuggery, engage in any form of theft they like, restrict your ability to move freely forever, torture, brutalize and rape...with impunity.  While with the advent of WMDs ambitious individuals may be able to scale similar heights in murder and intimidation, states will long retain the monopoly, will to use violence, and legitimacy that your average, casual murderer lacks.

That's not to say the state cannot be a force for good.  I'm rather keen on poor people making enough to actually live on, affordable housing, protection from people who actually intend to harm my liberty or person (as opposed to those the state says want to) and other similar things.  But I fail to see how these, in any way conflict with not throwing people in jail simply because they dare to not show proper deference to their leaders.  That's because it doesn't.  It is a false dichotomy, an intellectually shallow position that tries to force the social conscience of people into accepting intolerable violations of their liberty.

Once you have a state which has the power to do such things, you have a serious problem.  Because unless its the prelude to installing an 'enlightened' dictatorship, there is no way you can know the nature of the government in 10, 20 or 50 years time.  People always forget that one, that their own favourite lia-um, politicians, will not be in power forever.  And when was the last time you remember state power being voluntarily rolled back, once those special powers had been acquired?  Exactly, almost never.

You can't dictate the terms of the future political landscape.  You see, this is the problem with the inherently short sighted supporters of New Labour.  We may not be in a police state, not yet.  Widespread abuse of these powers has not happened.  But the fact remains that the tools are already in place and all that is lacking is the political will, not the ability itself.  The state cannot be trusted, because the nature of democracy inherently brings uncertainty into the future trends of policy.  You'd think people who actually grasped the concept of voting would understand that.

All of the above is precisely why the state should always be viewed as the foremost enemy of liberty and the enemy of the public at large.  Someone who views the state as their enemy is not going to be tricked into foolish nationalistic squabbles, isn't going to buy lines about excessive protections "for your own good" and in short, is not going to open themselves and the larger community as a whole to the sort of deppraved abuses of state power which make up almost all of history for the last 100 years.

The state may be a necessary evil (depending on who you talk to, it may not be), but its certainly an evil of some sort.  Trusting in it is the action of a fool or a madman, and no excuse can be made for it.

In keeping with my lazy, outsourced method of ranting, this thread will be a cut and paste article written by Jack Straw MP (Foreign Minister under Blair and current Justice Minister) and a response by Henry Porter.


Straw:  Does the sun rise in the east? Has Labour enhanced rights and liberties? The answer to the second question is as unambiguously a yes as to the first. But let us dwell on this, given the fashionable but false orthodoxy that seeks to deny Labour's achievements - with its tendency to pocket all that has happened since 1997 as though it were by divine intervention.

The constitutional expert Vernon Bogdanor has commented that when the history of this era is written, the last 10 years will be seen as heralding a "quiet revolution" in the way in which the UK is governed. He is correct. This period has seen a greater improvement in our democracy and people's sense of rights than any time since the development of the franchise between 1832 and 1928. But the difference is: that took a century, this has taken a decade.

The culture in Whitehall has been changed beyond recognition from what I witnessed as a young special adviser in the 1974-79 Labour government, when the "it's the man in Whitehall who knows best" attitude was still dominant.

However, rights are not free consumer goodies, but fundamentally about how we relate to each other - our neighbours - as well as how we are protected from overweening power of the state. We have "freedoms to" do things in a free society, but "freedoms from" as well. The freedoms from fear, crime and terrorism are as important as positive freedoms. No constituent of mine has ever complained to me that our strengthening of the criminal and antisocial behaviour laws is incompatible with their sense of rights. They are just happy that crime and disorder is down and that they can enjoy a quieter life.

Of course, and particularly since 9/11, there have been some acute issues about whether protections we have sought - especially over pre-charge time for terrorist suspects - are proportionate and fair. We are all acutely aware, as Jacqui Smith has spelt out, of the care that has to be taken - for example over any extension of 28 days. But consider what might have happened if there had been no Labour government over the last 10 years.

In the aftermath of 9/11, whichever party had been in power would certainly have strengthened counter-terrorist legislation, and almost certainly have extended the potential period of pre-charge detention to 28 days - and maybe beyond. What they would not have done would have been to introduce the Human Rights Act, the Freedom of Information Act, the Race Relations Amendment Act; make life infinitely better for black and Asian people, gay and lesbian people, the disabled; and made a better reality of freedom and rights for everyone in this land.

We know they would not have done so because they did not do so when they had the chance. In many cases - as with section 28 - they did quite the reverse. Yes, the sun does rise in the east. And yes, we have deepened and extended civil liberties for all.


Henry Porter:

Labour has restricted the rights to protest and assembly

• Protests are banned within 1km of Parliament Square without police permission. (penalties 51 weeks in jail and/or £2500 fine).

• Groups may be dispersed under antisocial behaviour laws.

• Groups may be dispersed within a designated areas under the terror laws.

• New offence under SOCPA of trespass within a designated site. No justification for designation is required.


The government's eavesdropping operation

• Under the Regulation of Investigative Powers Act, government agencies may intercept email, internet connections and standard mail without seeking a court's permission (latest figure: 500,000 secret interceptions a year).

• Since summer 2007, the government and some 700 agencies have had access to all landline and mobile phone records. No primary legislation. No debate in parliament.


The construction of the database state under Labour

• Without primary legislation, police introduced a national network of all automatic number recognition cameras. The travel data is stored for two years.

• The ID card national identity register will store details of every verification made by an ID card holder and give access to government agencies without knowledge or consent of the private citizen.

• ID card enrolment requires every citizen to offer up 49 pieces of personal information to the national database. Heavy and repeated fines for non-compliance.

• Children's database - all children's details stored on a central database. Access granted to a wide range of public bodies.

• Children's Common Assessment Framework database stores all details of children with problems indefinitely.

• The home secretary has announced laws that demand 53 pieces of information for people wishing to travel abroad. No primary legislation was required.


Speech crimes

• Public order laws have been used to curtail free expression. A man wearing "Bollocks to Blair" on his T-shirt was told to remove it by police.

• Race and Religious Hatred Act 2006 bans incitement of hatred on religious grounds.

• The justice minister Jack Straw proposes new laws which would ban incitement of hatred for the disabled and on the grounds of a person's sexual orientation.

• Terror laws are used to ban freedom of expression in designated areas. Walter Wolfgang was removed from the Labour party conference for heckling Jack Straw.

• People searched for wearing slogans on their T shirts or carrying banners.

• Protection from Harassment Act 1997 bans the repetition of an act. People prosecuted for repeated email protest.

• Terror laws ban the glorification of terrorism which has resulted in the prosecution of a young woman for writing poetry.


And in the courts ...

• Asbo legislation introduces hearsay evidence which may result in a person being sent to jail.

• The Criminal Justice Act 2003 allows prosecution to make an application to be heard without a jury where there is a danger of jury tampering. Fraud trials will be included in this.

• Admissibility of a person's bad character, previous convictions and acquittals.

• The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 gives the state powers to confiscate assets in circumstances where it does not have enough evidence for prosecution.

• Special immigration appeals court hearings are held in secret. Those terror suspects whose cases come before the court are not allowed to know the evidence against them or to be represented by a lawyer of their own choice.

• End to the right to silence without inference being drawn by the court.

• The Courts and Tribunals Enforcement Act abandons the tradition of an "Englishman's home is his castle" which since 1604 has made breaking into a home by bailiffs illegal.


Finally, the terror laws

• Terror laws have been used to stop and search ordinary citizens. The current rate is 50,000 per annum.

• A maximum of 28 days without charge is allowed under terror legislation. The government has announced plans to extend this to 42 days.

• Control orders - effectively indefinite house arrest - were introduced after the Belmarsh decision.


No further comment needed.  Our leaders are liars who think us fools, who would tell us the sky was green in contrary to all evidence, and they do not even have the shame to pretend it was done "for our own good", instead pretending it never happened in the first place.

From www.annotatedrant.com and www.fuckchristmas.org

Oh man, fuck Christmas.

Seriously – are you kidding me with this "There's a war on Christmas" bullshit? FOX News wasn't raking in enough cash already from all the Christmas commercials for Kill 'em All Barbie and Girls Gone Wild Brand Toddler Gear? They had to start publishing books about some bogus attack on Christianity? And who did they pick to lead this particular charge?

John fucking Gibson. This guy has wiener written all over him.

Bill O'Reilly gets all the credit as the biggest nutcase in FOXville, but Gibson really deserves his own special wing in the happy house. This motherfucker's embedded assignment reads "Up Karl Rove's ass."

What makes him such a dick? I mean, besides making a fortune by screaming hysterically about how oppressed Christians are by the other twenty percent? How about advocating bombing countries that don't vote the way we want in their own elections? Way to encourage democracy, fuckhead. And maybe he was kidding when he wished, on air, that the French had gotten the 2012 Olympics instead of the Brits so the terrorists would "blow up Paris," but it might have been just a touch over the top to call for it again on the day of the London train bombings. Classy move, asshole.

And really? That's just scratching the fucking surface. Anyone remember who was responsible for the bombing of the Federal building in Oklahoma City? John does: Iraq. And speaking of Iraq, Gibson thinks Rove deserves a fucking medal for outing that CIA agent. And, like any good reporter, he wanted to burn the Florida ballots after his buddy Bush got "elected" rather than, I don't know, count them? "Is this a case where knowing the facts actually would be worse than not knowing?" That right there is why sometimes it's useful for journalists to go to, what do you call that fucking place? Oh yeah, journalism school.

And now he's all worked up about Christmas being stolen. What is this, the fucking Fairytale Network? It's a national fucking holiday and we're spending gobs of our hard-earned tax dollars on wreaths and lights for your special Santa day. But these bastards are all "But they call them Holiday trees!" Here's a clue: no, they fucking don't. Ok, maybe in a couple places, like on FOXNews.com and at the White House, but if Christmas is under attack, I'm Kris fucking Kringle.

And guess who's stealing Christmas, according to Gibson. Go on — guess. "A cabal of secularists, so-called humanists, trial lawyers, cultural relativists, and liberal, guilt-wracked Christians — not just Jewish people." (Emphasis mine. Pure, unadulterated anti-semitism, his.) A cabal? Are you fucking kidding me? Could we try to be a little more fucking original with our Jew-hating?

Speaking of Jew-hating, Pat Buchanan has joined the hype-a-thon of the supposed Attack on Christmas, too. Or, as he put it, "What we're witnessing here are hate crimes against Christianity." Sorry? We're not so hot on paying for an inflatable camel for your goddamn nativity scene and suddenly we're Slobodan fucking Milosevic? Fuck you. Get some goddamn perspective, you little prick. When they start hunting Christians in the streets, it'll be time to start yelling "Hate crime." And no, it won't count when they start chasing you with the torches. That'll be called "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year."

And Bill O'Reilly, Gibson's cellmate in the silly shack, is doing his part to save Christmas, too. He's been going after New York's Mayor Bloomberg (that Commie) because he says the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center has been renamed a "Holiday Tree," and "No Christian Christmas symbols are allowed in the public schools." The only problem? Neither of those things is even remotely fucking true.

It takes some super-sized balls for O'Reilly to get all lathered up about sinners and their fictional anti-Christian crusade. Every fucking person on the planet has hard and fast evidence that Bill is a world-class pervert, but still he feels totally justified lecturing the rest of us on our moral inferiority.

How fucked up is Bill O'Reilly? Pretty fucked up. Everyone got so crazyfaced about him confusing a sponge and a Middle Eastern snackcake (pretty fucking funny, mind you), that they missed the scary bit: what he meant to say. Old Bill wanted to get all funky on his intern like this: (you'll excuse my foul language, I'm quoting an award-winning newscaster here) "I'd take the other hand with the [loofah] thing and put it on your pussy."

loofah (lū'fə) noun. A natural exfoliating sponge.

exfoliate (ĕks-fō'lē-āt') verb. To remove (a layer of bark or skin, for example) in flakes or scales; peel.

That's right. Bill O'Reilly, fount of morals, is super familiar with the female anatomy. So much so, that he knows how good it feels to have one's pussy exfoliated. We're talking h – o – t, Hot. That's exactly who I'm going to for my life lessons.

Sorry, where were we? Oh yeah, fuck Christmas.

Can we back up just a couple steps here? At what point did a basic understanding of the separation of church and state become a fucking war on religion? And how did we get to the point where you can call an organization set up to defend our civil liberties "Terrorists" on national television and no one fires your ass? Enough. Fuck all of you lying little shitheads who wish the world was out to get you so you could play the poor oppressed victims. Wake up assholes — you're the cowboys, not the fucking Indians.

"But we want to display our Christmas tree on city property!" You can, go right ahead. "They're stopping us from praying in school!" They're not, so fuck off. "We're not allowed to say 'Merry Christmas' anymore!" Are you fucking kidding me? Knock yourself out. Say it at work, scream it in your high school lunch room, hell, tattoo it on your fucking forehead for all we care. Guess who's gonna be there defending your right to do every one of those things? The fucking ACLU. One of these days you bastards are going to drive those fuckers out of business, and then you'll see some actual attacks on your religious liberties. I thought conservatives were supposed to be all proud and independent? When did they turn into a bunch of fucking crybabies?

Let's back up even fucking further, shall we? Can anyone tell me how old Christmas is? Anyone? Two thousand years, give or take, right? Gee, who's been reading their No Child Left Behind History Textbooks? Try fucking four thousand years. Huh. Twice as fucking long as your little baby king has been around. How could that possibly be, unless. . . waitaminute. . .

Christmas isn't fucking Christian. Ok, now we're talking.

That's right, that Yuletide cheer you're spreading? What exactly do you think Yule is? It's the fucking Pagan celebration of solstice. And those "Christmas" traditions? They're not just like Pagan rituals, they fucking are Pagan rituals. Way before your Jesus got all magical with the bread and fishes, the Romans were celebrating the birth of Mithra on . . . guess? Go on – guess. December fucking twenty fifth. What a weird coincidence. Practically the whole thing is ripped off from the fucking Druids and the Romans. Twelve days? Check. Exchanging gifts? Check. Mistletoe? Check. And you'd better fucking believe that those decorated trees that Gibson and Co. are so bent out of shape over are as Pagan as the Rune and Crystal Shack at Pentagramfest 2005. You might as well be building miniature fucking Stonehenges in your den.

And don't you read your own goddamn Bibles? Jesus was born when? In the middle of winter? Lot of Shepherds out watching their flocks around that time of year in Bethlehem? No, because they'd be freezing their fucking asses off. Tell you what – y'all go figure out which one of the different Bible stories about the birth of Baby Jesus® you want to believe, and then we'll argue about whether it fucking happened like that or not.

Christians just stole a bunch of traditions from other cultures, slapped them together, stuck a fucking tinfoil star on top and called it the Most Important Holiday of the Year. Modern American Christmas makes Michael Jackson look positively organic.

But you boys at FOX still freak out every year about how everyone's out to get your special trees. This is really the most important thing you have to talk about? Whether Target says Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas? Here's a brainstorm: there's a fucking war on. Our soldiers are out there dying while you guys do your 14th live feed of the day from WalMart to show us what good little consumers we are. What Would Jesus Do? He'd jump over that newsdesk and kick your ass for that shit. Are you sure you want to hang your journalism credentials on a story about what some guy calls a tree?

Well we've fucking had it. You want to play bullshit games and scream about how God's fucking judgment is gonna come raining down on us if we don't start watching our vocabulary? Go right the fuck ahead. But let me clue you in on something: fire and brimstone ain't no deterrent for us. We're not going to hell, assholes, we're fucking in hell. We live with you.

And fuck Easter too, you fertility–rite–celebrating, whiny, self-righteous, don't–know–the– history–of–your–own–religion assholes. Fuck off.

Dunno if either of you have this, but you might want an electronic copy:

http://www.anonib.com/bookchan/index.php?t=4353

Lon Milo Duquette - The Key to Solomon's Key

[-Hans Johst]

"When I hear "culture" I release the safety catch on my Browning!"
-Hans Johst

"With a stroke we have now obliterated 1789 from the history books"
- Joseph Goebbels, 1933

"The Philistine not only ignores all conditions of life which are not his own but also demands that the rest of mankind should fashion its mode of existence after his own"
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


Fascism is the word haunting the minds of everyone who hasn't bought into the "us and them" bullshit of the last 7 years.  And despite what the media would like people to think, its not just the hysterical far-left who are using it, although they do have an annoying tendency to use the word for practically everything they dislike, bearing out Orwell's prophecy in Politics and the English Language. 

That aside, libertarians and progressives alike have commented that there is a growing tendency within the current administration towards "Red-state fascism", which in the words of the Mises Institute President Lew Rockwell "celebrates the shedding of blood, and exhibits a maniacal love of the state. The new ideology of the red-state bourgeoisie seems to actually believe that the US is God marching on earth."

Naturally, the concerned scholars of the present have taken to looking to the past in order to elucidate the problem.  A proliferation of books have appeared recently, drawing the connections, sometimes crudely, between Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy with present day policies of the USA.  Which, in my opinion is not only the totally wrong way of going about it, but also treating the symptoms, instead of the causes of the disease.  Because the political manifestations of Fascism are only the tip of the iceberg.  Moreover, it ignores the very real sophistication of political manipulation techniques that have come into being since the original Fascist powers were defeated.

You see, Fascism is a very in your face way of going about controlling a country.  You need bodies on the street, making trouble for the opposition, being violent.  You need the punishment for dissidents to be public and bloody, in order to scare the shit out of any possible enemies.  You need control that cannot be questioned, least of all by the representatives of a democratic process.

In short, you need a number of things that, if they happened today, would be very noticeable and would provoke a backlash.  Yes yes, I know, Blackwater are the unofficial military arm of the GOP...get back to me once they actually start beating up protesters and Democratic party members.  A private military force may be unconstitutional and certainly undemocratic, but its not the same as Blackshirts burning your house down in the middle of the night.

And that's the problem with the Fascist political analysis of America today.  Yes, there are some similarities in policy, and these things are not good at all.  In all likelihood, the trend is leading towards Fascism, its true.  But Fascism is not, historically, a gradual process.  It festers, lurks underground, then bursts onto the mainstream, violently taking control.  This is different, a variant of the Fascist virus, that is acting differently in order to prevent activation of the state's autoimmune system of defence.

The failure of all previous approaches is that they concentrate on the political aspects of top down rule, instead of the populist bottom up approach, mixed with the embedding of Fascism within the culture of the USA.  The focus is too narrow, too defined, and that's why the theory wont match up to reality.  In International Relations, we're used to dealing with multiple levels of political analysis, so perhaps it is just obvious to us, but that is what is happening here.  The USA is only developing a Fascist political system in reaction to Fascist cultural view of the world.

What is a Fascist culture?  Its an air of Philistine hatred towards what many of us consider culture, arts, philosophy mixed in with an air of anti-intellectualism.  Its a spirit of "us-and-them", with both being ill-defined.  The Fascist culture is always under assault you see, because real culture is usually found in the avant-garde, whose Bohemianism and irreverence are everything the fascist cannot stand about modernity.  It exhibits a maniacal love for the state, because only through the state can so much blood be shed – the Eternal War giving meaning to the fascists otherwise nihilistic and pointless existence.  It hates the refined and the intellectual, because both require a lack of mental rigidity to have any use.

This culture has many roots, far too many for me to be able to figure out.  There are elements of it within conservative populism.  Of course, some of it is drawn from the Evangelical Dominionist Movement – whose hatred for everything since the writing of the Bible, especially new facts, is well documented.  Part of it arises from a shallow consumerist apathy, where the only meaning becomes sensation and the only sensation that makes one feel truly alive is the act of killing and hate.  There are countless others too.

And this of course, has its promoters.  Naturally, the NeoConservatives, with their roots in the illiberal right, advocate it entirely.  There are advantages for large companies, fanatical religious groups and demagogues of all stripes.

And best of all, there is no legislative or legal remedy to it.  You cannot ban the Zeitgeist.  Fascism becomes part of the very air you breathe, the fabric of a view of the world and everyday life.  Why bother having a messy constitutional coup when you can virtually assure fascist policies for the next 20 years, while keeping the form and ceremony of the republic?  Actually pulling off a Hitler or Mussolini could create a backlash.  To be sure, you are sometimes bound more to those stupid "laws" more than you would be if you had taken the formers route, but the upside is that dissent is minimalized and you can always have another go if you don't quite get your way.

Its the perfect way to inflict the Fascist virus on a country, by operating on the cultural level, infecting the national discourse, warping and mutating public opinion to the level where the wholesale call for the slaughter of innocents can be considered an extreme, but possible, policy.  Where torture is acceptable, along with indefinite detention by a Fuhrer pretending to be President.

That's the trick, you see. A bottom-up Fascist revolution, waged at the cultural level.  That's where it has to be fought, too, if you want any hope of reversing the trend.  The political level is just symptomatic of the condition of the country.  Conspiracies can and do sometimes overthrow the established order to institute something more terrible, but even more often, they are lifted to power on the support of the public and the conditions of the time.

This is only kind of related to our propaganda, but here I'll be putting up some links on marketing techniques, persuasion and other similar texts.  If we were each to read one or two of the links, we could take our ideas back to the BIP, discuss, find points of commonality, refine and improve on this section.

First book:  Republican Party Playbook, by Luntz.  The NeoCons are exceptionally media savvy and it is worth learning how they market their ideas to get people to go along with their plans.

http://www.mediafire.com/?drgbtdfmgl9

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=6708686897899858973
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=5724678809113331882
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-7393537672114286344

The US military - it makes even the most insane internet occultists look sane.

Includes - stopping goats hearts by staring. a general who attempted to walk through his office walls, Barney the dinosaur, songs that suck information out of your head, Abu Ghraib and much, much more. 

An interesting look into how odd beliefs can go to total extremes.

The never before told story of how, while our brave troops fought Saddam's screaming Arabic hordes, our brave information warriors at home fought the anti-war traitors in our midsts.

http://www.thewarofthewords.net/

http://youtube.com/watch?v=XoLB_U0YPOg

OK, so this could all be hangover cynicism talking, but hang with me. I think I have fnally figured out why even normally sympathetic/progressive/net-based news sites and journalists will not touch the 9/11 Truth Movement.

Now, we all know why the mainstream will not touch it. That's fairly obvious. The right wing mainstream media considers anything that paints El Presidente in bad light as liberal propaganda in the first place, and as for the supposed left wing mainstream (more accurately, neo-liberal. Eris I hate how political meanings have been warped by media discourse) are part of another conspiracy entirely, that of keeping the status quo dynamic. The 9/11 Movement, true or not, represents a narrative dangerous to the staus quo, and so is ignored as much as possible, in the same way any political opinions outside of the liberal/conservative framework are.

But these smaller, more politically aware news networks, what about them? After all, many of them espouse viewpoints quite frequently which lay on the outside of American politics. So why would they avoid such a topic?

Its because 99% of the 9/11 Truth Movement are pure, unadulterated, assholes.

Lets put it this way. Since they have started to put on protests and organize themselves (its come a long way since Loose Change) they have managed to get mentions on some alternative news outlets. Most of it has been critical, it must be said. Some has been derisory, to be sure. But instead of stating their arguments, in considered and careful ways, building pieces of evidence upon others and building a theory of what actually happened that day, most prefer instead to repeat some "factoid" about the tower collapse and then brand the person in question as a secret dupe of the power elites and a moron at best, or a willing agent and gatekeeper of the media at worst. No matter their past record for standing up to the powers that be.

For example, consider the cases George Monbiot, Noam Chomsky and Matt Tiabbi, all journalists with a long history of considered thought and political agitation, in one form or another. The minute they disagreed with the 9/11 Truth Movement, for whatever reason, they are labelled as controlled assets of some nefarious hidden power.

Way to show intelligent and reasoned debate, guys. You sure showed everyone else you aren't a crackpot fringe movement, with your excellent command of logical argument. Aren't smear campaigns pretty much what the likes of President Bush and Tony Blair get up to, when they dont like someone?

That is precisely the problem with dealing with these people. If you disagree, you will be buried under a mountain of accusation, slurs and lies. Not to mention shrill and threatening emails. What sort of journalist wants to put up with that sort of shit, especially when he or she can cover topics which don't consider them accessory to what, if its true, would be one of the biggest crimes in modern history?

There is also the other thing...an entire mountain of data you have to plow through, and analysis of said data being done by people who are not experts in the field. Look, when it comes to engineering, I don't take anything as a common sense argument. At all. My father was an engineer, and while my math skills are adequate enough to keep up, when someone goes through and explains things, before then I take nothing for granted, because most engineering is only expected to work within certain parameters. So when people say "obviously this isn't true because the towers would... its not actually that obvious. Explain. With reference to past examples. You know, do some research. Common sense and physics do not always make great bedfellows, depending on the common sense of the individual in question.

And there is so much data out there. And conflicting data, from debunkers, that to actually look at it all and come up with a reasoned conclusion would require months of research. I know, I thought I could skim read the topic myself, a while back. Oh poor deluded me.

Anyway, its time for coffee and ibuprofen again. One saving grace of my blog readership is that it is probably small enough to avoid a legion of 9/11 Truther's descending on this place and painting me as a paid shill of the Conspiracy (I wish. When I did work, indirectly, for the RAND Corporation, all they paid for was my coffee bill for the afternoon meetings). I hope people will note I actually avoided talking about the truth of the 9/11 conspiracies, because that is not what I am questioning here. Its the conduct of the believers of these conspiracies and how their actions alienate them from pretty much everyone, forcing them into a paranoic mindset where the world is filled with enemy agents, instead of disgruntled journalists who don't want the hassle of having to deal with thousands of assholes.

www.zamzar.com

Lets say you want a song that is on YouTube...just convert to mp3 and get it sent to a temporary email address, then download.  Not much easier than that, is it?  Also great for ripping clips you want to mix into video or audio projects.

[Notes from HIMEOBS Investigation Interview #9: Anonymous Italian SISDE officer.]

Notes from HIMEOBS Investigation Interview #9: Anonymous Italian SISDE officer.



For the purposes of this interview, the agent will go by the name of "Antonio".  Interview took place over a week in the Grand Adriatico Hotel in Florence.  These notes were compiled from 42 cassette tapes used to do the interview.  The agent is fluent in English, thus no translator was necessary.

Interviewer: Antonio, welcome.  I hope you've enjoyed your room and stay here.

Antonio: Thank you.  Yes, I have, especially knowing it is your people and not me who will have to foot the bill for it!

Interviewer: *laughs*

Interviewer: Anyway, perhaps we should get down to business.  As you know, our interest is in the organization called HIMEOBS.  Through our sources, we were informed you are considered the most knowledgeable man in Italy on the subject, so we would like to hear what you have discovered or think about them.

Antonio: well, to say I know the most isn't really much, but then you are already aware of that.  But my time spent investigating the links between various criminal and political groups within Italy has probably given me an insight few others have.

Interviewer: perhaps you could tell us when you first heard of HIMEOBS?

Antonio: It would have been in 1981, in the wake of the P2 scandal.  I had just entered the service myself then, but obviously, with the situation as it was, we needed all the help that was available, regardless of experience.

Interviewer: I guess you mean with the scandal pretty much clearing out the upper management of the intelligence services, judiciary and military?

Antonio: exactly.  As well as many agents within our operations departments.  Even those who were not named but could be considered suspicious by association or lifestyle were allowed nowhere near the case or the many investigations it caused.  Anyway, among the documents seized in the raid were several bearing a crest with a bird of prey on it, perhaps an eagle or hawk of some description, and bearing the initials HIMEOBS.

Interviewer: and before this, the name had never been heard of?

Antonio: right.  The text itself in the documents was coded, with what turned out to be an old cipher used by the Bavarian radical Masonic lodges in the 18th century.  That wasn't really a problem, as we are on good terms with the Universities, in general, and could easily find an academic versed in Masonic symbolism and history to decipher it for us.  However, even when changed into Italian, or indeed any other Roman alphabet based language, it becomes only gibberish.  Not content with a code, they had also encrypted their message, making it impossible for our people to break it.

Interviewer: no-one at all could read it?  Even now?

Antonio: well, I don't know about now.  Computers are much faster and more sophisticated then they were back then.  But before I left the service a year ago, it remained unbroken.  All we had was the crest and the initials.  None of those arrested seemed to know what it meant, except perhaps Gelli himself, and he wont tell anyone.  Nor can we do anything to compel him, because of the terms of his extradition.

Interviewer: so what happened then?

Antonio: we ignored it.  The country was falling apart under the weight of the scandal, and we hadn't even uncovered the identities of ten percent of P2's members.  As the duly appointed guardians of the state, we had to concentrate on what we could take care of first, and worry about apparently unsolvable mysteries later.

Interviewer: but that changed with the death of...Lucas Percelli, in 1985?

Antonio:  Yes.  Percelli had been a police informant within the Calabrian Mafia, the 'Ndrangheta.  He had reported strange goings on at the Roccella Ionica Lodge there, which the 'Ndrangheta used as a cover for their less savoury activities.  The Lodge there had broken away from the Grand Lodge in London and had started to refer contemptuously to the English Grand Master as "His Imperial Majesty", using English for the phrase.

Interviewer: I certainly see the relevance, but why use those words?

Antonio: well, I was confused too, at first.  However, a researcher from one of the Universities we work with explained it to me.  As you may be aware, British Masonry is a pretty stale affair, with little interest in politics or temporal power.  A part of this stems from their acceptance of a divine being or architect, which infuriated the radical European lodges.  Of course, they were more interested in overthrowing Catholicism, like their Jacobin forebears.  Therefore, as a sign of their beliefs, they removed the references to the supreme being from their ceremonies in the 19th century, which led to the expulsion of the Parisian Lodge.  His Imperial Majesty is a reference both to the annoying English persistence in acting as if they still rule the world, and to the removed Supreme Being.  Its their way of summing up their rejection of British masonry for the Grand Orient lodges – those most heavily involved in Mafia and organized crime activities.

Interviewer: so you accept the hypothesis by Brian Freemantle, of a marriage of convenience between certain lodges, the Mafia and government intelligence services and political parties?

Antonio: it has certainly been true for Italy.  Remember, I worked P2 early in my career, and even 20 years after it first broke, we are still dealing with the repercussions of it.  It fails to be a conspiracy theory when you have arrest warrants and court proceedings.

Interviewer: so you believe that the Roccella Ionica Lodge was a centre of HIMEOBS activity, or even the birthplace of such an organization?

Antonio: a centre of activity, certainly, but most likely not where the organization was born.  I mean, its possible, certainly, but seems unlikely.  HIMEOBS appears to be truly transnational in its membership and ambitions, and one would expect such groups to gravitate to international financial centres – something which the evidence seems to support, incidentally.  The Lodge had been infiltrated to cover for dealings with the Calabrian Mafia, according to our informant.

Interviewer: what else did he tell you?

Antonio: about HIMEOBS?  Only that they appeared to be an international grouping.  Different messengers were used on various occasions, some of whom were not native Italian speakers.  Our analysts suspect there are American, Nicaraguan, English, French and Swedish accents.

Interviewer: [interrupting] Nicaraguan?  That's a rather odd one from that selection.

Antonio: yes, we thought so too.  The only thing we could come up with is that Gladio was aiding the Contras in their campaign and that HIMEOBS acquired an agent there.

Interviewer: oh yes, Gladio.  Perhaps we should save that particular mess for later?  What else did the informant tell you?

Antonio: only that they were manipulating enormous sums of money for international financial markets.  Mainly via insider training, but also using knowledge about terrorist attacks, undertaken by the strategy of tension, to buy up assets cheaply and to force prices up where they had monopoly control over a particular market.  The Calabrians were being kept in the loop for obvious reasons.

[- Achilles, The Iliad (Book 21, 119-20)]

"Even Patroclus died, a far, far better man than you.  And look, you see how handsome and powerful I am?  The son of a great man, the mother who gave me life a deathless goddess.  But even for me, I tell you, death and the strong force of fate are waiting."
- Achilles, The Iliad (Book 21, 119-20)

"I didn't make the world, your Majesty," he replied. "I only try to live in it."
- Sadi, King of the Murgos (David Eddings)

Vimes sat back. 'I've got no choice, have I?' he said. 'As my old sergeant used to say...you do the job that's in front of you.'
- Night Watch (Terry Pratchett)

As strange as some people seem to find it, the theatre has always been one of the true loves of my life.  There is a certain something about it, a feeling you can't get elsewhere.  A wooden stage becomes a battlefield, a court, a castle dungeon or a ship at sea, and a plot that can evoke a range of emotions from the audience.

It can also teach you lessons though, through those stories it portrays, and its those which I really want to talk about.  In particular tragedy, as the Greeks conceived of it.  The Greeks invented the theatre, as we understand it.  But more importantly, and something many otherwise smart people overlook, they also invented tragedy.  Not in the normal sense, tragic events had been noted down and performed before the Greeks, and probably will be until the end of time.

But it was a particular concept of tragedy, one which is often lacking from peoples understanding of the world.  It had a very particular meaning, you see.  A tragedy was a play with a sad outcome, this is true, but this outcome was more often than not the result of the capricious and unpredictable Greek Gods, who were forever meddling in the affairs of mortals.  The tragedy of the Trojan War was the death of many brave Achaean's and Trojans, because of the pride of Aphrodite, Athena and Hera.  The anger of Apollo indirectly leads to the death of Achilles, via the pride of Agamemnon.  Needless death and suffering is caused on a massive level because of the intrigues of the Immortals.

You see, this pattern does not work well in monotheistic societies.  More emphasis is placed on finding the 'cause' of God's displeasure, instead of accepting it as fact that the gods compete and fight among themselves.

Of course, nowadays, we no longer have gods interfering in the affairs of mortals.  My personal belief was they were never there in the first place, and the gods were representations of our own irrationality, our hidden psychoses and paranoia's played out onto the stage of the world.  In the past, we based them on our polytheistic tribal myths.  Nowadays, we lay blame at more temporal centres of power: the state, political parties, corporations, the stock market, super-wealthy individuals, the Church, the internet, popular culture.  We mistake the process for the cause – there isn't anything inherently wrong or evil about any of these (there also isn't anything inherently right or good about them, either).  They help frame and channel the hidden desires of their controllers onto the world.

Even so, they should not be underestimated.  That's a very fatal mistake.  They too have the power of life and death over you, to rewrite what people think they know, command legions of committed followers, tell people what is a sin or a virtue (especially if they're not a religious group).  That's why so many Greek heroes are tragic, because they try to defy the gods, they overstep the line that divides what a mortal may achieve and what an Immortal Olympian can do.  In defying something so powerful, so deeply rooted and so beyond rational comprehension, very real destruction is the outcome.  They fail and die because, as mortals or even semi-divine heroes, they are still not Gods.

Does this mean I am advocating not bringing the wrath of our modern day 'gods' down on your head?  That you should simply 'give up' in your personal struggles against the impersonal forces that conspire to bring you low in so many ways?

Of course not.  This is me, remember?

What am I doing is reminding you of the very real consequences of overstepping your ability to deal with your enemies.  If you defy the gods without having something of their power, you perish.  But perhaps you should reconsider aiming so high in your dealings and daily struggles?

Lets take a political example we are all too familiar with: the current US president.  He's not liked.  In fact, many people hate his guts, and these numbers are growing.  But how harmful have the vast majority of his critics been to him?  Not at all?  Ever so very slightly?  Somewhere between the two, I would wager.  Resources are being waged in an unwinnable battle, when all around you, the root conditions which manifest in such issues go unchecked.  To be sure, the occasional normal individual has managed to inflict a wound on him, with the blessing of another god.  But this is no different to when Diomedes had the blessing of Athena, and damaged Aphrodite and Ares.

For every Cheney there are 20,000 trailer park failures supporting them, if not more.  You probably know some in your daily lives.  Just like you and me, they are mortal, and bound by the same 'rules of play' we have to suffer.  And that makes them just as vulnerable.  If you don't like the mainstreaming of the music industry, for example, drum up advertising support for local bands, and buy their goods.  Don't bitch about 'the man' on your favourite Indie music forum.

And the thing is, if enough people deal with their struggles on this personal, achievable level, they actually do more to make their immediate surrounds better.  You can actually see and feel the benefits of your successful struggle.  Also, since power is based so much on consensus, you are helping to weaken the power base, the visible manifestation, of the thing you are fighting against.

So what can we learn from the Greek tragedies?  Perspective.

Deontological, I think.

Anyway, building on the back of my book review and Cram's rant on virtue, this is something I have been thinking about for a while.  Namely could virtue ethics be not only a more Discordian way of approaching moral dilemmas, but also in some other respects, a far more useful way of thinking about problems?

I should probaby explain the distinction first.  Ethics, as we normally understand it, is kind of like a checklist.  If we want to take an action, we check it against this list we have (based on BIP factors such as education, culture etc) and if it lines up, then it is 'good'.

Virtue ethics, on the other hand, is about the cultivation of a certain mindset or character, who, when faced with an ethical problem will act in accordance with what is right because of their character.  For instance, if there is a car crash, a virtue ethics person who believes in courage and charity will run over and help because its the right thing to do, as an expression of these virtues.  Its about the creation of a person who will act right because of certain inherent traits or instincts, instead of an external, metaphysical morality (this may not be the best description, so do some googling for greater understanding).

Anyway, the former is a very legalistic and structured way of looking at ethics.  As such, it may not be the best way of approaching morality if you not want to compromise a chaotic or discord based ethic.  The latter does have some historical precedent for being a more anti-structural system, embraced as it was by Nietzsche, among others.

Anyway, thats just an introduction, as it were, to get some discussion rolling.  I'll likely add more later, when I have time.

This is a relatively short, if quite dense, book written by the American journalist Robert Kaplan, who has worked for several publications, such as the Atlantic Monthly, Washington Post, New York Times and National Interest.

Kaplan starts off the book in probably the best way possible, explaining his own background.  As he freely admits, he is not a scholar or academic.  He has no think tank or policy background.  Instead, he draws on his own experience, of that as an overseas reporter, as well as a wide range of literary and philosophical works, both pre-Christian and more modern.

His main thesis is familiar to that of Realist thinkers from Hans Morgenthau to John Mearsheimer – namely that utopian idealism is terribly dangerous and in fact more responsible for death and destruction on a global level than anything else in the past century.  Because of inherent utopian or transcendental morality within the Judeo-Christian system of thinking – a system that has defined western thought for roughly a thousand years – a return to a more classical, or pagan, ethical standard is what would most benefit international politics.

Because there has not been a substantial change in human behaviour since the dawn of civilization, these works, such as those done by Thucydides and Sun Tzu, can aid where conventional morality fails.  There is no "modern world" Kaplan insists, all that has changed are the circumstances in which human power plays are set.

After some historical lessons, of Churchill in the Sudan and the Second Punic War, Kaplain starts to actually dig into the classical books themselves.  He looks to both the Peloponnesian War and the Warring States Era of China because their similarities in culture, despite their lack of contact and vast distance, bought about very similar ideas concerning human nature, conflict and political philosophy.  He brings out the most important axioms of the Art of War for examination, that war is in fact a failure of policy, that spies and dishonourable action may be necessary to avoid or win the war and that leaders should not be swayed by public opinion if the state's existence is risked.

He then concentrates more on Thucydides, explaining his subtle philosophy drawn from the bitter experience of the war between Sparta and Athens.  Human behaviour, Thucydides argues, is driven by fear, self-interest and honour.  The conditions these place on actors lead to communal instability, when the pure instincts of the above triumph over the laws, then anarchy is the result.  Therefore, such instincts should not be repressed, but channelled towards moral outcomes.

Thucydides portrayed Athens as in the grip of a terrible hubris, bought on by their victory over Persia, their empire, and their culture (including democracy).  This led them to believe they could act with impunity because they were the righteous actors in a wicked and evil world.  This led to atrocities such as those which took place at Melos.

Kaplan abandons the pure Pagan texts for a moment, to look at Machiavelli, a philosopher whose classical instincts are all too obvious.  He compares Machiavelli to Rabin, the Israeli Prime Minister whose infamous order to "go in and break their [Palestinian protesters] bones" led to a landslide victory for the dovish Labor Party – a victory which allowed Rabin to sue for peace.  This is well within the teachings of Machiavelli, that virtue and morality are determined by outcome, not method.  The only moral policies are effective ones.

Machiavelli also has another teaching – that values are useless without arms to back them up.  Therefore projection of power is a primary interest, the values these promote comes second.  Taking into account Machiavelli's comments on human nature (which echo Thucydides), a wise and prudent leader structures his country in such a way as to lessen these instincts for the greater good of the community.  This is likely most evident in the founding of America,, where the comments of Hamilton can be seen to have a definite Classical edge to them.

Shortly after follows a discussion on Hobbes and Malthus.  Hobbes is personally not that interesting to me, his ideas being quite simple and self-motivated.  He argues for an all powerful Sovereign who can impose order, because life without is pure anarchy.  Thus despotism is the basic state of affairs in the world, the necessary condition for the state to be effective.

Malthus is more interesting because, despite the flaws in his mathematical calculations, his thesis remains sound.  Because of exploding populations and resource scarcity, existing tensions will boil over into civil strife.  Therefore, without some way to generate new resources, the condition of war is going to be with us well into the future, despite what political settlements are made.

Interestingly enough, Kaplan actually balances out the book somewhat via his introduction of Kant, as a distinction between how politicians are forced to act and should act.  Actions based purely on consequence would lead to a world drowning in cynicism and deceit.  As he illustrates with the Cold War, the Western nations had an inherent moral advantage, but to be able to keep that, they had to build nuclear weapons, engage in espionage (incidentally, as a personal aside, I have never seen the immorality in this, per se) and support unpleasant regimes.  However, this is better than a policy guided by zealotry, extremism and intolerance.  This is the danger of religion, as Machiavelli once explained, not that it is inherently dangerous, but that its extremism brings and otherwordly dimension into politics, one incapable of compromise or backing down.  The Pagan ethos brings with it a level of tolerance that otherwise cannot exist within moral foreign policies.

The final three chapters can be seen as a commentary on the rest of the book.  Kaplan looks into the resurgence of warriorship in the third world – that is, 'warriors' as we would recognize from the ancient Greek epics.  The danger is not so much other states any more, but warriors with no stake in civil society or order.  Like Troy, the most advanced and civilized nation in the world, the danger will come more from piratical chieftans, driven by the irrationality of human nature and intrigue, rather than in the rational pursuit of obtaining strategic goals.  However, there is a flipside to this.  Ancient war was about the capture, humilation and execution of the opposing political leader.  In the past this meant physically cutting down everyone around him to do so.  But with technology advances, assassination and kidnap missions, special forces orientated military missions, will become more common.  The unfortunate downside of this will of course be the lack of democratic control over such actions.

Kaplan again turns his attention to the Warring States of China, to look for an upside or positive aspect of recently international movements.  As he notes, the common culture of China allowed for the evolution of a system which eventually was subsumed by the Han Empire.  The system, he explains, came first, the Han Empire was the one state who managed to unify that system.  Thus, he suspects, the evolution of an internationally monocultural upper-middle class could help the evolution of an international system of governance with far greater power.  The Han Empire, instead of being run from the Imperial capital, was a grouping of fiefdoms, feudal kingdoms and baronies.  Nonetheless, it was an empire still, a singular international entity in its politics.

He ends with a talk on Tiberius, and how his example is one that modern leaders should follow.  Tiberius, despite his reputation, removed many of the elements of Roman Imperial rule that made it a leader-based dictatorship.  He refused many of the honours his office held and instead chose to strengthen the institutions of the state.  He founded few cities, annexed little in the way of territory, left the Imperial treasury with 20 times more gold in it than it held at the start of his rule, and internally strengthened the empire with his military reforms.  Of course, as Kaplan points out, one can hardly take the second part of his rule, cruel in the extreme as it was, as a model of expert leadership, but his early policies were one a leader should look to emulate in their prudence and strength of character.


I personally found the book a somewhat confused read at times.  This could be because of my own studies, but at times it seemed divided between a Realist foreign policy paper and an actual investigation into what a Pagan ethos was.  Realism is something I have spent 3 years studying, in one way or another, and it is something I need no real further introduction to.

That he chose philosophers who were purely concerned with foreign policy is something of a shame, as well.  I was hoping that perhaps an examination of Aristotle or Nietzsche would have illuminated conceptions of the ancient virtue ethics system, which is after all what he is advocating.  Instead, he looked far more towards the practicalities, or rather history, of people who followed such teachings, instead of what those teachings really were.

In short, while there is no doubt a claim to be made that historically an ethos existed that does not today, and that such an ethos can be linked to the Classical Realism tradition of international thought, this book is not the best one to make such a claim.  For someone new to Realism, or indeed historical philosophy, this is an excellent starting point for drawing out comparisons between the two.  However, for anyone who has studied those topics in depth, you will find little here that you haven't already heard.

Overall, I rate this 7/10.  Many people are not acquainted with Realist thought at all, and Kaplan is not only an easy read, he is an interesting and educational one too.  However, for the serious scholar of philosophy, you are far better off looking towards more academic texts for your information and discussions.

http://freewarelist.net/

Got everything from browsers to editing material to games.

http://www.hawkridgeproductions.com/media/index.html

That's what this guy deals with, in a decent amount of detail.

Now, to be fair to him, he describes mahadgicqke as "a means of first perfecting the self so that the things that one may do will be done with power and effectiveness. This has always been the aim of magick: to understand the relationship between our consciousness and the world, in a way that allows us to re-create ourselves in healthy and practical ways. Our understanding and self-perfection allows us to fit into the world so well that we can influence it in accordance with our will."  Which is eminetly more useful than 99% of descriptions, and doesn't even require a belief in the supernatural. 

As I understand it, this guy spent a fair amount of time with RAW and Douglas Rushkoff, hence why he may be worth reading a little more than many others on the subject.

"Harumph".
It was halfway between a throat infection and a polite interruption.  I didn't let that stop me though, I just turned the page of the book and languidly replied "can I help you?"
"Well, you could start by taking your feet off my desk."
"Oh?"  I peered over the book cover and pretended to look amazed at my shoes resting on the edge of the desk.  "So sorry, consider it rectified" I continued as I slowly took them off and, with much deliberation, placed them on the floor.

"Why do you have to be so difficult?"  It wasn't really a question, I knew, but I decided to answer it anyway.
"Because the Free Market demands it.  As do you, if memory serves me right."
"Whatever.  Anyway, since you are here, I may as well explai-"
"What's in your email?  Already got it, thanks."  I fished out my mobile and held it up, by way of explanation.  "So how will I be defending the international workers revo-uh, expansion of democratic and freedom loving states today?  Not shaping another Human Rights and Democracy meeting debate into the terms you people like, surely? "
"Your attitude is really starting to annoy me, as I'm sure you're well aware.  It wont sit well with the other think tank members, either, when I tell them." 

I decided to look him in face now.  It was red, with slight perspiration, as was usual for this time of year.  Freezing outside and boiling hot inside, most people had to deal with it.  He hadn't shaved in a couple of days either, which was unusual.  Perhaps he was under more stress than I gave him credit for.

"Oh dear, will the Whitehall gravy train dry up simply because of me?  I never knew my actions carried so much weight."  I then fixed his stare until he looked away.  He wasn't very good at this, I noted.  "Very well then, consider my services withdrawn.  I certainly wouldn't want to damage the reputations of such prestigious gentlemen as yourself."  I picked up my hat and went for the door.

"Wait!  Blast it.  You know that's not what I meant!"
"Didn't I?" I asked, turning and sitting back down.  "Go on then, tell me what you meant."
"You're playing a dangerous game here.  I don't know how you ever convinced them you should ever be trusted, but..."
"But nothing.  The fact is, while you and your friends were playing golf and attending all night orgies at 'International Economic conferences', I was paying attention.  Consequently, I know much more than you do, and in this day and age, knowledge is currency.  And vice-versa."
"I know more than you think.  I certainly know what you believe and really think of us."
"And you think the people controlling the purse-strings don't?  You really weren't paying attention then."

I stopped speaking, making him unconsciously lean in closer.  I spoke quietly, drawing him further in.  "You see, the real secret, the thing they wont tell you, is this..."  He looked confused right up to the point my palms slapped against his ears. 

"Argh, shit!  Oh fuck I'm deaf!"
"No you're not, stop complaining.  It's just going to ring and hurt like hell for a while."  I then took a post-it and briefly wrote on it, before sticking it to the desk. 

The writing caught my eye as I turned to leave.  "The point is utterly useless to know."  I shook my head, and wondered if he's ever really understand it.

[- The Life of Brian]

"Centurion, why do they titter so?"
"Just some...uh, Jewish joke, sir."
- The Life of Brian

I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: "O Lord make my enemies ridiculous." And God granted it.
- Voltaire

I've noticed something of a trend when it comes to politics.  And that is that people think they can use half-assed political slogans along with some pathetic emotional appeal to try and sway peoples opinions.  For example, look at the common refrain from the morons at Democratic Underground: "Bush lied, people died."

OK, it is pretty much true, as a trend.  If we take the name Bush to cover his administration appointments, including those in the Office of Special Plans (who doctored evidence in the run up to the Iraq war), you have a case.  But does just mindlessly shouting it across the political debating forums of the internet actually convince anyone to forego their support of the Administration?  I'd be very surprised if it did.  Rather, it makes the supporters of the pro-abortion War Party look almost as mindless as the supporters of the anti-abortion War Party, which puts off any freethinking individual and reduces both sides to shouting pre-made soundbites at each other.  I mean, really.  You could script robots to do this shit.

And its not just in America.  Anywhere there is someone who is, on the face of it, is pretty much a complete and utter asshole, those who dislike them try to paint them as Satan incarnate.  It doesn't matter if this is Hugo Chavez, Putin or Blair.  Same reasoning applies, show them to be powerful, yet utterly evil.

Does anyone actually fall for that shit?  Really?

Because to me, it looks like those on the other side are just affirming the power of the person they hate, from an opposite direction.  Powerful people will always have vocal supporters, simply because being on side with those in power has many rewards.  The moral character, or lack of it, is rarely questioned along the entire political spectrum, what with people being convinced their own political ideology is the only moral one.

Lets face it, if you really want to cut someone down to size, you have to make them a figure of fun.

Its the only antidote to emotionally fuelled political debate, which is 90% of all debate nowadays.  Instead of affirming the object of your dislike is powerful, you portray him as a bumbling fool.  You highlight the hilarious inconsistencies in their thinking, and you then convince people around you to laugh at them.  Never directly engage in so-called debates on the pros and cons of any given policy, instead concentrate on using those policies as ammunition against that person.

I know what you're going to say.  "But people have already tried this Cain, and it hasn't worked."  Well I disagree, they haven't tried hard enough.  Look at those ridiculous Bushisms people, for example.  The book turned from halfway amusing into textual analysis of policy in about 10 pages.  There was no cutting edge to it, there was no satire.  It was just the idiotic sayings of a man who commanded the world's most powerful military.  The world has seen Caligula's before now.  The only way they laughed at them is in a helpless "well, we're fucked now" way.  There was no opposition, no defiance.

There is an old American proverb, "use your wit as a shield, and not as a dagger."  Its one I totally disagree with.  Use your wit precisely as you would a dagger.  Back in the bad old days of the Hashishin, an acolyte would be given only a dagger, to make a public execution of the cult's enemies.  Almost always, they struck in the most public place possible, in the most public way possible.  Friday, outside the mosque, with everyone watching.

That is exactly the attitude a competent political agitator should take.  If you can't mock them to their face, perhaps you should take up a safer past time, like jogging?  Cut them down to size.  Make them a figure of ridicule.  Try to move outside party based bullshit, make their supporters look like idiots by association.

A person who is widely considered a laughing stock is not going to command respect, regardless of how much power they have.  And in an age where substance is nothing and image is everything, in such an age, humour is king.

Anger - Write blogs, of the wrath of Vek of /i/, the ruinous wrath that brought on Anonymous woes innumerable, and hurled down into bannination many brave trolls, and gave their emails to spammers and all Nigerian Princes; Write, blogs of the strife that first broke, between Gyles, lord of trolls, and brilliant Vek.

What set the twain at variance?  The Cult of the Dead Cow, for in their anger, they had partaken in fatal hacking among the troll army, and many computers were disabled or useless – trolls were dying, and all because Gyles spurned a cDc member.  Yes, Telko approached the camp of Anonymous, to win back his phished Myspace account, bringing a priceless ransom of IRL info with him.  He begged of Anonymous, but most of all Gyles "4channers, Anonymous – all geared for war!  May the lulz give you Gaia Online to plunder.  Just set my Myspace account free...here, accept these gifts, this ransom.  Honour the lulz and strike only at the Gaiafags."

And the ranks of trolls cried out their: respect the hacker, accept the tasty IRL info!  But it bought no joy to the heart of Gyles, the admin dismissed the hacker with a brutal order ringing in his ears: "Never again, failfag, let me catch your IP on /b/.  Not loitering now, not lurking tomorrow.  Your IRL info will not save you then.  The account, I will not give up the account.  Long before that, it will be deleted by Tom, under my control, trolling camwhores and emo kids for the lulz.

Now go, don't tempt my wrath, and you may depart unbanned."

The hacker was angered.  He obeyed the order, trailing away to darker corners of the internets.  He beseeched the cDc, saying "hear me, oh Cult of the Dead Cow, killers of Reagan, writers of many bad BBS textfiles, creators of haxx0r scripts!  If I ever wrote code that pleased your programmers, if I ever passed along a security flaw on software, bring my prayer to pass.  Avenge me against Anonymous – your hacking for my butthurt!"

His post was read, and the cDc responded.  First they went for the newfags and furries, but then, launching a blistering attack, they cut down /b/tards in droves, and their computers did smoke from 1337 haxx0ring.

For nine days the assault did last and the tricks of hackers affected the army.  On the tenth, Vek called all the ranks to muster, the impulse gripped him, grieving as he was to see many trolls out of action.  "Admin of 4chan, we are beaten back I fear, the long campaign is lost.  To more normal sites we flee, if trolling and hacking are combined against us.  But wait, let us question a burnt out druggy, an acid-head, a man skilled in visions and dreams, to tell us why the cDc rages so.  If only we knew, somehow we may be saved from this assault."

So he proposed, and he lurked while Freiken rose among them.  The most coherent by far of all acid-heads, his rantings actually made sense, and didn't make anyone reading want to stick forks in their eyes.  For the troll army's good, he began to type;

"Vek, dear to the lulz, you order me to explain the cDc's anger.  I will tell it all.  But strike a pact with me, swear you will stand up for me and defend me as much as you can, for there is a man I will enrage – I see it now – a powerful man who lords it over Anonymous, one the /b/tards must obey...a mighty admin, raging against an inferior, is too strong.  Even if he can swallow down his wrath today, it will still burn in his mind, until sooner or later his butthurt is unleashed."

And the matchless poster reassured him: "Courage.  Out with it now, Freiken!  Reveal the will of the hackers, whatever you may know.  And I swear by the lulz, when you reveal their will, no-one, not while I have working proxies and a computer, will banninate you.  Not even if you mean Gyles, who claims to be the lord of all of Anonymous."

The acid-head took heart, and spoke out bravely "beware, they cast no blame for a slight against their group, or for misuse of their scripts and knowledge.  The Cult is enraged because we refused to free the Myspace account, to accept the ransom.  This is why the Cult sends us endless attacks and will never stop – not until we undo the slight to their member.  No trolling, no praise, can appease them.  Only setting the account free can appease the Cult."

So he declared and stopped posting.  But then frightful Gyles rose, lord of the first of Chans – furious, his eyes blazing with anger, his dark heart filled to the brim.  With a sudden post, with scathing sarcasm, he turned on Freiken first: "seer of misery!  Never have you said anything to my advantage!  Always misery warms your heart, your predictions – never a word of profit is said or bought to pass!  Now again, you dare come forth from /x/ and bruit it about, as fact, that I, I have bought this upon 4chan because I refuse to give a butthurt hacker his Myspace account back!  I rank this more useful than my own, with its contacts and friends list.  But I am willing to return it, if that is best for all.  What I really want is to keep 4chan safe, not see my users hacked too.  But fetch me another prize, and straight off – I will not be the only of 4chan to go without honour.  You are all witness, look, my prize is snatched away!"

But the swift Vek answered him at once, "Just how, Gyles, great admin, most grasping forum owner alive, how can the generous /b/tards give you prizes now?  I know of no spare goods laying about, no stockpiles of spare accounts anywhere.  Whatever we got from the last raids, we plundered, then shared out equally among trolls.  To call it back, to collect it from the rank and file, that would be disgrace.  So return the account to the hacker, we trolls will pay you back three, four times over.  If the lulz is with us, we will burn Gaia's servers to the ground."

But Gyles countered, "Not so quickly.  Brave you are, lulzworthy Vek, to try and cheat me.  Oh no you won't get me that way, gain an advantage!  What do you want?  To cling to your own prize while I sit empty handed here?  No – if our generous trolls will give me a prize, equal to that I have lost, well and good.  But if they give me nothing, I will take a prize myself – your own, or one from Lysimachus, or Valter – I'll commandeer it myself and let that man go choke in rage!  Enough, we will deal with this later, in due time.  Come now, join us as we sacrifice a furfag site, let one of the other admins take command.  Lysimachus, Valter, trusty Terarch or you Vek – the most sarcastic troll alive – so you can perform the rites and bring us in favour of the lulz."

Vek gave Gyles a dark glance and responded in kind: "Shameless – amoured in shamelessness – always shrewd with greed!  How could any /i/nsurgent obey your orders, freely and gladly do your bidding, or fight your enemies in full force?  No, not I.  It was not the cancer that is killing /b/ that bought me here to troll.  The Gaiafags never did me damage, not in the least, they never came to /i/ and disrupted our trolling.  How could they?  No you colossal fool – we all followed you, to please you, to to fight for you, to win the honour of all trolls – Thijs and you, fucktard!  What do you care?  Nothing.  And now you threaten to strip me of my prize in person – the one I fought long and hard for, and that Anonymous gave to me.

My honours never equal yours, whenever we sack some weaboo hold, my /i/nsurgents bear the brunt of the raw, savage trolling, true, but when it comes to dividing up the plunder, the lion's share is yours, and back I go to IRC, clutching my scraps, some pittance I have earned, tired to exhaustion.

No more now - I go back to /i/.  Better that way by far, to journey home and away from the war encampment.  I have no mind to linger here, disgraced, brimming your cup and piling up your plunder."

But the lord of trolls, Gyles, shot back, "desert, by all means, if the lulz drives you home!  I will never beg you to stay, not on my account.  Never – others will take my side and do me honour.  You – I hate you above all the troll commanders, loved by the lulz.  Always dear to your heart, strife and trolling the bloody grind of war.  What if you are a great troll?  That's just a gift of the lulz.  Go home with your /i/nsurgents, lord it over your /i/nfidels.  You are nothing to me.  Since cDc insists on taking my account, I will be there at /i/ in order to take your own spoils – just so you can learn how much greater I am than you, and that the next fag may not argue with me!"

He broke off and anguish gripped Vek.  Should he attack now, draw the flamewar sword from his hip and strike Gyles through?  Or check his rage and beat his fury down?

HA HA!  I am a genius!

Anyway, that aside, I was searching through some very old and dull copies of the American Journal of Archaeology, when I found a very interesting article in Volume 30, Issue 3 of the publication (July - September 1930).

David M Robinson, the writer of the piece, was given an Attic pinax depicting both of the Erites, dating from the sixth century BC.

That it and of itself is very rare.  Most pottery of this period is Corinthian or Rhodian, Attican regional pottery is quite unusual.  But pieces of art depicting either aspect of Eris (the Strifebringer or Eris of Competition) are not normally seen until the late Classical or early Hellenistic Period, being made more popular as she was via the work of Euripides.

More interesting, the pottery itself.  Firstly, there is no doubt the figure is that of Eris.  If the black skin and wings were not enough, the artist himself inscribed Eris on the front of the pinax.  The back is harder to read, but it could say 'Epiov, "for the shrine of the Strifes."  Equally, it could read Strife against Strife, or the Strife of Competition, but one must consider another fact.

Pinax's were hung in temples, as votive offerings.  Especially pinax's with two suspension holes.  It is also believed the same artist has done other works, found in Delos and the Acropolis (fragments).  These do not depict either of the Erites, but the style of drawing, as well as colouration and themes, would suggest a common source.  These works also had the same suspension holes and were found in Temples

The only other depictions of Eris we know of are on a chest in Corinth (Chest of Cypselus) and in the sanctuary of Artemis at Ephesus.  There is also the sanctuary of Ares at Athens, where there is an image of Enyo, made by the sons of Praxiteles.  But none of these are pinax's, and most depict Eris as a ghastly figure, which this artwork does not do.  It would seem then that Eris was considered somewhat acceptable in Attica, in stark contrast to Corinth and the Ionian cities.

Other things to note about this is the animal symbols used to depict Eris.  We have the hare, for the Eris of Competition, and the snake for the Eris of strife.  Throw in Robert Graves' thinking on Blackthorn being another symbol of Eris and perhaps we have the start of some interesting symbology here, not normally assosciated with unworshipped Goddesses.

If anyone knows how to rip images from pdf format, please tell me.  I have tried copy and paste into paint, but that seems to fail.  If I can, I will get the images and post them up here.

Finally, I will end with a free verse adaption of the tale of the two Erites told in Hesiod, transformed by the article writer into modern English.

Beneath the age-long, far-flung strife of man
With man over the whole wide earth lurk two
Strife sisters. They are not twin, yet must be kin.

Blameless and beautiful the first and great,
Not to the crass and heavy mind that stands
Far off: but, closely known and understood,
Fair as a daughter of the gods to whom
Men make their songs of worship and of praise.

But not like-minded is the other one.
In human hearts she is the power behind
The throne and shapes its whispers, urging on
The ugly crash of battle axes sharp,
With clash of splintering spears in evil war.
O dark and strange her sway. Men love her not,
Yet some dark mystic spell from deathless gods
Her hateful name a noisy honor lends.

Not so that other, elder daughter, true:
Born from the travail of Dark Night, seized by
The Son of Kronos, waiting in the thin
And shadowy ether there and rushed to earth
By him and set beside the secret roots
Of human life on earth, she tends them well
And upward sends her kindly influence
Through all the branching sap of the great tree
Of men in every land and clime and time.

And when Ambition stirs some shiftless churl
To toil, or when a working neighbor shames
Some sluggard from his lazy bed, 'tis she
Who starts the effective thrill that makes him leap.
The rich man ploughs and plants, fully his house
Is filled, all things in order stored. Neighbor
With neighbor vies in hot and wholesome chase,
For all substantial gain. Potter competes
With potter, craft with craft, until we see
Beggar with beggar strive better to beg.
At last the minstrel feels the jealous sting
Some other singer's sweeter song inspires.

0 Better Strife, up from Thy secret seat
Beside the roots of life sending to men
The inspirations for this peaceful war,
Great is thy name, goodly thy fame!

Thought this was good enough rantage to bring over.



When you take the path less traveled, you sometimes find that it is less traveled for a damned good reason.

The Church attracts weirdoes; that was always the whole idea. But even though our "weirdar" has a very broad range of tolerance, some of the ones we find stuck to the Tarbaby of Dobbs scare even us.

Much of what "Bob" said was so obviously designed to sound just like what an insane crackpot would most want to believe, that many did. As redundant as the term may seem, we now have to deal with SubGenius Kooks.

We sincerely regret that, sometimes, the Church of the SubGenius just makes assholes worse. It causes some people's heads to explode in exactly the wrong way. Apparently more people heard what "Bob" said than were capable of understanding what he meant by it. Mister Dobbs didn't tell us much about the MAL-ALIGNED NORMALS; he only devoted one paragraph to them in The Book of the SubGenius. He made it seem like when the Church went public, it would all be hilarious creative writers, talented illustrators with great drugs, and luscious bespectacled plumper babes who play killer bass. It would be like one big marvelous X-Day Drill that never ends, brimming with priceless sarcasm in every possible form. A lie by omission is still a lie. You gotta hand it to Dobbs, though. He always did lie, and he was right every damned time.

Some so-called SubGeniuses start out laughing at all the wrong things in "Bob's" Word. When they finally figure out what the rest of us were laughing at – them – they piss their mental panties in rage and become the alt.slack Internet forum trolls and human open wounds who now fill our killfile lists. They short-circuited when they finally got Part Two of "Bob's" Important Message, resulting in their misplaced faith glands becoming all infected and runny.

We're sick of seeing unpleasant, unfunny wanna-be-bullies agreeing with, and even living by, ALL THE WRONG BULLSHIT in The Book of the SubGenius. The underlying POINT of the whole thing was a warning about THINKING THAT WAY, in one-dimensional, stereotype-swallowing, us-vs.-them black-and-white Dumbass-VisionŠ but that message goes right over their simple Bobbie heads, and they start enthusiastically making the Church into what it's a take-off on, instead of the stupid religion it was truly meant to be.

It figures that something created by "Bob" would do that, sure. But we worry that we'll just get better at it, and end up unleashing a hundred permanent assholes for every one True Beautant the Church inspires.

The SubGenius Kooks seemed funny to us, at first, but after a couple of decades of it, they're just depressing. Each one is a misunderstood world savior. (In a way, though, aren't we all?) Not every spazz with a "Bob" shirt sets off our "cradar." But the worst ones really believe they're "Bob," or The Anti-"Bob," or somebody even more important.

There are so many fakes and copycats: The FlubGenius Must be Lax The RubGenius Must Rub Backs The UnGenius Must Smoke Crack see what we mean? Tiresome.

If only we were kidding. If only this were just another part of the satire.

The Church may be a joke – among other things – but it's a sufficiently penetrating joke to have driven a few people QUITE MAD. It IS, after all, the direct, revealed WORD of J. R. "BOB" DOBBS. Which is all it needs to be. Even if every SubGenius disavowed the whole thing as a crock, forever, there would still remain that ONE IMMOVABLE FACT of the ISNESS of "BOB." No matter what we think about it, THAT FACE will always be there, and THAT FACE will always be laughing. And usually not laughing with us.

We'd be the last to denigrate the Differently Saned, or to promote 'sanity,' as the Pinks define it; but, hey, as SubGenius Spice put it, "Every church has its pew."

Most SubGenii deprogram themselves. Having to deprogram zombies from our own cult was once a rare event. But nowadays it's a spectator sport – you can watch us do it daily on alt.slack! We're currently experimenting with a preventative approach. We sold all these dipshits the insanity; now we're working out how to sell them the cure.

What's considered "crazy" has drastically changed over the years. "Insane" doesn't mean running around the mall with your underwear on your head anymore. Nowadays, that's fashionable, whereas demonstrating any manners at all has become weird. What's "weird" nowadays used to be considered COMMON HUMAN DECENCY.

THE WORLD OF THE DIFFERENTLY SANED

It's not that they see things that aren't really there. Serious religious nuts (and speedfreaks too) see connections that aren't there. Marvelous connections between, say, quantum physics and sappy mysticism. The only reason the rest of us don't see the connections is that we are not completely insane.

It's hard to carry on real conversations with a them. They are very precariously balanced mentally, and prefer to lecture. If you question their basic presumptions, suddenly you're barking up an unoccupied tree. The Non-Traditionally-Awared Person can't answer certain questions, because if he lets himself even understand them, his whole mental house of cards collapses. The concept of himself being wrong about something is outside his frame of reference. So his answers are always to other questions than the ones asked – the questions he'd prefer you'd ask.

We're all kooks to some extent. Still, as long as you can take a joke, you can't be too far gone. In order to be able to take a joke, however, one must be able to recognize that a joke has been TOLD. A crippled sense of humor is the single most distinguishing aspect of the "kook" or Deep Pink personality.

Especially severe Deep Pinks are called "Purples" in subjargon.

Thus, many Alternately-Realitied Persons can't experience Slack, except negatively – that is, by blocking the Slack of others. Often, such as in the case of street crazies or Internet poets, it cannot mind its own business. Pretending to teach its kook-view, its "Kookanschauung," to others is how it obtains its sad false Slack, be it from a soapbox on a street corner or via someone else's blog. Unfortunately, being self-righteous and mentally ill at the same time just plain doesn't come off.

FOOLING YOURSELF

New Age beliefs combined with dipshit science can inflict brain damage every bit as tragically as can chronic drug use and cable TV. Luckily for all but the most damaged victims, there is a place in the world for them, often a lucrative one, as RELIGIOUS OR PHILOSOPHICAL TEACHERS. (Important Note: rich people can afford to be much more superstitious than can ordinary po'buckers.)

It's easy enough to learn the trappings of awareness and knowledge. All it takes is impenetrably flighty jargon, punctuated by pregnant pauses and flattery. Big eyebrows help, as does a talent for lying by omission.

Many Mal-Aligned Normals naturally (and automatically) gush the kind of New Age kookademic jibber-jabber and Gaiarrhea that appeals to the Lowest ConMan denominator, the comforting blither-blather of so many gurus, therapists, philosophy majors and other dufii. This self-validating bullshit also tends to be self-generating; that's why we see so many pests who never get past Mysticism 101.* They eat up their own bullshit as fast as they can spew it out.

^ Those who catch on that there is no Mysticism 102 are the ones who teach Mysticism 101, and pen occult books for the those who like to think they're thinkers.

Most New Age guru claptrap doesn't teach you how to be more awake; it only teaches you how to pretend to be more awake, and how to use the lofty vocabulary of Higher Consciousness to categorize all the parts of the personality, and of all human experience, so that you can talk JUST AS IF YOU REALLY UNDERSTAND THEM.

But what you've learned from the guru are just holy-sounding platitudes that keep you automatically SURE that you're NOT ON AUTOMATIC. We know this, because we're the automatic robots that are programmed to tell all the other robots that they're robots and must wake up!

It's certainly gratifying to put oneself into the happy mental state of believing oneself to be fully awake and preternaturally aware, to skip straight to announcing the enlightenment without actually having turned on any of the lights, so to speak. But some New Agers are so busy congratulating themselves moment-by-moment about how "IN THE NOW" they are that they miss what's happening right in front of their faces. They talk the trademarked talk of the Awakened Spiritual master, but it stays talk. They don't live forever. They don't speak from the grave. They do talk, however. And it's still nothing but words, words words! We're sick of the hot air, and should probably shut up, ourselves!

"There is nothing, NO, NOTHING, more disillusioning than enlightenment." - Nenslo

Then there are the FOLLOWERS, those with a vested interest in not learning that they're dupes of a con man. There are always plenty of Private Assholes looking for a Major Asshole who'll tell them what to see, say and do, a Teacher or Master with a nice MacPhilosophy they can follow. But followers assume that their leader isn't just a CONNED MAN, HIMSELF, conned by a long line of previous con menŠ a Follower-Follower with somebody else's made-up rulebook.

We may not be enlightened, but we can sure spot a liar. It takes one to know one, and we are liars. The liars are the ones who are bragging about their enlightenment.

Let's say that again. BRAGGING about their ENLIGHTENMENT.

That covers half the Yoga world right there. As everybody who should've kept their mouths shut has already said a thousand times, "Those who know don't say, and those who say don't know."

It's easy to fool the follower types. False Prophets use tricks so simple that they impress only intellectuals – like the Power Stare, a technique so basic that it's used by chimpanzees and rednecks, but easily cows bookworms, gimps, nerds, dips, Trekkies and geniuses.

Giving lessons in enlightenment certainly implies that a person is qualified to teach it, and here we find the people who tell you what's smart. BEWARE YE the bushy-eyebrowed mystic who solemnly intones, "You are truly intelligent, I can see. Obviously there are many things which I do not need to tell you." Telling everybody who's smart and who's dumb is a good indication that you've gotten the two reversed.

Almost everybody secretly thinks they're a little smarter than most people, but dumbasses know they are.

We SubGeniuses are always trying to figure out if we're getting dumber, or smarter, or if we're really just a brain in a jar dreaming everything.

"I'd like to think that if this were all just a fevered hallucination of mine, I could hallucinate something where I get laid more." - Rev. Joe Cosby

We so frequently think ourselves dumbasses that that itself gives us a tiny vestige of hope that we might actually be slightly smarter than most people, or, more correctly, that we might have at least half a brain. Einstein, Lincoln, and Mark Twain, for instance, probably thought themselves dumbasses, and they certainly were right, yet they were a little smarter than most people.

For we are, ALL of us, DUMBASSES, and none of us really KNOW a damned thing for sure. All really IS vanity. That said, ALL DUMBASSES ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL. Generally, the dumber they are, the more sure they are that they're RIGHT about how much smarter they are than everybody else.

Its no secret America is teetering on the edge of becoming a Christian theocracy.  As the years go by, liberals will continue to wring their hands and debate about "inclusiveness" and "appeal" to people calling them agents of Satan, while conservatives will happily take the cash and legions of brainwashed voters who will support them in their next election.  Their numbers will swell and slowly, but surely, they will take over the running of the country.

And its working.

45 members of the Senate and 185 House representatives have approval from the three largest fundamentalist Christian groups.  These same groups have a plurality in Republican Party state committees.  22% of all voters identify as evangelical Christian and most base their vote around so-called "moral values".

In short, a constitutional coup is probably not far off.  With ever increasing pressure from a vocal subset of society and an increasingly powerful executive branch, changes have already been made to slowly turn America into Jehovah's most favoured nation on Earth.  And I, for one, welcome it.

Why?

Because evangelists, for all their dubious charisma, their money and organizational skills, their political connections reaching right up to the highest echelons of power, are complete and utter morons.  And what's more, they make the people around them stupider too.

Look at it this way.  They are selling a highly limited and flawed world-view.  Not only does it have extremeness and absurdity in plentiful amounts, but there is a blind insistence on everything being the work of an ancient Hebrew war deity.  It instantly limits all forms of thought, introspection and debate.  And that is a very big weakness.  Because, while everything is good, then God must be on side.  But if its bad, well then...God isn't happy.  Or he's testing his faithful.  And millions of morons will give themselves headaches trying to figure out how best to please their deity, relying on the most superficial and current of events to try and put everything into context.  There is being simple and then there is this method of analysis....at best a symptom of foolish pride and inability to think clearly at all.

So you are already dealing with a mass of people who are easy to manipulate and not too bright.  So what's the next step?  Well, first one would be to avoid getting chucked into a camp for deviants and heretics, but if you've taken any sort of advice about being outlandish into account, and perhaps used any prevailing confusion to secure a new identity, you may be alright.  After that, its a matter of acting subservient around authority figures and blindly parroting a few Biblical phrases now and again.  But you will have to kiss your Sunday morning lie-in goodbye.

Speaking of authority figures, and getting back on point, once you have a leadership who claim a truly divine mandate, things become quite easy, if you are confident enough to bullshit your way through things.  Secure some official looking papers and act like you know exactly what you are doing and you can get away with a lot.  Even if (especially if) you start issuing orders that make little sense.

Finally, we all know how sexist Fundamentalists are.  Its no secret they wouldn't mind seeing a woman stoned to death for being raped, or keep their wives chained up in the kitchen all day – well, when they're not churning out more cannon fodder for the latest Crusade, anyway.  But sexism is also a weakness.  Keeping half the population in chains, breeding resentment, refusing their help or advice?  Oh yes, there's a recipe for trouble, no mistake.  More importantly, especially for the women who hang around here, you will be constantly underestimated, in pretty much anything you do.  So any sudden or long term planned actions could shock our Fundie overlords into paralysis, not to mention making them even more easy to manipulate.

Finally, we know Fundies hate science.  Well, that's fine.  Again, they are only hurting themselves.  If they want to rely on the power of prayer instead of the power of penicillin, then I see no reason to try and re-educate them.  Just make sure you know a thoroughly secular doctor however, in case you do ever need some treatment.

In short, the creation of a Theocracy is a recipe for unrest, resentment, disruption and an easily fooled population and leaders.  While on one level, the loss of traditional freedoms will be no doubt sad, the opportunities presented by the future cannot be simply cast aside.  For the clever, the unscrupulous and the quick of tongue, the world will be your oyster.  The cognitive dissonance that comes from denying an entire nation's natural emotions and modes of behaviour will be incredible to behold, not to mention very useful.  Corruption of all sorts will take a foothold, and it wont be good Christian folk running it, that's for sure.  And with a population reduced to sheep-like subservience, those who are willing to occasionally work with the leaders while still able to think outside the box may find the world a much, much better place indeed.

So, as a thieving, amoral rogue, I raise my scotch glass to the theocratic revolution.  Such an imposition of order, inevitable as it is, will result in corresponding levels of disorder.  And there is no fun in tearing down a society which still retains the slightest vestiges of decency somewhere in its rotting shell, anyway.

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=21168

Good news for fans of Guillermo del Toro – and after Pan's Labyrinth, that should be all of you.

For it seems that after the great man finishes his current pet project, the currently-shooting Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, he'll move onto another pet project: his long-awaited adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's At The Mountains Of Madness.

Madness, in which an Antartic expedition stumbles upon a mountain range taller than the Himalayas that contains an indescribable and ancient evil, has been on del Toro's to-do list (pinned up on his fridge) for ages. In fact, location scouting for Madness had already taken place in Romania before Hellboy 2 was greenlit; if that hadn't happened, it's highly likely that del Toro would have been shooting it right now.

A huge Lovecraft fan, del Toro had been previously unable to find a studio willing to make At The Mountains Of Madness. Perhaps they were scared by the superficial similarity to John Carpenter's The Thing (although, of course, Lovecraft's tale predates that by almost seventy years), but now Universal and producers Don Murphy and Susan Montford have given del Toro their backing, it looks like this will be his next movie, ahead of his Tarzan reboot and another secret project that Empire has learned of, but can't reveal just yet.

And we wish Guillermo well – one of the nicest guys in Hollywood, he's now developed into a truly world-class film-maker and At The Mountains Of Madness gives him ample opportunity to unleash the monsters of his dreams.

However, as Latino Review's Kellvin Chavez – who broke the story – muses, will this be a pre-strike shoot for del Toro? Given that Hellboy 2 doesn't finish post-production until May or June of next year, we reckon it's unlikely. But you never know – and with the script ready, plus location scouting and some design work, del Toro could be tackling those Mountains sooner than you think.
Empire Empire

Well, not technically true.  I'm trying to get into a more suitable sounding voice for podcasting, and I seem to actually be able to record mp3s, to my personal astonishment.

The only problem I am having is ideas.  I mean, I could record rants and similar stuff from here, but I feel that lacks the personal touch.  Suggestions/ideas?

I don't feel so bad now about getting into it with Cain....he's unreasonable when angry.
- Twinkle

Worthy to be a rebel, for to that
The multiplying villanies of nature
Do swarm upon him
- Shakespeare, Macbeth

And shut the gates of mercy on mankind.
- Thomas Gray


Once again, I am called into the role of villain.  Fascinating how often I play this part, I find.  I rarely throw the first blow.  While I often enjoy conflict (mental, physical or rhetorical), the twists and tricks which allow me to win, the twists and turns of it all, I more often than not do not start it.  And yet, here again, I am, being judged by hypocrites who know nothing and will use any excuse to justify themselves.

Well, Cain's obviously a bad person, right?  I mean, look at him, he's unreasonable and sarcastic and, when we get right down to it, rather ruthless.  Once he starts fighting, he can't be persuaded to stop, and he doesn't until he thinks he has got what he wants.  In his bitterness, he lashes out hard and without an ounce of empathy.

I'd be disappointed if you thought any less.  All the above is pretty much true.  I've learnt time and time again there is very little in this world deserving of any mercy, especially those who would antagonize me into a fight.  If I wasn't as ruthless as I am, I would have been trampled by the likes of you years ago.

Look at the world around us.  Hypocrites and liars rule.  Worse, thugs who wrap themselves in words of righteous self-justification, when their only authority derives from the force they wield.  You know its true.  The only difference between a President and a gangbanger is the President claims a divine mandate from 'the people' for his actions.  It's a very neat system, really.  If I were to overthrow the "legitimate" government tomorrow, I could not claim this divine mandate.  Even though I won by force of arms, I cannot be the sanctified ruler.  And yet, if I had the support of the people, but not the power to wield it, I would be crushed like an insect.  I cannot win.

So you'll excuse me when I strike out hard to protect myself, when I am attacked.  I know this is the only true law that exists in the world, the one which permeates every single aspect of our existence.  The harsh judgements of words or steel are the only answer, because anything else would be opening myself to defeat.  If you don't like that, then the solution is simple: leave me alone.

But I'm never truly left alone, am I?  Its funny...I offer my services so often and to so many people, yet as soon as I am no longer needed, I quickly become a public enemy.  That's another example of the hypocrisy I mention.  So long as I am acting against some peoples enemies, then I am the "good guy", right up until the point I am no longer needed, which is when the daggers come out.  Of course, they would want me on side, precisely because I am good at what I do.  That's also why I have to be gotten rid of once I've done the work needed.

Why?  Its pretty simple: its because I am effective at using force without being one of the duly constituted authorities.  I'm not a chosen leader, I don't have powers conferred upon me by "the community" and so I must be treated as a potential source of rebellion, to be snuffed out at the first sign of trouble.  Even if the trouble has nothing to do with me.

But let us consider where most leaders derive their powers from?  Is it the community, who is so often invoked in such discussions?  "I will defend this community", as I recall one particularly authoritarian twerp saying, to justify his power induced rampage.  But they do not rule by consent of the community, and rarely are they appointed at all. 

No, they rule, surprise surprise, because they have powers and are willing to use them.  They are appointed to their position through nepotism and general cronyism.  To be sure, occasionally there is a primary leader who rules by their virtue of founding the community in the first place.  But what happens when they stop acting in the best interests of the community, like so many do?  Liars, so many of them, justify themselves with this bullshit story, one step above "I did it for the children", in order to settle a personal vendetta.  Who brings them to account when they are disruptive?

Oh, that's right.  People like me.  The people who are continually banned from discussions, threatened, mocked, hacked and maligned.  Sure, I don't do it for the community.  I do it for revenge.  But at least I'm honest.  I'm not the one fabricating lies to ease my shrivelled conscience, to sooth my superego.  Can many leaders make the same claim? 

So you'll excuse me when I destroy the next person to attack me, and the next person, and the person after that.  I'm not for kowtowing, especially to liars and petty tyrants, throwing their power around like some feudal lord, trying to cow the serfs.  Remember that I don't attack without provocation.  But if I am treated badly, well....I will make it painful.  I will make it last a very long time.  I will make you beg for it to be over.  And then, I will finish you, like I have everyone else.

(Note: This is one in a long line of terms I am stealing from St Taleb of the Black Swan.  Eventually, I will get around to making notes and coming up with some of my own ideas and questions, but for now I am introducing the term and its applications.  Besides, its been quiet in here lately).

http://capitalideasonline.com/articles/index.php?id=2270

This is a basic breakdown of the domains of Extremistan vs Mediocristan, that is to say, the areas which are driven by and affected most by the unpredictable, or those driven by predictable and/or measurable factors.

Experience (and biology) enable us to frame the odds. Weight is also from Mediocristan. Pick any 1,000 people and their average weight will be close to that of the general population (even if you include the world's fattest person). Personal wealth, however, is from Extremistan. For instance, the average wealth of 1,000 people will be very different if one of those people is Bill Gates.

This distinction is potent. In Extremistan, past events are a faulty guide to projecting the future. Gates may be the world's richest person, but it isn't unthinkable that someday, someone (at Google, perhaps?) will be twice as rich. Wars also reside in Extremistan. Prior to World War II, the planet had never experienced a conflict as terrible.

Probabilities can be defined and predictions made only if the events that are the subject of the probabilities and predictions can be described. Donald Rumsfeld distinguished known unknowns and unknown unknowns. Statistics, old and new, deal with known unknowns. Taleb's world is determined by unknown unknowns - black swans.

No one, he says, could have predicted the invention of the wheel or measured the probability that the wheel would be invented, because if you could do either of these things you would already have invented the wheel. The invention of the wheel was a black swan.

Taleb argues convincingly that we treat far too much of our reality as if it were Mediocristan when in fact much of it often behaves like Extremistan, where there are occasional black swans among the white. So, for example, out of the many thousands of books, films and recordings released each year, a small number will account for the largest part of sales, and it is not possible to predict with certainty which of the many works released will find black swan-style success (or failure). Indeed, in any endeavor susceptible to notable, unpredictable exceptions, no amount of examining the past will enable us to foretell the future.

[A rant in the form of fiction of events that may or may not have really happened.]

A rant in the form of fiction of events that may or may not have really happened.



Ah, fuck them, fuck them all.  They can't touch us, there's not a thing they can do.  This guy, what's his name, Firesong or something?  A nothing. A nobody, ruling an empty site.  Not a damn thing they can do against us...

Hmm?  Well well, looks like we've got a customer here.  Sit down, sit down, let me buy you a drink.  OB!  Hey, OB!  Get me another, will ya?  And one for my friend here too, OK?  Ah, its good to see a new face around here.  I tell you, sometimes, with only the regulars around here and the occasional stray Discordian coming in, it can get kind of monotonous. 

What do I do here?  Well, I suppose you could call me a...troubleshooter, a "point man" for persistent problems.  What sort of problems?  Well, you know, this and that...but, to me, its not just about dealing with the trouble and then moving on.  I like to think I am helping to provide a educational service to those our company deals with.

Ah, this is a good scotch.  We don't really have much in the way of opportunities for cutting loose and having some good old fashioned fun anymore.  Married?  Hardly.  You see, its our competition.  Back in the day, we used to keep our heads down, do the job and do it in the way we liked.  But now, now we're in the spotlight, well...it's all about public image, you see?  Our competition likes to  make big scenes now and then: they make a fuss about where we've been and who we're hanging out with.  Bastards watch our every move, too, always poking through company records.  Still, there's ways and means, what they don't know they can't blab about.

I remember...

Back in the Discordian Jihad of 2004, we were the Rogue Discordians, a legitimate wartime enterprise.  The glory days, fighting Prince Tao and EvT, self appointed leaders of Discordianism.  By the end of August, we had a perfect covert trolling unit in place on PD.com, seemed wasteful to let that talent fade just because we weren't at war anymore.  Besides, maybe we'd fought the wrong people.  You see, soon after, Roger was butting heads with some of the Pagans over at the Obsidian Mirror, while pursuing Trollax.  Business wise, it looked like our real competition wasn't other Discordians, but Pagans.  Wiccans.  Nature religions.

As soon as the Jihad ended, there were already skirmishes happening around the Discordian forum on the Mirror.  These went on and off, with a spirited last stand being made by Efrim until about March 2005, when Horab went over.  Back before he went a little mad, he was quite well respected, except by the denizens of the Mirror, it seemed.  Well, that simply would not do, so East Coast Hustle and Cain went over in order to stir the shit, finish the work started by TGRR and Efrim.

After one day, they shut the entire forum down and the admins there would only allow posts by mods.  Eventually, we got to say our piece and in return for being left alone, Obsidian transferred ownership of the site to one of the many Discordians who came over in the wake of our victory.  Bella, if I recall right.  Because, back in the day, the Mirror had in fact been the base of the DIA, the Discordian Intelligence Agency, but when the group fell apart, ownership was transferred.  And now, we had it.

You see, we had plans for the Mirror....

Now, we had a secret, off the maps, perfectly secure base for our Rogues, where they could stash the tools of their trade and lay down plans without inquisitive eyes looking in.  We renamed it Eris Bar and Grill, and kept the membership exclusive.  A nice quiet little place away from PD.com, where no-one could see what we were up to...

Isn't it a little quiet in here?  Don't you think?  I hate quiet, it makes me edgy.  OB, hey, OB!  Yeah I'm talking to you!  Put that Ear Fatigue song on, you know, "Wire Hangers".  Ah yeah, that's better.  So, anyway, where was I?

Oh yes, EB&G...anyway, with the untimely return of Eric, it looked like we got our secret base just in the nick of time.  Eric had been disliked before, however the little pedo had lowered himself to new levels of fail in this incarnation.  While flame wars raged over on PD.com, we could sit in relative peace on EB&G and contemplate more intellectual pursuits.  Like, for example, who made PD.com go down in June of 2005.

Evidence suggested Eric and Aini, so the rogue Discordians were dispatched, at the head of a troll army out of FC.  They completely ravaged Aini's board, bombarding it with thousands of vile posts and eventually causing it to be shut down, while the Discordians themselves waged a jihad on Eric's copycat version of PD.com, PD.org.  Getting banned beyond count and driving away any posters who landed on the board by mistake, we declared victory.

From there, we were on a roll.  Megaman Hentai and LittleAngelHentai were both bought low, and the heathens did wail at their misfortune.

After that...well, things went bad for a while.  Every great war that saves a group is immediately followed by one that nearly destroys them, and this was no exception.  With ECH banned from EB&G and TGRR angry at his PMs being read, attacks were planned against PD.com itself from the Sandbox, a new base of operations for the most trollish of Discordians.  It almost succeeded too, driving away many regular posters.  However, by September 05, agreements had been reached, the trolling stopped, and many of those who had supported TGRR and ECH had migrated more to POEE.

Here there was more unity of purpose, trust and like mindedness, which led to expeditions over the web, either for the fun of it or looking for possible recruits.  After some good work done at GothPoetry.com, Roger was banned with no reason.  Well, we couldn't let some pretentious kids tell us where we could or could not post now, could we?  Especially not after the last 12 months.  So Cain and Roger launched a blitzkrieg against the site, bringing it to a standstill in about an hour.  Even after they were banned and the considerable spamming was cleaned up, they became very paranoid and found if they activated too many accounts, they only let a troll or two back in.  In fact, according to a hilarious email Cain "acquired", they were scared shitless.

In addition to these grand campaigns, the Iron Troll Brigade set out on a trail of destruction, levelling hentai sites left, right and centre.  Busy days, busy days...

However, it was the winter leading into 2006 when we really came into our own...With the various vendettas and grudges more or less settled, and PD.com being down again for the Xmas holidays, many migrated back to EB&G.  From here, they learnt of Verthaine's adventures among the Pagans at Mystic Wicks, and some of us decided to go over.  An advance unit consisting of Cain, Eldora, TTM and Roger made their way over and made quite an impact on the forum.

By "quite an impact", I actually mean Roger got banned for ranting.

However, the ban was lifted after a day and everyone went about their business quite happily, at least until TTM was banned for disagreeing with an admin.  Meanwhile, plotting continued over at the newly resurrected PD.com, which was by this point little more than a ghost town.  New members came in more regularly than EB&G, however, and TTM decided to put these to good use by creating yet another trolling group, this one ostensibly not Discordian.  With all eyes on EB&G, they could use PD.com as a place to rally the troops and coordinate attacks.  The group, known as HIMEOBS, replaced the largely defunct Iron Troll Brigade and went on to carry out a number of attacks on hentai forums, without a single link back to Discordianism or PD.com.

However, things on MW went from bad to worse, and when Mol's stash of meth finally ran out, he allowed his admins to go berserk while he tried to find a dealer.  With several Discordians and their supporters banned in rapid succession, and the few who remained being harassed, it was on.  Our supporters made their way to EB&G, where they turned a subforum into Little Pagantown.

Obviously, with the MW refugees and spies hanging around, our "secret base" was starting to look like Berlin at the height of the Cold War.  HIMEOBS had already cleverly arranged to have its own very hidden and private forum and site, but very few of the exiles met the criteria for joining.  After all, everyone has to have a fallback position, presuming EB&G were to be overrun, by "fake" refugees no less.

However, said threat failed to materialize, and we went on the offensive.  Mol's sordid past, stupidly revealed in a (probably drunkenly composed) email, were plastered all over his site, along with photos of him posing in a woman's nightie.  Strange thing is, despite sending out this stupid email, he repeatedly threatened EB&G with legal action should any portion of it or the incidents contained within were repeated on his site.  Of course, HIMEOBS was exempt from this, along with his own site...

We also turned agents within his own private pay site, all while driving posters away with the trolling and constant drama being promoted by our remaining supporters.  All in all, his site traffic fell from being the most popular Pagan forum on the net to roughly that of EB&G.  Not bad, eh?  OK, not quite the destruction that was wrought on Aini or PD.com, but good help was hard to find at that moment.

Then, something quite unexpected happened.  After months of nearly no activity, a coup erupted on PD.com, ousting the Mgt from power.  In her place, HIMEOBS agents under the leadership of East Coast Hustle took control of the site and became the moderation/admin team.  Now, the positioned were reversed, the final shape of the whole network was in place.

It's like Agent Nerve said, after he was busted selling MW accounts to YTMND trolls: "EB&G is the "front desk", it's the open side of the operation.  TGRR, Bella, Idem, Daniel and GIGGLES are there.  The guy lurking in the shadows is Cain.  Who is the boss of Cain?  East Coast Hustle.   Where do they come from?  PD.com.  Where do the trolls come from?  HIMEOBS.  Cain is training and directing trolls.  The leader of HIMEOBS is Captain Da, he is recruiting trolls from all over the web to fight in Discordian covert wars.  What was Da doing by trolling hentai sites?  Gaining a reputation which allows them to find trolls anywhere who will do exactly what he tells them.  An army of trolls at their beck and call."

As more and more people joined PD.com, HIMEOBS also grew, allowing extended operations not only against MW but any other sites that took our fancy.  With PD itself under our control, we hid one of the forums from anyone without an account, meaning our intended targets could not trace our actions back to us.  At last, with all three sites secure and under control, with a score of trolls at our beck and call, and a trail of blasted websites behind us, we were secure.

Friendly expeditions were sent to a number of other Pagan forums, peace missions if you will.  Not our fault the damn savages tried to cannibalize those we sent in good faith.  Spiritual Forums went into meltdown in record time, banning all Discordians, Subgenii, Pastafarians and anyone else with a sense of humour from their site.  PrincessKLS stupidly kept poking her nose in at EB&G, so a few people took it upon themselves to counteract the rumours she was spreading around the place.  And that is how we found TCC.

That's when you came in, right?  Yep, it's business as usual around here – always has been and always will be.  You wait until autumn comes around, you just wait because you ain't seen nothing yet.  Not TCC nor any of its moronic admins can stop me.  You think they can?  You think I'm worried about one little crummy site run by idiot asswipes, is that what you think?  Because if that's what you think, then in my book you are as stupid as they are!  Those fools can't touch me, I'm safe, totally safe.   

You think their legal threats mean anything to me?  Hah!  I mean, who is going to even believe the ridiculous lies they are telling, let alone act on them?  I mean, its like this whole story I just told you: it never happened.  It was a joke, OK?  A nice little bedtime story to make certain people wet their pants.  If anyone does come around asking questions, well, we just tell them the truth.  What's the truth? It's pretty simple, really:  PD.com, and EB&G protected Discordianism, HIMEOBS protected EB&G and PD.com, TGRR, Idem, TTM, ECH, Cain and the rest protected HIMEOBS and that is why they are Eris-damned heroes.  That's all.  Nothing more to say.

So we dodged IP bans, hurt a few feelings and mocked some overly important idiots, who gives a shit?  The real kicker is, no matter what we do, what tack we take, our enemies take a pasting, often wondering how the hell they got themselves in a position where all their new members either side with us or run off, and their site became a troll playground.

Let me tell you a little secret...it's all done with smoke and mirrors.

Well, anyway, listen, I ain't got all day.  Are you buying what our company sells or what?  Can we do business?

Excellent, I knew you were a discerning client the moment you walked through the door.

Go out and buy "Black Swan" by Naseem Taleb.

Right now.

No excuses.

A book that explains how "black swans" (near-unpredictable events that forever alter the fields they are involved in) develop and unfold.  For example, 9/11 was a black swan.  It covers why unpredictability will always be the primary motivator of world events and how ineffectual the majority of social sciences are at coming to terms with this.  It includes a lot of psychology and philosophy, too.

Probably about the most Discordian book I have seen since the PD.  It encapsulates many of the ideas of creative disorder and the BIP perfectly.

Written around June 4th

I pulled the car up on Shaftesbury hill, in order to watch the sunset as I came home, trying to sort through the many mixed feelings I have about returning to this place.  Stepping outside, I can feel a cool breeze on my face, watched as the last few flies made a desperate search for food this evening.

I realized I hadn't shaved in nearly a week, my usually clean appearance marred by the growth of beard.  But I didn't care.  The wind was starting to become cold, raising the hair on my arms.  I still didn't care.

I had nearly lived half my life within these 50 miles, in one dead end town or another.  In the town in front of me, I had become, ultimately, the person I was today, through a mix of chance and necessity.  I could see the new buildings being put up in the part of town nicknamed Little Warsaw, the crumbling council housing estates filled with subhuman scum, the glittering buildings in the centre of town, monuments of wealth in a county plagued by pathetic wages and inflated house prices.

I was still confused, not feeling much.  Once, I had known what I wanted to do, where I had wanted to go.  I had thought my way was clear, that with the path I had followed I could use what I had learned without having to work with those I detested, either on a personal, political or basic level.  However, these are only areas where someone of my skills could find employment.  Funny what difference 9 months can make.

I wasn't surprised when I saw the two teenage kids appear near me, and walk towards me.  Sighing, I turned to them.  Both looked anywhere between 13 and 16, dressed in imitation designer sports trousers and t-shirts, their body odour causing my nose to wrinkle.
,ÄúYou lost, mister?,Äù, one asked in a broad south western accent, the words more a statement than a question.
,ÄúP'haps we can help you find your way,Äù, the other sniggered.
Lost travellers were not uncommon to the area, many passing through on their way to the popular tourist resorts in Devon and Cornwall, finding the winding roads and dying towns difficult to distinguish.  This gave the locals ample chances to practice their skills in intimidation and extortion ,Äì valuable abilities for later life, to be sure.

I sighed again, then fixed them with a stare, saying nothing.  The smaller one began to fidget.  The two, seemingly unnerved by my silent relaxation in their presence, seemed to open their eyes wide, moving on quickly.  I breathed out, letting the tension leave my body.

I wondered how many more potential fights would await me down in the town below.  They seemed to be a way of life here.  In small towns where everyone knew everyone (or at least knew someone else who did), insults came quickly and grudges lasted decades.  And most of the idiots here only had the mental capacity to solve a problem with a beer or their fists.  Usually over some pathetic loss of face or incredibly unattractive and spoilt girl that no rational person would ever covet.  It never occurred to them about the power of humiliation, despite how much they hated embarrassment.  A niche  in the market, to my way of thinking...

9 months...it seemed like forever, yet not long enough.  I may call this place home, but I've never felt welcome there.  If home means anything more than a place to stay, somewhere warm and where you can eat food or have relative privacy, this certainly wasn't it for me.  Not only that, I had been gone a long time.  Fleeting visits between Christmas and Easter, normally before heading up to Oxford or London.  Lots of people moving in, tempted by the promise of unskilled labour being needed, no matter how little truth there was in this.  Lots of people rising up too, from the kids they had been to young adults.

Chances were, my past would not get me through anything more than my first couple of weeks back here.  Old friends would be gone, or forgotten, replaced by younger, leaner and more hungry people.  Poorer too, and struggling to find work, if my deductions were accurate.  I would have to step carefully.

There had once been a time I could walk freely anywhere I wanted, at any time of day without fear of attack.  Not because the streets were any safer (though they grew more dangerous with each passing year), but because anyone who came after me would have to be desperate.  And mad.  Because as soon as I thought I knew who they were, I would find them and make their life hell.  And no-one would do a thing to stop it.  In this place, as anywhere where times are tough, self-interest ruled supreme.

The problem wasn't that I feared it.  I knew the hammer would come down, one way or another, and everyone else would watch in order to see the results, know where they now stood with regards to myself.  The problem was that I no longer cared.  It all struck me as so futile.  My experiences of recent times had taught me more than anyone would rightly want to know about myself, or the world around me.  They could play at stupid dominance games all they wanted, because the fact was it was all a lie.  There is a real pecking order, beyond anything they could know, and they would never rank above ,Äúserf,Äù on it.

Truth be told, neither would I.  It didn't matter how smart or devious I was, how skilled at analysis of the chaotic patterns of warfare I had become, among my ,Äúpeers,Äù I would not be accepted unless I swallowed the entire bullshit line they fed me.  No matter how many problems I solved, or how many ,Äúcontingencies,Äù I drew up and critiqued for them, unless I truly believed, I was another academic heretic, disrupting their pre-chosen conclusions.  And that meant I was a problem, unless I ,Äúrecanted,Äù.

And it would be no different down here.

New hierarchies, old hierarchies, new jobs or old jobs, it was all the same.  No matter where I went, the same games would be played, only with slight variations.  Dominate or be dominated.  It was a game I couldn't stop playing, and couldn't escape from.  Anger overcame my apathy, momentarily.  Strange, how those two are so often linked, yet so different.

It was all so...dull. 

Getting back into the car, I came to a final decision.  I would not play along.  I did not want, nor need the approval of anyone, not here and not elsewhere.  Perhaps...perhaps it was time to strike out on my own.  I had no interest in serving the whims of another who, while offering a level of protection and safety, would ultimately do nothing for me.  Instead, it was time to move and shake, not be moved or shaken.  And where better to start, than this pathetic town, where the hungry and lean youngsters could very well learn a lesson or two about their real station in the world?  And perhaps, be guided by a hand who could teach them ways of striking back.

Yes, that sounded like a good idea, I thought, as the engine started.

Codename V's real rant.

Obviously this was not written by me, and all applause etc should be directed at Alan Moore etc  That said, its still much better than the washed down, "freedumb!" version in the film, though even a cursory read shows why it was not used.  Its precisely for those reasons I prefer it.  So here is the transcript taken from the comic, presented in full.



Good evening, London.  I thought it time we had a little chat.  Are you sitting comfortably?

Then I'll begin.

I suppose you're wondering why I've called you here this evening.  Well, you see, I'm not entirely satisfied with your performance lately...I'm afraid your work has been slipping, and...and, well, I'm afraid we've been thinking about letting you go.

Oh, I know, you've been with the company a long time now.  Almost...let me see.  Almost ten thousand years!  My word, doesn't time fly?  It only seems like yesterday...I remember the day you commenced your employment, swinging down from the trees, fresh faced and nervous, a bone clasped in your bristling fist.



"Where do I start sir?", you asked, plaintively.  I recall my exact words: ,"there's a pile of dinosaur eggs over there, youngster,", I said, smiling paternally the while. "Get sucking."

Well, we've certainly come a long way since then, haven't we?  And yes, yes, you're right, in all that time, you haven't missed a day.

Well done, thou good and faithful servant.

Also, don't think I have forgotten your outstanding service record, or about all the invaluable contributions you've made to the company.  Fire, the wheel, agriculture...it's an impressive list, old-timer.  A jolly impressive list, don't get me wrong.



But...well, to be frank, we've had our problems too.  There is no getting away from it.  Do you know what I think a lot of it stems from?  I'll tell you...it's from your basic unwillingness to get along within the company.  You don't seem to want to face up to any real responsibility, or be your own boss.  Lord knows, you've been given plenty of opportunities...

We've offered you promotion, time and time again, and each time you've turned us down.  "I couldn't handle the work, guv'nor," you wheedled.  "I know my place."  To be frank, you aren't even trying.  You see, you've been standing still for far too long, and its starting to show in your work...and, might I add, in your general standard of behaviour.



The constant bickering on the factory floor has not escaped my attention...nor the recent bout of rowdiness in the staff canteen.  Then of course, there's...hmm, well, I didn't really want to have to bring this up, but...well, I've been hearing some disturbing rumours about your personal life.  No, never mind who told me.  No names, no pack drill...



That I hear you are unable to get on with your spouse.  I hear that you argue.  I am told that you shout.  Violence has been mentioned.  I am reliably informed that you hurt the one you love...the one you shouldn't hurt at all.

And what about the children?  It's always the children who suffer, as you're well aware.  Poor little mites.  What are they to make of it?  What are they to make of your bullying, your despair, your cowardice and all your fondly nurtured bigotries?

Really it is not good enough, is it?

And its no good blaming the sudden drop in work standards upon bad management, either...though to be sure, the management is very bad.  In fact, lets not mince words...the management is terrible!  We've had a string of embezzlers, frauds, liars and lunatics making a string of catastrophic decisions.  This is plain fact.



But who elected them?

It was you!  You who appointed these people!  You who gave them the power to make decisions for you!  While I'll admit that anyone can make a mistake once, to go on making the same lethal errors century after century seems nothing short of deliberate.

You have encouraged these malicious incompetents who have made your working lives a shambles.  You have accepted without question their senseless orders.  You have allowed them to fill your workplace with dangerous and untested machines.



You could have stopped them.

All you had to say was "no".  You have no spine.  No pride.  You are no longer an asset to the company.  I will, however, be generous.  You will be granted two years to show some improvement in your work.  If at the end of that time you are still unwilling to make a go of it...

You're fired.

That is all.  You may return to your labours.  Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.



- Edited to unfuck the quotation mark problems caused by the server change a few years back - Roger

Ladies and gentleman, we have a problem.  It is one that almost 100% of us, myself especially included, are guilty of.  It is one that, if it is not overcome, will likely mean we end up getting killed or imprisoned in the bad times that are coming, or at the very best, will leave us in our current situation that we are now in, with minimal influence and held captive to the workings of others.

Our morale sucks.

Really badly sucks.

Now, to be fair, there are a number of reasons for this.  We were caught off guard in the 90s and the opening years of the Bush administration.  With all the advances that were being made, with an ever more assertive media, 'progressive' governments in charge of the western world, the internet, lack of nuclear terror, the threat of nationalist terrorism receding, we had reason to believe things were, in fact, getting better.  Not totally better, to be sure.  There was still a lot of injustice, secrecy, casually created violence and poverty in the world.  But trends of awareness, the various grass root movements that had arisen and flourished (specifically without the level of government intimidation that had existed during the Cold War) were all good indicators for the future.

In short, we got lazy, and therefore sucker punched, big time.

The current wave of authoritarianism has infected pretty much the whole of the western world.  It came fast and unexpectedly.  Torture is back on the agenda, secret wire taps, gulags, suspension of haebus corpus etc all came out of nowhere and has dominated the political debate of the last decade, nearly, and will likely continue.

But more importantly, we ourselves have not helped.

We could have.  Setbacks can be overcome.  Hell, in the 60s they had COINTELPRO, which is even worse than what we have now.  At least civil rights leaders are not being assassinated by ,Äúlone gunmen,Äù anymore, though certainly the tarring and feathering they receive in the press is a non-violent equivalent.  Things are not yet that bad, so a comeback should have been in the making, probably around 4 years ago or so.  But it has not.

Thats because the second problem is not related to external events, but is inside of our heads.

Virtually everyone who becomes a Discordian does so because they chose to, not because they were forced into it.  That gives them a peculiar disposition, that is not found among many other groups.  Because they signed up freely, and usually have the presence of mind to deal with absurdity, contradiction and multiple conflicting belief systems, they are very hard headed.

And wont back down very easily.  To anyone, including other Discordians.

So long as Discordians are willing to stick it to each other as much as they would to a Greyface, then nothing can be solved.

Lets face it, we are numerically weak.  We do not use violence (except in exceptional circumstances), command any sort of control over the media or have a ton of cash.  Our only chance is a variant of guerrilla warfare, fought on terms of our choosing.

And the key to winning guerrilla wars is moral cohesion.  The entire idea is whoever survives the longest without imploding invariably wins.  An example is in order: as you recall, in the film of V for Vendetta, it is not Codename V who kills Adam Susan.  He plays Norsefire and Finch like fiddles, pitting them against each other until the very top of the government implodes under its own suspicious nature.  Susan cannot trust Creedy, Creedy feels threatened by Susan, and Finch suspects both were involved in the terrorist attacks that bought them to power.  V sets all this in motion, of course, and eventually topples the fascist government, but they need not have played along.  Not if they had trusted their own people.

And because of this, of how we have been for the last several years, we will lose any and every encounter we take part in, except against the weakest of enemies, who are already factionalized or limited in other ways.  Right now, we are just about able to hold our own against some fluffy pagans and their sexually deviant webmaster.  How can we ever expect to change the international system, or undermine the various governments that we despise, if we cannot even destroy an insignificant twit like this without major planning and grief?

Now, I am not saying we should become consensus city, or that there will not be disagreements of any sort.  Nor is this some exceptionally Byzantine and laborious way of telling people to go easy on the n00bs.  However, once someone is in, and considered in, that should afford them a certain level of respect and leeway.  It is a mark of honour, to be among us, and we should recognize it as such.  Furthermore, we will make it known that to battle with any single Discordian would mean to battle not a single faction, while the rest stood by and waited for a final result, but to deal with the entire Discordian society. 

To take us on would mean dealing with at least 60 or 70 vicious, smart, free-thinking and amazingly competent individuals (perhaps thousands more, as our networked numbers grow and more recruits are bought into the fold).  A single Discordian can be a very formidable opponent, as people like Hunter, TGRR, LMNO, ECH, Silly etc prove.  But what of these backed up by the entire weight of several forums worth of people?  This is the secret of power, that it resides in relationships and networks, not isolation and individual ability.  In short, to take on the Discordians will be to lose.

To that effect, I have buried all axes and vendettas I am carrying.  Even those most recent or longest standing ones.  I have signed up  to EB&G again, with peace in my heart.  I will not raise a hand against another Discordian at all, unless it is absolutely necessary, in circumstances I see as being next to impossible.  All I expect is similar leeway in return.  It need not be perfect, or even chummy, but so long as the fact I am a Discordian and that we have bigger fish to fry is remembered, then I will be fine.

I suggest others do the same, though I do understand it is a bitter pill to swallow, in many cases.  Long ago I made the case for not bothering with ideological purity in achieving our goals.  Right now, I feel the same applies with personality clashes.  We are not numerous enough to pick and choose who we can work with.  Lets bury the personal issues, and get on with the job in hand.  Which incidentally, is part of what is to come next.

Pure brilliant inspiration.

I will develop more, but watch this thread for updates.

I was sat in possibly the worst club in the country.  That was the bad news.  The even worse news was the only whiskeys they had were Bells, or Jack Daniels.  Mmm, a choice between the vile one and the one which had no effect.  I shouted over the music to the barmaid for a double Bells with ice, then sat down.  I reckoned I could alternate, using JD to get rid of the horrible flavour of the Bells.  Or try another drink.  Or another bar.

Well, maybe not bar.  This town wasn't friendly to other bars.  I suspected it had something to do with the thuggish nature of the hired work here, since this town was crying out for a decent place, anywhere but this meat market.  There were still a few pubs around, one that was supposedly "trendy" one the other side of town, though anyone who truly thought that had obviously led a sheltered life.  And probably even drank Stella Artois.

I looked about the place.  It was fairly quiet, as befitted the early time of night.  Or as quiet as it was ever going to get, to be more accurate.  The speakers pounded out the worst in modern dance and RnB while a few people milled around, ordering drinks or chatting with their friends.  It made a mockery of the whole club.  Not that it bothered me, the opposite in fact.  My friends would probably arrive in half an hour to an hour's time, as I guaged it.  I happened to live a lot closer than them, plus now I was back home finally, I really needed to unwind some.  What a shitty little corner of the country this place is.

The first glass went down quickly and with no ceremony.  One minute sitting squat on the bar, in its golden liquid glory, then vanished.  I sat back a moment, savouring the moment as much as one can with Bells.   I motioned to the barmaid for a Jack Daniels, again with ice, then sat back.  I took my time over this, savouring the far better flavour, if not the lack of any alcoholic effect.  Perhaps they had some Jameson here, not on display?  It might be worth asking next drink.

By now people were starting to come in with some frequency.  I briefly scanned the crowd, no-one I should be worried about, though a few familiar faces were among the masses.  Sipping on the JD, I turned back to the bar, only to sense someone stand right next to me.

"Hey don't I know you?" A female voice. I briefly glanced sideways, noting it was a tall, red-haired girl, but not much more.
I took another sip of the drink, then replied without another look "I don't think so" before returning to my drink.
However, she didn't take the hint and persisted "I'm sure I do.  You're Marc, right?"
Damn, recognized.  I grabbed the glass tight, then turned to face her.  To my surprise, nothing else happened.  No grab from behind, no punch to the face, nothing.  Must be my lucky night or something.  Fights broke out here every night, often multiple times.  Now is a bit early, but they've started earlier before, and I've done as much as anyone else had to "deserve" that, from some people anyway.

I decided to answer her question, seeing as I had already been caught out.
"Yes, that's me" I sighed, like I was reluctantly admitting a criminal charge, which some people would say it was.  I looked at her more closely in the dim light.  She was at least my height and slim, with a wonderful crop of long strawberry blonde hair.  She was dressed in a simple black T-shirt and jeans, wearing a slightly puzzled expression on her face, as if she was going to say something but had forgotten what.  I searched my memory frantically, trying to dredge a name up.
"Jenny?" I managed.  "So how's things going?"
"I was just about to ask you the same thing.  How about we get a drink and have a chat?"  I shrugged, then since nothing else was going on, accepted.

This was a little odd.  I had known Jen for about nine years now.  We had practically shared a class in every year from when we were both eleven.  But we were hardly what you could call friends.  Just the kind of person you say hi to, when you see them walking in town or something.  But hey, it wasn't like I was doing anything else, right?

She ordered her drink, a vodka and coke, then I started to stand up, when my leg reminded me it wasn't in the best of health right now.
"Are you alright" she asked with some concern as I managed to stand straight.
"Yeah" I replied through gritted teeth.  "Someone just dropped something on it today, that's all."
"What did they drop?"
"A massive reel of plastic lining about this size" I indicated roughly a foot (30cm) with my hands "by this" I finished, moving my hands about 4 feet apart.  I had been helping my best friend move stuff out of his garage earlier, when he had slipped.
"Ouch."
"I'll live" I answered.
We managed to grab a table somewhere away from the deafening loudspeakers, which allowed for conversation without loudhailers.
We mostly made small chat, about we'd been up to the last year.  I mentioned studying, while Jen had been getting qualifications towards being a nurse.
I shifted on my seat, once again gritting my teeth.
"Are you certain that's OK" she asked?  "I could  have a look if you wanted."
"That's a kind gesture, but the management probably have rules about people stripping off in here."  I thought about this a second.  "Male people anyway.  I'm sure it'll be fine by Sunday, though I doubt I'll be doing much with it in the meantime."
"Were you planning on doing much with it" she asked with a smile.
"Oh, mostly running, perhaps starting Tae Kwon Do again.  I haven't really had much chance to practice since being down here, what with work and everything."
"Hah, I still remember when you stormed out of that after college class after showing the instructor up.  My sister says he's back again this year."

Great, another year taught useless and dangerous self defence techniques.  That was worse than teaching them nothing.  I made a note to do something about that, but skipped over it for now. 

"So, any plans for the night?  Or is it just another booze up at Legends?" I asked, mildly curious.
"Actually, I'm just waiting for some friends.  Then we should be going to the Kings Arms.  Apparently there are a few good parties going on in Shaftesbury tonight and we can easily go from the bar to one of those.  And you?"
"It was going to be just a quiet night in here, but frankly your plans sound much more fun."
"Aw, poor little you.  Come with me then."
"Well, that was hard work getting you to accept the idea..alright then, I'm game."
We clinked glasses together and finished our drinks.  "Excellent" she said, licking some vodka off her lips, "we can catch up on old times."

I raised an eyebrow curiously as we walked off.

What is good software for mucking around with music?  In general, recording, mixing, producing etc

Also, freebies will be much appreciated.

Cain,
may finally do something with the 12 gig of music on his hard drive.  One day.

You may find this instructional guide useful for dissemination of various pieces of information that you currently have.

http://aeronautics.ru/archive/pdf/literature/

All your War Nerd needs!

When you come from the fringe, and enter an economic system, you bring some chaos, street smarts, wisdom or some kind of non-system thinking with you. And to a certain extent, this energy can help the system grow and evolve, and compete more efficiently.
-,ÄúHoward Campbell,Äù, Poker without Cards

Ideology tries to integrate even the most radical acts
- taken from a cartoon of the same title, by the SI

,ÄúWake up Neo, there is no counterculture,Äù
- James Curcio, Culture-hacking


So, I was reading on Sunday a lovely little article on some awfully designed website that the Israeli government are coming up with new theoretical models for their operations.  That in and of itself is not too worrying.  I try to steer away from the whole Israel-Palestine issue, mainly because I have no good reason to stick my arm into a hornets nest and wave it around.  However, the thing about Israel is while their recent military performance may have been poor, they do consider themselves under threat and so are always looking for an edge, especially a theoretical one for urban warfare.

However, when I see that they are using doctrines based on Deleuze, Debord, ,Äúpostmodern anarchists,Äù and ,Äúnomadic terrorists,Äù, I can't help but feel they are starting to make a move into our intellectual territory, coming towards the theories we ourselves use, the axioms we take for granted, but from totally the operate direction.  In short, the co-option of our ideas and strategies, for the most Greyfaced of purposes ,Äì to restore order, as quickly and as smoothly as possible.

We committed one of the two sins when it came to thinking about politics.  We knew they never meant well, but we had pretty much accepted they were stupid, too.  At least, stupid enough to not have learnt from people like us.  Yet, they have.  While this doctrine may not have spread yet, it soon will and it will catch on like wildfire, because its exactly what is needed for the current political climate. Debord's concepts in particular are worrying, as they are the basis for Hakim Bey's writing (probably lumped under one of the postmodern anarchists, I suspect, with Lyotard).  So, in other words, they're figuring out ways to deal with scale free networks, TAZ's, and swarming techniques that could conceivably be used to undermine, hollow out or collapse a state.  Principle ideas in subversion are being turned on their head in order to aid state power and given whose hands that currently resides in, I cannot trust their motives.

Clearly, this is a problem.

For too long, I feel, we have been content to rest on our laurels.  Discordianism has pretty much been at the centre of a lot of western agitation against the Powers That Be, if only indirectly.  RAW and Thornley, along with others, helped build up this mystical, near mythical ,Äúcounterculture,Äù in direct opposition to current one, where common wisdom was questioned and new (or old) radical theories were floated.  Again, with the early days of the internet, it was the Illuminatus! influenced hackers who were communicating on the BBS's.  A network of sorts was in place and ideas were encouraged and swapped, for the little good they have done to date.

Every time a subversive text has proved its worth, it has been co-opted at its moment of failure.  This is nothing new, of course, but it is worth noting.  And while in many cases, this was simply to ride out the effects of those who aimed at the removal of the current system, someone has been dangerously smart and has gone back to those ideas, not with plans to use them for the original intent, but to prevent against them.

And they have other advantages on us.  The texts we are talking about were mostly written in the late 70s, the 80s and the 90s.  In fact, the Israeli courses almost look like a who's who of subversive modern philosophers, from Derrida to Foucault.  Obviously not subversive enough, however.  They also have hundreds of ,Äúshadow institutes,Äù where the bright and the patriotic are being paid to study this and come up with novel solutions to the problems of the modern world, problems often based within theories expressed in those books.  Money, numbers and areas for practical trial runs.

The question of course is what is there to do about this?

Well, option one is to do nothing.  Fade into irrelevance.  Give up, admit we gave them a good run and go back to our television sets.  Not bloody likely, but possible.  Its disheartening when you realize the CoN is not only smart, its also very good at reversal, even of ideas of use to you.  There is also the rather vague hope that eventually the militaries infected with these ideas will become hotbeds of sedition and subversion, but I can't see it happening.

Secondly, we could go obscure.  Keep what we figure out away from the prying eyes of the various minions of Order and go with the idea that the unknown is what the CoN fears the most.  Of course, the problem then becomes obvious.  How do you go around attracting people to something so secretive?  More importantly, how do you stop it from becoming just another elitist social club, like the Freemasons or the OTO?

Then there is choice number three ,Äì throw the guides away.  Forget the entire counterculture movement, RAW, postmodernism, everything and go way out there, throwing out the rule book.  Off the beaten track, into totally new theories, regain the edge we lost and have some sort of advantage again.  While the soldier boys and tacticians keep their eyes on the now, we can concentrate on staying ahead of the curve.  Since we have few worries of failed careers for not obeying orders or thinking the wrong thoughts in this regard, as well as not being bound by a current, active threat, we can put one over on the monkeys who are starting to catch up.  Screw Crowley and Magick, memes and failed rebellions of the past.  The only thing we should be looking at these for is to see how they failed, not why they sorta, half worked.

Thats how I see the options before us today.  We can evolve and live up to our titles as neophiliacs, or we can stagnate and die.  As always, the choice is change or perish.

If you didn't know

http://www.deepleafproductions.com/wilsonlibrary/index.htm

http://sufimessage.com/mysticism-of-sound/vibrations.html

The silent life experiences on the surface by reason of activity. The silent life appears as death in comparison with the life of activity on the surface. Only to the wise the life eternal seems preferable on account of the ever-changing and momentary nature of mortal life. The life on the surface seems to be the real life, because it is in this life that all joy is experienced.

In the silent life there is no joy but only peace. The soul's original being is peace and its nature is joy, both of which work against each other. This is the hidden cause of all life's tragedy. The soul originally is without any experience; it experiences all when it opens its eyes to the exterior plane, and keeps them open enjoying the life on the surface until satisfied. The soul then begins to close its eyes to the exterior plane, and constantly seeks peace, the original state of its being.

You're not sure how you came to be here, in this stinking port, putting in among the oil drums and dark containers, with shit and filth lying deep on the ground.  You don't remember who got you the ticket, or how he came to find or, the name of the captain who was sworn to secrecy or the members of the crew who bought you your meals.

Its hideously different, yet frighteningly familiar.  You're mouth is dry with an odd sense of fear as you wipe away the cold sweat at your brow, wishing the fog would clear.  There is no picturesque view here, nothing that is to be seen on the television screens or the travel guides.  This is not your home, yet it is so similar...as if a schizophrenic had taken a copy of the country you once knew, and laid it over the reality, a land ruled by shadows and steeped in secrecy, where unknown figures avoid the light and crawl through the mess.

Taking a step off of the boat, you take a deep breath, then choke on the smoky black air, hidden in the misty shroud of the fog.  There are men unloading crates of 'butter', dressed in black fatigues and watched over by men with rifles.  You look back to the sea for a moment, the ocean waves possible of hiding all sorts of monstrosity, both human and unnatural.  Boxes spill open on the port, spreading white powder, clinking bullets and other hideous items of death, destruction and addiction.

This is not your home, not the way you remember it.  It has a different economy, a different trade base.  Even a different government.  In the quiet clubs, Mafia Dons mix with P2 Masons, exiled generals and boardroom CEOs mix drinks and share jokes with rogue intelligence officers, while SS scientists and private bankers share a tale or two.  The shadow population is in control here.

You need a drink, badly.  You walk down streets paved in freshly laundered gold, taken from the private collections of despots and hidden in off-shore bank accounts, meanwhile live TV broadcasts and newspaper boys shout only Dada like gibberish, in a mockery of what would pass for information.  You stumble and nearly fall through a battered and beaten door, aged not by virtue of being around for a long time, but merely through damage, into a smoke filled and dusty bar.  Pulling yourself up, you walk towards the bar, steps unsteady.  The bartender notices you, his eyes picking you out of the gloom.  As you make your way to a seat, he stops trying to clean the dirty glass and instead turns to you, ready to speak.

,ÄúHey kid, welcome to the City.  Sit yourself down, you look like you could use a drink.,Äù

Fuck!  I'm a known quantity!

Recommendations for you are based on items you own and more.


The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus
The Fall by Albert Camus
The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal by Jared Diamond
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner
The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
Principia Discordia by Malaclypse the Younger
The Shadow Man by John Katzenbach
In the Heat of the Summer: AND The Shadow Man by John Katzenbach
The Subgenius Cyclopaedia of Slack: The Bobliographon by Ivan Stang
The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster by Bobby Henderson

ITT you name any topic and I will, for free, find and upload academic papers on  them for you.

I love this server being all paid up.

This will be the place dealing with http://theageofaftermath.wordpress.com/

I'm going to work around the settings for a while.  I want to add some links, see if I can get it to post names on the articles in question without having to click the hyperlinks, add an RSS feed and some other stuff.  Hold on.

Writing exercises are a great way to both increase your skill as a writer and to generate new ideas for future work. They can also give you a new perspective on your current project. One of the great benefits of private writing exercises is that you can free yourself of fear and perfectionism. To grow as a writer, it is important to sometimes write without the expectation of publication. Don,Äôt be afraid to be imperfect. That is what practice is for. What you write for any of these exercises may not be your best work, but it is practice for when you will need to write your best work.

    * Pick ten people you know and write a one-sentence description for each of them.
    * Record five minutes of a talk radio show. Write down the dialogue and add narrative descriptions of the speakers and actions as if you were writing a scene.
    * Write a 500-word biography of your life.
    * Write your obituary. List all of your life,Äôs accomplishments. You can write it as if you died today or fifty or more years in the future.
    * Write a 300-word description of your bedroom.
    * Write a fictional interview with yourself, an acquaintance, a famous figure or a fictional character. Do it in the style of an appropriate (or inappropriate) magazine or publication such as Time, People, Rolling Stone, Cosmopolitan, Seventeen or Maxim.
    * Pick up a newspaper or supermarket tabloid. Scan the articles until you find one that interests you and use it as the basis for a scene or story.
    * Keep a diary of a fictional character.
    * Take a passage from a book, a favorite or a least favorite, and rewrite the passage in a different style such as noir, gothic romance, pulp fiction or horror story.
    * Pick an author, one you like though not necessarily your favorite, and make a list of what you like about the way they write. Do this from memory first, without rereading their work. After you,Äôve made your list, reread some of their work and see if you missed anything or if your answers change. Analyze what elements of their writing style you can add to your own, and what elements you should not or cannot add. Remember that your writing style is your own, and that you should only try to think of ways to add to your own style. Never try to mimic someone else for more than an exercise or two.
    * Take a piece of your writing that you have written in first person and rewrite it in third person, or vice-versa. You can also try this exercise changing tense, narrators, or other stylistic elements. Don,Äôt do this with an entire book. Stick to shorter works. Once you commit to a style for a book, never look back or you will spend all of your time rewriting instead of writing.
    * Try to identify your earliest childhood memory. Write down everything you can remember about it. Rewrite it as a scene. You may choose to do this from your current perspective or from the perspective you had at that age.
    * Remember an old argument you had with another person. Write about the argument from the point of view of the other person. Remember that the idea is to see the argument from their perspective, no your own. This is an exercise in voice, not in proving yourself right or wrong.
    * Write a 200-word description of a place. You can use any and all sensory descriptions but sight: you can describe what it feels like, sounds like, smells like and even tastes like. Try to write the description in such a way that people will not miss the visual details.
    * Sit in a restaurant or a crowded area and write down the snippets of conversation you hear. Listen to the people around you ,Äî how they talk and what words they use. Once you have done this, you can practice finishing their conversations. Write your version of what comes next in the conversation. Match their style.

http://www.jjuriaan.com/Fifteen_Craft_Exercises_for_Writers.htm


I'm going to do this later, actually.  Its good practice, I think, and no matter how good you are, practice never hurts.