What is acceptable reality?

[renots]

What is acceptable reality?

by renots

How do people determine what reality is acceptable or not? Is it the reality that takes the least effort for a work-addled mind to digest? Is it what makes someone feel happy or content? Is it a false sense of contentment or security worth accepting the facade of truth covering up reprehensible practices?

For me, a mid-twenties American living in California, things are pretty good right now.
I'm living where I want to live, doing what I want to do(like playing 14 non-stop hours of Diablo 2), and I am pretty much satisfied with my current economic situation. Life is Good...

...But...I look around at all my DVDs, CDs, PC Games etc and think to myself:

My purpose in life, why I came to this planet, was to do more than work, eat, sleep, and entertain myself.

Being the information junkie that I am, everyday I am confronted with many realities that are not in the mainstream, that confront my preconceptions, that can be initially be frightening or disconcerting.

Some backround. I spent a large part of my childhood growing up in 1980's (http://deoxy.org/pc.htm#raygun) Washington DC, reading the Washington Post. To be honest, I was a young Reaganite. Every piece of propaganda that administration put out I ate up. They say drugs are bad, drugs are bad; the communists are worse than satan, you bet its worth running an illegal war; poor people are stealing millions from government, cut them off.

You name it, I ate it up. After all the news couldn't be lying to me, right? My mindset was that we were in very good hands and that people in government, media, and multi national corporations only had the American People's best interest in mind and would never ever betray that trust out of altruism.

People like Ralph Nader (http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=9496), Howard Zinn (http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=9486) or Noam Chomsky (http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/3761/) were people on the lunatic fringe who were just apologists for those to lazy to prosper in our economic utopia. How naive I was.

My first suspicions came over the the subject of ETs. Around the time ET was released, the white house made an announcement that there was a federal law on the books that PROHIBITED all contact with extraterestrials under the penalty of a huge fine and/or imprisonment. And that was it. No further information than that.

Huh, I thought to my self. A law against contacting entities which most part did not officially exist. How funny, but at that time I was in the mindset that more laws led to a better society so I figured that the law was just in case some day it might have to be applied.

Only later did I learn it was mostly to silence the public discourse on this matter.

The next instance came in 1988, if my memory is correct, when a 2 hour 'documentary'(more like a C!A disinformation project) ran on CBS(!) on Aliens:Are they among us (I don't remember the exact title). It actually interviewed officiers in the American and Russian militaries along with certain members of the US government.

What was most interesting was the 'spin' the program took , mostly an attitude of hey this is wacky stuff and we really don't expect you to believe this. This was reinforced through disingenous depictions of grey aliens in a betty crocker kitchen with platitudes of how they probably weren't all that different from us. I'm not making this stuff up.

As I grew older and more experienced my attitudes towards acceptable realities started to change. I learned more history for instance.

Take the Nazis for instance. Today, as the History Channel constantly reminds us, the Nazis and Adolph Hitler represent the pinnacle of evil in the 20th Century. Or do they?

Was it something in the german gene pool that predestined such despicable actions? OF COURSE NOT. You talk to any young educated german today and they are as progressive and opened minded as any other bright young person. Most germans who lived between 1930-1944 don't want to talk about it.

Don't forget the National Socialist party that ran germany during those years was lauded by the western world as a great way to run a government. Ever see those pictures of Henry Ford and Adolph ? They were apparently really good penpals as well. Hey, one of the reasons George Bush enlisted in the air corp was to help redeem his family's honor, especially after it came out that they couldn't stop lending money to the enemy until 1942[Good for him, we need more people to stick their necks out to do the right thing].

Anyways. what allowed the german citizens, supposed civilized people, to carry out all the nasty things they did?

Propaganda. Nazi germany had a propaganda network so efficient and widespread that it was unrivaled by any other system in the 20th century except the current American system. Too many people fell into the nasty trap of letting something else do all the thinking for them. The germans of identifiable jewish descent learned that harsh lesson in 1938.

When you have a large body whose basis of power is identifying 'undesirables' (http://www.remember.org/hist.root.what.html), don't think it will stop when it has marked off most of its original targets. It's inevitably a downward spiral.

This is the role I've seen the United States Federal Government take on itself more and more in the later part of the 20th century and as a American Citizen it really saddens me.

A national body of government should lay the basic groundwork for it's citizens to be able to interact civily, without institutionalized exploitation, and that's it. The open access (http://www.osopinion.com/Opinions/TomNadeau/TomNadeau43.html) regulation for long distance is a beautiful example of this type of legislative elegance in action.

It should not be a quik onestop shop for everyone's grevances. This gets to be very expensive (http://www.osopinion.com/Opinions/JamesFreeman/JamesFreeman2.html) after a while.

A national military should support civility and peace, i.e. its definately great to have around when natural disasters strike and to keep the French from retaking Louisiana ;0)

It is not there to fight wars to support private interests. If an oil company wants to take over resources in a militaristic manner, let them hire their own private mercenary army and pay their own money to do it. It's in their rights as far as the the UN doesn't put up much of a fuss.

What is not acceptable is to defer that cost onto some one else, namely the American people.

Let me clarify. If exxon wants to spend billions of dollar to take over canada using their own air force of F14's it's no one's problem but the canadians. If exxon gas goes to $10 I can grumble but oh well.

Now, if those companies (or the people that own them)don't want to spend that money and instead insist on brainwashing the willing segments of American society through their owned subsidiaries and defering the expensive costs on them, I have to speak up.

That is the big ugly secret behind overly profitable trans-national enterprises: they ultimately are able to defer costs which they rightly should be paying on their own to someone else.

Whether its a factory that chooses to dump it toxins into a river because its cheaper and the residents downriver are to poor to complain, getting fat tax breaks (http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=9464) or using prisoners as workers, corporations without borders have very little remorse when it comes down to the bottom line. I like to think things are changing for the better , but it definately won't happen unless ordinary people, like Got|Apexheads, keep these companies honest.

Eternal vigilence is the price we pay for freedom. In the information age that means we must always look at the foodchain of t

[reg]

[renots]

Sometimes I wonder if all it would take is for everyone to see the South Park movie and truely understand it.

[funkylemon]

Oh man. Is there a Cliff's notes version of that post? That's alot of reading....

http://www.gotapex.com/ubb/smile.gif

[CluelessSi]

renots:
U did not come up to this essay after seeing my sig did you http://www.gotapex.com/ubb/tongue.gif http://www.gotapex.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

heehee did you ever watch the show Spin? it is something that you might be intrested in.

Funny how you mention ETs and I just started on the SETI program http://www.gotapex.com/ubb/tongue.gif

------------------
~Reality is an illusion~

[This message has been edited by CluelessSi (edited 07-27-2000).]

[CluelessSi]

all those beliefs make me think of Savage Gardens song - Affirmation


------------------
~Reality is an illusion~

[renots]

http://www.remember.org/hist.root.what.html

What is Fascism?

by Chip Berlet

...

Fascists particularly loathed the social theories of the French Revolution and its slogan: "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity."

*** Liberty from oppressive government intervention in the daily lives of its citizens, from illicit searches and seizures, from enforced religious values, from intimidation and arrest for dissenters; and liberty to cast a vote in a system in which the majority ruled but the minority retained certain inalienable rights.

*** Equality in the sense of civic equality, egalitarianism, the notion that while people differ, they all should stand equal in the eyes of the law.

*** Fraternity in the sense of the brotherhood of mankind. That all women and men, the old and the young, the infirm and the healthy, the rich and the poor, share a spark of humanity that must be cherished on a level above that of the law, and that binds us all together in a manner that continuously re-affirms and celebrates life.

This is what fascism as an ideology was reacting againstand its support came primarily from desperate people anxious and angry over their perception that their social and economic position was sinking and frustrated with the constant risk of chaos, uncertainty and inefficiency implicit in a modern democracy based on these principles.
Fascism is the antithesis of democracy. We fought a war against it not half a century ago; millions perished as victims of fascism and champions of liberty.

...

[renots]

http://www.sightings.com/general3/warbegun.htm

Has The War Begun?

By Rayelan Allan
Publisher - RMNews
8-9-00


...

On April 17th, 1995, I received a telephone call from my husband, Gunther Russbacher. He said, "The war has begun!"

I asked him what he meant. He said a Learjet had just crashed in Alabama. On board were 17 Admirals and Generals. They were on their way to arrest Bill Clinton.

All the military men were killed.

That same day, Sherman Skolnick (http://www.skolnicksreport.com) was told the same thing by one of his sources.

The same day, Oswald LeWinter talked to a reporter for a major New York newspaper. LeWinter told the reporter the same thing -- and it was published -- April 19, 1995.

No one paid any attention to the story because in the early morning of April 19, 1995, the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City blew up.

In other words, the people who had the goods on Clinton and his cabal were making plans to arrest all of them. All these men were blown out of the sky and murdered.

To keep their murders from being investigated -- the Murrah building was blown up and 168 additional men, women and children were murdered.

...

[Paladin]

Too much reading head going to explode. http://www.gotapex.com/ubb/smile.gif

[renots]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by renots:
On board were 17 Admirals and Generals.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
http://www.af.mil/news/Apr1995/n19950418_364.html

Apparently it was only 8 (at least on the plane) and they weren't all Generals, though most were definately high ranking.

[CuriousGeorge157]

renots:
Very interesting article. you are quite a writer, I am impressed. Have you ever thought about being a journalist?

[renots]

Presently working for GotApex for peanuts (and the occasional killer deal!)

:0)

[renots]

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/justincol.html

WHY KOSOVO? FOLLOW THE MONEY!

by Justin Raimondo

August 16, 2000

When the Kosovo war broke out, and the "Allies" took up the cause of that Albanian terrorist gang known as the Kosovo Liberation Army, Antiwar.com (http://www.antiwar.com/) received a lot of email from baffled readers who wondered: "Why Kosovo?"

Here was an impoverished and isolated country in a notoriously unstable region of the world, without any strategic or military value to the US, the conquest of which could only add to our burdens. Virtually none of my correspondents believed the official explanation – that the Milosevic regime was slaughtering tens of thousands of ethnic Albanians in the province, and was determined to "cleanse" Kosovo so that it would be ethnically Serb. Since the inhabitants of Kosovo were then more than 90 percent Albanians, this would have meant the complete depopulation of the province – a policy that made absolutely no economic or political sense.

The supposedly "humanitarian" motives of the NATO-crats were a fraud from the very beginning, it was clear, and in any case their fraudulence was proved after the war when UN forensic experts went in and recovered and identified a little over 2,000 bodies (including Serbs).

But this only deepened the mystery, and the question went unanswered: why Kosovo, of all places, the closest thing to a Third World country in all of Europe? Over a year after the "humanitarians" bombed Belgrade and reduced much of Yugoslavia to rubble, the answer is beginning to take shape. . . .

THE $5 BILLION DOOR PRIZE

Yesterday 900 British, Danish, and French troops moved in to take over the Trepca complex (http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,354451,00.html) of mines in the northern city of Mitrovice – and were met with determined resistance by hundreds of mine workers. Hurling rocks, sticks, and stones, and wielding the tools of their trade as weapons, Serbs downed four Brits, shouting their defiance at this escalation of NATO's war on the last Serbs left in Kosovo.

For the Trepca mining complex is an ancient treasure, mined by the Greeks, the Romans, the Turks, and is the richest source of lead and zinc in Europe. There is enough lignite (http://www.lignite-energy-council.org/why/index.html) deposits in those mines to last for the next 13 centuries. The capacity of Trepca's refineries ranks third worldwide. The now-deposed mine director reported that "in the last three years we have mined 2,538,124 tons of lead and zinc crude ore and produced 286,502 tons of lead and zinc and 139,789 tons of pure lead, zinc, cadmium, silver and gold." We don't need to ask why this action was taken: we have only to note Trepca's estimated value – over $5 billion. What else do we need to know?

ENVIRONMENTALLY CORRECT LIES

Naturally, they couldn't just go in there, and grab Kosovo's crown jewels, without coming up with a politically correct rationale. Leave it to "Unmik," the acronymic tyranny set up by the NATO-crats to administer their conquered province, to come up with the most transparent lie imaginable – albeit one that, in its sheer ludicrousness, will appeal to such enthusiasts of the Kosovo war as the German Greens and their even flakier American counterparts. According to a report from MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.com/news/445843.asp), French spokesman Colonel Henry Aussavy solemnly declared: "We've noted a significant increase in the level of lead in the air, which was dangerous for the people of Mitrovica and for KFOR (NATO-led) troops. We had to react."

THE ARROGANCE OF POWER

Let's see if I get this straight: after a year and some months of organized ethnic cleansing by the Kosovar Albanians against the defeated Serbs – as NATO not only stood by but actively aided the KLA's campaign for a Serb-free Kosovo – Unmik finally decides to react: not, mind you, to the murder, rape, and pillaging of Kosovo's embattled Serb communities, but to the alleged threat of air pollution.

Do these people even care if anyone believes their lies? I don't think so. Real power means that your lies don't even have to be convincing. It means further humiliating your victims – in the process of beating them to the ground and robbing them blind – by constructing the flimsiest of pretexts, the more absurd the better.

DUBIOUS DIAGNOSIS

While the UN bureaucrats insisted that air samplesindicated levels of pollution 200 times above World Health Organization standards, the Serbs counter (http://www.FreeRepublic.com/forum/a399937f03245.htm) that their measurements indicate ".12 milligrams of lead per cubic metre (permitted level .15 mg), .019 mg of zinc (permitted level .4 mg), copper .004 mg (permitted level .01 mg), iron .002 mg (permitted level .2 mg), etc." As to the medical rationale for this brazen act of thievery, doctors from the local hospital were more than skeptical about the veracity of the NATO-crats' diagnosis. Dr. Radoslav Jankovic wryly observed that "we haven't had a patient with a toxicology problem for years. Today only soldiers and Unmik police officers suffer problems of lead in the blood."

THE MONEY TRAIL

Are you beginning to see the answer to "why Kosovo?" A $5 billion prize – but who gets to claim it? Trepca was state-owned under Yugoslav suzerainty, but now it will be "privatized" and sold off to Western investors. In this context, it is important to realize just whom we are talking about. . . .

THE SOROS CONNECTION

When George Soros invested $150 million in the region (http://www.FreeRepublic.com/forum/a39813a9e3585.htm) – most of it backed up by fail-safe US government guarantees – he declared that this was not strictly a humanitarian effort.

While known for his philanthropy, Soros said that in the case of his Balkan investments he would be guided by the concept of "tough love" and insisted that the new enterprise must be "driven purely by profit." With $100 million of the US taxpayers' money in his pocket, Soros and his gang are swooping down on the prostrate body of the Serbian nation like vultures feeding on the liver of Prometheus (http://www.messagenet.com/myths/bios/promethe.html) – the Titan (http://www.desy.de/gna/interpedia/greek_myth/titan.html) of Greek mythology who stole fire from the depths of the earth and gave it to mankind. The Titans, a subterranean race, were the first miners (http://vishnu.glg.nau.edu/people/jhw/PmClub.html), who taught their metal-smelting techniques to mortal men and were punished for the sin of such extravagant gift-giving, were obliterated by the gods of Olympus (http://members.tripod.com/~Olympians/Olympians.html). Our own Olympians seem determined to visit a similar fate on the Serbs – who, for their part, seem to be guilty only of getting between George Soros and $5 billion.

JOHNSTONE'S PREDICTION

That the NATO-crats dare to invoke such a pathetic pretext for their plundering is not exactly astonishing. These people are moral monsters, after all, who would have reduced Belgrade to a smoking ruin if they hadn't been too afraid of the political consequences – and they may do so yet. What is truly astonishing is that all this was predicted, down to the details, back in February by Diana Johnstone, in a remarkably prescient article on Emperors-Clothes.com (http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/Johnstone/howitis.htm), in which she foretold not only the expropriation of the Trepca complex, but also exposed Soros as the source of the scheme.

Analyzing two key documents – a November 1999 International Crisis Group (ICG) <A HREF="http://www.emperors-clothes.com/articles/Johnstone/icg.htm"

[reg]

[renots]

Originally posted by funkylemon:
Oh man. Is there a Cliff's notes version of that post? That's alot of reading....

http://www.gotapex.com/ubb/smile.gif

How do people determine what reality is acceptable or not?

The Government has lied to us in the past(often)

People that take in too much Propaganda without thinking can turn into NAZIs before they know it.

Totalitarianism is not a good way to go.

A national body of government should not be a quik onestop shop for everyone's grevances; this gets really expensive(and scary) after a while

A national military should not be there to fight wars to support private interests i.e. making some people money and making everyone else pay for it.

What is not acceptable is to defer the cost of 'doing business' onto some else, namely the American people.

Think For Yourself, Question Authority (but make sure you are up on your facts otherwise it can be a little embarassing)

;0)


[This message has been edited by renots (edited 08-18-2000).]

[Edited by renots on 08-24-2001 at 04:23 PM]

[renots]

And take everything on television with a grain of salt, especially the NEWS.

They don't want to truely inform you; they just want to make sure you'll sit through the Grand Cherokee AD during the 'break'

:0)

[hapoo]

renots:

Can I use your posts for my term papers?!?!? http://www.gotapex.com/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.gotapex.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[renots]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hapoo:
renots:

Can I use your posts for my term papers?!?!? http://www.gotapex.com/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.gotapex.com/ubb/biggrin.gif<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

No, but you can refer to them.

;0)

[hapoo]

darn it.

ahh comon' pretty please???
http://www.gotapex.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[Aristo]

This is the longest forum message I've ever read and somehow I lost track in between. <duck>

[renots]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by dodo90024:
This is the longest forum message I've ever read and somehow I lost track in between. <duck><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Short version:

Billionaire Soros uses NATO forces paid by US taxpayer $$$ to gain a $5 billion mineral+metal resource.

The excuse given officially was 'dirty air' but they were lieing(surprise)

Meanwhile he's encouraging us to get stoned and not worry about it...

I'd watch Soros pretty closely from now on; I'm sure he's got more 'humanitarian' missions in the future for us

You mean to say you haven't checked this (http://www.gotapex.com/ubb/Forum9/HTML/000493.html) out yet?

;0)

[phlick]

Did you ever see the movie "THEY LIVE"?
That movie rocked for being a total no budget no big cast movie. It's about aliens, republicans and our percieved flavor of reality. I hate to hype it up too much, cuz you'd be let down if your expectations are high. ( I love watching a movie and not expecting crap from it and it turns out to be pretty good. Harder to watch a movie you THINK is going to be good and even if it is somewhat decent, you feel let down)

Anyhoo, it's got Rowdy Roddy Piper and that chick with the piercing blue eyes, just ice blue.. Meg Ryan. (HOTTIE!!)
http://www.checkout.com/movies/title/info/0,7695,894381,00.html

[kame]

hmm...
I only made it though the first sentence brfore I fell asleep....
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....................

[renots]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by phlick:
Did you ever see the movie "THEY LIVE"?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

THEY LIVE was great subversive entertainment. It plays itself off as a 'dumb' film but has one of the most important messages in recent filmdom: Reality is not necessarily what THEY want you to believe

:0)

[renots]

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=59

Stop Drugs: Kill Addicts!

Dennis Hans
MoJo Wire (http://www.motherjones.com)

April 14, 2000

BOGOTA -- Inspired by the recently-proposed boost in US military aid to stamp out drugs in Colombia, Colombian Senator Jose Canusi has proposed a $500 million demand-eradication package for the United States. From the Senate floor, Canusi declared that his bill would "eliminate Colombia's drug problem at its source -- the gringo drug user."

Canusi, a "Third Way" centrist in the mold of Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, proudly points out that his five-point plan contains more carrots than sticks. "We want to give druggies every incentive to quit," he said. "If they won't, well, that's what the sticks are for."

Among the senator's innovative incentives:

"Reading is Psychedelic" ($1.3 million). This program would distribute hundreds of thousands of Gabriel Garcia Marquez novels at rave clubs and other hangouts for hallucinators. "If they want to journey to the center of their mind, the easiest, safest trip is 'One Hundred Years of Solitude,'" said Canusi.

Hobby substitution ($1.2 million). "By teaching crackheads and junkies pinochle, soccer and the full repertoire of Latin dances, we will give them something to enjoy besides crack and smack. Any guy who thinks heroin is the ultimate high hasn't put on a puffy shirt and meringued the night away with sensuous senoritas."

Education ($1.1 million). "We will distribute flyers with the following message superimposed on Dirty Harry's face: 'Drugs are dangerous. Don't believe me? Keep using and make my day.' It's not as catchy as Nancy Reagan's 'Just say no,' but it gets the point across."

For those drug users who won't bite on these juicy carrots, Canusi's bill includes two whacking sticks:

Aerial spraying with machine guns ($250 million). Special forces pilots in Blackhawk helicopters will hover over known places of drug-taking activity, such as country clubs, congressional offices and fashion shows, and gun down the druggies when they step out for air.

Ground-based death squads ($246.4 million).
"The death squads will operate vast networks of informants to discover who is taking drugs," explains Canusi. "Once a user has been identified, the death squads will know what to do."

In an exclusive interview after the Senate session, Canusi addressed some of the controversial aspects of his proposal.

Q: Doesn't your bill constitute intervention in the internal affairs of the US?

A: Yes, but our Bolivar Doctrine grants us the right to intervene when our national security is at stake, and your druggies have rendered it so.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish?

A: A drug-free America.

Q: When you say "America," are you referring to all of the Americas, North and South?

A: Don't be absurd! True, we South Americans are annoyed by your practice of using "America" as a synonym for the United States. But my answer was in keeping with your custom, for it is only the US that desires to be "drug free."

Q: Colombia does not wish to be drug free?

A: Please. My brother Alfredo and his wife, they enjoy their marijuana (http://www.420.com/). Maybe two or three times a month. Me, I enjoy wine with dinner. I see nothing wrong with any of this, but if the gringos wish to live drug free, the Colombian people would like to help.

Q: I don't think the US wishes to be free (http://www.gotapex.com/ubb/Forum9/HTML/000407.html) of alcohol.

A: Correct. The US wishes to bar addictive, mind-altering drugs manufactured by Colombians while expanding domestic and international markets for addictive, mind-altering drugs manufactured by the Busch and Coors (http://www.colorado.edu/StudentGroups/UMAS-MECHA/coors.htm) cartels. We have brought this to the attention of the WTO.

Q: Do you envision a key role for paramilitary death squads?

A: Yes, and here we owe you a deep debt of gratitude. Throughout the Third World your CIA and special forces have worked with local armies and intelligence agencies to hone the death-squad technique. If political activists, labor agitators and peasant organizers can be eliminated, why not drug users?

Q: Who will man the squads?

A: Yankees. Colombians who have trained at the School of the Americas (http://www.soaw.org/Manuals/ci-toc.html) will return to the School to instruct your soldiers.

Q: Why not let Americans -- sorry, I mean Yankees -- train Yankees? Are the Colombian teachers really necessary?

A: Frankly, no. But by participating directly we Colombians can prove we are indeed "good neighbors."

Q: Like Mister Rogers?

A: Yes, but with an Uzi under his sweater.

Dennis Hans is a satirist, pundit and adjunct professor of mass communications and American foreign policy at the University of South Florida.

[renots]

"It is recorded that in the year 1378 the emir Soudon Sheikhouni tried to end the abuse of Indian hemp consumption among the poorer classes by having all plants of this description in Joneima destroyed and imprisoning all the hemp eaters. He ordered, moreover, that all those who were convicted of eating the plant should have their teeth pulled out, and many were subjected to this punishment. But by 1393 the use of this substance in Arabian territory had increased."

Louis Lewin

[renots]

"Laws that threaten do not persuade."

Seneca

56 C. E.

[StonedWheat]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by renots:
"Laws that threaten do not persuade."

Seneca

56 C. E. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

that is not a universal truth. They persuade the majority.

[renots]

Originally posted by StonedWheat:
[b] that is not a universal truth. They persuade the majority.


Oh, like Alcohol Prohibition(1920–1933 R.I.P.) or the present Futile War on plants(1937-2001 R.I.P.) ?

;0)


[Edited by renots on 10-29-2000 at 05:26 AM]

[renots]

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/US_ThirdWorld/dictators.html

As German bombs fell on London and Nazi tanks rolled over US troops, Sosthenes Behn president and founder of the US based ITT corporation, met with his German representative to discuss improving German communication systems. ITT was designing and building Nazi phone and radio systems as well as supplying crucial parts for German bombs.

Our government knew all about this, for under a presidential order, US companies were licensed to trade with the Nazis. The choice of who would be licensed was odd, though.

While the Secretary of State gave the Ford Motor Company permission to make Nazi tanks, he simultaneously blocked aid to German-Jewish refugees because the US wasn't supposed to be trading with the enemy. Other US companies trading with the Third Reich were General Motors, DuPont, Standard Oil of New Jersey, Davis Oil Co., and the Chase National Bank. President Roosevelt did not stop them, fearing a scandal might lead to another stock market crash or lower US moral.

Besides, the same companies that traded with Hitler were supplying the US with its armaments, and some corporate leaders threatened to withdraw their support if Roosevelt exposed them. Henry Ford was a good friend of Hitler's. His book -- The International Jew -- had Inspired Hltler's Mein Kampf. The Fuhrer kept Ford's picture in his office, and Ford was one of only four foreigners to receive Germany's highest civilian award.

As for Sosthenes Behn, at the end ot the war, he received the highest civilian award tor service to his country -- the United States of America.

[This message has been edited by renots (edited 08-19-2000).]

[ammonia]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by renots:
And take everything on television with a grain of salt, especially the NEWS.

They don't want to truely inform you; they just want to make sure you'll sit through the Grand Cherokee AD during the 'break'

:0)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

What are some good places to learn more about what 's going on around us?

I believe the best way to learn is to talk to people, like reading this forum. But the problem then become whether the people are trustworthy. How do u know that I did not get paid by that billionaire to write this reply?

[renots]

Originally posted by ammonia:
[b]How do u know that I did not get paid by that billionaire to write this reply?

I guess we'll have to keep tabs on what you've posted to see if if there is any consistent brainwashing at work.

;0)

[Edited by renots on 10-29-2000 at 05:26 AM]

[renots]

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=9676

Artists Battle the Dot-Coms for Space

by Lauren Girardin

San Francisco -- On the night of August 15, the last class at Dancer's Group Footwork, one of West Coast's most respected venues for dance training and rehearsals, moved with jazzy, rhythmic emotion to the song "Givin' Up is Hard to Do." It was a remarkably tender moment during an evening that would conclude with Dancer's Group's eviction from their home of the last 18 years.

On almost every wall of the expansive studio space, dancers who would soon lose their creative territory had expressed their outrage, disbelief and grief. Drawings, poems, farewells, memories and messages to unknown future residents covered the interior. The sentiments were clear and unanimous: creativity and expression had been forfeited once again to the voracious needs of business and the new economy. Financial pressures of an unrestrained real estate market had doomed yet another community group. Either in reference to this particular building -- or perhaps to the whole of San Francisco -- one anonymous author had written:

"You are in the home of the evicted."

The writing on the wall especially applies to San Francisco's Mission District, an area that has increasingly been the backdrop for the displacement of community groups, non-profits, artists and residents. The Mission has been a community populated by Latinos, artists and the working class, but is now overwhelmed by the homogenizing effects of gentrification.

Dancer's Group has fallen victim to the trend: after Pomegranate Design and Development purchased the building in March the rent was boosted 512 percent to $15,500 a month -- an amount that the artists could never afford.

As the evening of the 15th set in, a substantial crowd assembled to participate in a "Circus of Resistance" to protest the eviction of Dancer's Group. What was first conceived as a small gathering of affected artists surged into a convergence of unexpected and welcome size, numbering well over a thousand people. Activists, dancers, artists, performers, musicians and neighborhood residents filled the street in front of the building. It became clear that Dancer's Group was the focus of the latest grassroots crusade against rising rents and rampant evictions in San Francisco.

When midnight arrived at the protest, and the eviction of Dancer's Group became official, a group of artists continued to non-violently but illegally occupy the building. They stayed there for just over two days, holding more performances, teach-ins and meetings, before Pomegranate finally called the police early in the morning on Friday, August 18. A notably sympathetic San Francisco police squad gave the activists the option of leaving. Ten people chose arrest, and were peacefully escorted off the premises.

The protest was organized by A.A.R.G.G. (All Against Ruthless Greedy Gentrification), an organization that "coalesced around this specific situation" according to spokesman Todd Edelman, but will continue to wage a "sustained political protest" against gentrification.

The evening was "one battle in a larger war that we haven't lost and haven't won," said Rachel Kaplan, an organizer of the action.

There was a special significance for the crowd assembled at Circus of Resistance, beyond the normal call-for-unity that motivates most protests. Many in attendance were the direct victims of eviction, whose living or performance space was lost to rising rents, insufficient housing, and government inaction. Others came in hopes that their participation would somehow reduce their chances of becoming the next displacement casualty. Someone had captured the crowd's reasonable desire on the walls:

"Real space for real people."

Much of the blame for this situation falls on the shoulders of [some]landlords and [most]developers, who often charge the maximum rent the free market allows and evict those who cannot pay. The hardest hit are small businesses, non-profits, long-term and lower-income residents who often can not afford higher rents or sustain a relocation. As Krissy Keefer of Dance Mission asked, "Just because you can make a buck, should you?"

Keefer is intimately familiar with the wrath of the free market -- her Mission district dance studio and theatre are scheduled for eviction this November. Her question is an all-too-common response to what appears to be the basest greed of [some]landlords.

Pomegranate Design and Development rationalized the 512 percent rent increase by saying that it was significantly lower than what the building would fetch in the free market, and that the building could easily bring in double that figure. To Pomegranate, the rent hike was reasonable and fair within the context of the economic environment.

But to Carlos Romero of Mission Anti-Displacement Coalition, "It doesn't matter how progressive [some]landlords claim to be; the ones who decide to displace local folks ... will get tarred and feathered."

Blame has also been placed on dot-com businesses, or more broadly, on the new economy. The new media industry, says Edelman, has brought a "tidal wave of money and people" to San Francisco that are now hostile competitors for local services, workers and space.

In return, the dot-coms defend themselves by saying that they deserve space, just like anyone else, and that their presence often brings new life to vacant buildings and distressed, neglected neighborhoods. They also claim to be injecting San Francisco and the communities they move into with new jobs.
However, of the 30,000 new Internet jobs created in California[Why do they allhave to be in California? It's the Internet fer crying out loud!] each year, a small fraction are now held by local residents.

Of course, fighting the invasion and dominance of dot-com industry in the San Francisco rental market is like swimming upstream with your hands tied. Anti-gentrification activists even admit that neighborhoods inevitably change. So, as Kaplan stressed, the activists have focused on the "immediate struggle of people who are trying to keep their places."

Anti-gentrification organizations have long been calling on local governments to preserve San Francisco's neighborhoods. City officials certainly have the tools and power to slow the gentrification process enough so the crisis of unchecked eviction abates. Regulations and restrictions can let existing residents have less anxiety over the stability of their living or working situations. Considering that 73 percent of San Francisco voters are renters, officials should be listening.

However, the San Francisco government's inaction, indecision and occasional catering to the dot-com industry, landlords and developers is a growing source of distress for the communities that have become gentrification battlegrounds.

"The city has to defend, has to protect, has to maintain affordable art space," proclaimed Joan Holden of the The Coaliton for Jobs, Arts & Housing (CJAH).

A.A.R.G.G.'s proposed solutions include: the creation of an agency committed to community interests; more truly affordable housing; the use of a portion of the city's budget surplus towards subsidy of rent for those who cannot afford market rates or towards government purchase of property for affordable use; and a system that would designate certain property as space for the arts, non-profits or affordable housing.

These solutions wouldn't just protect those individuals and groups currently struggling to survive, but would be crucial steps for cultural preservation towards keeping San Francisco a vibrant, eclectic and desirable place to live. As Keefer reminded the crowd at Circus of Resistance, art is "critical to the survival of this city."

Or, as the writing on the Dancer's Groups walls expressed it:

"Art is better than money."

...

Me thinks developers need to pony up more affordable rental housing and community space(with priority given to re

[reg]

[renots]

I wonder how DC is feelin' right sbout now...

[renots]

"...the government is not there to be our plaything...in ten years maybe men will have abortions..."

Harry Browne
Libertarian Party Candidate

[renots]

http://www.gotapex.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=9565

[renots]

All societies are based on rules to protect pregnant women and young children. All else is surplusage, excrescence, adornment, luxury, or folly which can -and must- be dumped in emergency to preserve this prime function. As racial survival is the only universal morality, no other basic is possible. Attempts to formulate a "perfect society" on any foundation other than "Women and Children first!" is not only witless, it is automatically genocidal. Nevertheless, starry~eyed idealists (all of them male) have tried endlessly - and no doubt will keep on trying.

~Time Enough For Love by Robert A. Heinlein

[Grimm]

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