|
Asheville reading of "Lysistrata"
part of global theater event for peace
go to story
Dreaming War: Blood for oil & the
Cheney Bush junta
by Gore Vidal
go to story
Big Brother is watching you -
and documenting
go to story
Spiegelman’s departure
go to story
Chuck D. speaks on hip hop, politics,
and capitalism in the modern world
By Wendy Hounsel
Greensboro, North Carolina Feb. 12 (AGR)— Over 400 people crowded
into Dana Auditorium at Guilford College last Wednesday to hear Chuck
D, the lead man for legendary rap group Public Enemy, as he spoke about
hip hop, culture, politics, and media. Throughout his lecture, Chuck D
used hip hop as a springboard for explaining how western culture has roboticized
its people and immobilized their ability to think for themselves. He also
attempted to demystify the many aspects of hip hop culture which have
become warped through the influence and manipulation of the mainstream
media and the corporate executives who control it. Instead of buying into
the superficial belief that one’s image will help one excel in life,
he believes, having "knowledge of self" is in reality the only
path to an authentic and productive existence.
In fact, a major theme woven throughout his four hour lecture related
to this "knowledge of self." Hip hop culture began when black
youth began discovering who they were and educating themselves, and the
desire for the personal power gained through this was a major factor in
the expansion of hip hop culture to other communities, both in the US
and throughout the world. Now, the commercialization of hip hop culture
has distracted many from the ideals it was founded upon, and instead of
striving toward the improvement of self and community, mainstream hip
hop culture today is driven by competition, animosity, and negative stereotyping.
The destruction of ideals has led to rival gangs, drugs, and the elevation
of material possessions above all else. Words and catch phrases like "family,"
"community," and "love" have lost their authenticity
in a world now characterized by reputation, materialism, and dominance.
How did the positive aspects of hip hop become so mired in negativity?
Chuck D believes that this tragedy is but a symptom of a bigger problem:
that of the soulless mechanization of the modern capitalist system. He
used taxidermy as a metaphor to describe what he called the "gutting"
of our individualism and our souls by corporations eager to replace these
things with the "stuffing" of mindless consumerism. "We’re
detached now from the past," he said. "The future is blurry.
And the present, which was once a given, is now something that you [have]
to buy. … if you don’t spend money as an American, you don’t
even fucking count. You don’t exist."
Through television, music, and movies, corporations have succeeded in
co-opting our desires and dreams, thereby reducing us to receptacles for
their products always gaining a profit for themselves, to the detriment
of our humanity. In hip hop culture, the ideals of self determination
and community have been twisted into a competitive game in which those
with the coolest toys win. At fault is the subsequent blurring of fantasy
and reality, a phenomenon brought to us by the corporate media in which
we become so taken in by the imagery of videos and commercials that we
begin to believe the images reflect reality. In fact, they are but a fantasy
concocted in a boardroom to connect an emotional response with a product.
Ad agencies have capitalized upon and manipulated the imagery of hip hop
to the point that violence and narcissism are the first connotations for
many.
Chuck D made his points with a good dose of humor, and his meandering
style was at times entertaining, at others hard to follow. While he articulated
his views on societal problems eloquently in general, he was rather short
on solutions. His overall positive message that education is the path
to an authentic and meaningful life was sometimes vague, in the sense
that at times it seemed unclear as to which kind of "education"
-- formal or informal -- he was referring.
During the question and answer session following his lecture, he touted
a reform of the educational system, seeing this as a solution to the lack
of the community and parental guidance so essential in teaching young
people to think for themselves. Although this guidance is surely a necessary
component of a brighter future for everyone in our society, the idea of
educational reform in public institutions seemed at odds with his scathing
attack on the capitalist system. Our educational system serves, and purposefully
so, to train the next generation to function effectively in the robotic,
competitive society we have created. Thus, the feasibility of "reforming"
such an integral part of our society to the point that it no longer serves
to perpetuate the very system that spawned it seems virtually non-existent.
An idea both more feasible and extremely important in regard to true education,
however, is his assertion that in order to make the best of one’s
formal education, one must think critically, ask questions, and take more
from the experience than the arts of hoop-jumping and subservience.
At one point, Chuck D was asked about his views on the underground movement
and its effectiveness in bringing about change. He replied that because
"average" people are not generally exposed to the underground
movement but rather to MTV and the rest of the media conglomerate, he
felt that it was more effective to concentrate on holding these mainstream
outlets and the icons upon which they rely to some sort of reality-based
social responsibility. This is admittedly an admirable goal; however,
he seemed to feel that the underground movement is unable to reach the
"masses" and is thus somewhat irrelevant as an instrument for
social change. This was perhaps the most disappointing part of an otherwise
invigorating and engaging evening of anti-establishment brainstorming.
The very existence of an underground movement toward social change indicates
a pre-existing dissatisfaction with the mainstream choices we’ve
been given, and to discount the role that the underground has had in the
few changes that that the mainstream media has been forced to make is
tantamount to denying the legitimacy of any societal alternative at all.
Chuck D decried art and culture in our society as soulless and dead because
of their commercialization. But the underground movement is where authentic
art and culture flourish in defiance of relentless corporate attempts
to co-opt them. It is in the underground that continuously changes, chameleon-like,
to place itself in opposition to the robotic and homogenous nature which
Chuck D finds so abhorrent.
It is not feasible, and certainly not desirable, to extend any specific
underground culture to the majority of the population. However, the traits
of intellectual independence, novel approaches to culture and art, and
transcendence of rigidity regarding social problems and solutions are
the same traits that Chuck D surely wants to see our society exhibit.
What better way to see these ideals come to fruition than to support and
nourish the underground movement by publicizing projects and lifestyle
choices in which these ideals have worked successfully? This mode of thinking
may prove to be far more successful than attempting to reform a system
so bloated with its own waste and conceit that the seeds of compassion,
respect, and individualism can find little fertile soil in which to blossom.
back to top
Spiegelman’s departure
Legendary illustrator explains why he quit the
New Yorker in protest
Feb. 12— It was termed "a divorce of historic proportions,"of
the kind that leaves a deep cultural mark, and gives rise to debate that
continues for months. Art Spiegelman, the legendary New York illustrator
who for ten full years put his name to the most provocative and incisive
covers of the New Yorker, has decided to leave the prestigious magazine,
in opposition to what he calls "the widespread conformism of the
mass media in the Bush era."
"The decision to leave was mine alone," the author of Maus,
the saga of Jewish mice exterminated by Nazi cats that won him the Pulitzer
Prize (the first given to a comic book), explained in an interview with
the Corriere della Sera. "The director of the New Yorker, David Remnick,
was shocked when I announced my resignation. He attempted to dissuade
me. But I told him that the kind of work that I’m now interested
in doing is not suited to the present tone of the New Yorker. And, seeing
that we are living in extremely dangerous times, I don’t feel like
stooping to compromise."
Do you also consider yourself a victim of Sept. 11?
Exactly so. From the time that the Towers fell, it seems as if I’ve
been living in internal exile, or like a political dissident confined
to an island. I no longer feel in tune with American culture, especially
now that the entire media has become conservative and tremendously timid.
Unfortunately, even the New Yorker has not escaped this trend: Remnick
does not feel up to accept the challenge, while, on the contrary, I am
more and more inclined to provocation.
What kind of provocation?
I am working on the sixth installment of my new strip, "In the shadow
of no tower", inspired both by memories of Sept. 11 -- on that day,
I had just left my apt, a few steps from the tragedy - and a present in
which one feels equally threatened by both Bush and Osama. The series
was commissioned by the German newspaper Die Zeit, but here in the USA,
only the Jewish magazine The Forward has agreed to publish it.
Did you feel snubbed by the refusal of the New Yorker to publish it?
Not at all. I knew from the beginning that the tone and content of the
strip, what, at this point in time, is of most concern to me, were not
in harmony with those of the New Yorker. A wonderful magazine, mind you,
with delightful and refined covers, but also incredibly deferential to
the present administration. If I were content to draw harmless strips
about skateboarding and shopping in Manhattan, there would have been no
problem; but, now, my inner life is inflamed with much different issues.
For what do you reproach the New Yorker?
For marching to the same beat as the NYT and all the other great American
media that don’t criticize the government for fear that the administration
will take revenge by blocking their access to sources and information.
Mass media today is in the hands of a limited group of extremely wealthy
owners whose interests don’t coincide at all with those of the average
soul living in a country where the gap between rich and poor is now unbridgeable.
In this context, all criticism of the administration is automatically
branded unpatriotic and unamerican. Our media choose to ignore news that
in the rest of the world receives wide prominence; if it were not for
the Internet, even my view of the world would be extremely limited.
Then the Bush revolution has triumphed?
Yes. In Reagan’s time, "liberal" was a dirty word and to
be accused of such an offense was an insult. In the Bush Jr. era, the
radical right so overwhelmingly dominates the debate that the Democrats
have all had to move to the right just to be able to continue the conversation.
Will the New Yorker be the same without Spiegelman?
The New Yorker existed long before I came on board. The great majority
of the readers who adore the warm and relaxing bath of their accustomed
New Yorker were very upset by the "shock treatment" of my covers.
These readers will feel more at ease with the calm and subdued New Yorker
of the tradition which from the Twenties mixed intelligence, sophistication,
snobbery, and complaisance with the status quo. Every time that I put
pencil to paper, I was flooded with letters of protest.
Which of your works caused the most controversy?
The cover with the atomic bomb issued on the 4th of July. The one from
last Thanksgiving where turkies fell from military aircraft. The only
one universally well-received was the Sept. 24 cover with the Twin Towers
in two-toned black. The censorship of my work began as soon as I first
set foot in the magazine, long before the 9th of September.
What kind of censorship?
Large and small. For the Thanksgiving cover with turkeys dropped in the
place of bombs, I chose the title "Operation Enduring Turkey"
to mimic "Operation Enduring Freedom" then begun by America
in Afghanistan. But David Remnick forced me to change the title.
Is it possible that the media is more reactionary than their readers?
I don’t think so at all, not after reading in the polls that George
W. Bush is the most admired man in America. The world I see is very different
from what they see. Those who think like me are condemned to the margins
because the critical alternative press of the Vietnam War era no longer
exists. The NYT chose to remain silent about the enormous protest marches
that took place during the summer; and the readers of The Nation, the
only newspaper with any guts, are at most 50 thousand: nothing in a country
as large as ours.
What does your wife Francoise Mouly, the artistic director of the
New Yorker, think of all this?
She thinks that I’ve left her at the New Yorker as a hostage, but
I don’t think she wants to follow my example. Sometimes, I think
I would like to emigrate to Europe; and seeing that in America they won’t
even let me smoke, the temptation is very great.
Your plans after the New Yorker?
In May, at the Nuage Gallery in Milano, there will be an exhibition that
covers my ten years at the New Yorker. Ten is a better number than eleven
and, who knows, perhaps I left the magazine simply because it better suited
the book and catalog that accompany the exhibition.
Source: Discussion.org
back to top
Big Brother is watching you -
and documenting
eBay bends over backward to provide data to law
enforcement officials
Feb. 24— "I don’t know another web site that has a privacy
policy as flexible as eBay’s," said Joseph Sullivan. A little
bit later, Sullivan explained what he means by the term "flexible."
Sullivan is director of the "law enforcement and compliance"
department at eBay.com, the largest retailer in the world.
Sullivan was speaking to senior representatives of numerous law-enforcement
agencies in the United States on the occasion of "Cyber Crime 2003,"
a conference that was held last week in Connecticut. His lecture was closed
to reporters, and for good reason. Ha’aretz has obtained a recording
of the lecture, in which Sullivan tells the audience that eBay is willing
to hand over everything it knows about visitors to its web site that might
be of interest to an investigator. All they have to do is ask. "There’s
no need for a court order," Sullivan said, and related how the company
has half a dozen investigators under contract, who scrutinize "suspicious
users" and "suspicious behavior."
eBay is the world’s largest auction site. Some 62 million registered
users buy and sell a variety of merchandise through the site, which charges
commissions for every item sold. Sullivan claims that 150,000 Internet
users earn their livelihood from the site, some having left their old
jobs to become buyers or sellers on eBay.
The sales method on the site is simple: An individual registers as a user,
types in his particulars, and affirms that he accepts the user conditions
and the site’s privacy policy. Whenever an item is sold, the buyer
fills out an evaluation form, telling other users about the treatment
he received, whether the merchandise was sent on time, etc. Other eBay
users can then avoid buying from sellers who have received poor grades.
Sullivan said eBay has recorded and documented every iota of data that
has come through the web site since it first went online in 1995. Every
time someone makes a bid, sells an item, writes about someone else, even
when the company cancels a sale for whatever reason — it documents
all of the pertinent information.
Who needs a subpoena?
"We don’t make you show a subpoena, except in exceptional cases,"
Sullivan told his listeners. "When someone uses our site and clicks
on the ‘I Agree’ button, it is as if he agrees to let us submit
all of his data to the legal authorities; which means that if you are
a law-enforcement officer, all you have to do is send us a fax with a
request for information, and ask about the person behind the seller’s
identity number, and we will provide you with his name, address, sales
history, and other details — all without having to produce a court
order. We want law enforcement people to spend time on our site,"
he adds. He said he receives about 200 such requests a month, most of
them unofficial requests in the form of an email or fax.
The meaning is clear. One fax to eBay from a law enforcement official
— police investigator, National Security Agency, Federal Bureau of
Investigation or Central Intellignce Agency employee, National Park ranger
— and eBay sends back the user’s full name, email address, home
address, mailing address, home telephone number, name of company where
seller is employed and user nickname. What’s more, eBay will send
the history of items that person has browsed, feedbacks received, bids
made, prices paid, and even messages sent in the site’s various discussion
groups.
Attorney Nimrod Kozlovski, author of The Computer and the Legal Process,
heard the lecture, and could not believe his ears. "The consent given
in the user contract should be seen as ‘coerced consent,’ in
the absence of any opportunity to exercise free choice, with no real alternative
but to agree. This is most certainly not conscious consent."
Kozlovski is part of the Information Society Project group at Yale Law
School, in which he and his colleagues consider the effects of the new
media on the structure of society. American law does not authorize searches
of a person’s home or body, he says, except in exceptional cases
such as when the court authorizes a search, or when the individual gives
his consent to a search.
"In the case before us, the web site signs the user to a document
that says it can do whatever it wants with his information. The eBay contract
signed by the user concedes his or her rights to protection from the government;
in essence, as soon as the contract is signed, eBay can invite the government
to do whatever it wants with the information, he said.
A brief visit to the company’s web site reveals that the "user
contract" that visitors are supposed to read before agreeing to the
conditions is 4,023 words long. One paragraph makes reference to the site’s
"privacy policy." The user has to click on a link and is diverted
to another document that is some 3,750 words long. It then takes another
2,390 words to reach the section about which Sullivan told the legal authorities:
The user’s privacy is solely up to eBay.
"The users are asked to read and agree to the site policy before
they can make use of it," eBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove told Haaretz.
"We provide a link to our privacy policy on every single page of
our site, and provide summaries of this policy, all so that users will
be familiar with our policy."
We will work for you
Nevertheless, eBay does not make do with simply sharing its data with
the legal authorities. Sullivan said the company employs six investigators,
all of whom have experience in police investigations. Their job is "to
track down suspicious people and suspicious behavior." To that end,
they scan for patterns that are atypical - different from "normal
patterns." For example, if a person sold baseball tickets for two
months and suddenly switches to selling a car, the eBay system will "wave
a red flag" and signal the seller as someone behaving unusually.
Who asks eBay to do it? No one. eBay volunteers.
eBay goes even further. In his lecture, Sullivan spoke about how he helped
investigators locate a user who had been suspected of selling stolen cars
through the site. "We tried to buy the car from the thief and in
that way incriminate him. But the bad guy was smart. He saw there wasn’t
a single feedback in the history of the person who was making the purchase.
He told us he didn’t want to make a deal with us."
Sullivan explained that the incident taught the company a lesson, and
that since then it has used pseudo buyers for which it constructs comprehensive
simulated histories, including simulated feedbacks, all for the sake of
incriminating those suspected of theft. "eBay is not willing to tolerate
acts of fraud carried out on its site," explains Pursglove. "We
believe that one of the ways to fight fraud is to cooperate with the legal
authorities at the various levels.
Sullivan is even more forthcoming. "Tell us what you want to ask
the bad guys. We’ll send them a form, signed by us, and ask them
your questions. We will send their answers directly to your e-mail."
"In order to prevent misuse of authority, the law ensures that authorized
impersonation will only be used with persons suspected of carrying out
illegal activity," says Pursglove. But eBay’s practice is to
impersonate people on a regular basis, for law-enforcement objectives.
However, "there need not be a proven connection or well-founded suspicion
of a crime having been performed," claims Kozlovski.
In July 2002, eBay bought PayPal, Inc. for $1.45 billion. PayPal, which
offers the most popular means of payment on eBay, provides clearing services
for the execution of online transactions. It enables Internet users to
open accounts on the company site, transferring money from their credit
card or bank account. When carrying out a transaction, the seller receives
a certificate with which money can be withdrawn from the buyer’s
account in cash. The system obviates the need to reveal personal financial
data.
When PayPal was acquired, the company reported 16 million users, as well
as 3 million business accounts and 28,000 new visitors to the site each
day. About 60 percent of PayPal’s income derives from commissions
received from users buying goods on eBay. About 70 percent of eBay buyers
use PayPal.
Two years earlier, eBay bought Half.com, a site that specializes in sales
of CDs and books. Sullivan explained that these acquisitions help eBay
to provide lawmen with a full picture. "Every book or CD comes with
a bar code. So we know who bought what. The acquisition of PayPal helps
us to locate people more precisely. In the old days, we had to trace IP
addresses [unique address given to computers linked to the Internet],
to locate the buyer, but now Paypal supplies us with the money trail.
"PayPal has about 20 million customers, which means that we have
20 millions files on its users," Sullivan proudly related. "If
you contact me, I will hook you up with the Paypal people. They will help
you get the information you’re looking for," he told his listeners.
"In order to give you details about credit card transactions, I have
to see a court order. I suggest that you get one, if that’s what
you’re looking for."
"By buying PayPal, eBay is merging the information about the goods
trail with the money trail," explained Kozlovski. "Thus, in
spite of the protective mechanisms of the law against disclosure of details
on transactions, eBay is in a position to analyze the full set of data
and ‘advise’ investigators when it might be ‘worthwhile’
for them to ask for a subpoena to disclose the details of a financial
transaction. Essentially, this bypasses the rules on non-disclosure of
details of financial transactions and the confidentiality of the banker-client
relationship."
Kozlovski mentions how special investigator Kenneth Starr issued a court
order that ordered the bookstore where Monica Lewinsky bought her books
to report to him the names of the books she bought. "Then, there
was a huge fuss. Now you don’t need a special order — eBay does
the work for the investigators."
Kozlovski feels that eBay’s practice should be seen as part of a
worrisome trend in the West to curtail protection of individual rights.
In communist regimes, he says, the state would assign watchers to follow
every citizen, who would pass incriminating information on to the authorities.
Now the state doesn’t have to do a thing. People come to it of their
own free will. This is also the case for eBay, which exploits its stature
in the market to have users accept contracts that strip them of their
privacy. Perhaps the regime is different, but the outcome is most assuredly
the same.
Source: Ha’aretz
back to top
Asheville reading of "Lysistrata"
part of global theater event for peace
By Beth Trigg
Asheville, North Carolina, Feb. 24 (AGR)— On March 3rd (this Monday),
in 679 cities and towns in 40 countries around the world, local groups
will sponsor readings of the 2,300 year-old Greek comedy "Lysistrata,"
in a coordinated effort to oppose US-led war on Iraq. In Asheville, "Lysistrata"
will be performed at Malaprop’s Bookstore at 7pm on March 3rd.
Written by ancient Greek dramatist Aristophanes (c.447-c.385 BCE), "Lysistrata"
centers on the premise that women from opposing city-states form an alliance
to end the Peloponnesian War. The women wage peace by taking over the
Treasury ("no more money, no more war") and by abstaining from
sex with the men. Finally, the men agree to lay down their swords and
achieve peace through diplomacy. Modern feminists have referenced the
idea of "Lysistrata" as an ancient precursor of women’s
direct actions for peace (Women Strike for Peace, Women’s Peace Camps,
and other actions).
According to local organizers, "by producing readings of this anti-war
classic on the same day, theater artists around the world are raising
their voices in protest against possible war with Iraq. The readings comprise
the first-ever worldwide theater event for peace." Readings are taking
place in Cambodia, India, the Dominican Republic, Iceland, Honduras, Israel,
and dozens of other nations (a complete list is available at www.lysistrataproject.com),
as part of the Lysistrata Project.
The Lysistrata Project was conceived by New York actor Kathryn Blume,
who says "I wanted to organize a reading of "Lysistrata"
in New York as a benefit for humanitarian organizations working in Iraq.
As I shared the idea with friends, it snowballed. Before I knew it, we
were producing an international grassroots peace movement by uniting the
voices of theater artists throughout the world." Blume’s idea
has ballooned into a global event encompassing high-profile celebrity
readings on both coasts and raising benefit dollars for peace organizations
around the world.
According to project co-founder New York actor Sharron Bower, "The
response from those in politically unstable countries has been very moving.
Some of them will have to hold their readings in the privacy of their
living rooms to avoid danger. But they tell us it’s worth the risk
to be a part of this movement of hope."
Proceeds from Asheville’s reading will support Asheville Global Report
and local producer Debra Roberts’ "Life as Peace" documentary
film project. Admission is free, with a suggested donation of $5-$10 at
the door. For more information on the production, visit http://centerpeace.net/lys,
email lys@centerpeace.net, or call Malaprop’s at 254-6734. Malaprop’s
is located at 55 Haywood Street in downtown Asheville.
back to top
Dreaming War: Blood for oil & the
Cheney Bush junta
by Gore Vidal
Review By Kam Williams
"The Afghans had nothing to do with what happened to our country
on September 11. Saudi Arabia did. But we went into Aghanistan to take
over the place. So what was all this about? What it was really about is
an imperial grab for energy resources... The some 200 recorded military
unilateral strikes that the US has made against Second and Third World
countries is a great scandal not discussed in our Media or known to our
taxpayers.
The real role of all US ambassadors since 1954 has been to cover for and,
in many ways, facilitate American support for a killer army... Watch Bush
doing his little war dance about ‘evildoers’ and this ‘axis
of evil’ —Iran, Iraq and North Korea. This is about as mindless
a statement as you could make. Anybody who could get up and make that
speech to the American people is not himself an idiot, but he’s convinced
we are idiots.
Thanks to technology, everyone knows or can know something about everyone
else on the planet. The message now pounding over the Internet is the
irrelevancy, not to mention sheer danger, of the traditional nation-state,
much less empire." — Excerpted from Dreaming War (Thunder’s
Mouth Press)
77 year-old Gore Vidal has enjoyed a celebrated career as an essayist
and novelist. He was once so prolific that he wrote under assumed names,
such as Edgar Box and Katherine Everard. To this day, those Edgar Box
murder mysteries from the 1950s remain among the very best examples of
the genre’ ever. Vidal has also been an accomplished screenwriter,
evidenced by his scripts for Ben Hur, Caligula and Myra Breckenridge.
A true Renaissance man, he has even found the time to act in a dozen films,
including Gattaca, and to found a political party, the US Peace
Party, and to run for Congress. Because this leftist firebrand has been
a thorn in the side of the Establishment for so long, some might forget
that he actually is a very well-connected blueblood.
On one side of his family tree, he is related to former Vice President
Al Gore, on the other to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Thus, it should come
as no surprise that Mr. Vidal might so confidently offer insider insights
into the awful truths of American politics. In Dreaming War: Blood
for Oil & the Cheney-Bush Junta, he excoriates the President as
a tool of greedy oil interests, a puppet installed courtesy of a bloodless
coup d’etat.
The book, a compilation of essays and interviews narrowly focused on issues
of international diplomacy, makes the compelling case that big business
now controls the country. The author, in making a clarion call for the
people to wrest back control of the government, sees himself, not as a
radical revolutionary, but as a loyal patriot attempting to save the nation
before it is too late.
Vidal’s thesis, essentially, is that America, since the end of World
War II has turned into an avaricious, imperialist, corporate-controlled
state. He suggests that, under the guise of ensuring "freedom"
and "democracy" throughout the world, the United States has
rationalized inflicting the worst of brutalities upon any indigenous peoples
standing in the way of the profits of the multi-nationals and the moneyed
class.
As viewed through Gore’s glasses, the recent conquest of Afghanistan,
the impending war in Iraq, and the brewing conflict with North Korea are
all exposed as a rich man’s game, a tactical power play for natural
resources. Dreaming War warrants serious consideration, if only
as a counterbalance to the cowboy in the White House who appears eager
to escalate matters.
Source: Black World Today
back to top
|
