What is ERA?
ERA is a space in which individual stories of people having resisted against the terror, humiliation and despair fascism brought over Europe are kept alive and visible for everybody.

The protagonists and eyewitnesses will disappear in the next years. Soon, there will be no other testimonies of the happenings apart from those having been collected, recorded, recounted and written down. The value of eyewitness interviews is unique. No book or film can replace the opportunity of watching eyewitnesses tell their stories of resistance and independent decision to do so.

The European Resistance Archive will enable the documentation of this precious knowledge. It offers video interviews with women and men having taken part in the antifascist resistance. In Europe, these testimonies are often only available to those personally visiting archives or documentary centres.
Currently six countries are involved in the project: Poland, Slovenia, Austria, France, Italy and Germany. But it would be in the sense of the project to extend the range of countries and in future being able to integrate every European country being afflicted by fascism and Nazism.

ERA is defined to be an open and growing website and it bears the possibility of being extendible in various directions. It should work as a first step in a network of historical research covering the various faces of the European resistance.

Perhaps in America in future years there will be an archive dealing with the populace, their gadgets and media they fiddled with as our limited Democracy drifted to full blown fascism.

Check out the ERA.

When I said below that, "it's a pkd world now", it really is...

God promises eternal life. We can deliver it. - Chew-Z

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) told Vice President Dick Cheney to �resign or face impeachment� Thursday night as three more House Democrats lent their support to a plan to impeach the vice president.

�The vice president holds himself above the law, and it is time for the Congress to enforce the law,� McDermott said in a floor speech. �For the good of the nation, the vice president could leave office immediately.�

McDermott was one of three House Democrats to come out in favor of impeachment Thursday, along with Reps. Keith Ellison (Minn.) and Hank Johnson (Ga.). Including the three lawmakers, seven members in June have shown new support for impeaching Cheney.

McDermott cited Cheney�s refusal to cooperate with the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), which, pursuant to an order signed by President Clinton, oversees the handling of classified documents by executive agencies. McDermott denounced a 2004 claim that Cheney�s office is not part of the executive branch.

�When a sitting vice president claims that he is not part of the executive branch of government to which he was elected, it is time to remove him from office,� McDermott said.

Read it all.

America is Israel's Bitch. It makes no difference which party you belong to, if you're not the Lobby's bitch you'll be going nowhere. ...

"I saw Jesus Waving The Stars And Stripes"



Yee Haw!

When was the last time you heard someone mention Katrina?

See also: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. [Their latest tv ad breaks my bleeding heart. That dog that looks up to with one eye poked out? Fucking kills me.]

Labels: animal cruelty, animal rights, compassion for animals

Evolutionary Cognitive Neuroscience
Dual Use Discipline for Understanding & Managing Complexity and Altering Warfare
by John Stanton

John Stanton is a Virginia based writer specializing in political and national security affairs.

Excerpts:

Complexity (the number of ways-hows-and-whys a system can act) may become an anachronism as novel research demystifies consciousness reducing human complexity to a deterministic system. Biomachines that bypass time consuming conscious activity ultimately may be fielded by the DOD.

In the United States, the ongoing obsession with national security and the enormous funding necessary to soothe a national psyche of fear and war is a key driver for enhancing security thereby eliminating the uncertainty of daily living. ECN may generate predictive and diagnostic biotechnologies to reduce tension. Such a development could eliminate much uncertainty and concomitant drama in human affairs by providing leaders with assets to manage the complexities in brain-behavior relationships. To get there though, reliable data on human beings, as they function as interconnected consumers, warfighters, enemies, refugees, diplomats, criminals, and citizens of their respective nations will need to be collected and assessed. The entire effort depends on the application of general Evolution and Evolutionary Psychology.

Neuroweapons may be an outcome of ECN R&D; programs. It is likely that DOD may classify as Top Secret programs that seek to turn the speed of thought into a weapon, or programs that blur the line between human and machine. With classification, no one may ever know of the existence of such programs. Some in the scientific community have suggested that, beyond the development of neuro-biomachinery and genetic manipulation, non-traceable neuroweapons with viral genetic payloads may be used to disrupt the brain and central nervous system. As a result, the creation of neurosecurity advisory and/or ethics boards may be required to keep R&D; and testing efforts in bounds.

Biomachines that bypass time consuming conscious activity ultimately may be fielded by the DOD.

Creepy, indeed eh?

Sure, this may actually be our evolutionary outcome. But I'll be damned if the Deparment of Defence is spearheading it!


Along the same lines:

Harnessing humans for subconscious computing

Technology Review has an article on using humans as part of a digital face recognition system.

Uniquely, you don't have to take part in any deliberate recognition, the system uses electrical readings to automatically measure the response of the brain - even if you're not aware of it.

Finally, Strategic Personality Simulation: personality simulation systems ?
For Personality Profiling and Simulation?

Welcome to Huntingdonian culture and total war. All war, all the time. It's a pkd world now, where you are the battleground.

Obama would consider missile strikes on Iran

U.S. Senate candidate Barack Obama suggested Friday that the United States one day might have to launch surgical missile strikes into Iran and Pakistan to keep extremists from getting control of nuclear bombs.

****

Obama said the United States must first address Iran's attempt to gain nuclear capabilities by going before the United Nations Security Council and lobbying the international community to apply more pressure on Iran to cease nuclear activities. That pressure should come in the form of economic sanctions, he said.

But if those measures fall short, the United States should not rule out military strikes to destroy nuclear production sites in Iran, Obama said.

"The big question is going to be, if Iran is resistant to these pressures, including economic sanctions, which I hope will be imposed if they do not cooperate, at what point are we going to, if any, are we going to take military action?" Obama asked.

Given the continuing war in Iraq, the United States is not in a position to invade Iran, but missile strikes might be a viable option, he said. Obama conceded that such strikes might further strain relations between the U.S. and the Arab world.

"In light of the fact that we're now in Iraq, with all the problems in terms of perceptions about America that have been created, us launching some missile strikes into Iran is not the optimal position for us to be in," he said

From Fall, 2004 when bombing folks was a bit more popular among the numbnut populace.

Joe Bageant,nuff said.

EASILY lost, on page 425, in the mass of the CIA's notorious "Family Jewels" files is a short paragraph outlining "potentially embarrassing Agency activities". Agency's Strangeloves altered mind of a girl aged 4

And you paid to have it done.

inspired by this post and angry making vid at mefi.

Also along these lines, Deadly "wrong door" Paramilitary Police Raids in USA

Finally, as if these things were enough, Special Ops ready for missions on American soil?

About time eh? They have been using the well trained and highly paid officers of the FBI to carry out the trash for far too long. Now all those returning vets who distinguished themselves in Haditha can be rewarded with a stateside job where they can continue to hone their skills, and at the same time keep the FBI agents out of harms way from the scum sucking bastards who pay their wages. Uh, thats us...

How you guys liking the slow stroll to fascism?

Last month, Brian Kelly of Carlisle, Pa., was riding with a friend when the car he was in was pulled over by a local police officer. Kelly, an amateur videographer, had his video camera with him and decided to record the traffic stop.

The officer who pulled over the vehicle saw the camera and demanded Kelly hand it over. Kelly obliged. Soon after, six more police officers pulled up. They arrested Kelly on charges of violating an outdated Pennsylvania wiretapping law that forbids audio recordings of any second party without their permission. In this case, that party was the police officer.

Kelly was charged with a felony, spent 26 hours in jail, and faces up to 10 years in prison. All for merely recording a police officer, a public servant, while he was on the job.

There's been a rash of arrests of late for videotaping police, and it's a disturbing development. Last year, Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly threatened Internet activist Mary T. Jean with arrest and felony prosecution for posting a video to her website of state police swarming a home and arresting a man without a warrant.

See UnReal ID for more information and to fax your senators.

Today (June 28) is the anniversary (1969) of the Stonewall Riots in New York City. Wikipedia states: Details about how the riot started vary from story to story. According to one account, a transgender woman named Sylvia Rivera threw a bottle at a police officer after being prodded by his nightstick. Another account states that a lesbian being brought to a patrol car through the crowd put up a struggle that encouraged the crowd to do the same . Whatever the case may be, m�l�e broke out across the crowd�which quickly overtook the police. Stunned, the police retreated into the bar. [...] Throughout the night the police singled out many transgender people and gender nonconformists, including butch women and effeminate men, among others, often beating them. On the first night alone 13 people were arrested and four police officers, as well as an undetermined number of protesters, were injured. It is known, however, that at least two rioters were severely beaten by the police. Bottles and stones were thrown by protesters who chanted �Gay Power!� The crowd, estimated at over 2000, fought with over 400 police officers. The police sent additional forces in the form of the Tactical Patrol Force, a riot-control squad originally trained to counter Vietnam War protesters. The tactical patrol force arrived to disperse the crowd. However, they failed to break up the crowd, who sprayed them with rocks and other projectiles. [...] Eventually the scene quieted, but the crowd returned again the next night. While less violent than the first night, the crowd had the same energy as it had on the previous night. Skirmishes between the rioters and the police ensued until approximately 4:00 a.m.. The third day of rioting fell five days after the raid on the Stonewall Inn. On that Wednesday, 1,000 people congregated at the bar and again caused extensive property damage. [...] The forces that were simmering before the riots were now no longer beneath the surface. The community created by the homophile organizations of the previous two decades had created the perfect environment for the creation of the Gay Liberation Movement. By the end of July the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was formed in New York and by the end of the year the GLF could be seen in cities and universities around the country. Similar organizations were soon created around the world [...]. The following year, in commemoration of the Stonewall Riots, the GLF organized a march from Greenwich Village to Central Park. Between 5,000 and 10,000 men and women attended the march. Many gay pride celebrations choose the month of June to hold their parades and events to celebrate �The Hairpin Drop Heard Round the World."

Thank you to all those who have come before us who made the world a better place. More specifically, thank you to those who have moved homosexuality from 'sin' to 'mental illness' to 'lifestyle' to whatever it may be today and tomorrow. Some of those who came before us worked quietly, some publicly; some worked civilly, and some used physical force. I think some of each ended up having their place in making the world as it is today. And I think our work is not yet done.

Where work is needed most is not same-sex marriage, nor renters rights, nor lessening job discrimination, or passing 'hate speech' laws. These just aren't the most important or terrible things happening to homosexuals right now. The most important and terrible thing happening right now is that homosexual men (and sometimes women) are being put to death in Islamic countries. Being stoned to death really and truly is worse than being called a faggot, no matter what cultural relativists may have to say on the subject. All things are related but all things are not equally related. Efforts to make this a better world should continue in many areas, but "people being killed to appease an invisible monster that lives in the sky" trumps what I think much of the West pays attention to on Pride day. That noise about respecting diversity and honoring ancient traditions and the hands-off policy religion gets? That's all over now. When people stop dying, we can play nice-nice with theists again.

And so on this Pride day for 2007, I will do two things. I will give thanks where thanks is due. And I will suggest that more efforts need to be made toward saving homosexuals in Islamic counties. Homosexuality is still at the 'sin' stage in Islamic countries. Not in the all-but secular way the West talks about sin, but in the way religions have talked about sin throughout history: as a kind of germ that physically exists and must be physically destroyed.

Amnesty International has done some work on this topic. The International Society for Islamic Secularization has done some work on this topic as well. Jack Malebranche's book Androphilia isn't specifically on this topic, but is in agreement on this topic. What work will you do today?

Labels: superstition, theocracy

Within the architecture of denial and duplicity: The Democratic Party and the infantile omnipotence of the ruling class

By Phil Rockstroh
Online Journal Contributing Writer

Jun 26, 2007, 01:28

Why did the Democratic Congress betray the voting public?

Betrayal is often a consequence of wishful thinking. It's the world's way of delivering the life lesson that it's time to shed the vanity of one's innocence and grow-the-hell-up. Apropos, here's lesson number one for political innocents: Power serves the perpetuation of power. In an era of runaway corporate capitalism, the political elite exist to serve the corporate elite. It's that simple.

Why do the elites lie so brazenly? Ironically, because they believe they're entitled to by virtue of their superior sense of morality. How did they come to this arrogant conclusion? Because they think they're better than us. If they believe in anything at all, it is this: They view us as a reeking collection of wretched, baseborn rabble, who are, on an individual level, a few billion neurons short of being governable by honest means.

Yes, you read that correctly: They believe they're better than you. When they lie and flout the rules and assert that the rule of law doesn't apply to them or refuse to impeach fellow members of their political and social class who break the law, it is because they have convinced themselves it is best for society as a whole.

The way I see it -- there are a lot of things you can and should do. And to embrace as many of them as possible really can't hurt. I mean, maybe you can say, "Hey, we shouldn't pass a law because these band-aids � these reforms � because they are going to make the system more livable, more tolerable. And we should actually do things to increase suffering in order to foment a revolution." A lot of people take that view. But I don't see it that way. I think anything that reduces suffering shouldn't be ignored.

Features my favorite female playing tuba in a jazz rock band.

Labels: favorite female playing tuba in a jazz rock band, music

We aren't angry that you criticize the dems. We're annoyed when you don't offer constructive alternatives to the dems. That seems counter productive. For example, you might say, "The dumbocrats sux! So...vote green."

And then I would say "Underfunded Green campaigns go no place fast."

And then you would say, "I've figured out a way for a third party candidate to win without money!"

And then I would say "WTF! Don't keep it to yourself tell us how!" or something.

So anyway, I was reading Common Dreams (with comments now by the way) and here's a version of the Uncle Scam argument but notice he gives you some proposals. That's all we're asking for. Give options a chance. Don't sour me on the dems so that republican nominee Pat Robertson wins in a landslide....

Labels: Options Please Uncle Scam

John Perkins is interviewed in Tuesday's Democracy Now.

Tuesday, June 5th, 2007
John Perkins on "The Secret History of the American Empire: Economic Hit Men, Jackals, and the Truth about Global Corruption"

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AMY GOODMAN: Talk about Congo.

JOHN PERKINS: Oh, boy. The whole story of Africa and the Congo is such a devastating and sad one. And it�s the hidden story, really. We in the United States don�t even talk about Africa. We don�t think about Africa. You know, Congo has something called coltan, which probably most of your listeners may not have even heard of, but every cell phone and laptop computer has coltan in it. And several million people in the last few years in the Congo have been killed over coltan, because you and I and all of us in the G8 countries demand low -- or at least we want to see our computers inexpensive and our cell phones inexpensive. And, of course, the companies that make these sell them on that basis, that �Oh, here, mine�s $200 less than the other company.� But in order to do that, these people in the Congo are being enslaved. The miners, the people mining coltan, they�re being killed. There�s these vast wars going on to provide us with cheap coltan.

And I have to say, you know, if we want to live in a safe world, we need to be -- we must be willing, and, in fact, we must demand that we pay higher prices for things like laptop computers and cell phones and that a good share of that money go back to the people who are mining the coltan. And that�s true of oil. It�s true of so many resources that we are not paying the true cost, and there�s millions of people around the world suffering from that. Roughly 50,000 people die every single day from hunger or hunger-related diseases and curable diseases that they don�t get the medicines for, simply because they�re part of a system that demands that they put in long hours, and they get very, very low pay, so we can have things cheaper in this country. And the Congo is an incredibly potent example of that.

Rest of the transcript here. He can also be seen talking at the bestest music channel that I've ever created here and above.

Labels: amy goodman, economic hitman, john perkins

Labels: counter revolutionary tactics, silly black republicans

An okay song that turns into a world class tune when the sax solo kicks in.

Labels: music, war

The Situationists, May 1968

In 1955, 560,000 people in the United States were being treated for mental health problems in state hospitals. Adjusting for population increase, we would expect there to be about 930,000 individuals being treated in state hospitals today. This is not the case. Fewer than 55,000 people are being treated in such facilities.

Where then are the hundreds of thousands of people with mental health issues? Most are imprisoned by, or otherwise caught up in, the legal system. Between 170,000 and 300,000 mentally ill individuals suffer today in jails and prisons. Another 500,000 are on court-ordered probation.

Since 1960, more than 90 percent of state psychiatric hospital beds have been eliminated. Mental health professionals and sociologists call this "deinstitutionalization." As a result of this phenomenon, many mentally ill patients who need hospital care are in prison instead.

Here's your opposition/ progressive party...

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) was told by other Democrats to withdraw an amendment that would have required House members to lease hybrids and other alternative-fuel vehicles if they wanted taxpayers to foot the bill.

please stop bashing the democrats... ;-(