<nettime> forwards x2: barlow, salloum

[Pit Schultz <pit@klubradio.de>]

     [digested @ nettime]

Pit Schultz <pit@klubradio.de>
     Barlow's letter
JSalloum@aol.com (by way of Pit Schultz <pit@klubradio.de>)
     the war comes home..

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Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2001 05:45:33 +0200
From: Pit Schultz <pit@klubradio.de>
Subject: Barlow's letter

from: Olompali4 (olompali4@aol.com)
subject: Clear Head~Barlow
newsgroups: rec.music.gdead
view: Complete Thread (14 articles) | Original Format
date: 2001-09-13 10:12:01 PST
Here are some words from John Barlow (Dead song writer and Electronic Freedom
Foundation):

*DO* WORRY ABOUT US. AND, MORE TO THE POINT, U.S.

As most of you know, I believe that the United States has gradually,
subtly, invisibly to most of us, become a police state over the last
30 years.

This morning's events are roughly equivalent to the Reichstag fire
that provided the social opportunity for the Nazi take-over of
Germany.

I am *not* suggesting that, like the Nazis, the authoritarian forces
in America actually had a direct role in perpetrating this
mind-blistering tragedy. (Though their indirect role deserves a much
longer discussion.)

Nevertheless, nothing could serve those who believe that American
"safety" is more important than American liberty better than
something like this. Control freaks will dine on this day for the
rest of our lives.

Within a few hours, we will see beginning the most vigorous efforts
to end what remains of freedom in America. Those of who are willing
to sacrifice a little - largely illusory - safety in order to
maintain our faith in the original ideals of America will have to
fight for those ideals just as vigorously.

I beg you to begin NOW to do whatever you can - whether writing your
public officials, joining the ACLU or EFF, taking to the streets, or
living visibly free and fearless lives - to prevent the spasm of
control mania from destroying the dreams that far more have died for
over the last two hundred twenty five years than died this morning.

Don't let the terrorists or (their natural allies) the fascists win.

Remember that the goal of terrorism is to create increasingly
paralytic totalitarianism in the government it attacks. Don't give
them the satisfaction.

Fear nothing. Live free.

And, please, let us try to forgive those who have committed these
appalling crimes. If we hate them, we will become them.

May God - or Whatever you want to call It - bless us all. We'll need
it.


Barlow

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Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2001 06:01:19 +0200
From: JSalloum@aol.com (by way of Pit Schultz <pit@klubradio.de>)
Subject: the war comes home..

[..]

Feeling caught between emotions and logic. I have been off of Nettime for 
quite
awhile because what was being sent was increasingly irrelevant to me and my
work and every time I tried to interject it usually just garnered more flack
than it was worth. In the past few days I have received many articles by
Chomsky et al regarding the 'attacks' and have deleted each and every one of
them (after reading them). I have also received an equal amount of email from
N. American Arab and Islamic groups and organizations that are fearful for
their lives and reports of the ever increasing racist attacks that they are
incurring, they are closing their schools and trying to  keep their children
at home. And several times a day friends are sending me their accounts of
what was going through their lives while either being in or near ground zero
in nyc or asking me what was going on here and with me for the ones living
even further abroad. It seems I need to keep a space on my hard drive and
brain free of the clutter and deluge of fear, sadness, bigotry, hate,
paranoia, ignorance, and dread. The airwaves are full of all forms of
simplistic rationalizing of the events, and the need for utter and complete
'retaliation'. As throughout conflicts like this (and this one didn't start
on Tuesday) the use of language is the most impressive and depressing of
scenes, the total manipulation that occurs is a scary thing. Many on the
streets feel confident and justified in any attacks on arab like individuals
while the cops stand and watch. Tomorrow is a day of mourning in Canada, I
will be mourning for all the atrocities of the last 500+ years and for the
next which do not appear to be any less devastating.

To illustrate the language of the major terrorists, Noam Chomsky quotes, St.
Augustine telling the story of a pirate captured by Alexander the Great who
asked him, "How he dares molest the sea".  ‘How dare you molest the whole
world?’, the pirate replied: "because I do it with a little ship only, I am
called a thief; you, doing it with a great navy, are called an Emperor."
(Pirates & Emperors: Int’l Terrorism in the Real World).

If I find any lucid articles coming to me I'll forward them on.

best wishes,
Jayce

-- 
Jayce Salloum


http://www.lot.at/politics/contributions/s_jayce1.htm
http://www.argosarts.org/exhibition-salloum.html
http://www.eurovision2000.net/video/video012.html
http://www.arabfilm.com/item/150/
http://www.arabfilm.com/item/141/
http://www.arabfilm.com/item/79/
http://194.109.218.115/data/pl0062.html
http://www1.centrepompidou.fr/beware/fr_cult/jidal.html  (French text)

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