My blogs about
America's Wars
War on Iraq
War on Drugs
War on Afghanistan
War on Columbia
War on Philippines
War on Venezuela

More
Matrix Masters
Blogs
World Events
US News
Science & Health
Earth News
Free Speech
News from Africa
News from Palestine
Bill of Rights Under Attack

Matrix Masters'
SUPPORTERS

More about Lorenzo
Books

"Spirit of the Internet"
   Synopsys
   Read Online
   Chapter Highlights
   Table of Contents
   Reader Comments
   Award

Essays
Speaking
Consulting
Biography (c.v.)

Photos

Member of the
Digital Space Commons

My Tribe.Net profile

31 January 2003

 

On the road
For the next ten days, I will be driving across the U.S. on my way back to California ... visiting a few friends along the way. Our bloggers will keep up the postings on other sections of this website, however, and I will be back online soon.

btw, take a look at our World Events page ... we are testing a control that lets you know how many others are looking at that page at the same time as you are ... if you like, you can even open a chat window with them ... soon we will be adding a voice feature to these MeetingPages as well.

posted by Lorenzo 8:13 PM

28 January 2003

 

Thought for the day
One of the basic tricks used by salespeople is to give you a "choice close." They do so by getting you to pick between "this or that" and don't give you a "yes or no" option. This little trick works on adults but not children, they are too smart to be forced into a choice between two things they don't want. Right now, the girls and boys in Washington are trying to force us into making a terrible decision. The way they are framing it is, "Do you want to go to war, or do you want Saddam to get into the international weapons business just like we are?" ... How about answering that question with a big NO WAR! Iraq is no more of a threat to the U.S. today than it was five years ago. So why ignite what may turn out to be World War III over a non-threatening situation? Going to war is a false choice that the Bush-Cheney junta is forcing down our throats through their mass media propaganda arm. As anyone who has actually been in a war can tell you, state-sponsored violence should be avoided at all costs and should only be the very last resort ... and then only in self-defense. Being the aggressor in a war, making the first strike, is as un-American an activity as there is. The war mongers who control our government are leading this nation down the path of global war from which we may never be able to retreat. I don't know what we can do about this, but if you call yourself "an American" you have an obligation to do something ... every voice helps.

posted by Lorenzo 12:12 PM

27 January 2003

 

Thought for the day
Once you lose heart you have lost your life.
--Lorenzo Hagerty
The Cusp of Chaos

posted by Lorenzo 11:53 AM

24 January 2003

 

Thought for the day
I never allow myself to get depressed unless I plan on doing something constructive while I'm down there.
--Lorenzo Hagerty
The Cusp of Chaos

posted by Lorenzo 8:32 AM

22 January 2003

 

What's New — Posted January 13 - 21, 2003
World Events . . . Best get used to war . . . Arab boycott of American consumer goods spreads . . . Deja Vu In Afghanistan . . . John Le Carre: The United States of America has gone mad . . . World Wide Anti-War Protests Looming . . . Edward Said: An unacceptable helplessness . . . The CIA's "Operation Cyclone" - Stirring the Hornet's Nest of Islamic Unrest . . . America's Unfree Press
U.S. News . . . Bushwhacked . . . Kurt Vonnegut speaks out against the war . . . So Much for Homeland Security . . . Bin Laden's Escape-plot Fools the U.S. . . . State of the Union: Congress Meets Wall Street
Earth News . . . Costa Rica Declares "Peace For Nature"
War on Drugs . . . The Coming Canadian Drug Revolution . . . The Road to Mérida: Interviews with Participants in the "Out from the Shadows" Campaign . . . Prosecutors Enlist in Drug Czar's Anti-Marijuana Campaign -- Will Prioritize Marijuana Cases, Lobby Against Reform . . . Amphetamines Cited in U.S. Bombing That Killed Canadians in Afghanistan
Palestine & Israel . . . JAGGI SINGH NABBED IN JERUSALEM PLEASE HELP! . . . Israel's Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Continues
War on Venezuela . . . Venezuela: Full Coverage of News Not Shown on CNN
Free Speech . . . DVD-Cracking Teen Acquitted . . . Digital Rights Reach Beyond Tech . . . The King Has No Clothes: But Saying So Might Land You In Prison

posted by Lorenzo 9:58 AM

 

Thought for the day
George Bernard Shaw defined a barbarian as one who
mistakes the customs of his tribe for the laws of nature.

posted by Lorenzo 9:16 AM

21 January 2003

 

Thought for the day
Everyone has their own agenda. So be careful that you don't become a part of someone else's. Stick to your own agenda!
--Lorenzo Hagerty
The Cusp of Chaos

posted by Lorenzo 8:52 AM

20 January 2003

 

Thought for the day
The next great world revolution must begin at the individual level. Each on of us must first revolutionize our own lives, and on the foundations of those individual revolutions will a world revolution be built.
--Lorenzo Hagerty
The Cusp of Chaos

posted by Lorenzo 9:13 AM

17 January 2003

 

Thought for the day
A true political revolution must always be preceded by a cultural revolution.
--LorenZo
The Cusp of Chaos

posted by Lorenzo 8:05 AM

16 January 2003

 

Thought for the day
A time comes when silence is betrayal.
--Martin Luther King, Jr.

posted by Lorenzo 6:00 AM

15 January 2003

 

Thought for the day
That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach.
--Aldous Huxley
Collected Essays [1959] pt.4, "Case of Voluntary Ignorance"

posted by Lorenzo 7:18 AM

14 January 2003

 

Thought for the day
However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.
--Stanley Kubrick

posted by Lorenzo 1:39 PM

13 January 2003

 

What's New — Posted January 10 - 12, 2002
World Events . . . Which country poses the greatest threat to world peack (poll) . . . A Year in the Life of the New World Order: Reflections on 2002 and Projections for 2003
U.S. News . . . The Smirking Chimp
War on Iraq . . . Blair Urges Bush to Put Iraq War on Hold

posted by Lorenzo 8:53 AM

 

Thought for the day
Most people have a linear view of the future. People look at the 21st century, and they expect 100 years of progress at today's rate of progress. But because we're doubling the rate of progress every 10 years, we're actually looking at 20,000 years of progress during the 21st century. That's quite a difference in outlook. You get to a point where the rate of progress is so fast that it's virtually a rupture in the fabric of human history.
--Ray Kurzweil

posted by Lorenzo 8:24 AM

10 January 2003

 

What's New — Posted January 7 - 9, 2003
World Events . . . Act now against war . . . Bush Is A Threat To World Peace - Nobel Author Grass . . . Sowing seeds of hatred . . . Sweden Offers Free-speech Refuge To U.S. Officials . . . Islamic Women Vote in Historic Bahrain Election . . . Think Muslim, drink Muslim, says new rival to Coke
U.S. News . . . Bush and bin Laden, Partners in Terror . . . Jan. 18 NATIONAL MARCH ON WASHINGTON to demand: NO WAR AGAINST IRAQ ELIMINATE U.S. WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION . . . Was Senator Paul Wellstone Murdered? . . . War's Cost May Dwarf Stimulus Effect . . . EVOLUTIONARY POLITICS . . . Bush sidelines his Cuban hardman
Peace is Possible . . . Amid Year's Global Threats, Freedom Gains . . . ANDDOVUS Nations Authorize “Regime Change” for USA: Pro-Democracy Coup to be Staged No Later Than Next Spring
Science & Health . . . Protesting is good for you, say psychologists
Earth News . . . The Detroit Project - by Americans for Fuel Efficient Cars
Palestine & Israel . . . Peres: You are leading Israel to a place from which there is no escape . . . Photographs of Israeli Desecration of Palestinian Land . . . TV humiliation as Sharon fails to stem voter exodus
War on Iraq . . . Undercover war begins as US forces enter Iraq . . . Some administration officials expressing misgivings on Iraq . . . UN Prepares for Huge Iraqi Casualties . . . The Lies We Are Told About Iraq . . . Leave Iraq Alone . . . US set to win battle over Iraqi scientists, Interviews in Cyprus could provide trigger for war
War on Venezuela . . . U.S. Company Controls Venezuela's Petro Computers
News from Africa . . . Congo, Rwanda sign peace pact
Free Speech . . . Nike and Corporations Claim the Right to Lie
Bill of Rights Under Attack . . . Court Rules U.S. Can Hold Citizens as 'Enemy Combatants'

posted by Lorenzo 9:14 AM

 

Thought for the day
"Abandon certainty, we are a probe into the unknown."
--Frank Herbert
Children of Dune

posted by Lorenzo 8:59 AM

09 January 2003

 

The Entheogen Review
If you don't already subscribe to The Entheogen Review I urge you to do so. ER, as its readers call it, is one of the world's only journals of unauthorized research on visionary plants and drugs. The quality of information each issue contains is extraordinary. And while some of the articles are highly technical, others are of interest to all readers. My favorite piece from the Winter Solstice 2002 issue is A Year of Trips & Tripping . . . by Jon Hanna (who is also the producer of the upcoming Mind States IV conference May 23 - 25 in Berkeley, California. Since it isn't possible for most of us to attend all of the conferences we would like to, Jon provides us with a travelogue of some of last year's best. My favorite tale is the one he tells about a funny incident at Mind States III in Jamaica:

A guy had contacted me via e-mail asking if he could purchase a ticket for a single talk—one that Richard [Boire] was giving—at the Mind States Jamaica conference. Since a couple of other people had asked me about possibly buying single talk tickets to Alex Grey's presentation, this request didn't seem that odd. However, when this guy showed up with a buddy, they had “narc” written all over them. The talk that they bought tickets for was titled “Rastafarians: Friendly 'Pot Heads' or The Next Al Quada?” Perhaps two-thirds of the way into the talk, someone asked, “Um...what does any of this have to do with the Al Quada?” and Richard responded that his title was a joke, and that he had thought that as the event producer, I would have retitled his talk. (Not getting his joke, I left the title as he proposed it.) His talk had nothing to do with terrorism. At this point, one of the two guys who had paid specifically for his talk was heard to exclaim, “I fucking came all the way from the USA for this shit!” At which point they both got up and left. While no one can say for certain why these guys were at Richard's talk, it would certainly seem as thought the US government must be scanning the web for any mention of “Al Quada” and then sending agents to check things out.

posted by Lorenzo 5:06 PM

 

Henry Miller's view of the future
The new civilisation will not be another civilisation. It will be an open stretch of realisation which all the past civilisations have pointed to. The city, which was the birth-place of civilization as we know it to be, will exist no more. The people of the earth will no longer be shut off from one another within states but will flow freely over the surface of the earth and intermingle. Government will give way to management, using the word in a broad sense. The politician will become as super-annuated as the dodo bird. The machine will never be dominated as some imagine; it will be scrapped, eventually, but not before men have understood the nature of the mystery which binds them to their creation. The worship, investigation and subjugation of the machine will give way to the lure of all that is truly occult. This problem is bound up with the larger one of power - and of possession. Man will be forced to realise that power must be kept open, fluid and free. His aim will be not to possess power but to radiate it.
-- Henry Miller, in a little known work, "Sunday After the War," published in 1944.

posted by Lorenzo 8:28 AM

 

Thought for the day
The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words.
--Phillip K. Dick

posted by Lorenzo 7:19 AM

08 January 2003

 

Here is an interesting quotation I found in the latest edition of Fraser Clark's UP!
Since I entered politics, I have chiefly had men's views confided to me privately. Some of the biggest men in the United States, in the field of commerce and manufacture, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it.
--Woodrow Wilson (1913)

posted by Lorenzo 10:57 AM

 

Thought for the day
I started to place an order for a tee shirt printed with the Aboriginal saying "The more you know the less you need." . . . and then I realized that I didn't need another tee shirt.
The Cusp of Chaos

posted by Lorenzo 10:34 AM

07 January 2003

 

Jan. 18 NATIONAL MARCH ON WASHINGTON to demand:
NO WAR AGAINST IRAQ ELIMINATE U.S. WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
When Congress rejects the will of the people, the people must act themselves. Congress has rubber-stamped Bush's criminal war that seeks to conquer the oil, land and resources of the Middle East. Bush and Congress have shown that they represent the interests of Corporate America rather than the people of the United States. . . . A people's movement is growing to stop them. Tens of thousands of people will participate in mass protest activities on the Martin Luther King Jr. anniversary weekend. . . . Dr. King publicly condemned the U.S. war in Vietnam, provid-ing a powerful connection between the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement. In his �Beyond Vietnam� speech at Riverside Church in 1967, he stated, �The greatest purveyor of violence in the world today [is] my own government. ...[F]or the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent.� . . . Dr. King believed that it was impossible to successfully wage a war on poverty at home while waging a war of aggression in Vietnam. The same can be said today about George W. Bush's global war drive. Social programs and services are being looted as Bush and Congress provide record-breaking sums for weapons of mass destruction and war. . . . The thousands of people who are coming to Washington, D.C., honor Dr. King and his legacy by opposing another criminal war--this time in the Middle East--and by demanding instead that these hundreds of billions of dollars be spent on jobs, education, housing, healthcare and to meet human needs.

[Click on link above for full SCENARIO & POLITICS OF JAN. 18]

posted by Lorenzo 1:33 PM

 

What's New — Posted January 2 - 6, 2003
World Events . . . Do mention the War . . . No more heroes . . . assertions of liberty in support of an uncensored internet . . . Act now against war
U.S. News . . . At Least One Foreign Country Assisted the 9/11 Terrorists . . . Red Friday! . . . Top Ten Conspiracy Theories of 2002
Peace is Possible . . . Arrogance Is Humility
Science & Health . . . Don't Fear a Smallpox Outbreak . . . Bush Administration Removes Health Info from Federal Websites
Earth News . . . Water is Becoming a Dangerous Drug
War on Iraq . . . Preemptive impeachment . . . Baghdad's uncensored report to UN names Western comanies alleged to have developed its weapons of mass destruction . . . If only he would listen, this could be Blair's finest hour . . . Undercover war begins as US forces enter Iraq

posted by Lorenzo 7:38 AM

 

Thought for the day
Even if we cannot stop the attack upon Iraq, we must ensure that it becomes so politically costly that there will never be another like it. And this means that the usual demos will no longer suffice. . . . CND and the Stop the War Coalition have suggested an hour's stoppage on the day after the war begins. Many activists are now talking about building on this, and seeking to provoke wider strike action - even a general strike. . . . But if our action is confined to shaking our heads at the television set, Blair might as well have a universal mandate. Are you out there? Or are you waiting for someone else to act on your behalf?
--George Monbiot

posted by Lorenzo 7:28 AM

05 January 2003

 

Thought for the day
Although I realize that freedom is an illusion,
it is an illusion without which I cannot live.
The Cusp of Chaos

posted by Lorenzo 2:09 PM

03 January 2003

 

Thought for the day
It's hard to imagine
what dogs would do
if they had opposable thumbs.
The Cusp of Chaos

posted by Lorenzo 4:18 PM

02 January 2003

 

What's New — Posted December 20, 2002 - January 1, 2003
World Events . . . California orders mass arrests of Muslim foreigners . . . Terrorists on the Net? Who Cares? . . . The Push for War (MUST READING)
Science & Health . . . When the web starts thinking for itself . . . What does the collective sound of the Internet sound like? . . . Alien cult claims to have produced first human clone
Earth News . . . Drug Waste Gives EPA the Blues
War on Drugs . . . Site offers home delivery of marijuana
War on Iraq . . . Leaked report says German and US firms supplied arms to Saddam . . . America's war with itself . . . Lies, damn lies and the war on Saddam Hussein . . . Weapons inspectors turn fire on Britain and US . . . US covers up killings of its troops in Kuwait . . . The Secret Behind the Sanctions - How the U.S. Intentionally Destroyed Iraq's Water Supply . . . Neoconservatives Consolidate Control over U.S. Mideast Policy
War on Venezuela . . . SF IMC Interviews Al Giordano on Venezuela, the media, and anarchism
Bill of Rights Under Attack . . . Sanders Works to Repeal Provisions of Patriot Act

posted by Lorenzo 8:30 AM

 

Thought for the day
When I stopped trying to save the world
I also stopped trying to save myself.
That was a mistake.
--Lorenzo Hagerty
The Cusp of Chaos

posted by Lorenzo 8:13 AM