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Pa1n No 05
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P A 1 N M A G A Z I N E I S S U E F I V E ._.-#'
PA1Nv5 +------------------------------------------------------+ PA1Nv5
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| 4$$$$$$$t PA1N MAGAZINE STAFF |
! $$' ------------------------------------- !--+
' $$. ' |
' '#$$$$$$k Editor in Chief - alienbinary ' |
| $$ Co-Editor - Turnspike ! |
| . $$ Editor - angel ice | !
| '#$$#' PA1N Enforcer - Nemisis | i
| Field Operative - Danger Girl |
| Writer - Manuel O'Kelly |
| American Asshole - RumblingSky |
! Spec Ops - Red Dragon !
| Writer - Kaseisol |
| AB's Fedaykin - Crazy Ivan |
| SPECIAL GUEST!@ - Cimmerian |
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PA1Nv5 +------------------------------------------------------+ PA1Nv5 ._.
+------' i i '------+ |
$$$$ the official magazine of $$$$ : i
'$$$n. ________. RantRadio ._______ .d$$$' | .
'$$$$. | | .$$$$' '
+-----------------------[ Table of Discontent ]----------------------+ . '
! ! .
| PA1Nv5x01 Letter from the Editor alienbinary |
| PA1Nv5x02 Letter from the Co-Editor Turnspike | :
| PA1Nv5x03 No More Apathy alienbinary | . '
| PA1Nv5x04 Lt. Colonel West Kaseisol |
| PA1Nv5x05 Eyewitnessing the FTAA Protest alienbinary |
| Danger Girl |
| PA1Nv5x06 RantRadio News Update Cimmerian |
| PA1Nv5x07 RANT: the Unholy Season alienbinary | .
| PA1Nv5x08 Dissecting the Twenty Dollar Bill Turnspike |
| PA1Nv5x09 ComSec and the cgi-bin alienbinary |
| PA1Nv5x10 Rantradio IRC, November 2003 RantRadio IRC |
| PA1Nv5x11 Let's Play Oligopoly! Manuel O'Kelly |
| PA1Nv5x12 Remember Personal Responsibility? alienbinary |
| PA1Nv5x13 Kill Your Television alienbinary |
| PA1Nv5x14 Outro alienbinary |
! !
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PA1Nv5x01----------------------------------------------------------------------
[ Letter from the Editor ]
[ alienbinary ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv5x01
-?------------?---???????---???---?????????????--------------????????----------
Let me set the mood.
Glass breaks, metal scrapes against concrete.
An unmistakeable dripping starts,
a viscous liquid falling from an open wound.
The ground is brown and green and red all at once,
and everything feels as if it's on fire.
The noise is deafening, as if everyone had risen
from their graves to mourn what has become of their world.
Something hard and carved out of stone hits a precious peice of fine china.
Someone's family heirloom breaks and falls to the floor,
and a chain of generations held together by a simple thread
comes completely undone. Lightbulbs shatter,
spreading waves of broken glass
over the spent carcasses of the lamps they used to inhabit.
Decadence falls into decay.
The fifth issue is upon us.
If you don't have something on your mind that's making you angry, either
you're very very drunk, or you aren't paying attention. Let me offer some
things up for you to pick at and fuel your adrenaline rushes. How about RFID
tags being put inside lipstick containers so that companies could monitor their
customers? If you didn't know about that already, PAY MORE ATTENTION.
I'm supposed to be working on a presentation for a communications class
right now. I'm supposed to, but I'm not. The vast majority of the things we do
consist of things that we're told to do, things we feel compelled to do because
no one has offered a reason for why we shouldn't perpetuate a cycle that's been
in place since before we were all born.
The thing is, most of the things we do, they don't actually matter at all.
The bills you pay, getting "work" done, going to school, going to class, going
to your job, or going to some party simply because somebody sent you an
embossed invitation; these are NOT always the best things you could be doing
with your time. How many of you have simply gone to school every day, and
didn't pay attention? If you went, you should have paid attention, right? Not
necessarily. The harsh truth is, the system has failed us. This sort of deficit
then leaks into the quality of the things that we, as citizens or denizens of
this country and planet, are supposed to just go about doing. If I beleived in
regret, I'd probably be remorseful that I never listened to half of the things
my teachers told me in high school. At the same time, however, I don't feel
anything about it now, because regret is a pointless emotion.
We can't change the past, and if we could, we probably shouldn't try it.
What matters is what we do with the extroardinarily small bit of time we have
on this rock to find something that truly invigorates us. I don't know what
that is for you, it's different for everyone. What matters to me, at least, at
this point in my life, is to be the harbinger of truth. I want to help people
peel the red tape back, and pull off the big dogmatic blindfolds.
Here's an experiment to help illustrate my point. Do something you enjoy,
anything, I don't care, and it's not pertinent to this at all. Now, ask someone
of supposed authority, such as a parent or a spouse, if you can go do this
thing, the longer the time frame you ask, the better this will work. Whoever
you ask, unless they too know that time is a big fucking illusion will probably
start listing things you have to do. Now, here's the experiment: see how many
times this person says the following things "because I said so," "because you
need to," or something similar to that effect. If they repeat what you need to
do, but they still provide no reasoning, tell them to get a personality.
Personalities are hard to come by, but it seems that far too few people
actually have one of their own.
So what does this have to do with why I'm not doing a particular peice of
"work?" To tell you the truth, it's because this is more important to me than
some jackass presentation for a class I'm not interested in. Lately, I find
myself wondering what I'm doing in college. Everyone does at some point, this
is entirely normal for a college student, or any student at all. The thing is,
I was trying to figure out why I was doing a certain thing, but hadn't touched
the stack of work I was neglecting. I came to this conclusion:
The work that I was in dereliction of doing, came from classes I didn't
care for. These were topics that didn't stimulate my brain, and they made me
feel like going back to bed. I was deliberately setting the bullshit aside, and
saying "no," while embracing the things that mattered to me.
I don't profess to beleive that procrastination is actually a good idea. In
fact, it's a fucking terrible practice. It always screws you over in the end;
however this leads me to what you need to do. You need to live your own life.
You need to do things your own way, and you need to stop letting the world
forcefeed you rhetoric, otherwise we are doomed as a species.
I for one, as well as the rest of my staff, don't care to be part of an
apathetic world, and what matters to me is to make sure one doesn't perpetuate
as is, and what I'm doing is attempting to stop this apathy.
Once again, welcome to Volume 5 of PA1N Magazine.
alienbinary
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PA1Nv5x02----------------------------------------------------------------------
[ Letter from the Co-Editor ]
[ Turnspike ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv5x02
-?------------?---???????---???---?????????????--------------????????----------
This week I realized that I should work for Dell. You might have seen the
recent Dell commercials that show some of the torture tests they put their
laptops through. Well after looking at what I did to my own laptop a few weeks
ago, I think laptops need to be much tougher, and I can help.
http://www.spfd2600.org/turnspike/hurtlaptop.jpg
What I am proposing to Dell is the Turnspike Torture Test (we can just call
it T). Dell can trash the pneumatic laptop dropping machines, and all the
other gadgets they use to abuse their products, because all I require is a
large room with high ceilings and a supply of laptops to test. Now to get in
the mood, I can call Dell customer service which is in India. After
decyphering thick Indian accents for half an hour, I would be ready to maul my
first box.
I would start by pummeling a keyboard until my fists bleed and keys begin
popping off, and the circuits underneath crack. The pain of my wounded fists
would fuel my rage toward a second laptops, which would be drop-kicked accross
the room. This would no doubt wrech havoc on my toes, but would make my
bleeding palms less significant, so a third machine would them be opened up an
thrown against a wall like a clown would throw a cream pie. This chain
reaction would go on until the testing department is satisfied, then the
researchers would coral me into a cage with electric prods like they might do
with enraged zoo gorrilas who need their habitats cleaned. As I rattle the
bars of my cage, foaming at the mouth, researchers would converge on the scene,
measuring skidmarks, estimating the trajectory of jettisoned laptop batteries,
and pulling ribbon cables out of the rafters. After a quick clean-up, another
table of laptops would be rolled out, the room would be cleared of personnel,
and my cage would be opened by remote. Round two.
This would go on until I would eventualy collapse into a gasping, bleeding meat
pile in a clean room full of scattered debris. After a long nap I would pick
myself up, clock out, and go home. I imagine I could handle this about once a
month, then probably more often as I adjust to the job and build my stamina.
By taking on this job I can help Dell build more durable laptops, provide
an outlet for my own stress, and enable my doctor to afford that summer home he
has always wanted. Of course Dell can cover my medical bills. If they had to,
they could install a webcam and charge a nominal fee to view the carnage and
use those profits to pay for my healthcare. Wouldn't you watch?
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PA1Nv5x03----------------------------------------------------------------------
[ No More Apathy ]
[ alienbinary ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv5x03
-?------------?---???????---???---?????????????--------------????????----------
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
' '
"Do not kill. Do not rape. Do not steal. These are principles
which every man of every faith can embrace. These are not polite
suggestions, these are codes of behavior, and those of you
that ignore them will pay the dearest cost."
- the Boondock Saints (1999)
! !
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
The world is full of people who will do everything they can to make sure
that no matter what the cost, it's always them that comes out on top. You can
find these people anywhere; they exist in every facet of every community and
they don't give a damn about anyone. Usually, these people get away with the
most obnoxious or heinous crimes, simply because they can always earn a second,
third, fourth or sixth chance. The people who don't get away, they rarely did
anything in the first place. Those who are honest, hardworking people, they are
the least likely to find justice in court.
There are people in this world that will create chaos and confusion, drama
and misery just to occupy their minds. These parasites devestate whole swatches
of people, letting each victim fall to the ground bleeding from a stuck heart.
The saddest, or perhaps most disturbing part about this fact, is that most of
these people don't have any idea that they are coming up with interpretations
of
scenarios that are impossible. They get angry and jealous and hurt when they
can't have exactly what they want, when they want it. They feed off of the pain
and suffering of decent people and construct elaborate fantasies to satisfy
their needs and desires.
The worst part about these creatures, has to do with their victims; the
regular people they trample all over in the pursuit of what is ultimately not a
goal, but a trophy. The people who are most susceptible to fall into these
traps are usually the most trusting, and most sincere people you could meet.
Most of these future victims, however, end up justifying the abuse. They
make up scenarios as well, derivatives of the predatory lie, despite the full
knowledge of the truth. You might be one of these people, and if you are,
you probably already know so. But if you aren't someone who can be drawn into
this sort of a situation, you might be asking "why would it be easier to
blame themselves." The answer is because they cannnot accept the possibility
that some people in this world are simply evil. To these people, it's so much
more cut and dry to consider the idea that everything they do is simply wrong,
and that's the way things are.
I'm sick and tired of watching as my friends bleed, as my world falls into
disarray. I cannot, nor do I intend to, stay silent any longer. We, as a
community, must seek to stop this whatever it takes. The solution is to
altogether abandon the idea of apathy, and to keep our eyes open and our ears
sharp, no matter how grotesque the world may reveal itself to be. True, no one
should put thier own sanity or safety in harms way if it can be avoided, but
don't expect that pretending you didn't hear the screams or see the writing on
the wall will protect you from the consequences of indifference.
It might seem odd what I'm saying. Am I asking people to take action to
protect the people we love, to not be passive, to call the police, or to call
out injustice? Yes, I sure as hell am.
I'll take this farther than that. No one is only a warrior, and warriors
can also need to be rescued. That's why I say community is important. It's time
we look after eachother, and refuse to be spectators to the figurative and
literal bloodshed we try not to see every day. If you want to take action to
make the world a better place, you already have. It's your desire to fight for
that which is truly good that is the first and most important step in taking
back our world, and taking back our lives. There are times when you will feel
like one of these predators which you hunt; however this is because after so
much fighting, you can't NOT start to feel like a hunter.
And while I suggest that we respect and obey the law, much the way the
civil rights movement did in the 1960's, I don't beleive we have to succumb to
the boundaries of the law. Let's clean up. If you see trash on the floor in
your apartment, do you pick it up? Do you throw out the trash, and take out the
problem? You probably do. Think of the world as an extension of your apartment,
and grab a shovel. It's payback time. These predators have taken too much, and
the price they will pay might be the hands with which they have used to cross
the line.
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PA1Nv5x04----------------------------------------------------------------------
[ Walking into the Crossfire: Eyewitnessing the FTAA Protest ]
[ by alienbinary and Danger Girl ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv5x04
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_.$$$'-. .-'$$$._
+------.$$$$' '$$$$.---------+
| _4$$$' [ Preface ] '$$$b_ |
! ' ' !
| It's important to make the following clear. The events detailed in |
| PA1Nv5x03 took place on November 21st, 2003, in Boston Common, (MA.) |
| The purpose of this article is to neither condemn or condone the |
| movement to stop the Free Trade Area of the Americas; however it is |
| the role of independent media such as PA1N Magazine to tell the news, |
| and especially to tell the news stories that don't usually get |
| reported in the so-called "straight media." I'm not at all expecting |
| that you, the reader, won't gather an impression on my personal stance |
| on the issue, but I do ask you to read my observations on the protest |
| and the police presence itself. Perhaps, when I know more about NAFTA |
| and the FTAA, I'll be able to give a definitive stance on the issue, |
| but for now, these are just the facts as myself, alienbinary and |
| Danger Girl can recall. --alienbinary |
! . . !
| |
+--- '$$$$. .$$$$' ---+
'$$$_. ._$$$'
Walking out of a restaurant in downtown Boston directly into one of the
first public anti-FTAA Demonstrations is something that doesn't happen too
often. Ironically, the only reason I had left the train station at that
particular stop was because I needed to use a bathroom. More ironically, I was
barred access to the bathroom until I purchased something, a rule implemented
to keep the homeless from using their facilities. [ ed. note: as much as I'm
pro-sanitation, I think preventing someone from using a public bathroom is a
heinous thing to do. ] When I crossed the street, I found myself caught between
the vendor I was walking towards, who sold everything from jewelry to
miniature pipes, and a massive march that had taken over the entire Boston
Common sidewalk while I wasn't looking.
I first made it my business to establish what the acronyms stood for. I was
in the middle of a protest, I wanted to be an informed observer, not a gawking
average sheep. The protest was against the FTAA, which I learned was the "Free
Trade Area of the Americas," which is a proposed overhaul of the NAFTA Treaty,
the North American Free Trade Association. The overhaul would expand the
limited powers of NAFTA, according to the Public Citizens Global Trade Watch,
to "every country in the western hemisphere except Cuba." The details of this
actual organization I'll go over later, but I'd like to describe what it was
like to witness an impromptu rally, and to feel the tension and energy in the
air. College Students of course, dominated the demographic, but whole familes
marched, representing themselves as fellow Latin Americans who would be
exploited by the FTAA, I saw a local carpenters' union, and yes, even the World
Socialist Movement was represented.
People walked by blowing toy trumpets and plastic whistles, chanting
slogans about the demise of our rights by corporations. The protest was both
preceeded and flanked by Boston Police Department motorcyle escorts; escorts
whose nature was revealed later when the protest began to actually show some
force. I remember paying attention to the squawking of police radios and even
what sounded like "handy talkies," the federal two-ways. Something was amiss,
more so than the fact that people were parading in front of me holding fake
begging bowls, dressed as hobos with nametags identifying such companies as
"Enron," "Exxon," and "General Motors." These effigies were representative,
according to the GTW's pamphlet, of the approach the companies were using to
siphon money from local governments into their own pockets, using the guise of
first NAFTA, and now the FTAA.
I saw a man with a full basic dress uniform, woodland camo, an armband and
a stage pistol Luger, wearing a helmet and a George W. Bush mask. Some of the
costumes were like those you would expect from a nightmare, some out of a
comedy, and others at a bad halloween party run by activists on a night off. I
watched as they filed by, groups of girls in black wearing hats the shapes of
airplanes saying "enemy of nature" and shirts protesting Genetically Modified
Organisms, or GMOs, the 'frankenfoods' that the FDA seems to keep allowing to
fall into the hands of consumers, without any warning.
I remember my first instinct in reaction to this part being to cheer them
on, which I did, along with the entire city block, something I hadn't expected.
In America, demonstrations are no longer welcome. Under the Patriot Act, if it
can be claimed (not proven, just claimed) that the protest blocked traffic, or
even disrupted things a little bit, then it can be considered domestic
terrorism. Therefore, my second reaction was apparently well founded, a feeling
of general unease. Shortly, the BPD began to communicate in hushed tones,
calling for specialized divisions. I recognized the acronyms as the ones used
for riot-control. Riot Control. Danger Girl and myself had been at Boston
Common for at least a half an hour, and neither of us witnessed a single
riotous action. There was no violence.
There was no disturbing the peace. There was nothing that warranted the
next police "escort." Now, from both formal and informal training, I was
expecting to see represntatives from Emergency Medical Services and probably a
Fire Marshall... but there wasn't. Instead, in lieu of EMS, Meat Wagons were
snuck in behind the rear of the trailing protest. At first I thought to myself,
really not allowing the reality of what was to go down to hit me, was that
these were just there for blockades. If you've ever seen a Boston paddy wagon,
it looks like a large ice cream truck that has been retrofitted into an Armored
Personell Carrier. I looked uneasily at the plates on the side. Prisoner
Convoys had made their way to the scene. I heard an officer who looked to be a
lieutenent, by the number and arrangement of chevrons on his side, call in a
request for backup to central dispatch.
Why was there a prisoner convoy? Why were riot control cops around? I was
nervous to find out. I took several photographs of the demonstration with my
palm pilot, as well as a couple of the unnecessary police presence, for readers
to decide for themselves.
Photo Gallery -----------------------------------------------
http://thorn.e-lite.org/loki/ftaa/Set237_02.jpg
http://thorn.e-lite.org/loki/ftaa/Set237_01.jpg
http://thorn.e-lite.org/loki/ftaa/Set236_02.jpg
http://thorn.e-lite.org/loki/ftaa/Set236_01.jpg
-------------------------------------------------------------
Nothing I saw warranted this kind of police state action. Not
particularly feeling like being interrogated or harrassed by local cops and
State Troopers, Danger Girl and I decided, wisely, to leave. Before I left,
however, I did accept a pamphlet, the number and publishing information I've
listed below. I was carrying it visibly in my back pocket. There was nothing to
worry about, for chrissakes, I work security. I'm not some looter, and I wasn't
exactly a part of the spectacle. Yet, when I arrived in Hynes Convention Center
stop, and exited the front, I heard on my way out a communique between one
detective to another, using nextel two-way radios. I'm almost certain that he
when he asked where to meet his partner, the response reciprocated was "Park
Street," and that the look on the gold sheild's face, even though he was MBTA,
not BPD, was a pained one. He was on assignment. I remember him looking at my
back pocket, and shaking his head at the pamphlet. Subsequently I pulled it out
and started reading it conspicuously. I thought this was America, where the
anarchistic pamphleteer was revered, not hated and hunted. I remember this
bothering me, the same as it bothered me the same way the last part of this
event I'll recount for you did, too.
Right before I went down into the subway station to leave, I was trying to
pass by the prisoner convoys. Feeling torn, because I respect the badge, and I
respect the fact that these people had a job to do, I couldn't not glance into
one of the APCs. When I did, I briefly made eye contact with an officer who
shared a whole myriad of emotions and information with me, without any words.
He merely communicated, using his eyes, that he was sorry for what he was
doing. A look of dissonance, torn-allegiance was all over the faces of everyone
present. These students, these people marching, everyone involved; these were
college kids and families. There was nothing criminal going on whatsoever.
These officers who had taken a sacred oath to "Serve and Protect," a job I have
more respect for than the majority of self-proclaimed "activists," were under
orders to enforce an unjust law. They were supposed to find some fault in the
actions of these students, and arrest a dozen or so, just to set an example.
Nothing came of the claimed riot. In fact, I checked the local newspapers,
both the Boston Globe, and the Boston Herald, and it was as if nothing had
happened at all. I understand that this may have just been considered "another
protest," under certain circumstances. Park Street is the home of both Emerson
College and Suffolk University. It's not uncommon for otherwise unusual things
to happen there. Except, there's a problem with this logic. If I had to
estimate, there were hundreds of people present, and the organization involved
was rather good in my opinion. The thing is, nothing went wrong. There was no
conflict, there was nothing to villify. The very companies being condemned
couldn't very well condone or even acknowledge the brutal truth of these
people. So what does that suggest about the police presence? What does that
suggest about democracy? I'm not entirely sure. What it suggests about the
modern media, however, is very very clear. If there's nothing to villify in the
actions of several hundred concerned citizens from all different backgrounds,
then there's nothing to report. Any report of a peacefull demonstration would
have seemed to condone it, and they just couldn't handle that.
Such is the reason why I've written this account, with the help of my
friend, who'll be known for now as Danger Girl. These people deserve to be
heard, and for those voices to be recorded. Although in the eyes of many, going
to a protest these days is "moral masturbation" [ ed. note: the entire
rantradio demographic knows exactly who said that... ], at least they did
something. In argument for the demonstration, I would point out that I'd never
heard of the FTAA, and probably, neither have many of you reading this. That
being the case, someone got their point accross, because I heard the message.
Perhaps we can't expect the rallies of the civil rights movement, the vietnam
war or the WTO, but we can respect those that protest something no one is aware
of. I'd say that this was less of a protest, than it was of an informative
march. People watching were so caught off guard, and drawn in, there was an
instant hunger to understand created. When it was communicated what the FTAA
could mean, these people were cheered on. Although on a microscopic scale at
first, if everyone rose up, maybe just a little, and said what they felt,
voiced there opinion, maybe we could acheive something. Maybe some difference
could be made for the better.
Anti-FTAA Resources:
1. Public Citizens Global Trade Watch, Pamphlet number E9010, 2003.
2. PCGTW Website, http://www.tradewatch.org/
3. Jobs with Justice (JwJ), http://www.jwj.org/global/FTAA/FTAAresources.htm
4. UMASS Amherst STOP FTAA, Amherst MA, mailto:stopftaaumass@mail.com
5. StopFTAA, http://www.stopftaa.org/
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PA1Nv5x05----------------------------------------------------------------------
[ Lt. Col West ]
[ Kaseisol ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv5x05
-?------------?---???????---???---?????????????--------------????????----------
By now we have all heard of the one, Lt. Col West, the Army officer who is
now under threat of court-martial for the alleged assault on an Iraqi
Policeman, whom he deemed was aiding the insurgents. The allegation, which Lt.
Col West Does Not deny, is that he frightened the Iraqi into disclosing details
of an impending attack by firing a pistol near his head. The pistol was fired
into a sand filled bucket used to clear ammunition. Lt. Col West admits to
doing so in order to ensure the safety of himself and his men from an impending
attack by insurgent snipers. The US Army now wants to possibly court-martial
the Lt. Col under the Uniform Code of Military Justice Section 928. Article
128.
Assault, which states:
(a) Any person subject to this chapter who attempts or offers with
unlawful force or violence to do bodily harm to another person,
whether or not the attempt or offer is consummated, is guilty of
assault and shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
(b) Any person subject to this chapter who--
(1) commits an assault with a dangerous weapon or other means or
force likely to produce death or grievous bodily harm; or
(2) commits an assault and intentionally inflicts grievous
bodily harm with or without a weapon; is guilty of aggravated
assault and shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
Ok, now it's my turn. Are you kidding me? They are going to prosecute a
decorated, combat hardened soldier for roughing up and scaring a suspected
enemy combatant and possibly saving the lives of soldiers under his command..
Whoa Whoa, Stop and think. When you imagine a war in your head what do you see?
Do pictures of death, destruction and other bad and terrible things come to
mind? War, my friends is not pretty, It is not a Playstation game nor is it a
Hollywood movie. It is hell, pure and simple. Now I am not speaking of this
first hand but from speaking with my grandfather and with friends who have been
in several combat situations. One friend in particular was in a firefight with
the PDF in Panama and when he fired a grenade into a balcony window that
snipers were using to kill 3 of his men. What he didn't know is that the
snipers had cowardly taken 2 women hostage and that they also were killed. The
PC (politically correct) lawyers of the Navy stepped in and he was stripped of
rank and thrown in the brig for 3 months for the killing of 3 innocents. He was
later released and reinstated when it was brought to light that the snipers had
used children by shooting them in the street, to lure the Marines to a
crossfire.
The point I am trying to make here is that in a combat situation, there are
no rules. Sure we can try to adhere to pre-determined rules of engagement but
when the shit starts hitting the fan and the bad guys break the rules,
sometimes we must also do so in order to survive. If you break down war to its
simplest form, it is who he has the most men last, wins! Now, taking all I have
just said, realize that this man WAS NOT even tortured, under the definition of
the word.
Under International Law, Article 8 (2) (a)
(ii)-1 War Crime of Torture: the following must be met to be considered
torture:
1. The perpetrator inflicted severe physical or mental pain
or suffering upon one or more persons.
2. The perpetrator inflicted the pain or suffering for such
purposes as: obtaining information or a confession, punishment,
intimidation or coercion or for any reason based on discrimination
of any kind.
3. Such person or persons were protected under one or more of the
Geneva Conventions of 1949.
4. The perpetrator was aware of the factual circumstances that
established that protected status.
5. The conduct took place in the context of and was associated
with an international armed conflict.
6. The perpetrator was aware of factual circumstances that
established the existence of an armed conflict.
If you perceive scaring a man to be inflicting severe mental pain or
suffering, then you have never talked to someone who has been in combat. Being
scared and frightened is a key component in war. It is the key component in any
military strategy, to break the will of the enemy, to route them. It is my
experience that near every person who has been in combat has been scared out of
their minds.
Basically what we have here is another example of an increasingly
politically correct military, afraid of bad publicity in a time where we seem
to be groveling at the enemies feet. They are afraid of a public outcry from
those who oppose the war and who side with the Islamic Extremists who threaten
to destroy this country. They are afraid of upsetting a Muslim population that
is already upset. The military machine is becoming a blight of beauracracy and
a detriment to the security not only of this country but soon to the entire
free world.
Do not allow the military to sacrifice a hero to appease the will of the
complacent and of the enemy. Do not allow them to ruin the good name and good
service of a one Lt. Col. West.
Links
* Senators Back Officer Accused of Abusing Iraqi Detainee
o http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,103564,00.html
* Officer facing charges would do it again
o http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35702
* Uniform Code of Military Justice
o http:
//www.military-network.com/main_ucmj/SUBCHAPTERX.html#928.128
* International Law, definition of torture
o http://www.apt.ch/un/definition.htm
[ editor's note: this article was written at the request of myself. By now, it
should be clear that my views on the war are probably quite different from
Kaseisol's-- for the most part. However, like Kaseisol, I have friends that
have been 'in the shit,' that have seen things that would make anyone have
nightmares for the rest of their lives. You know what the predominant
night-terror or recurring nightmares are visions of fellow combatants being
slaughtered. Sun Tzu, the greatest general in chinese history (possibly the
history of the world) said in "The Art of War" that if you have any options
aside from bloodshed, then take them into serious consideration. To paraphrase
him: anyone who has seen war and can say it is a good thing, is lying. What did
Sun Tzu mean? He meant that if you can outsmart your opponent, and avoid a full
on confrontation with the enemy, such as a potential sniper attack against a
full platoon, then you should pursue the avenues necessary to avoid this
attack. In my opinion, albeit, I wasn't there; Lt. Col West was a man who
realized that he had seen more combat than any of the soldiers under his
command. He had enough bad memories to last a lifetime, and perhaps he wanted
to spare his soldiers the same. By discharging a pistol into a nearby sand
bucket, he was simply making it clear that he was the one in control. In
interrogation, that's a NON-VIOLENT means of obtaining information. If
anything, it was a fucking reality check. The reality that no one in America's
military that is trying to crucify West will accept, is that if Lt. Col West
had discharged that pistol into the head of the man leading the assassination,
no one would know. So he took the honorable route and got fucked. War really is
hell. ]
-----------?----------??????????????-?????---------------????????????----------
PA1Nv5x06----------------------------------------------------------------------
[ RantRadio News Update ]
[ Cimmerian ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv5x06
-?------------?---???????---???---?????????????--------------????????----------
[ RantRadio is now THREE stations! ]
- RantRadio Industrial - Industrial Electronica for your Mind!
The station you've known and loved for 5 years is continuing it's reign as your
favourite Industrial/EBM/Synthpop station. RR-Industrial will also soon to be
expanding it's programming to blocked themes of styles so you can explore
futher the multi-layered genres within this style of music.
- RantRadio Punk - The Virtual Mosh Pit!
We're opening our doors to the punk scene with the brand new RantRadio Punk
station. All the best in Punk and Ska music will be heard 24/7 through RR-Punk.
We look forward to your thoughts and comments on this new venture.
- RantRadio Talk - Speak Your Mind!
The great talk programming on RantRadio gets its own home with an all talk
station. This will give the shows on RR-Talk more room to grow and allow for
re-airing of the shows for people miss them the first time around. The expanded
programming will also include the now classic Sean Kennedy Rants, classic
RantRadio show rebroadcasts and also other great spoken word artists.
[ RantTV is expanding it's programming! ]
- Seattle Wireless TV
Seattle Wireless TV has now joined the family of Rant! Seattle Wireless TV is a
very well put together show and they already have 4 episodes you can watch
right from their site. The hosts of the show are Peter Yorke and Michael Pierce
and I extend a warm welcome to them from RantTV!
- The Broken
Kevin Rose's great new TV Show - The Broken will soon be in rotation on RantTV!
We contacted Kevin and he was more than happy to get his great program aired on
our Internet TV station. You can usually find Kevin on the TV Show Screen
Savers on TechTV. The Broken has currently one episode, which you can download
from The Broken website and is put out Bi-Monthly. Thanks Kevin!
- The Sean Kennedy TV Show
The Sean Kennedy Show has returned for a triumphant second season! We've
trimmed the chaf and added our long time friend from the WhatTheHell?!? days,
Unkle Dak. You can watch the show live 8PM PDT every Monday night. Come hear
all the news they don't want you to here.
- DJ Pulse
A great EBM / Industrial audio and video DJ has joined our family on RantTV.
You can catch him live on Thursday nights at 7PM PDT starting December 11,
2003.
--------------------------------------------
Cimmerian - Man of Many Media
Audio - www.rantradio.com
Video - www.ranttv.com
Projects - www.rantmedia.ca
--------------------------------------------
-----------?----------??????????????-?????---------------????????????----------
PA1Nv5x07----------------------------------------------------------------------
[ RANT: The Unholy Season ]
[ alienbinary ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv5x07
-?------------?---???????---???---?????????????--------------????????----------
It's only been ten days since October 31st, yet walking into a department
store is like stepping into a mine-field. As if it wasn't bad enough having to
dodge the mechanical reindeer, I have to duck under the waving hand of santa's
elves, which, since they are short, happen to wave at about groin level, and on
top of all that, there are the remains of several disemboweled goose-down
pillows on the floor, in a really bad attempt at fake snow. I intended to start
off and continue to rant about how much I hate the holiday season, but
something far more pressing comes to mind.
Exactly why is it important to turn every single place of commerce into a
satellite chain of the hallmark santa clause empire? Why, exactly, can't I pick
up a prescription without the pharmacist wearing a rudolph the red-nosed
reindeer foam ball around his or her nose? It's really not necessary. I imagine
that for someone trying to fill an order of some low level anti-psychotic or
anti-anxiety agent, this might be very very intimidating. These poor people
have enough trouble sorting fact from well, whatever goes on in their minds,
and now they have to duck and weave through a twisted fantasy world
superimposed upon the drugstore, so they can stay sane? That's impossible.
There's no logic in this whatsoever. I honestly think that there is a time and
a place for being festive-- primarily based on the idea that it's not anywhere
near me-- and I don't think that a place of serious business, or a place where
people go to get private things accomplished is one of these places.
I'm trying to picture myself taking seriously any establishment where
'jingle bells' has usurped the usual doorbell knocker, and there are empty
boxes in the middle of the lobby, wrapped in gold and red paper covered with
white stuff. If it weren't any of the three most unholy and disturbing months
of the year, this wouldn't be remotely acceptable. Yet somehow, we seem to
forget that for the months of November, December and January, it's perfectly
fine to tell little children that gravity doesn't apply to reindeer, and a fat
man who's jolly enough can survive on the north pole.
Actually, since we ARE on the subject of things we tell children this time
of year, how come it's not acceptable on Halloween for kids to accept candy
from strangers, yet they should aim to sit on the lap of some scary old dude
with fake white hair? For chrissakes the warning signs are ALREADY THERE with
the phony Santa Clause. To begin with, he's already assumed an alias, he's
wearing a lot of makeup, a hefty disguise, and there's a vast network of these
people. Don't get me wrong, I'm not down on store santa clauses, they're just
people trying to make ends meet. But I do have trouble with this hypocrasy.
So let's return to this business of how reality seems to go on vacation for
three months a year, and no one but me finds this remarkeable. The truth is,
every November, all reason and logic fly out the window. During this time
period, it becomes suddenly important for people to clear out their bank
accounts and pour the contents into the laps of various vendors. In return, the
vendors give them things they can't even keep, but have to actually give to
other people. To further strengthen my point, the majority of the time these
things invariably find themselves to be gifts in the hands of some recipient
who'll scratch their head and wonder "what the hell?"
Only in December, towards the end of the month, do people suddenly see a
novelty in buying (either for themselves or other people) engraved pocket
knives, vibrating pen massagers, novelty sized altoids tins, light-up earrings,
stuffed polar bears with fake bottles of coca-cola sewn to their paws, and
aprons that say "kiss the cook." Only on January first does it make sense to
purchase a large amount of alcohol, with the sole intention of regurgitating it
all later after you've passed the three levels: unsteadiness, innebriation and
completely beyond repair. The fourth level of alcohol intake is either called
"having my stomach pumped" or "I can't remember if it tasted this bad on the
way down." And before I finish trashing new years eve, let's not forget that
half the world watches a tv screen every New Years Eve/January First to see a
stupid ball on a stick covered in light bulbs drop about ten or fifteen feet in
times square. I really will be impressed if someone can tell me of any other
time of the year where this is considered anything but just plain bizarre.
Now, I suppose some of you are wondering why I haven't attacked Hannukah or
Kwanzaa. Well, I have to be honest. Those two holidays seem to keep the fuck
out of my way. I have yet to be in a department store and get assailed by a
clerk whose job it is to remind me that Kwanzaa is just around the corner, and
wish me a happy harvest so that I might further patron their store. It just
doesn't happen.
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PA1Nv5x08----------------------------------------------------------------------
[ Dissecting the Twenty Dollar Bill ]
[ Turnspike ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv5x08
-?------------?---???????---???---?????????????--------------????????----------
A Further Disection of the new $20 bill.
By Turnspike
There has been an absence of information about the new United States Twenty
Dollar bill beyond the description released by the Bureau of Engraving and
Printing itself. You can take a look at their website and see the list of
security features that they reveal that is also synthesized and put out by
every media outlet in the free world.
http://www.moneyfactory.com/newmoney/
I think it is also interesting that they have high quality, full-size images of
the new twenty on their site...and they ENCOURAGE you to print them out. This
almost seems to be a shot accross the bow to every kid who thinks they can
continue to run copies on their laser printer and pass them off as real. I
think this very fact shows that the Feds make the new Twenty using colors that
cannot be reproduced using the CMYK process that most home and business
printers use. Only by tweaking the Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, or Black inks that
your printers hold, can you hope to achieve these colors. Furthermore, you can
forget about duplicating metalics with a CMYK printer.
As an experienced printing press operator, I want to tell you what I have
observed about the new twenty, starting with the new color scheme. The bill has
7 colors on the front and 4 colors on the back. Here is a list of the colors,
in the order they were printed on the bill:
Front Side:
Light Blue - Background Eagle and "USA TWENTY"
Light Green - Background concentric hexagon design
Peach - Background concentric hexagon design
Dark Green - Treasury seal, and serial number
Black - Federal Reserve Seal, Portrait
Metalic Gold - Eagle perched on shield
Metalic Copper - "20" Lower right corner
Back Side:
Light Green - Background concentric hexagon design
Peach - Background concentric hexagon design
Golden Yellow - Scattered "20"s
Dark Green - White House landscape
I determined the order of colors based on common printing principals and
observation on how the inks lay on top of each other, but I couldn't actually
determine which metalic on the front was laid down first. There were no
tell-tale signs. The metalic copper is color shifting, which means the hues
change when viewed at different angles. I suspect this is done by printing the
dark green under the metalic. When the light catches the metalic you see it's
hues, when the light misses it you see more of the color underneath, so it
appears more green.
Other than this new color scheme, the new bill also features other security
designs, some we have seen before, some new. Here's a list of the noticeable
ones:
The concentric hexagons in the background
The blue background eagle
The blue "Twenty USA USA Twenty" script behind the Treasury Department Seal
The Watermark
The micro-printed "The United States of America 20 USA 20 USA" between the
bottom-left "20" and Jackson's shoulder
The golden yellow "20"s scattered to the right and left of the White House on
the back
The diamond-shaped lattice pattern in the bottom-right "20" on the back
The blue and red threads in the paper
Two textured, grooved patches on the bottom center of the back
The security strip embedded in the paper
Even with this impressive list of features, counterfeiting is inevitable. New
fake Twentys have already been passed to unsuspecting retailers who had no idea
what the new bills were supposed to look like. And even when the public wised
up to these new features, conterfeiting has become sophisticated enough to
duplicate most of them, and how many features will still be noticable when the
new Twentys have been in circulation for a year or two anyway? The limited
experience I have had spotting counterfeit bills were fakes that had been
purposely worn to gain credibility. So,the Treasury Department is like the MPAA
in that they are spending millions to beat a counterfeiting problem that will
be defeated shortly anyway. But according to the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and
Printing's own figures, only .01% to .02% of all bills in circulation are
counterfeit. So is it really worth all the millions to develop this new bill
and and then spend an estimated 32 million dollars to advertise it? How much is
your money worth to you?
-----------?----------??????????????-?????---------------????????????----------
PA1Nv5x09----------------------------------------------------------------------
[ Computer Security and the cgi-bin ]
[ alienbinary ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv5x09
-?------------?---???????---???---?????????????--------------????????----------
Before I go on, I should like to make it clear that I write this not as a
tutorial, but a commentary that people in the field of ComSec really should
heed. I find it more than a little frightening that major systems are running
millions of dollars worth of security software, yet a kid who has the
intelligence required to assemble a jigsaw puzzle can walk in the front door of
an allegedly secure system, right through something as basic as a search
engine.
The attitude seems that most people would rather be locked out of their own
computers than let anyone else in. [ ed. note: yes, I find this to be odd, too.
- alienb ] It seems that the first thing every company, every home and every
small business wants to know first is how tight the security is. Don't get me
wrong, I'm a freelance technician. My bread and butter, or rather, what keeps
me from starving, is the fact that people occassionally hire me to audit their
company's network, and give a report on my findings to the IT department.
However, there comes a time when you have to wonder just what the hell is going
through the minds of these same executives, when certain holes don't get
patched, but seem to exponentially get more volatile through under-educated
administrators.
So what does this have to do with search engines and cgi-bins? Well, if we
consider the supposition that all computer security 'experts' are clamping down
tighter and tighter, we should wonder why some of the oldest
"tricks-in-the-book" haven't been dealt with.
The dark truth about the cgi-bin in relation to search engines, is that
they seem to go into every aspect of every server connected to the internet. I
know, that's the JOB of a spider-bot, but it seems peculiar that it hasn't been
addressed what the bot should never, ever catalog. Anyone familiar with any
filesystem can write out a path to a certain file. This is how you navigate
from point a to point b in the command line.
For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, for whatever
reason, I'll illustrate using my laptop.
[localhost:~] alienb% cd ~/desktop
[localhost:~/desktop] alienb% ls -las
total 568
0 drwx------ 8 alienb staff 264 Nov 13 21:58 .
0 drwxr-xr-x 131 alienb staff 4410 Nov 13 21:59 ..
72 -rw-rw-rw- 1 alienb staff 33796 Nov 13 21:58 .DS_Store
384 -rw-rw-rw- 1 alienb staff 196608 Sep 27 18:10 .FBCIndex
0 drwxrwxrwx 3 alienb staff 264 Sep 27 18:10 .FBCLockFolder
112 -rw-r--r-- 1 alienb staff 0 Aug 31 2002 Icon?
0 drwxr-xr-x 93 alienb staff 3118 Nov 12 17:03 docs
0 drwxr-xr-x 24 alienb staff 772 Nov 13 19:58 downloads
[localhost:~/desktop] alienb%
There. I've just gone from point a to point b via the command line in
FreeBSD. Point a was "~/", which indicates home/root (my starting point), and
the desktop folder. [ Note: those of you curious, I'm using XDarwin. ] Now,
understand that the command "cd" means change directory. That command is stored
in /bin.
On a webserver, the same concept applies, but there's another folder,
/cgi-bin. The cgi-bin is an incredibly important part of a webserver. In order
to execute most remote commands, system administrators use pipelines in Perl to
accomplish important tasks. There's a problem, however, when people forget that
the cgi-bin has a command line too.
Still not convinced?
Look at your URL menu. If you log into google, and do a search, you'll
notice that the path to the destination page is actually the result of a
script. The most basic example is "www.google.com/query?=", followed by
delineaters telling the host whether safe mode is off, and what language to
find results in. This being considered, everyone should now know where I'm
going with this. Because every cgi-bin action can create a temp file on a
server, and because search engines still have not written safeguards against
cataloguing these files, it is actually possible to search for these results.
So what, big deal, right? Wrong. As a matter of fact, restricted-access
programs can be abused, by knowing the syntax. Therefore, if a server is
running a CGI (common gateway interface) phonebook program, as many
organizations provide to help serve the staff of a facility, it is possible to
access these records just by typing { /cgi-bin/phone.pl?=xxx } into the search
field of any major search engine. Being a strong beleiver in security and
privacy, I was extroardinarily upset to find how easy it was to access this
information. It's not only unnecessary to post this info on the net, but it's
outright negligance to not take proper actions to prevent outside users from
accessing secure documents.
In case you haven't made the connection from my example of navigating the
command line, and navigating the cgi-bin, let me explain. Entering a URL
(Universal Resource Locator) into the address bar, and hitting "go," or
whatever it is that your browser has, you are sending a command to the
internic, requesting access to a web page. A web page is simply a file on a
computer, nothing more, really. In this sense, instead of saying "cd ~/www/,"
an outside attacker can just form the URL as a request, locating the file or
directory specified. Notice that the path of the phone.pl program and the
desktop or www folder isn't formed much differently? That's because in essence,
you're opening a directory, listing it, and parsing the contents, the way one
does when they navigate the command line in UNIX.
So, are we screwed, or can we fix this?
Then, why, have we, as security professionals, not plugged this hole? To
tell you the truth, I have no idea. What I can say, is that it's important for
people to be aware that no matter how much you restrict access to your server,
something as harmless as a spider-bot can accidentally open you up to attack.
The truth is, there is no 100 percent secure system, except the one that's
still in a box, far from a power supply, a means of connecting to a phone line,
and locked in a safe with the key permanently glued inside the unlock
mechanism.
This, obviously, is a hideous waste of a machine, and is, in itself, a
stupid notion. If you intend to do what I just illustrated, then save yourself
money and don't buy the computer in the first place.
We can, however solve these problems, or try to, and that's the purpose of
this article: to expose the fact that nothing has changed despite ongoing
concerns, and to help administrators better secure their servers, so that this
sort of exploit can be avoided.
First of all, everyone should be aware of the robots.txt file, located
either in the root directory of the webserver: (ie: "~/www/robots.txt"), or in
the webserver's public_html folder. (ie: "~/apache/public_html/robots.txt".) [
editor's note: these paths will vary completely from system to system, these
are just references. ] By creating this file, you can delineate what is to NOT
allowed to be catalogued by a search engine's spider bot.
Another thing that's important to note, is that default installations of
things like forums and message boards can leave you vulnerable. For chrissakes,
if you're using Hypermart's WWWBoard software, don't make the path
"www.yoursite.com/wwwboard/." Have some common sense. Because the world wide
web is a listing of directories as much as it's an interface that parses HTML,
it's incredibly easy for an outsider to simply drop into the default directory,
because they know where to look. Try naming the messageboard, and instead of
using passwd.txt, be creative. Use a random name that simple exploit scanners
will not search for.
It all boils down to not being half-assed.
If you're going to set up a webserver, and you intend to keep it secure,
don't let things slide. Read the source code, and look up advisories relating
to any software packages before you install them; otherwise, you're not doing
your job as an admin, and if you find yourself in a jam because of your own
laziness somewhere down the line, you will have no one to blame but yourself.
references:
1. The Computer Emergency Response Team, Carnegie Mellon University
http://search.cert.org/query.html?rq=0&ht=0&qp=&qs=&qc=&pw=100%25&ws=1&la=&qm=0
&st=1&nh=25&lk=1&rf=2&oq=&rq=0&si=1&col=xtracert&col=trandedu&col=vulnotes&col=
techtips&col=research&col=certadv&col=incnotes&col=secimp&qt=search+engines
2. Apache.org Open Source Webserver Documentation, On robots.txt files
http://httpd.apache.org/docs/misc/howto.html
3. CGI Security dot com, "Search Engines: the ignored threat"
http://www.cgisecurity.com/lib/search_engines.htm
4. SecuriTeam.com, Hyperseek 2000 Search Engine Vulnerability Adisory
http://www.securiteam.com/securitynews/5WP0E1F3FU.html
???????----------PA1Nv5x10-----------------------------------------------------
[ Best of RantRadio IRC, November]
[ Rantradio IRC ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv5x10
-?------------?---???????---???---?????????????--------------????????----------
The award for the single most bizarre thing I've ever seen after only ten
seconds of being logged into the IRC:
<megaprogman> once you get the hang of it, cutting fruit up with a large
knife
is rather fun
-------------------------------------------------- one liners -----------------
<Server736> wait... something smells like onions... and it's not my nuts
------ brainstorming --------------------------------- ( for slogans ) --------
<CimmWork> What do people think of:
<CimmWork> RantRadio Punk - The Virtual Mosh Pit
<CimmWork> RantRadio Talk - Speak Your Mind
<Niacin> Why not RantRadio Punk: Your MallCore Sucks.
<apanthropy> RantRadio Talk: Hit you in the face with a shovel!
<Vio
lent_Solution> rantradio punk hang yourself from the tree
<OrganGrinder> RantRadio Punk : Because you'll run out of blood
eventaully
<Violent_Solution> rantradio punk. chloroform the dog
<Niacin> RantRadio Punk: Fuck you, You Uppity Fuckin' Fuck.
<Niacin> RR Punk: "Meat isn't murder, it's delicious." - Johnny Rotten
-------------------------------------------- This is just CRUEL... ------------
<maliciouskitten> one of my guy friends sent me a pic of his dick for
fun, and
so i sent it to his sister without telling her who's dick it was and she was
like, mmm that's one big juicy cock
<maliciouskitten> and then i TOLD her
<maliciouskitten> HAHAHAHAH
*Asylumboy inhales deeply
------------------------- learn oriental philosophy fast! ---------------------
<megaprogman> its a zen type question, no real answer
*SignOff spliff: #rantradio (Read error: Connection reset by peer)
<MissConduct> ahh ic
*spliff [~timmy@anon-362444.ip.alltel.net] has joined #rantradio
*mode/#rantradio [+v spliff] by Cow
<MissConduct> kinda like what is the sound of one hand clapping?
<megaprogman> yes
<megaprogman> to me the sound of one hand clapping sounds like WHIFFFF
<MissConduct> lol
<MissConduct> okay, now i'm bored
<megaprogman> go here : http://www.somethingawful.com/
IRC Quote submitted by Manuel O'Kelly -----------------------------------------
<megaprogman>
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/12/02/Opinion/Police_overreaction.shtml
<megaprogman> niacin, your our man in the miami streets, why did you
report the
recent riots?
<megaprogman> i just found out about this
<megaprogman> this crap is getting insane
<Manuel_Okelly> the only reason I knew is because I know five people who
pretty
much boarded the hippie bus and went about two weeks ago
<Manuel_Okelly> the media made very little coverage of it
<megaprogman> grrr, im about to go spastic here
<megaprogman> fucking country
<Manuel_Okelly> yeah, remember when Sean was asking why Americans don't
riot?
well its not about whats in the water, its about whats going over the air waves
* maliciouskitten sighs
<megaprogman> seriously
<Manuel_Okelly> yeah
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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PA1Nv5x11----------------------------------------------------------------------
[ Let's Play Oligopoly ]
[ Manuel O'Kelly ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv5x11
-?------------?---???????---???---?????????????--------------????????----------
aka: Fuck the **AA
Well if anyone has ever listened to my Associations rant (one of only two,
lazy bastard) they will know that I think that the business associations of
today are nothing more then a way for corporations to get together and
create business trust like policy and price control. I am not the only one,
considering the RIAA and MPAA have both been threatened with anti-trust
suits. Associations also serve other interests, like pooling money for
defensive and offensive lawsuits (think little twelve year olds), lobbying
(lots of money here), and those wonderful copyright.org commercials you see
at the movie theaters and on TV.
So if this wasn't enough, now, they wish to have legislation passed that
will hamper the ability of the people to bring anti-trust lawsuits against
them, since they could not form a monopoly... right. So lets jump to the
future, if you now get sued you can not oppose them. You can not bring up
the fact that they are forcing you to buy their product at their price, and
you will not be able to bring cases against them even if they use the
association to fix the price. Recent lawsuits have been brought against the
RIAA by webcasters who want to stream music on the internet, in this future
they will not be able to. There is another word for these "associations"
that have developed, economists know them as:
n. pl. oligopolies
A market condition in which sellers are so few that the actions of any one
of them will materially affect price and have a measurable impact on
competitors.
[oligo- + (mono)poly.]oligopolistic (-lstk) adj.
So by using this definition, from dictionary.com, we realize that if an
association is formed between these few firms, the actions could possibly be
planned for the benefit of all members. More specifically by acting together
they would eliminate competition between themselves forming a monopoly, or
more specifically a collusive oligopoly. Competition from outside of the
association does not benefit from the pooled resources and insider deals,
and is quickly dispatched. Several entities in the market act as one which
makes anti-trust suits difficult to prove. Unless someone looks deeply at
the transactions they only see the outer look and feel of a market in
competition.
The question here is how much organization does it take to create an
oligopoly monopoly? Traditionally the oligopoly was a transitional phase of
the largest companies in the market before they bought out or crushed the
competition and became a full fledged monopoly. By having such large assets
at their disposal this firm could affect competitors simply by lowering the
price by pennies, thus driving the competition into a price war that would
put them below the marginal cost of production (where profits are made or
lost). Anti-trust laws were designed to counteract this dark side of
capitalism. So long as no one could take a large percentage of the market
without being broken up into smaller companies, competition kept prices at
their optimized levels. It turns out that weaker but still affective
monopolies can be created by industries who work together to:
1. Establish a systematic way of behavior which is also partly encouraged by
economics.
2. A single source for lobbyist actions, which are paid for by donations
from the individual companies.
3. Working together to fund precedence setting court cases that further
their goals, like the one that 'the register' has pointed out so well.
The anti-trust laws make any form of collaboration between companies
illegal but their evolutionary affects only created a new way to further
monopolistic goals. Although the association system is loose it still serves
the purpose of unified action. When this unified action is combined with the
money and political clout that can be generated by these corporations few
political
institutions can compete, and others are just simply overrun. Sites like the
oligopolywatch.org monitor suspicious economic and political actions by the
largest companies in markets who use their bulk to their advantage.
What should be even more alarming is that even though the Associations are
legally stable, the corporations within them continue to merge. It is
unlikely that these mergers will capture the market as a traditional
monopoly would, but it still shows that the association will only maintain
the bare minimum of members it needs to stay under the the radar of
anti-trust legislation. This means that it is now more important then ever
to break up the five or six that generally tend to exist in each
organization. Taking such action would set ground breaking cases setting
precedence for how many companies it is comfortable to keep in a market and
why. For instance say in the utilities markets, it is fairly unrealistic to
have too many companies, houses only have one set of lines running to them
after all. Within the recording industry it is best to have large amounts of
competition to keep the marginal cost of production equal to the marginal
revenue. The trick is to do this in such a way that maintains a markets
ability for free entrance and exit of firms. Unless more firms are allowed
to enter the market to compete in traditional and innovative ways the
extensive number of artists that wish to record and distribute their work
will still have to flow through the narrows of the RIAA.
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PA1Nv5x12----------------------------------------------------------------------
[ Personal Responsibility ]
[ alienbinary ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv5x12
-?------------?---???????---???---?????????????--------------????????----------
Two teenagers were arrested for attempting to hijack a car, when police
prompted them for a motive, they responded that they were reenacting a scene
from the game "Grand Theft Auto." As per usual, right wing conservatives popped
out of the woodwork to condemn the game, and, some people even voiced a desire
for the acquittal of the kids. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the TV news
show images of carjackings every single night? Are we inclined to believe that
the news media is to be held responsible for the very stories they report?
What about 'the Matrix', and all the subsequent attempts by defense
attorneys to get their clients acquitted on the basis that they were too
heavily
influenced by the massive violence shown in the movie? Well, I'm pretty sure
that it's the job of parents and teachers to help children separate fact from
fiction. It should be about as taxing on the human brain to determine whether
what occurs on-screen is acceptable in off-screen behavior as it is to play a
game of tic-tac-toe; and I mean without effort. The rational part of our minds
should tell us that if in everyday life, you run into remarkably few 20 mm
cannons, yet when you watch television, you see large amounts of heavy
hardware, that it's an on-screen element only.
According to people like Tipper Gore, the PMRC, and other christian
supremacy groups, children have become drastically stupider since when I was a
little kid. I say this, because if I had shot someone when I was ten years old,
I would have gone straight to jail, assuming the death penalty wasn't active.
No one would have held a vigil for me, no one would have tried to lay the blame
on my cartoons or super mario brothers, not a damn thing. Instead, I would have
been locked up for the rest of my natural life. Nowadays, a ten year old kid
can open fire on a dense crowd with an automatic weapon, and the first person
everyone wants to blame is Marilyn Manson. Now, I have a remarkably different
take on these things.
If a kid is capable enough to strip and assemble a Tec-9, semiautomatic
assault rifle, correctly load the 30 round clip, and dispatch several random
people, it's my opinion, admittedly I'm no expert, that he has a rather high
faculty for constructing elaborate concepts. I mean, for that matter, how many
adults can use a Tec-9? I can't. I've never had reason to, nor would I know how
to get the damn safety off. This being the case, I surmise that if the child
can use the gun, he can use his brain just as well. Simply put, let's hear it
for personal responsibility. What about the golden rule? If you don't want to
get shot, then don't shoot your friend. Besides, if they took 'the Matrix' so
seriously, kids wouldn't dress so poorly these days.
Then of course, we have loud, angry rock music. First of all, the body
count per hard rock song, with the exception of Drowning Pool and Biohazard is
a lot lower than the same count in mainstream rap. In fact, how many people are
aware that the reason baggy clothes became so popular was because of a trend
that began in prison? When your clothes are baggy, you can hide weapons much
easier. So by that logic, we would have to blame Snoop Dogg for the majority of
concealed weapons, as this sort of clothing was trademark for him. At the same
time, I think rap is just as innocent. If we try to blame music, at least, a
genre of music, I would blame Gospel and Country. Nothing is more apocalyptic
and depressing as a really emotional church revival song. When everyone is
focused on the war of good and evil, it seems only sensible to arm yourself and
rid the world of those who are considered evil. So where would someone get the
list of qualities needed for judging evil? Don't worry, thankfully, gospel
music has been able to tell us who's going to hell-- already. Think about it.
It's got to be a lot easier to be a righteous soldier of Christ when you have a
checklist for qualified sinners.
And why do I mention country music? There's a pretty solid belief that you
can dissect every country song and come out with three major components. One,
you find that the narrator lost his truck, two, his dog, three, his wife; in
fact, that's the punch line of an old joke about country music. In my opinion,
if I had to listen to music that spoke exclusively about losing people, I'd
probably give up on trying to make friends altogether. Wait, no, I wouldn't.
You know why? Because I believe that music is just music. Art is NOT something
that should be used to dictate your life, but to influence you. The only reason
music would ever be the cause of violence is because of how terrible the
majority of music has become. Several times a week, I find myself violently
angry because I walk into the radio station where I work and I hear those utter
morons in 'Good Charlotte' whining about stupid things I just don't care about.
I hate them. I won't even apologize if you're a fan. Personally, I think that
being a fan of Good Charlotte might be the first sign of a major problem, but I
digress.
So what's left to blame? Absolutely nothing. So what do we do? Start owning
up to the things you do. Neo did NOT make Eric Harris or Dylan Kleibold
assemble pipebombs and shoot up their school, 'Don't be a Menace...' is NOT
responsible for drug abuse, and for the love of god, how do you justify
kaszinski. This guy didn't even own a television. So, in closing, I'll leave it
at this: if you're an idiot, and you act like one, expect to be treated like
one.
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PA1Nv5x13----------------------------------------------------------------------
[ Kill your Television ]
[ alienbinary ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv5x13
-?------------?---???????---???---?????????????--------------????????----------
Since the beginning of mainstream television broadcasting there has been a
gradual decline in the health and well being of Americans in general. According
to a study done by Psychophysiologist Thomas Mulholland of Stony Brook
University, reiterated in an article found on Disinfo.org, after only 30
seconds of television viewing, the brain produces what are called alpha waves.
In case youre wondering what Alpha Waves are, as I was when I found this
statistic, alpha waves are produced by the brain when your brain is unfocused,
unconscious and at its most receptive. To put this another way, after 30
seconds of viewing the television screen, the average human being falls into a
completely hypnotic state, in which its possible to suggest behaviors and
attitudes.
How it works:
A Cathode Ray Tube, or CRT screen projects
images at a very fast rate, giving the brain
the illusion of a fluid picture. In fact, the
screen is flickering incredibly fast. The
flickering triggers a mechanism in the brain
that produces alpha waves, increasing your
receptiveness.
Think about how often you drive by billboards advertising the Big
Mac, and the number of times that such advertisements have actually made you
pull into the nearest fast food restaurant and buy a cheeseburger. Now consider
the number of times you've been watching television, and the thought I should
go to McDonalds has surfaced in your mind. When the brain is in an overly
receptive state, even the simplest advertisements can manipulate you into doing
whatever the intention of the advertiser is. In this case, to buy and consume
fast food. Since the rate of television viewing increases every year, the
number of advertisements must also increase. In fact, the average American
child views 20,000 advertisements a year. The correlation is relatively
obvious. If 20,000 commercials are viewed by a person every year, and those
commercials are viewed in a state similar to a coma, in which any action can be
suggested... imagine how many people bought Big Macs or Whoppers in the middle
of the night, not entirely knowing why. To make matters much worse, Americans
arent simply getting more obese, theyre getting more obese and being told to
feel bad about it. When you put the issue like that, it's a really sick
situation, don't you think?
Try and count on your fingers the number of overweight people on television
that were portrayed as sexy or chic. The numbers are relatively slim. Relative,
that is, to the number of women shown in various dangerously heightened states
of eating disorders, who are portrayed as sexy and hip. I encourage everyone to
get more excercise and to consume less junk food, but the way to convince
people, in my opinion, should not involve making life-threatening eating
disorders look sexy.
A Washington Post Poll, October 12, 1995 determined a set of statistics
that I find alarming. According to the Post, while 59 percent of Americans can
name the three stooges, only 17 percent can name at least three Supreme Court
justices. Now, thats really odd, because there are more possible answers for
the latter statistic. In fact, that statistic doesnt even require the Justices
to be current.
In the past year, several cases have been covered by the supreme court that
have re-defined our Constitution, namely; same-sex marriage, search and
seizure, and several cases defining the role of the President of the United
States of America. There isnt anyone in this room who hasnt felt the impact of
at least one of those issues, but the majority of us, myself included, werent
even alive for the three stooges.
As television and mass media continue to dominate our mental landscapes, we
become the containers for useless information, so much such information, that
we cant remember the important things we shouldnt forget. Ill admit, I can tell
you the number of seasons that total the span of the "X-Files," I can name
almost every member of the cast of the Simpsons, I can even tell you which
supermodel is signed with which soft drink commercial. I can do all of this,
but I honestly have trouble remembering my social security number. Perhaps
there are worse things I could forget. After all, social security will likely
dry up by the time I qualify for it.
Anyway, let me offer another statistic. In the last year, I've read
approximately 14,000 pages from books I read for pleasure. This is almost as
impressive as the number of television commercials viewed by the average
American child: 20,000. I'll offer one more ratio for you to think about before
moving on: The ratio of daily video rentals to public library items checked out
is 2:1. Every day, its estimated by the TV-Turnoff Network, 6 million videos
are rented, but only 3 million items are checked out of a library. Not only
does this attest to how much we watch movies and how little time we spend
reading, but to our financial stupidity as well. The majority of library cards
are completely free of charge, provided by the state and federal government,
however, each rental of a video can cost from 3-5 dollars. That means that a
potential 30,000,000 dollars a day is siphoned from the American populace, if
for no other reason than they dont see a novelty in reading anymore.
So what do we do? What can be done? Simple. Get a hammer and exact some
justice on your own terms. That TV set has had it coming for a long time. Note:
when smashing a CRT screen, it can discharge huge amounts of electricity.
Consider shooting the set from a distance, just for safety reasons.
1. Disinformation Archives,
[ available online: http://www.disinfo.org/ ]
2. Wes Moore, "Television: Opiate of the Masses,"
[ available online: http://www.disinfo.com/archive/pages/article/id1149/pg2/ ]
3. Psychphysiologist Thomas Mulholland, Stony Brook University
4. The TV Turnoff Network,
[ available online: http://www.tvturnoff.org/ ]
5. More Reading, Less TV,
[ available online: http://www.tvfa.org/reading.htm ]
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PA1Nv5x14----------------------------------------------------------------------
[ Outro ]
[ alienbinary ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv5x14
-?------------?---???????---???---?????????????--------------????????----------
--------------------------------------------------------------
"...This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun
and animals, despise riches, give alms to everyone that
asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your
income and labor to others, hate tyrants... read these
leaves in the open air every season of every year of
your life, re-examine all you have been told at school
or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your
own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem..."
-- Walt Whitman, Preface to Leaves of Grass
--------------------------------------------------------------
So now you have it. PA1N Magazine, Volume Five. Face the reality that we're
here to stay, to say what we feel, to voice our opinions, and to be heard. The
people that allow themselves to be silenced are the people that allow
themselves to be gagged. Those who don't see the hand closing in to cup over
their mouths.
We're a group of misfits, outlaws, activists, hackers, deckers; you name a
particular counterculture, PA1N probably has it's foot in there somewhere. I
didn't spread this or promote it, it propagated on it's own. There's an
important lesson in that, one that people have to recognize. The lesson is that
when you're telling the truth, good people will step aside to hear what you
have to say.
As usual, I have things lined up for future issues, ideas and projects
rolling around in my head, but these will take time. Currently, people are
working on assembling photo montages for project loki. I go on long subway
rides and walks through the city to find graffiti that's intriguing and worthy
of note. I'm always on alert for something that needs to be said, but hasn't.
This magazine was born out of an idea, a concept that I wasn't sure would ever
make it to realization, but here I am, writing the conclusion to the fifth
issue. As I wrap up this fifth volume, I want to thank every single person who
has contributed, given feedback, or done anything to help with this project.
It's because of people like them, that I don't intend to stop putting out PA1N
Magazine, even if some issues take longer than others... :D I encourage
everyone to start taking control of their own lives, to start cutting down on
the mass media bullshit that they're fed day in and day out, and to start
thinking for themselves.
alienbinary, editor in chief
