<div dir="ltr"><div>Nicolas, brilliant analysis. The ironic fact is, despite all his left/radical leaning libertarianism, Ron Paul voted with his party to keep the laws enabling the government to spy on our private correspondances enacted after September 11 intact.<br><br></div>Murat<br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Dec 22, 2014 at 1:31 AM, Nicholas Roberts <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:niccolo.roberts@gmail.com" target="_blank">niccolo.roberts@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------<br><div dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.rickperlstein.net/the-invisible-bridge" target="_blank">http://www.rickperlstein.net/the-invisible-bridge</a><br><br><br><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wikileaks_Party#2013_Election" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wikileaks_Party#2013_Election</a><br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Dec 21, 2014 at 10:24 PM, Nicholas Roberts <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:niccolo.roberts@gmail.com" target="_blank">niccolo.roberts@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>Snowden has only leaked details of what was well known since the beginning of the internet (actually since the telecommunications revolution in the 70s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Puzzle_Palace" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Puzzle_Palace</a>)<br><br></div>the military did and do fund core, basic, and advanced research and development of the internet<br><br></div>the worlds first domain name registrar was started by a NSA general, under Clinton<br><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_Solutions#Registry_and_registrar_business" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_Solutions#Registry_and_registrar_business</a><br><br></div>I asked Gore Vidal about this at the Sydney Town Hall 10 years ago, and ever the wit, Vidal said "doesnt suprise me they got in on the ground floor". Thing is, "they" built the ground floor<br></div><div><br></div>Chomsky often describes the freedom created by military funding of academic research and development, certainly compared to corporate short termism. He states his own department was funded by the military at various stages<br><br></div>he also talks about how he would correspond with his daughter on on these academic-military networks during the death squad era in South America, again with complete freedom<br><br></div>the internet isn't broken, its exactly the same structure as it always was<br><br></div>although its a shocking confirmation of what was considered "conspiracy theory" kind of speculation, Snowdens leaks are just details, nothing fundamentally new<br><br></div>personally, I am fearful that Obama's Army, the netizen generation, that deify Snowden and Assange (remember him?) are being drawn into right wing reactionary politics via the internet libertarianism of the Snowden - Ron Paul philosophy. Adam Curtis calls this the Californian Ideology <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Californian_Ideology" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Californian_Ideology</a> <br></div><div> <br></div>Snowden didnt even work for the NSA, he worked for a private corporation on contract<br><br></div>I am concerned the Snowden/Wikileaks generation are going to become the invisible bridge to radical right wing politics in America and the world<br><br></div>Rick Perlstein has written a new book called the Invisible Bridge, about the fall of Nixon and the rise of Reagon and how the "hippy" and "new left" generation converted to Thatcherism/Reagonism... <br><a href="http://www.rickperlstein.net/the-invisible-bridgei" target="_blank">http://www.rickperlstein.net/the-invisible-bridgei</a><br><br></div>Adam Curtis also covers this era quite well, and interviews corporate and political psychological researchers who predicted the landslide victories. People who would never admit to their friends or political pollsters that they where going to vote conservative/Republican aligned lifestyle values with Reagan and Thatcher and gave them a landslide mandate<br><br></div>Snowden and Wikileaks are the invisible bridge to the Rand Paul President,both Snowden and Assange are Ron Paul fanboys and the love is mutual<br></div><br></div>Ron Paul talks a lot about ending the EPA, the IRS, the Fed and now the NSA<br><br></div>but, thing is, in his world, those nominally democratically accountable public institutions will be COMPLETELY replaced with contractors or maybe even directly corporate powers<br><br></div>Imperialism isnt going to go away, its just being completely privatized<br><br></div>its not just new media that ended with Snowden, its the Hopey Changey Obama illusion that the netizens preposterously projected on the world<br><br></div>now, they push an even more dangerous and preposterous delusion<br><br></div>right wing internet libertarianism, the Californian Ideology<br><br></div>anyone who doubts this, might look at the devastation wrecked on the Australian parliamentary Greens by the Wikileaks Party in the last elections<br><br></div><div>personally, I am more concerned about private concentrations of power and resources than public concentrations of power and resources<br><br></div><div>at least with public concentrations, there are real, if generally ineffective, leverages for change. With private concentrations there is only customer power. lol<br></div><div><br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><div><div><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Dec 20, 2014 at 3:25 PM, Renate Terese Ferro <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:rferro@cornell.edu" target="_blank">rferro@cornell.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------<br>
Nick thank so much for sharing these links to your work on empyre.<br>
Your mention of Snowden reminded me of a recent May 2014 discussion on<br>
empyre featuring Geert Lovinck's e-flux essay "Hermes on the Hudson:<br>
notes on new media after Snowden."<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.e-flux.com/journal/hermes-on-the-hudson-notes-on-media-theory-after-snowden/" target="_blank">http://www.e-flux.com/journal/hermes-on-the-hudson-notes-on-media-theory-af<br>
ter-snowden/</a><br>
<br>
Lovink categorically believes that the Snowden affair was the<br>
watershed moment when new media practices came to a grinding halt,"<br>
The Snowden revelations in June 2013 mark the symbolic closure of the<br>
³new media² era. The NSA scandal has taken away the last remains of<br>
cyber-naivety and lifted the ³internet issue² to the level of world<br>
politics."<br>
<br>
You wrote:<br>
>The materials that Snowden and the affiliated journalists have released<br>
>starkly shows us the present state of things. Our metadata is being<br>
>siphoned up in uncountable volumes...In short, we are all informers on<br>
>ourselves.<br>
We are dependent on these systems, on a global infrastructure that<br>
none of us could build and maintain, for lack of capital, time,<br>
resources, knowledge... What this suggests to me, then, is perhaps we<br>
need to rethink our forms of communication....But perhaps we need to<br>
consider something even more drastic, that being a rethinking of the<br>
very semiotic systems we use to communicate. This is the conceit of a<br>
more recent project of mine called _sylloge of codes_<br>
(<a href="http://www.sylloge-of-codes.net/" target="_blank">http://www.sylloge-of-codes.net/</a>). ....<br>
<br>
You continue with, So while we continue to inform on ourselves, we can<br>
also begin to think of more poetic codes, using that underutilized and<br>
always-under-attack faculty, the imagination.<br>
<br>
I am intrigued with your invitation to use poetic code and imagination<br>
to counter this new environment and can't help think also about the<br>
new book co-authored by Galloway, Thacker and Warke, EX-COMMUNICATION<br>
( look back to our May<br>
2014 discussion for a more in-depth discussion of this text) that<br>
proposes to sever communication networks. You seem to be inviting us<br>
to do the opposite and am wondering if perhaps we can go back to not<br>
only your work but also Ricardo's work from Week 1 to think about<br>
these possibilities. You and Claudia promised more about your<br>
project. Looking forward to hearing that as well.<br>
<br>
<br>
Renate Ferro<br>
Visiting Assistant Professor of Art,Cornell University<br>
Department of Art, Tjaden Hall Office: 306<br>
Ithaca, NY 14853<br>
Email: <<a href="mailto:rferro@cornell.edu" target="_blank">rferro@cornell.edu</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:rtf9@cornell.edu" target="_blank">rtf9@cornell.edu</a>>><br>
URL: <a href="http://www.renateferro.net" target="_blank">http://www.renateferro.net</a> <<a href="http://www.renateferro.net/" target="_blank">http://www.renateferro.net/</a>><br>
<a href="http://www.privatesecretspubliclies.net" target="_blank">http://www.privatesecretspubliclies.net</a><br>
<<a href="http://www.privatesecretspubliclies.net/" target="_blank">http://www.privatesecretspubliclies.net/</a>><br>
Lab: <a href="http://www.tinkerfactory.net" target="_blank">http://www.tinkerfactory.net</a> <<a href="http://www.tinkerfactory.net/" target="_blank">http://www.tinkerfactory.net/</a>><br>
<br>
Managing Co-moderator of -empyre- soft skinned space<br>
<a href="http://empyre.library.cornell.edu/" target="_blank">http://empyre.library.cornell.edu/</a><br>
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</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br></div></div><span><font color="#888888">-- <br><div><div dir="ltr"><br>-- <br>Nicholas Roberts<br><a href="http://www.niccolox.org" target="_blank">www.niccolox.org</a><div><a href="http://www.bigdatadrupal.org" target="_blank">www.bigdatadrupal.org</a></div><div><br></div></div></div>
</font></span></div>
</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div><div dir="ltr"><br>-- <br>Nicholas Roberts<br><a href="http://www.niccolox.org" target="_blank">www.niccolox.org</a><div><a href="http://www.bigdatadrupal.org" target="_blank">www.bigdatadrupal.org</a></div><div><br></div></div></div>
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