Re: [-empyre-] Encounters with the right

[Henry Warwick <henry.warwick@sbcglobal.net>]

I'm surprised that there's been no notice or discussion of the fiasco at
indymedia.

for those who don't know, this is the scoop in a greatly abbreviated form.

Two servers of Indymedia's, hosted by Rackspace in London UK, had images
that the Italian and Swiss police found less than optimal. Because Rackspace
is an American ISP, the FBI were called in, and using an MLA (Multi Lateral
Agreement) went into the Rackspace server farm PDQ and pulled the server,
giving Rackspace *no reasons* (or even feeble excuses) for their actions.
They simply handed over this international warrant and pulled the drives.

In so doing, they knocked out the hosting for the following indymedia
co-operatives:

ambazonia, uruguay, andorra, pl, western massachussetts, indymedia radio.uk,
antwerpen, nice, nantes, lilles, euskalherria, liege, oost-vlaanderen,
belgrade, wvl, portugal, prague, brasil, italy, germany.

Basically, most of western Europe was down.

Several days later, the drives were returned, but must now be considered
compromised, and it will take some time to get all the sites back on line.

What the FBI did (with the Swiss and the Italians) was pure and simple
fascism.

You can chit chat about Deleuze and Derrida until you're blue in the face,
but these monsters don't care. They are out to destroy and intimidate voices
of resistance. This episode with indymedia ( and all the info being
unearthed by Russ Kick over at http://www.thememoryhole.org ) only goes to
show that the actual situation is far more dire than many care to consider.

That Mr Gate's Kerry signs would be uprooted by his neighbour in (let me
guess - you're in Takoma Park? I lived there in 85-86 and my ex-GF still
lives there) a liberal suburb of the belly of the beast, the Heart of the
Empire, only serves to show just how far it has all gone. When nutty
paleoconservatives like Pat Buchanan and Ron Paul are voices of reason in
the Republican Party, things are very very bad.

There was a gallery owner here in SF, who had paintings displayed that were
extremely critical of the war in Iraq. Some right wing jerk came to the
gallery and beat her severely in the face. She quickly closed the gallery.

We are dealing with fascists. Bush even said "a dictatorship would be so
much easier..."

I am quite convinced that this election is going to be pivotal for the
future of the United States. If Bush is re-elected, I believe that there is
a greater than even chance that 2004 will be the last meaningful national
election for quite some time. I would also put a Civil War (or a level of
unrest that will make the 1960s look like kindergarten) by 2008 at better
than even odds. 

I do not consider Kerry any great shakes, but Kerry is a man capable of
reasoning and higher mental functioning. He is not completely devoid of
perspective. He is every bit the imperialist that Bush is, but: he (like
Clinton before him) has enough sense to know that the Empire is temporary,
and that the only sustainable situation is one of a multipolar geopolitic -
the unipolar demands of Empire will bankrupt and destroy the country, and
cause much needless suffering and destruction.

The Bush Junta is a dangerous bunch, and must be defeated.

If the United States of America expects to survive into the second half of
the 21st century, it must renounce and walk away from its Empire. Not
through defeat, but through conscious public display and action.

To paraphrase John Cage, the United States of America must become 6% of the
world's population, no more, no less.

Sorry if this has very little to do with Art, but after the indymedia
fiasco, and reading Mr Gates's story and blog and dealing with my own little
nightmares, I felt compelled to comment.

I wish you all the very best.

HW