6.9.04
here is Stephen Eric Bronner's case for the enlightenment project (via philosophy.com), ironically in the same issue of logos online as Habermas' case for the kantian project.
The insufficiencies of Adorno/Horkheimer in terms of social and political action are well understood. Indeed one could say that they haven't got further than what Marx referred to as "sensuous human activity, practice" in his Feuerbach theses. To the current generation of critical theorists this points to the requirement of a categorical frame of analysis, which doesn't merely describe social power structures, but also contains a normative aspect about the social processes required to overcome them. Bronner however, seems to argue that this lack of normative instruction somehow points to a rehabilitation of enlightenment ideals, as understood in opposition to the counter-enlightenment, which in turn seems to be a conservative critique of liberalism. This seems a bit quick indeed, and strangely unrelated in the way he presents it. He doesn't actually seem to engage the first generation of critical theory, as much as he is regressing past them into a pre-Hegelian state of ahistorical affirmation, lastly in order to defend the liberal pretence which Adorno/Horkheimer have exposed.
This truly feels like a reduction of critical potential. At best, it seems to allow for a liberal concept of justice with a set of normative criteria to articulate social injustices, however, without questioning the institutional embeddedness of these criteria in a particular type of society. Criticism no longer seems to be understood as a reflective moment of a rationality that is rooted in the historical process. Doesn't this blind the idea of capitalism as being a cause for the transformation of social rationality, or even, eclipse the notion of instrumental reason altogether?
And how about Habermas' Kantian "project" in international constitutionalism? Isn't this "project" ignorant of how Kantian idealism essentially reified Protestant morality and economic rationality in the institutions of the rising bourgeoisie? Can we afford to ignore Hegelmarxist objections in our discourse of modernity?
there seems to be a lot of this around these days, usually with 911 mentioned in the first paragraph...
"Horkheimer and Adorno offered not simply the critique of some prior historical moment in time, but of all human development. This made it possible to identify enlightenment not with progress, as the philistine bourgeois might like to believe, but rather—unwittingly—with barbarism, Auschwitz, and what is still often called “the totally administered society.”
Such is the picture painted by Dialectic of Enlightenment. But it should not be forgotten that its authors were concerned with criticizing enlightenment generally, and the historical epoch known as the Enlightenment in particular, from the standpoint of enlightenment itself: thus the title of the work. Their masterpiece was actually “intended to prepare the way for a positive notion of enlightenment, which will release it from entanglement in blind domination.”4 Later, in fact, Horkheimer and Adorno even talked about writing a sequel that would have carried a title like “Rescuing the Enlightenment” (Rettung der Aufklärung).5 This reclamation project was never completed, and much time has been spent speculating about why it wasn’t. The reason, I believe, is that the logic of their argument ultimately left them with little positive to say. Viewing instrumental rationality as equivalent with the rationality of domination, and this rationality with an increasingly seamless bureaucratic order, no room existed any longer for a concrete or effective political form of opposition: Horkheimer would thus ultimately embrace a quasi-religious “yearning for the totally other” while Adorno became interested in a form of aesthetic resistance grounded in “negative dialectics.” Their great work initiated a radical change in critical theory, but its metaphysical subjectivism surrendered any systematic concern with social movements and political institutions. Neither of them ever genuinely appreciated the democratic inheritance of the Enlightenment and thus, not only did they render critique independent of its philosophical foundations,6 but also of any practical interest it might serve."
The insufficiencies of Adorno/Horkheimer in terms of social and political action are well understood. Indeed one could say that they haven't got further than what Marx referred to as "sensuous human activity, practice" in his Feuerbach theses. To the current generation of critical theorists this points to the requirement of a categorical frame of analysis, which doesn't merely describe social power structures, but also contains a normative aspect about the social processes required to overcome them. Bronner however, seems to argue that this lack of normative instruction somehow points to a rehabilitation of enlightenment ideals, as understood in opposition to the counter-enlightenment, which in turn seems to be a conservative critique of liberalism. This seems a bit quick indeed, and strangely unrelated in the way he presents it. He doesn't actually seem to engage the first generation of critical theory, as much as he is regressing past them into a pre-Hegelian state of ahistorical affirmation, lastly in order to defend the liberal pretence which Adorno/Horkheimer have exposed.
This truly feels like a reduction of critical potential. At best, it seems to allow for a liberal concept of justice with a set of normative criteria to articulate social injustices, however, without questioning the institutional embeddedness of these criteria in a particular type of society. Criticism no longer seems to be understood as a reflective moment of a rationality that is rooted in the historical process. Doesn't this blind the idea of capitalism as being a cause for the transformation of social rationality, or even, eclipse the notion of instrumental reason altogether?
And how about Habermas' Kantian "project" in international constitutionalism? Isn't this "project" ignorant of how Kantian idealism essentially reified Protestant morality and economic rationality in the institutions of the rising bourgeoisie? Can we afford to ignore Hegelmarxist objections in our discourse of modernity?
there seems to be a lot of this around these days, usually with 911 mentioned in the first paragraph...
More US inspired freedom and bravery in Iraq
Iraq extends al-Jazeera ban and raids offices
Luke Harding in Baghdad, Monday September 6, The Guardian
Iraqi security officers stormed al-Jazeera's Baghdad offices and sealed the newsroom with red wax at the weekend after the US-backed interim government banned the Arabic television station from broadcasting in the country.
The raid followed a decision by the prime minister, Ayad Allawi, to close the station temporarily in August because of its apparent failure to support the US occupation. Officials said al-Jazeera had now been shut indefinitely because it had ignored the original ban.
Iraq extends al-Jazeera ban and raids offices
Luke Harding in Baghdad, Monday September 6, The Guardian
Iraqi security officers stormed al-Jazeera's Baghdad offices and sealed the newsroom with red wax at the weekend after the US-backed interim government banned the Arabic television station from broadcasting in the country.
The raid followed a decision by the prime minister, Ayad Allawi, to close the station temporarily in August because of its apparent failure to support the US occupation. Officials said al-Jazeera had now been shut indefinitely because it had ignored the original ban.
New study highlights discrimination in use of anti-terror laws
2 September 2004 --- The Institute of Race Relations published a catalogue that details how hundreds of Muslims have been arrested under terrorism powers before being released without charge; how the special powers granted by parliament to tackle terrorism are being deployed in other spheres, such as in routine criminal investigations or in the policing of immigration; how the media have become 'embedded' in a process that leads to the stigmatisation of Muslims as terrorists
Anti-migrant roar ends in whimper, Arun Kundnani, 8 July 2004,
Earlier this year, the Daily Express dedicated numerous front pages to the threat of '1.6 million Gipsies' who were 'ready to flood in' to Britain on 1 May, when the European Union was expanded. Today, an article on page eight of the paper admits that only 10,000 have come.
'dad's army' style war imagery used to warn readers of the impending invasion.
2 September 2004 --- The Institute of Race Relations published a catalogue that details how hundreds of Muslims have been arrested under terrorism powers before being released without charge; how the special powers granted by parliament to tackle terrorism are being deployed in other spheres, such as in routine criminal investigations or in the policing of immigration; how the media have become 'embedded' in a process that leads to the stigmatisation of Muslims as terrorists
Anti-migrant roar ends in whimper, Arun Kundnani, 8 July 2004,
Earlier this year, the Daily Express dedicated numerous front pages to the threat of '1.6 million Gipsies' who were 'ready to flood in' to Britain on 1 May, when the European Union was expanded. Today, an article on page eight of the paper admits that only 10,000 have come.
'dad's army' style war imagery used to warn readers of the impending invasion.
5.9.04
very interesting speech from Ted Honderich, The Way Things Are
interesting reflections on equality, freedom and the absurdity of 'hierarchical' democracy, plus his 'principle of humanity' (taking rational steps to get people out of 'bad lives'). covers broad spectrum of ideas, although the transcription of the speech is quite shit with some odd syntax going on it places, it's definitely worth a read...
3.9.04
Small Group of Dedicated Rich People Change the World
NEW YORK—Cynics often say that one man can't make a difference in a huge and complicated world. But this week in New York, a few tremendously rich and powerful men have given those naysayers reason to reconsider their views. At the Republican National Convention, which concludes Thursday, a handful of dedicated men will change the world...
2.9.04
Since both permanent war and heroism are difficult games to play, the Ur-Fascist transfers his will to power to sexual matters.
This is the origin of machismo (which implies both disdain for women and intolerance and condemnation of nonstandard sexual habits, from chastity to homosexuality). Since even sex is a difficult game to play, the Ur-Fascist hero tends to play with weapons -- doing so becomes an ersatz phallic exercise.
+
de sade
=
in the 1970's a private cinema in London was raided for showing the film
Four men of power, referred to as the President, the Duke, the Bishop, and the Magistrate, agree to marry each other's daughters as the first step in a debauched ritual. With the aid of several young male collaborators, they kidnap sixteen young men and women (eight male, eight female), and take them to a palace near Marzabotto. With them are four middle-aged women, also collaborators, whose function will be to recount various arousing stories for the men of power, and who will in turn exploit their victims sexually and sadistically.
The film depicts the three days spent at the palace, during which time the four men of power devise increasingly abhorrent tortures and humiliations for their own pleasure. In one of the film's most infamous scenes, a young woman is forced to eat the feces of the President; later, the rest of the victims are presented with a giant meal of human feces. (The "feces" was created with chocolate sauce and orange marmalade, which ironically enough made it quite palatable to the actors.) At the end of the three days, the victims that have not chosen to collaborate with their tormentors are murdered in various gruesome ways: scalping, branding, having tongues and eyes cut out.
pasolini
This is the origin of machismo (which implies both disdain for women and intolerance and condemnation of nonstandard sexual habits, from chastity to homosexuality). Since even sex is a difficult game to play, the Ur-Fascist hero tends to play with weapons -- doing so becomes an ersatz phallic exercise.
+
de sade
=
in the 1970's a private cinema in London was raided for showing the film
Four men of power, referred to as the President, the Duke, the Bishop, and the Magistrate, agree to marry each other's daughters as the first step in a debauched ritual. With the aid of several young male collaborators, they kidnap sixteen young men and women (eight male, eight female), and take them to a palace near Marzabotto. With them are four middle-aged women, also collaborators, whose function will be to recount various arousing stories for the men of power, and who will in turn exploit their victims sexually and sadistically.
The film depicts the three days spent at the palace, during which time the four men of power devise increasingly abhorrent tortures and humiliations for their own pleasure. In one of the film's most infamous scenes, a young woman is forced to eat the feces of the President; later, the rest of the victims are presented with a giant meal of human feces. (The "feces" was created with chocolate sauce and orange marmalade, which ironically enough made it quite palatable to the actors.) At the end of the three days, the victims that have not chosen to collaborate with their tormentors are murdered in various gruesome ways: scalping, branding, having tongues and eyes cut out.
pasolini
1.9.04
"The Good Old Naughty Days"
Brilliantly rude French porn from 1905-1930, all in black and white with an endless succession of short scenarios featuring threesomes, dogs nurses, nuns and prostitutes.
"It is quite boring actually, although it is quite explicit. It is a sequence of short films and they tend to get a bit repetitive, although they have tried to bring in a dog, and then some nuns, to make it more interesting." Commenting on concern for the animal’s welfare he is quick to claim that the animal is not being abused, adding: "It is not forced to do anything. It appears to be a willing partner."
It features a dozen hardcore shorts made between 1905 and 1930 which Reilhac says show that the modern porn industry "did not invent anything - everything had already been filmed by our great-grandparents".
Rev John Tait of Pilrig St Paul’s Church says the film sounds [?] "disgusting" and brands any move to show it "unacceptable". He is calling for the clergy to be involved in the decision on whether or not to screen the film, but adds: "I do not believe that it should be shown in a cinema."
And Rev James Dewar of Juniper Green adds: "I don’t think it is good or right for people to see this kind of film . . . I should think that the Christian view in Edinburgh is that it should not be shown."
Inglan then, Inglan now, Inglan tomorrow- progress? nil points!
Brilliantly rude French porn from 1905-1930, all in black and white with an endless succession of short scenarios featuring threesomes, dogs nurses, nuns and prostitutes.
"It is quite boring actually, although it is quite explicit. It is a sequence of short films and they tend to get a bit repetitive, although they have tried to bring in a dog, and then some nuns, to make it more interesting." Commenting on concern for the animal’s welfare he is quick to claim that the animal is not being abused, adding: "It is not forced to do anything. It appears to be a willing partner."
It features a dozen hardcore shorts made between 1905 and 1930 which Reilhac says show that the modern porn industry "did not invent anything - everything had already been filmed by our great-grandparents".
Rev John Tait of Pilrig St Paul’s Church says the film sounds [?] "disgusting" and brands any move to show it "unacceptable". He is calling for the clergy to be involved in the decision on whether or not to screen the film, but adds: "I do not believe that it should be shown in a cinema."
And Rev James Dewar of Juniper Green adds: "I don’t think it is good or right for people to see this kind of film . . . I should think that the Christian view in Edinburgh is that it should not be shown."
Inglan then, Inglan now, Inglan tomorrow- progress? nil points!
31.8.04
In an old joke from the German Democratic Republic, a German worker gets a job in Siberia; aware of how all mail will be read by censors, he tells his friends: "Let's establish a code: if a letter from me is written in blue ink, it is true; if it is written in red ink, it is false." After a month, his friends get the first letter written in blue ink: "Everything is wonderful here: stores are full, food is abundant, apartments are large and properly heated, movie theatres show films from the west, there are many beautiful girls ready for an affair - the only thing unavailable is red ink..."
Is this not how ideology functions? We "feel free", now as then, when we lack the language - "the red ink" - to articulate our unfreedom. It is the basic task of critical art and culture to provide the red ink.
Is this not how ideology functions? We "feel free", now as then, when we lack the language - "the red ink" - to articulate our unfreedom. It is the basic task of critical art and culture to provide the red ink.
looks fairly pleased doesnt he
Braun was tackling this enterprise during a period in history when even brief, fleeting glimpses of partial nudity were considered a major taboo. The Cold Was was in full effect Nations hated each other, and pornography seemed the perfect vehicle to incorporate a multinational police apparatus. In the non-unified European countries like Sweden, Denmark, West Germany, Italy, France and Spain -- printing boxes for porn or getting film developed was extremely dangerous. Everything Braun did during the early sixties and 1970's was a felony, and penalties in every nation (including the United States) were as swift and brutal as one might expect.
But Braun refused to shoot conventional, soft-core flicks. He considered half-assed flashy titty shows "a brain-damaging institution created by a bunch of criminals to blind people, to milk gullible masses to the limit"
They are demonized, they are hated, they are sometimes violently attacked.
They are freedom.
pornographer bios
What is your opinion/wisdom/information about the Thatcher/Mann/Archer?/Equatorial Guinea/Zimbabwe plot? It is a fascinating story which touches on all sorts of dark and dangerous ground. The news started in March, the Guardian has a good introduction herea guide to what is going on here, and a who's who as well, it's all fascinating, sinister and weird.
Monbiot is obviously fuming...
"Mann and Thatcher (Harrow, too thick for anywhere else) belong to a class which still believes it has a God-given right to oversee the lives of the Africans. Among Lady Thatcher's friends with homes on the slopes of Table Mountain was John Aspinall (Rugby, Oxford, Royal Marines), the gambling millionaire, zoo-keeper and remnant of that species of upper-class British fascist that used to keep the Duke of Windsor company. Aspinall believed that most of the human population should be culled by means of "benign genocide". He argued that "medical research should be funded into abortion, infanticide, euthanasia and birth control" and described his third wife as "a perfect example of the primate female, ready to serve the dominant male and make his life agreeable". Aspinall worked with Mangosuthu Buthelezi to undermine the African National Congress. He argued that South Africa should be split into 30 bantustans.
"Aspers" was the hub of a circle of rightwing extremists who sought to meddle in the affairs of Europe's former colonies. Robin Birley, the son of one of his closest friends, was mauled by one of Aspinall's tigers when he was 12, but this did their relationship no harm. Birley's mother left her husband for Aspinall's chum Sir James Goldsmith, and both Aspers and Birley (who inherited Annabel's, London's poshest nightclub, from his father) stood as candidates for Goldsmith's Referendum party. Some years ago, I had a furious row with Birley after he told me that he believed he had not just a right but a duty to give help to Renamo, the South African-backed force which terrorised the people of Mozambique."
Mann is a fascinating, evil character... and has just been convicted and scentenced to ten years in Zimbabwe, the arbiter of international justice!
"Mann founded his company, Executive Outcomes, with the British businessman Tony Buckingham. Buckingham counted among his friends the privy counsellor and former leader of the Social Democrats, Lord Steel.Until 1997 when he resigned, Steel was a director of one of Buckingham's other African interests, a company called Heritage Oil and Gas. He said at the time that his resignation was due to the company's restructuring, but later reports said that he resigned because of its connections with Executive Outcomes." (executive Outcomes has a history of dodgy actions... investigations and stories are linked from this page. These incluse protecting oil instalations in Angola. I met a PR man from Chevron Texaco (who I have heard described as 'running Angola') he told me that Mann worked for Chevron Texaco in Angola a few years ago, they were also involved in Sierra Leone when the British Army was there 'peacekeeping')
Meanwhile, the Equatorial Guinean 'opposition' hide out in (ex imperial rulers) Spain in waiting
Among the cast list of mercenaries and rightwing businessmen dragged into the alleged coup affair, Severo Moto, the self-styled "president" of the Equatorial Guinea government in exile, has emerged as a pivotal figure. Well-placed South African sources said that he was flown to neighbouring Mali on the eve of the coup, in preparation for his unveiling as the country's new leader.
But Mr Moto, who has been in exile in Spain since 1999, yesterday denied any involvement with Sir Mark Thatcher or the alleged coup attempt in the former Spanish colony. "The claims are absolutely false," he told the Guardian. "I didn't even know [Lady] Thatcher had a son." However, other sources in Madrid said it was common knowledge that Mr Moto had been planning to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema .... more
Obviously this all has something to do with OIL. Loads has been discovered in recent years in West Africa, which is causing renewed instability and conflict in the region (as predicted in this page on the 16th of March.
It looks like the US and UK governments are getting dragged into the row now.
any other news? sources? opinions?
Monbiot is obviously fuming...
"Mann and Thatcher (Harrow, too thick for anywhere else) belong to a class which still believes it has a God-given right to oversee the lives of the Africans. Among Lady Thatcher's friends with homes on the slopes of Table Mountain was John Aspinall (Rugby, Oxford, Royal Marines), the gambling millionaire, zoo-keeper and remnant of that species of upper-class British fascist that used to keep the Duke of Windsor company. Aspinall believed that most of the human population should be culled by means of "benign genocide". He argued that "medical research should be funded into abortion, infanticide, euthanasia and birth control" and described his third wife as "a perfect example of the primate female, ready to serve the dominant male and make his life agreeable". Aspinall worked with Mangosuthu Buthelezi to undermine the African National Congress. He argued that South Africa should be split into 30 bantustans.
"Aspers" was the hub of a circle of rightwing extremists who sought to meddle in the affairs of Europe's former colonies. Robin Birley, the son of one of his closest friends, was mauled by one of Aspinall's tigers when he was 12, but this did their relationship no harm. Birley's mother left her husband for Aspinall's chum Sir James Goldsmith, and both Aspers and Birley (who inherited Annabel's, London's poshest nightclub, from his father) stood as candidates for Goldsmith's Referendum party. Some years ago, I had a furious row with Birley after he told me that he believed he had not just a right but a duty to give help to Renamo, the South African-backed force which terrorised the people of Mozambique."
Mann is a fascinating, evil character... and has just been convicted and scentenced to ten years in Zimbabwe, the arbiter of international justice!
"Mann founded his company, Executive Outcomes, with the British businessman Tony Buckingham. Buckingham counted among his friends the privy counsellor and former leader of the Social Democrats, Lord Steel.Until 1997 when he resigned, Steel was a director of one of Buckingham's other African interests, a company called Heritage Oil and Gas. He said at the time that his resignation was due to the company's restructuring, but later reports said that he resigned because of its connections with Executive Outcomes." (executive Outcomes has a history of dodgy actions... investigations and stories are linked from this page. These incluse protecting oil instalations in Angola. I met a PR man from Chevron Texaco (who I have heard described as 'running Angola') he told me that Mann worked for Chevron Texaco in Angola a few years ago, they were also involved in Sierra Leone when the British Army was there 'peacekeeping')
Meanwhile, the Equatorial Guinean 'opposition' hide out in (ex imperial rulers) Spain in waiting
Among the cast list of mercenaries and rightwing businessmen dragged into the alleged coup affair, Severo Moto, the self-styled "president" of the Equatorial Guinea government in exile, has emerged as a pivotal figure. Well-placed South African sources said that he was flown to neighbouring Mali on the eve of the coup, in preparation for his unveiling as the country's new leader.
But Mr Moto, who has been in exile in Spain since 1999, yesterday denied any involvement with Sir Mark Thatcher or the alleged coup attempt in the former Spanish colony. "The claims are absolutely false," he told the Guardian. "I didn't even know [Lady] Thatcher had a son." However, other sources in Madrid said it was common knowledge that Mr Moto had been planning to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema .... more
Obviously this all has something to do with OIL. Loads has been discovered in recent years in West Africa, which is causing renewed instability and conflict in the region (as predicted in this page on the 16th of March.
It looks like the US and UK governments are getting dragged into the row now.
any other news? sources? opinions?
Q: Though you cherish your Kantian project, are you not, on its behalf, acting like an advocate for a “military humanism?”
27.8.04
26.8.04
Have you all seen the 'this land' animation? If not check out some of the jibjab animations, they are hilarious
FREEDOM AT LAST
Claire Cozens and agencies, in the Guardian, Thursday August 26, 2004
Media organisations are preparing a formal protest to the Iraqi authorities after dozens of journalists in Najaf, including the entire BBC team, were forced from their hotel at gunpoint and detained by local police.
more
The police officer who burst into the Guardian's room, wearing a balaclava and pointing a Kalashnikov, said in Arabic: 'We're going to fuck the lot of you."
Claire Cozens and agencies, in the Guardian, Thursday August 26, 2004
Media organisations are preparing a formal protest to the Iraqi authorities after dozens of journalists in Najaf, including the entire BBC team, were forced from their hotel at gunpoint and detained by local police.
more
The police officer who burst into the Guardian's room, wearing a balaclava and pointing a Kalashnikov, said in Arabic: 'We're going to fuck the lot of you."
24.8.04
"Die Technik des Schriftstellers in dreizehn Thesen:
I. Wer an die Niederschrift eines grösseren Werks zu gehen beabsichtigt, lasse sich's wohl sein und gewähre sich nach erledigtem Pensum alles, was die Fortführung nicht beeinträchtigt.
II. Sprich vom Geleisteten, wenn du willst, jedoch lies während des Verlaufes der Arbeit nicht daraus vor. Jede Genugtuung, die du dir hierdurch verschaffst, hemmt dein Tempo. Bei Befolgung dieses Regimes wird der zunehmende Wunsch nach Mitteilung zuletzt ein Motor der Vollendung.
III. In den Arbeitsumständen suche dem Mittelmass des Alltags zu entgehen. Halbe Ruhe, von schalen Geräuschen begleitet, entwürdigt. Dagegen vermag die Begleitung einer Etüde oder von Stimmengewirr der Arbeit ebenso bedeutsam zu werden wie die vernehmliche Stille der Nacht. Schärft diese das innere Ohr, so wird jene zum Prüfstein einer Diktion, deren Fülle selbst die exzentrischen Geräusche in sich begräbt.
IV. Meide beliebiges Handwerkszeug. Pedantisches Beharren bei gewissen Papieren, Federn, Tinten ist von Nutzen. Nicht Luxus, aber Fülle dieser Utensilien ist unerlässlich.
V. Lass dir keinen Gedanken inkognito passieren und führe dein Notizheft so streng wie die Behörde das Fremdenregister.
VI. Mache deine Feder spröde gegen die Eingebung, und sie wird mit der Kraft des Magneten sie an sich ziehen. Je besonnener du mit der Niederschrift eines Einfalls verziehst, desto reifer entfaltet wird es sich dir ausliefern. Die Rede erobert den Gedanken, aber die Schrift beherrscht ihn.
VII. Höre niemals mit Schreiben auf, weil dir nichts mehr einfällt. Es ist ein Gebot der literarischen Ehre, nur dann abzubrechen, wenn ein Termin (eine Mahlzeit, eine Verabredung) einzuhalten oder das Werk beendet ist.
VIII. Das Aussetzen der Eingebung fülle aus mit der sauberen Abschrift des Geleisteten. Die Intuition wird darüber erwachen.
IX. Nulla dies sine linea - wohl aber Wochen.
X. Betrachte niemals ein Werk als vollkommen, über dem du nicht einmal vom Abend bis zum hellen Tage gesessen hast.
XI. Den Abschluss des Werkes schreibe nicht im gewohnten Arbeitsraume nieder. Du würdest den Mut dazu in ihm nicht finden.
XII. Stufen der Abfassung: Gedanke - Stil - Schrift. Es ist der Sinn der Reinschrift, dass in ihrer Fixierung die Aufmerksamkeit nur mehr der Kalligraphie gilt. Der Gedanke tötet die Eingebung, der Stil fesselt den Gedanken, die Schrift entlohnt den Stil.
XIII. Das Werk ist die Totenmaske der Konzeption."
Walter Benjamin, Einbahnstrasse (1928), S. 46-49
I. Wer an die Niederschrift eines grösseren Werks zu gehen beabsichtigt, lasse sich's wohl sein und gewähre sich nach erledigtem Pensum alles, was die Fortführung nicht beeinträchtigt.
II. Sprich vom Geleisteten, wenn du willst, jedoch lies während des Verlaufes der Arbeit nicht daraus vor. Jede Genugtuung, die du dir hierdurch verschaffst, hemmt dein Tempo. Bei Befolgung dieses Regimes wird der zunehmende Wunsch nach Mitteilung zuletzt ein Motor der Vollendung.
III. In den Arbeitsumständen suche dem Mittelmass des Alltags zu entgehen. Halbe Ruhe, von schalen Geräuschen begleitet, entwürdigt. Dagegen vermag die Begleitung einer Etüde oder von Stimmengewirr der Arbeit ebenso bedeutsam zu werden wie die vernehmliche Stille der Nacht. Schärft diese das innere Ohr, so wird jene zum Prüfstein einer Diktion, deren Fülle selbst die exzentrischen Geräusche in sich begräbt.
IV. Meide beliebiges Handwerkszeug. Pedantisches Beharren bei gewissen Papieren, Federn, Tinten ist von Nutzen. Nicht Luxus, aber Fülle dieser Utensilien ist unerlässlich.
V. Lass dir keinen Gedanken inkognito passieren und führe dein Notizheft so streng wie die Behörde das Fremdenregister.
VI. Mache deine Feder spröde gegen die Eingebung, und sie wird mit der Kraft des Magneten sie an sich ziehen. Je besonnener du mit der Niederschrift eines Einfalls verziehst, desto reifer entfaltet wird es sich dir ausliefern. Die Rede erobert den Gedanken, aber die Schrift beherrscht ihn.
VII. Höre niemals mit Schreiben auf, weil dir nichts mehr einfällt. Es ist ein Gebot der literarischen Ehre, nur dann abzubrechen, wenn ein Termin (eine Mahlzeit, eine Verabredung) einzuhalten oder das Werk beendet ist.
VIII. Das Aussetzen der Eingebung fülle aus mit der sauberen Abschrift des Geleisteten. Die Intuition wird darüber erwachen.
IX. Nulla dies sine linea - wohl aber Wochen.
X. Betrachte niemals ein Werk als vollkommen, über dem du nicht einmal vom Abend bis zum hellen Tage gesessen hast.
XI. Den Abschluss des Werkes schreibe nicht im gewohnten Arbeitsraume nieder. Du würdest den Mut dazu in ihm nicht finden.
XII. Stufen der Abfassung: Gedanke - Stil - Schrift. Es ist der Sinn der Reinschrift, dass in ihrer Fixierung die Aufmerksamkeit nur mehr der Kalligraphie gilt. Der Gedanke tötet die Eingebung, der Stil fesselt den Gedanken, die Schrift entlohnt den Stil.
XIII. Das Werk ist die Totenmaske der Konzeption."
Walter Benjamin, Einbahnstrasse (1928), S. 46-49
20.8.04
"This project explores airplane sickness bags as a potential site for political activism. We have developed a slogan "You’re making me sick" and designed rubber stamps with George W. Bush’s address at The White House printed on them. Users are encouraged to modify the airplane sickness bags on flights they may take to send a message to the President. Whether left behind for future passengers to ponder or actually mailed to The White House, this project co-opts the airline industry as a global distribution system for messages of disgust addressed to our world leaders."
more from morgan schwartz
more from morgan schwartz
18.8.04
Remember all the climate change reports and peak oil stuff from January and February? Well, that all got cleared out of the press to make way for the war in Iraq and our FEAR of terrorism, which is kept simmering by a constant stream of red alerts and round-ups of muslims.
It has taken Britain a good kick in the Bocastle to look beyond their newspapers which scream about fanatics, war, terror etc. etc. to look up at the skies and around at the wacky weather and realise...
... that something is going on, when bizzare things like Britain being battered by waves hurling giant rocks start to happen and other reports start saying that the problem is not confined to Britain...
... Extreme weather threatens to trigger aid crisis
Sophie Arie in Rome and Jason Burke, Sunday August 15, 2004, The Observer
The world's biggest international aid agency has warned that tens of millions of the world's poorest people are threatened by an unprecedented wave of freak and extreme weather, and that aid workers may be unable to cope with the global humanitarian crisis that might result.
Clouds of locusts, cyclones, massive floods and devastating droughts are wreaking havoc in many of the world's poorest countries, and agencies don't have the resources to cope, said John Powell, deputy executive director of the World Food Programme.
priorities strait: I say ban weapons (and all motor racing), put armies to work feeding the world's poor and cleaning up the mess they've made, and invest the money in renewable energy and we might just be ok. meanwhile we should all be enjoying ourselves a lot just in case ... simple really...
"A starved, decaying thing, [analytic philosophy] paces obsessively around even the smallest scrap of anima:
Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent. (Tractatus 7)
Reasonable Wittgenstein scholars tear their hair out at the prolific misapplication of this quote. Fergus Kerr once remarked to me that he wished Wittgenstein had never written it, and that he's sure a living Wittgenstein would think the same. But can we blame our hated post-positivist brothers and sisters? With so little license to speak of ethics, such shrinking ground on which to stake a politics, can we blame their retreat into mysticism and/or scientism?"
Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent. (Tractatus 7)
Reasonable Wittgenstein scholars tear their hair out at the prolific misapplication of this quote. Fergus Kerr once remarked to me that he wished Wittgenstein had never written it, and that he's sure a living Wittgenstein would think the same. But can we blame our hated post-positivist brothers and sisters? With so little license to speak of ethics, such shrinking ground on which to stake a politics, can we blame their retreat into mysticism and/or scientism?"
17.8.04
Beware rise of Big Brother state, warns data watchdog, By Richard Ford, Home Correspondent, The Times
Britain's information watchdog gives warning today that the country risks “sleepwalking into a surveillance society” because of government plans for identity cards and a population register.
Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner, says that there is a growing danger of East German Stasi-style snooping if the State gathers too much information about individual citizens.
He singles out three projects that he believes are of particular concern. They are David Blunkett’s identity card scheme; a separate population register planned by the Office for National Statistics; and proposals for a database of every child from birth to the age of 18.
Times article
Another article and links from The Register
Needless to say, all this was said in SchNEWS months and years ago...
SchNEWS on ID cards: from May... The implementation and running of the (ID card) system is likely to be taken up by Schlumberger Sema, a company which is already conducting trials with the Passport Agency to produce biometric ID cards. Schlumberger, who have been bought by Atos Origin, say that their “best of breed solutions can help your company achieve a smart and robust level of security.” Sounds great.
Schlumberger have a history of ever-so-slightly-less-than-popular schemes, extracting tax payers money to make a quick buck and at someone elses expense. Under the government’s ‘Benefit Integrity Project’ people receiving benefits because of illness or disability were asked to prove they couldn’t work. Usually it takes around an hour for a doctor to check someone’s illness or disability. But Sema, who were often paid by the visit, managed to rattle off check ups within a matter of minutes. As a result thousands of people lost their benefits. The government eventually scrapped the programme due to “a serious error of judgement”.
The company does have some experience in the spying game though. Sema’s got the benefit of John Deutch, disgraced former Director of the CIA, on its board. Deutch has a bit of a murky track record in the Pentagon too, helping to oversee the US invasions of El Salvador, Nicaragua and Grenada, which led to thousands of deaths during the 1980s. His experience with data secruity’s not too hot either. He was dismissed from the CIA for keeping 17,000 pages of, according to the CIA, “enormously sensitive material at the highest levels of classification,” on his home computer which was also used by his children for school work and surfing the net.
A track record like that on the protection of sensitive data might be problematic as Blunkett has justified the scheme on the basis that “our liberties will be strengthened if our identity is protected from theft”. Privacy International’s Director, Simon Davies, however, warned “The technology gap between governments and organised crime has now narrowed to such an extent that even the most highly secure cards are available as blanks weeks after their introduction. Criminals and terrorists can in reality move more freely and more safely with several fake “official” identities than they ever could in a country using multiple forms of “low-value” ID such as a birth certificate.”
But it might not just be criminals who are after our data. The scheme will rely on computers being used with all our private information by thousands of people, especially the Boys in Blue. The Police Complaints Commission has admitted that “there will always be a few officers willing to risk their careers by obtaining data improperly.” And that’s the police! We don’t think there’s any danger of private companies misusing our information to make a bit more money though.
SchNEWS on the children's database: Also from May... A couple of months ago the government published the Children’s Bill, which is supposed to protect children from abuse. But rather than putting more money into social services so that social workers are not overstretched and understaffed it will create an Orwellian database of every child in the country (11 million people) which will do little to protect children at risk from harm. Now call us paranoid, but isn’t a vast database another step towards a total surveillance society where your every move is traced and if you don’t conform to a defined set of behaviours then you are labeled subversive or anti-social?
SchNEWS predicts the rise of interlinked databases, poulation registers and ID cards back in 1995
Britain's information watchdog gives warning today that the country risks “sleepwalking into a surveillance society” because of government plans for identity cards and a population register.
Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner, says that there is a growing danger of East German Stasi-style snooping if the State gathers too much information about individual citizens.
He singles out three projects that he believes are of particular concern. They are David Blunkett’s identity card scheme; a separate population register planned by the Office for National Statistics; and proposals for a database of every child from birth to the age of 18.
Times article
Another article and links from The Register
Needless to say, all this was said in SchNEWS months and years ago...
SchNEWS on ID cards: from May... The implementation and running of the (ID card) system is likely to be taken up by Schlumberger Sema, a company which is already conducting trials with the Passport Agency to produce biometric ID cards. Schlumberger, who have been bought by Atos Origin, say that their “best of breed solutions can help your company achieve a smart and robust level of security.” Sounds great.
Schlumberger have a history of ever-so-slightly-less-than-popular schemes, extracting tax payers money to make a quick buck and at someone elses expense. Under the government’s ‘Benefit Integrity Project’ people receiving benefits because of illness or disability were asked to prove they couldn’t work. Usually it takes around an hour for a doctor to check someone’s illness or disability. But Sema, who were often paid by the visit, managed to rattle off check ups within a matter of minutes. As a result thousands of people lost their benefits. The government eventually scrapped the programme due to “a serious error of judgement”.
The company does have some experience in the spying game though. Sema’s got the benefit of John Deutch, disgraced former Director of the CIA, on its board. Deutch has a bit of a murky track record in the Pentagon too, helping to oversee the US invasions of El Salvador, Nicaragua and Grenada, which led to thousands of deaths during the 1980s. His experience with data secruity’s not too hot either. He was dismissed from the CIA for keeping 17,000 pages of, according to the CIA, “enormously sensitive material at the highest levels of classification,” on his home computer which was also used by his children for school work and surfing the net.
A track record like that on the protection of sensitive data might be problematic as Blunkett has justified the scheme on the basis that “our liberties will be strengthened if our identity is protected from theft”. Privacy International’s Director, Simon Davies, however, warned “The technology gap between governments and organised crime has now narrowed to such an extent that even the most highly secure cards are available as blanks weeks after their introduction. Criminals and terrorists can in reality move more freely and more safely with several fake “official” identities than they ever could in a country using multiple forms of “low-value” ID such as a birth certificate.”
But it might not just be criminals who are after our data. The scheme will rely on computers being used with all our private information by thousands of people, especially the Boys in Blue. The Police Complaints Commission has admitted that “there will always be a few officers willing to risk their careers by obtaining data improperly.” And that’s the police! We don’t think there’s any danger of private companies misusing our information to make a bit more money though.
SchNEWS on the children's database: Also from May... A couple of months ago the government published the Children’s Bill, which is supposed to protect children from abuse. But rather than putting more money into social services so that social workers are not overstretched and understaffed it will create an Orwellian database of every child in the country (11 million people) which will do little to protect children at risk from harm. Now call us paranoid, but isn’t a vast database another step towards a total surveillance society where your every move is traced and if you don’t conform to a defined set of behaviours then you are labeled subversive or anti-social?
SchNEWS predicts the rise of interlinked databases, poulation registers and ID cards back in 1995
Indypendent Aug 12-25, by IMC Staff 13 Aug 2004
The third in our series of issues on the Republican National Conference.
Featuring articles on: the evolution of protest pens, why protest works, the connection between country music and conservatives, Bush's contingency plans to cancel the elections and how the GOP has screwed over New York.
Download a full PDF version of the magazine
We're printing 200,000 copies of this issue, believed to be the largest print run in decades by any radical grassroots newspaper in the U.S. Help us pull it off. We'll be distributing throughout the city over the next few weeks. If you would like to get involved, please contact us at indy_distro@yahoo.com or call 212-684-8112.
16.8.04
ALAN DERSHOWITZ: Tell you what I will give $10,000 to the P.L.O. in your name if you can find historical fact in my book that you can prove to be false. I issue that challenge, I issue it to you, I issue it to the Palestinian Authority, I issue it to Noam Chomsky to Edward Said,
[...]
FINKELSTEIN: Turnspeak is not Orwell, Mr. Dershowitz, you're the Felix Frankfurt chair at Harvard, you must know that Orwell would never use such a clunky phrase as turnspeak.
finkelstein vs dershvoitz ("the case for israel") great fun
[...]
FINKELSTEIN: Turnspeak is not Orwell, Mr. Dershowitz, you're the Felix Frankfurt chair at Harvard, you must know that Orwell would never use such a clunky phrase as turnspeak.
finkelstein vs dershvoitz ("the case for israel") great fun
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