Peace is not off topic
On Mon, Mar 10, 2003 at 05:10:29PM -0000, Jeff wrote:
> Way off topic - please take the thread private or somewhere more
> appropriate.
> I subscribe to this list for Debian security announcements.
Then subscribe to "debian-security-announce" instead of
"debian-security".
Which is defined as "Discussion about security issues, including
cryptographic issues, that are of interest to all parts of the Debian
community."
You are sadly mistaken if you don't believe this thread relates to
security issues in the Debian community.
This thread relates to the security of the entire planet!
This list is read by net savvy, security minded, critical thinkers
around the world. This venue is quite appropriate. If you don't like
it hit the delete button or filter into your SPAM folder.
I am very, very, concerned about what is happening in my country. It
looks to me like the US is breaking into two main camps;
* Those that believe "might makes right" and that it is time for America
to assume its "manifest destiny" to rule over the world.
Skim this speech to get an idea of what I am talking about.
http://www.snopes.com/rumors/shul.asp
There is a dangerous phenomenon occuring in my society. That somehow
dissent against Washington is "unpatriotic". That the anti-war movement
is somehow an anti-american movement. This has become so prevalent that
groups such as "Patriots for Peace" have formed in answer. A member of
my community has put a sign in his front yard that says, "Peace is
Patriotic".
To get an idea how bad this has become see this article where a man was
arrested for wearing an anti-war T-shirt.
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/cgi-bin/a/ap_psafe.cgi?http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MALL_ACTIVISTS?SITE=CACRU&SECTION
The other camp are Americans;
* Who believe that America should return to the principles laid out in
the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
The US PATRIOT ACT [sic] has been the largest attack on the Bill of
Rights in the history of my country. Some people are fighting back but
their voices are not widely heard in the mainstream media.
Here is a resolution passed by my local library that is posting warning
signs to inform my fellow citizens that;
"...WHEREAS, Certain provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act, the revised
Attorney General Guidelines to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and
other related measures expand the authority of the federal government to
* Obtain library records
* Secretly monitor all electronic communication, and
* Prohibit libraries and librarians from informing users of such
monitoring or information requests; and
WHEREAS, The USA PATRIOT Act and other recently enacted laws,
regulations, and guidelines increase the likelihood that the activities
of library users, including their use of computers to browse the Web or
access e-mail, may be under government surveillance without their
knowledge or consent; and..."
http://www.santacruzpl.org/libraryadmin/ljpb/patres.shtml
Why is this a concern the greater worldwide Debian community? Because
America is no longer a Republic, she is now an Empire and the Empire is
on the move.
The "Bush Doctrine" clearly spells out that America is now an Empire.
"You are either with us or against us." The members of "old europe"
[sic] had best be careful lest Bush decide they are against us.
Afghanistan was just the beginning. Iraq is next, then probably Iran,
Syria, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, and Pakistan. By then the world will
be a very different place and I would not presume that the European
Union won't find itself facing the military might of the empire.
Find this hard to believe? Then you are not paying attention.
Here is a quote from an Israeli paper;
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/263923.html
"U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton said in meetings with Israeli
officials on Monday that he has no doubt America will attack Iraq, and
that it will be necessary to deal with threats from Syria, Iran and
North Korea afterwards...
...In a meeting with Bolton on Monday, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said
that Israel is concerned about the security threat posed by Iran. It's
important to deal with Iran even while American attention is turned
toward Iraq, Sharon said."
It is quite instructive to consider the case of the Palestinean/Israeli
conflict. The Palestineans do not stand a chance against the might of
the US armed Israeli military. Yet, they have become so desperate that
they strike out in any manner they can. Sadly, this is often through
the use of "suicide bombers". The victims of these attacks are often
not the Israeli government or military but the people.
A US attack on Iraq is not just and will further balkanize the islamic
world against the US. A war will almost certainly increase attacks
against the people of the United States. It is insanity to attack the
US military. Like the Palestineans there will be only one recourse, to
attack the American people.
The American Empire will almost certainly balkanize the world into those
who are with us and those who are against us. It is the people of the
world who will pay this price. Whether that price is paid at the end of
an American laser guided missile or in the blast of a suicide bomber
will make little difference. In the end, it is the people who will
lose.
To my fellow Americans I ask you to consider if this is the world we
want to bring about? You think we are invincible? Consider this;
Some estimates put the cost of mounting the WTC attacks at around
US$100,000 . Other estimates put the damage caused by these attacks at
around US$100,000,000,000 . I leave the reader to consider the
implications of this.
We can no more win the "War on Terrorism" than Israel can win the war on
the Palestineans. The "terrorists" can no more win the war against
America than the Palestineans can win the war against Israel. This is
simply a lose-lose proposition. There is really only one answer. We
must find a win-win solution. Anything less will never work. I would
like to end this post with a quote that I have found inspiring as of
late.
"Humanity is now in a very critical and what I feel is a final
examination. When nature has a very important function like humans,
this human mind of local information gathering and problem solving, she
doesn't leave it all in this one investment, she makes many alternate
starts. This morning when I came in from outside, I picked up this
little seed from a maple tree. Now, a tree's function is to impound the
sun's radiation, to convert it by photosynthesis, and to bring energy
and its circulation into the whole ecology, because you and I can't take
the sun's energy through our skins. But with this seed the tree is able
to get new little trees out from under its shadow so they can get the
sun. So she makes these beautiful flying machines. And I say she has
so many alternate plantings in our universe besides human beings. So
we're into a kind of final examination right now, now that it has become
clear. The information is here. We do have the capability to make it.
It does not have to be you or me ever again.
"We're really going back to the first two laws we were ever taught
today: Love thy God, this is the truth. And love thy neighbor as
thyself. Finally you can afford to love they neighbor as thyself. It
does not have to be you or me ever again.
"I would like personally to end this way. I've witnessed one miracle
after another through my whole life, extraordinary things happening. I
see that God tries very hard and apparently is intent to make us a
success if it is possible. So if we don't make it, it is because of
each individual. You can't leave it to your politicians to represent
you; you can't leave it to your ministers to pray for you. It's going
to be how each individual reacts in relation to the truth."
-- Buckminster Fuller, 1978
Peace
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
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