despite all my rage
i'm still just a rat in a cage

...whereas charma is just a cat in a rage

"We need to keep the faith in the most literal of senses, for there will come a time, and I hope soon, that more Americans than not will realize that an intolerant, violent, and spendthrift nation is not the kind of place they want to live. When this happens, hopefully we'll have our shit together enough to offer a real alternative."

I like this post in it's unbridled optimism. Unfortunately, the inner pessimist in myself is prepared to wait a very long time.

Ironically, my last visit to Canada (Vancouver) after a 2 year absense found out how much closer Vancouver is becoming "just like the States" - only without the violence.

I guess WG is on to us and our little bet:

"I don't post much, travelling, but you never know. "



Aisha

I can see it now...

(Harp music ON)

The scene: Executive conference room at G.P. Putnam's...

"Lastly: William Gibson is in New York this weekend. He's only in for a spur-of-the-moment haircut and a latté, but he doesn't come east much, and we should try to capitalize on this opportunity. Ideas?"

"Well, J.B., I think we should take a cue from President Bush."

"Huh? Baxter, what the FUCK are you talk- Ooooohhhh... Yeaaaahhh! I like it!"

"Great! I, uh, already had the banner made up. All I'm waiting for is the-"

"Hey, guys, wait a minute! Baxter, you're nuts! He's NUTS, J.B., come ON! I mean, the new novel's not even a manuscript yet! And remember what happened to that poor tool from Berkeley! "The Blog is Back!" Now that was a smoooooth move!"

"Jennings, that Berkeley tool you speak of is now VP International Operations. Office in Bermuda. Goes golfing in a Lear."

"Oh."

"Exactly. All right, Baxter, I wanna see that banner- gotta make sure they spelled
"accomplished" correctly."

"Right, J.B.! And I'll call FedEx to track the custom extra-long Rickson's flight suit!"

(Harp music OFF)

I just wanted to say that I am much heartened by the fact that WG can produce quotes from Patriotic Americans who:
o Don´t agree with the current administration´s "policy" in Iraq
o Demonstrate that they understand that guerrilla wars are won by influencing the peace-loving populace

Seeing the images on Sky News this morning made me weep. Many of these young soldiers will never emerge from Fallujah. The successful overrunning of the hospital, including images of breaking down the door of a broom cupboard. It will end in tears. I just have one word to say... Mogadishu.

I remember reading about that earlier. It's some interesting work.
It does, much to my chagrin, continue to add nails to the coffin
containing my hope to someday be fluent in another language. Maybe
I can take hope in the fact that a lot of people think I'm
childish.

So I went to go look for my copy of Heinlein's "Far Horizons". There's a lot of books that I still hadn't unpacked from my last move and the book wasn't on the shelf yet- so I figured it must still be boxed away. And so I go digging around in them- nada. Twenty minutes later I have ripped a couple of boxes open in haste, emptied all my book boxes of their contents and the results are still the same- my copy of "Far Horizons" is missing!.

I was in blissful ignorance of this fact until Bill had to go and ASK about it.

[scorn][scorn][scorn][scorn][scorn]

This message has been edited. Last edited by: NightShadow,

You know, I'm gonna stick my neck out here, yes I do remember the Future history chart in the Heinlien books. I don't actually recall whether there is a soveriegn state of Carolina in it, I'd have to pull out my ancient copies of Beyond this Horizon, or Green Hills of Earth. Man It's been years since they have seen the light of day,They may well still be in my parent's house.

jaydee

Then we can declare war and invade! Hooray!

[runs off to join the Reserves]

well, i checked.
no, the "future history" chart does not feature a sovereign Christian State of South Carolina. it does, however, have "rise of religious fanaticism" leading to "religious dictatorship in the US", all between 2000 and 2025.

Liberals in the CIA? That can't be right...

The Christian Exodus:
How to WRITE a straw man reality for rejection and other nifty follower building devices,
Including: land financing with tiny little ads,
ez-step prayer hankies, and work your fields for free.

Maybe someday Sublett's biography will surface.

quote:

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That website has to be one of the most frightening things I've ever read.

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You're easily spooked; I found those guys comparatively cuddly, particularly the chap who was complaining on the forums about how hard it is to be a Christian Goth. [Dan Ackroyd] Wanna see something really scary? [/Dan Ackroyd] Check out TheocracyWatch for your up-to-date info on the rise of the Dominionists.

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Liberals in the CIA? That can't be right...

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I seem to recall reading about an interview with Bobby Kennedy circa 1968 where he described the CIA as a haven for liberals. Damned if I can find it, though. Supposedly, Nixon despised the Company as a snake's nest of back-stabbing Ivy League aristocrats. He preferred the Feds - you had to be conservative to survive working for Hoover.

quote:

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How to WRITE a straw man reality for rejection

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Tom Frank said that about the Federal Marriage Amendment. Even when they're in the ascendency, the Religious Right have so much emotional investment in being backs-to-the-wall* defenders of all that's pure against the unstoppable advance of secular liberalism, they have to invent these stupid designed-to-fail battles just to feel good about themselves.
_{* that'll be quite enough sniggering, thank you.}

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You're easily spooked

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Hate to differ there, but I grew up in the Buckle of the Bible Belt in a Pentecostal church with everything but the snakes - and there were rumors about them.

I've lived in SC and I've lived and traveled all around the world, including some of those dread Muslim countries so demonized by the Christian Right.. These people are the Real Deal. Yes, I know they make for easy comedy, but they have a lot of guns and after 20 years of agitprop are tired of taking "No" for an answer (note that they hate President George Bush the Younger as much as any "liberal." Note also that they have a lot of guns; did I mention that yet?)

This is where it starts. Not with some gay pride parade being violently broken up by The Man, not with some foreign "terrorist" attack on US soil. It will start with our own home grown crazies versus the local sheriffs they've grown up. Mark my words: there's no revolution until it's intimate.

It's possible I was being facetious.

I'm not sure the hardened crazies you're talking about and the SC secessionists are the same people, though. The hardened crazies would probably want Texas.

quote:

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I'm not sure the hardened crazies you're talking about and the SC secessionists are the same people

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Not necessarily equivalent but congruent. In the end it's more a question of critical mass and the laws of probability; sooner or later they're convinced it'll come down to fighting for their beliefs.

If I remember correctly you can Heinlein's "The Past Through Tomorrow" is a collection of future history stories and there are a couple about an oppressive Theocratic government that not only cover south carolina but rule most of the world. I think it wasn't just christians but all fundamentalists.

There are actually a lot of Catholic strongholds in the South. Most of the girls I dated (and the only one I married) in Alabama were Catholic. They were the only girls I could find who were liberated and twisted enough to be interesting.

I'd say Catholics are definitely much better off in the South than both blacks and jews. If it's only one step, then it's a dooozy.

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They were the only girls I could find who were liberated and twisted enough to be interesting.

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"Catholic girls
at the CYA..."