Knowing that the United States and the world are on a course toward instability and chaos ensured by irreversible climate change and economic deterioration, the Obama administration and those who expect to inherit its role and powers “want the mechanisms by which they can criminalize any form of dissent,” Hedges continued. The attack on the press, which the AP phone records scandal exposes, is “an excuse to ferret out and destroy legitimate movements that challenge centers of power” by scaring potential whistle-blowers and dissidents into silence.
Chris Hedges: The ‘Terrifying’ State Assault on Press Freedom - Truthdig
Frightening words from the guy who handed Kevin O’Leary his ass a year and a half ago.
Related posts:
Source: truthdig.com
There is a new twist: the merger of the private sector, DHS and the FBI means that any of us can become WikiLeaks, a point that Julian Assange was trying to make in explaining the argument behind his recent book. The fusion of the tracking of money and the suppression of dissent means that a huge area of vulnerability in civil society – people’s income streams and financial records – is now firmly in the hands of the banks, which are, in turn, now in the business of tracking your dissent.
#cARTographyTO and Astral Media: subverting the commercial colonization of public space | #TOpoli
Via The Grid and Torontoist, news of an inspired and inspiring guerrilla action over the weekend.
Dozens of sidewalk-blocking, ad-filled eyesores, laughably known as “info pillars,” were repurposed and turned into art installations, social and political statements, and focus points for satire.
It’s hard not to sympathize with cARTography Toronto. Public space and public amenities are under relentless pressure from the advocates of privatization and the purveyors of commercial messaging; with the dogma of “austerity” comes more and more pressure to find new sources of revenue, especially when we’re saddled with a municipal administration intent on choking off one of the most traditional sources.
I’m sure these goddamn things are good for someone. No doubt they’re good for Astral. And perhaps they get the advertisers’ messages in front of more eyeballs. And who knows, maybe they bring in a dollar or two in licencing fees or something. But, in the words of one of the activists:
How you see this depends, as do many things, on how you define terms and how you frame the questions. If we’re committed to making the public good paramount, then the reclamation of public space from those who seek to colonize it is something to be encouraged. And while aesthetics are admittedly subjective, it’s hard not to be disturbed by the incessant, intrusive, and garish invasions of public sightlines, the cheapening of the visual environment, and the cumulative assault on our senses. Factor in the removal of bike posts, the destruction of trees and the interference with pedestrian traffic and it’s hard to see how the community as a whole comes out ahead. Surely we’re surrounded by enough vulgarity already.
Of course, that’s only one viewpoint. If we buy into commercial orthodoxy and the gospel of privatization, then anything that brings in revenue is good, and anything that questions the underlying assumptions or interferes with the sacred operation of the market is suspect, elitist, anti-capitalist, and quite probably a threat to national security. And by that logic, it won’t be long before the corporate media are pounding that drum day and night, the activists (already a word with negative connotations for some) are demonized, and the resources of the criminal-justice system are marshalled in their pursuit.
It would be easy to reduce this to competing visions of what public space should be. And while that’s certainly part of the discussion, not all such visions are advanced with the same energy. Not everyone has the resources for lawyers, lobbyists and SLAPP suits. Not everyone has the same degree of access and influence to the decision-makers or conversation-shapers. And not everyone has the same fluency with the technocratic, class-biased language that informs so many public-policy debates.
As we work for more inclusive and democratic conversations, it’s worth keeping that in mind.
(Image via torontoist)
Related posts:
We will not allow foreigners to interfere … | #EthicalOilBullshit #tarsands
— Arabnews.com, Editorial: Helping Bahrain, March 15, 2011 (reader comment)
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— Kenya National Assembly Official Record June 8 - July 29, 1982
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By Liang Zhang, Andrew J. Nathan, Perry Link, Orville Schell
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Assad makes rare public address in Damascus, France24.com, Jan. 11, 2012
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“Ethical OIl” spokesthingy Kathryn Marshall on the CBC’s Power and Politics, Jan. 12, 2012
This is where we juxtapose, once again. Incidentally, do follow the link to the Emma Pullman piece on the connections between the “Ethical OIl” flimflammery and the Conservative Party.
Related posts:
- #EthicalOilBullshit, the Sierra Club, and demonization: Where we juxtapose, once again | #astroturf #tarsands
- Emma Pullman | Cozy Ties: Astroturf ‘Ethical Oil’ and Conservative Alliance to Promote Tar Sands Expansion
- Unethical oil and its Canadian friends | The Vancouver Observer | #EthicalOilBullshit #tarsands
- The #EthicalOil meme is pathetic PR bullshit | #cdnpoli #tarsands
- @wicary rules. That is all. | #tarsands
#EthicalOilBullshit, the Sierra Club, and demonization: Where we juxtapose, once again | #astroturf #tarsands
Wow. Just … wow. I’ve seen talking dolls with those pull-strings on their backs respond more creatively than this. Where did she get the idea that evading a straightforward question and repeating talking points over and over again was the same thing as debating?
I never thought I’d see anyone make Ezra look good. Why hasn’t Sun Noise hired her yet?
Secondly:
… Klare provides a context for Oliver Oil’s comments about environmentalists and other “radicals.” If he and his cohort lump those opposed to domestic fossil fuel development in the same boat as an Iran threatening close access to the Persian Gulf, then we have a bit of a problem. Oliver’s rhetoric looks like a trial balloon for some interesting shifts in Conservative rhetoric. As I told a friend a while ago that they’d ring the Tar Sands in tanks and wire, forcibly relocate communities, rather than kerb development. A government quite happy to let the police lock up a thousand people on a secret law, no time for democracy, a serious martial fetish, and a fanatical allegiance to a petrol economy could be a serious threat to a lot of Canadians if it starts painting them with certain brushes.
And finally:
A couple of wry observations from George Monbiot and Naomi Klein.
Related posts:
- Emma Pullman | Cozy Ties: Astroturf ‘Ethical Oil’ and Conservative Alliance to Promote Tar Sands Expansion
- Unethical oil and its Canadian friends | The Vancouver Observer | #EthicalOilBullshit #tarsands
- The #EthicalOil meme is pathetic PR bullshit | #cdnpoli #tarsands
- @wicary rules. That is all. | #tarsands
Citizen, cyclist, father, diver, cheap-laugh aficionado, sanctimonious wanker, #BadJew. Thoughts are my own.
