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That's right, any moment now Clay Richards
will return as The Postmodern Anarchist:
postmodernanarchist.com
.

scratched into a pristine white wall:

RICH PEOPLE
LOVE
WHITE TRASH
ART

As some of you realized long ago due to my ineptitude at covering my tracks, I am Clyde Smith, the creator of netweed and the author of most of the work at Cultural Research as well as the hip hop trade blog, ProHipHop.

If I return to The Postmodern Anarchist at some future date, and I'd like to, I may continue to use Clay Richards as a pen name. I like the name but I'm giving up the secret identity. In a way, it makes me sad but it also allows me to tell the story of why I chose to publish this blog under a pseudonym, beyond the issue of making it look like there were more bloggers at netweed. Um, the more bloggers thing was a happy side effect rather than an initial intention.

So why Clay Richards? Remember 9/11 and how weird things got afterwards with the FBI showing up at people's doors because they had an antiBush poster on their dorm room wall (Durham, NC) or said something at the gym about understanding why people hate the United States (San Francisco)? That was kind of scary and it was hard to tell how bad things were going to get. So when I wrote Why I'll Still Burn the Flag after 9/11, inspired by the pending Superbowl, I wanted to get it out but I was scared. So I published it as Clay Richards. And then, after getting it out online at Freezerbox, I started this blog and posted it here.

But the name Clay Richards had actually been created when I wrote The Postmodern Anarchist Tries to Get a Job, which was originally published with a different title on the website of the Chronicle of Higher Education. I used Clay, the name of a character based on me that I created for an even earlier fictional experiment, and added Richards because I liked the WASPy sound. Richards was the opposite of what I thought most theory heads at the time would have chosen for a pen name. And there you have it.

I think I'll continue to behave as if I am Clay Richards and Clyde, that netweed guy, is someone else. On that note, Clyde has finally posted one of my favorite essays from his tragically short academic career. You can find Nonlinear Science and the Postpositivist Researcher over at Cultural Research.

And you can find me back in retirement as Clay Richards, though I do hope to return at some future date. It's just that, without an academic home, all this anarchy and poststructural theory jabbering doesn't pay shit and leaves me with few people with which to talk face to face.

Just a quick hello to suggest that all you theory heads might find IMMANENT MULTIPLICITY a blog worth reading. Smart stuff with well chosen and unique illustrations. I love this picture of Zizek. He was just in SF but I missed him.

I didn't want Hunter S. Thompson's suicide to be my last post, but there it is, though this announcement is not nearly so final. Yes, I'm going back into retirement but, unlike Jay-Z, I won't be playing weekend warrior (plus I don't have his cash flow). The problem is that I've become the blogger I despise, who posts just often enough that people check back, hoping for something mildly interesting and being disappointed over and over again.

This blog is now officially in archival mode until further notice. Please don't hold your breath cause I could get sued if you suffer brain damage and whatnot. Do consider keeping up with things via netweed's Headline News and Anarchy pages. In general, we've tried to feature some choice newsfeeds throughout netweed's Web Directory & News section. Check it out and live the current trend of moving from search to discovery.

Till next time,
Clay Richards
The Postmodern Anarchist

I've always had sort of a love/hate thing going for Hunter S. Thompson and I'm torn between sadness and lack of surprise at his suicide. I've enjoyed what I've read of his writing, especially from the 60s and early 70s. His approach really seemed appropriate to the time, although I read the stuff after the fact. And he became one of my favorite Doonesbury characters, back when I read Doonesbury.

I've always loved the online journal First Monday, but the February issue is especially hot, with articles on such topics as:
Media portrayal of hackers and hacktivism before and after 9/11
The social structure of free/open software development
[social structures i would think, but it depends on the appoach]
Discovering use patterns in digital library and Web–based information resources
[yeah, i'm a geek]
and some sort of reflection on digital music.

I'm sure it's all well worth your time, even if I'm just working off the table of contents.

I'm sure the name is meaningful, I just don't know why. But this blog by journalist David Neiwert is a great source for following the suppression of free speech and related issues.

I'm not sure I contributed much to the military and political correctness discussion over at the blog of GoDaddy boss Bob Parsons. But I gave 'em my 2 cents and that's a lot for me these days. You know, when GoDaddy took on Verisign (multiple times), they really stood for the people while doing alright for themselves. But I've yet to see anybody use the term politically correct in an intelligent way, at least since the Maoists and lesbian separatists stopped using it. Now it mostly seems to be a way for reactionaries to defend stupid comments and justify their lack of interest in social responsibility.

You know, maybe I'm not meant to do this blog right now, but I refuse to shut it down. And I do keep seeing things I could post, so I'll keep posting, because some folks find it worthwhile. And because I would miss it. So here are a few things I've recently gathered:

Although I'm not into the "wristband movement", I appreciate the fact that they're usually being sold for good causes. I bring this up because netweed got an email from True Blue, whose Blue State wristbands are raising money for the Mercy Corps to help provide post-tsunami disaster relief. Check it out, I think it will compliment your jeans quite nicely.

According to Adrants, "McDonald's Wants People to Fornicate With Burgers". Kinky!

Dana Stevens reviews Army of One, a documentary following three people over a two year period who enlisted in the U.S. Army. It sounds insightful and depressing. I have to say, it seems particularly sad to hear of one individual who enlisted after 9/11 so that he could "make somebody pay." It sounds like he's the one who's doing all the paying. Dana saw it preceded by a short film called Qaeda Quality Question Quickly Quickly Quiet, a cutup of Bush's "axis of evil" speech, which sounds kind of fun.

According to an "Editors' Note," Army of One will also be shown on the Discovery Times Channel on Thursday, Feb. 3, at 9 and 11 p.m.

I had just been wondering when encrypted communications would go mainstream when I ran into this Wired article about Ciphire Mail that gives it a great review as a system for authenticating and easily encrypting/decrypting emails. I just wonder how you can verify if it will actually work if you're the kind of person (like me) who really needs easy encryption tools.

I haven't really posted about the earthquake/tsunami disaster in Asia except to mention Jeff Vail's blog and his analysis of the sociopolitical aftermath of this disaster. For more on such concerns, NPR has an interesting interview with Allan Nairn, in which he considers the political situation in Indonesia and Aceh, as well as a related piece on military maneuvering in Sri Lanka.

I think the tsunami has been one of those things that I just can't process and I've kind of avoided processing. Since I don't watch tv on a regular basis, I've missed the incessant hammering of television news media. And, to be perfectly frank, while the Internet may give one access to all sorts of news in a few seconds, it also offers so much that I think one can ignore pretty much anything. So I've avoided this disaster, partly because it's just too overwhelming, but I'm also missing the process of what happens in the aftermath.

The one time I've watched such a process closely was after the SF earthquake in '89. I was lucky enough to be in that quake without personal loss. It shook me up and it also began a process of reshaping the city. The biggest thing I recall from that time was how landlords in areas of the city with high SRO tenancy used the process of condemning buildings to get rid of poor people who couldn't have been evicted otherwise, or not so easily. At some point it became clear that many of those buildings weren't in danger but the process continued, a process that might have taken many years to otherwise accomplish. And it set the stage for the tech boom of the late 90s, a boom that squeezed a lot of slack out of the city for low and middle income people.

The other thing that comes to mind are the effects that the tsunami will have on prostitution and human trafficking. I remember reading an account of pedophiles in Cambodia who were extolling the virtues of poor nations in turmoil, a more open-ended situation where it becomes much easier to acquire other humans. While they were speaking of military disasters, I'm sure such an environmental disaster has similar dynamics, especially given that there is quite a bit of military activity in some of these regions.

Now, if I'd been watching television would I have heard of such things, or would I have been numbed by images of floating bodies and debris combined with accounts of supermodels who barely grabbed their Prada bag off the balcony in time to save their precious vial of cocaine heirloom jewelry?

Actually I bet the Pokia guy could do some good work with everyday objects for communication.

Or, actually, an idea for a theater of everyday life bit that plays off the fact that so many people are walking around seemingly talking into thin air with the attachments they have for their cell phones. Now I've always loved the idea that some of those people were just pretending to have working cell phones while they continued to talk to themselves and/or invisible entities who were otherwise inaccessible. But what if a bunch of people started pretending that everyday objects were cell phones?

I was just trying it with a small eye drop container (is there a better word for that?). Believe me, I was having great laughs moving it from mouth to ear as I talked and then listened on my next wave convergent communication and personal hygiene device. It would be even funnier on the bus! Especially if I rig up a fake ringtone!

If you're interested in anarchy, social change and theory with an awareness of military history and strategy, then you should check out A Theory of Power, a blog by Jeff Vail that I've mentioned before. Right now he's running some really interesting posts about the political aftermath of the Asian tsunami disaster which are well worth checking out. He's also done a nice post on Swarming, Open-Source Warfare and the Black Block as well as one entitled Shelter in Netopia: Hybrid Home Theory. And, yes, it all connects.

After my previously mentioned visit to Cool Tools, I headed over to Cool Hunting where I found out about this nifty card to give rude cell phone users.

Cool Tools led me to SMARTHOME and the recognition that the future is now and it's really kind of mundane.

A coalition of forces with Green and Libertarian support is requesting that the Ohio Supreme Court examine the results of the presidential election.

Sentiment remains strong for overturning Nov. 2nd election results in Ohio.

Apparently I have a need to express myself at the moment because I'm becoming a veritable Chatty C@thy, dressed in black, of course. Ha ha. Ha ha is my version of lol since I feel like such a tool saying lol and only use it in a sarcastic sense, possibly in an ironic sense, but I always have to look that one up to make sure I'm not pulling an Alanis Morissette. Sometimes I use an exclamation point instead of ha ha. Sometimes I combine both for full effect!

So I'm posting a lot and, last night, had two social engagements in one evening where I just couldn't stop babbling.

First was a silent art auction (but we were allowed to talk amongst ourselves) and sale for the Community Arts Program at Hospitality House, which seems to be primarily a day shelter for homeless and low income folks that provides free art supplies and classes and such. I think it's all wrapped up with harm reduction programs and related services that meet people where they are rather than other approaches which tend to demean people facing serious and ongoing difficulties.

I just got a brainstorm, I'll look at their website and see what they claim to be doing. And it's even more than I thought! Ha ha.

The show was at the The Shooting Gallery on a somewhat rough Tenderloin block but totally manageable for this kind of thing. By this kind of thing, I mean an arts event that attract mostly young, mostly hip people and the mostly cool staff of Hospitality House. I think the Hospitality House artists whose work was a big part of the show were mostly elsewhere doing whatever they had to do. In any case, it was a lively scene and, though I'm not overrun with cash, I bought a set of Christmas cards designed by one of the Hospitality House artists since the season is upon us.

I then enjoyed a dinner invitation from a couple who I met through Clyde. It always startles me to see a well matched couple settling in together, having a child and so forth. I ended up being late and they were very nice to me, feeding me great food and letting me babble until they retired for the evening. That kid thing makes it hard to stay up late, especially since those little critters don't sleep for long. Another reason I'm staying on the pill! Ha ha.

I actually knew Jo Kreiter before she got married and think she's just a fine person. She has a dance company called Flyaway Productions that gets into a lot of aerial work and site specific projects. I'd audition but I'm scared of heights!

Her hubby is artist Jeff Norris who's apparently best known for his murals, many of them done with kids. It's cool stuff and they're a really sweet couple. It gives me hope because, though I really, really, really don't want any kids, I'd love a partner in anarchy someday.

I'm exhausted from all this chit chat. Time for a nap! Ha ha.

You know, I remember going to a union staff party in Ohio where a union organizer/manager, who found out I was from North Carolina, shortly thereafter pretty much blamed me and all activists in NC for not being able to get Jesse Helms out of office. What a punk. He sure didn't share stories of victories comparable to removing that source of evil from office. And I couldn't say anything because I was attending with a friend, this guy was her boss, and the people working for the union weren't unionized. So she was worried that she would lose her job!

Personally, I still think unions are a useful tool and, of course, I support the wide variety of radical union efforts that go on, but this is a great example of the oppressive power structures that reemerge in organizations that have an ostensibly progressive agenda. Plus, the long history of many unions as a force designed to keep workers compliant (at least in the U.S.) makes it pretty hard to talk to people about the need for worker organization when they've grown up in an antiunion environment. Graft, corruption, gangsters, selling out the revolution. Many other writers have covered this topic far better than I ever could.

Which reminds me (I'm on a memory roll), if you check out amazing events like May '68, you'll notice that some unions and communist parties will align themselves with the dominant power structure when the chips are down so that they can "seize the day." Never mistake my interest in using tools like nonrepresentive electoral systems or wealthy unions as institutions for a belief that they are adequate or can be trusted.

Nor a criticism of Margaret Thatcher as an attack on the Brits who opposed her election.

Just heard from John Baker whose blog encompasses literary and political interests from a UK perspective (didn't immediately see a bio in my currently crazed state). It's interesting because it's one of the few blogs by "grown-ups" that is as much personal journal as a personal log of what one is discovering on the web. That means that if you don't get a reference or aren't familiar with a time period (like the awful, awful years of Reagan, Thatcher and the like), it may not be clear to what he's referring. But it's worth a look and, when he does link to something, it's usually pretty good like:

Sorry Everybody, which appears to be a series of webcam photos that folks from the States have sent in. Each one has one or more people in the picture with apology signs along the lines of:
"I'm so sorry. I did everything I could."

I really appreciate the fact that the Internet has facilitated contact around the world for those of who suffered such a crushing blow and want to reach out. Although my experiences with smart folks in other places is that they generally recognize the difference between the ugly Americans and those of us who are a little more presentable in public!

Which reminds me of a story that I'll post separately.

Honestly, I don't really understand the details of the Ukrainian election and even democratic movements have forces with multiple agendas, but I am impressed that the debate continues because of mass street action. Guess those folks haven't kept up with the Democratic Party's extreme commitment to being the deeply loyal opposition.

Clyde, that netweed guy, was kind enough to point me to this article on two Ukrainian hip hop artists who have been helping inspire dissent.

I haven't been keeping up with RFID chips like I should but this interview with a Mexican government official focuses on the use of imbedded chips as security devices to gain access to restricted areas. Apparently there has been incorrect news that over a hundred officials had chips but it's come to light that a mere 18 officials are using them. At first glance, the document is confusing but what's happening is that the question is given in the original Spanish, followed by the translation into English and then the same happens with the answer, etc.

My take on this? When somebody says:
"The advantages of having this system implanted in the body are that it can't be duplicated, it can't be loaned to another person, and it can't be used by another person, because you carry it under your skin and it can't be seen."
I reply:
"Can I borrow your pocket knife for a minute?"

Which makes me wonder about how kidnap crazy outlaws will respond to the news that anti-kidnapping chips are becoming popular. Especially since kidnappers in Latin America have not shown a high commitment to returning kidnappees even after they get the money.

There's other chip news out there and I've got some links somewhere but I'm disorganized and, well, you know there are limits to what I can give. But, I have run into accounts of at least one school system in Texas that is tracking kids from home or from schoolbus to school and back using identity cards with tracking chips. There are also cattle surveillance systems being developed to keep up with wide ranging cattle.

Hey, I already posted that:
"Speaking of Foucault, remember, first they track the cows, then they track the children."

Can you guess who's next?

I'm not saying that Wired gets it right all the time but they sure do cover a lot of stuff I'm interested in. There have been times when I had to stop myself from turning this blog into a "what's happening at Wired?" service.

Not every day there is great, but some days, like today, it's fucking awesome:

Gamers Eye Open Virtual Worlds
I've been trying to get some dialogue started on this, though I'm having trouble keeping up with my end of the bargain, and I'm also interested in really commercial possibilities, believe it or not, but I think the best thing that could happen for anarchists interested in gaming is to get on board one of these open source virtual world projects. Although a lot of these folks are closer to Libertarians than to anarchists, it's mostly a really good fit for just about anybody that wants to build community online.

Fight for Public Domain Goes On
When the folks at Disney became a crucial element in extending copyright protections (I think to ensure that Walt's cryogenic chamber is well maintained, especially since the infamous freezer burn incident), that not only meant that bootleggers would remain bootleggers but that work that is totally out of print and inaccessible remained inaccessible. Sometimes called "orphan works", the advent of the Internet has inspired all sorts of archival projects that would be willing to take on the expense and difficulties involved in digitizing that material and making it freely available. I want to see Walt out in public again as much as the next person who's worn a Mickey Mouse tee, but nobody likes to see an abandoned child forced to remain in the cellar.

Prying Into FBI Activities
The FBI continue to do fucked up things and 9/11 gave them an excellent excuse to supercharge their surveillance and harassment of activists. But the Freedom of Information Act still allows people to expose their nonsense. Hmmm, wonder if that's also on W's agenda. We'll know soon enough.

They've Got Your Number …
More good reasons to ditch that cell phone. And to continue to resist my urge to become a surveillance nut.

There's more. But then, there's always more.

I mentioned a couple of posts back that I had an appointment to see the PotDoc to get a medical marijuana card. Such a card would then allow me entrance to various buyers' clubs scattered around the Bay Area. The evaluation and script would have cost me $250. Due to a combination of cash flow issues and my concerns that the stupid fuckers in the Supreme Court may set the stage for an armed invasion of California medical marijuana facilities, I cancelled my appointment.

The medical rationale for my visit has to do with elevated eye pressure levels that indicate the future possibility of glaucoma. Even though the pressure's pretty high, I didn't have nerve scarring the last time I checked (it's been a few years, poverty sucks) so I didn't officially have glaucoma. However, marijuana has been shown in multiple studies to reduce eye pressure and the treatment of glaucoma is considered one of the more promising uses of medical marijuana. Plus, I'm all about preventative medicine.

Of course, you mostly hear about the use of pot to relieve nausea and pain, sometimes associated with chemotherapy. I hate to be any meaner than I need, but the NY Times article on the opening of the case that I link to above mentions that Chief Justice Rehnquist, who is battling thyroid cancer, will participate by reading the briefs and transcripts. Hope you're feeling deeply nauseous Mr. Rehnquist, sir, it might help clear your head on this one.

Props go to (and I quote):

"Justice Stephen G. Breyer told Mr. Barnett that his clients should ask the Food and Drug Administration to reclassify marijuana as appropriate for medical use; a refusal could then be the basis for a lawsuit charging the agency with abusing its discretion. Such a lawsuit would be "the obvious way to get what they want," Justice Breyer said, adding: "I guess medicine by regulation is better than medicine by referendum.""

Although I like his creative thinking, since medicine is obviously highly politicized, (I mean, goddamn it, I can't buy a joint but I can get all the fucking liquor I want?) then referendums are fine by me. As long as they aren't rigged. I'm still hoping to experience democratic elections one day. They just sound so good on paper.

I haven't had the chance to dig into Jeff Vail's blog A Theory of Power. But it doesn't look like light reading. His interest in drawing on knowledge of and about science and technology (at least that's part of what I see happening) to understand hierarchy looks interesting. And he has a book of the same title that got high marks from both John Zerzan and Noam Chomsky! So that's got to count for something. Hopefully I'll have something more useful to say when I get a chance to read more of it.

Dear readers, I want you to know that, it's not that I don't think of you, it's that I can't be counted on to maintain a regular schedule.

But I thought of you:

When I learned about the good things that cicadas do.

When I read about sociospatial shifts in dogfighting venues.

And I even thought of you when I was making my appointment with the PotDoc.

More on that later. If you're into hip hop, you may have heard about the Hip Hop Dance Festival that just happened here in San Francisco. I didn't go. Breakdancing's just so retro.

In gardening news, NPR did a feature on gardens along Filbert Steps. I'm bringing this up because I love little gardens and out of the way places and even the Postmodern Anarchist digs flowers!

With the release of Oliver Stone's Alexander, numerous articles are coming out about the lead character's bisexuality. However, editors keep tossing on titles that describe Alexander as gay. I guess the b-word is just too potent for their binary world.