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Anarchives
Clay Richards, anarchist blogger, writes about politics, art, sexuality and emerging digital realities. More poststructuralist than postmodern, politically incorrect to some, harshly critical to others, the Postmodern Anarchist believes in anarchy without anarchists, yet will freely discuss anarchism at the drop of a hat. Contact: postmodernanarchist(at)netweed(dot)com
1/13/2004
Service Outage News
Apparently netweed must shift servers again. This may affect the availability of this blog. But you know I'll be back cause I need the attention. I'm told that all this will be over by this weekend. Let's hope so.
Post 9/11 Is A Long Time
If you read this blog with any regularity, you too probably are disgusted with the whole post 9/11 turn of events. I remember after the attacks, as people were rounded up for investigation, thinking that nothing like that happened after the Oklahoma City bombings. In the first days after that event there were various foreign terrorist conspiracies floated around. When it came out that white right wingers were responsible did we see anybody rounding up fascists with short hair? Did we see short haired white guys being questioned at airports? Fuck no. I'm sure other people have thought this as well, but Bill Berkowitz is the first person I've found that's writing about it.
I'll have to say I'm also quite glad to see Paul O'Neill come out with insider revelations from the Bush administration. So glad that I'm willing to post a link to an article from Time magazine. The thing is, it will take insider involvement for this administration to fully unravel, barring widespread national revolt, of course.
I'll have to say I'm also quite glad to see Paul O'Neill come out with insider revelations from the Bush administration. So glad that I'm willing to post a link to an article from Time magazine. The thing is, it will take insider involvement for this administration to fully unravel, barring widespread national revolt, of course.
1/12/2004
NY Times, Not All Bad
Back in the 80s a lot of us spent a lot of time battling U.S. intervention in Central America. That period was where I got to see how the more credible mainstream news sources could use the veneer of objectivity to present news in a slanted manner that helped intelligent people ignore oppression and that included the NY Times. I think part of the problem is the rather debased forms of investigation that pass for journalistic research, although some journalists manage to do great work. And sometimes the NY Times publishes great stuff like the following:
A really nice interview with Wallace Shawn that I found much more humorous and politically aware than his actual plays.
An interesting piece about the music of Phil Kline who has made songs out of the ramblings of Donald Rumsfield and sayings written during the Vietnam War by GIs on their Zippo lighters.
A discussion of a puppet show by Dan Hurlin called Hiroshima Maidens that considers an encounter between a pilot who bombed Hiroshima and some of the survivors.
And a couple of pieces responding to the Showtime drama about LA lesbians, The L Word, with one focused on Jennifer Beals and the other a lesbian's take on the representation of lesbians.
I guess they're best at being the liberal intellectual's version of People.
A really nice interview with Wallace Shawn that I found much more humorous and politically aware than his actual plays.
An interesting piece about the music of Phil Kline who has made songs out of the ramblings of Donald Rumsfield and sayings written during the Vietnam War by GIs on their Zippo lighters.
A discussion of a puppet show by Dan Hurlin called Hiroshima Maidens that considers an encounter between a pilot who bombed Hiroshima and some of the survivors.
And a couple of pieces responding to the Showtime drama about LA lesbians, The L Word, with one focused on Jennifer Beals and the other a lesbian's take on the representation of lesbians.
I guess they're best at being the liberal intellectual's version of People.
1/10/2004
Treasury Department Lies to the Public
In case you didn't know, the Treasury Department is not to be trusted, no matter what they say. Plus, even if information is not classified, the U.S. government continues to find ways to keep it private.
On a more positive note, fresh issues of First Monday, an online internet research journal, and the Online Community Report, are now available.
On a more positive note, fresh issues of First Monday, an online internet research journal, and the Online Community Report, are now available.
1/9/2004
Freedom and Testicular Implants
George W. Bush and klan, I mean, clan, continues to chip away at what passes for freedom with the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004. Social networking websites have privacy issues and their CEOs don't really give a fuck. And Ralph Nader wants us to know that dealing with car dealers is about to get worse.
But at least our dogs can get testicular implants once they've been neutered.
But at least our dogs can get testicular implants once they've been neutered.
1/8/2004
Stripper Culture & Alt Burlesque
In Strip Till You Drop Alison Pollet and Page Hurwitz discuss the marketing of stripper culture and naughty thongs to teens. It covers a lot of interesting developments and raises questions that are unlikely to be resolved anytime soon, including the commodification of sexuality and the fact that teens are sexually aware beings that wish to explore their autonomy.
As porn and stripping become ever more mainstream, various alternatives have emerged including porn that features goths, punks and related species and a nationwide wave of burlesque groups. SuicideGirls.com is exploring both areas with their highly successful altporn website and their new project, Suicide Girls Burlesque Tour. I have to wonder how many of these developments first emerged in the activities of bi-women and lesbians. For instance, On Our Backs has long explored experimental lesbian sexuality featuring a convergence of real human bodies, many with piercings and tattoos, with "deviant" sexuality. And I remember living in San Francisco around 1990 and talking to a lesbian sex worker who told me about the differences in stripping for men and women at a time when lesbians stripping for lesbians was a growing phenomenon.
For a patron's view of strip clubs, check out the blog Strip Club Memories.
As porn and stripping become ever more mainstream, various alternatives have emerged including porn that features goths, punks and related species and a nationwide wave of burlesque groups. SuicideGirls.com is exploring both areas with their highly successful altporn website and their new project, Suicide Girls Burlesque Tour. I have to wonder how many of these developments first emerged in the activities of bi-women and lesbians. For instance, On Our Backs has long explored experimental lesbian sexuality featuring a convergence of real human bodies, many with piercings and tattoos, with "deviant" sexuality. And I remember living in San Francisco around 1990 and talking to a lesbian sex worker who told me about the differences in stripping for men and women at a time when lesbians stripping for lesbians was a growing phenomenon.
For a patron's view of strip clubs, check out the blog Strip Club Memories.
1/7/2004
Open Access News
It's All Connected. Really!
Now that God's blessed George W., why is Howard Dean still running? Perhaps it's to better market his video game. Or maybe he wants to continue his consideration of 9-11 so the press can have something to pick at.
Edward Castronova continues to raise important questions about the economies of synthetic worlds and their relationship to offline worlds.
Did you know that a "sailor mongering" law from 1872 could be used against your social change organization at an undisclosed future date?
And if you hadn't heard all this before, then you heard it here first!
Edward Castronova continues to raise important questions about the economies of synthetic worlds and their relationship to offline worlds.
Did you know that a "sailor mongering" law from 1872 could be used against your social change organization at an undisclosed future date?
And if you hadn't heard all this before, then you heard it here first!
1/6/2004
Archives Fixed
Life is good.
I'm Back
It looks like everything's back to normal at netweed except for the archives for this blog and also for Hip Hop Logic. Soon, all will be well, at least in bloggerville.
1/3/2004
Recent News from Wired
Bush-Bashing Ads Move Online
Your Body, Your Superfund Site
24-Hour Movie People
Swap That Ugly Sweater, Online.
Your Body, Your Superfund Site
24-Hour Movie People
Swap That Ugly Sweater, Online.
1/1/2004
Misinformation
I strongly believe in following intelligence news, since that's where a lot of politics occur. For example, Scott Ritter on How the British Spy Agency MI6 Secretly Misled A Nation Into War With Iraq.
12/30/2003
Beware the Almanac!
Recent Medical Marijuana Victory
Ninth Circuit Court rules that the Feds can't outlaw personal medical marijuana crops.
12/29/2003
$ocial Networking
As social networking continues to grow as an online phenomenon, from Craigslist to Friendster, keeping an eye on commercial attempts at involvement is one way of understanding how business finds its way into grassroots developments.
12/28/2003
News from Democracy Now
Recent features at Democracy Now:
Guilty of Being Palestinian
PSYOPS in Iraq
Lenny Bruce Pardoned
An Hour With Noam Chomsky
Browse the features from the last few weeks at Democracy Now.
Guilty of Being Palestinian
PSYOPS in Iraq
Lenny Bruce Pardoned
An Hour With Noam Chomsky
Browse the features from the last few weeks at Democracy Now.
12/22/2003
Site Update
netweed will not be switching servers till the New Year. Weblog posting will be intermittent till then. Happy Holidays!
News Roundup
Here at netweed, folks will be taking as much vacation as we can get away with. However, I promise to post occasionally between Christmas and New Year's. And, just so you know, netweed will be down for a couple of days as we switch servers, probably starting Monday evening.
Here's a bunch of news to keep you busy.
There's been a lot of legal action on the file sharing and P2P networking front and Clyde has posted some headlines at netweed's File Sharing page.
I've been posting a lot of NY Times headlines which should be fairly permanent links that don't require logins. This service is courtesy of an agreement between the NYT and Radio Userland, a news aggregator and blogging system. Though I use Blogger for my blog publishing, I find having a Radio Userland account a great way to access the NY Times as well as other news services.
From the NY Times:
U.S. Rarely Seeks Charges for Deaths in Workplace - OSHA is fucked.
Lost? Hiding? Your Cellphone is Keeping Tabs - Cellphone surveillance.
A DVD Face-Off Between the Official and the Homemade - Users remake popular culture.
Dumpster-Diving for Your Identity - Identity theft.
Crayon-Colored Excursion Into Positive Thinking - Review of "A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant."
From Other News Services:
The Best of British Blogging - Guardian awards.
Year in Review: Linux Under Attack - Open source news.
Copyright Doesn't Cover This Site - Artistic collaborations and recombinations.
Minn. Shuts Down Controversial Police Database - Surveillance news.
China Opens Wallet to Homegrown Online Game - Gaming news.
Naked Injustice - Abuse of sexworkers.
Here's a bunch of news to keep you busy.
There's been a lot of legal action on the file sharing and P2P networking front and Clyde has posted some headlines at netweed's File Sharing page.
I've been posting a lot of NY Times headlines which should be fairly permanent links that don't require logins. This service is courtesy of an agreement between the NYT and Radio Userland, a news aggregator and blogging system. Though I use Blogger for my blog publishing, I find having a Radio Userland account a great way to access the NY Times as well as other news services.
From the NY Times:
U.S. Rarely Seeks Charges for Deaths in Workplace - OSHA is fucked.
Lost? Hiding? Your Cellphone is Keeping Tabs - Cellphone surveillance.
A DVD Face-Off Between the Official and the Homemade - Users remake popular culture.
Dumpster-Diving for Your Identity - Identity theft.
Crayon-Colored Excursion Into Positive Thinking - Review of "A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant."
From Other News Services:
The Best of British Blogging - Guardian awards.
Year in Review: Linux Under Attack - Open source news.
Copyright Doesn't Cover This Site - Artistic collaborations and recombinations.
Minn. Shuts Down Controversial Police Database - Surveillance news.
China Opens Wallet to Homegrown Online Game - Gaming news.
Naked Injustice - Abuse of sexworkers.
12/20/2003
Surveillance and Voyeurism
One of the things I loved about Bruce Sterling's Distraction was the depiction of the everyday nature of surveillance in a near future U.S., especially the discount bug bins at department stores. So when I heard about camera phones, I realized the implications immediately. Though in some ways they're old news, phone cams are now inspiring legislation in the U.S.. But that won't stop the creative geniuses of sites like Mobile Asses. I'd suggest keeping up with developments by following such sources as picturephoning.com. You can also check out netweed's Privacy page for news and web links related to surveillance and privacy.
12/19/2003
Serious Fun
I write about computer games and online worlds because they are the site for the development of future environments that will become a much bigger part of the online experience in ways that aren't about games at all. But I'm also interested in old-school games and their cultural role. If you share such interests, you'll find the following of use:
In politically incorrect news, "slightly liberal Republican" Shane Messer has created a game called Find Those Weapons, a document heavy project that focuses on the search for weapons of mass destruction which seems to have gone into the O.J. Simpson "I'll find the killers out here on the golf course" phase.
Another disturbingly brilliant project called Ghettopoly continues to make news. Future installments are planned called Hoodopoly, Hiphopopoly, Thugopoly and Redneckopoly. I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry. Maybe I'll just send in a suggestion for Reaganopoly.
The professionalization of online games continue and one of the hotbeds is South Korea, a nation known for its incredibly high percentage of broadband Internet users.
I must go now and consider these issues with philosophical guidance from the Theory.org.uk Trading Cards. And by the way, I'll gladly trade my Psychoanalysis card for your Michel Foucault.
In politically incorrect news, "slightly liberal Republican" Shane Messer has created a game called Find Those Weapons, a document heavy project that focuses on the search for weapons of mass destruction which seems to have gone into the O.J. Simpson "I'll find the killers out here on the golf course" phase.
Another disturbingly brilliant project called Ghettopoly continues to make news. Future installments are planned called Hoodopoly, Hiphopopoly, Thugopoly and Redneckopoly. I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry. Maybe I'll just send in a suggestion for Reaganopoly.
The professionalization of online games continue and one of the hotbeds is South Korea, a nation known for its incredibly high percentage of broadband Internet users.
I must go now and consider these issues with philosophical guidance from the Theory.org.uk Trading Cards. And by the way, I'll gladly trade my Psychoanalysis card for your Michel Foucault.
12/18/2003
World Party
I've been trying to find out about experimental art in Thailand and found this site for a New Media Art Festival that happened last spring along with related documents including lots of pictures.
I found the Thai site from the site of Ricardo Miranda Zuñiga, an artist based in New York, who explores technology and world culture in his interdisciplinary art.
BlogAfrica is a blog about bloggers, in Africa.
As technology facilitates global communication, the outsourcing of technology production in countries such as India moves from building things to creating intellectual property.
I found the Thai site from the site of Ricardo Miranda Zuñiga, an artist based in New York, who explores technology and world culture in his interdisciplinary art.
BlogAfrica is a blog about bloggers, in Africa.
As technology facilitates global communication, the outsourcing of technology production in countries such as India moves from building things to creating intellectual property.
Party Iraq
Unfortunately the occupation of Iraq continues and will continue for a long time, ultimately by economic means and political proxies long after the troops are gone. Occupation Watch will help you keep up with the down side of globalism.
Speaking of Iraq, what would Saddam Hussein be tried for? Oh yeah, hiding those weapons of mass destruction so successfully.
In other weapons news, the latest technological benefits of Israeli occupation of Palestine may be useful in the U.S. occupation of Iraq, where the ability to shoot around corners would be handy.
Speaking of Iraq, what would Saddam Hussein be tried for? Oh yeah, hiding those weapons of mass destruction so successfully.
In other weapons news, the latest technological benefits of Israeli occupation of Palestine may be useful in the U.S. occupation of Iraq, where the ability to shoot around corners would be handy.
12/17/2003
Nat Hentoff and the Village Voice
Back when the Village Voice was a much more important source of national and international news and investigative journalism, I always appreciated Nat Hentoff's columns and his attention to issues that left/libs should have been concerned about but managed to ignore, often due to ideological blinders. And, as far as I can tell, he's never let up, with recent pieces on Castro's persecution of librarians and the ongoing abuses of power by the FBI.
While the Village Voice may not be as important as it once was, you can now read it online for free. Plus you get other great things like James Ridgeway's Mondo Washington column, this week putting the capture of Saddam Hussein in perspective, and Kareem Fahim's ongoing coverage of the Howard Dean campaign.
While the Village Voice may not be as important as it once was, you can now read it online for free. Plus you get other great things like James Ridgeway's Mondo Washington column, this week putting the capture of Saddam Hussein in perspective, and Kareem Fahim's ongoing coverage of the Howard Dean campaign.
12/15/2003
Machinima, Wonderella, GROKLAW
Machinima.com is a site devoted to films based in virtual reality settings. I'm still figuring out the implications of this, but it's another radical use of online worlds, among other things.
Wonderella Printed is a unique press focused on rather odd things, my favorite being the Guide to Lost Wonder, an "activity book for the Museum of Lost Wonder." Further background information can be found in this article from the SF Weekly.
In other happy news, after a Denial of Service attack last week that shut down the website of SCO, the grinch that is trying to steal Open Source, another attack occurred over the weekend. Interestingly, the first of these two attacks has been debated as a possible con job on the part of SCO. For more from those who question SCO, you can check out ongoing discussion at GROKLAW, a weblog by Pamela Jones, a paralegal who has became a leading reporter on the SCO controversy.
Wonderella Printed is a unique press focused on rather odd things, my favorite being the Guide to Lost Wonder, an "activity book for the Museum of Lost Wonder." Further background information can be found in this article from the SF Weekly.
In other happy news, after a Denial of Service attack last week that shut down the website of SCO, the grinch that is trying to steal Open Source, another attack occurred over the weekend. Interestingly, the first of these two attacks has been debated as a possible con job on the part of SCO. For more from those who question SCO, you can check out ongoing discussion at GROKLAW, a weblog by Pamela Jones, a paralegal who has became a leading reporter on the SCO controversy.
12/13/2003
Presidential Campaign News
Howard Dean's star continues to rise with the endorsement of Al Gore and the support of his legendary campaign manager Joe Trippi.
Ralph Nader is considering running for president again under less inviting circumstances than before. All sorts of smart people are telling him not to. Join them in giving your negative feedback at NaderExplore04. For example, I pointed out that he ran a half-assed campaign before with a running mate who barely walked and that he's already too late for this campaign. I don't buy the spoiler routine. I just don't think he knows how to run for president.
Dubya kicks off his campaign with a television spot for his dog and a pretend to get tough on Halliburton announcement while trying to divert attention from the deaths of Iraqi civilians and of U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
In related news, Eminem's desire to "see the president dead," is no longer under investigation.
Ralph Nader is considering running for president again under less inviting circumstances than before. All sorts of smart people are telling him not to. Join them in giving your negative feedback at NaderExplore04. For example, I pointed out that he ran a half-assed campaign before with a running mate who barely walked and that he's already too late for this campaign. I don't buy the spoiler routine. I just don't think he knows how to run for president.
Dubya kicks off his campaign with a television spot for his dog and a pretend to get tough on Halliburton announcement while trying to divert attention from the deaths of Iraqi civilians and of U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
In related news, Eminem's desire to "see the president dead," is no longer under investigation.
12/11/2003
Guardian Unlimited: Recent Headlines
Israel trains US assassination squads in Iraq
Particularly useful for the extensive links to related reports as well as the reminder of the covert aspects of any such engagement.
Revealed: how drug firms 'hoodwink' medical journals
Yo, those motherfuckers are tricky!
Particularly useful for the extensive links to related reports as well as the reminder of the covert aspects of any such engagement.
Revealed: how drug firms 'hoodwink' medical journals
Yo, those motherfuckers are tricky!
Online Worlds/Game Resources
If you're interested in the development of online worlds, you'll find the following of interest:
Virtual Worlds Review
A guide to online worlds.
The Alphaville Herald
News blog for an online world with more general relevance.
Player Auctions
Center for commerce related to online worlds.
Virtual Worlds Review
A guide to online worlds.
The Alphaville Herald
News blog for an online world with more general relevance.
Player Auctions
Center for commerce related to online worlds.
12/10/2003
Art and Politics
RTMark is one of the coolest avantart projects fucking with corporate consciousness that I've ever seen.
I'm not sure if The Journal of Aesthetics & Protest is just very occasional or only a two issue project but it's fun reading, especially if you're a theory head that enjoys statements like "documenting the collapse of political and aesthetic practices into the singular field of 'media' as a function of globalization."
The New Formulation: An Anti-Authoritarian Review of Books is clearly biannual, available in PDF and contains a variety of interesting articles by interesting authors on anarchy and the literary arts.
I'm not sure if The Journal of Aesthetics & Protest is just very occasional or only a two issue project but it's fun reading, especially if you're a theory head that enjoys statements like "documenting the collapse of political and aesthetic practices into the singular field of 'media' as a function of globalization."
The New Formulation: An Anti-Authoritarian Review of Books is clearly biannual, available in PDF and contains a variety of interesting articles by interesting authors on anarchy and the literary arts.
12/9/2003
More Than Games, Not Just Virtual
Cory Ondrejka has joined Terra Nova and is starting out strong with a post on Real v. Virtual Worlds that discusses the "intrusion" of the "real world" into "virtual worlds." He takes an interesting stance in contrast to some who would prefer that so called virtual worlds remain divorced from external economic activity. He also has a paper available in PDF form called Escaping the Gilded Cage: User Created Content and Building the Metaverse, referencing Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash.
A related issue is the interest in modifying games, a development that computer game companies are starting to embrace.
I put virtual worlds in quotes above because I tend to make a distinction between virtual and digital and I consider these online environments to be digital worlds or, at least, attempts to create digital worlds. I put real world in quotes above because I find the world to be real wherever I go and generally distrust the analysis of people who mobilize such terminology. But I think the term virtual is useful when it's referring to something that resembles but isn't something, such as virtual reality when it's attempting to look like a physical rather than a digital environment. But mostly I don't bring such distinctions up cause most people don't give a fuck and the point is to be understood and you probably know what people mean when they say virtual something or other anyway.
A related issue is the interest in modifying games, a development that computer game companies are starting to embrace.
I put virtual worlds in quotes above because I tend to make a distinction between virtual and digital and I consider these online environments to be digital worlds or, at least, attempts to create digital worlds. I put real world in quotes above because I find the world to be real wherever I go and generally distrust the analysis of people who mobilize such terminology. But I think the term virtual is useful when it's referring to something that resembles but isn't something, such as virtual reality when it's attempting to look like a physical rather than a digital environment. But mostly I don't bring such distinctions up cause most people don't give a fuck and the point is to be understood and you probably know what people mean when they say virtual something or other anyway.
12/8/2003
Late Reports on Cops and the FTAA
A couple of weeks ago, protestors in Miami responded to the Free Trade Area of the Americas talks in a continuation of antiglobalism protests. I've been remiss in following such events, but further material about police assaults on street medics and the embedding of journalists in police contingents have recently appeared in the Miami New Times.
12/6/2003
Mediaplex Pirates Mojo Mail
Dada Mail is a free email list management system orignally called Mojo Mail. The creator, Justin Simoni, has designated the new version an art project in a unique response to the assholes at Mediaplex who registered the name Mojo Mail three years after Simoni first released his software. I'm not sure the art route will protect small timers from corporate piracy, but it's an interesting approach. Another interesting approach would be hacktivism.
