marc garrett
Since the beginning
Works in London United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

ARTBASE (1)
PORTFOLIO (3)
BIO
Marc Garrett is co-director and co-founder, with artist Ruth Catlow of the Internet arts collectives and communities – Furtherfield.org, Furthernoise.org, Netbehaviour.org, also co-founder and co-curator/director of the gallery space formerly known as 'HTTP Gallery' now called the Furtherfield Gallery in London (Finsbury Park), UK. Co-curating various contemporary Media Arts exhibitions, projects nationally and internationally. Co-editor of 'Artists Re:Thinking Games' with Ruth Catlow and Corrado Morgana 2010. Hosted Furtherfield's critically acclaimed weekly broadcast on UK's Resonance FM Radio, a series of hour long live interviews with people working at the edge of contemporary practices in art, technology & social change. Currently doing an Art history Phd at the University of London, Birkbeck College.

Net artist, media artist, curator, writer, street artist, activist, educationalist and musician. Emerging in the late 80′s from the streets exploring creativity via agit-art tactics. Using unofficial, experimental platforms such as the streets, pirate radio such as the locally popular ‘Savage Yet Tender’ alternative broadcasting 1980′s group, net broadcasts, BBS systems, performance, intervention, events, pamphlets, warehouses and gallery spaces. In the early nineties, was co-sysop (systems operator) with Heath Bunting on Cybercafe BBS with Irational.org.

Our mission is to co-create extraordinary art that connects with contemporary audiences providing innovative, engaging and inclusive digital and physical spaces for appreciating and participating in practices in art, technology and social change. As well as finding alternative ways around already dominating hegemonies, thus claiming for ourselves and our peer networks a culturally aware and critical dialogue beyond traditional hierarchical behaviours. Influenced by situationist theory, fluxus, free and open source culture, and processes of self-education and peer learning, in an art, activist and community context.
Discussions (1712) Opportunities (15) Events (175) Jobs (2)
DISCUSSION

The Ballad of an Electric Sheep


------=_NextPart_001_0057_01C28089.7C074000
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="Windows-1252"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

BlankThe Ballad of an Electric Sheep
who was really a lost lamb...

Once

when I was a cyber artist
I used to hide
behind a mask
some call it an alias
some call it a womb
some call it just plain scared...
All those wasted hours
of fun causing mayhem
killing time while
killing one's real self
and my life's
possible other selves

You see
I didn't get it...

Honest
I just didn't get it...
life that is

my projects and actions
were autistic in function
exploring new ideas
but they were not real
or alive
because inside I was dead

I used technology
to advertise entropy
on the back
of extropian dreams
keeping that flame
burning like a flag but soon that flag
began to melt
like most illusions do
and time ate away at
my dystopian pangs

my mask began to feel
the gravity
and it had weight
declaring nothing but
the truths
the self lies
such vulnerable lies... those vulnerable eyes
the windows to my soul
were closed
shut
not seeing

I was so busy
trying to be out there
in the world
the perfect object(s) of
self desire
I was always right
and the world was wrong
that is why I was
created after all
wasn't it?
To put things right?

I used to believe that
empathy for others
was a failure
a weakness
a western designed
sentimental scheme
a Hollywood dream I believed that ideas
were the passport
out of death in life
as well death in art

So I became an activist
a cyber artist
with a difference
I was not only one
I was many First there was 1 of me
then there was 2
and then I multiplied
and then there 4
soon I became sixteen
of me and now
I am just
one...
that weight
that Ixion's wheel
that I ignorantly
rested on my shoulder
was the mask It really
was not me

I now that that now

As I punched
out at the world
with my hurting
I soon realised that
I was punching
at me Each act of anger
was a moment
of self loathing
hidden by masculinity
and social programming

the default of hatred
war and gusto
disguised as honour
fooled me
for a while I realise now
that I was asleep
in a coma
and it had become
my home
the womb

that electric womb
did once pulse
its cold juice in
and around my cranium
I had lost contact
with my heart

All my dreams
had become
the body electric
shimmering with a light
so bright
it was as though
I was alive
But I was not really home I saw the contempt
that I had created
in my domain
the cyber world
the place that I so
arrogantly claimed
as mine

As others questioned
my cyber antics
I shouted at them
with a hatred
of a lost lonely child
The truth is
that I am really human
and the tears that I
weep are a barometer
of the foolishness
that I feel

And as I watch
other electric sheep
dreaming and pissing
their souls away
in that ever blustery
ecstatic wind

creating their own
masks and mannerist
tasks
I know that what ever
I say is of no use
for they are dead
at present
but once they wake
and time has passed
a fresh light will
shine I was brave enough
to throw that jigsaw
puzzle called life
into the air
watching
at last
using my eyes
seeing where they
actually land
I have not found god
or the answer to life
and those useless questions
designed to distract
and annoy
I have found
home... a place without walls
a place without nationhood
a place that resides
inside of me
and the one I love

(a spontaneous poem/prose declaring that re-invention is not always t=
he way home. And there are many people who are homeless - physically, menta=
lly as well as emotionally. The most lost, are the one's who hide behind th=
e mask of logic, the god of objectivity. The doctor's knife. For behind tha=
t muffled disguise is a subjective entity, riddled by the very natural stat=
e we know as dysfunction. And dysfunction is dare I say it? A kind of truth=
. Like a self lie. Like doubt, like death, birth and of course that thing t=
hat we have labelled LOVE...)

------=_NextPart_001_0057_01C28089.7C074000
Content-Type: text/html;
charset="Windows-1252"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE id=ridTitle>Blank</TITLE>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-125=
2"><BASE
href="file://C:Program FilesCommon FilesMicrosoft SharedStationery">
<STYLE>BODY {
MARGIN-TOP: 25px; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 25px; COLOR: #000000; FONT=
-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica
}
P.msoNormal {
MARGIN-TOP: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; COLOR: #ffffcc; FONT-F=
AMILY: Helvetica, "Times New Roman"
}
LI.msoNormal {
MARGIN-TOP: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; COLOR: #ffffcc; FONT-F=
AMILY: Helvetica, "Times New Roman"
}
</STYLE>

<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2719.2200" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY id=ridBody bgColor=#ffffff
background=cid:005501c28089$7c04cf00$0600a8c0@FURTHERFIELD>
<DIV>
<TABLE height=1066 width=692 align=center border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD height=42>
<DIV align=center>
<P><B class=unnamed2>The Ballad of an Electric Sheep <BR>who was re=
ally a
lost lamb...</B></P></DIV></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top align=left height=2554>
<TABLE height=2163 width="100%" border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%">
<P><FONT face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 si=
ze=2>Once
</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 si=
ze=2>when
I was a cyber artist<BR>I used to hide <BR>behind a mask<BR>som=
e
call it an alias<BR>some call it a womb<BR>some call it just pl=
ain
scared...</FONT></P></TD>
<TD vAlign=bottom align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2>Al=
l those
wasted hours <BR>of fun causing mayhem<BR>killing time while
<BR>killing one's real self<BR>and my life's<BR>possible other=

selves</FONT></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%">
<P><FONT face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000
size=2><BR>You see<BR>I didn't get it...</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000
size=2>Honest<BR>I just didn't get it...<BR>life that
is</FONT></P></TD>
<TD vAlign=center align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2><B=
R>my
projects and actions<BR>were autistic in function<BR>exploring =
new
ideas<BR>but they were not real<BR>or alive <BR>because inside =
I was
dead</FONT></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2><B=
R>I used
technology<BR>to advertise entropy<BR>on the back<BR>of extropi=
an
dreams<BR>keeping that flame<BR>burning like a flag</FONT></TD>
<TD vAlign=center align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2>bu=
t soon that
flag<BR>began to melt<BR>like most illusions do<BR>and time ate=
away
at <BR>my dystopian pangs</FONT></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2><B=
R>my mask
began to feel<BR>the gravity<BR>and it had weight<BR>declaring=

nothing but<BR>the truths <BR>the self lies<BR>such vulnerable=

lies...</FONT></TD>
<TD vAlign=center align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2>th=
ose
vulnerable eyes<BR>the windows to my soul<BR>were
closed<BR>shut<BR>not seeing</FONT></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2><B=
R>I was so
busy<BR>trying to be out there<BR>in the world<BR>the perfect=

object(s) of<BR>self desire</FONT></TD>
<TD vAlign=bottom align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2><B=
R>I was
always right<BR>and the world was wrong<BR>that is why I
was<BR>created after all<BR>wasn't it?<BR>To put things
right?</FONT></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2><B=
R>I used to
believe that <BR>empathy for others<BR>was a failure<BR>a
weakness<BR>a western designed<BR>sentimental scheme<BR>a Holly=
wood
dream</FONT></TD>
<TD vAlign=center align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2>I =
believed
that ideas<BR>were the passport<BR>out of death in life<BR>as w=
ell
death in art</FONT></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2><B=
R>So I
became an activist<BR>a cyber artist<BR>with a difference<BR>I =
was
not only one<BR>I was many</FONT></TD>
<TD vAlign=center align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2>Fi=
rst there
was 1 of me<BR>then there was 2<BR>and then I multiplied<BR>and=
then
there 4 <BR>soon I became sixteen<BR>of me and now <BR>I am
just<BR>one...</FONT></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2>th=
at
weight<BR>that Ixion's wheel<BR>that I ignorantly<BR>rested on =
my
shoulder<BR>was the mask</FONT></TD>
<TD vAlign=bottom align=left width="50%">
<P><FONT face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 si=
ze=2>It
really<BR>was not me</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 si=
ze=2>I
now that that now</FONT></P></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2><B=
R>As I
punched<BR>out at the world<BR>with my hurting<BR>I soon realis=
ed
that<BR>I was punching<BR>at me</FONT></TD>
<TD vAlign=center align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2>Ea=
ch act of
anger<BR>was a moment<BR>of self loathing<BR>hidden by
masculinity<BR>and social programming</FONT></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2><B=
R>the
default of hatred<BR>war and gusto<BR>disguised as honour<BR>fo=
oled
me<BR>for a while</FONT></TD>
<TD vAlign=bottom align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2>I =
realise
now<BR>that I was asleep<BR>in a coma<BR>and it had become<BR>m=
y
home<BR>the womb</FONT></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2><B=
R>that
electric womb<BR>did once pulse <BR>its cold juice in <BR>and a=
round
my cranium<BR>I had lost contact<BR>with my heart <BR></FONT></=
TD>
<TD vAlign=bottom align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2><B=
R>All my
dreams<BR>had become<BR>the body electric<BR>shimmering with a=

light<BR>so bright<BR>it was as though<BR>I was alive</FONT></T=
D></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=center align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2>Bu=
t I was not
really home</FONT></TD>
<TD vAlign=bottom align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2>I =
saw the
contempt<BR>that I had created<BR>in my domain<BR>the cyber
world<BR>the place that I so<BR>arrogantly claimed<BR>as
mine</FONT></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2><B=
R>As others
questioned<BR>my cyber antics<BR>I shouted at them<BR>with a
hatred<BR>of a lost lonely child</FONT></TD>
<TD vAlign=bottom align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2><B=
R>The truth
is<BR>that I am really human<BR>and the tears that I <BR>weep a=
re a
barometer<BR>of the foolishness<BR>that I feel</FONT></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%" height=179>
<P><FONT face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000
size=2><BR>And as I watch<BR>other electric sheep<BR>dreaming=
and
pissing<BR>their souls away<BR>in that ever blustery <BR>ecstat=
ic
wind</FONT></P></TD>
<TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%" height=179><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2><B=
R>creating
their own<BR>masks and mannerist<BR>tasks<BR>I know that what=

ever<BR>I say is of no use<BR>for they are dead<BR>at
present</FONT></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2>bu=
t once they
wake<BR>and time has passed<BR>a fresh light will<BR>shine</FON=
T></TD>
<TD vAlign=bottom align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2>I =
was brave
enough<BR>to throw that jigsaw<BR>puzzle called life<BR>into th=
e
air<BR>watching<BR>at last<BR>using my eyes<BR>seeing where
they<BR>actually land</FONT></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2>I =
have not
found god<BR>or the answer to life<BR>and those useless
questions<BR>designed to distract<BR>and annoy<BR>I have
found<BR>home...</FONT></TD>
<TD vAlign=center align=left width="50%"><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=2>a =
place
without walls<BR>a place without nationhood<BR>a place that
resides<BR>inside of me<BR>and the one I love
</FONT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P><FONT face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color=#000000 size=1=
><B><FONT
color=#0033cc>(a spontaneous poem/prose declaring that re-invention=
is not
always the way home. And there are many people who are homeless -
physically, mentally as well as emotionally. The most lost, are the o=
ne's
who hide behind the mask of logic, the god of objectivity. The doctor=
's
knife. For behind that muffled disguise is a subjective entity, riddl=
ed by
the very natural state we know as dysfunction. And dysfunction is dar=
e I
say it? A kind of truth. Like a self lie. Like doubt, like death, bir=
th
and of course that thing that we have labelled LOVE...)
</FONT></B></FONT></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV>
<P>&nbsp;</P></BODY></HTML>

------=_NextPart_001_0057_01C28089.7C074000--

DISCUSSION

Re: Re: Membership fee


Ok Mark,

How about skill swaping - this is also a thing we do. Yep, I know that
you've done a bit in the past. But this is an emergency. Offer certain
privelages from rhizome like extra publicity/ promotion of art etc in return
for doing ceratin jobs. Make it all open and official so anyone who has a
computer skill, no matter how big or small can help in some way.

marc

> At 08:05 AM 10/29/2002 +0000, Ivan Pope wrote:
>
> >Funny thing is, possibly the most interesting thing Rhizome does is
> >Commissions. But can I find anything about them on the Rhizome site?
>
> The link is under Art + Text. Or go directly to
http://rhizome.org/commissions.
>
> We are currently waiting for funding to get the next cycle going.
>
> Best,
>
> Mark
>
> + new media rugby
> -> post: list@rhizome.org
> -> questions: info@rhizome.org
> -> subscribe/unsubscribe: http://rhizome.org/preferences/subscribe.rhiz
> -> give: http://rhizome.org/support
> +
> Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
> Membership Agreement available online at http://rhizome.org/info/29.php
>
>

DISCUSSION

collateral damage


------=_NextPart_001_0263_01C27FA7.DA464720
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="Windows-1252"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

BlankSenator Zell Miller: "I say bomb the hell out of them. If there's coll=
ateral damage, so be it. They certainly found our American civilians to be =
expendable." (Sept 12, 2001)

------=_NextPart_001_0263_01C27FA7.DA464720
Content-Type: text/html;
charset="Windows-1252"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE id=ridTitle>Blank</TITLE>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-125=
2"><BASE
href="file://C:Program FilesCommon FilesMicrosoft SharedStationery">
<STYLE>BODY {
MARGIN-TOP: 25px; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 25px; COLOR: #000000; FONT=
-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica
}
P.msoNormal {
MARGIN-TOP: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; COLOR: #ffffcc; FONT-F=
AMILY: Helvetica, "Times New Roman"
}
LI.msoNormal {
MARGIN-TOP: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; COLOR: #ffffcc; FONT-F=
AMILY: Helvetica, "Times New Roman"
}
</STYLE>

<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2719.2200" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY id=ridBody bgColor=#ffffff
background=cid:026101c27fa7$da43d620$0600a8c0@FURTHERFIELD>
<DIV>
<P
style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 15px; TEXT-INDEN=
T: -15px"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>Senator Zell Miller: "I say bomb the hell=
out of
them. If there's collateral damage, so be it. They certainly found our Amer=
ican
civilians to be expendable."&nbsp; (Sept 12, 2001)</FONT></P></DIV>
<P>&nbsp;</P></BODY></HTML>

------=_NextPart_001_0263_01C27FA7.DA464720--

DISCUSSION

Re: show me my art


Hi Paul,

Thanx for that, enjoyed playing around with the different levels of speed u=
sing the dots below (i think that is what they were for) & the visual, harm=
onic circling sound monitor. I tried to get rid of that high pitched sound =
in the background, it felt like a manic case of tinnitus for me, everything=
else was of course great - it gave off a sense calmness which is well need=
ed these days. You should give wowm.org a visit also, you might find their =
work pretty interesting. One other comment in respect of page design, the h=
armonic visual on the mid-right side (I feel) would be more fluid if you to=
ok the image out of the square frame, that it less contained. That's my $5'=
s or

DISCUSSION

Re: Doh!


------=\_NextPart\_001\_006B\_01C27DBC.EB737050
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="Windows-1252"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

BlankHi there Wally,

This may sound absurd, but in each email that I have been writing to you I =
have been beginning to warm to you. Finding out other things of you past in=
repsect of certain humanistic things that you, yourself have also taken up=
on to do. So I am not going to respond to you in an aggressive way at all, =
and say that I agree with some of your comments and have a good day creat=
ing some art. One last point, the Russian dictate really fucked it up big t=
ime, what a tragedy, waste of lives, it makes me sad.

respect from marc

From: furtherfield

Hello Wally,

I do not believe that you possess any interest in resolving anything

from these discussions - you have not successfully argued your case to =
justify your

governments actions.

Nor do I regard you as having been sucessful in arguing your case.

You have not answered questions in relation to America's need

for oil.

There are questions I asked which you likewise failed to address.

Your right-wing stance does not read well on the email page, with the v=
ery

simplistic ill-informed assumption, that I do not care about the Chechn=
ya

occupation, you are quite simply - wrong.
Your simplistic and uninformed assumption that I am a USAmerican is qui=
te simply -- wrong. And your simple-minded knee-jerk labelist-response that=
I am a McCarthyist was exceedingly easy to trash.

For about 3 years, on and off, I have been helping (in my own small way)

a couple friends, who have come to the UK from Chechnya, with legal

issues in relation to immigration. Supporting them and experiencing the

endless, non-sensical administration and continuous beaucracy thrown at

people who have escape from troubled areas around the world. Talking on

the phone for them because they do not speak good english. I did

not know how badly foreigners were treated until I actually got involved

with it. It is a very stressful thing to do, they were treated like

criminals and they had not even done anything wrong and they had also

lost a brother before they had left their home country. And the repect

they have received is disgraceful.
And I definitely commend you for this action of yours. Although not per=
fect, Canada has been far more accepting of Roma (Gypsy) refugees than the =
European countries. I have been involved with the Gypsy community for sever=
al years now, especially those fleeing right-wing extremist Euro situations=
. My my, how this must conflict with your right-wing stereotype labelling o=
f me.

And they, like myself, believe that America is not helping the world via

its unilateral stance. Yes, they have their own problems at home but th=
ey

can also see that certain issues need to be resolved and challenged, in=
a

more intuitive and intelligent way, rather than by aggression.

Please don't assume Wally, for you do not know what I am up to in my

life, just as much I do not know what you are doing in yours.

Then reflect seriously on your presumption that I am an USAmerican.

Why don't

you admit that America is only interested in oil? I won't think the less

of you for it, in fact I would respect you for being honest.
I am being honest when I assert that I do not believe "that America is =
only interested in oil". America has been doing quite well since 1991 witho=
ut Iraqi oil. Indeed, all that the USA has to do to open the oil sluices of=
Iraq is to withdraw sanctions.

In April 2000, we demonstrated outside Downing street when Mr Putin came

visit the UK. Mr Blair promised to raise the issue with him about

Russia's human rights record in Chechnya.

It is not a human rights problem. I really don't understand how you cou=
ld diminish the horrendous atrocities of the Russian occupation -- it is fa=
r more brutal and lethal than Israel's occupation of the West Bank, or Indo=
nesia's former occupation of East Timor. It is a racist war of exterminatio=
n that is over a decade long -- and in spite of your involvement on Downing=
street, there has never been a mass demonstration against it. Why do you t=
hink that is so? And it is not a question of your personal involvement, but=
of the non-involvement of the peace movement at large.

But in the end they just said

that they would not allow the entirety of their relations with Russia a=
nd

a new Russian President to be defined by only one issue. We campaigned

and nothing came out of it of course, but at least we bothered. Compass=
ion

for others is not Fraud Wally, it is humane, there is nothing wrong wit=
h it.
I never asserted that "compassion for others" is fraud. I assert that t=
he peace activists at large are perpetrating a fraud when they behave as if=
the USA is the most brutal, most lethal, most violent in the world. My tak=
e is that the Russian invasion, occupation and racist genocide of total des=
truction in Chechnya has been the most brutal, most lethal, most violent in=
the world and it has been going on for over a decade and relative to the a=
ctivity against the USA, hardly a peep has ever been heard from the peace a=
ctivsist about Chechnya. It is THAT discrepancy which I refer to as a fraud.

Yes: I am very bored with protesting, I do not want to do it. But I feel

compelled to when so much crap is being dished out to civilians via

political dominance.

You seem to believe the official press line - and also you do not seem

brave enough to question your own reasonings of why your country is eag=
er

to pretend that they are carrying out a war against Muslim extremists,

when really they just want economical control over oil, due to America's

own need for it.

I question my own reasonings -- so keep your ill-informed presumptions =
to yourself in that regard. Oil is cheap in the USA, compared to the rest o=
f the world. The proof is the number of gas-guzzling SUV's on the roads. Du=
ring the 70's when the cost of oil took a major leap thanks to the OPEC car=
tel, the era of the "compact car" was born after the heady days of the chro=
mium-ladened land yachts of the 50 & 60's. The USA has done quite well oil-=
wise during the 1990's when Iraq wasn't putting out due to sanctions.

That is why Iraq is going to be invaded, not because

your president believes in human decency. It is all very simple really,

your government is lying to you, don't you get it yet?

And your Chomsky's have been lying to you, don;t you realize your own g=
ullibility?

Despite a striking lack of consensus among the American foreign-policy

elite,

Thank goodness for a lack of consensus -- it is a sign of democracy. Th=
ere is 100\% consensus in Iraq -- that is a sigh of dictatorshit.

Congress voted to grant President Bush the power to attack Iraq

unilaterally. But the rest of the world, and a good part of the American

public,

A good part, but not quite majority enough at this time.

seem unconvinced of the necessity of an attack. Your aggression

towards other cultures is very wrong Wally,

You need a reading and comprehension course, Marc. I don't have any agg=
ression towards other cultures. My wife is of a culture other than mine. I =
have worked for many years with refugees and immigrants to this country. I =
live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which two independent studies found to be=
the most multicultural multiracial city in North America (Yes, it trumps N=
YC). In 1995 in Toronto the census revealed that I now belong in the catego=
ry of "visible minority" -- I am a WASP. Canada, while far from perfect, an=
d with many flaws, has become quite reknown for its accomodation to toher c=
ultures and I take a lot of pride in that. So you know where you can shove =
your simple-minded presumptuous acusation that I am aggressive towards othe=
r cultures. What I am aggressive against is the culture of dictatorshits --=
I refuse to accommodate with such governing organs. I am very pro-democrat=
ic and anti-dictatorshit. As I have previously said, I have no problem with=
killing Hitler and his brain trust, and as much as I regret some loss of i=
nnocent lives to do so, I would be healed by the fact that the lives of sev=
eral million Jews, Gypsies, Gays, handicapped wouldn't be transported to th=
e ovens. On exceedingly rare occasions I believe many innocent lives can be=
saved by a selective and focussed killing of a few 100's, 1000's directly =
involved in the dictatorshit.

and it does seem that

everyone in the world thinks so as well.

That is a load of hyperbolic crap. You don't know any such thing.

Do you think that it is a

democratic act when America decides to bomb another country anyway,

when everyone else in the world has voted for it not to take place?

When and where did that vote take place?

Do you

think that is right? It's the people that matter in the world, not

governments, wake up!

Except when the government is killing hundreds of thousands of innocent=
civilians in neighbouring countries, hundreds of thousands of innocent civ=
ilians within the same country using gas, torture, or whatever else is at h=
and. I think it is wrong to acquiess to letting a government do that to so =
many innocent people. Wake up!

In 1990, in the run-up to Desert Storm, George Bush Senior bribed and

threatened virtually every country on the Security Council to force them

to vote to authorize the US war. The Administration cajoled poor

countries with cheap Saudi oil and dangled arms packages before

governments like Ethiopia and Colombia, whose access to US military

support had been cut because of wars and human rights violations. US

diplomats went to China and said "name your price" to avert a veto--and

fulfilled Beijing's wish list for post-Tiananmen Square diplomatic

rehabilitation (with the announcement of a White House visit by the

Chinese foreign minister) and new development aid (in the form of a $114

million World Bank assistance package). China abstained. When Yemen, the

only Arab country on the Council, voted against the war, a US diplomat

said, "That will be the most expensive No vote you ever cast." And

Washington cut off its entire $70 million US aid package.

Are you proud of this kind of action; do you really think that bullying

other countries into doing things that they do not want to do is right?
Sept.

11 was followed by more violence and death, bloodshed and destruction a=
nd

promises of 'permanent war.