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contents
a new year,
time to take stock of where we’re at ....
*IRAQ: THE NEXT AMERICAN PRESIDENT!! STARTS NOW! p.3
*ISRAEL: IT'S THE OCCUPATION, STUPID - Why the Pro-Occupation Right is Running Scared p.8
*RAVE CULTURE: AND RELIGION -
the technocultural rave’s role in the spiritual life of contemporary youth
& the planet – academics take Rave Culture seriously at last in a new
book. We preview a chapter about Megatripolis!!! p.11
*AFGHANISTAN: DÉJÀ VU - Details of U.S. victory are a little premature – like with the Russians p.14
*HEMP: IT SPELLS CURTAINS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE, ENVIRONMENT DESTRUCTION, AND NOW TERRORISM p.17
*MONEY AND
YOU - +=£$ GO FROM BROKE! %£$- p.29
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The UP! (or UP!grademag) is
a global edutainment round-up, ‘broadcast’ weekly to =[10,903]= Alternative//
Activist// Zippy// Trance// New Age folks who have been recommended
to the Parallel
YOUniversity//Megatripolis Dance Dept as "showing
signs of life". Since many recipients choose to forward it to their own
lists, we estimate 30,000+ direct
recipients. Further, because of its less
'specialist' content, it's increasingly being posted on a variety of sites
worldwide, making a conservatively estimated total weekly ‘readership’ of 275,000+
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* * * * * * * * * ASTRO ENERGY
ANALYSIS FOR JAN
15-21
* * * * * *
FULL MOON HIGHLIGHTS SECURITY ISSUES
Full
Moon in Cancer this weekend will be emotional.
It
also ushers in a very strange week.
A
surprise, perhaps an assertive one, changes the U.S.
identity.
The
King and Queen are at odds this week, and communication may suffer.
By
the end of the week we can understand the healing which is now occurring.
Mercury
turns direct by January 23.
Get the daily scoop in Maya’s Daily Success Guide at
www.daykeeper.com
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
UP! Flabbergasted (adj.),
appalled over how much weight you’ve gained over Xmas.
let’s start off with a confession :(
we were spoofed last week! :(
our lead story, SWEDEN OFFERS FREE-SPEECH REFUGE TO U.S. OFFICIALS was
not true.
it was written
by Dennis Hans, a serious ‘merican writer who also
writes spoof stories from time to time, and this was one.
he’s now written
to us:
Howdy,
Fraser. You better do something about that sense of humor before it
infects everyone on the Internet. Then where would we be?!
My
story was a satirical, fanciful tale, its purpose being to embarrass the Bush
administration and the media slugs - and maybe put a thought in the head of
foreign officials to propose such a plan, thus placing a much-needed spotlight
on White House deceit & intimidation that’s all too real.
I'm glad the story’s spreading, however, as straight news
or as satire. Seems to be striking a chord either way, which suggests a
bunch of folk see an urgent need for some sort of Palme Plan.
Keep up the gleefully subversive work!
Dennis./
usa
>>> we were so
desperate for some light in the tunnel that we were easily Palmed off.
other spoof stories by Hans
include:
Latest Mega-Merger: CBS and Colombian
Government
http://www.commondreams.org/views/052000-102.htm
UP! Coffee (n.),
a person who is coughed upon, usuazlly by smokers.
“The greatest enemy of the truth is very often not the
lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive
and unrealistic.” John F. Kennedy.
UP! Esplanade (v.),
to attempt an explanation while drunk.
who unleashes the
furies dies by them
dinosaurs die out because they’re so brutishly thick that they actually believe they can bash their
way to victory.
the world, however, is vastly more
complex, interconnected, and constantly evolving or adding complexity’n novelty.
poor little george from big big texas (wow!)
has stirred up furies
he increasingly can’t handle. the new world order was supposed to be afghanistan, and then iraq, and then venezuela, and then north korea and then iran and then the rest of the middle
east and then...
they were not supposed to happen all at the same time! (wozzit something i said?!)
but now venezuela‘s middleclasses have the protest bit between their teeth and he
can’t switch them off and there goes george’s oil supply when he needs it most;
north korea
has seen the game and is rushing for the only ace available to prevent
invasion; and who knows what other countries are accelerating their
nuclear/bio/terror powers before he comes gunning for them?!
like thatcher,
the bush administration
could represent the End of the Dinosaurs, their Last Charge, after which they’ll be gone for good. maybe it had to be
this way (with apologies to thousands of innocents who might die for humanity
to finally learn the lesson) (what lesson? people who live on glasshouses shouldn’t
throw bomms)
so, folks, whether george finishes his term or not, it’s definitely
time to start considering a truly radical
peace-maker as ...
THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE USA!!
Representative Dennis J.
Kucinich is the real thing, he’s a former
Mayor of Cleveland, a Democratic
Representative from Ohio, and the Chair of the
Progressive Caucus. Though very progressive, he represents a solidly
working class section of Cleveland which was Republican
before he won it.
He would run for the Democratic Party nomination, though he has already
been endorsed by the Mendocino County Green Party. People are right
now working on getting the national Green Party to endorse him should he run.
He was a good friend of Paul Wellstone's
(presumed assassinated) and is on the subcommittee investigating that
(predicted) plane crash. He knows the risks, but is showing no sign of
fear as he speaks around the country.
Below is his speech at the Swearing-In Ceremony on
January 5, 2003:
My fellow Americans, in this ceremony
we recognize the power of the people in a democracy to create
self-government. For you have truly lifted me, as a
lowly servant, up from your midst to serve our nation. You have
asked me to stand as a sentinel to safeguard our rights. You have expected me to tell the truth, even
if that truth shall disturb established economic, political and social
structures. I accept your trust with humility and I shall proceed in my
duties each day with courage, with unshakeable faith and with love of you, my
dear constituents, love of our country, love of freedom and love of our
brothers and sisters worldwide.
For the America I envision seeks world unity, not unilateralism. It gains its power through being the first to help, not the first to
strike. It extends itself to the peoples
of the world to lift their burden. It is an America, which, when asked for help, dispenses bread instead of bombs,
medical assistance instead of missiles, and food instead of fissile materials.
There is a role for America in the world. It is in
working with the community of nations to achieve the security of all
nations. It is in restoring the promise
of the Non Proliferation Treaty to lead the way to get rid of all nuclear weapons. It is in helping to assure international
order through strengthening and abiding by international treaties. It is
in assuring control and eventual elimination of biological and chemical
weapons, and landmines. It is in protecting our global climate by
cooperating with the rest of the world in reducing carbon emissions.
America can help protect the world. America can help save the world. But America cannot control the world, nor should we want to do so.
Yet our Administration would project American power for the
purpose of domination. Their National Security doctrines call for America to strike anywhere it pleases and to be the first to use nuclear
weapons.
Our nation is now poised to go to all-out war against Iraq. Iraq has not committed any act of aggression against us. Iraq was not responsible for 911.
Iraq was not responsible for the anthrax attack on our nation. The United Nations has yet to
establish that Iraq has usable weapons of mass destruction. There is no
intelligence that Iraq has the ability to strike at the United States. According to the CIA, Iraq has no intention to attack America, but will defend itself if attacked.
Why then, is our nation prepared to send three hundred thousand of our young men and women into house to house combat in the streets of Baghdad and Basra? Why is our nation prepared to spend $200 billion or more
of our hard-earned tax dollars for the destruction of Iraq? Why is our nation
preparing to use the most powerful military machine in history to wage an
assault against the people of Iraq, to destroy their houses and buildings, to wipe out their water
and electric systems and to block their access to food and medical supplies?
There is no answer which can separate itself from
oil economics, profit requirements of arms trade, or distorted
notions of empire-building. If war is
prosecuted further in Iraq, we must be prepared to advance the cause of peace, to stand up, to
speak out, to organize, to march, to demand an end to the war, or to demand an
end to an administration which insists on war.
It is urgent we oppose this war. It will dominate our
nation's priorities. It will threaten Social Security. It will
threaten Medicare. It will block a prescription drug benefit for the
elderly. It will stop America from providing jobs for all, health care for all, education for
all.
There are some who believe that it is unpatriotic to challenge
the Administration on the war. They believe it is politically wiser to
debate the economy. But how can one reasonably separate war from the
budget, war from the economy, war from America's ability to meet the needs of its people?
The Administration's own top economic adviser said the war could
cost up to $200 billion. Our federal budget is already close to a $200 billion
deficit due to huge tax cuts for the wealthy. Remember when we had a
budget surplus?
Each time the administration talks about war, fear is created and
when fear goes up, the market goes down. War will mean a sharp increase
in oil prices, which will hurt jobs in manufacturing and
transportation. One economic study with a worst-case scenario puts
the cost of an all-out war, plus long-term occupation of Iraq at $1.6 trillion.
QUESTION: Why does America have hundreds of billions to ruin the health and take the lives of
innocent people in Iraq but no money to provide health care for all Americans?
QUESTION: Why would America spend hundreds of billions to retire Saddam Hussein, but no money
to protect the retirement security of its own people?
QUESTION: Why does America have money to blow up bridges over the Euphrates River in Iraq, but no money to build up bridges over the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland?
The path America must take is one of peace, one which understands that creating a
structure of peace ensures that economic structures can be
sound, affirmative of human needs and restorative of human values.
This is the dream of a Department of
Peace which can help America take the first step
towards making nonviolence an organizing principle in our society - making the
work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a reality - and working to make war itself a thing of the
past. It is this ethic of peace-seeking and peace building which will
cause us to take down weapons from the heavens and work to create a heaven on
earth full of new possibilities.
Peace and prosperity shall be as two pillars in a newly rebuilt America which provides for the economic and social security of its own
people as a cause of nationhood and for the economic and social progress of peoples of other
lands as a cause of brotherhood.
This confirmation of the purpose of nation was the dream of Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal, Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society, and John F. Kennedy and the New Frontier. This shall continue to be our dream in the days ahead,
that no matter the darkness, we shall hold up the light of America's higher purpose, which calls to us across the ages from
Washington, Jefferson and Adams through Lincoln to the present day.
Our nation has always had a higher calling, despite the darkness
of 911 and the official
response to it. It’s a calling to maintain the quest for democracy,
for freedom and liberty at times of peril as well as in times of peace.
We can sense that higher calling. That higher calling is our
heritage. The words of Francis Scott Key still echo: "Oh say does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave, o'er the land
of the free and the home of the brave?" In this he
celebrated the link between freedom and bravery: That it takes courage to live in a democracy. It takes
courage to stand up
to terrorists and maintain basic liberties. It takes courage to lead the way toward global
disarmament while some are bent on destruction.
It takes patience to face dictators around the world and not be tempted to bomb
them into submission. It takes wisdom to have great power and to make gentle its presence in the
world. And it takes compassion to understand the
plight of peoples world wide who themselves are trying to survive, to live out
their own humble lives despite having conditions which are challenging or
governments which are oppressive.
My friends. This is still your
government. You have a right to have a say in how its destiny is being
charted. That right derives from our very Declaration of Independence, which claimed self-governance as a basic right.
Government does not just happen in Washington, DC. It is the result of a process which takes place in
thousands of cities, villages and townships. It is also a process which
takes place in our hearts, which is brought to life by
our love of country, and our love of each other. It is your love
which enables me to carry those hopes and dreams forward. And I shall do
so courageously in the days ahead. Thank you.
Go here to find out more about Dennis J. Kucinich
http://www.draftkucinich.com/why.html
Go here to urge Dennis J.
Kucinich to
run for President. http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?itemid=14249&afccode=WFC008
UP! Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp
I think the best news i've heard is that
all original members of DuranDuran have reunited and are planning to release a
new album this summer, with a tour to follow in the fall!!
WarholBoy
>>> the
planet has taken note.
UP! Negligent (adj.), a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the
door in your nightie.
TIME QUICK VOTE RESULTS
Time Magazine is running an online poll on the biggest threat to world peace at http://www.time.com/time/europe/gdml/peace2003.html
They were foolish enough to include the US in the
list of countries. And guess what: the online polling currently has the United States leading!
Which country poses the greatest danger to world peace in 2003?
NORTH KOREA 15.4%
IRAQ 30.3%
UNITED STATES 54.3%
UP! Willy-nilly (adj.), impotent.
COMPUTERS ARE CUTE BUT LET’S FACE
IT,
THEY’LL NEVER BE
ABLE TO THINK!!
In "Robotto no Kokoro" (Robot's Mind),
Prof. Hiroshi Tsukimoto of
Tokyo Denki University says
it will be impossible for computers to comprehend languages because the process
involves "functional physical movement":
understanding of words is associated with images built up through one's
physical existence.
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=1552&m=5435
UP!
washington
SAT
JAN 18 NATIONAL
MARCH ON WASHINGTON DC
& SAN FRANCISCO Join
the International Campaign Against US Aggression on Iraq. Email circulated by: A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to
Stop War & End Racism)
For more information:
http://www.internationalanswer.org
UP!
london
SAT FEB 15 BIG NATIONAL
DEMO AGAINST WAR
A MILLION PEOPLE COULD BE THERE! there were near
haffa million last time. Jointly organised by the Stop the War Coalition, Campaign
for Nuclear Disarmament and the Muslim Association of Britain, we
assemble 12 noon at Embankment, (nearest tube Embankment) to march at 12:30pm.
If the UK goes to war we will call a national
demonstration immediately. Demonstrate
at 6pm
in your town centre (in London, go to Trafalgar Square).
UP! Gargoyle (n.), an olive-flavored mouthwash.
israel
IT'S THE OCCUPATION,
STUPID
Why the Pro-Occupation Right is Running Scared
by
LEAH HARRIS
(Member of the Executive
Board of Jews for Peace in Palestine and Israel in Washington, DC.)
http://www.counterpunch.org/harris1228.html
In November,
Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, the Program on Justice and
Peace,
and the Young
Arab Leadership Alliance (YALA) co-sponsored a talk by Norman G. Finkelstein entitled "PROSPECTS FOR JUSTICE IN
ISRAEL/PALESTINE."
Finkelstein has come under heavy criticism for his little book The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the
Exploitation of Jewish Suffering, in which he argues compellingly that Jewish suffering
has been exploited by Israel for political
purposes. He’s also an esteemed
historian and political scientist who supports a
moderate two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israel conflict.
Anyway, Finkelstein's appearance at Georgetown University sparked a firestorm
of outrage among the Georgetown Israel Alliance, who accused Finkelstein of
"Holocaust
denial." This accusation got picked up by the Georgetown Hoya, and then by
lazy Washington
Post
columnist Marc Fisher, until Finkelstein threatened to sue (a retraction was
printed in the Post on December 8).
So all the
hullabaloo got me thinking about this war of ideas currently raging in this
country on the subject of Israel and Palestine. The
way I see it, this is not a war between the pro-Israeli perspective and the
pro-Palestinian perspective. After all,
one can easily be pro-Israel, pro-Palestine, and opposed to the Israeli
occupation. Instead, today's war of
ideas is being fought amongst those who support and those who oppose Israel's 35-year-old occupation of Palestinian lives
and land.
Since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, there’s been a
noticeable shift in the discourse around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Throughout the Oslo years, the focus
was on the "Peace Process"--and with a few exceptions, the only people
questioning Oslo and talking seriously about
the "occupation" were Palestinian activists and intellectuals. Now we understand that Oslo was a sham and the
so-called "Peace Process" is officially dead.
A growing contingent of American Jews representing such
organizations as Not in My Name (Chicago), Jews against the Occupation (New York), Jews for Peace in
Palestine and Israel (Washington, DC) and A Jewish Voice for Peace (San Francisco),
have come to see the conflict through the lens of occupation, and contend that
peace and occupation don't exactly mix.
Even President Bush has used the word "occupation" in his
speeches. And this has the
pro-occupation right running scared and name-calling.
- Palestinians speaking against the Israeli
occupation can easily be dismissed as Muslim fanatics (even if they’re
Christian).
- Average
Americans or Europeans speaking critically about the occupation can be denounced as
garden-variety anti-Semites.
- American Jews speaking about the conflict
from an anti-occupation perspective can be labelled as self-hating. Even someone like Norman Finkelstein, the son of two Holocaust
survivors, can be maligned as a "Holocaust Denier" and a "Holocaust
Revisionist"
for speaking from an anti-occupation perspective.
- Finally,
all people who denounce the Israeli occupation are accused of supporting
terrorism. According to this
twisted logic, if you oppose Israeli state terrorism, then you of course
support other forms of terrorism.
Among the pro-occupation right, the focus
is not on defending a morally and legally indefensible pro-occupation
perspective, but on discrediting and silencing those who oppose it. It's about whipping up deeply-rooted Jewish
fears about anti-Semitism and American fears of Middle Eastern terrorism. In short, it's about creating a climate of
hysteria instead of conducting rational, informed debate.
That explains why an organization like Campus Watch tries to turn
professors who criticize Israel's policies into
pariahs. It explains why the
pro-occupation group the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) undertakes the
disingenuous practice of mistranslating excerpts of anti-occupation articles
published in Arabic press which then, taken wholly out of context, are picked
up by the sensationalist American media and paraded as proof of the rabid
anti-Semitism of the Arabs.
It’s noble to stand against anti-Jewish bigotry and bigotry of
all kinds; however, the pro-occupation right goes much too far. Organizations like the Simon Wiesenthal Center, fixated on the
idea of tolerance toward Jews, are appallingly silent on Israel's intolerance of
Palestinians and its refusal to allow them the same rights that the center
advocates for Jews. Instead of taking a
critical look at why anti-Israel sentiment is on the rise around the world, the
Wiesenthal Center's focus is on banning
books and silencing speech. Anti-Israel
or anti-occupation sentiment is conflated with an endless irrational
anti-Semitism that always existed and always will. In short, either you're with the occupation,
or you're an anti-Semite and a terrorist sympathizer.
Which is why Norman Finkelstein's book The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the
Exploitation of Jewish Suffering is so
important. He takes the lesson of
tolerance learned from the tragedy of the Holocaust and applies it to the
Palestinian people. This is a dangerous
idea, which is why the pro-occupation right is doing everything it can to
discredit him and any institution that hosts him as a speaker.
The same fate is in store for any
professor or public figure who dares to suggest that Israel's
occupation might be illegal and immoral.
The pro-occupation right is running scared, and those of us struggling
to end the Israeli occupation in the hopes of creating a better future for all
peoples in the Middle East, should take heart.
Leah Harris, member the Executive Board of Jews for
Peace in Palestine and Israel
leah_ida@hotmail.com.
LATE NEWS FLASH:
JAGGI SINGH NABBED IN JERUSALEM PLEASE HELP!
Jaggi Singh, a major student activist player
since the anti-APEC embryonic global resistance protests in Vancouver (long before Seattle), was kidnapped on January 8th in Jerusalem by a group of undercover Israeli police officers. Jaggi travelled to Israel and the
Occupied Territories on the invitation of the International
Solidarity Movement (ISM), a Palestinian-led movement which brings together
Palestinians and Internationals to fight the Israeli occupation through
non-violent direct action. He was also
providing reports to various independent news organizations and activist
networks about the situation on the ground.
When he
first arrived in Israel in mid-December, he was refused entry to the country. He refused to be refused and was immediately
detained; he spent two days fighting an illegal deportation from Israel which
has, so far, has refused 10,000 internationals over the past 2 years.
After
winning a court battle with the assistance of Israeli lawyer Shamai Leibowitz,
Jaggi was granted entry into Israel with
the condition that he leave the country by December
23rd. The Tel Aviv District Court also barred
him from entering the Occupied Territories