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Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Spam from "Micah White, PhD,"

with "Protest is broken." as heading:









Occupy spam








Boutique Activist Consultancy?!



.

8 comments:

Ian Keenan said...

"Chiara's unique approach to activism is shaped by her experience growing up in the Middle East as the daughter of a U.S. diplomat." "We work across the political spectrum with anyone who shares our goals and excites our interests."

NYT 11/08/10: "WASHINGTON — The United States has expanded the role of American diplomats in collecting intelligence overseas and at the United Nations, ordering State Department personnel to gather the credit card and frequent-flier numbers, work schedules and other personal information of foreign dignitaries.

"Revealed in classified State Department cables, the directives, going back to 2008, appear to blur the traditional boundaries between statesmen and spies."

The open-ended nature and relative lack of specific policy focus and rigor of Ocuppy cuts both ways.. I have bought in that it is an essential element of it. The format of Occupy, or lack thereof, makes it a mirror for its participants and those reacting to it.

Unknown said...

Ian: Likely you know of her, but if not, please look for Kathy Kelly's articles? Several weeks ago, she was released from F.M.C. Lexington Prison, and as a Chicago resident, Kathy (63) directs "Voices for Creative Non-violence." I've had communications with Kathy and today, I received the organization's newsletter in the "snail" mail. When people bash my being a Byzantine Catholic, I point to the lives of Kathy Kelly, and Scranton-based priest, Father William Pickard. In turn, they shrug.

Thanks for the NYT clip (above), and the blurring of boundaries between statesmen and spies. The world of Joseph Conrad's "The Secret Agent" is upon us, spies everywhere. Wish you well.

x larry said...

this is too much
but what? another lefty activist turned arch capitalist? remember jerry rubin?

x larry said...

ian, thanks for great nyt quote. is she a bit dodge, do you think? i'm so glad these mini celebs are so well-connected.
as to the occupy format, i pretty much thought it sucked, at least here in the land of the anglo saxon, where everything but everything sucks. but we did have a little crazy from texas, ready like everyone on the night crew to fuck some people up. at least his name was henry, like the british hoover, so i could use him in a little ditty i do whilst cleaning, 'if every 'oover was and 'en-ery', etc.
cheers

Rudy said...

Yo Chuck,

Kathy Kelly - a true hero. She was born and raised in Chicago, but I don't know if she still lives there. If she does, it's probably only bad luck that I didn't meet her sometime during 2010 - 2013. During those years I drove from Ann Arbor to Chicago a number of times to attend court sessions in connection with the political persecution of Gregory Koger ( https://www.facebook.com/FreeGregory?fref=nf ) at the hands of the Chicago (in)justice system – something I think Kathy would have been interested in.

I admire people like Kathy. I try to justify my begging off from personal participation in things that include risks of incarceration or physical abuse because of my age. I’m older than Kathy, but then there’s Megan Rice ( http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/q-jailed-nun-voices-no-regret-trespassing-nuclear-arms-facility/ ), so, really, I’m just a coward.

‘They’ are trying to make everyone a spy. See something, say something, for example.

Anonymous said...

Kathy Kelly might be CIA. It doesn't sound so preposterous. If a group of people really want to have a war, they would hire, or tolerate their own opposition to certain aspects of it that are intended but regrettable, like wiping out a wedding party. Consider the overall strategy. Presumably, someone working with the Afghans on a positive social endeavor, like making fabrics and community building, (I can't remember exactly, Kelly was doing something like this) -- is helpful while executions or drone strikes are carried on between competing interests.

Unknown said...

Rudy: Must confess that when I get urge(s) to make comment on Linh's Blog, I tend to desire to say something meaningful, and unfortunately, I turn a bit didactic. But as I read your comment above, in particular, the words, "I try to justify my begging off personal participation that includes risk of either incarceration or personal abuse," I can not help myself and will take to the School Bus driver "Bully Pulpit." First I will try and establish a point?

There is scientific basis for the insight that "all is relative." For example, I am closer to planet Venus than Pluto is, and my I.Q. is far away & below from the height of, let's say, Stephen Hawking. As far as moral courage goes, one can assert I have less of that virtue than Kathy Kelly, Scranton's Father William Pickard, and Megan Rice, the latter name noted above.

Consequently, I'll suggest that moral courage is relative, and there's different levels, from bottom to top. Despite the fact that I do not sacrifice and get arrested for protesting our Empire's killing Muslims with weaponized drones, I most humbly believe that I have more moral courage than, let's say, Hillary Clinton who in using the ancient Roman phrase, once boasted, "We came, we saw, we conquered," and killed Muammar Qadaffy. Off top of my head, the latter is a fine example of the Jet Set Powerful's moral COWARDICE. Hillary Clinton might become POTUS and were she to look down upon my viewpoint, she'd likely get "votes" by calling Americans like me an asshole.

The Kellys, Pickards, & Megan Rices of both our time and centuries ago are very (!) rare. In my life's action, I am closer to Linh Dinh in "moral courage" than the late-journalist Michael Hastings. Actually, were I not married with children, I might summon the "moral courage" to get arrested for protesting any numbers of abominations committed by the U.S. Military-Industrial-Security Complex. However, Rudy, we are entering a very dangerous period in American history in which ordinary people could get arrested for failing to heed the W. Bush administration's arrogant & narcissist edicts, "You're either for or against us"... Ari Fleischer's "Watch what you say, watch what you do!"

Finally, Rudy, I sincerely admire YOU (!) for making honest and brave comments, like the one above. Probably < 90% of the American population have ever heard about the inspired works of Kathy Kelly. Like a hungry animal, governments suppress, attack, and will execute what they see as a "threat" to the Moral Order they created.

Wish you well, hope you might reply to this "sermon" on the Taylor Borough Mount?

Unknown said...

Dear Anonymous: You have made a chilling point on how evil organizations & individuals can use people's bravery & goodwill to forward their bad intentions.
So the "Password" for ANYONE (!) who wants to partake and enter into activities contrary to US Empire and CIA goals is sadly, BEWARE. (Note: I recall the TV program "X-Files," and the show always opened with a written proclamation: "Trust No One!")

Although I have no clue either who or what you are, Anonymous, let me thank you very much for what you wrote... please continue? I just hope I'm not actually communicating with John Brennan's brother-in-law or Donald Rumsfeld's nephew!