Did that stop you in your activist tracks, Josh? Or perhaps having invented FireANT is a deeper gesture of activism? It certainly has helped me wean m'self away from the mainstream that was moving my brain toward uselessness.
I'm proud of you, Josh; sorry you have to feel this violation again. Oh boy. Jan On 3/25/07, Rupert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Wow. I could do a few pages on this, but I won't. > There is an amazing documentary by Adam Curtis, part 3/3 on tonight > on BBC2 at 9pm. It's called The Trap, and it's about how we are > losing/have lost our freedom. It's very, very good. All Brits on > the list should check it out. > > Everybody else can check it out in several parts at http:// > www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVZBkelUft8 > It will play on PBS later this year, like his previous doc The Power > Of Nightmares. > > I feel a bit embarrassed to be linking to a BBC documentary from a > mainstream doc director here. I know I'm not alone in having all > these hopes for what online distributed media and particularly video > can do to help change tyrannical bureaucratic secretive abuse of > power like this and break the illusion of our impotence. I keep > telling myself Be The Change You Wish To See In The World, and trying > to find ways to make this happen in my life through online video. > I'm not there yet, but this group (tying back into Harold's thread) > has obliquely and unwittingly helped me make quite amazing personal > and political realizations over time and some of the stuff you all do > I find buttock-tighteningly inspiring. Regardless of social > dynamics, which I believe are considerably less poisonous and more > accepting here than in other places. > > Rupert > http://www.fatgirlinohio.org > http://www.crowdabout.us/fatgirlinohio/myshow/ > > > On 25 Mar 2007, at 20:19, Gena wrote: > > Joshua, I woke up this morning and heard a brief story on NPR about > this. I said to myself, "I'm probably in some dang database". I heard > something about an RNC/NYPD work task force. > > For those outside the U.S. > http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/03/25/news/protest.php > > This is a direct result of an imperial presidency and the PATRIOT Act. > > And yeah, I've suspected that we had/have increase scrutiny from > certain governmental agencies in this list as well. I could say that > it is a perverse badge of honor. But that may be a little too > optimistic spin on this. > > I could bring up ancient anger and say that this is what we get when > Americans collectively chose not to participate in the process of > elections. That this is what we get when in fear mode we permit all > kinds of abuses in the name of "safety". > > My country tis of thee? Sometimes yes, lately ??? > > This is one instance where being African-American helps me to cope > with this kind of thing. It happens. You were not a person. You were > an objective. A "Not Like Us" person. The "Other". > > It will continue to happen until attention is focused on this event. > NYPD has to be made to feel so uncomfortable that it will promises > heaven and earth not to do it again. Unlikely but possible. > > Be angry. Be aggressive in finding out the complete truth and be > strong in your conviction that you were exercising your rights as a > citizen. > > After you do all of that. Acceptance. The acceptance part is that you > and your rights were violated. As you think about it more it is gonna > eat at you. You will need to find a healthy way to discharge that > energy. It will take some time. Because you are going to realize just > how deep this cuts and the number of layers this is going to penetrate > your being. > > The best metaphor I can give you is in the winter when the wind blows. > You are standing there. The wind blows. Because of the wind chill > factor it feel much colder than what it is in reality. > > You have two choices: > > One is to clench up and take it full blast - this will ensure the > shivers. Discomfort. A loss of personal power. Until it stops. > > Two is to accept the wind and allow it to pass through you. You are > still cold but you decide what you will and will not latch on to as > you deal with this situation. > > I wish I had better words for you. I know what I'm trying to say but > it isn't coming out right. So I'll stop with "do the best you can". > > ...peace, be still > > Gena > > --- In [email protected], "Joshua Kinberg" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > > > Today, I'm unsure how to react to this news -- having your person, > > property and rights violated is an unsettling experience. Would > > definitely like to hear your thoughts on this as I'm processing the > > information. > > > > On Friday morning, I was informed by a NYTimes reporter that recent > > documents uncovered just how far the NYPD went to suppress Free > Speech > > -- mine and others -- at the Republican Convention in 2004. Here's > > what the NYTimes reported in the Sunday edition: > > > > "City Police Spied Broadly Before G.O.P. Convention" > > > <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/nyregion/25infiltrate.html? > ex=1332561600&en=3af0cd0ac568e430&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=perma > link> > > > > Bikes Against Bush <http://www.bikesagainstbush.com> was my graduate > > thesis project, a combination of mechanical engineering, WiFi, > > interactive mobile messaging, and videoblogging. It was featured in > > Popular Science magazine for the engineering design of the bicycle > > that printed chalk text messages sent through SMS and from my website > > onto streets and sidewalks in NYC. > > > > Apparently, the NYPD considered this project to be a threat and was > > determined to shut it down. They had a copy of the Popular Science > > article in a file along with 4 pages of notes as to why my project > was > > a threat. This led to my bizarre arrest, which happened on national > > television while I was being interviewed by Ron Reagan on MSNBC's > > Hardball. > > > > I was arrested with no crime being committed. Just simply plucked > from > > the street, jailed for 24 hours, and my computer, cell phone and > > bicycle confiscated and held for over a year (the bicycle was never > > returned). The fake charges against me were dropped 6 months later. > > > > The NYTimes article confirms what I had long suspected -- that the > > NYPD was unlawfully conducting surveillance of artists, activists, > and > > others seeking to exercise free speech at the RNC convention in 2004. > > > > Here are the videos: > > > > The Bike Project > > <http://www.bikesagainstbush.com/blog/iloveny.mov> > > > > The Arrest -- Street Footage > > <http://www.bikesagainstbush.com/blog/bikesarrest.mov> > > > > MSNBC Interview > > <http://www.bikesagainstbush.com/blog/msnbc_8-29-2004_med1.mov> > > > > BikesAgainstBush was important because it was one of the earliest > > demonstrations of the power of the blogosphere to distribute video -- > > the raw street-footage of the arrest circulated around the > blogosphere > > and was viewed by millions of people both before and after the edited > > version aired on MSNBC's Hardball. > > > > Immediately after this project, I began working on software to > > distribute video via RSS. I met Jay Dedman around this time in NYC, > > and we began working together. This became ANT (ANT's Not Television) > > and later FireAnt <http://FireAnt.tv>. > > > > I wanted to share my thoughts here, in the videoblogging > community, as > > I'm reflecting today on the state of media, how far we've come and > the > > work that remains... > > > > Best, > > Josh > > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > -- The Faux Press - better than real http://fauxpress.blogspot.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
