Is it OK to be a Luddite?

[Richard Fiero]

Well! This is most upsetting. To learn after all this time that 
Pynchon is not prescient!
         prescient:  . . . human anticipation of the course of events.
         foresight: 1 : an act or the power of foreseeing : 
PRESCIENCE 2 : provident care :      PRUDENCE <had the 
foresight to invest his money wisely> 3 : an act of 
looking   forward; also : a view forward.
Some academics who apparently live on another planet and have 
no need for any moral compass simply do not need to actually 
read the boring words. They are far too busy providing the 
young with tools to use in critical thinking.
The likely suspects have not yet been mentioned. The board of 
directors of entropy.org, for starters. Marvin Minksy? The same 
who wrote the afterword for Vernor Vinge's 1979 "True Names." 
William Gibson's 1983 "Neuromancer?" Not a chance. There is no 
way Pynchon could have picked up on the trans-humans, 
post-humans or extropians since they have escaped the notice of 
the academics of that other planet and don't exist.

Sidenote: Eisenhower's speech sanitized for public consumption 
used the phrase "military-industrial complex." The draft had 
read military-industrial-congressional complex."

Yes, governments have a monopoly on violence. It may be slipping.
Good night Killer Bob Kerry. 310 pounds of explosives for every 
man, woman and child in both North and South Vietnam just wasn't enough.
Have a great weekend Tim McVeigh.

===========
McVeigh, wearing tan khaki slacks and tan shirt, was
animated as he awaited the arrival of U.S. District Judge
Richard Matsch, but turned grim after the death sentence
was handed down.
He spoke briefly before Matsch formally imposed the
jury-sanctioned verdict.
McVeigh quoted from a dissenting opinion written by
Brandeis in 1928 in a wiretapping case, Olmstead vs. United
States. McVeigh said: "He wrote, 'Our government is the
potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it
teaches the whole people by its example.' That's all I have,
Your Honor."

In McVeigh's Own Words:
"I explain herein why I bombed the Murrah federal building in
Oklahoma City. I explain this not for publicity, nor seeking to
win an argument of right or wrong. I explain so that the record
is clear as to my thinking and motivations in bombing a
government installation.
"I chose to bomb a federal building because such an action
served more purposes than other options. Foremost the bombing
was a retaliatory strike; a counter attack for the cumulative
raids (and subsequent violence and damage) that federal agents
had participated in over the preceding years (including, but
not limited to, Waco). From the formation of such units as the
FBI's Hostage Rescue and other assault teams amongst federal
agencies during the 80s, culminating in the Waco incident,
federal actions grew increasingly militaristic and violent,
to the point where at Waco, our government - like the Chinese -
was deploying tanks against its own citizens.
"Knowledge of these multiple and ever-more aggressive raids
across the country constituted an identifiable pattern of
conduct within and by the federal government and amongst its
various agencies.
"For all intents and purposes, federal agents had become
soldiers (using military training, tactics, techniques,
equipment, language, dress, organisation and mindset) and they
were escalating their behaviour.
"Therefore this bombing was meant as a pre-emptive (or
pro-active) strike against these forces and their command and
control centres within the federal building. When an aggressor
force continually launches attacks from a particular base of
operations, it is sound military strategy to take the fight to
the enemy. Additionally, borrowing a page from US foreign
policy, I decided to send a message to a government that was
becoming increasingly hostile, by bombing a government building
and the government employees within that building who represent
that government. Bombing the Murrah federal building was
morally and strategically equivalent to the US hitting a
government building in Serbia, Iraq, or other nations.
"Based on observations of the policies of my own government, I
viewed this action as an acceptable option.
"From this perspective, what occurred in Oklahoma City was no
different than what Americans rain on the heads of others all
the time, and subsequently, my mindset was and is one of
clinical detachment. (The bombing of the Murrah building was
not personal, no more than when Air Force, Army, Navy or Marine
personnel bomb or launch cruise missiles against government
installations and their personnel). I hope that this
clarification amply addresses all questions."
McVeigh also comments on Feds thinking the law doesn't apply to them:
"When the post-inferno investigations and inquiries by the
Executive and Legislative branches of government concluded that
the federal government had done nothing fundamentally wrong
during the raid of the Branch Davadians at Waco, the system not
only failed the victims who died during that siege but also
failed the citizens of this country This failure in effect left
the door open for more Wacos.
"Some time after the fact they received awards, bonus pay and
in some cases promotions for their disgusting and inhumane
actions at Waco and Ruby Ridge.
"This was exemplified years later while I sat in prison, The
Ruby Ridge FBI sniper, Lon Horiuchi, was charged by the state
of Idaho for his actions.
"The federal courts threw out the charges, ruling that federal
agents are immune from the laws that govern the common citizen.
"The surviving Davidians were sentenced to lengthy prison
terms, despite protests from the trial jurors. The primary
'checks and balances' system had again failed to correct the
system.
"It was at this time, after waiting for non-violent checks and
balances to correct ongoing federal abuses and seeing no such
results, that the assault weapons ban was passed and rumours
subsequently surfaced of nationwide, Waco-style raids scheduled
for the spring of 1995 to confiscate firearms.
"These rumours were so persistent and deemed so credible that
some congresswoman wrote letters to Attorney-General Janet Reno
inquiring as to her intents and admonishing her to call off the
raids.
"As it turns out these rumours were actually based on fact.
"Through the legal process called 'discovery' the Oklahoma City
bombing defence learned that both the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms) and the FBI had formulated raid plans for
the spring of 1995 at Elohim City in eastern Oklahoma. So for
those who dismiss such concerns as paranoia you need to look a
the facts as they existed a the time and further reflect that
the Waco raid was not imaginary - it was a real event.
"It was in this climate then, that I reached the decision to go
on the offensive - to put a check on government abuse of power
where others has failed in stopping the federal juggernaut run
amok.