better version of Playboy Japan interview with TRP

[David Morris]

If Pynchon kept away from the press all those years out of a fear of 
devaluing his writings, it seems that was a good strategy.  Too bad he came 
out of hiding.  Pynchon might be only a symbol, not really there.

DM

>From: Doug Millison <millison at online-journalist.com>
>Here's a note from my friend Naoki and a more complete translation of the 
>Playboy Japan interview.
>
>Most of The News Is Propaganda
>There Might Be No Bin Laden Ever Existed.
>
>[Text]
>
>Right now,  New Yorkers constantly talk about whether they have already 
>visited the WTC attack sites or not. Some went to see the ruins and  others 
>have not seen them yet. It is the trendy topic of the time. I think that it 
>will take some time before I feel like visiting the site myself.
>
>Since the attacks, I stopped taking subways. That's the biggest change in 
>my everyday life. I used to go everywhere riding the subways, but now I 
>never take subways because I'm afraid of chemical weapons. There is a 
>precedent of the sarin attacks in Tokyo and the causalities from the 
>biological weapon called anthrax are spreading. I will not surprised if 
>chemical weapons are used against us anytime soon.
>
>CNN is the media that reports on the terrorist attacks all the time. Since 
>most of the Americans watch CNN, it is safe to say that all the news that 
>ordinary people get is the same. But, the real danger is that people 
>believe what they see on CNN is the news.
>
>For TV stations, a time like this offers the best opportunity to show us 
>their originality. However, the anchorpersons on the TV just read the 
>tele-prompter in a monotone voice, or repeat the sentences that are 
>continuously fed from the earpieces  hidden from us. They look like they 
>are talking just to fill the empty airtime.
>
>There is an adjective, "affectless". The way those anchorpersons report is 
>the best described as "affectless". 	It doesn't have a human touch and 
>there is no power of emotion in their reporting. I don't like it. When I 
>listen to them carefully, there is not much news. Most are propaganda.
>
>The terrorist attacks have changed the New York Times most. I used to wake 
>up one hour early to buy the paper, but now it is not worth reading sitting 
>down. I can go through all the pages of the paper before I sit down. There 
>is little useful news in the Times. Most are propaganda.
>
>Although the news that there are antibiotics other than Cipro for treating 
>anthrax infection is a little useful,  useful news like that is becoming 
>rare. The New York Times was usually the most reliable media for checking 
>what happened in 20-30 years ago, but no more. Today, the Guardian of 
>England is the most reliable newspaper that is read by the intellectuals of 
>today. People read it on the Internet. I think the information from the 
>White House also contains a lot of propaganda.
>
>The problem is the ordinary citizen cannot distinguish the news from the 
>propaganda. Contrary to our belief, there is quite reliable news from 
>Israel.
>
>In a time of war,  information warfare is rather important and even those 
>respected newspapers cannot be trusted. The founder of the Daily Mail, 
>which was published 100 years ago in London said "News is something 
>somebody wants to suppress.  Everything else is propaganda."
>
>The information that the reporters can obtain easily is likely to be 
>propaganda even when it comes from the White House.
>
>Bin Laden should be considered as a symbol. America always looks for an 
>enemy. The country cannot feel O.K. without it. It has labeled Bin Laden as 
>the bad guy who commanded the terrorist attacks from behind the scenes, 
>only because we couldn't feel O.K. unless we made him. But I think Bin 
>Laden is just somebody's rodeo clown.
>
>My thought has been always a little paranoid. But it is not only I who 
>thinks like that. NSA is supposed to watch Bin Laden, but I think we are 
>going to see a new layer after a layer like onionskins. I cannot help 
>thinking it was not he alone responsible for the attacks. I have an 
>impression that Bin Laden is just a front man.
>
>I wonder honestly if those photos of Bin Laden on TV and newspapers are the 
>his real face. Right after the terrorist attacks, I remembered someone 
>said" Come on, you want bin Laden? We'll give you 20 of him." Even if 
>America kills a Bin Laden, there will be 19 more Bin Ladens. Even there is 
>only one Bin Laden, there are many who want to succeed him.
>
>If you look at the matter from a different angle, Bin Laden should be 
>considered as a symbol rather than as a human. It might be that no Bin 
>Laden ever existed.
>
>I read this while I was surfing on the Internet. The most suitable 
>punishment for Bin Laden is to perform a sex-change operation on him after
>catching him alive and taking him to a hospital. Then, we return him back
>to Afghanistan and make him understand how they abuse women there.
>
>We should not forget that many of Bin Laden's brothers were once the
>business partners of George Bush jr. in  oil ventures. The doctor who
>always stood by Bin Laden was a member of the group who killed Sadat. There
>might be others who ran away from Egypt after the assassination in
>Afghanistan.
>
>People often mention that one of the reasons why they hate America is 
>because she is rich. I can understand this well. When I see wealthy people, 
>I feel anger instinctively from the bottom of my heart. It is natural for 
>them to feel a hatred for wealthy America, as Afghanistan is the poorest 
>country in the world. They just cannot help from hating her.
>
>It is not going to solve all the problems even if America stops supporting 
>Israel. However, from the Arab perspective, Israel is the origin of all the 
>wrongs.
>
>Finally, if I want to invest in stock aggressively now, I am going to 
>invest in the tobacco industry. After the attacks, those who had quit 
>smoking in the past has begun smoking tobacco again.
>
>(Interview and Text by Motokazu Ohno)




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