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Fifth HOPE Conference Underway
The Fifth HOPE conference is starting today at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City. If you haven't heard of it, read through their website or see our report on the last conference to get some idea. The lockpicking talk is scheduled for Saturday morning, and Kevin Mitnick, Steve Wozniak, and Jello Biafra will all be speaking. Well worth your time and the $50 admission fee, so if you're in the Big Apple, come on down.
Wow i wish I was there instead I am a slave stuck behind this damm keyboard. But when the FBi raids the place for everyone in there being a terrorist and they all end up in jail being held without a trial for supporting terrorist. I am sure HOPE also violates the DMCA in some way or another!!!
NY is generally cheaper to get to by air, due to it being a major hub, and there's a whole lot more to do there.
Sure, if you hold it in Bumfuck, Iowa, it'll be a whole lot cheaper, but what are the attendees going to do between talks or after hours? Watch the corn? Cow tipping?
In a large city, you already will have a strong possibility of getting all interested parties (possibly many thousands) that live in the area, because it's easy for them to get to. In Iowa, the total number of interested parties within easy driving distance is probably about 15.
In a large city you also have the inherent "cool" factor of the city in question. People will be more likely to make the effort to attend a conference if it's held in a town where there are things to do other than the conference. This is why Las Vegas is so popular for conventions.
I'm guessing it's a reference to Orwell and 1984. They were in a state of perpetual war against "Eurasia" or whoever. The point was that a state of perpetual conflict kept the populace malleable and obedient.
Now, note that the banner doesn't say "Eurasia", it says "Eurabia". This is probably a dig at the current conflict we are being distracted by.
Just my thoughts.
Mitch
I'm starting to get really disturbed by the politics going on right now.
There's nothing wrong with questioning your government. When you start blindly protesting every single action of the government, I think it's time to take a step back and get a little perspective on things.
I'm starting to think twice about going to HOPE next month. Last time I went (2002) it was *incredibly* political. Jello Biafra gave a talk, and said a bunch of things about the "Bush conspiracy"--stuff that was easily debunked as bullshit on snopes.com--but everyone there just ate it up like it was hard fact. Random people would yell out "Bush sucks!" and everyone would laugh like it was the funniest shit in the world.
I've never seen a better example of herd mentality in my life. This is free thinking?
This was before the war, and before I gave a shit one way or the other about Bush and his policies, and I was probably more than likely to say "fuck Bush" based on what I knew about him at the time... and I still remember looking around and thinking these were a bunch of anarchist-wannabe children (many of whom were well past childhood.)
This was supposed to be a gathering of free-thinking people... individuals. Instead, it was a bunch of scene whores trying to act cool in front of "all the other hackers"... spouting ill-informed mass-media opinions without any actual information to back it up. And then they have the nerve to talk about how fucked up the media is. Hah. I'd feel different if I had seen anything but eagerly nodding heads slack-jawed idiots drinking up the bullshit like it was gospel.
I donno, I'd like to go to HOPE, it'd be fun in some ways... but I just cringe every time I think of the immature shit that Emannuel used to spout on his radio show, and I can only imagine how much more political HOPE will be with the current assault on Bush. Something tells me I won't really enjoy myself too much there.
I bet money that they show Fahrenheit 911 in the screening room and spend endless hours spouting mindless propaganda. And no, I'm not trolling. I'm not even a republican. I just hate people who don't think things through for themselves.
There is no spoon ;) Sorry I couldn't resist.
No, it's not a question of "You must feed at the teet of ONE OF THESE TWO:
- Corporate Media
- Jello Biafra"
That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying, look at any corporate media outlet, and many are fed from the same source. I said NOTHING about Michael Moore, or the government, or Bush, or ANYTHING ELSE!
What I am saying is: There are issues that go unaddressed by corporate media. There are viewpoints that are somehow not covered by corporate media. One point JB is trying to make is this:
BECOME THE MEDIA.
It is up to anyone that chooses to undergo that endeavor to bring to light anything they want. They could be completely FOR the current administration, that's fair.
In other words, if you have something to say, SAY IT ALREADY!
That is all. Sheesh, just because you have an inferiority complex about being on the right, doesn't mean that everyone not on the right is wrong!
Fahrenheit 9/11 Review
I paid my $6.50 and saw the film. The above is my full review.
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The next conspiracy theory deals with the Bin Laden family. Moore pretends this is new information yet this was revealed long ago. The Bush administration has a relationship with the Bin Laden family. They're very wealthy oil tycoons. But they don't have much of a relationship with their son, Osama. On September 13th they were flown out of the country. What he fails to mention is that the flight restrictions were being lifted on the 13th. The reason they were flown out was because they were being harassed. Moore spends a great deal of time showing old cop films about interrogating witnesses. What Moore fails to consider is that while the Bin Laden family was flown out of the country for their own safety, they were not necessarily out of contact with the White House. In fact he doesn't even ask the question "has the Bush administration talked to them?" He never bothers to find out whether or not the Bush Administration is still in contact with the Bin Laden family. If Bush is trying to protect Osama somehow then it's pretty odd that the first official reports blame him and a war is started against him and his organization within two months. The other important point that Moore doesn't bother to consider is that it was not Bush that authorized the Bin Laden's to leave the country but Richard Clarke. On May 26, 2004 Clarke told The Hill newspaper:
"I take responsibility for it. I don't think it was a mistake, and I'd do it again."
...
"It didn't get any higher than me," he said. "On 9-11, 9-12 and 9-13, many things didn't get any higher than me. I decided it in consultation with the FBI."
http://www.hillnews.com/news/052604/clarke.aspx
I guess we can excuse Moore's ignorance on the issue since Richard Clarke came clean on it most likely after Moore had finished editing his film and history. What Moore also failed to consider is that fact that the Bin Laden family was actually talked to. But that's very inconvenient for Moore since those old cop movie clips provided a bit of humor for his farce.
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The FBI did actually talk to the Bin Laden family and then said it was okay to let them leave. Clarke then authorized their flights out. Whether or not the Bush Administration is still in contact with them (very likely) is never considered by Moore. That on top of the fact Moore never bothered to find out who actually let them leave the country or why.
Ben
Work Safe Porn
Nah. The astronauts were intact when they hit the water (probably unconscious, possibly dead), but intact, and yet this mythical, nonexistent plutonium (in a sturdy shielded capsule) would have miraculously disintegrated and somehow, magically covered the whole of florida? Sorry. Ain't gonna happen.
-WolfWithoutAClause
"Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"Yeah, I'm seriously wondering about the advisability of attending a conference like this, at a time when the gov't says it desperately needs the ability to get people's reading lists without a warrant. 'Evil Hackers' seem to be equated with terrorism, and we all know from the movies how '3vil' all hackers are...
I've been thinking about going to one of these things, but decided not to because I'm afraid of what consequences there could be for me as a foreigner to be seen attending. Who knows what INS/FBI/HomeSec might think?
Seriously, how much surveillance do you think the gov. puts on these conventions? I'd assume everyone in attendence would get a mark on their FBI files for 'participating in a terrorist organization' or something. That is assuming one doesn't get arrested.