Back from the Ether

Wow, has it really been 3 1/2 months since I updated my blog? I haven't disappeared entirely. New material and news will be posted shortly. Stay tuned.

Much Love,
Gnostic Rocket

Birthday Bash

Me performing with Evil Doers - Photo by Carly Darby

This Friday, September 15th, come and join me for my annual Bovine Sex Club Birthday Bash, featuring my rock band Evil Doers, plus our buddies The Speakeasies from Guelph and Toronto's own King Clancy.

Drunken debauchery is guaranteed.


Paul at the Horseshoe - Photo by Carly Darby


Jay at the Horseshoe - Photo by Carly Darby

Solidarity

These two satellite images provided by GeoEye show the same area of Beirut, Lebanon before and after Israeli bombardment. The image on the left was taken Wednesday July 12, 2006, and the image on the right was taken Monday July 31, 2006. (AP Photo/GeoEye)

There is a fantastic article on antiwar.com by Jonathan Cook entitled Suddenly, I'm an 'Islamic Fascist'. A brave and compassionate piece that should be mandatory reading for all of us.

"One does not need to be a psychologist to understand that those with no legitimate way to vent their rage, even to have it recognized as valid, become consumed by it instead. They seek explanations and purifying ideologies. They need heroes and strategies. And in the end they crave revenge. If their voice is not heard, they will speak without words.

So I find myself standing with Bush's "Islamic fascists" in the hope that – just possibly – my solidarity and that of others may dissipate the rage, may give it meaning and offer it another, better route to victory." - Jonathan Cook

I find myself agreeing wholeheartedly with Mr. Cook. We need to pull those ideas back from the misapplied label of "Islamic Facism" and into the spectrum of acceptable discourse for reasonable adults.

This is especially true given that the Financial Times reports that:

"Observers say Mr Bush is motivated by two instincts in guiding America’s diplomatic approach.

The first is the president’s visceral instinct to support Israel against its enemies, which he sees in terms of democracy versus totalitarianism. “People should not underestimate just how strongly the president feels in support of Israel and in his anger towards Iran and Syria [because of their sponsorship of Hizbollah],” said Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former senior official at the Central Intelligence Agency and now at the conservative American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

The second is Mr Bush’s belief that the fighting between Israel and Hizbollah is a proxy war between the US and Iran’s theocratic regime..."



The U.S. Government is clearly chomping at the bit to turn the entire Middle East into a bloodbath of Arabs and the American poor, with Iran as the excuse. When I look at all the pieces of the puzzle lying openly in front of us, how can I not believe that the U.S. Government is eager to instigate an Arab genocide? In the famous document from the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) entitled "Rebuilding America's Defenses" there are two terrifying quotes:

1 - "...the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor. Domestic politics and industrial policy will shape the pace and content of transformation as much as the requirements of current missions."

2 - "...advanced forms of biological warfare that can “target” specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool."

Biological warfare that can "target" specific genotypes!!! What the hell is that? Race-based bio-warfare; a germ that kills only Arabs? Tell me I'm wrong to worry about the possibility of an upcoming genocide, please!

Keep in mind that this document was published in September of 2000 (a year before the event that Bush called the "worst attack on our home since Pearl Harbor"), and was drafted and signed by such famous names as: John Bolton, William Kristol, I. Lewis Libby, Paul Wolfowitz, and Dov Zakheim. Members of PNAC have included: Jeb Bush, Dick Cheney, Steve Forbes, Dan Quayle, and Donald Rumsfeld. "Rebuilding America's Defenses" is the clearly stated foreign policy opinion of the most influential wing of the U.S. power structure.

Solidarity with the Arab, Persian and Muslim folks in our communities is more important now than ever. Especially those who are politically isolated. Jonathan Cook should be applauded for publicly taking this stance. I am happy to publicly recognize my own internal "Islamic Facist" too. How about you?

Gnostic Rocket on CITR 101.9FM Vancouver

This Thursday, August 10th, the Exquisite Corpse radio show on 101.9 CITR FM in Vancouver will be playing an hour long mix of tracks from the Umbrella Noize Collective, mixed by ctephin, featuring a Gnostic Rocket track from my free online release A Eulogy for History.

Listen in this Thursday evening between 7:30-8:30pm PST, that's 10:30pm - 11:30pm for those of us in Toronto:

Listen to CITR FM live online

Watch for the Gnostic Rocket/ctephin split release "Heliades", coming soon on Roilnoise. The music has been delivered (I've heard the ctephin track, it's great), and my brother is working the cover art. This is in a cassette only release, with a fifteen minute side for each band.

Here's the set list for the show tomorrow, you can check out all of this music at The Umbrella Noize Collective

THE UMBRELLA NOIZE COLLECTIVE
radio show set-list

1.Mystified(Canada) - Nocturne Dub
2.Spagirus(USA) - The Dryad
3.MALEBOLGE(USA) - At The Gates of Dis
4.Gray Field Recordings(USA) - Our Lead
5.Jake Vida(Canada) - Monday Morning #8
6.KRLL(USA) - Tommorrow May Never Come
7.Big City Orchestra(USA) - Gypsy Pinecone
8.Mystified(Canada) - Beer Can Chop and Drop
9.Gnostic Rocket(Canada) - Mr. Brown,Please Dont Leave
10.Ctephin(USA) - Amber Ichor
11.Gone(Canada) - Twin Engines
12.ctephin(USA) - Central Front
13.nearField(Canada) - Tango
14.Ghoul Detail(U.K.) - One Dead Whore After Another
15.Jason Macri(Canada) - High Sensory
16.Big City Orchestra(USA) - Dairy Airre

The Wisdom of Repugnance?

I think I'm watching too much mainstream news lately. How about you? Ever get the feeling that the world around you is driven by the "wisdom of repugnance"?

"The wisdom of repugnance expresses the belief or concept that an intuitive (or "deep-seated") negative response to some thing, idea or practice should be interpreted as evidence for the intrinsically harmful or evil character of that thing. Furthermore, it refers to the notion that wisdom may manifest itself in feelings of disgust towards anything which lacks "goodness" or wisdom, though these feelings may not be immediately explicable through reason. The controversial concept has been characterised as a "disgust-based morality" and is regarded by many as pseudoscientific and an example of the naturalistic fallacy." - wikipedia.org



The article Human Dignity: the Revival of Disgust and Shame in the Law by Martha C. Nussbaum presents an interesting analysis of why we should resist the urge to entrench "disgust" as an emotion that drives our legal and moral codes.

Handmaid or Cannon Fodder?

The Minnesota Opera 2003 Production of The Handmaid's Tale.
Photo: Michal Daniel

Have you read Executive Order 13397 signed into effect on March 7, 2006 by George W. Bush?

You should.

In its own words:

"Section 1. Establishment of a Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at the Department of Homeland Security.

(a) The Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) shall establish within the Department of Homeland Security (Department) a Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (Center).

(b) The Center shall be supervised by a Director appointed by Secretary. The Secretary shall consult with the Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (WHOFBCI Director) prior to making such appointment.

(c) The Department shall provide the Center with appropriate staff, administrative support, and other resources to meet its responsibilities under this order.

(d) The Center shall begin operations no later than 45 days from the date of this order.

Sec. 2. Purpose of Center. The purpose of the Center shall be to coordinate agency efforts to eliminate regulatory, contracting, and other programmatic obstacles to the participation of faith-based and other community organizations in the provision of social and community services."

Am I the only one terrified by this?