The Terrorist NGO and the Free Flow of Capital

It is not acts of terrorism that are destroying our institutions of freedom and democracy but the anticipation of acts of terrorism. Our response to the possibility is not due to fear per se but the inability of our institutions to deal with the unknowable – the free flow of capital requires a knowable unknown. Ultimately the security state cannot ensure security but only claim to be the cause of what has not yet happened. The state has no option but to respond even if ineffectively (and heavy handedly) because not to would be an abandonment of its primary raison d'etra. The reaction of the state has greater consequences for us than do the acts that it responds to.

The calculability of risk has a moral basis. It presupposes that a possible catostrophie occurs by chance and is not brought about with evil intent – Ulrich Beck- World at Risk, 2007 p14

America’s new frontier
Was the front lawn
Sitting in its park

Was the sacred shrine
Our answer to the old world’s
Imperial palace
Yes we are all yoemen
       Over here
See our family values
       On display


Indian removal is not
The same as internal improvement
But it makes it possible
Improvement is synomous
With raising prises

Read about us and marvel! / You did not live in our time – be sorry! – Ilyta Ehrenburg

Mad Dog in the Fog – a Half pint of Chimay for me - Ghana vs. Mali in the African Gold Cup in on the screen. It’s Tunisia vs. Senegal at 12PM ET it is now 7PM. The bartender is checking the schedules. Will it be a delayed broadcast or live? Soccer never sleeps at the Mad Dog in the Fog.

His will was a psychological muscle which had been over developed in his struggle with sloth. But too much muscle is better than none at all – Christopher Isherwood - Christopher and His Kind, 1976 p46

Earlier the room had been packed with North Africans watching the Morocco vs. Algeria match. Now its women showing each other their day’s shopping trophies in coffee klatches - Dental school study groups huddle together now that the soccer game is over

He liked to imagine himself as one of those mysterious wanderers who penetrate the depths of foreign lands, disguise themselves in the dress and customs of the natives, and die in unkn ow graves, envied by the stay-at-home compatriots – Christopher Isherwood - Christopher and His Kind, 1976 p54

Samie says that they were all Moroccan in here this morning. “You couldn’t have Moroccans and Algerians all together in one room” he says. Morocco had won and now will be going into the semi-finals. It’s on to the quarter finals -now its Morocco, Tunisia, Mali and Nigeria for the African Gold Cup. The TV is switched over to British Soccer. Birmingham is playing. It looks like they are playing in the fog.

If the summit of villaniary consists in disguising one’s passion as thought, the villain for his part finds in the thought of a decent man nothing but the disguise of an impotent passion – Pierre Klossowsk

The cherry trees are almost all abloom in Larch Alley

Strom und Drang
     In the air – heavy leaded
     Feet in jackboots
Ready to march as commanded

Ten thousand boots stomp goosestepping past
     What a thunderous noise – so nostalgic


Fingers posed on keyboards
      To send them forth
Say it with an e-mail, say it with a song
My virtual social network is sufficient
My virtual social network is affluent
      Shall I forward this message on


Oh, we shall crash the system
      With our massive protests
Bring it to a screeching halt
       Everything shall go dark
Ten million fingers tapping on
      The their little keypads

Jury Duty: “All rise” the Bailiff calls out as Judge Stewart enters and calsl the court into session. We are reseated. The judge introduces his staff to us. The Assistant District Attorney introduces himself. The judge tells us that the case should be short. It should be no more than five days but Thursday and Monday being holidays the trial will be pushed into the middle of next week. He asks for those with a language hardship to stay behind. I wonder how someone with a language hardship would know to stay behind. He also instructs those who want to claim hardship to fill out some more paperwork.

What is not said or is only implied is more important that what is said

Asafetida Asafetida
The poet's plant
Those greenery flowery things
Devil’s Dung Food of the Gods
Scent bait for catfish and pike

Stopped the Spanish Influenza
      Dead


No, that should have been the Aspidistra
The sign of the bourgeois
Insignia of the British boarding house
Keep the Apidistra Flying George


Aspidstra Aspidistry
The sage’s foliage
Those greenery flowing things

“Sir, step back. Take off your glasses and try again” the deputy says. I try again - beep - I step back remove my wallet, ID badges and change. Again - beep. I step back and remove my coat. My entry is beep free. I fumble around for all of my belongings lying on the table. I knock my glasses and coins onto the floor. Finally I get it all retrieved and by the time I make back to Judge Stewarts Court Room they have seated three perspective jurors. I am number twelve. Unless pre-empted I will have to serve on this jury.

His dishonesty was tiresome because it was so persistent; he was like a greedy animal which you can’t leave alone in the kitchen, even for an instance… Crime, as he practiced it, doesn’t pay. It is as demanding and unrewarding as witchcraft – Christopher Isherwood - Christopher and His Kind, 1976 p77

It’s a case of possession of cocaine base (crack) with intent to sell. Juror number one gets excused for saying that she does not believe in the criminal justice system and for pretending to sleep. Ms Santa Clause gets excused of course - she had wanted the judge to define cocaine and describe its biological effects. The judge replied that that was not relevant to the case at hand. “he alleged crime and the substance involved was illegal or we would not be here”, he tells her..

Like all deeply dishonest people, he made the relatively honest look hypocritical and cowardly – Christopher Isherwood - Christopher and His Kind, 1976 p76

“Has anyone here had experience with the Mission District at one or two in the morning” the prosecutor asked. The assistant DA seemed to have a lot of difficulty framing his questions and I sometimes thought that he was asking questions that would have served the defense’s case better. I raised by hand. He asked looking down at his juror list “Mr. Stair can you tell us about your experience. “Yes” I replied “.

When I met you / my heart was hungry as a louse in a wig – Juan Gelman - Unthinkable Tenderness, 1997  p127

Recess is over. Ms Santa Claus and a former crack addict were excused. Three more panelists were selected to fill their vacated seats. One guy had not comprehended that he would only be involved in the verdict and not the sentencing. Because he would not be able to deliberate on the sentence he felt that he could not render an objective judgment in this case. He was excused. Preemptions started. The prosecutor passed after four. The Defense passed after five and those of us remaining were sworn in.

When an event changes our understanding of our world, ourselves, and each other, its meaning is never fully apparent as it unfolds – Robin Tolmach Lakoff – The Language War, 2002