"All I know is if, in the 8 months I'vd been following US (and by extension, world) politics, if I had a buck (Cdn) for every time I've read a story (in MSM or alt media) where I've just exclaimed 'I don't fucking believe this', I'd be funding a meatspace meating of the GSF on a beach in Bermuda...."* me:
"don - 8 months?!?! and you are already where we are! nice work catchin up!"* rimone:
"what luke said, Don. but i wanna know, was there a specific incident that (excuse the phrasing) brought this on? or just a build-up of all the shite the world has suffered?"* me:
"don - "i wanna know" too. didja wake up one day and think 'this aint right' and start looking closer? or what? can we use you as a model for reaching out to others?"* don:
"Thanks. I'm a quick study and a thorough thinker. It helped that I had a touch of paranoia and skepticism in politics & politicians to begin with. I had questions with 9/11 from the word go, and always felt something was off with the '03 Iraq invasion compared to accounts I'd read of Gulf I, from Schwartzkopf's autobio and other sources. With that foundation, the rest followed logically.i've never been picked up by someone half my age (the the opposite might be true)
Rimone: "what luke said, Don. but i wanna know, was there a specific incident that (excuse the phrasing) brought this on? or just a build-up of all the shite the world has suffered?"
Lukery: don - "i wanna know" too. didja wake up one day and think 'this aint right' and start looking closer? or what? can we use you as a model for reaching out to others?
A handful of things happening at about the same time: getting into Stewart's Daily Show during the '04 Election season; discovering the Canadian political blogosphere; hearing the name Greg Palast for the first time and subsequently immersing myself in his work; and, strangely enough, a cynical yet world-wise young woman about half my age picking me up at a local pub I frequent.
Over several late night conversations, she put me onto Hufschmidt's film and book, which lead to Alex Jones' stuff, and straight through the looking glass. Raw Story & the rest of the blogosphere (left, right and centre) followed shortly after, with a month or so of lurking until I could no longer resist the temptation to participate. Sorting the blog wheat from the shrill chaff took little time; I'm an even-handed thinker and don't respond to demagoguery and LCD appeals. An RS link on the Larisa/Iran interview series led me here.
This is where I feel the most credit for my rapid 'edumacation' lies. The calibre of this site in terms of commentary, information, and its sense of community is unmatched in my experience. For an information sponge like me, it's a treasure trove with the added bonus of people who provide a framework of supplemental information and commentary to tie it all together.
Thanks for the attaboy on my steep learning curve, but everyone give themselves a pat on the back for making it easier to scale. :)
glad that you found us - and yep - everyone here deserves a pat on the back. i'd pat you meself if you werent all so far away. and, yep, the larisa interview was really good. and yep, we really do have a good team on the ground here. y'all are so lovely and clever. funny, too.
i have another coupla interviews in my back pocket. stay tuned.
don:
"An RS link on the Larisa/Iran interview series led me here."I'm not really sure how I got led here. how bout the rest of you? can you remember?
18 comments:
IT'S ALL KATHLEEN'S FAULT!!
I was minding my own business, perusing a thread at The Washington Note, when I happened upon a statement made by her that inspired me to ask for her sources . . . (y'all may have noticed she ain't much fer pasting in links . . . snerk . . .). I emailed her my question and life has not been the same since.
I have to also offer a "second" to Don's "The calibre of this site in terms of commentary, information, and its sense of community is unmatched in my experience." Much of the credit, at least from my brief experience here, is also due to Don raising the time-zone, where-the-heck-IS-everybody question.
Yay!
everything is always kathleen's fault. what is it with her?
My brush with history came about three years ago when I noticed that things weren't right about 9/11. Mostly that it was a taboo topic. There was a whole learning thing that went on...annoying the hell out of various Aussie journalists (I've got a deal with Phillip Adams that I won't mention 9/11 and he won't ban me). Anyhow, I got a new laptop about two years ago (Sony, Windows, trouble!....) and decided to collect some 9/11 notes in a blog. I forget how I came across WIIG4....I think it was through a link at Rense or Tom Flocco.
LeeB: IT'S ALL KATHLEEN'S FAULT!!
Lukery: everything is always kathleen's fault. what is it with her?
Oh, sure, blame the Mafiosa, I'll start the betting pool on what species' heads you wake up next to in the morning...
LeeB: Much of the credit, at least from my brief experience here, is also due to Don raising the time-zone, where-the-heck-IS-everybody question.
Oh, to preen like a Rimonian proudtard... :P
That came out of Luke asking me a few times what kinda schedule I was on (ftr, completely screwed up at the time). It got me to wondering where everyone was. While I had a mental picture of sorts, LeeB's map puts it all in perspective: geographically and interactively.
damien: Anyhow, I got a new laptop about two years ago (Sony, Windows, trouble!...)
Sony: great stereos, cool gaming machines, buggy CD's and piss poor computers, portable or otherwise. If ya gotta go Windows on a laptop, go Toshiba. Just got mine (my first) and for a low end machine, it rocks.
Windows/Microsoft: No comment. Just no goddamned comment.
Don, is there something you want me to take outside and yell at Bill?
damien - I hope you didnt get a VAIO! worst.machines. ever.
Yeah but it looks nice! Oh, and I have several other points against me: I have visit counters on my blogs AND I look like John Howard! The Bush stasi will never recognize me.
rimone and i both had bad vaio experiences. (as did just about everyone else)
What the hell is a VAIO?
Don, where did you get your ideas about Sicilians, Hollyweird?
I'm much more likely to cook you a huge feast than plop some severed head on your bed.
Is now a good time to say mea culpa's?
I found Luke through the Impeachpac thingee and have been so happy to come back here to play every day.
Don,
I'll make you chuckle with this tidbit about the Mafia.
Morta
Alla
Francia
Italia
Anella
is to Sicilians what Paul Revere's "One if by land, two if by sea is" to Americans.
Like the DAR and the SAR, one can only be IN the Mafia, if you can trace your ancestry back to the Night of the Sicilian Vespers, when the natives rid their island of their French occupiers.
That Mafia has nothing to do with The Mob or organized crime. It exists to remind the gov't that the power always rests with the people. Italians in general take this so seriously their gov't knows enough to step down the moment they lose the consensus.
Mussolini once said Italians are ungovernable. Thank goodness somebody is.
kathleen - VAIO is a sony laptop - famous for being a disaster
VAIOs also included a line of desktops (minitowers, anyway), collections of excellent components thrown together without any meaningful integration, turning what should have been high end machines into mediocre performers. In the end, their best use was as a source for parts for other machines.
Kathleen: Don, where did you get your ideas about Sicilians, Hollyweird?
Books, movies, TV... too much pop culture, and about as reliably informative as "pop" anything else.
I'm much more likely to cook you a huge feast than plop some severed head on your bed.
My head's Canadian, and my heart's Scots/English, but my stomach's at least honorary Italian...
And I always love those historical bits. History and politics are inextricably bound. Tidbits like that add the flavour that makes all the dry matter so palatable.
Damn, got me on a food kick now... ;)
Anyway, I just enjoy the hell out of this place - and am honored to be allowed to comment among folk who have more, and more important, things to say, than do I.
Agree, agree, and disagree. The joy of this place is that there is no unimportant commentary. Whatever we discuss, whatever its relevence, everybody can contribute, and often, they do. That's my second favourite thing about WiiG4... after the people (collectively), of course.
Don,
If we ever do have our meeting in Meatspace, I'll bring my wooden spoon.
Oldschool;
Count your self in with the interesting observations and remarks. I couldn't agree more with you about writing being a very effective way to make a difference, if you choose how you speak. So, take a bow in my book.
Luke;
Somehow things often do get to be all my fault. It's a mystery to me.
LeeB
You know you love all our little psy-ops we've done since we met. Remember our 4th of July Stop the War flyer? That was fun.
And now our secret maiden mission of the GSF, about to be unveiled, right here in River City.
Thank you all GSFers for helping LeeB collect the data. You'll be glad when you see why we needed it, AND, you'll get to use the info yourself sometime whenever you want, thanks to our Team TechnoWhizz, LeeB.
Group Hug, guys.
LeeB, can you figure out how to make a group hug on our map, for moments like this?
How did I get here? Point and click, baby, point and click.
Lordy! First she makes me blush then she scares me to death.
" . . . AND, you'll get to use the info yourself sometime whenever you want, thanks to our Team TechnoWhizz, LeeB"
I took one look at that and grabbed a CD to back it all up again . . . can't you just imagine after all this (and we're not done yet) messing up by something so totally stoopid . . . Oy!
i once worked for a really important-ish corp company - on our first day at work we were all feverishly trying to contribute. at the end of the day, the mgmt pulled the plug (literally) on our computers.
'save early, save often' they told us.
Come to think of it, whatever ends up being all my fault, is really all Dopey's fault. I used to have a life when Bill Clinton was President. The economy was cranking, Arafat and Rabin were shaking hands at Camp David, one could relax, read fiction, listen to music, trip around with freinds.
Now I feel like I'm on a 24/7 citizens defense corps, and I'll wake up to compulsory goosestepping, if I take my eyes off the news one minute.
It helps to know the Global Strike Force is at the ready. Makes it more fun too.
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