off-topic, but not insignificant [Fwd: Virtual March on DC]

Friends,

A close colleague forwarded this to me.

My mentor, of the last century, was HG Wells.

He looked forward to "world government" and the end
of war.

Unfortunately, he suffered through both WWI and WWII !

Surely "making war" is the act of a crude society.

And, in that civility is, in the history of mankind, a
fairly recent cultural trait, across many cultures, war
remains the bludgeoning option.

And, "boys with toys" have gone far beyond what Ben Rich
describes in his most illuminating book "Skunk Works" (Lockheed) --
which describes, quite wonderous, toys of war -- including
the U-2, the Blackbird, and the Stealth Bomber (F-117).  And,
Northrup brought us the B-2 bomber.  Both are nearly undetectable
and either, via laser positioning or GPS, drops hugh "smart"
bombs with pinpoint precision.

However, I personally believe that Hussein has learned from
the last gulf war, and has interspersed "weapons of mass destruction"
amongst the civilian population in over 1000 "palaces."  We
are shown aerial photographs of whole areas dug up, and then
covered over by ponds and the like.

As a technologist, I read Rich with fascination; as
a humanist, I read with dread and terror.

Regards,

Curtiss
-- 


           W. Curtiss Priest, Director, CITS
        Research Affiliate, Culture & Media, MIT
      Center for Information, Technology & Society
         466 Pleasant St., Melrose, MA  02176
   781-662-4044  BMSLIB@MIT.EDU http://Cybertrails.org

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Attending the Peace Rally in NYC last Saturday, I saw signs about the following event happening on Feb. 26th

 

Please join me in registering for this Virtual March on Washington
on February 26th.  We are asking Congress to stop the Bush
administration's rush to war, and to Let the Inspections Work.
Time is running out.

 

With your help, on February 26th, every Senate office will receive
a call EVERY MINUTE from a constituent, as they receive a
simulataneous crush of faxes and email.  In New York and Los Angeles,
"anti-war rooms" will highlight the progress of the day for national
media. Local media will visit the "anti-war room" online, to monitor
this constituent march throughout the day.

 

With your help, every Senate office switchboard will be lit up all
day with our anti-war messages. This will be a powerful reminder
of the bread and depth of opposition to a war in Iraq.

 

Just go to:

 

   http://www.moveon.org/winwithoutwar/

 

Please join me and sign up today.  This has never been done
before.  Let's be part of it.

 

 

Ken

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