I am wondering about the package I sent. I have delivery notification and USPS says:
Class: Priority Mail®
Service(s): Delivery Confirmation™
Status: Forwarded

Your item was forwarded to a different address at 10:39 AM on March 18, 2010 in ALEXANDRIA, VA 22320. This was because of forwarding instructions or because the address or ZIP Code on the label was incorrect. Information, if available, is updated periodically throughout the day. Please check again later.

Sorry about posting this on forum but ‘my computer sometimes doesn’t work quite right’ and worried that using CONTACT FORM might not work either.

I’ll check USPS again later, hope you get it.

Be expecting something in your PO Box this week from me.

Mailed yesterday, 16 March.

A) One day you’ll drop this misguided love of Hofstadter. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, etc. Intellectuals who approach issues, ideas and people as they would a marketing campaign have lost the battle at the very start. I say again, of course he was wrong about Goldwater, he was too busy talking about ‘Style’ to bother with ‘Substance.’
B) Over-intellectualizing? Or does it all boil down to “It’s just a movie!”? Johnny Utah would agree with me here. He understood quite a bit about the use of masks, the banking system and Presidential lawlessness.
C) My point about the mirror-image stuff (Humanitarians/Apoliticals) is that it gets even worse when you start to approach a belief in ideological transcendence. Folks in that position could be spinning from a chandelier and would still maintain their supreme clarity.
D) Finally, regarding Zaknick’s statement: Towards a general synthesis of John Young’s approach, I think it would be unwise to take this ‘Smear Campaign’ angle too seriously. Hasn’t Russia, for instance, already recognized the Genocide? Switzerland? Venezuela? Who the f do these ‘jew-controlled’ Lebanese think they are? Meanwhile, as we wait for Jesus to return and start throwing some righteous rocks, we might as well agree on a few basic principles. Either it’s a crime or it isn’t, regardless of the accuser. That’d be my argument. Last time I checked, none of us are innocent.

KF, I’m starting to really believe this whole ‘Resolution’ issue will end up being the reverse of your ‘stick in the eye’ theory. What a wonderful way for Turkey (and Israel) to drum up some much-needed national unity, right? 30 years from now Cryptome will run the minutes of a meeting between Erdogan and Netanyahu, both of them laughing hysterically at their easily-manipulated citizens. Bibi: “And then, as we defy any semblance of decency and bulldoze more homes (giggle, snort) we’ll distract the Israeli sheeple with anti-Semitic drivel!!!” Erdi: “Yes, yes (pees pants) and we will maintain a threadbare belief in some sort of political reality using just the same manipulation of ethnic/religious/national pride!!! God damn, we’re so good at this game.” They high-five. Fade out. See you next week.

“I would say the same about the misanthropy of the humanitarians and the politics of the ‘apolitical’.”
I’m going to have to chew on this one. I’m not sure I understand it.

“I call the film Merc-loving because it features a fawning portrayal of Mercenaries in combat, side-by-side with enlisted men (Ralph Fiennes’ men are Mercs, not British soldiers).”
As I remember it, it was not a fawning portrayal. Rather unflattering, almost to the point of caricature.

“I call the film war-loving because its effectiveness is solely contingent upon the visceral thrill derived from constantly escalating combat sequences. Under the cover of ‘realism’ (worse, ‘hyper-realism’) they’re trying to sell you on a war fetish while pretending to document the truth of it all.”
I just can’t bring myself to over-intellectualize a film made by the same director who did ‘Point Break’, sorry dude. Cant suck the joy out of everything.

“Also, the actors were trained by Blackwater, but that’s got little to do with the content.”
By former Blackwater people, who were previously Navy SEALs. ‘Blackwater’ has also become colloquial term for private military contractors; just like someone may have a ‘xerox machine’ that is not actually made by Xerox. I wouldn’t sweat it.

best,
KF

“I don’t know if there was an Armenian genocide, there probably was, but who the f is the US to point out other people’s crimes…laughable.”
@contextofnocontext,
You stressed the moral/ethical legitimacy of the resolution; what say you to this argument?

Always a pleasure. Your points are well taken, though I have my suspicions about the real effect this would have on Turkey’s relationships with the US, Israel and Armenia. Much of it could very well be staged for public consumption (especially with Israel) and I always prefer a political football to be popped rather than kicked around the field forever; especially when it comes to acknowledging historical facts.

Re The Hurt Locker: I remember your astute statement about the fascism of the antifascists. I would say the same about the misanthropy of the humanitarians and the politics of the ‘apolitical’. I call the film Merc-loving because it features a fawning portrayal of Mercenaries in combat, side-by-side with enlisted men (Ralph Fiennes’ men are Mercs, not British soldiers). I call the film war-loving because its effectiveness is solely contingent upon the visceral thrill derived from constantly escalating combat sequences. Under the cover of ‘realism’ (worse, ‘hyper-realism’) they’re trying to sell you on a war fetish while pretending to document the truth of it all. This has nothing to do with actual bomb disposal guys, despite the coding of the aesthetic.

I could go on about the cynical, insincere use of PTSD and the Iraqi kid for plot movement as well as the ‘meaning’ behind the bomb-death of that Officer, but these points are really subordinate to my “the medium is the message” line of thinking. Also, the actors were trained by Blackwater, but that’s got little to do with the content.

But hey, to paper tiger my way out, you’re talking to a guy who thinks The Crazies remake is awesome.

“The Armenian Genocide Resolution, as opposed to several more recent episodes of “tribal eye-sticking”(the Balkan NATO action, Rwanda, Darfur, Somalia, etc) does not demand of us any direct police/military/economic action for unclear but heavily-propagandized ‘humanitarian’ causes.”
The “tribal eye-sticking” is not the actual events of the alleged genocide; it is the bickering of ethnic lobbies in the US trying to sling mud at each other.

“This resolution is a morally/ethically legitimate, politically agnostic gesture.”
Its moral/ethical bearing is irrelevant; it’s not congresses place to make that judgment. It’s not politically agnostic; it’s sticking the Turks in the eye.

“If passed, it’ll at least have the benefit of ending some shadow-lobbying nonsense while potentially providing a minute amount of closure.”
It never ends with these people.

“As you said, every time the relationship seems to thaw, this gets brought back up.”
Russia is crafty like that.

Also, God forbid the people who actually live in these countries benefit from the warming of relations between the two countries. But nooooo, rich members of the diaspora in LA and Chicago have to play stick the other tribe in the eye.

“Do you think we’d completely lose Turkey as an ally?”
In the past few years we seem to be trying to find out.

“Anyway, Turkey will still be tight with Israel, which wouldn’t dare recognize Genocide: A deeply pragmatic, ironic gesture of denial regardless of whether or not Hitler’s quote on the subject is properly attributed.”
That relationship was built on matters other than Genocide recognition. That relationship is also very strained right now – it’s almost on life support. Further, Israel’s concerns and interests are of little significance to me. The Israel lobby is another group of eye-stickers that I would like to set my sights on.

“but…The Hurt Locker? Gimme a break. It would have been interesting to hear Chris Hedges’ thoughts on the use of his quote at the beginning of that War/Merc-loving piece of mediocre trash.”
Dude you didn’t like The Hurt Locker? I didn’t think it was great, but it was a legitimately good movie in a very lackluster year for films. The movie is apolitical; I don’t see how you can call it “war/merc-loving”. Do you say that because the protagonist is a military bomb disposal guy? Those guys are heroes – even if you are anti-war.

best,
KF

Your position is understandable, though obviously more frequent ’round-ups and updates’ (if nothing else) would be preferable to this avid reader and would be beneficial for fundraising. Since it’s a natural part of your research process anyway, I would suggest a feature of the site wherein available materials/texts/background information you and Mr. Collins compile for upcoming Podcast guests is displayed: In order to provide readers with a more in-depth view of the process, the relevant issues and to possibly solicit listener questions/areas of interest. Audience involvement + the site isn’t dark a week at a time + not much additional work.

@ KF

From a removed, pragmatic position it’s hard to disagree with you re: the resolution. But come on: pragmatism-as-ideology is one of the most vacuous, seductive and corrupting elements of our political wasteland. The Armenian Genocide Resolution, as opposed to several more recent episodes of “tribal eye-sticking”(the Balkan NATO action, Rwanda, Darfur, Somalia, etc) does not demand of us any direct police/military/economic action for unclear but heavily-propagandized ‘humanitarian’ causes. This resolution is a morally/ethically legitimate, politically agnostic gesture. If passed, it’ll at least have the benefit of ending some shadow-lobbying nonsense while potentially providing a minute amount of closure. As you said, every time the relationship seems to thaw, this gets brought back up. Do you think we’d completely lose Turkey as an ally? Spies would be exposed in retribution, drug-runners jailed. Anyway, Turkey will still be tight with Israel, which wouldn’t dare recognize Genocide: A deeply pragmatic, ironic gesture of denial regardless of whether or not Hitler’s quote on the subject is properly attributed.

——————-

Separately, in the great annals of NYTimes double-speak/double-think, these two articles appeared in the same Headlines Email this morning:

1) Contractors Tied to Effort to Track and Kill Militants: “By Mr. Pelton’s account, Mr. Furlong, in conversations with him and his colleagues, referred to his stable of contractors as “my Jason Bournes,” a reference to the fictional American assassin created by the novelist Robert Ludlum and played in movies by Matt Damon.”

2) Hollywood’s Political Fictions: “But this opening act, and all the tragedies that followed, still awaits an artist capable of wrestling with its complexities. In “Green Zone,” everything is much simpler. “We” were lied to. “They” did the lying. The “we” is the audience, Matt Damon’s stoic soldier and the perpetually innocent American public. The “they” is the neoconservatives, embodied by a weaselly Greg Kinnear (playing some combination of Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Bremer and Douglas Feith) and capable of any enormity in the pursuit of their objectives.”

Isn’t it better when they tell you exactly how to process information? Demography and the ‘Paranoid Style’ vs. the powerful actions of certain men, as always. Also, I’m not trying to recommend Green Zone/the Bourne movies/Syriana, but…The Hurt Locker? Gimme a break. It would have been interesting to hear Chris Hedges’ thoughts on the use of his quote at the beginning of that War/Merc-loving piece of mediocre trash.

I find it interesting that right when the relationship between Armenia and Turkey begins to thaw, the diaspora starts up with the eye-sticking.

KF