[JBC] pat's 2 pence

From: David Whittemore <del_at_adjective.com>
Date: Sat 03 Nov 2001 - 13:44:03 PST

it should be said that it was my mistake to include the silly link in the original message. i apologize for the outcome of my editorial non-oversight.

here is a missive from mr fish on the matter:

	JBC COMMUNIQUE
	Folks~
	David Whittemore has alerted me to the fact that a web address,
	which I passed to him as an aside to our correspondence about
	announcing JBC shows, accidentally found its way onto the release
	to the list about those dates. It wasn't supposed to be put out like
	that, and its dissemination certainly does not reflect any kind of
	endorsement or support from me or the JBC.
	Most of you will know that the JBC are 25% American these days
	anyway, courtesy of Steve "Twin Cadillac" Valentine. The JBC have
	not turned on the United States.  The JBC have not booked their
	flights to Jelalabad, and Butcher continues to trim his beard in a
	decadent western style.
	Having received the offending link from a spam-crazy pal, I was
	simply passing it along privately to David, my American friend
	of some ten years, as we have both spent many pleasant hours
	casting a jaundiced eye over the world of conspiracy theories.
	Indeed, anyone familiar with JBC output will see that we take
	care to take the broader view, and will happily give house room
	to ideas that may be anomalous with currently prevailing belief
	systems.
	To the British gentleman living in the USA I should say this:
	I am a friend of the United States people, who have shown me
	very little other than generosity and kindness since I first
	went to their country in 1986. At the time I was wreathed in
	fashionable European cold-war suspicion of the USA, but the decency
	and common sense of ordinary Americans was immediately apparent.
	Perhaps it is, however, fair to say that they do not always get
	the kind of government that they deserve.
	Most of the Americans I know would have no problem at all with
	a remark like that.  America is the home of free speech.
	Because of their technological advances in the field, it is also
	effectively the home of the Internet.
	Unlike us mediaeval European types, most Americans are thoroughly
	experienced and comfortable with the Internet. They do not necessarily
	fly into a pet when they see views expressed out there which
	differ from their own.
	As the gentleman said, the sources on this particular
	"conspiracy theory" website are generally quite respectable
	Western news sources. It seemed to me, when I looked at the site at
	a friend's suggestion, that there was a bunch of interesting and
	anomalous information floating around on there. The fact that it
	had perhaps been marshalled by people with a paranoid mentality was
	hardly surprising to me. Who else could be bothered?
	I do notice, mind you, that the paranoids who marshalled this
	particular mass of information were themselves Americans.
	It wasn't my intention to disseminate the address of this site, and I
	don't agree with the agenda that these guys appear to be adopting.
	I am a veteran conspiracy-watcher (clue's in the title, mate),
	but the one about the stock-exchange swindle even made my jaw drop.
	So don't be thinking that I'm trying to warp gentle minds with
	anti-American propaganda.
	And don't be worrying about those poor American JBC fans, because they
	tend to be quite grown-up and cultured and educated: altogether
	capable of knowing their own minds, both before and after reading
	something a bit mad.
	Honestly, my British chum, you'd be amazed at the some of the advances
	they have made since kicking out the King's Fusiliers.
	Sorry for any offence or confusion this might have caused among
	my American friends,
	The Butcher***

--
-david (del@adjective.com)

---

29. I think there's a problem with your drive geometry. Received on Sat, 3 Nov 2001 13:44:03 -0800 (PST)