is america like a bad sci-fi movie currently?

and in answer to your question mark, its more like a bad sf novel. a strange air to be sure, but much more subtle than most filmed sci-fi has captured.

what happened to the j-lo angle?

Ahem!

BTW, my dad is a postmaster in NJ. He's OK if anyone cares.

I mentioned anthrax on September 15th, after seeing a doctor on TV warning that it may have been released after the towers were destroyed. The latest anthrax to be discovered (in Kenya) was sent from Atlanta on September 9th, which rather scotches Mark's theory that loose talk since the 11th is to blame.

Is America terrified and deserted? Well, there was no queue at the Chinatown (Knickerbocker Station) post office today, and all the workers there were wearing white gloves. Usually there's a big line.

I was photographed yesterday for the Boston Globe by a big burly man who had covered wars in the Balkans and the Middle East. He was at the Trade Center when it collapsed, shooting pictures. He said this had affected him more than anything he'd seen in his life. A week afterwards he was in a bar and just started crying, and couldn't stop for two hours, he told me.

Every time you think things are getting back to normal, some creepy thing comes up like the possibility of a smallpox outbreak. The government telling you that they will be able to do mass innoculation 'within three years' is not very reassuring.

Personally, I will be leaving the States pretty soon as a result of this. Give me good old-fashioned Japanese earthquakes any day.

In Midtown NY, restaurants are a little emptier than usual, you hear sirens more often, and some streets are completely cordoned off. (If the UN complex, esp. the Ralph Bunche park, wasn't so beautiful, it'd be eeriely quiet. No car can get within a block's distance of it.) But you can ignore all that, and sometimes even take pleasure in the pockets of fake normal. Aside from that, everyone and everything looks much like they have at any time in the last couple years. The sci-fi is entirely in the mind, completely invisible and suffocatingly present.

The funny thing is that the recent anthrax outbreaks have actually made me less scared of bioterrorism, not more. The really scary thing finally happened, and it hasn't been quite so bad...though OBVIOUSLY there's nothing to precent things from getting worse, so my current state of denial is just as irrational as any state of panic I've been in the last few weeks.

The smallpox thing is something the US govt is now preparing for, not something that's been diagnosed. Smallpox is officially extinct. The US is said to have destroyed all remaining copies of the virus. But it's known to be alive and well and living in North Korea and Iraq.

Semantics. In the US this conflict is mostly called 'The New War'. In the Middle East it's known as 'Death To America'. For some apposite comments, go here .

yes the kenya story would somewhat scotch the theory if every bit of it is true — but far too much "noise" i think so far to take it for gospel on all points (eg FBI — unlike kenyans? — currently refuse to treat postmark as undeniable proof of sending point)

and i still agree with tracer that the US targets make no sense, in al-qaeda terms — also the FBI reward for info speaks volumes

fascinating thread.

saw a blog post lately that said between these two youtube clips, the answer is YES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnnOOo6tRs8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1czBcnX1Ww

Great decade.

2000

Millenium Cults run amok on Jan 1st in an orgy of suicide and violence. Most destroy themselves.

Massive firestorms, collectively called "the Brushfire", rage over the Northwestern U.S., destroying millions of acres of farm and grassland.

The Wasting Plague hits U.S. and Europe, killing hundreds of thousands. Legal measures are instituted that severely restrict the rights of those with infectious diseases.

The Senate is forced to recognize Texas as a "Free State." Alaska soon becomes a Free State as well.

Construction of the Crystal Palace space station is begun in low orbit.

First "extended family" Posergangs established.

2001

The framework of the Global Computer Net is firmly in place with construction of the WorldSat network. Computer systems around the world are linked via a vast telecommunications grid.

Domestically, martial law continues. The U.S. legal process is streamlined to handle the number of arrests currently being sent through the system.

2002

The Food Crash: A mutated plant virus wipes out Canadian, Soviet crops. U.S. agribusiness crops survive due to new biological counteragent. U.S.S.R. accuses U.S. of biological warfare.

California joins alaska and Texas, becoming a Free State.

The Copernicus/Luna colony is established by the U.S.

2003

The Second Central American Conflict: U.S. invades Columbia, Equador, Peru, Venezeula. The war is a disaster that costs thousands of American lives. It is later revealed to have been largely engineered by the National Security Council and the CIA. During the conflict, some soldiers are equipped with experimental cyberware to enhance their combat effectiveness.

Nevada becomes a Free State and the state of New Jersy goes bankrupt as domestic unrest continues.

2004

The First Corporate War: Twelve multinational corporations, including European Business Systems & Orbital Air, battle for control of Trans-World Air. Armed raids, computer sabotage, and terrorist tactics characterize the conflict.

The CIA and NSA are purged after being linked to a series of independent and qustionable activities, including the 2nd CAW. Both organizations are gutted. The military then helps re-establish some semblance of federal controlin the United States. The State of Emergency continues.

First cloned tissue growth in vitro. Microsutures and sterilizer fields become some of the first of a wave of high-tech medical breakthroughs.

2005

The Cybermodem is invented. Direct neural interface with computers becomes possible.

EBM solos attack Tokyo office of Kenjiri Technologies, killing eighteen. End of first Corp War.

Operation Big Stick: U.S. military destroys the Mantonga Corp as an example to others.

The state of Connecticut goes bankrupt.

2006

Cybernetic implants come into common usage by First World elete military units. Corporations start to follow suit with their in-house security forces.

The base plan for workshacks is developed by Mitsubishi/Korydanshu. Low orbital colonization begins in earnest.

First human clone grown in vitro. Mindless, it only lives for 6 hours.

2007

The Second Corporate War: A number of firms, including Petrochem, dispute control of oil fields in the South China Sea. Some governments actively support both sides in the conflict.

The state of North Dakota is incorporated by a consortium of agrabusinesses, after a program of buyouts, tax leveraging and outright graft. While supposedly a democratic process, the government is really a consortium of corporations which runs itself like an executive board. It is to become the pattern of development for many states over the next twenty years.

Braindance developed at UC Santa Cruz.

2008

First Orbital War: U.S. assault on Soviet weapons platform MIR XIII. The Eurospace agency intervenes. An orbital war breaks out between the "Euros" and the "Yanks", until the ESA Tycho colony massdriver drops a rock on Colorado Springs. An uneasy peace is reached.

The first U.S. elections are held since martial law was declared in Aug., 1996. The U.S. civilian government undergoes "reorganization". State governments demand autonomy almost to the point of balkanization as federal power wanes. Street violence, rampant poverty and extreme income startification characterize the post-Collaspe society. The country will teeter at the edge of anarchy for the next ten years.

where do i get my "JOHN TITOR WAS RIGHTOR" bumper sticker?

bodrick you missed the hands-down best part of that timeline:

2014 - The Cyberpunk Movement

^^ 30 years too late!!

fascinating thread.

-- BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Sunday, 23 March 2008 00:04 (12 hours ago) Link

fourth HOOSman of the revivalipse

1999 July
* A large alien spacecraft bursts through hyperspace and enters Earth's atmosphere, crashing on Macross Island in the South Pacific.
* The nations of the world, who are engaged in a global war at the time, call a cease-fire to assess the alien threat.

1999 August
* Official investigation of the derelict alien spacecraft begins. The crash site on Macross Island is designated a UN sphere of jurisdiction.
* The global war officially ends, though the terms are not satisfactory to all parties.

1999 September
* According to the first top secret report of the study of the alien spacecraft, it is discovered that the ship is military in nature, and its crew are on average, six times the size of human beings, with exceptional individuals exceeding fifty feet in height.
* Terrified by the all too real prospect of invasion from deep space, a campaign is initiated to unite the Earth under one unified government.

2000 January
* Development of weapons systems for use in combat against the giant alien threat begins.

2000 June
* The construction of the Super Dimension Fortress-1 (SDF-1) is formally announced to the world, though the true nature of its underlying alien technology is kept "top secret".
* Framing plan for a united Earth government is officially proclaimed.

2001 July
* Construction of the first permanent base on Mars, named "Sara", begins.
* Civilians begin to emigrate to Macross Island, to work on the SDF-1 project.

2001 September
* "Project Excalibur", the first attempt at developing a Robotechnology-based weapons system is begun. Designed for ground combat, this project eventually leads to the development of the Destroid mecha.

2002 February
* "Project Valkyrie", a proposal for the development of a variable configuration, all-purpose Robotech combat system is introduced.

2002 May
* Construction of the first Earth Defense Command Center begins in secret in a remote area of Alaska.

2003 April
* Construction of ARMD ("Armor") series of space carriers begins in low Earth orbit.

2005 January
* United Nations of Earth government is officially established.

2006 March
* Intensive flight tests of the VF-X-1 are conducted by ace test pilot Lieutenant Roy Fokker.

2006 June
* The MBR-04 Destroid Tomahawk, the first successful combat-ready mecha resulting from "Project Excalibur", enters service.
* Variants of the basic chassis of this Destroid are also developed, resulting in the Destroids "Defender" and "Phalanx".

2007 March
* Mass production of the Veritech VF-1 series begins.

saw a blog post lately that said between these two youtube clips, the answer is YES

WHAT IS THIS NONSENSE LANGUAGE

i recently saw a blog post. the author of the post linked to these two clips, pointed out their similarity to canonical tropes of cyberpunk fiction, and noted that the line between sci fi and real life was blurrier than ever.

sorry if you can't grok my spastic 4d shorthand. i thought you were some sort of cryptogeek?

I was making a joek abt teh future shock

"grok my spastic 4d shorthand" would probably make 300% more sense to someone from only a decade ago. when did "blog" enter common usage? 1999?

o sry

http://www.moonpod.com/board/images/misc/Johnny_Mnemonic.jpg

does Idiocracy count as a bad sci-fi movie?

TEH FUTURE

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2008-03/37070649.jpg

davros is alive and well and has a 404 number

it's spelled davos, dude

;-)

I haz a dalek....

Yeah, I was going to say. It's got a spotlight where its manipulator arm should be.

does Idiocracy count as a bad sci-fi movie?

-- El Tomboto, Sunday, 23 March 2008 13:27

No, because it is grate!

big dog is rad!

there is also a climbing monkey robot