Backdated Posts

I've found myself with very little time to post as of late. However, as is my nature I have a half dozen or so semi-completed posts waiting to be finished which I shall post when I have more time to devote to their completion.

Marines Lead the Way.

According to researchers, "A significant number of U.S. veterans back from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan begin abusing alcohol after returning".

The Corpse has always prided itself on the 'Tip of the Spear' Mantra. And when it comes to problems post Iraq War the Corpse is leading the way yet again.

"Active-duty Marines were also found to be at increased odds of continuing to binge drink after deployment, as well as to experience new-onset alcohol-related problems," wrote Isabel Jacobs and colleagues at the Naval Health Research Center in San Diego, California."

Ooh-Rah!

Anyone who has spent time on base knows this, just stop by any seven day store and look. Watch the number of young men with high and tights enter and make a straight line to the walk-in cooler and emerge with 24 cans of self medication for the day.

This, while it of course receives little attention in the public's eye, is another one of the benefits of the Warfare State. Thousands of lives ruined by war which will reverberate amongst thousands more with alcohol related diseases, alcohol fueled crimes (Drunk Driving, Domestic Violence, Assaults) and family problems so often captured in print by the children of veterans who never re-enter society and never form good familial bonds.

Of course, what do Bush, Cheney, Karl Rove, or any number of the Warmongers care? Their families don't suffer from the consequences. But, the people who do suffer, who lose sons and daughters, fathers and brothers have allowed themselves to be controlled and manipulated to transfer their unconscious anger and their grief and their unhappiness from the true cause onto false fronts and imaginary hobgoblins. Their anger is used and directed, dividing the people and keeping all of us beholden and in chains to the Warfare State.

I Hate Your Lawn

I hate Lawns. The lawn was an invention of the those who could demonstrate their conspicuous wealth. They were a signal like pasty white skin that the owner of the property was wealthy enough to grow a useless crop on his lands and hire others to care for it.

Nowadays, every American house has a lawn. Tending a lawn does not induce a sense of calm and serenity. There is no Walden like tranquility to be gained from the large amount of labor required to maintain a healthy lawn. Lawns need excessive amounts of water, gas (or electricty) to power the noisy trimming machine used weekly, chemicals to keep it a bright sought after green and pesticides to fight the foul insects which invade lawns.

Some of the worst lawns in America are located in Arizona. Tremendous amounts of water are needed to bring big useless green zones to the desert. Much to their credit though, Pima County has a long history of water conservation efforts. In the article a quote from 90 years ago indicated Tucson residents recognized the waste of water on lawns in the desert: Water is Wasted in Irrigating Lawns.

If you don't have kids or dogs I'm not sure what great benefits the Hulk Lawn gives you. Do you really find it aesthiscally more pleasing than say a ground covering "lawn" of Pachysandra or other walkable non-grass ground covers?

The Apparatus of Government Controls You Utterly

The entire apparatus of government is a Rube Goldberg machine. It's huge, complex, cumbersome, slow, and designed for the simple task of controlling you. Of course perhaps that's an insult to Rube Goldberg. The goal is not just control but domination which you willingly accept or are not even conscious of... It's hard to cut the strings if you don't realize you're a marionette.

Now, it may be man requires a form of government for arbitration, defense and peace keeping but a there is no way a monstrosity 1000 miles away (from the Chicagoland area that is) can respond quickly or effectively to your needs or problems, just ask the residents of New Orleans, the aftermath of which showed the limitations and downright incompetence of even State Government.

But, even after spectacular failures such as Katrina and the Imperial decrees of little more the 500 Masters of DC to invade and overthrow foreign rulers (whom they no longer like) Americans still acquiesce and defend the Apparatus.

Even when the rulers, such as Phil Graham, safely ensconced in their insular world of Government=Lobbyist, tell the plebeians to Just rub some dirt on it and quit whining about gas or home foreclosures and the recession in your little minds, Americans acquiesce to their Masters.

And why? Because we the people are taught that to be against the Apparatus is evil and wrong in and of itself. We are taught to revere the Apparatus itself. We the People are taught throughout life to place ourselves in the box and ignore or destroy anyone who tries to get out of the box.

This begins early in life with an education system imported during the Golden Era of Prussian Militantism.

It continues when the Apparatus creates an unending string of little bans upon your life designed to turn everyone in the State into a criminal and to captialize upon the natural instincts possessed by every human other than sociopaths or psychopaths.

The State then ensures resistance to the enforcement bears a double edge. The Apparatus of Government outlaws resistance to force and when it chooses to exercise it's power it sends not the masters but pawns. Any rational human bears in mind if he resists he is not striking out against the Machine in some Matrix inspired fight for freedom, but fighting with an agent of the State who is most likely caught up in the same net and held under the sway of the Machine as well.

And the Apparatus continues by encouraging people to believe they can work within the system for slow and systematic change. Society can't handle rapid changes is usually the bromide dispensed to those working for change. By the time any real change has been adopted those who worked for it are long dead and buried. See Haymarket Square.

Working gradually within the system is, as Tolstoy reasoned, a self-delusion which benefits the Apparatus.

It is ineffectual and irrational because Government... knows very well what is really dangerous to it. and will never let people who submit to it and act under its guidance do anything that will undermine its authority. And therefore, as both reason and experience clearly show, such an illusory, gradual conquest of rights is a self-deception which suits the government admirably, and which it, therefore, is even ready to encourage.

Conspiracy!

I've always wondered if Creationists think all those Biology, Anthropology, Geology, Archeology Teachers who support, teach or reference Evolution are simply gullible or part of some vast conspiracy. I've got an answer. Evolution: The Big Hoax! It's the Darwin Conspiracy!

According to the site The Theory of Evolution has three fatal flaws. The best being Babies. Babies are proof Evolution is impossible. And here I thought Babies were proof the Second Law of Thermodynamics should fall flat on it's metaphorical face. Do you dare visit the Darwin Conspiracy and learn the other two?

But,a real treat is The Conservapedia. A Wiki for those who like to read Right wing news to reinforce their preconceived ideas, which is, of course, not a right/left issue but a human brain failing.

The Conservapedia entry on the Theory of Evolution is interesting... One of the great all-time thinkers in mankind's history, Archimedes, didn't support the Theory of Evolution therefore Evolution isn't true. Archimedes was brilliant one of the three greatest thinkers in history. But, here goes... It's possible Archimedes may have developed a theory of Evolution but we'll never know because ignorant Monks in the 13th century scrubbed away Archimedes great works and inscribed silly fairy tales on them.

Additionally, The Theory of Evolution has been "foundational to Social Darwinism, Nazism, Communism, racism and to atheistic communism" and "the Americans most likely to believe only in the theory of evolution are liberals".

Funny it seems the Bible is True after all; There is no new idea under the sun. As with the Monk and the Palimpsest, all the modern Creationist fanatics can do is work to erase man's achievements and replace them with fairy tales.

I'll Define Winning in Iraq Right Now...

Winning in Iraq is when US Soldiers no longer have to occupy the country. However, this is a cynical answer because the US isn't going to leave Iraq despite the demands of Nouri al-Maliki that Iraq wants a timeline for withdrawal of U.S. troops to be attached to a security agreement. Of course, the American People can't agree to such an artificial timetable for withdrawal.

After all as Super War proponent Der Max Boot recently offered up at Commentary Magazine:

In order to build on the success that General Petraeus and his soldiers have had, we need to maintain a long-term commitment in Iraq-for 100 years if need be, as John McCain has said.

The Surge has worked.
No it hasn't...
Yes it has!
No! It! Hasn't!
YES!
NO!

The Surge was nothing less than another shell game. The Surge was touted as a success even before it happened. As violence spiked and more Americans died in 2007 than any other year of the Occupation The Surge was working. As US service members deaths dropped (thankfully!) The Surge worked.

The fact is it doesn't matter.

In my first blog post a year ago I postulated the Occupation of Iraq is more akin to the US invasion and Occupation of the Philippine Islands than Vietnam.

In a hundred years no one's going to remember the hundreds of thousands killed and maimed. No one will remember the 3 Marines killed by a Suicide Bomber or the 30 or so Iraqi unpersons after The Surge worked and the Enemy in Anbar Province was neutralized. And we'll have Iraqis working as barbers and cooks and cleaners here in America!

But, for many of those who've served the Occupation of Iraq is forever.

Military Advisor

At the end of Blockbusters such as Iron Man you always see a Special Thanks to military advisor USAF Lt. Colonel So-and-So. Well, the brother of a friend of mine who is an actor and involved with the Provision Theater Company called me to attend a reading of a rough draft of a play about a young army medic struggling with PTSD after serving in Iraq. I agreed.

The Play revolves around a female Army Medic's struggles to reconnect within society circa 2005.

It's a fairly standard story. Young girl joins in 2000 in attempt to escape the small town farm life in Minnesota and finds herself in Iraq in 2003 or 2004. A terrible event occurs which she happens to survive. At home her father and her best friend don't understand the changed woman. She finds it difficult to handle regular dates. She's reluctant to go to the VA and when she does is paired with a bureaucratic doctor at first until she requests a new doctor and is helped by an unusual doctor who goes out of her way to save the young woman.

So after the reading the board expressed it's dismay at the playwrights use of profanity, the overuse of dialogue to stage scenes and move along the drama, the predictable device of unusual doctor finds a way to connect, and found they couldn't care about the main character because she was an "unlikable brat". Worst of all the play needed work and while suggestions could be made to the playwright he was under no obligation to make any changes. However, the board seemed happy the play didn't delve into politics and remained focused on this one young female soldier.

Then I was asked for my opinion. I stated I thought the play was supposed to be about the struggle to reconnect within normal society and what was missing was the second act in which the audience gets to see the resolution. The young girl reconnecting and re-entering into society. I then said while the character was sarcastic and sardonic I wasn't put off by her demeanor and thought it would be a good juxtaposition to expand the flashback of her prior to service being a happy go-lucky girl deciding to join up to "see the world and pay for college". Also I didn't think there was enough profanity, but then of course I was in the Marines.

I mentioned what everyone seemed to want was a modern retelling of The Odyssey. Because as I explained all of Odyssey's trials and tribulations are parables about a soldier trying to "return home" from war. I asked if they'd heard about Joseph P. Dwyer an army medic made famous by an iconic photograph who died as a result of his struggles with PTSD. No one had...

The board decided to not pursue the play.

Christopher Hitchens on Water Torture

Whoa. Christopher Hitchens agrees to be drowned err... waterboarded and states unequivocally, Believe Me, It’s Torture.

From the article:

You may have read by now the official lie about this treatment, which is that it “simulates” the feeling of drowning. This is not the case. You feel that you are drowning because you are drowning—or, rather, being drowned, albeit slowly and under controlled conditions and at the mercy (or otherwise) of those who are applying the pressure.

Watch the video of Hitchens being tortured.

And Hitchens is given a code word and drop item to end the session. Our 'enemies' don't have that luxury.

And on the whole point of water torture extracting useful and reliable information. Do you think all the heretics tortured by the Inquistion were actually Witches?

Liars like to claim "America Hasn't Been Attacked Since 911".

Do you know when the Amerithrax Attacks occurred? Why AFTER 911!

A sad chapter in those terrorist attacks just ended with the US Justice Department announcing a payout to the FBIs official scapegoat for the Amerithrax Attacks, Dr. Steven Hatfill. Perhaps ending the hope of ever finding the real perpetrators. The news release "just happened" to occur on Friday June 27th with no plan to have the news fall down The Memory Hole. From the New York Times Article:

The U.S. Government (that means you) will pay $4.6 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Steven Hatfill, a former U.S. Army biodefense researcher who was intensively investigated as a "person of interest" in the deadly anthrax letters of 2001, the Justice Department announced Friday.

A Justice Department spokesman, Brian Roehrkasse, said in a statement that the government admitted no liability but decided settlement was "in the best interest of the United States."

Now, the interesting thing is the two Senators Daschle and Leahy who were directly targeted by anthrax-laden letters were both Democrats opposed to the Patriot Act.

I don't put much stock in conspiracy theories. They tend to break down when explored to determine goals and control. For instance, if the Anthrax attacks were a conspiracy; Who ordered them? Who crafted the letters? Who is privy to the conspiracy? Because I do believe the FBI is working on solving the attacks and unless you think those directing the investigative effort are involved or are supressing information or hampering the effort, it's possible the investigation could succeed.

However, if this were a conspiracy the targeting of Daschle and Leahy would rank among the least subtle or the most sublime efforts every undertaken to dupe and induce fear in a populace. I do know one positive outcome of the Anthrax Attacks it ensured every Marine serving in 2001-2002 was forced to receive Anthrax "vaccinations" on threat of imprisionment and explusion under dishonorable conditions. See my earlier Anthrax post.

When One Stood Against Many

I've liked the film The Naked Prey (1966) for a while. It tells the story of one man given a chance to run for his life after the Great White Hunter he is guiding insults a warrior from an African tribe. The Warrior get his revenge by attacking the Hunter camp and capturing the Ivory Poachers. The African baggage carriers are given quick deaths, but the white Ivory Hunters are put to death in inventive and gruesome ways. However, the guide who is never named is given a chance for his life and by a combination of luck and skill he survives. Much of the movie watches like an extended Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom episode.

What always struck me about The Naked Prey was the non-stereotypical treatment of the Africans and The Ivory Poachers. The African tribe doesn't inflict these deaths due to their inherit savagery but after being insulted. And the Poachers aren't shown as bringing the light of European Civilization to the savage Africans but as loud, boorish, uncultured thieves.

I figured this might be based on an actual story from the European control of Africa or out of the fevered pen of Joseph Conrad but it turns out this is based on the exploit of John Colter, a member of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, in an escape from Blackfeet Indians. Colter told British Naturalist John Bradbury of his escape, According to Bradbury's accounting;

They now seized Colter, stripped him entirely naked, and began to consult on the manner in which he should be put to death. They were first inclined to set him up as a mark to shoot at; but the chief interfered, and seizing him by the shoulder, asked him if he could run fast?

The chief now commanded the party to remain stationary, and led Colter out on the prairie three or four hundred yards, and released him, bidding him to save himself if he could. At that instant the horrid war whoop sounded in the ears of poor Colter, who, urged with the hope of preserving life, ran with a speed at which he was himself surprised.

I wonder where Richard Connell, the writer of "The Most Dangerous Game" (1924), got the idea for his short story. Since Hollywood is bereft of ideas most writers and actors owe their comfortable existence to "The Most Dangerous Game". Something about the one against many and the desperate hunted man resonates in the minds of man. I can think of several blockbusters which utilize this motif.

Predator (1987)
Die Hard (1988)
Under Siege (1992)
Hard Target (1993)
Surviving the Game (1994)
Apocalypto (2006)

One a Day Ain't Bad

The callousness of the Warmongers is really striking. The constant pressure being exerted on the American populace to believe the Occupation of Iraq is going well is laughable. You see We Are Winning since the violence is down from outright street fighting and daily car bombs killing 50 Iraqis (with notable exceptions) and we are only losing an American a Day!

In the Battle of Iraq America and it's allies have prevailed... Again...

But then, the eviiil DemoRat Congress and Marxist Pinko Cowardly MSM aided by the jihadist loving antiwar traitors worked to subvert the Sunshine, and Lollipops and Rainbows (NO NOT Rainbows!) news from Iraq. Even the Marines AO, Anbar Province which was declared lost is going to be turned over to the Iraqis. Errr, scratch that last line.

It recalls the Twilight Zone episode were a couple is given an empty box with a button and told they'll become rich if the button is pushed. The only downside being a random person they don't know will die.

Who are these cowards who are willing to sacrifice another American's life simply because they don't know them and don't see their broken and destroyed bodies on TV? Because these keyboard commandos are quite willing to push that button and cause an American to die.

The Use of Force (also Lara Logan)

I'm going to expand on the decision to Use Deadly Force. In Illinois, (Chicago is in Illinois!) a Peace Officer's Use of Force is based on the defense of life and can not be justified by Information gained subsequent to the incident. What you knew prior to implementing force is what proof you had. Let's apply that to Iraq.

Bush and his Chicken Hawk Warmongers spent 18 months lying to the American People (day in and day out) to convince them Saddam=Al Qaeda=911 and raising the Imminent Attack Mushroom Cloud Scenario because as they now admit the Invasion of Iraq was about Oil and the Petrol dollar. The majority of Americans would not have backed an invasion without the self defense rational. President Mumbles McSlurswords did such a good job lying us into war you can find Americans still convinced Saddam was giving WMDs to Al Qaeda.

Bush's lies about the rationals for war taint the entire effort. Everything the callous Keep Americans in Iraq Crowd uses to justify the continued Iraq War is really meaningless, except as Lara Logan points out it convinces the soldiers they are forgotten.

But, then Iraq is a money maker,546 million to DynCorp for Iraq Police Training.

This is why Bush has to be Impeached. As was pointed out in the comment section on an earlier post Police Officers should have oversight. Impeachment is oversight of the President. There are documented abuses, possible war crimes and accusations of more. Of course, by pointing this out Bush can rightly accuse me of Slandering America since Bush=America and declare me an Enemy Combatant.

Update:
It appears the Warmongers (FreeRepublic) are only too happy to smear Lara Logan for her critical reporting on Iraq.

The IYP

I just discovered 2008 is the International Year of the Potato(e)! The bold mission of which: will raise awareness of the importance of the potato. I like potatos!

I am the Law

And You Won't Fuck Around No More - I AM THE LAW
~ Anthrax, I am the Law, based on the Judge Dredd Series.

This NY Times blogpost by Sudhir Venkatesh is a very interesting read of how some senior (crusty) police officers view the legal system and the ways in which they would like to dispense justice.

From the interviews: You laugh, but the good cops never let problems get to judges. They are judge on-site, I like to say. And, I don’t mean just for stupid things like kids shoplifting... I mean for serious things.

What strikes me is the sense real justice is not to be found in the courtroom. I don't know if this is an unconscious feeling gained from watching too many Charles Bronson flicks. The comment section has insightful views from people.

If you agree we should have Police, which is a valid question, what do you want the Police to do? Well, that's a huge question, for which I'm unprepared to diverge into right now, I will state Police Officers usually do not like having to respond to inane calls from people about the wind breaking their tree branches.

But, in concert with the Venkatesh piece, there have been several recent high profile stories involving police forces and the Use of Force.

The dumping of a paraplegic man out of his wheelchair by a Hillsborough County Sheriff's Deputy in February 2008.

The April 2008 acquittal of three New York PD Detectives for shooting and killing Sean Bell.

An May 30, 2008 Chicago Police raid on a Hispanic club on 2514 W. Fullerton is now the basis for a $10 million dollar Federal Civil Rights Violation lawsuit. Here is the NBC 5's venerable Carol Marin covering of the story of the raid.

I mention these examples because they are perhaps** the most egregious recent instances. Additionally, with the ubiquitous nature of video cameras today (watch this example) police officers need to actually behave properly.

From Chicago Public Radio Eight Forty-Eight, here is an interview with Daniel P. Smith about his book, On the Job: Behind the Stars of the Chicago Police Department. (Greetings & Salutations to Queen of the Harpies for the link.)

Smith discusses one of the key points of distrust between Police Officers and the American populace the predilection to apply perfect hindsight to stressful split-second decision making situations.

However, this is not only a problem with American law enforcement but with the American Iraq War as well. The Hadithah incident, the shooting in Fallujah of a wounded enemy in a mosque and everyone one of the checkpoint shooting Americans don't ever hear about or just plain ignore are others. Young men (and women hurray equality!) are placed in high stress situations which they judge to be kill or be killed.

The oft quoted and perhaps trite maxim is summed up as, Better to be judged by Twelve, than carried by Six. Of course, what the Chicken Hawk, Warmongering Cowards who champion war at home while ensuring their pasty, flabby, blubbery white asses do not get besmircthed by a grain of sand never understand is those choices injure even when the soldier making them is never physically wounded.

And that's the difference. As Smith said in his Chicago Public Radio interview (at 04:17) he "will never criticize a Cop, myself, for instinctual reaction" so too will I not criticize my fellow warriors for their immediate reactions on the battlefield. But Vulgar pre-mediated displays of power (Shock & Awe) can not be defended.

And this is one of the chief evils of the Iraq War. But maybe it's just another system of control, perhaps understood by those in power or perhaps not understood but simply exploited by the Architects of War. A by-product of our evolutionary past and tribal beginnings in which our brains can focus and contemplate the deaths of a few of our fellow humans and can not grasp the horror of the hundreds of thousands dead as a result of our Invasion of Iraq.

**- There have been, thus far, 21 Chicago Police shootings (6 fatal) in 2008.

EOS

My alarm awoke me at Zero Dark and I realized the Corpse no longer has a hold on me. 8 long years over. Now if I can just figure out how to get my on-the-job training monies...

In better news we have a 2008 World Series Preview today as the Cubs and White Sox play.