Yearly Archives: 2013

You Are an Anarchist. The Question Is How Often?

"Everyone, at least sometimes, is an anarchist. Consider Cambodia in the late 1970s. The Khmer Rouge government intentionally killed more than two million of its own citizens. That’s an average of 8 percent of the population killed each year while government simultaneously inflicted countless other horrors. Do you think the Cambodian people, faced with that government, would have been better off with no government at all? Congratulations. You are, sometimes, an anarchist. The real issue is found in an area economists call 'comparative institutions.' That is, in a specific time and place, how well would anarchy work compared to an actual obtainable state?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYou Are an Anarchist. The Question Is How Often?

The State: Crown Jewel of Human Social Organization

"Since the earliest stage of human history (say, the time of Cain and Abel), human beings have been homicidal maniacs. Yet, for untold ages, something was missing, something with the capacity to raise their murderous mania to truly magnificent heights. Only very late in human history—perhaps 10,000 years ago or thereabouts—did the long-awaited breakthrough take place: men finally devised the state. By employing its powers of organization, command, violence, and plunder, rulers could finally bask in the glories of heretofore undreamed-of atrocities." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe State: Crown Jewel of Human Social Organization

Ignorance is Strength: Kim Jong Un Edition

"For one state to respond to another state’s military aggression by killing, or threatening to kill, its civilian population is monstrous. And if it’s monstrous, it’s monstrous when anyone does it. It would also be monstrous if some purely hypothetical country, the only country in the world with atomic weapons, used them to kill several hundred thousand civilians in two Japanese cities. It would be monstrous if some purely hypothetical country with hundreds of long-range bombers had had, as its official military policy, making first use of nuclear weapons and hitting every major population center in the USSR in retaliation for a conventional incursion into Western Europe." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIgnorance is Strength: Kim Jong Un Edition

Media Infantilism, Ours And Theirs

"Isn't it funny how sometimes when the government media in an authoritarian society makes a claim -- such as Syrian state press claims that the armed insurgents are responsible for this or that atrocity, or Bin Laden's claims that he was irritated at the US for stationing troops in Saudi Arabia and favoring Israel -- it is when serving US foreign policy goals written off as the hysterical lying propaganda of a ruthless dictator or madman? However when the US media is echoing the regime in beating the war drums, as on North Korea, every claim by the state controlled media in this or that foreign authoritarian state is to be taken as the Gospel truth." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMedia Infantilism, Ours And Theirs

CNN previews how war with North Korea would play out

"CNN brought retired General James Marks into their studio on Wednesday afternoon to explain the military strategies North Korea and the United States would likely employ in a conflict. The country would begin firing artillery into South Korea while deploying special operation forces along the coast of the peninsula. Marks also warned North Korea had sleeper agents in South Korea who would spot targets. The United States would respond by destroying North Korea’s artillery with its overwhelming naval and aerial power. The U.S. military would then destroy North Korea’s aerial defenses, communication lines, and transportation routes, paralyzing the North within days." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCNN previews how war with North Korea would play out

Rep. Peter King: US could make preemptive strike on North Korea

"Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) said Tuesday that the U.S. had the right to take preemptive military action against North Korea if there was 'solid evidence' that Kim Jon Un planned to attack the U.S. or South Korea. 'I don't think we have to wait until Americans are killed or wounded or injured in any way,' he continued. 'I'm not saying we should be rushing into war, don't get me wrong, but if we have solid evidence that North Korea's going to take action, then I think we have a moral obligation and an absolute right to defend ourselves.' North Korea's actions are thought to be driven by additional United Nations sanctions that resulted from its recent nuclear test." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRep. Peter King: US could make preemptive strike on North Korea

World War II bomb found near Berlin’s main train station

"An unexploded World War II bomb has been unearthed near Berlin’s main train station, risking possible disruptions to rail and road traffic, authorities said Wednesday. 'The bomb was found yesterday afternoon on property belonging to the rail company,' a police spokesman told AFP, adding that the 100-kilogramme (220-pound) explosive was dropped by the Allies during the Second World War. More than six decades after the war, authorities believe there are still some 3,000 bombs buried beneath Berlin alone, and unexploded devices are regularly discovered in construction work." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWorld War II bomb found near Berlin’s main train station

Army: Drone strike ‘condolence payments’ for targets killed ‘an expression of sympathy’

"There’s little documentation of where and how such payments are being made. The government has released almost no information on civilian casualties sustained in drone strikes conducted by the CIA and the military in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. Officials maintain they have been 'in the single digits' in recent years, while independent researchers put the total for the past decade in the hundreds. Certainly, though, drone strikes and condolence payments make for a striking match: The technological apex of war combined with an age-old method of compensating loss." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingArmy: Drone strike ‘condolence payments’ for targets killed ‘an expression of sympathy’

Glenn Greenwald: The message sent by America’s invisible victims

"The most propagandistic aspect of the US War on Terror has been, and remains, that its victims are rendered invisible and voiceless. They are almost never named by newspapers. They and their surviving family members are virtually never heard from on television. The Bush and Obama DOJs have collaborated with federal judges to ensure that even those who everyone admits are completely innocent have no access to American courts and thus no means of having their stories heard or their rights vindicated. Radical secrecy theories and escalating attacks on whistleblowers push these victims further into the dark." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: The message sent by America’s invisible victims

Charles Key Former State Rep Endorses Amanda Teegarden for State GOP Chair

I've known and worked with Amanda for over 5 years. She is a true conservative and understands how we got this great country and will keep it. She has the experience and ability to lead our party. more info on Amanda Teegarden for OKGOP state chair

Continue ReadingCharles Key Former State Rep Endorses Amanda Teegarden for State GOP Chair