War & Peace

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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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71st Anniversary: Roosevelt’s Concentration Camps

"The U.S. government had several governments in South America round up Japanese residents, who were then shipped to the U.S. The government put them in concentration camps. These camps received no publicity. One of them was in Crystal City, Texas. This was kidnapping, pure and simple. This story is so horrifying that the history textbooks never mention it. You will see no show about it on the History Channel. You can read about it here. These people were sent to Japan after the war." Continue reading →

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The Story of Kidnapped Costa Rican Internees in One of America’s World War II Concentration Camps

"We last year attended a reunion of the camp members at the facility here in Texas, and I was amazed to hear stories of some whose families had been US citizens for their entire lives, yet were swept up in the hysteria, stripped of their US assets and put into the camp. Most I spoke to were, like my wife, US citizens, most born to their now-American parents, but thrown into the camp regardless. One interesting fact to me was that in order to deport all of the folks they did following the War, they officially charged all of the detainees, people who had been kidnapped at the point of a gun, with 'unlawfully entering' the nation they were kidnapped TO against their wishes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Story of Kidnapped Costa Rican Internees in One of America’s World War II Concentration Camps

Military’s ‘war on drugs’ back as U.S. Navy looks to net big catches in the Pacific

"Operation Martillo and other military assistance to Central American nations represent one of the most ambitious US efforts against drug cartels since World War II. The United States has trained security forces across the region, deployed 200 Marines in Guatemala and built forward operating bases in Honduras and shared radar intelligence with Honduran authorities. But top US generals warned last month that the effort could be greatly undermined by budget cuts. The cost of international operations and support to nations worldwide to fight drugs went from $2.7 billion in 2001 to $5.7 billion last year." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMilitary’s ‘war on drugs’ back as U.S. Navy looks to net big catches in the Pacific