I was stationed in Germany (USArmy) during that '73 Israeli/Egyptian war. The whole 'nuclear alert' thing was a farce. They sent the line units out to the rally points- had them paint the vehicles 'sand tan', while they waited for the orders to mobilise. In our rear-echelon personnel admin unit, we got told that if there really was going to be deployment to Israel, we would get evacuated to England, Italy or back to the US, but that wasn't going to happen. We were sabre-rattling to keep the Soviets from interfering with the Israeli activity. The line units used their 72 hour activation to finish painting the vehicles in the camoflague pattern that had the tan base coat. It look like an real alert, but it was just a ruse, an extreme diplomatic gesture. Our unit knew of the actual purpose the day before the alert was ordered. Trump's 'thumb on the button' is a scary thought, but his domestic policies (such that they've been suggested) will cripple the nation. Clinton at the helm, may continue this 'war on terror', but a nuclear option would derail the 'gravy train' of defence contractors, armament manufacturers, and the alliance of politicians and lobbyists, that so depend upon that endless 'war'.
TL;DR seems to be one of the factors exacerbating this ongoing fiasco. When salient points of definite falsehoods and delusion are summarized, the knives come out to eviscerate the realities outlined. Expounding at length, documenting every deceit, every ignorance, every denial is met with inferences of some selfish and unproductive motive on the part of the critic. The same dementia infects the discourse on global warming and its collective effects.
So a comparison of US vehicular deaths- with vehicles a very well-regulated commodity, both in safety of equipment and licensure and the deaths related to the relatively un-regulated firearms ownership scheme in the US is equivalent, how? Remembering the 'good ol' days', before seat belts, adequate brakes, various other safety equipment (required by law), the highways were a lot more brutal than today, relative to vehicles, drivers and miles travelled. Perhaps some sort of similar restrictions- licensing, safer equipment, more involved training, education and rigorous application of those rules of law might produce a similar reduction in the carnage that we so readily accept as 'the price of freedom'. When impaired, drunken and drugged driving became a cause noted by its effects on innocent bystanders, the legal and social weight brought to bear changed the situation. Firearms ownership and chemical use are generally a voluntary choice, both have their social aspects and positive points. However, both have serious and deadly implications when abused or misused. Banning guns in the US is not feasible, but redefining just what a 'well-regulated militia' is, and what arms are to be kept and borne may go a long way to changing the currently tragic and on-going scenario.
Whether or not the Healthcare law will reduce the cost of medical care, it does expand the ability of the populace to seek help when needed, and receive adequate treatment. That the US is moving toward a realistic, compassionate method of caring for the majority of its citizens, places them into the sphere of modern, First World nations. Many of those nations have a less-than-overwhelming percentage of religious citizens. It would seem dogma tends to limit the dogmatic's regard of those who don't share the same reverence for said dogma.
What assurance do we, as American citizens have, that it won't happen? The impending useage of drones for surveillance on the borders, in various cities' 'high crime' areas and any other event that might be construed as 'subversive' or 'troublesome' has implications much farther reaching than getting a photo of some 'dissidents' or directing the police to some 'crime in progress'. Arming the drones with something more 'useable' than a camera would be simple, and in light of America's ongoing obsession with 'security', almost logical. Since when has restraint override fear, in the quest of eliminating the 'terror threat'?
It would seem that denoting 'military-aged males' as 'combatants' would insure that any survivors would indeed become combatants. We truly are creating enemies faster than we can kill them. That future Presidents would utilize, or even expand, these extra-judicial killings is a given. It has occurred already, with the Obama administration's evolution of the Bush administration's initiation of the unprovoked 'retaliation' against perceived threats. Seems the slippery slope is rather steep, and well-oiled, and will only become more so in the future. The abrupt and damaging stop, at the end of the downward slide, can only shatter what will be left of the American Empire.
I see Stow, OH on the list. I grew up there, and when one of the high school alumni was KIA in VietNam, there was a memorial plaque put up in the entryway and a copy of the plane he was flying, when shot down, hung up above. I wonder whose son/brother/husband/cousin got killed in Afghanistan. I wonder if there will be some memorial put up, somewhere in town.
I can only hope that all of the 'races' intermarry, have kids, those kids intermingle, and at some point everybody looks pretty much the same, complexion-wise, and we have to hate someone because they are truly despicable, instead of just appearing despicable, to the differently-ethniced observer.
A better, but highly unlikely action would be that Israel engage in a fast from US financial and materiel support. Wishful thinking, but how long would the occupation last without US dollars and weapons?
Prosecution of war is contingent upon dehumanizing the 'enemy'. Using a non-human combatant removes the face of the 'liberator', thus making modern warfare a mirror of video games, albeit a distorted, 'circus' mirror image.
The VA has ignored/minimized PTSD & head injury issues for a long time. Every vet I know, who is a product of the Iraq/Afghanistan meatgrinder is damaged from it. The VietNam vets I know are damaged, but not to the extent of these younger vets. Usually one tour was all anyone did in 'Nam, these guys are doing four or five tours, and it's a different world and military from then until now. I may not know all the vets returning from the hellholes of Asia, but all are diverse, in backgrounds and branches served, in ranks from enlisted to officer. 'What could go wrong?'- everything, from the first Iraqi war to the current quagmire of Afghanistan and the aftermath of the second Iraqi war, that could go wrong, has gone wrong.
'Get elected, get re-elected'- all you need to know about US politics. Santorum got elected, then un-elected, wants to get elected again so he can have government tell us how to live. Romney got elected, then found a better hustle for a while, wants to get elected to prove he can get elected. Gingrich got elected, then found a better hustle when he got caught being 'unethical'. Wants to get elected to work a new hustle. Paul got elected, wants to keep getting elected, all the while decrying 'government' as the source of the nation's ills. Great set of choices, real all-American guys. They are so very in touch with the reality of the rest of America. So believable in their convictions, so repectful of the people. Actually, they're all power-hungry, money-grubbing, selfish, self-absorbed humanoids- you know, politicians.
The boot on the Palestinian neck may be Israeli, but the foot inside it is American. Is it terrorism to attack one's oppressors, or is it only terrorism when the oppressor is your ally?
The Afghanis who would rise up against the 'occupiers' because of the desecration would only view the messages as justified in the fight against the infidels. Afghanistan is not called 'the graveyard of empires' because it's a catchy phrase on a travel brochure. Are we learning the lesson that those gone before us have? It doesn't look like it from here.
It's a sad state of affairs when RonPaul is the sanest voice re: Iran. I could also point out the old 'stopped clock' analogy, too. The other three are pretty good at the 'drill, baby, drill-nuke-'em-all-we're masters of the planet' hot air, their rather myopic view of foreign policy just puts them at 'worse than' vs. RonPaul. All of these four simpletons need to be led far away from any levers of power. The more they speak in public, the more obvious it becomes.
I applaud the Palestinian's going for UN membership, to settle for 'half-a-loaf' with observer status would only defer the ultimate resolution of the conflicts. The Palestinian position has been clear for some time, the Israeli's shifts as each new house is built, each new 'reaction' to a Palestinian protest (usually the death of Palestinians as a result). Hopefully, the world's attention will be drawn not to US or Israeli distractions, but to the reality of the Paletinian's situation.
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I was stationed in Germany (USArmy) during that '73 Israeli/Egyptian war. The whole 'nuclear alert' thing was a farce. They sent the line units out to the rally points- had them paint the vehicles 'sand tan', while they waited for the orders to mobilise. In our rear-echelon personnel admin unit, we got told that if there really was going to be deployment to Israel, we would get evacuated to England, Italy or back to the US, but that wasn't going to happen. We were sabre-rattling to keep the Soviets from interfering with the Israeli activity. The line units used their 72 hour activation to finish painting the vehicles in the camoflague pattern that had the tan base coat. It look like an real alert, but it was just a ruse, an extreme diplomatic gesture. Our unit knew of the actual purpose the day before the alert was ordered. Trump's 'thumb on the button' is a scary thought, but his domestic policies (such that they've been suggested) will cripple the nation. Clinton at the helm, may continue this 'war on terror', but a nuclear option would derail the 'gravy train' of defence contractors, armament manufacturers, and the alliance of politicians and lobbyists, that so depend upon that endless 'war'.
TL;DR seems to be one of the factors exacerbating this ongoing fiasco. When salient points of definite falsehoods and delusion are summarized, the knives come out to eviscerate the realities outlined. Expounding at length, documenting every deceit, every ignorance, every denial is met with inferences of some selfish and unproductive motive on the part of the critic. The same dementia infects the discourse on global warming and its collective effects.
Too long; didn't read. Sad epitaph for a planet.
So a comparison of US vehicular deaths- with vehicles a very well-regulated commodity, both in safety of equipment and licensure and the deaths related to the relatively un-regulated firearms ownership scheme in the US is equivalent, how? Remembering the 'good ol' days', before seat belts, adequate brakes, various other safety equipment (required by law), the highways were a lot more brutal than today, relative to vehicles, drivers and miles travelled. Perhaps some sort of similar restrictions- licensing, safer equipment, more involved training, education and rigorous application of those rules of law might produce a similar reduction in the carnage that we so readily accept as 'the price of freedom'. When impaired, drunken and drugged driving became a cause noted by its effects on innocent bystanders, the legal and social weight brought to bear changed the situation. Firearms ownership and chemical use are generally a voluntary choice, both have their social aspects and positive points. However, both have serious and deadly implications when abused or misused. Banning guns in the US is not feasible, but redefining just what a 'well-regulated militia' is, and what arms are to be kept and borne may go a long way to changing the currently tragic and on-going scenario.
Obama campaign- 'Four more years!'
Romney campaign- 'Four more wars!'
Matt Garber, we do get to judge him, this November.
Those chickens, that Malcom X referred to, seem to have a lot of roosts. And they are finding them quite comfortable.
Whether or not the Healthcare law will reduce the cost of medical care, it does expand the ability of the populace to seek help when needed, and receive adequate treatment. That the US is moving toward a realistic, compassionate method of caring for the majority of its citizens, places them into the sphere of modern, First World nations. Many of those nations have a less-than-overwhelming percentage of religious citizens. It would seem dogma tends to limit the dogmatic's regard of those who don't share the same reverence for said dogma.
What assurance do we, as American citizens have, that it won't happen? The impending useage of drones for surveillance on the borders, in various cities' 'high crime' areas and any other event that might be construed as 'subversive' or 'troublesome' has implications much farther reaching than getting a photo of some 'dissidents' or directing the police to some 'crime in progress'. Arming the drones with something more 'useable' than a camera would be simple, and in light of America's ongoing obsession with 'security', almost logical. Since when has restraint override fear, in the quest of eliminating the 'terror threat'?
It would seem that denoting 'military-aged males' as 'combatants' would insure that any survivors would indeed become combatants. We truly are creating enemies faster than we can kill them. That future Presidents would utilize, or even expand, these extra-judicial killings is a given. It has occurred already, with the Obama administration's evolution of the Bush administration's initiation of the unprovoked 'retaliation' against perceived threats. Seems the slippery slope is rather steep, and well-oiled, and will only become more so in the future. The abrupt and damaging stop, at the end of the downward slide, can only shatter what will be left of the American Empire.
I see Stow, OH on the list. I grew up there, and when one of the high school alumni was KIA in VietNam, there was a memorial plaque put up in the entryway and a copy of the plane he was flying, when shot down, hung up above. I wonder whose son/brother/husband/cousin got killed in Afghanistan. I wonder if there will be some memorial put up, somewhere in town.
I can only hope that all of the 'races' intermarry, have kids, those kids intermingle, and at some point everybody looks pretty much the same, complexion-wise, and we have to hate someone because they are truly despicable, instead of just appearing despicable, to the differently-ethniced observer.
A better, but highly unlikely action would be that Israel engage in a fast from US financial and materiel support. Wishful thinking, but how long would the occupation last without US dollars and weapons?
Once we argue for our limitations, we will be forced to live within them.
Prosecution of war is contingent upon dehumanizing the 'enemy'. Using a non-human combatant removes the face of the 'liberator', thus making modern warfare a mirror of video games, albeit a distorted, 'circus' mirror image.
The VA has ignored/minimized PTSD & head injury issues for a long time. Every vet I know, who is a product of the Iraq/Afghanistan meatgrinder is damaged from it. The VietNam vets I know are damaged, but not to the extent of these younger vets. Usually one tour was all anyone did in 'Nam, these guys are doing four or five tours, and it's a different world and military from then until now. I may not know all the vets returning from the hellholes of Asia, but all are diverse, in backgrounds and branches served, in ranks from enlisted to officer. 'What could go wrong?'- everything, from the first Iraqi war to the current quagmire of Afghanistan and the aftermath of the second Iraqi war, that could go wrong, has gone wrong.
'Get elected, get re-elected'- all you need to know about US politics. Santorum got elected, then un-elected, wants to get elected again so he can have government tell us how to live. Romney got elected, then found a better hustle for a while, wants to get elected to prove he can get elected. Gingrich got elected, then found a better hustle when he got caught being 'unethical'. Wants to get elected to work a new hustle. Paul got elected, wants to keep getting elected, all the while decrying 'government' as the source of the nation's ills. Great set of choices, real all-American guys. They are so very in touch with the reality of the rest of America. So believable in their convictions, so repectful of the people. Actually, they're all power-hungry, money-grubbing, selfish, self-absorbed humanoids- you know, politicians.
The boot on the Palestinian neck may be Israeli, but the foot inside it is American. Is it terrorism to attack one's oppressors, or is it only terrorism when the oppressor is your ally?
It has to do with the Western intelligence re: no Iranian nuclear weapons being incompatible with Western sabre-rattlers fantasies.
The Afghanis who would rise up against the 'occupiers' because of the desecration would only view the messages as justified in the fight against the infidels. Afghanistan is not called 'the graveyard of empires' because it's a catchy phrase on a travel brochure. Are we learning the lesson that those gone before us have? It doesn't look like it from here.
It's a sad state of affairs when RonPaul is the sanest voice re: Iran. I could also point out the old 'stopped clock' analogy, too. The other three are pretty good at the 'drill, baby, drill-nuke-'em-all-we're masters of the planet' hot air, their rather myopic view of foreign policy just puts them at 'worse than' vs. RonPaul. All of these four simpletons need to be led far away from any levers of power. The more they speak in public, the more obvious it becomes.
I applaud the Palestinian's going for UN membership, to settle for 'half-a-loaf' with observer status would only defer the ultimate resolution of the conflicts. The Palestinian position has been clear for some time, the Israeli's shifts as each new house is built, each new 'reaction' to a Palestinian protest (usually the death of Palestinians as a result). Hopefully, the world's attention will be drawn not to US or Israeli distractions, but to the reality of the Paletinian's situation.