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Posted on Thursday, 25 June, 2009 By yours truly | TOOLS: Talk or Share
Every now and again it’s a good idea to turn on your own just to see what it’s like on the other side. It helps to have something to actually disagree with them over. This post goes over my recent days spent arguing with the “liberal” commenterati (obsessive commenters on websites. A google search tells me I didn’t coin this word. Damn) about the protests in Iran. It wasn’t a pretty time, but it was an interesting one. If it’s not a tech. or nerd site I tend to avoid these areas anymore.
In this case, it’s regarding the ever changing situation in Iran. The battle ground in question is the comment area at Common Dreams, a usually progressive left news site. It was a wholly satisfying experiment. I learned a lot about a lot about the nature of comment areas, their addicting qualities and how quickly the conversation sort of descends into self-parody. I learned something about myself: According to these people I must work for the Mossad or CIA.
Get some more of this post
Posted on Tuesday, 13 November, 2007 By yours truly | TOOLS: Talk or Share
Listening to news of the latest known civilian killing by private armies employed by the US in Iraq, this time it was a taxi driver who was shot dead by a DynCorp goon, reminded me of a college history class from years ago, that touched on the disastrous use of of private soldiers (“militias” back then). Why people keep thinking this model will work is a bit perplexing, unless you consider the distraction factor.
Certainly, CEOs for Blackwater, DynCorp and so forth need to be dragged to the Hague alsong with Dick Cheney and and his various accomplices, but while the news has been over there, the regular, old fashioned U.S. military shouldn’t be forgotten as the death toll for Iraqis tops one million.
I leave with this quote from an academic paper for a Denver University history class, composed by J. B. Calvert. I arrived there on the first link with a google search containing the words Mexican war, armature and militias.
“The U.S. militia forces were a plague–murdering, looting, raping and brewing a zone of debauchery and crime around themselves, to the dismay of the regular army. General Scott’s General Orders No. 20 went a long way to ameliorating this problem, establishing tribunals for crimes done by, on and among U.S. military personnel. Revenge for Goliad and the Alamo was amply carried out by Texans on anybody they could find in the dark.”
Just do a text find ‘n replace search for militia force, replacing it with military contractors and you’ll pretty much get something that would run in today’s press.
Posted on Tuesday, 16 October, 2007 By yours truly | TOOLS: Talk or Share
The BBC has an interesting piece on the The United Nations and “The Quartet,” this thing that is supposedly working on a peace process between Israel and occupied Palestine, which is funny since there is no actual process in the plan, or real chance for peace so long as refgugee rights of return, settlements and land confiscation aren’t dealt with. Mostly this is due to the fact that there’s no real partnership, just a US White House desperate to fake some sort of consensus for yet another unworkable plan redraw borders in the Middle East.
Click here for the 7:50 am segment of BBC’s Radio4 Today show for Monday, October 15, 2007 to hear a solid interview with John Dugard, the Special Rapporteur for the violation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories regarding the UN’s role in the Middle East Quartet. He makes a very good point worth serious consideration.
Requires Real Player to work.
Posted on Friday, 13 April, 2007 By yours truly | TOOLS: Talk or Share
Found this through BoingBoing. I don’t really go for Lee’s “someone has to speak up” spiel with regards to the current U.S. president. There’s a whole cottage industry and genre of nonfic. dedicated to Bush & Co. In short, lots of people are getting publishing deals but no one’s doing anything about it. America knows it has a criminal for a leader. It’s just too much of a weenie to do anything about it. Still, Lee has a straightforward way in his diatribe that’s at least worth idling through the free previews:
I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but I don’t need it). The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we’re fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking hard questions. That’s not the promise of America my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I’ve had enough. How about you?
Posted on Friday, 9 February, 2007 By yours truly | TOOLS: Talk or Share
Lots of hub-bub going on with the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation these days.
We are excited to announce the launch of the Israeli Accountability Campaign (IAC).
The IAC seeks to build upon the existing law suit against former Israeli military
official Moshe Ya’alon alleging that he committed war crimes for his role in the
1996 Qana massacre. The IAC draws a connection between Israel’s attack in 1996 and
July 2006 and provides advocates with an organzing packet to both educate and
mobilize their communities to demand Israeli Accountability for both attacks against
Lebanese civilians in Qana. Click here to read more about the Israeli
Accountability Campaign.
Read all about it at, sign endorsements, petitions and downloads loads of stuff at the legal project’s page.
Posted on Wednesday, 17 January, 2007 By yours truly | TOOLS: Talk or Share
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I’m worried that students will take their obedient place in society and look to become successful cogs in the wheel – let the wheel spin them around as it wants without taking a look at what they’re doing. I’m concerned that students not become passive acceptors of the official doctrine that’s handed down to them from the White House, the media, textbooks, teachers and preachers.
