Aussie comedian Jim Jefferies nails it on US gun culture

Diogenes Surfer shared this YouTube link with me via email. 

Says it all about the US gun culture.  

Enjoy!

Book Review: Raw Man - by Fred Rivera

I've been asked to review Raw Man by Fred Rivera.   Here it s:

Politicians sold us the Vietnam war as a just war, a necessary war.  A massive stack of well researched books has since debunked the blatant lies and warped thinking which led us into that war. Fred Rivera's Raw Man, stripped of all the usual machismo and chest-thumping hero worshiping faux patriotism one often finds in personal accounts of soldiering, gives a brutally honest, soul searing glimpse into the reality of that most stupid of wars, and what it did to the bodies and minds of those who were so callously exploited to serve such dubious imperatives. 

In case you missed the link to the book's website, here it is again: http://rawmanthebook.com/

Even though I've read a free e-copy of the book, I've actually bought a hard copy for my library.  Need I say more?

CEO's have all the fun...

One afternoon, the CEO of a very large corporation was riding in his limousine when he saw two men on the side of the road, on their hands and knees, eating grass.
 
Disturbed, he ordered his driver to stop and got out to investigate.

He asked one man, "Why are you eating grass?"

"We don't have any money for food," the poor man replied. "We have to eat grass."

"Well, then, you can come with me to my house and I'll feed you," the CEO of the very large corporation said.

"But sir, I have a wife and two children with me. They are over there, under that tree."

"Bring them along," the CEO of the very large corporation replied.

Turning to the other poor man he stated, "You may come with us, also." The second man, in a pitiful voice, then said, "But sir, I also have a wife and six children with me!"

"Bring them all as well," the CEO of the very large corporation answered.

They all entered the car, which was no easy task, even for a car as large as the limousine.

Once under way, one of the poor fellows turned to the CEO of the very large corporation and said, "Sir, you are too kind. Thank you for taking all of us with you. "

The CEO of the very large corporation replied, "Glad to do it. You'll really love my place. The grass is almost a foot high." 

[Found on the InterWeb and adapted for this blog.]

Standing in the corner...

I recently spent two interesting weeks taking part in 13 Rooms, a performance art project staged by Kaldor Art Projects. I was one of six veterans performing Santiago Sierra's work.

<<< That's me !!!

<<< Veteran of the war in Afghanistan











Want to know more? Here are some more links:

http://johnmcdonald.net.au/2013/13-rooms/

http://vimeo.com/63799220

I Will Not Fight For Queen and Country

 Ben Griffin is a British ex-SAS soldier who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In February this year, as part of a debate at The Oxford Union, he gave a speech titled
"I Will Not Fight For Queen and Country."

This man has encapsulated everything I've been trying to say in my nine years of blogging.

Below is a slightly abridged transcript of that speech:

I Will Not Fight for Queen and Country.

Fight for Queen and Country, what does that mean? It is a jingoistic phrase dream’t up by some propaganda merchant intent on stoking the fire of that false religion patriotism.

The idea of fighting for Queen and Country is held tight by those who never have and never will actually fight. It is held by those who long to bask in the reflected glory of war. It is held by those who have no experience of the suffering that war inflicts. It is an idea held up by those who gain the most from war, Politicians, Generals, The Arms Industry and The Media.

It is a phrase that is dredged up again and again to stifle dissent and build unquestioning support for the aggression we choose to unleash.

We must look at what lies behind this decrepit phrase.

Who is it doing the fighting?

A well-trained and professional force that’s highest collective desire is to go to war, any war. This force does not fight for Queen and Country. it fights when it is told to fight. Even when the Generals believe that a certain war is illegal or un-winnable or detrimental to the long-term security of these isles, when it comes to the crunch they always want war.

What does the fighting involve?

Well if you believe the media or the citations written for medals awarded you might imagine that the fighting consists of bayonet charges, lone hand grenade assaults on enemy positions or modern-day spitfire pilots scrambling to some noble action.

In my experience the reality is a lot darker. Long periods of waiting punctuated by unforeseen moments of extreme violence. Having your legs blown off by an IED. A supposed ally shooting holes in your chest. Dying in a helicopter crash. Burning to death in a transport plane. Being beaten to death by an angry mob. Being shot in the face as you break into someones home.

The reality is setting up thousands of checkpoints in the country you have occupied, disrupting the lives of the people and then killing them when they approach too quickly or fail to stop in time.

The reality is raiding people’s houses, using explosives to enter homes. Detaining previously unknown males some as young as 15 and handing them over to be tortured. Whilst their families are left to fend for themselves, Traumatised by your action.

The reality is killing people from the safety of an attack helicopter or drone control room. As if you are playing a computer game, with no regard for the lives of people who have been dehumanised.

Haji, Raghead, Sand Nigger, Chogie, Argie, Paddy, Gook, Chink, Jap. Kraut, Hun. All terms used by our armed forces. The product of a society which still believes in its superiority over other peoples and cultures.

We pretend that we wage war for higher, noble causes. We claim that our armed forces fight for Freedom, Democracy or Human Rights.

This is not the case. We wage war according to Policy. It is a choice determined by Government. This policy is influenced by those who gain the most from war. Politicians, Generals, The Arms Industry and The Media.

These scoundrels always predict victory. Always insist that violence is the answer. They Ignore the inevitability of unforeseen consequences. The existence of Blow-back The fact that it is our own policy that creates our enemies.

They deny that we have been defeated to maintain support for current and future bloodletting.

The reasons they give for starting wars rarely match the reasons they give for continuing wars and rarely match the actual outcomes.

These scoundrels currently hold the noble position of backing a military junta in Mali against insurgents that we decided to arm in Libya.

Before that they celebrated the Arab Spring whilst turning a blind eye to Saudi Arabian aggression in Bahrain. Where weapons that we supplied were used by our Saudi allies to kill civilians engaged in non-violent protest. Their silence in this matter shines a light on their complicity.

In both Iraq and Afghanistan, once the reasons for going to war were found to be false, or unattainable or just forgotten, those with a vested interest in continuing the wars resorted to one of the oldest tricks in the book. They cultivated the myth of the soldier as hero. They told you that you might not understand why the war continued but that you should support the soldiers. They Told you that to stop the pointless slaughter would be sacrilege to those heroes that had already died.

I am a Human Being and my allegiance is not to Queen and Country but to the whole of Humanity. I no longer accept the lies which perpetuate war. I no longer accept that violence can lead to Peace.

Never again will I be complicit in the killing and torture of my Brothers and Sisters. Never again will accept the vile religion of Patriotism. I refuse to pull on that rancid uniform. I refuse to fight for Queen and Country.

Military intelligence and other oxymorons...

According to the U.S. military's Joint Publication 1, Doctrine for the Armed Forces of the United States, reissued on March 25, 2013, "War is socially sanctioned violence to achieve a political purpose."

"Socially sanctioned" ???   Does this mean that a significant majority of the U.S. population has to be in agreeance with a proposed war _before_ we send our troops there?    A plebiscite to decide war?  What a novel idea...  And will we here in Australia be allowed to vote on that as well?

"Violence" ???  A nice euphemism for the butchery, mass murder, rape and maiming of people caught up in a war zone, and the subsequent maiming and killing of millions (future generations) living in the erstwhile war zones heavily polluted by stuff like agent orange, agent blue, depleted uranium, and strewn with unexploded munitions, landmines and cluster bomblets.

"...to achieve a political purpose" ???   I've been saying for years that war is politics gone stark raving mad.  Their own definition now verifies it.

Is the Universe a Hologram?

The concept of the universe being a holographic projection makes a lot of sense to me.  It neatly supplements both Buddhist thought and quantum theory.

Confused?   

Read this article for openers >>>

Interested in reading more?  Well, a neat book on the subject is The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot.  I found it very thought provoking. 

Here's a review of the book by Damian Nash (from the Amazon.com website):

This is one of the most provocative books I have read in years. In the first few chapters Mr. Talbot describes the emerging holographic paradigm in science, drawing on David Bohm's work in quantum physics and Karl Pribam's work in neuroscience. I found both descriptions to be fascinating, and especially enjoyed the historical context for the work of these two seminal thinkers. As a person with a master's degree in neuroscience and chaos/complexity theory, I found a couple of his simplifications misleading, but would give him high marks for his overall comprehension of the conclusions of Pribam and his followers.

The remaining 2/3 of the book is a discussion of how the holographic paradigm may provide a rational basis for interpreting a wide variety of phenomenon located around the fringes of established science. He looks at everything from strange historical "miracles" like stigmata and appearances of the Virgin Mary to modern psychic abilities and LSD experiences, from out-of-body and near-death-experiences to UFO abductions. In addition, he compares language used in the modern scientific discussion of holography with the language used by ancient mystical traditions.

Mr. Talbot's writing style is unusually clear and lucid. All of this makes for a highly engaging book. It kept me up late every night for more than a week. I am a person who has had an OBE/NDE (out-of-body, near-death-experience), and can tell you that his description of such events is an astoundingly accurate portrayal of what I experienced.

I am also a scientist, and know that most of my highly rational, empirical colleages would have trouble accepting a majority of Mr. Talbot's conclusions. This work addresses something so completely out of the realm of everyday experience for most people, and probes a world that is normally invisible to the five senses. Hence, objective, empirical science -- as defined by a conventional theorist or practicing technician -- simply cannot address these experiences. They are outside the range of focus of the tool that Western minds currently rely on.

The service that Mr. Talbot provides is a challenge to rethink the conventional definition of science so that it can take into account a much wider range of human experience. What he argues for is the acceptance, as valid scientific data, of the experiences of individual humans, across cultures and throughout history, that are remarkably consistent with one another. These experiences address aspects of reality that are invisible to the skeptical eye, but become obvious to the person who chooses to develop other forms of perception.

As a person who was unwittingly thrown into an OBE/NDE experience, I am naturally inclined to read a book like this one with an open mind, and felt immensely rewarded for doing so. However, if I had reviewed the same book before having my own personal experience of some of the phenomena it describes, I would have reviewed it as a new-age excursion into a realm of fantasy. I am completely sympathetic to some of the reviewers who see it that way, and respectfully disagree.

I believe there is an extraordinary synthesis happening among the realms of human experience, one that can validate each individual's story, however unusual, and also one that honors all the different ways of knowing. I see Mr. Talbot's work as one of the more important bridges yet constructed between traditional science and spirituality, between rational discourse about repeatable, empirically verifiable phenomenon and the quirky, esoteric or mythological elements of personal experience that actually define most people's experience of reality. This book is a "must read" for any passionate seeker of truth. 

Pope Francis

Pope Francis, when he was a Cardinal in Argentina, lived a very frugal life.   Rather than avail himself of his entitlement to a chauffeur driven limousine, he would use public transport to get around.

Now that he is the Pope, will he forego the use of the Popemobile?

I've often wondered why the Pope needs bodyguards and a bulletproof carriage.  Does he not have faith in God to protect him?

Tsk, tsk, tsk...

A New Pope

The Roman Catholics have chosen a new pope.  Pope Francis.  He is a Jesuit.

I did not know much about Jesuits, so I read up on them a little.

One thing that I thought cute was that they have a special vow of obedience, Rule 13, which says that if you think something is white and the Church says it is black, then you ought to declare it to be black.

Wow... 

Malalai Joya tells it like it is

   "As history shows, the U.S. has relied on criminals, dictators, human rights violators, and reactionary forces in many other countries of the world. Recently in Libya the U.S. and NATO supported fundamentalists who are worse than Qaddafi; in Syria they are supporting Al-Qaeda and other such dirty groups. So it is not surprising that they are once again working with the Taliban and with Hekmatyar and other criminals in my country.

   It was the U.S. that brought the warlords into power in Kabul, and the U.S./NATO puppet Karzai is even more shameless than previous Afghan puppets of the British and the Russians. While the puppets of Russia and Britain negotiated behind closed doors, Karzai is publicly selling Afghanistan to a foreign master. The so-called strategic agreements like the Bilateral Security Agreement provide for long-term U.S./NATO military bases in Afghanistan. The U.S. wants to remain in Afghanistan because of its geopolitical location: to be able to control other Asian powers like Pakistan, Iran, Russia and China."

To read the entire article by  Elsa Rassbach on Common Dreams , CLICK HERE

Drone War in Pakistan

Noor Behram remembers why he started on his mission to photograph the scenes of drone attacks in Pakistan. The reason was 12 dead people — an entire family extinguished in what was officially a US attack on militants. But the 39-year-old, who works for Arabic language news network Al Jazeera, had sources in Waziristan who told him the official story was only half of the truth.

“A family that lived on a neighboring slope heard the noise and watched the incident down in the valley. In this moment a US fighter jet roared over and shot a rocket at their home. Eight women and girls, along with four men, died.”

Read more >>>

Day 3 in Fallujah - David Bradbury reports

Progressive and veteran film maker David Bradbury is currently visiting Iraq investigating the plight of yet another new generation of birth defects there believed to be caused by the depleted uranium (DU) that the Americans and allies have applied there as they had with Agent Orange in Vietnam. Here is David's moving eye-witness account. The huge humanitarian crisis arising from DU is so under-reported. Feel free to forward this report to your network to get the word out to more people:

Saturday, 16 February 2013, David Brabury
Subject: Day three in Fallujah. The tenth anniversary of people taking to the world's streets to stop the war...

Met two very interesting women doctors today. Dr Samira is the doctor at the frontline of birth defects here at Fallujah hospital. We saw one little chap this morning - Hassan - born two days ago with a small head. His birth defects don't allow the brain to grow properly and therefore mental retardation and convulsive fits will be his future. Doctors will operate but problematic. They don't even have a specialist ultra sound machine here that would allow doctors to diagnose in early pregnancy birth anomalies in the womb. That would give the doctors a big start to assemble and prepare a specialist team for the birth so they can do what is necessary to give the baby a better fighting chance at least upon birth. They can't reverse the anomalies and genetic malformations the use of US weaponry brings to the life of these little ones. But at least ease the burden and do basic surgery if can do upon birth. As it is now, the poor bub comes out, the mother freaks out and they have to deal with it. Still many babies born at home with midwife. And quietly buried if they die after a few days. Big shame factor and denial for stunned parents who suddenly discover they have a 'monster' on their hands. Death is a blessing in most instances but many live with these birth defects causing hardship and tensions within the family. As well as shame. Imagine stepping into the market place with a baby with a big head, a cleft palate or club foot or twisted face or hunch back etc.

We met little Safe today. Same age as my darling little 3 year old Omar back home.

Safe is a sweet little boy. Normal face and arms etc.(see photo attached) But at 8 months it became obvious he had problems. He still can't sit up or walk. He can only crawl. He has no speech other than shrill noises. Seems a handful. His father completed his Masters in Islamic Science. He is a respectful, educated and humble man who holds his head high with dignity.

Safe's parents told us of their entrapment in Fallujah by the Americans who wouldn't let them out of the city when the heavy fighting began first in April 2004. Then again in November. Aerial bombardment by the Americans and door to door, street by street fighting with many civilians forced to stay in their homes as the fighting intensified. American snipers practised on little kids. The civilian casualties mounted as they were laid out in rows on the footpath. Hair samples taken in recent years gives the game away. Traces of enriched uranium, and other heavy metals. The Americans it is alleged used not only 'depleted' uranium which they used widely in Iraq in 1991 and 2003 but traces of the much more radioactive, potent concentrated uranium --- enriched uranium which is the next stage of processing towards purifying uranium from which nuclear bombs and nuclear fuel rods for power plants are made.

Safe's parents believe it was uranium weapons responsible for his deformities - though there is no way of proving it. Interestingly enough, the woman gyno told us this morning until they have the equipment to do the genetic testing (they have the trained people, they just can't get the machines...), it's speculation always whether it was genetic, chromosomal abnormalities or environmental pollution (which includes DU). So aside from 'might makes right' so like with Agent Orange there is no reciprocity on the American military or Pentagon in a World Court of Human Rights (which there should be in our modern times...), the American military manage to tough it out yet again and slide out from any responsibility to clean up the mess they left behind and make some token restitution for what they have done en masse to the Iraqi people and their environment.

Dr Muntaha, the sole gynocologist here is about 40, not married and lived through the siege of Fallujah too. She told us they have 14,000 babies born a year. 50 a day. 43 maternity beds. The mothers, whether they have natural birth or a caesar are obliged to be 'tipped out' after 8 hours in the hospital after birth...to make way for the next shift. They have 7 staff total to give birth and deal with any complications, lab testing etc. She says Fallujah is so big they need 3 children's hospitals, not the one. Iraqis were a sophisticated and highly educated people in the 1980's despite Saddam's tyranical reign.  Dr Muntaha said they lead the Arab world in so many areas, including medicine and health. Now she said with a tinge of bitterness they are at the bottom of the pile.

She got quite angry (fair enough) when she told us of her experience travelling to her fellow Arab countries where with her Iraqi passport, she is 'treated like a dog'. Her words. Her Iraqi friends present their British gained passports and slip straight through. She has to wait and wait and be treated like a criminal or a 'terrorist' (my word, not hers) because she comes from Iraq. A highly educated, sophisticated, lovely, lovely warm woman. And so it goes on and on. Sound familiar?

Regards,

David.

Harvard University discovers error in US constitution

Historians at the prestigious university in Cambridge Mass have recently discovered that due to the different attitude to spelling in 1787, there has been a massive misunderstanding about the rights of citizens in America.

 The right to bear arms as expressed in the constitution, was originally intended to support the desire of men and women of the 18th century to wear sleeveless dresses and blouses without fear or favour.

 Politicians of all parties are now seeking to address this issue, and to apologise for the more than two hundred years of misunderstanding that has resulted.       (C) Quilljar 

Evolution or devolution?

In the previous post, whilst discussing whether or not we are hard-wired for bigotry, Andrew said:  "There was a long-ish article about this in New Scientist in the not too distant past. If I remember the article correctly, the idea was that intolerance of The Other (defined however you like for the moment) conferred advantage in terms of competition for food, mates and all the other things that humans fight over, and that it was selected for over and over again as humans evolved."

Which got me thinking...   Again...

Is intolerance of The Other a pro-survival trait or an example of groupthink? 

What I'm getting at here is, did "evolution" ensure that those groups of humans who were prepared (and/or equipped) to kill the most number of people (or be the most threatening) were the ones who got to "run the show"?   Was this a good thing?

Are we hard-wired for bigotry?

Wikipedia defines bigotry thus:   "Bigotry is the state of mind of a bigot, defined by Merriam-Webster as 'a person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially: one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance'. Bigotry may be based on real or perceived characteristics, including age, disability, dissension from popular opinions, economic status, ethnicity, gender identity, language, nationality, political alignment, race, region, religious or spiritual belief, sex or sexual orientation. Bigotry is sometimes developed into an ideology or world view."

What prompted this?  Andrew did, in a comment on the previous post, when he said that agreeing with something he reads improves the perception of it. In my own case, this explains why it took me twenty-odd years to break the conditioning ("education", training, propaganda) I recieved from my familial environment and the societies in which I lived during my maturation period. It especially includes my time in the Australian Army.

So, dear reader, is it possible to transcend bigotry, or do we merely trade one form of bigotry for another when we 'transcend'?

Discuss.

An interview with Noam Chomsky

Chomsky discusses Zionism, the Palestine Question, and American Empire.

It's a good read.  I recommend it.

Christmas

I have trouble with Christmas.  I am not a Christian.  I am an agnostic with atheistic leanings who thinks Jesus was a dissident Jewish rabbi and brilliant spiritual teacher who got crucified for upsetting the religeo-political apple cart.  I'm quite impressed by his Sermon on the Mount, but that's about it.  Let's move on, folks.

However, this time of year, every year, I am bombarded with "Merry Christmas" wishes, mostly from people who aren't all that Christian either.  Certainly their ability (or willingness) to live according to the Nazarene's teachings seems to be as dismal as mine.

We are told by merchants that if we don't buy enough food and crap to facilitate this orgy of celebration, the economy will collapse.  Governments have even refunded some of the taxes they had collected (for building better health services and roads etc), in order to encourage us to go keep the merchants and their underpaid staff from slashing their wrists.

I'll tell you how bad it's gotten!  In commenting on the previous post, Vesty wished me a merry Christmas.  And now, because social convention demands it, and because I genuinely wish him well, I have no option but to respond with:  "Merry Christmas Vesty !!!"

Bah!  Humbug!

Merry Christmas, readers.  Have a good one !!!   You too, Vesty!   :-))))

Violence Begets Violence

It's killing time again in the Gaza Strip.   And it sickens me.  It sickens me that the Palestinian resistance is so bent on meeting Israel's violence with violence.

Israel is a psychopathic state.  It is mass-murderously and criminally insane.  It clearly intends to eventually dispossess most of the people living in the West Bank and Gaza.   Blind Freddy can see that.

But what really saddens me to the point of despair is that the lunatic strategists on the Palestinian side seem to think that the sustained campaign of indiscriminantly firing hundreds of Katyusha rockets into Israel is anything other than a mad death wish.

I guess the teachings of Buddha, Jesus, and Gandhi cannot penetrate the war-maddened minds of the poor Palestinians.   They clearly fail to understand that a massive peaceful people power uprising is the only way they will ever win in their struggle against Israel's evil agenda.

But what would I know... I'm only a fucked-in-the-head Vietnam veteran...

Go on you mad bastards, kill, kill, kill...  You're playing right into the hands of the Israelis.

It is to weep...

The Abuse Of Courage And Trust

Corporal Dan Keighran, by all accounts, well and truly deserved the highest military honour the nation can bestow, the Victoria Cross.   Absolutely.

His is the third Victoria Cross awarded to soldiers who fought in the Afghanistan War.

At the award ceremony, Prime Minister Julia Gillard is reported to have said (in part):  "We acknowledge them because it is always important to accurately record the history of our nation and what makes our nation and these acts of courage speak to who we are as Australians."

Well, well, well... "...to accurately record the history of our nation..."

OK then, let me do my bit to accurately record the history of our nation.  Let me go into those great internet archives with these words:

We should never have joined the Americans in that evil war.  The Afghanistan War was an act of retribution and revenge for another evil act.  An act that should have been dealt with very differently.  An act for which the Afghan people (who had nothing to do with al Qaeda) did not deserve to die in the hundreds of thousands.

America likes to think of itself as a Christian country and yet there is nothing Christian about waging war.  Especially a war driven by the lust for revenge and retribution.  And Australia's history is forever tarnished by our participation in that war.

It is a gross abuse of our soldiers' courage and trust to send them into wars they should not be sent into.  Our politicians, and the Generals who did their bidding, should be held in disgrace for having sent Australian soldiers into the following follies of America's self-serving foreign policy:

The Vietnam War
The First Gulf War
The Second Gulf War
The Afghanistan War

Let the history of our nation record this too, Prime Minister Gillard!

And please stop telling all those lies, Prime Minister Gillard.  You're no better than John HoWARd and his war glorifying and war justifying predecessors.  STOP IT, PLEASE !!!

From Little Things Big Things Grow

"A RARE fire tornado has been witnessed near Thargomindah (Qld) where grassfires have been burning for days."

Full story here >>>

This got me thinking... 

Four thousand years ago, they'd call it God's wrath, and weave it into their story telling. 

One thousand  years later, someone would write it down and call it The Word Of God.  Another 1000 years later, the world's first recorded hippie, socialist revolutionary,  and proponent of non-violent political struggle, would go on a recruiting drive and try to expose a whole lot of crap being spoken in the name of an imagined, anthropomorphised "God" thingie which is said to have attitudes amazingly similar to the misogynistic, control-freak male leaders of that period.

The ruling clerics and their occupying Masters get spooked by the hippie and have the dude crucified.  But the power of the myth makers (today we call them historians) is strong, and stories are told of him being the Son of God, rising from the dead, and, in true General Macarthur style, he is said to have proclaimed "I shall return!".  It is not known whether or not he smoked a corncob pipe nor whether or not he wore aviator style sunglasses.

Two thousand years later George W. Bush imagines this anthropomorphised "God" thingie telling him to invade Iraq.  No one sections him, and a war crime of humungous proportions ensues.  No one arrests him or takes him to The Hague to answer charges.  He is American and is therefore above International Law.  That his mantra was "They must respect the Rule Of Law" is quickly forgotten by the historians weaving the next set of lies to be taught to unsuspecting school children in the future.

But I digress...