“GLORY, n. An exalted state achieved through participation in military operations, often by having one’s guts blown out and dying in agony amidst the stench of one’s own entrails.” – Chaz Bufe, the Devil’s Dictionaries
International Newsworthy
The US government has developed massive surveillance capabilities to monitor communications, travel and financial transactions in this country and abroad. But, even the government cannot monitor everything Americans do—not directly, anyway. Thus, it created the Communities Against Terrorism (CAT) program to enlist your friendly local businesses as spies for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The CAT program, funded by the State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training program (SLATT) is described as a “tool to engage members of the local community in the fight against terrorism.” The program interprets “local community” to mean businesses, and only registered businesses may access the program’s flyers listing “potential indicators” of terrorist activity.
Each flyer is designed for a particular kind of business. For example, this list was prepared for owners of internet cafes. Unquestionably, someone planning a terrorist attack has engaged in one or more of the “suspicious” activities on that list. But so, too, have most of the estimated 289 million computer users in this country. Read more
“You can’t say civilization don’t advance…in every war they kill you in a new way.” –Will Rogers
International Newsworthy
“There is one modern political writer who saw very clearly that military centralization is helpful in undermining a federal republic. His name was Adolf Hitler. Chapter 10 of Volume II of Mein Kampf, which is devoted to an indictment of German Federalism as an obstacle to the triumph of national socialism, is well worthy of current attention by those who do not realize that a concentration of power can be used for evil as well as for good — and is perhaps much more likely to be used for evil than for good.” –Felix Morley
International Newsworthy
The U.S. Congress created the Department of War in 1789. One hundred and sixty years later, in 1949, it became the Department of Defense. The various factors involved in the name change likely included fatigue with death and destruction after World War II. But these factors may also have included salesmanship among the dogs of war, soft-selling their wares. Two years after the name change, President Truman and friends took the nation to war with the newly named Department of Defense, albeit without a formal declaration of war by Congress. He called Korea a “police action.” History has taken him to task on that one, and it is now commonly called the “Korean War.” We’ve had lots of wars since then, as well, but not a single formal declaration of war since World War II.
In November 2002, a new entity arrived when the Department of Homeland Security was established. The DHS had seemingly laudable goals, on the surface. But the question arises — if we already had a Department of Defense, why did we need a Department of Homeland Security? Back in 2003, I asked this question of a top political historian, and he responded “Bill, don’t be silly. We need the Department of Defense to protect our troops overseas!” Read more
“Is a young man bound to serve his country in war? In addition to his legal duty there is perhaps also a moral duty, but it is very obscure. What is called his country is only its government and that government consists merely of professional politicians, a parasitical and anti-social class of men. They never sacrifice themselves for their country. They make all wars, but very few of them ever die in one. If it is the duty of a young man to serve his country under all circumstances then it is equally the duty of an enemy young man to serve his. Thus we come to a moral contradiction and absurdity so obvious that even clergymen and editorial writers sometimes notice it.” – H.L. Mencken
International Newsworthy
“War is the statesman’s game, the priest’s delight, the lawyer’s jest, the hired assassin’s trade.” – Percy Bysshe Shelley
International Newsworthy
  |
 |
  |
