In my previous entry I described the process of front-loading and political engineering in DoD procurements. As I was writing it, I happened to look over at PZ’s blog and saw there was discussion of Ray Kurtzweil… So I thought I’d maybe Kurtzweil a bit about the DoD.
Conservatives will tell you they favor small government, reduced taxes, and traditional social values. Oddly, in the US today, that somehow translates into “there is no amount of money that is too large to spend on the military.” We’re treated to a constant barrage of pleas for financial assistance from the pentagon, particularly, and its bootlickers, in general, in spite of the pentagon’s claiming it doesn’t have any way to tell where the money is going. Basically, the taxpayers are pouring money into a bucket that has the bottom knocked out, and the crooks holding the bucket keep shouting “It’s EMPTY! Pour FASTER!”
This staggers my brain and leaves me flailing around for words. 1% of the population of the planet are refugees.
In 1612 Miyamoto Musashi and Kojiro Sasaki fought a duel on the beach of Ganryu Island. Both were excellent swordsmen, well-matched. Kojiro was famous for his “swallow cut” style and his extra-length sword* “clothes hanger-pole” which gave him a bit of reach, which he had taken great advantage of in several duels.
This episode of “Ask the Strategic Genius” is about logistics and the 2nd Amendment: two things you typically will not find connected in public discourse. Time to cure that!
“Amateurs talk about tactics, professionals study logistics” – Napoleon Bonaparte*
As we charge forward to the quadrennial “Changing Of The Oligarchy” ritual, one topic that remains off the talking points is: ‘defense’ spending. Some candidates favor spending vastly more, others slightly less, but none of them appear to be serious about adjusting the money-valve from the ‘full on, locked’ position.
The media in the US are uncertain as to whether the US oligarchy is going to back Erdogan, or not. So their language is carefully pared-back, like their language regarding torture, or the imperial wars that the US has waged since 1990. They accept terms like “collateral damage”* and “enhanced interrogation” or “ethnic cleansing” instead of actionable terms like “area bombing” “torture” and “genocide” – the US is signatory to various treaties that criminalize “area bombing” so let’s just call it “unfortunate mis-identification” and the problem’s solved. [Read more…]
Because: we love peace and motherhood. Then Russia got the bomb – but that’s OK, the balance of power remains that way. Who’s Next?
Ted Cruz’ attempt to pee on Donald Trump’s shoes will be forgotten from the annals of propaganda gone awry. What happened on the night of April 20, 1942 ought to be remembered, though we know much less about the event – we have only intangible, edited, documentary and recordings. Those are below:
For some reason this is not getting a lot of attention over here at the US. I can’t imagine why.
Chelsea Manning is apparently in the hospital following a suicide attempt. Solitary confinement is used as a torture technique in US prisons, and can be applied for the most trifling of reasons (“did you look at me?” “hey, look at me when I’m talking to you!”) or supposed gang membership. In some cases, like Manning, or Jose Padilla, it’s applied out of sheer nastiness.