A healthy regard for one's own interests is a healthy thing but a total disregard for the rights of others is the mindset for criminality.
So it is with the latest botched act of terrorism, ie. effort to take down a United States aircraft with a suicide commando.
Ironically the apparent perpetrator looks quite personable and seems to have been quite outgoing. He looks about as dangerous as a puppy dog.
Once again the United States is in a hullabaloo. It is still unimaginable to many Americans that Americans can and will be killed by their opponents when there is a war.
That is the way war is.
Obama started up a war in Yemen without so much as a hello to the American people and then I guess this bumbler was the response of AQ over there. Now we are all supposed to be searched like prisoners to fly anywhere. I think the bungler somehow succeeded.
I guess I will really have to think about flying again. I don't want a permanent file of my nude body, or many such hideous and embarassing images, stored in some federal, corporate or international database.
With tens of thousands of auto deaths a year and far higher numbers of deaths from bad habits the American people are rather irrational to emphasize the taking down of an airplane or two every few years to such an extent that we destroy all of our civil liberties and the aircraft industry as well.
As far as homeland security has been concerned the super department has been one of the biggest bureaucratic extravaganzas in history and as the Nigerian shoe bomber shows has done nothing to prevent some acts of terror from succeeding or almost succeeding. Yet our Bill of Rights has been largely nullified and untold billions are being spent to push papers and tap every phone on earth.
It seems that idiots will always run the United States. See your nude body on the internet, what was your flight number?
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
APPARENT FACTS ABOUT THE FT HOOD MASSACRE
Well, it looks like the shooter at Ft. Hood acted alone and was a career soldier who had been trying to get out of the army for nearly a decade. His name is Nadal Hassan and he is a 39 year old psychiatrist.
At first reported to be a convert to Islam with a new name he is now reported by a person said to be his cousin to be a Muslim from a Muslim family. He was reportedly born in the United States of Jordanian immigrants.
The purported cousin has reported that he had tried to get out of the military again and again but didn't even know about his impending deployment to Iraq.
The no discharge policies of the armed forces are legendary because so few citizens want to carry out America's dirty work any more. Bill Moyers recently advocated a restoration of the military draft and while I may disagree with him I certainly appreciate the position of those who have signed up for the military and who are essentially indentured servants who also get paid.
At first reported to have accomplices it turns out that the two reported "suspects", who were apparently arrested quite dramatically have already been released because authorities reportedly believe that Dr. Hasan acted alone. One might wonder if he responded somewhat like a rat being cornered by a cat. Obviously his efforts were premeditated.
Certain blogs have been attributed to Dr. Hasan and these apparently express a certain interest in suicide bombing and certain other statements that suggest he may have also seen himself as saving Muslim lives. Whether or not he would have come to such observations without the anti-Muslim harassment, if he had been discharged or allowed to remain state side will never be known.
Reportedly killed in the massacre Dr. Hasan is now reportedly alive. I hope a full and transparent investigation will be allowed. Still to come are the details about those he killed and wounded.
I counsel that we seek to find wisdom in this hour of sorrow and sacrifice. Let us join together to undermine the injustices of the world in all their particulars, large and small.
Additionally there was some sort of harassment which remains very vague. The harassment was for being Muslim. This also seemed to be a big gripe of Dr. Nadal Hasan, and one wonders if fundamentalists were the culprits but again no details.
Of course I hope we don't see people try to blame this on all Muslims. I have seen some suggest exactly such a simple minded over-generalization.
At first reported to be a convert to Islam with a new name he is now reported by a person said to be his cousin to be a Muslim from a Muslim family. He was reportedly born in the United States of Jordanian immigrants.
The purported cousin has reported that he had tried to get out of the military again and again but didn't even know about his impending deployment to Iraq.
The no discharge policies of the armed forces are legendary because so few citizens want to carry out America's dirty work any more. Bill Moyers recently advocated a restoration of the military draft and while I may disagree with him I certainly appreciate the position of those who have signed up for the military and who are essentially indentured servants who also get paid.
At first reported to have accomplices it turns out that the two reported "suspects", who were apparently arrested quite dramatically have already been released because authorities reportedly believe that Dr. Hasan acted alone. One might wonder if he responded somewhat like a rat being cornered by a cat. Obviously his efforts were premeditated.
Certain blogs have been attributed to Dr. Hasan and these apparently express a certain interest in suicide bombing and certain other statements that suggest he may have also seen himself as saving Muslim lives. Whether or not he would have come to such observations without the anti-Muslim harassment, if he had been discharged or allowed to remain state side will never be known.
Reportedly killed in the massacre Dr. Hasan is now reportedly alive. I hope a full and transparent investigation will be allowed. Still to come are the details about those he killed and wounded.
I counsel that we seek to find wisdom in this hour of sorrow and sacrifice. Let us join together to undermine the injustices of the world in all their particulars, large and small.
Additionally there was some sort of harassment which remains very vague. The harassment was for being Muslim. This also seemed to be a big gripe of Dr. Nadal Hasan, and one wonders if fundamentalists were the culprits but again no details.
Of course I hope we don't see people try to blame this on all Muslims. I have seen some suggest exactly such a simple minded over-generalization.
LET'S NOT OVERREACT TO THE FORT HOOD MASSACRE
Some sort of shooting at Fort Hood may end up as political hay for those who benefit by
fostering sedition against the nation. I hope that is not the case but I imagine this attack will be used by the far right to attack Obama.
This is an easy prediction to make since the Republicans have proven that they will use anything real or unreal to attack Obama.
Let us remember during this mini-crisis that GW Bush covered himself in glory after 9-11 and most Americans seemed to buy that sort of irrational celebration of his deadly incompetence.
It will be interesting to see how Obama handles this. He has already spoken with some restraint. Of course the media is full of speculation and the focus on a very limited amount of information may lead to a media frenzy. How will the various media seek to guide public opinion?
An overreaction to this incident is a very bad idea. Above all it is crazy to give up our liberties and burn the Bill of Rights just because of this attack. Repeal the "Patriot Act"!
fostering sedition against the nation. I hope that is not the case but I imagine this attack will be used by the far right to attack Obama.
This is an easy prediction to make since the Republicans have proven that they will use anything real or unreal to attack Obama.
Let us remember during this mini-crisis that GW Bush covered himself in glory after 9-11 and most Americans seemed to buy that sort of irrational celebration of his deadly incompetence.
It will be interesting to see how Obama handles this. He has already spoken with some restraint. Of course the media is full of speculation and the focus on a very limited amount of information may lead to a media frenzy. How will the various media seek to guide public opinion?
An overreaction to this incident is a very bad idea. Above all it is crazy to give up our liberties and burn the Bill of Rights just because of this attack. Repeal the "Patriot Act"!
Friday, January 16, 2009
BIN LADEN MESSAGE?
Supposedly there was a Bin Laden message which would be a fake message if he is actually dead.
Anyway "his" message was supposedly about opening a new front in Palestine which is something I warned about earlier. Instead of seeking peace with their neighbors Israel continued to try and destroy Palestinian leadership and to place the Palestinians under permanent siege. This just makes it easier for outsiders to get involved and that is Israel's fault isn't it?
Maybe that is what these Israeli leaders want, to merge the so-called "war on terror" with Israel's war on Palestinians so they can get away with murder and expulsion once again, a Nakba II.
Anyway "his" message was supposedly about opening a new front in Palestine which is something I warned about earlier. Instead of seeking peace with their neighbors Israel continued to try and destroy Palestinian leadership and to place the Palestinians under permanent siege. This just makes it easier for outsiders to get involved and that is Israel's fault isn't it?
Maybe that is what these Israeli leaders want, to merge the so-called "war on terror" with Israel's war on Palestinians so they can get away with murder and expulsion once again, a Nakba II.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
DOES THE JARGON OF THE "WAR ON TERROR" ENLIGHTEN OR CONFUSE?
I have always been sensitive to words that lose their functional meanings and instead become insults or terms of condemnation. The world "liberal" comes to mind. Whatever the legacy of conservative rule in the United States may be the demonization of the term "liberal" is one of them.
Will the already, we are told, historic Presidency of Barrack Obama embrace the term "liberal" or will the legacy of conservative demonizing the term continue to rule the minds of those who many of us hope will be liberal? Anyway what does liberal mean? The meaning is lost once the term is primarily used to condemn and shut down any real dialogue and any real liberalism!
The term "terrorism" has a certain utility. Sometimes people use the term to mean something specific and clear, like a particular tactic or form of warfare. Yet most of the time the term is used in a way that confuses. The "War on Terror" is one ridiculous example. Terror is not terrorism! I can be terrified by anything and even though some scholars have actually been goofey enough to define "terrorism" as anything that frightens or terrorizes someone that definition is obviously absurd.
Or consider how the term Al Qaeda is used to refer to anyone who sets off a bomb and shares a certain religious identity. Yet, as we now seem to have discovered in India Kashmiri-Pakistani group was behind the attacks in Mumbai. It isn't AQ. Lashkar Al Taiba was deployed like Bin Laden to the war against the Russians decades ago. Then the Pakistani government sent them to fight in Kashmir. Now for whatever reason they murdered a hundred civilians in Mumbai. But it is another group, not AQ.
And what about the "connection" between this or that group or individual and Al Qaeda? What does "connection" signify? What is a connection. I have a connection with Muhammed Ali, I walked past him as a small child and he said HI! What does such a connection mean, not much.
Then we are told that all people are a few degrees, perhaps six degrees separated from one another. That is to say that a link of six people in a chain of acquaintances can link anyone up to just about anyone else. Such a connection is therefore commonplace and hardly worth mentioning. So when I the term "connection" used without any facts or any explanation I am pretty skeptical about the usefulness of the statement. indeed, such a use of the term "connection" is usually misleading.
Incompetent, ignorant and manipulative folks like to confuse and polarize with terminology. Hopefully we can try to use these terms that are so polarizing and infused with emotion in a responsible way if at all.
Will the already, we are told, historic Presidency of Barrack Obama embrace the term "liberal" or will the legacy of conservative demonizing the term continue to rule the minds of those who many of us hope will be liberal? Anyway what does liberal mean? The meaning is lost once the term is primarily used to condemn and shut down any real dialogue and any real liberalism!
The term "terrorism" has a certain utility. Sometimes people use the term to mean something specific and clear, like a particular tactic or form of warfare. Yet most of the time the term is used in a way that confuses. The "War on Terror" is one ridiculous example. Terror is not terrorism! I can be terrified by anything and even though some scholars have actually been goofey enough to define "terrorism" as anything that frightens or terrorizes someone that definition is obviously absurd.
Or consider how the term Al Qaeda is used to refer to anyone who sets off a bomb and shares a certain religious identity. Yet, as we now seem to have discovered in India Kashmiri-Pakistani group was behind the attacks in Mumbai. It isn't AQ. Lashkar Al Taiba was deployed like Bin Laden to the war against the Russians decades ago. Then the Pakistani government sent them to fight in Kashmir. Now for whatever reason they murdered a hundred civilians in Mumbai. But it is another group, not AQ.
And what about the "connection" between this or that group or individual and Al Qaeda? What does "connection" signify? What is a connection. I have a connection with Muhammed Ali, I walked past him as a small child and he said HI! What does such a connection mean, not much.
Then we are told that all people are a few degrees, perhaps six degrees separated from one another. That is to say that a link of six people in a chain of acquaintances can link anyone up to just about anyone else. Such a connection is therefore commonplace and hardly worth mentioning. So when I the term "connection" used without any facts or any explanation I am pretty skeptical about the usefulness of the statement. indeed, such a use of the term "connection" is usually misleading.
Incompetent, ignorant and manipulative folks like to confuse and polarize with terminology. Hopefully we can try to use these terms that are so polarizing and infused with emotion in a responsible way if at all.
Monday, December 1, 2008
CERTAIN OBVIOUS FACTS AND MEANINGFUL QUESTIONS
How destructive were these attacks, really?
We have a few hundred dead and a similar number injured. Obviously the casualty figures indicates something other than a typical battle. About ninety people were mowed down at the train station.
How many people die in India from such attacks a year? What percent of the total killed and wounded in this single attack? Is it even one percent?
How many people die from other causes in India every day? Accidents in traveling for example, house fires, domestic violence, nonpolitical crime, etc.?
Was this a military victory for someone?
The terrorists were pretty destructive for fifteen purported assailants.
Still it is no miracle that automatic weapons and grenades can kill a lot of
people in a few minutes.
Ironically, they seem to have been allowed to rampage throughout the area without immediate confrontation. Did they take out existing security officials or were such people absent from the scene until the occupation of the buildings? Or was there just an arrogant sense of invulnerability in that part of the city?
Obviously the stupid destructive mission of these executioners was successful at least in terms of killing a bunch of civilians. Not much of a trick really, massacring scores at a railway station.
Yet at the end of the day the militants were slaughtered and one taken captive. Perhaps five got away. Apparently the source of the attack will be discerned from the captive and an abundance of other evidence.
Mumbai is pretty much back to normal.
Was this a distraction?
The whole event seemed designed to be a spectacle and to a large extent it succeeded in that regard. The refusal of the Indian government to negotiate may have reduced the propaganda value of the mission leaving us with a pile of corpses and not even a crumby excuse for yet another heroic act of martyrdom or maybe something else.
Perhaps someone with bad news elsewhere wants to change the subject.
Was this a provocation?
Many might take it that way but who is doing the provoking? What are the demands of the terrorists. Do we know anything about them or are we just not being told what they want?
If this is just an introduction to some new group it might be thought of as more of an introduction. The Deccan Mujahadeen, is it real, is it really new?
If this is a provocation who would benefit from war between India and Pakistan. Perhaps some Kashmiri groups think they would, perhaps some of the various Islamic militias somewhere, like Pakistan or India think it might achieve some result for them. I suppose AQ will let us know where they want us to think they stand on Mumbai. Elements in Israel or even the United States might like this, don't you think?
What about China? Do they want peace with India, a major economic and political rival? Just asking.
Just another attack in India?
There are so many bombings and militant attacks in India every day that this attack in Mumbai stood out in that it was even noticed outside of India. Of course the targets included Indian and foreign elites so these
people mattered to the corporate media more than the usual targets of such violence. It was good for cable news ratings and perhaps imperial propaganda.
It could be just another attack that was a homicidal outlier, a statistical anomaly. Somehow these dudes were just more potent than many attackers.
,
A region of heavily armed folks.
There seems to be an abundance of light arms and explosives in South and West Asia. Militias are all over the place in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. So it should come as no surprise that folks can get a bunch of grenades and AK's and kill folks if they really want to do that.
INDIA ROARS ONWARD
Perhaps we can learn from the Indians not to let this sort of tragedy
drive us crazy. We don't need to make terrorist attacks worse than they are by trying to make everyplace a police state. Mumbai is bustling again and life continues. India is basically not afraid and we shouldn't be afraid either. It is enough to die once, no?
We have a few hundred dead and a similar number injured. Obviously the casualty figures indicates something other than a typical battle. About ninety people were mowed down at the train station.
How many people die in India from such attacks a year? What percent of the total killed and wounded in this single attack? Is it even one percent?
How many people die from other causes in India every day? Accidents in traveling for example, house fires, domestic violence, nonpolitical crime, etc.?
Was this a military victory for someone?
The terrorists were pretty destructive for fifteen purported assailants.
Still it is no miracle that automatic weapons and grenades can kill a lot of
people in a few minutes.
Ironically, they seem to have been allowed to rampage throughout the area without immediate confrontation. Did they take out existing security officials or were such people absent from the scene until the occupation of the buildings? Or was there just an arrogant sense of invulnerability in that part of the city?
Obviously the stupid destructive mission of these executioners was successful at least in terms of killing a bunch of civilians. Not much of a trick really, massacring scores at a railway station.
Yet at the end of the day the militants were slaughtered and one taken captive. Perhaps five got away. Apparently the source of the attack will be discerned from the captive and an abundance of other evidence.
Mumbai is pretty much back to normal.
Was this a distraction?
The whole event seemed designed to be a spectacle and to a large extent it succeeded in that regard. The refusal of the Indian government to negotiate may have reduced the propaganda value of the mission leaving us with a pile of corpses and not even a crumby excuse for yet another heroic act of martyrdom or maybe something else.
Perhaps someone with bad news elsewhere wants to change the subject.
Was this a provocation?
Many might take it that way but who is doing the provoking? What are the demands of the terrorists. Do we know anything about them or are we just not being told what they want?
If this is just an introduction to some new group it might be thought of as more of an introduction. The Deccan Mujahadeen, is it real, is it really new?
If this is a provocation who would benefit from war between India and Pakistan. Perhaps some Kashmiri groups think they would, perhaps some of the various Islamic militias somewhere, like Pakistan or India think it might achieve some result for them. I suppose AQ will let us know where they want us to think they stand on Mumbai. Elements in Israel or even the United States might like this, don't you think?
What about China? Do they want peace with India, a major economic and political rival? Just asking.
Just another attack in India?
There are so many bombings and militant attacks in India every day that this attack in Mumbai stood out in that it was even noticed outside of India. Of course the targets included Indian and foreign elites so these
people mattered to the corporate media more than the usual targets of such violence. It was good for cable news ratings and perhaps imperial propaganda.
It could be just another attack that was a homicidal outlier, a statistical anomaly. Somehow these dudes were just more potent than many attackers.
,
A region of heavily armed folks.
There seems to be an abundance of light arms and explosives in South and West Asia. Militias are all over the place in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. So it should come as no surprise that folks can get a bunch of grenades and AK's and kill folks if they really want to do that.
INDIA ROARS ONWARD
Perhaps we can learn from the Indians not to let this sort of tragedy
drive us crazy. We don't need to make terrorist attacks worse than they are by trying to make everyplace a police state. Mumbai is bustling again and life continues. India is basically not afraid and we shouldn't be afraid either. It is enough to die once, no?
Friday, November 28, 2008
MUMBAI ATTACK LOOKS LIKE AQ MODUS OPERANDI
The attack in Mumbai looks like some of those AQ plots that never quite made it into operation, at least in terms of having so many moving parts. Of course 911 was "successful" but other plots involving even more airplanes never made it into implementation.
Of course it looks like attackers, at least some from abroad, came ashore and proceeded to attack ten or more targets. They were suicidal and seemed interested in killing civilians at their various targets. Of course this maya be related to Jammu and Kashmir. In India there are a lot of attacks by insurgents and terrorists. This was on a larger scale, and obviously meant to be a spectacle.
It sounds a lot like a military operation because of the story that the group came in on a dingey after being left ten nautical miles beyond Indian waters. That requires some discipline. The terrorists reportedly
impressed the Indian forces fighting them with their professionalism with grenades and the AK.
If there is a Deccan Mujahadeen, which is the group we are told takes credit for this then we can wonder if they want to create a Hyderabad emirate. Of course the danger of communal violence after this attack by
people claiming to be doing it for the sake of Islam is heightened. Hopefully moderation and good sense prevail.
We must remember that there may be elements in Pakistan or elements in Islam that have carried out these attacks or supported them in some essential manner. This involvement of a few does not make all Pakistanis or Islamic people guilty of this assault. That is a very irrational idea and I address this admonition to Americans who are likely to need such reminders.
I don't think that the Pakistani government supported this attack although some may want it to look that way, like AQ in particular.
Of course it looks like attackers, at least some from abroad, came ashore and proceeded to attack ten or more targets. They were suicidal and seemed interested in killing civilians at their various targets. Of course this maya be related to Jammu and Kashmir. In India there are a lot of attacks by insurgents and terrorists. This was on a larger scale, and obviously meant to be a spectacle.
It sounds a lot like a military operation because of the story that the group came in on a dingey after being left ten nautical miles beyond Indian waters. That requires some discipline. The terrorists reportedly
impressed the Indian forces fighting them with their professionalism with grenades and the AK.
If there is a Deccan Mujahadeen, which is the group we are told takes credit for this then we can wonder if they want to create a Hyderabad emirate. Of course the danger of communal violence after this attack by
people claiming to be doing it for the sake of Islam is heightened. Hopefully moderation and good sense prevail.
We must remember that there may be elements in Pakistan or elements in Islam that have carried out these attacks or supported them in some essential manner. This involvement of a few does not make all Pakistanis or Islamic people guilty of this assault. That is a very irrational idea and I address this admonition to Americans who are likely to need such reminders.
I don't think that the Pakistani government supported this attack although some may want it to look that way, like AQ in particular.
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