Monday, November 10, 2008
Hyper-factional Militarism
How are we going to undo the vast damage that has been done to international relations? By staying in Iraq and building a fleet of Nuclear Power Plants and Missle Defense Systems? Get real.
Human civilization has once again come to the cross-roads of legitimized violence and it's natural historical consequence: the legitimation crisis; maybe on a global scale this time as never before have we seen.
Chomsky would be the first to persuade us that though it is so blatantly referred to in our culture, that it is the crux of how we legitimize the authorities that umbrella us together.
From The New York Times today:
Secret Order Lets U.S. Raid Al Qaeda
By ERIC SCHMITT and MARK MAZZETTI
Published: November 9, 2008
WASHINGTON — The United States military since 2004 has used broad, secret authority to carry out nearly a dozen previously undisclosed attacks against Al Qaeda and other militants in Syria, Pakistan and elsewhere, according to senior American officials.
* * *
Mourners shouted anti-American slogans on Oct. 27 in Syria at the funeral of someone killed in a cross-border United States raid.
* * *
A 2004 order permits attacks on terrorists outside war zones.
* * *
These military raids, typically carried out by Special Operations forces, were authorized by a classified order that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld signed in the spring of 2004 with the approval of President Bush, the officials said. The secret order gave the military new authority to attack the Qaeda terrorist network anywhere in the world, and a more sweeping mandate to conduct operations in countries not at war with the United States.
Human civilization has once again come to the cross-roads of legitimized violence and it's natural historical consequence: the legitimation crisis; maybe on a global scale this time as never before have we seen.
Chomsky would be the first to persuade us that though it is so blatantly referred to in our culture, that it is the crux of how we legitimize the authorities that umbrella us together.
From The New York Times today:
Secret Order Lets U.S. Raid Al Qaeda
By ERIC SCHMITT and MARK MAZZETTI
Published: November 9, 2008
WASHINGTON — The United States military since 2004 has used broad, secret authority to carry out nearly a dozen previously undisclosed attacks against Al Qaeda and other militants in Syria, Pakistan and elsewhere, according to senior American officials.
* * *
Mourners shouted anti-American slogans on Oct. 27 in Syria at the funeral of someone killed in a cross-border United States raid.
* * *
A 2004 order permits attacks on terrorists outside war zones.
* * *
These military raids, typically carried out by Special Operations forces, were authorized by a classified order that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld signed in the spring of 2004 with the approval of President Bush, the officials said. The secret order gave the military new authority to attack the Qaeda terrorist network anywhere in the world, and a more sweeping mandate to conduct operations in countries not at war with the United States.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
For this last election, this is a map of Red and Blue states whose size has been skewed proportional to the number of Electoral College votes they represent (based on population, but skewed to favor smaller states). It is revealing, to me, to see which states persist in a narrower world-view. Perhaps alternatively, they are states where designer narrow-issue focused propaganda does the most good (for the GOP). The danger in saying such things is that we are a purple country mostly, with a few patches of red and many patches (dare I say swaths) of blue. Here is the breakdown on that idea:
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