|
|
Friday, March 04, 2005
|
|
| |
They Didn't Attack Switzerland. Switzerland has not been in a war of any kind since 1815. It has not been in an official foreign war since 1515. This would be astounding, even miraculous, for any nation. But Switzerland borders Germany. And France. And Italy. And Austria. And Liechtenstein. Now the Prince of Liechtenstein has rarely lashed out in Blitzkrieg in a desperate bid to reign uber alles, but ALL of Switzerland's other neighbors have devoted a lot of effort to invading other countries.
[...]
Switzerland does not send troops to intervene in other nations. Switzerland does not spend tens of billions of dollars yearly to fund dictators around the world, nor did Switzerland donate hundreds of billions of dollars to the Warsaw Pact through bank "loans." Switzerland does not send billions of dollars worth of weaponry every year to the warring tribes in the Middle East. Switzerland has no enemies. Yet the Swiss are armed to the teeth and dug into every hill and under every building.
US policy is the evil-parallel-universe inverse of the Swiss. The US intervenes everywhere, spies on everyone, supports every faction in every dispute. We have as many enemies as there are disputatious people in the world. Yet we spend more effort on disarming our own airline pilots and other law-abiding citizens than on providing shelters for our children against nuclear, chemical, or biological attack. We have an expensive conventional army, and quite a few aging offensive nuclear weapons. But no defense for our children. [Strike The Root]
9:43:31 PM 
|
|
#
Don Lobo Tiggre at Laissez Faire City Times via mail-archive.com -
Parenting and Freedom - the most effective thing any of us can do
to promote liberty is to teach it to our children. [clairefiles]
So, I've come up with one thing I can suggest to even the most cynical
people that is guaranteed to make the world a better place. It is
this: teach your children freedom. More specifically: teach your
children that they are free, and that no one has a right to hurt them,
control them, or to take that which is theirs. Help them to grow up to
be healthy individuals, self-aware of their free nature. A free
society is composed of free individuals; the former cannot come into
being without the latter. If you don't have children, this idea can be
applied to nieces, nephews, students, and even employees; anyone to
whom you become a mentor.
...
Having been a single parent of three rambunctious boys, I know how
very challenging a thing it is that I am urging here. Children who are
aware that, being human, they have rights can be a total pain in the
ass. Completely inconvenient. Impossible to get in the &^@%#@#!!! car
when it's time to go. Believe me, I know.
However, compared to my sons' well-being, my convenience is a very
small concern. I am not saying that this is easy, just easier than
trying to re-educate adults.
[End the War on Freedom]
This guy's kids are incredibly lucky.
6:52:49 PM
|
|
Freed Italian hostage shot by US. Oops! The US military almost killed the freed hostage: An Italian journalist was injured when a U.S. armoured vehicle mistakenly fired on her car after her release from captivity in Iraq, news reports said Friday. One Italian secret service agent was killed in the shooting, and another was injured, the reports said.
The Apcom and ANSA news agencies said that Giuliana Sgrena, a reporter for the communist daily Il Manifesto, was in a hospital in Iraq with a shoulder injury. The... [Antiwar.com Blog]
Of course we're only hearing about this because the Feds shot up a bunch of Italians. If there had been Iraqis in the car it would have been business as usual.
This story also reminds me of the Fed soldiers firing on an ambulance driven by Iraqi medical personnel trying to return Jessica Lynch to them.
6:39:22 PM
|
|
No Pain, No Gain.... I heard mention of this a while ago, one of the "non-lethal" weapons the U.S. military is working on:
THE US military is funding development of a weapon that delivers a bout of excruciating pain from up to 2 kilometres away. Intended for use against rioters, it is meant to leave victims unharmed.
Of course, not everyone thinks its a good idea:
"I am deeply concerned about the ethical aspects of this research," says Andrew Rice, a consultant in pain medicine at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London. "Even if the use of temporary severe pain can be justified as a restraining measure, which I do not believe it can, the long-term physical and psychological effects are unknown."
Amanda Williams, a clinical psychologist at University College London, fears that victims risk long-term harm. "Persistent pain can result from a range of supposedly non-destructive stimuli which nevertheless change the functioning of the nervous system," she says. She is concerned that studies of cultured cells will fall short of demonstrating a safe level for a plasma burst. "They cannot tell us about the pain and psychological consequences of such a painful experience."
What do you think? [Gadgetopia]
Obviously the Feds have their reasons for wanting to torture crowds of people at a distance. In practice this wouldn't just be used to torture Iraqis who dare to protest the US occupation, though. It will quickly be used by police departments in US cities anytime people try to hold a protest.
I think that every civilized person left in America should refuse to have anything to do with anyone associated with Mengele University The University of Central Florida. Don't sell them food, housing, electricity, medical services, or anything else.
4:09:45 PM
|
|
|
|
© Copyright
2006
Ken Hagler.
Last update:
2/15/2006; 2:04:48 PM.
|
|
|
