Burying

UN backs new Darfur peace force. One of the few worse places than Iraq. I suspect the Congo might be another.

Good News is No News. Prolonging war by burying the news.

I clicked on a Random Link and got Psionic.

Militarizing The Police

American gestapo. What else can be expected by militarizing the police?

Now the New York Times Sells "Bloodbath" as a Rationale for Staying in Iraq. The paper of propaganda record.

Don't Ruin

William S. Lind: How to Win in Iraq. Don't leave it a ruin.

Weapons delays hinder Iraqi army. It would be real foolish to quickly arm potential enemies.

Civil War?

Rocket attack on Pakistani city. Civil War?

Iraq bombs strike football fans. Easy targets.

Looks Like It

Fabius Maximus: America takes another step towards the “Long War” (Part I). Looks like it.

Suckers

Winners and Losers in the Housing Market Crash. Foreclosures Up 90% From Last Year. Suckers.

One crisis after another for Pakistan. And they have "The Bomb."

Progressive Education

William S. Lind: Tordenskjold Sails Again. On truly progressive education. See Also.

Iraq violence: Monitoring the surge.

More FEMA stupidity.

Conclusions (2)

New York City blast causes panic. Conclusions (2) 1. People in New York are jumpy (understandably) 2. US infrastructure is in terrible shape. What makes technological civilization more possible?

In full (since link will likely disappear):

An underground steam pipe has exploded in New York City, killing one person, injuring several and causing panic near Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal.

Residents ran for cover on Wednesday as a geyser of steam and flying rubble caused fears of a terror attack, but Paul Browne, a police spokesman, said the explosion was not an attack.

One person died of cardiac arrest and several people were injured, at least four seriously.

Witnesses said they felt buildings shake and reported confusion and panic in scenes reminiscent of the September 11, 2001 attacks that demolished the World Trade Centre.

Heiko Thieme, a banker, said the explosion was like a volcano.

"Everybody was a bit confused, everybody obviously thought of 9/11," he said.

Michael Bloomberg, the city's mayor, said at the scene of the blast: "There is no reason to believe whatsoever that this is anything other than a failure of our infrastructure."

Subway service was suspended because of the explosion.

Besides the immediate chaos, there were also concerns about what was being spewed into the air.

A steam pipe explosion near Gramercy park in 1989 that killed three people spewed loads of asbestos into the air - a fact that the Con Edison utility company later admitted it concealed for days while residents were exposed.

Con Edison workers were at the scene, as were police wearing gas masks.

Just Another Day in Iraq

Just Another Day in Iraq.

Can't Make Enough Money

Who's Afraid of Cannabidiol? Those who Can't make enough money (or would outright lose).

Anarchist Links

Anarchist Links.

Ignoring

William S. Lind: Not Fourth Generation War. On the perils of ignoring reality by being ensconced in Verbal World. As far as Lind's ongoing (somewhat deserved) diatribe against "cultural Marxism of the Frankfurt School" is concerned, I don't believe Western Civilization could be so easily threatened were it deemed worth defending in the first place. A decadent society will generally not sustain the critical mass necessary for its continuing existence. Cultural Marxism, much like the economic and political varieties, does not take root on barren ground. Western civilization, as it now stands, is nothing but a brand. Who cares to defend a supermarket product? At bottom, in its waning days, Western Civilization only cares about profit and loses. It venerates nothing intrinsically. As Nietzsche once stated, culturally speaking, God is dead.

Ingrates!

Al-Qaida: the unwanted guests. You would think that after being overthrown due to Al-Qaida's actions, they would be a little more grateful. What a bunch of ingrates!

Impossible Tasks for an Embattled Government. Calling something a government does not make it so.

High Rate of Return

JOURNAL: The effectiveness of systems disruption in Pakistan. A high rate of return.

Dead On

Good story - pity about the propaganda. Jacques Ellul was dead on:

"[I]ntellectuals [are] virtually the most vulnerable of all to modern propaganda [for] three reasons: (1) they absorb the largest amount of second-hand, unverifiable information; (2) they feel a compelling need to have an opinion on every important issue of our time, and thus easily succumb to opinions offered to them by propaganda on all such indigestible pieces of information; (3) they consider themselves capable of judging for themselves."

In other words, intellectuals make the biggest Chumps.

Lying Through Omission

Excising Corporate Crime from the US Press. Lying through omission.

Rightly So

Europeans See US as Threat to Peace. Rightly so.

DC madam can now tell all. At least it'll be amusing watching the ruined lives of those complacent in ruining so many others.

When Building Green Ain't So Green. Same old shit.

Psychoactive Drugs

From A President Besieged and Isolated, Yet at Ease:

Other presidents have been crushed by the pressure. Lyndon B. Johnson was tormented by Vietnam War protesters outside his window shouting, "Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?" Nixon swam in self-pity during Watergate, talking to paintings and once asking Henry Kissinger to pray with him. Bill Clinton fumed against enemies and nursed deep grievances during his impeachment battle.

But if Bush vents like that, no one is talking. Kissinger, who advises Bush, said the president has never asked him to kneel down with him in the Oval Office. "I find him serene," Kissinger said. "I know President Johnson was railing against his fate. That's not the case with Bush. He feels he's doing what he needs to do, and he seems to me at peace with himself."

I suspect it has more to do with access to modern psychoactive drugs. It's hard to know whether heavy medication is a good thing.

Money Rules

William S. Lind: The Death of the RMA. When money rules everything in the land.

Coalition fatalities in Iraq and Afghanistan. Don't forget.

On Verbal Worlds

Jordanian & Iraqi Physicians behind UK Bombing. On Verbal Worlds.

New

Informed Comment Global Affairs. Including Juan Cole, Barnett R. Rubin, Manan Ahmed and Farideh Farhi.