General – Page 122 – Letter Never Sent

Military and defense — Comments Off
24
Oct 02

The Chechens

The Russians are having their ugly war brought home to them. It will be hard for the Russian people to pretend like nothing is going on as long as they are vulnerable. That is the threat of terrorism to large states and absolutist governments, and that is why our government in particular is trying to root out armed resistance by guerrilla and terrorist groups. How long could the US kill Colombians, Iraqis, Iranians, Afghans, Somalis if they had to worry about attacks on Americans? Americans must be kept shielded from the brutality waged by American foreign policy. The same goes for other large governments around the globe. The Chinese have their rebel Uighur. The Russians have their Chechens.

CNN Coverage

The Chechens have a violent history with Russia:

Conquered by czarist armies in 1859 after decades of war, but Chechens never accepted Russian rule. During World War II, dictator Josef Stalin ordered Chechens deported en masse to Kazakhstan. Many died; rest returned home in 1950s, after Stalin’s death.

Of course, it doesn’t help them that their ancestral homeland is rich with oil.

History of Chechnya: We, the Chechens, are not slavs. We are not Turks, despite the fact that Turkey unites all North Caucasus Muslim into a category which is related to them. We are not even “Chechen.” This was coined by the Russians after the name of a village (Chechen-aul) where the Russians first encountered our people in the early 16th century. The first written mention of our people was in the 7th century, where we were known as the “Noxche” (pronounced “No-h-chee” with the “h” pronounced as if one was gargling from the back of the mouth: very similar to one of the ancient Aramaic letters). Our ancestors also called themselves the “Nahk”. But a few ancient sources refer to our earliest ancestors as the “Tushba” (or “Tushpa”), an early reference to the “center of the earth.” Ethnically, we are unique. We are related to other ethnic groups throughout the Caucasus, most closely with the neighboring Ingush. Together, the Noxche and Ingush people have been called the “Vainaikh” which means “Our People.” We have lived where we are now since prehistoric times, especially in the mountain regions. There we we have remained ethnically the same for thousands of years. While the Mesopotamians, Persians, Turks, Mongols, Slavs and others have greatly influenced the region with their wars, conquests and trade, we have remained fiercely proud and protective of our ethnic roots and background.

The History and Politics of Chechen Oil

Politics — 1 Comment
24
Oct 02

Early voting

Well, I don’t know if it matters much, but I went ahead and voted. They had early voting set up at the modern equivalent of the town-square, the local mall. I made sure to vote against anyone who voted to support Mini Me’s Iraq resolution.

General — Comments Off
24
Oct 02

NSA to spy domestically?

From Declan McCullagh’s Politechbot:

The head of the National Security Agency said last week that Congress might
want to aim the most powerful surveillance system in the world at American
citizens.

Lt. Gen. Michael Hayden, in a rare public appearance before the Senate
Intelligence committee, said the ongoing terrorist threat means America
needs to debate where to draw the line between foreign and domestic
surveillance. Currently the NSA is prohibited from spying domestically.

Here’s an excerpt:

“Where do we draw the line between the government’s need for
(counter-terrorism) information about people in the United States and the
privacy interests of people located in the United States? This line-drawing
affects the focus of NSA’s activities, foreign versus domestic… the type
of data NSA is permitted to collect and how, and the rules under which NSA
retains and disseminates information about U.S. persons.”

Until the 1970s, when the Senate’s Church Committee revealed what had been
going on in secret, the CIA and the NSA conducted illegal surveillance on
American citizens. In response, Congress enacted a series of reforms,
notably the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

“These are serious issues that the country addressed, and resolved to
its satisfaction, once before in the mid-1970’s,” Hayden said. “In light of
the events of September 11th, it is appropriate that we, as a country,
readdress them. We need to get it right.”

Statement:
http://intelligence.senate.gov/0210hrg/021017/hayden.pdf

-Declan

General — Comments Off
24
Oct 02

The Shins

Karen has gotten me listening to The Shins. I like the fun quality to the music and the nice, weird sound. Karen said they remind her a little of the Beach Boys musically-speaking. She has a funny dance she does whenever she plays ‘Know Your Onion!’.

Politics — Comments Off
23
Oct 02

The stench of corruption

Bush and the rest of his fellow ‘Republicans’ are trying very hard to maintain their regime, and to gain the reins in Congress. It’s not like their Democratic doppelgangers are very different, but a Republican triple-crown would be a scary thing indeed. Bush Enlists Government in GOP Campaign: Cabinet Members, Memos to Workers, Photo Ops Employed to Push for Midterm Success

Military and defense — Comments Off
23
Oct 02

As US war-mongers lose momentum…

…the ‘War’ gets delayed.

U.S. May Have To Slow Gulf Forces Buildup:

Senior defense officials said yesterday they knew of no decision yet to halt this flow. But they said military planners were considering ways of adjusting it to accommodate a new round of U.N. weapons inspections that may begin later and last longer than once envisioned.

“It’s fair to say there’s some recalibration going on,” one senior defense official said.

I thought this next little bit showed how desperate the Bush administration has become to justify this ridiculous war.

“For the sake of peace at home, for the sake of peace in the Middle East, for the sake of determining whether or not that international body is going to be the League of Nations or the United Nations, Saddam Hussein must disarm, and we expect you, the world, to disarm him,” Bush said, referring to the Iraqi president.

“But my fellow Americans, if they won’t act, and if Saddam Hussein won’t act, for the sake of peace, for the sake of our security, we will lead a coalition to disarm that man,” Bush added.

He sounds so pathetic. The coalition is a coalition of the US and its toadies. Nothing more. And ‘disarming’ is the effective deposal of the government (no matter how authoritarian) and the seizure of the natural resources of an entire people.

Military and defense — Comments Off
20
Oct 02

Big Brother Propaganda for the proles

Military using its promotional arms in theaters:

Aware that Americans’ perception of war gets fuzzier with each generation, the Marines and Navy have joined forces for the first time to produce a polished four-minute, 48-second movie trailer full of Hollywood-style scenes and sound bites from the war on terrorism.

Until the trailer debuted last month at theaters in Southern California, New York and Denver, moviegoers had not seen a rah-rah military booster film since World War II.

“Enduring Freedom: The Opening Chapter” cost the military $1.2 million to make. The high-quality mini-movie is designed to bolster civilian support for the armed forces.

Military and defense — Comments Off
20
Oct 02

Have you heard ‘The Good News’?

Onward Christian soldiers. What took you so long? Dissent is coming from all quarters – even in Bush’s own church:

But the most dramatic intervention comes from President George Bush’s own United Methodist church which launched a scathing attack on his plans for war.

Jim Winkler, responsible for the application of the church’s teachings to social policy, said war against Iraq was ‘without any justification according to the teachings of Christ’.

After careful study of Christian doctrinal writings on Just War, Winkler said he was ‘told flatly’ by the church’s scholars, ‘that they simply did not apply to this situation’.

Winkler said ‘we keep the lines of communication open’ to the White House, but added: ‘I regret that the lines have been one way. I hope and pray that the President has considered the church’s teachings.’

Winkler’s sentiments have an impact beyond the usual circles of dissent in a church-going society that, for the most part, supports Bush.

The word from the Bluegrass State:The Kentucky Council of Churches yesterday voted unanimously to oppose war with Iraq, calling military conflict “contrary to the will of God.”

General — Comments Off
20
Oct 02

Iraq declares amnesty for all prisoners

Meanwhile, our own domestic dictator in the Whitehouse, presides over a nation with an estimated 2 million strong prison population. Bush, a self-described “Christian”, personally presided over the state murders of hundreds of prisoners in Texas during his term as governor. See, but we’re the good guys and they’re the bad guys. It’s simple really, isn’t it?

BBC News: Iraq ’empties its jails’

the old stuff