Grateful Dead

I vote that the post about burning Palestinian children gets yanked out of here. Anybody agree, or is that just me hating that one?

The North Korean people are long-suffering, living on food hand-outs from China. This paternal line regime change is not expected to bring change to the regional politics of the area. It would appear that their missile and nuclear programs are in disarray and a large majority of the population suffers from malnutrition. The only caveat here is: How desperate will the new leader get? He could start a war. The last incident of sinking a S. Korean destroyer brought diplomatic temps. to a boil. A larger provocation would involve supreme patience from S. Korea. It is highly likely that the US would become involved in some capacity and so would the Chinese. Very dangerous flashpoint. So, hopefully, N.Korea's new leader (with only several years in a Western prep school) has a level head and moves the two Koreas toward unification in the same way collapsing support from the USSR brought the Germanys together. Nice thought, but not good odds.

Nothing like starting your Monday off with in-depth analysis of Chinese basketball players by a Chinese fan who has probably never heard the Grateful Dead. And that topped off by a spammer, the cherry on that strange-flavored cake!

Tom Brady and the Patriots rolled over Tebow and the Broncos. No fourth quartermiracle for God's quarterback. Surprisingly, the Pats. secondary played wirth some cohesion. Brady had an average day and hit almost every receiver except Ochocinco multiple times and they scored more than 40 points. It's hard not to get excited about the Pats. but the playoffs are looming.

Iran and Pakistan do not pose a threat.if they do, they have been goaded into this reasoning by manipulation and coercion. this isn't to say they are pure and innocent; all sweetness and light, but constant taunting and secretive yet blatant twisting of the screws; willful moulding and oleaginous and self-serving influence on a data, media and psychological level will provoke them into doing the very things the West "abhors" (and i use that word most wrongly, children), giving the bullies a self imposed justification for invasion, occupancy, torture, murder and control. it's sickeningly smug and easy when you think about it; lies, discrimination, falsification and corruption, can guide a hand to commit atrocities in an agenda never previously considered. by this same token, when will other countries decide to liberate the U.S.? or Europe? or the UK? when is our turn, that a group of people decide that we need a democracy (lets not kid ourselves that we live in one; it's barely concealed. better than most, but injustice is entertained on a major scale here. look at the recent signing and approval by the White House, President, House Of Representatives and others regarding the law concerning holding "terror" suspects (and i use that word quite wrongly, children) for indefinite periods without any kind of investigation or charge, reason or rhyme. how charming. a drone recently crashed in Tehran. the U.S. asked for it's immediate return. i think that tells you all one needs to know about the mind set we're dealing with. i promised myself i wouldn't respond to negativity and pessimism; but things are too hard to take. i wash my hands of this stain on humankind. we must aim higher.

The oligarchs control the politicians and they declare the wars. Their objectives are based on raw materials and labor and markets. They depend on "think-tanks" for guidance. Morality has absolutely nothing to do with it. If it did, we would have had a multi-national force in Rwanda in the 90s. National pride cannot be discounted also if the Falklands war is any indication. That is why we are surely heading for a war with Pakistan and Iran. Pakistan has about 5-20 nukes and Iran is closer to 2 than 3 years from developing a operational theatre nuclear-tipped missile. I think the only dividing reason between Israel and the US executing the Iran war-strike is who has the better ordnance. Given the deeply reinforced concrete tunnels Iran has constructed I think we can look forward to mini-nukes to bust the bunkers. The oligarchs reason for a hamstrung Iran is to keep the oil moving. Pakistan is out-to-lunch and so unstable that it is imperative that their nukes be taken away from them lest terrorists get their hands on one. Afghanistan's war will be over in 2014, hopefully. Who has won? I would say the warlords in coalition with the Taliban. Nobody holds on to a desolate piece of rock. When the foreigners go it will be back to business as usual. The rich 1% are the only ones who want these wars, aside from religious extremists and they have become woefully anachronistic. Look at the progress of computers and look at the progress of human beings. Negative emotions are killing us and machines lack emotion. It would seem that if human beings are to survive our destiny must be put in the hands of computers with programs written by Tibetan Lamas. Rise of the Nanny-Bots!

yes, a wonderful thought provoking post.its such detachment and desensitization that allows us to eradicate human life without ever really feeling we're involved. but it's also important to learn the lessons from past conflicts and understand the suffering that some soldiers and their families may have to endure. there are many reasons why individuals join the armed forces, some of them never expecting or comprehending just what it would entail. the amount of U.S. life left dead is nowhere near the amount of innocent Iraqi civilians but this just highlights the fact that in war, if proof were ever needed, no one ever truly wins. we mustn't allow ourselves to fall into the trap; the ease with which independent bystanders can sit, imaginary pipes puffed and heads held aloft and castigate and make devastating judgments (of which i'm sadly all too prone) on others in the knowing luxury of our living rooms, comfortably removed. lives are destroyed, with the privileged few pushing the buttons, determining the horror and mental anguish that will surely follow; we must think clearly and treat this situation with sensitivity and respect. true, some involved will have no regrets whatsoever. but some lives will be ripped apart and will cost them and their families dearly, maybe forever. read the harrowing book "Human Shrapnel" by Bill Shields for an insight into the human cost of warfare, a soldier left mentally eviscerated, then shunned by his country upon return. pain and suffering is all one will achieve through war. no justice, just manipulation, greed and hurt. we must not tar everyone with the same brush. there are, hard to believe when we're passionate about such immoral behaviour, innocents on all sides. no one ever truly wins. (i wrote a much better piece earlier but the computer crashed halfway through, losing everything; FUCKING thing). sorry.

Really well written post, Dean!BRAVO!

To the Iraq invasion, a my-age Providence (RI) Journal columnist came out in favor of the war. I was quite dismayed and more than a little surprised, since until that time I had thought that we had pretty similar viewpoints. I shot off an email to him with a series of points to consider, to reconsider. It wasn't a letter-to-the-editor, but a more direct personal entreaty to try to change his mind. A couple of weeks later, he wrote a follow-up column in which excerpted comments from several of his readers, including one of mine. He honed in on the most impassioned of my points, which was this: "do you believe so strongly in the 'cause' that is fueling this war-fervor that you are willing to give up your life for it? The lives of your children? Are you willing to have the blood of innocent children on your hands? If the answer is 'no,' then you have no business promoting ANY war, and most especially this one." This all so very personal to me, and I know that my attitude is largely fueled by growing up with the constant looming threat of being drafted to fight in Vietnam. Put aside the geo-petro politics, the business-interest influence, the Bush-team vendetta -- killing is wrong and I need a very imminent threat to life and home to condone organizing the deployment of a massive kill team to prosecute a war in my name. It has become so much easier to kill from a distance (drones, the most recent innovation. Sleep in your own home and attack a target half a world away during your work hours...aside from pushing the button on the ICBMs, I can't imagine a more detached and immoral way to kill, when the only physical danger you may face is the risk of a paper cut), and without a military draft any war fought by the US carries no risk of personal involvement by the average US non-GI Joe. We've managed to carry on our 21st century wars without it ever really seeming as if the country was at war at all...except to the direct participants and their families. Well, if we are going to be at war, we all better be cognizant of the human consequences and of our personal complicity in the taking of lives -- lives on both sides of the conflict. The Iraq war was never worth it. It'll be decades before we can really look at the consequences to determine (guess at, as we have no clue as to the consequences of not fighting the war) whether we did more harm than good. Do the war dead get a vote?

appallingly, we could be discussing the very same thing in regards to Syrians soon. just when WILL the U.S. learn? your government is ultimately putting the entire world at risk. again. it's not enough to suffer natural disasters (or manmade "natural disasters"); catastrophic events like flooding, earthquakes and tsunamis; 20,000 Japanese suspected to be dead or missing. families destroyed. generations removed. murders, accidents, religious discontent that has killed and kills more and more human beings every day. unforeseen health issues that stop a baby's, child's and adult's life dead in its tracks. but don't stop there..... let's beat our chests, grease up the coffers and ruthlessly inflate our egos in an impotent display to hurt, torture and murder innocent lives. you could almost laugh if it weren't for crying. just another broken heart...