GOVERNACIDE: The USA never learns from past mistakes

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/04/16/u-s-failed-to-learn-from-conquest-of-philippines-historian-says/

U.S. Failed To Learn From Conquest of Philippines, Historian Says
April 16, 2011 posted by Veterans Today
Unintelligent Design
By Professor Michael Chesson

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David R. Kohler (a Navy special warfare officer) and James W. Wensyel’s (a retired U.S. Army officer) essay, “America’s First Southeast Asian War” (1990), explains that the U.S. plunged into a war that would see 200,000 American soldiers sent to the Pacific, with 125,000 actually serving in the Philippines, and suffering 7,000 casualties.

About 15,000 to 20,000 Filipino rebels were killed, along with more than 200,000 civilians, all too easily dismissed as what would today be called collateral damage. There were mounting atrocities on both sides. The Americans used various forms of torture, including water boarding, to interrogate captured rebels. Though a few officers were court-martialed for sanctioning torture, their punishment was light. Our generals adopted a fortified hamlet strategy, free fire zones, and destruction of crops in the countryside to deny the rebels food.

Aguinaldo’s guerrilla tactics dragged out the war and made it one of attrition. His men received no outside help, despite pleas to Japan, because the U. S. Navy blockaded the islands. Our troops, with some exceptions, were better armed, fed, and supplied. America won the war, but paid a terrible price, the worst part of which was that neither our military nor civilian leadership seemed to have learned anything about the challenges of jungle fighting against a resolute foe supported by the local population at the end of a logistical chain ten thousand miles long. The lessons were forgotten, to be relearned in Vietnam sixty years later.

*** end quote ***

And, relearned in Afpak, Iraq, Libya, and a thousand other places.

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INSPIRATIONAL: Diabetes kill another nice person; when can we get a cure?

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

From Karen Kenworthy email account

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April 25, 2011 5:30 PM

Dear Friends, I suspect that many of you have noticed that the last issue of Karen©s Power Tools Newsletter was dated March 17, 2010, and you may have been anxiously awaiting another. It is with great sadness that I write to tell you of Karen©s death on April 12, 2011, after a long struggle with several debilitations, including diabetes. I know that Karen touched many of you with her kindness, wit, creativity and encouragement. She was a loving daughter, sister, aunt and friend. And she was a pretty darned good programmer, too. We are deeply grieving her loss. For now, Karen©s server is still running, the programs she has written can still be downloaded, and donations can still be made through the website. We are also working to fill all CD orders that have been submitted or mailed. It is difficult to make business decisions while grieving. So, at this point, I cannot say what will be the future of KarenWare.com, except to say that we will certainly continue Karen©s commitment to safeguard your privacy as shown at the Privacy link of KarenWare.com. Many of you have already written many kinds words of condolence and comfort. Please know that we greatly appreciate you. If you care to make a contribution in her honor, she was a long-time supporter of The Dohnavur Fellowship, a special children©s ministry in southern India. You can learn more about them at http://www.DohnavurFellowship.org. All we ask is that you remember her whenever you take the case off of your computer, contemplate removing entries from your Windows Registry, listen to Bob Wills or Riders in the Sky, or wave and say ©Hi!© to anyone on the ©net. May God richly bless you, as He has all those who knew Karen. Bill Kenworthy Karen©s brother

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Dear Bill,

I’m very sorry to hear this. While I didn’t know Karen, I was just a fan. My wife died in February also after a long struggle with diabetes and its complications. I know somewhat of what you’re going through. You’re all in my prayers. What else can one do?

fjohn

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What do we have to do to get a cure to this deadly killer. Clearly what we are doing right now isn’t getting us a cure.

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” — attributed to Einstein

We need some “outside of the box” action!

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INTERESTING: Noise?

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-noise-impacts-your-health/

14 APR
How Noise Impacts Your Health

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A friend of mine recently turned me on to a book called In Pursuit of Silence: Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise by George Prochnik. Prochnik’s a self-proclaimed noise-a-phobe who sets out to probe both the culture of noise and science behind silence. His quest takes him everywhere from urban streets to university labs to a Quaker meeting to Trappist retreats. The stakes are high, experts tell him: one-third of us, Prochnik learns, demonstrate measurable hearing loss.

And it’s not just our ears that feel the toll. Noise, experts explain, causes stress that can result in serious health risk. A New York Times article last week reported ominous findings of a study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre. Noise, and the stress and sleep disruption it imposes, appears to be responsible for 1.8% of heart attacks in Western Europe and 2.7% in more densely populated Germany.

*** end quote ***

I used to listen to a lot of background noise. Water falling was my favorite. Instant sleep.

Now I’ve started to turn off the TV and radio I play as “background noise”. (That’s a habit my Mom had. Our Girl too. She liked music though.)

Maybe I should spend some time in the Trappist monastery?

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TAGONIST: Police beating of Las Vegas man caught on tape

Monday, April 25, 2011

http://www.lvrj.com/news/exclusive-police-beating-of-las-vegas-man-caught-on-tape-120509439.html

Police beating of Las Vegas man caught on tape
BY MIKE BLASKY LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Posted: Apr. 22, 2011 | 1:43 p.m.

*** begin quote ***

When Mitchell Crooks checked out of the county jail last month and checked into a Las Vegas hospital, the 36-year-old videographer knew he had a fight on his hands.

His face was bloodied and bruised. His $3,500 camera had been impounded by police, and he faced criminal charges for battery on a police officer.

One month later, things have changed for Crooks.

The Clark County district attorney’s office has dropped all charges, and Crooks has retained an attorney of his own. The Metropolitan Police Department has opened an internal investigation into the Las Vegas police officer, Derek Colling, who Crooks says falsely arrested and beat him for filming police.

And his camera — which captured the entire March 20 altercation between Crooks and Colling — has been returned.

*** and ***

“Officer Colling was aggravated that a citizen should have the audacity to video tape, him — a Las Vegas Metropolitan Patrol Officer,” Otto wrote. “Officer Colling decided to use the fear and terror of his physical ability to beat Mr. Crooks into submission — to teach Mr. Crooks and, by example, all citizens and residents of the Las Vegas Valley.”

*** end quote ***

ANT-TAGONIST: The police, as well as any Gooferment “official”, must expect to be “supervised” by anyone. Citizen, Resident, Illegal Alien, or just PIA with a video. Politicians and bureaucrats view video the way Dracula saw Holy Water. BTW don’t the cops have dash cams in their cars to film the mundanes? Sorry, but there are bad cops. In some confused sense, when we allow this phantom illusion called the Gooferment some sort of right to use force, we set up failure. Who goes into “law enforcement”, those that want to use force on others. In a great example of the Peter Principle, the police hierarchy selects the dim witted. (OK what would you call a policy where you weed out all the smart applicants?) And, that hierarchy sets up Rule Of Engagement that allows the cops to get away with murder. Unless the killing is of one of the elite. Yes, we need some sort of security. But it should be based of the Zero Aggression Principle. No one is ever allowed to initiate force on another human being. Peace officers, yes. Police, no. And, along the way, maybe we can change the Gooferment’s “justice” system from “rehabilitation” to “restitution”. Rehabilitation is just code for recidivism. To quote Reagan, who got a few things correct, “Gooferment is the problem” and police behavior is just another symptom.

PRO-TAGONIST: The transcript indicates he told the police officer that he didn’t live there…and he said he even regrets lying to him. Lying is never good. The officer likely suspected foul play.

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MONEY: The golden dinar

Monday, April 25, 2011

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=13024

The Weak Dollar Problem
by Steve H. Hanke

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For the countries — like the oil producers in the Persian Gulf — the U.S. dollar bloc and fixed exchange rates are a necessity. These countries are mono-product economies, and their “product,” oil, is invoiced in dollars. Accordingly, if a floating exchange-rate regime were adopted, their nominal exchange rates would fluctuate erratically as oil prices fluctuate. When the price of oil rises (falls), the local currencies would appreciate (depreciate). Without a currency link to the dollar and a nominal anchor for its price level, the oil producing countries would experience a wild roller-coaster ride — one distinguished by deflationary lows and inflationary highs.

Thanks to the Fed’s weak dollar policy, the U.S. faces an inflation problem and so does the rest of the world. The weak dollar and the lack of “flexibility” — properly understood — also threaten the free flow of capital and the stability of the international monetary system. It’s time for the Fed to start focusing on the value and stability of the U.S. dollar.

*** end quote ***

As a fat old white guy injineer, it would seem that any thinking person would recognize “the dollar” has failed in one of the definitions of money.

“Money is a matter of functions four, a medium, a measure, a standard, a store.” He repeated that four times like poetry. “Six Characters in Money: Portable – Durable – Divisible – Uniformity – Limited Supply – Acceptability.” — CHURCH 10●19●62 (Vol 1) 978-0-557-08387-9 page 110

It’s no longer “uniform”. And, it no longer functions as “a measure”, “a standard” or “a store”.

Imagine baseball or football, where each year “a yard” got smaller? Or larger?

In the grocery store, packages stay the same or get larger, while the contents shrink. And, the makers pray the consumer doesn’t get wise.

(What was the name of that Olive maker that destroyed his business by saving one olive per bottle? The consumers disciplined that company out of business.)

We’re on the road to be like pre-WW2 Germany with raging hyper-inflation.

At least, when the golden dinar becomes the world’s standard, we’ll have honest money!

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Hanke, Steve H. (2011, April 15). The Weak Dollar Problem. Retrieved April 18, 2011, from The Cato Institute Web site: http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=13024

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INSPIRATIONAL: Date specific Mass Cards

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Recently, I was surprised when someone close to me didn’t know that there were two kinds of Mass cards. I thought this was surprising. Blinding flash of the obvious. I figured I should post about the difference.

Catholics, and others, “buy” “Mass Cards” for the deceased. It’s an attempt to “buy the deceased’s way into heaven”.

You can decide if such exists, if it’s an appropriate strategy, and if it does any good.

There are, in fact, two types. One with a specific date for the Mass being offered for the name deceased and one without.

The date-specific ones cite a date, time, and location where that specific Mass will be offered.

The non-date-specific promise something else. Masses offered, prayers, “enrollment”, and all sorts of stuff.

Now the funds, given for “Mass Cards”, hopefully go towards good works. So in that sense, it always does good.

There’s a tradition in the American Irish, (I don’t know about other groups), that date specific events in memory of a loved one should be attended.

So, I received four of these. And, I attended one so far, and I plan to go to the other three.

It may or may not make a difference.

So, now, everyone knows that there are, what I will call, “Mass Cards” and “ersatz Mass Cards”.

Interesting the distinction.

It’s inspirational in that people will give away their wealth to try and make the family of the deceased feel better.

One of my now deceased Uncles, called these “White Elephants”, in that you’re being given something that requires actions on your part.

So imho be careful to GIVE “white elephants” they seem to be worth more.

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POLITICAL: Just say no to raising the debt ceiling

Sunday, April 24, 2011

MESSAGE TO CONGRESS CRITTERS:

Subject: Tell Congress to cut federal spending

Please cut federal spending.

Please do NOT raise the debt ceiling.

Very simple, just DON’T do it.

As a matter of fact, let’s start cutting the debt ceiling. How about cutting the debt ceiling 1% a year for the next 100 years?

Don’t saddle the future with our mistakes.

If you do, don’t plan on getting my vote. And, you’ll see me out actively opposing you. I realize I’m only one little guy, but I will vote and I will campaign.

fjr

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Dear Mr. Reinke:

   Thank you for contacting me about federal spending. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.

   I share your concerns about the deficit inherited by this Administration. I have been a strong advocate for balanced budgets throughout my career in the Senate. As the Ranking Member on the Senate Budget Committee at the time, I helped negotiate the “Balanced Budget Act of 1997,” which restored fiscal discipline to the federal government and ended years of deficits. These provisions eventually led to a federal budget surplus of $237 billion in 2000, the first period of budget surplus since 1969.

   However, when this President took office, we had record deficits because of the recession and eight years of unpaid-for wars, tax cuts for the wealthy, and expensive spending programs. I am proud to support efforts that will restore fiscal discipline and I voted in favor of legislation (P.L. 111-139) that requires any new federal spending to be offset. This bill was signed into law on February 12, 2010.

   Please be assured that I will continue to work with my Senate colleagues and President Obama to reduce the deficit and our national debt, and I will keep your concerns in mind as this issue receives further consideration by the Senate. Thank you again for contacting me.

FRL:MD

Sincerely,

Senator Frank R. Lautenberg

[JR: Non responsive. I asked about the debt ceiling. But, if you’re such a deficit hawk, then either you’re ineffective or corrupt. Couldn’t hold the line or were bought off. Either way, I’m not voting for you.]

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Waiting for the others to respond.

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MEMORIES: Lillies in memory

Sunday, April 24, 2011

201104241352.jpg

“From our Easter Service today….lilies given in memory of Evy, Marge’s sister, and our little Wessie. Blessed to have known them all.”

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Appreciated. Sadly. She loved to give presents for any excuse. Easter was one such date. Thanks,

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FLASH: Two U.S. soldiers were killed

Sunday, April 24, 2011

http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/04/23/saturday-9-iraqis-killed-6-wounded-2/

Saturday: 2 US Soldiers, 9 Iraqis Killed; 6 Iraqis Wounded

by Margaret Griffis, April 23, 2011

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At least nine Iraqis were killed and six more were wounded in light violence. Two U.S. soldiers were killed during operations in southern Iraq as well. Although there were no large-scale attacks reported, a spate of shootings in the capital targeted government or security officials. Also, protests continued in at least two cities.

*** end quote ***

Unacceptable!

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SERVICE: LULU pushes my content to the Apple iBookstore

Sunday, April 24, 2011
Lulu.com


Publish | Buy | Services

Visit the Lulu Blog

Dear Ferdinand Reinke,

Lulu’s goal is a simple one: help you sell more books. This note is to tell you about an exciting new effort from Lulu to help achieve this goal by ensuring your work is able to reach readers across all devices, starting with the 130 million+ customers who own an iPhone®, iPad®, or iPod touch® and shop at the iBookstore℠. Over the coming weeks, at no charge to you, we’ll be making the title you have for sale on Lulu.com also available as an eBook edition on the iBookstore.

If for any reason you don’t want your book available in the iBookstore, you can opt-out easily. Just send an email to ipad_opt_out@lulu.com with the subjectline Opt-Out of eBook conversion. If you wish to opt-out, please make sure to do so within 5 business days of receiving this message. Otherwise, you don’t have to do anything to have your book included in this program and we think it’s a great idea to join the ranks of Lulu authors who have already sold 60,000 eBooks through the iBookstore.

We cannot guarantee the new eBook formatted version of your book will appear on the iBookstore, but we’re taking measures to ensure a high success rate. Here’s how the process will work:

  1. We’ll begin the process on your behalf by converting “Church 10?19?62” into an ePub formatted eBook – absolutely free.
  2. Next, we’ll submit your newly formatted eBook to Apple and request a listing in the iBookstore. In some cases we may need to make tweaks to your book’s catalog data* in order to meet Apple’s requirements.
  3. We will notify you once your eBook has been accepted by Apple and is available for sale in the iBookstore. At first, your book will be listed in the iBookstore with default pricing.
  4. We’ll place a new eBook project in your My Projects list on Lulu. You’ll then have full control over the project, and can opt-out of iBookstore distribution, change the default price, etc. at any time. Additionally, this ePub file will be available for you to distribute to our expanding list of eBook retail partners.

To learn more about this exciting iBookstore program, visit our knowledge base. Thank you for your continued support of Lulu and our ongoing efforts to help you sell more books.

Best,

Lulu Enterprises, Inc.

*Note: “Tweaks to book catalog data (metadata)” will be minor edits such as correcting capitalization problems. We will, of course, contact you before making any significant changes.
Apple, iPhone, and iPod touch are trademarks or Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. iPad is the trademark of Apple Inc. The iBookstore is a service mark of Apple Inc.
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