Well the sound is just horrible on this, but it’s doable.
I got into it with Chuck Zito (musclehead actor with a consistently glazed-over look on his face) about supporting the troops, and all that. So I shot off this quick video in between chores today.
When news outlets and social media share photos of tearful mothers, fathers, wives, and children mourning their lost loved ones, my heart breaks at the senseless death and unnecessary sorrow. The state claimed a life, and then marked its claim by adorning the casket in its symbolism. And too few people earnestly ask why.
You’re told to remember “sacrifices” today. That certain people “died for your freedom.”
They didn’t.
You’re told to “honor your country” today. That its government is an extension of the people’s will by way of the consent of the governed.
It isn’t.
What you should remember today are the millions of lives and countless liberties lost at the whim and behest of the state.
You owe the state and its minions the same a victim owes his attacker: animosity and contempt. Freedom is free. Anyone who says otherwise is only preaching subservience and acquiescence. As I said on Veterans’ Day: “we should not be wiled by trite propaganda into supporting militarism under the guise of requisite defense of freedom.”
You should no more be grateful to the metastatic state than you should be grateful to metastatic cancer. Anything good the state ever does can always be done without the state’s monopoly on force (and, without its inherently lumbering and corrupt bureaucracy, in a more just and efficient manner). There is no such thing as a necessary evil as evilcan never be a prerequisite forgood.
Ultimately, the state is unnecessary, and its democratic pretenses purporting its validity are illegitimate.
Those blinded by uncritical “patriotism” will no doubt find these truths “disrespectful,” but to echo previous remarks from last Memorial Day: “The most respectful way to honor fallen troops is to not continue sending more troops to die in unprovoked and unnecessary wars.”
We can not properly memorialize the very real human beings who have died very real deaths - the very real losses of countless families - by celebrating needless war, promoting wanton destruction, and glorifying the very state that made those tragic losses possible. People who truly follow a desire to protect others, and are even willing to surrender their own lives for the well-being of not just their loved ones but complete strangers, certainly possess qualities that should be admired. But let’s not allow the genuinely honorable idealism that permeates many of those when they enlist - to protect their fellow man, to honor the principles of individual liberty codified in the constitution, to stamp out evil in the world - to cloud the sad reality of what those soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines eventually become: tools for the political and economic whims of politicians, bureaucrats, despots, overlords, oppressors, and their cronies. The worst thing one can do for a fallen soldier is todehumanize and transmogrify him into a symbol for the exaltation of the state.
The state is not you. Unless you’re a politician, plutocrat, or connected crony, it doesn’t serve you except whatever minimum is required to buy your quiet compliance. As I’ve said previously, “The state and its symbols are not synonymous with society. Nor are they representative of you or any other individual in particular. When your identity is intermixed with your government and your patriotism becomes sacerdotal reverence, you become a mindless minion of the state to be manipulated into agreeing to whatever loss of liberty best suits your
godgovernment.“Be a good neighbor to your fellow man, not a doting subject to the state.”
On Memorial Day, you’re supposed to “remember the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.” By all means, remember them - and reflect on how most of them had their lives unnecessarily and prematurely extinguished for and by the state. Grieve for their families who not only lost loved ones in alikely pointless endeavor but were fed lies as to the true reason for their loss. Ponder what little value those in power, contrary to their empty platitudes, place on the lives of even the most noble member of the military. Consider how many more youths, riled by the pomp and pageantry of such memorializations, will naively follow the same ruinous paths as those who are remembered today.
Mark this day as one to contemplate the state’s tragic acts on its own people, and how it masks its atrocities with the rhetorical drapes of “honor,” “sacrifice,” “bravery,” “heroism,” and - when ugly truths arise - “just following orders.” Let this day be one of shame for those in power who send our neighbors, friends, and family members to die for their own selfish causes, and let it be a day of shame for the fooled and compliant masses who support, obey, agitate, glorify, conspire with, and cover for the state.
And if you feel inclined to hoist a flag today, make it a black one.
Happy Killing Innocent Men, Women, & Children Memorial Day.
Memorial Day is that embarrassing day of the year where we celebrate America’s soldiers but don’t stop for even a moment of silence for all the innocent men, women, and children we’ve killed in our “war on terror”. Ask the civilians in the Middle East and SE Asia, who have had their houses destroyed, who have buried their parents and their children, who have been fired on during their weddings or their daily prayers- ask them who the real terrorist is.
- CNN Reporter: "You were quite rude to the President"
- Medea Benjamin: "I think killing innocent people with drones is rude."
The Truth About Voting by Stefan Molyneux
Even after cutting off the head of al-Qaeda, the United States Department of Defense doesn’t believe an end to the war on terror is in sight. On Thursday, one Pentagon official predicted the mission against al-Qaeda could continue for another two decades.
Speaking to the Senate Armed Services early Thursday, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations Michael Sheehan said the Pentagon has no plans to pull out of its almost 12-year-old war overseas.
When asked for his take on how long the war on terror could go on for, Sheehan told lawmakers, “At least 10 to 20 years.”….
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So yeah, you keep supporting those troops, killing children, women, and men for another 10 or 20 years. Oooh rahh amurrika!
im sorry but you support the troops always and not the fucking war. the war and the people leading and starting the war are terrible. troops are normal people who are following tradition or have no better options or are trying to get away from here. they need support. almost half the men in my family have served and it was so traumatizing for them they wont tell anyone even a fourth of their stories and its wrong to blame them. they don’t even like half the shit they have to do. they need our support. they need stupid fucking people spitting on them when they come home from seeing countless people die or be hurt. they need support and they need it badly. you always support the soldier.
If you support the troops, you support the war. Without anyone fighting a war, there’d be no war.
More nationalistic & patriotic bullshit on my Facebook feed this morning from more than once source. (Whoever made that picture can suck a dead monkey’s balls.)
People are so fucking ignorant when it comes to God & country. Amurrika isn’t some blessed nation that has God’s favor (especially the way it’s treated Jews, Arabs, & other minorities, all of which are in the bible - ain’t no white folks in the bible).
How ignorant to think one owes some allegiance to a piece of land, rather than human beings in one’s community. How arrogant to think one piece of land is better than another piece of land simply because of what some old, scared white men wrote on pieces of parchment a couple of centuries ago, give or take a few decades.
Most everyone here is descendant from someone who immigrated here and chose to do things their way (because amurrika used to be land of the free, remember?), but now it’s some rancid “our way or the highway” bullshit ideology that has made more people puff out their chests in pseudo-pride and glaring intolerance.
The English separatists left England to escape religious oppression & governmental tyranny (dating back to Henry VIII more specifically). It was fear that made this country what it is today, and is still becoming; it’s nothing like the vision 102 pilgrims had 393 years ago.
How about you, you the one’s with the attitude, take your attitude, your blind patriotism, your love of war & murder (which comes by proxy of “supporting the troops” and them “fighting for freedom”), and kiss my ass?
"We can’t expect our children to learn or propagate peace, patience, kindness, and understanding at church, when all they know is war, violence, murder, & excuses, most all of which is backed & supported by their alleged christian churches.
They will inevitable become morally bankrupt, spiritually inept, and wholly blind to patriotism’s true aims of domination & murder. Thereby, they will create yet another generation of the same. Jesus Christ said “blessed are the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9).
No peace was ever wrought with an automatic machine gun under direct orders from someone else who is under direct orders, etc etc. No peach was ever created by raping and murdering children"
They will inevitable become morally bankrupt, spiritually inept, and wholly blind to patriotism’s true aims of domination & murder. Thereby, they will create yet another generation of the same. Jesus Christ said “blessed are the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9).
No peace was ever wrought with an automatic machine gun under direct orders from someone else who is under direct orders, etc etc. No peach was ever created by raping and murdering children"
— iv
One in five suicides per day in the United States are veterans. That’s 18 veteran suicides a day. 19,000 (mostly) female military members are RAPED or sexually assaulted every year. Over 60K veterans are homeless on the streets right now. Almost 13K of those are Iraq/Afghanistan veterans. Bankers foreclose on soldier’s homes who are serving overseas, and evict their families.
Tell me again how amurrika supporting the troops?
You know how you can support the troops? STOP THE FUCKING WARS, all half-dozen of them that the U.S. is involved in.
What is done & taught to children, they will do to society. The chain isn’t broken yet.
If You Don’t Like It - Get Out
Someone recently posted a picture on Facebook that had an amurrika flag. The overlay text said, “IF YOU DON’T LIKE AMERICA, THEN GET OUT! SHARE IF YOU AGREE!” I see it at least once a week from any particular amurrikan on Facebook or otherwise.
Let’s talk about that. First off, America is a continent, not a country. Canada is America. The United States is America. Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Columbia, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, etc - all America. But let’s assume those speaking out are speaking about the United States.
Next - I would venture to bet that the Indians told the white man to get out if they didn’t like the way things were run, yet look how that turned out. A whole race of people were pillaged, raped, robbed, and murdered for their knowledge, tools, and industry, all while being labeled as the “savage” ones. Ironic, to say the least.
Actually the Indians were a very peaceful people, for the most part. They had no real forms of government (although they did have governing bodies, it wasn’t quite the same as you’d know today), they embraced community, they had no prisons or jails filled with people who had committed some minor infraction against another. (Some tribes & sects differed.) They helped travelers that passed through, they fed the ones without food, and sheltered those in the elements. They only became “savage” when others started to take their land, their homes, and their history, and shit on it oh-so-grandly. They’re still scoffed at and laughed at today as less-than.
“Status quo” is Latin, which literally means “state in which”, but in a broader sense means “the existing state or condition”. People that have changed the world chose not to accept the status quo, or their condition. Their convictions, their interests, and their beliefs prompted them to do something to change existing state of being. Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech was longer, and certain encompassed his convictions for freedom, and his stance of God over state, and anti-war. Those seven words have not only changed history, but unfortunately have been taken out of context and used for patriotic men wishing to kill others. Mr. Henry is surely rolling in his grave.
It’s cowardly and immoral to tell anyone to “get out” if they don’t like it. The land is everyone’s. The country belongs to anyone and everyone that chooses to move here and live here and etch out a life for themselves, whether they live in the swamps of Mississippi, or in a high rise in Chicago; whether up in the purple mountains, or where the wind comes sweeping down the plains. Telling someone to “like it or get out” is to say “forget everything you are, and fit in regardless of consequence”. That is deadly speech, and profits only those who blindly salute violence, ignorantly endorse force, and unapologetic cheers on murder in the name of freedom. The status quo, under any government at any time, is wholly and completely unacceptable. God save the cowards who promote conformity.
In closing, if someone disliked it that much, maybe they would move. Others, however, choose to stay, and choose to do something - anything - to change the world around them. Without change, blacks would still be slaves, women would still be unable to own property or a home - of course without government humanity might not have faced any of those struggles to being with.
Maybe one day, humanity can understand all that, and save itself from certain death. Maybe, just maybe, if you don’t like change, you should be the one leaving, as change is inevitable to happen like the wind blowing.
At least 30 members of an Afghan wedding party were killed and many more wounded when a U.S. plane bombed a village in the central province of Uruzgan today, Afghan officials and residents said.
The bombing happened today in a village in the rugged, mountainous region 175 km (105 miles) northeast of the southern city of Kandahar, residents said.
They told the local Pashtu service of the BBC at least 120 people had been either killed or wounded.
A Defence Ministry official said celebrants were firing into the air, as is traditional in Pashtun weddings.
“There was no-one to help last night,” resident Abdul Saboor told the BBC. “We managed to transfer some of the wounded to Kandahar in the morning. Some of the foreigners’ choppers also came to help.
“There are no Taliban or al Qaeda or Arabs here. These people were all civilians, women and children.”
Defence Ministry offical Dr Gulbuddin told Reuters: “More than 30 people were killed. It was a wedding ceremony and some of the participants were firing in the sky as part of the celebration. Americans have confessed that they made a mistake.”
BOMB MISSED TARGET
In Washington, the Pentagon said at least one bomb dropped by Western warplanes had missed its target in southern Afghanistan today, but that it could not confirm claims that members of a wedding party had been killed.
Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said anti-aircraft fire was directed at an air patrol of “coalition warplanes” and they had responded with close air support north of Kandahar.
“At least one bomb was errant. We don’t know where it fell,” Davis said. “We are aware of reports of civilian casualties but don’t know if casualties were caused as a result of the bomb.”
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), responsible for security in the capital Kabul, 280 km (170 miles) to the north, told Reuters it had contacted the U.S. liaison office which had heard nothing of any attack.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai told the local Bakhtar Information Agency the “sudden attack” happened in the Dehrawud district of Uruzgan province.
“We are trying to organise aid and a commission has gone there headed by the ministry of frontiers affairs,” he said.
The United States launched air strikes against Afghanistan last year against the al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden, blamed for the September 11 attacks on Washington and New York, and the group’s Taliban protectors.
There have been several reports of the United States mistakenly attacking civilian targets since Washington’s bombing offensive began.
In May, the U.S. army rejected reports it had mistakenly attacked a wedding party after the private Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported that U.S. planes had pounded the village of Bul Khil in Khost province after mistaking traditional firing at a wedding for an attack.
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The bombing you didn’t hear about today. The one that killed more people in one swipe than even attempted in Boston. The difference? The one listed above was done in your name, and endorsed by you because you voted, and it’s underwritten by your tax dollars and “donations” to campaigns. You support the troops, so you endorse the war, including the murders above.
Oh what the hell - they’re just a bunch of towel heads, right? They had it coming, right?
"Calls by President Obama and the media to put aside any disagreement or debate, and to stand unified behind the president. They are even going so far as to use language that decries anyone who “would stoop so low” as to suggest debate at this time. I guess we skipped respect for the dead or dedication to our ideals, and went right to repeating the mistakes of September 2001. Those who forget history…"
— (via disobey)
