Bios 4 reg’lars ‘n’ irreg’lars
Just a notion, y’all. I find myself wondering about the people who comment here, regularly or irregularly. For those who have no compelling reason to remain anonymous, I would love to have a brief bio with some kind of picture. In dating, this would be asking to take the relationship to the next level. (:
The comments section accommodates html, so posting pix is pretty easy. Links to other writing are also welcome. Something about seeing a face humanizes us a bit more. Not looking for CV’s… just a sense of who you are, where you come from, what it might be like to sit down for coffee with you.
Friendship offering, or sabbatical reflection between our strenuous thinkin’. There are real flesh-and-blood folk out there.
Lurkers welcome, too.
Warehouse outside of Mobile, Alabama… March 2006, preparatory briefing to participants for the Veterans and Survivors March for Peace and Justice
Allen Lynn:
Stan,
19 October 2008, 8:27 pmI’m a PhD student in Language and Literacy Education at the University of Georgia. I am a veteran of the Air Force (GI bill, thank you very much) AND a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Honduras 99-01). How’s that for inner turmoil?
I’m focusing on immigrant education issues in my PhD work. I’ve been leaning further to the left the older I get, so I’m probably going to end up being a real pain in the ass for some poor bastard in the Department of Education. Somebody’s gotta do it…
I read your blog regularly and have read your books. Keep up the good fight my man. It’ people like you who motivate me to stand up for social justice.
Stan Moore:
I have admired Stan Goff for several years, read some of his books, and lurked on this website. My passion is for birds of prey and wildlife conservation and a picture of me and little bit of a description of my raptor endeavors can be seen at:
http://www.globalraptors.org/grin/ResearcherResults.asp?lresID=310
In a nutshell, I think Stan Goff “gets it” and have yet to ever find an area of profound disagreement with anything I have read by Stan. He is The Man!
From another Stan (Moore) of northern California
19 October 2008, 9:52 pmTom:
Feel free to delete… I promise not to be annoyed – having my kind around is a liability… But as you asked,
Ex-pat from South Africa, Afrikaner (yes, the ethnic group that set up/benefited from Apartheid & coined the term)… Pan-Africanist, engineering student – think very highly of education, though taking criticisms for granted – acting more along the lines of informal hands-on tutoring than ‘mass’/large classes based… especially in calculus (IMNSHO the most important field in math & should be introduced on some level in the form of differential equations around when most kids are in gr. 6 – critical to understand many important types of dynamical systems, including chaotic systems, and can be explained & introduced without the advanced theorems involving limits etc. plus a good excuse to learn some computer programming – I’m considering writing an intro text for wiki-books along these lines – it is often directly applicable to solving the problems that are interesting rather than solving obscure algebra problems for their own sake, e.g. motion problems), fixing cars (excellent opportunities to talk to people for hours on end – they’re too occupied to put up the usual defenses to the usual strength, and they’re having fun), physics, living systems (interesting the reaction to biology – getting people who never made compost in their youth to try as adults is very amusing… especially when one mentions going beyond kitchen scraps
though I’m new to this. Thanks for introducing it…
Also psychology – I’m a big fan of Ilan Shalif’s psychological method (“How to change without trying to hard”) – very useful for overcoming dubious habits, dysfunctional responses (e.g masculinity-related – while we have it as a social institution, might as well reduce the harm where we can, the easier way… Forcing someone to behave decently works while the necessary threats are there – what about changing minds? Especially with intricate pre-verbal/verbal psychological stuff like masculinity ito mother-figure, madonna/whore, pleasure from violation etc – I got easy results…)
Teaching people: give & take there – read much professional communication texts – the notions of rhetoric are extremely useful, and the goal is clear – to get people to do what you want. The take part is 1. doing what they want, or considering their ideas – something many leftists are leary of – yet I’ve heard some great ideas from otherwise very reactionary people… and 2. taking their reactions/fears into account…
Sorry, no pictures on hand – blond, balding of mainly settler stock… (Although apartheid is rightly hated across Africa, mostly we’re introduced by other African expats as Africans… No, they’re not reactionary types either… Makes one feel human…)
20 October 2008, 1:10 amWm. Terry Leichner, RN:
Stan,
Like your idea and very willing to add my mug to things but need a little help about inserting a photo into your comment section.
Peace
Wm. Terry Leichner, RN
STAN: Terry, take the link location of your picture and bracket it between html codes I can’t write directly here without having them read: [left carat]img src=” [link location without spaces on either end] [forward slash, right carat] Look forward to seeing your face again. (:
20 October 2008, 3:10 amStan:
Jay Taber — recipient of the Defender of Democracy award — is an author, columnist, and research analyst at Public Good Project. Http://www.lulu.com/spartacus
20 October 2008, 5:30 amSR:
I’m an American of Pakistani descent. Born in Madison. Raised in Minneapolis/St. Paul. I finished high school in Florida, and now I’m in Houghton, MI pursuing a B.S in Communication and Culture Studies.
The first work of yours I read was Full Spectrum Disorder. I borrowed Hideous Dream but had to return it before I could finish. I bought Sex and War and enjoyed many of the chapters.
This image is important to me because it represents my social upbringing. People always had some stupid reason to be scared that I would do something violent. I was either going to be an ay-rab terrorist or a goth school shootist.
20 October 2008, 10:02 amRev. José M: Tirado:
Hi Stan,
20 October 2008, 10:33 amJosé Tirado here. I am a 49 year old PhD student at Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center in San Francisco. I currently live in Iceland with my wife and kids. In the 1980s I lived in Japan for about five years and exactly five years ago I was ordained a Jodo-Shinshu priest there.
I have followed Stan´s work for years now and finally got the nerve to contact him, praising him for what I feel may become a landmark personal decision become significant political one–his turn towards a non-violent Christianity. I am a great “fan” of Stan and his work and while I lurk around here, its mainly because the theoretical and economic discussions are more food for thought than areas I feel confident I can contribute competently to.
On my gravestone I hope it reads “poet, priest, psychologisty and political writer..:” since, in that order, it best describes how I view myself. I was the co-founder of the Latino Writers Group in Los Angeles in the late 80s, former chair of the Buddhist Alliance for Social Engagement in Denver, a Chaplain in hospitals in Denver, Boulder, Madison and San Francisco teaching Buddhist meditation skills for terminally ill patients and otehrs. I have a BA in Religious Studies, An MA in Buddhist studies, an MA in psychology and am now moving onto the PhD. I have written for CounterPunch, Dissident Voice, OpEd News, Swans Commentary, on the political side and The Endless Search, Gurdjieff Internet Guide on the more “spiritual” end of my interests. I come from a working class Puertorican-American background and was raised in New York City and Miami, Florida.
As for pictures, I am barely one step above Luddite in my technical skills on a computer so I still can´t follow the instructions you (Stan) made above. My (un updated) website, http://www.thepathofmyexperience.com contains some of my writings and a picture or two a few years old.
Rev. José M. Tirado:
Ah…the perils of admitting how stupid one is!
20 October 2008, 2:23 pmI meant “psychologist”, not “psychologisty” above and all the other little errors just hit the nail on the head on how un-skilled I remain at computers. My apologies. (In high school Latin was offered at the same time as typing. I thought Latin would help me more. never thought about computers…)
James M:
I grew up in Louisiana and now live in northern CA. I have degrees in photography and audio engineering. So far this year, I’ve been employed as a camera person for a PBS documentary, technical director for an art gallery, and writer / editor for a graphic novel. Though I don’t talk about it much or label it particularly, my spiritual life informs and is involved in everything I do. I watch Stan’s embrace of faith with great interest, though I am not myself (doctrinally) a Christian. I feel that if I manage to read and comprehend all the works of Henry Corbin in this lifetime, that will be quite an achievement. I have a great love of animals, and most would say a kind of spooky rapport with them. I was on the Veterans’ Gulf March with Stan and Audrey (and made a little film about it before I really knew filmmaking from shine-ola,) but I’m not a veteran. I feel profound respect and affinity for the people I’ve known as Feral Scholar mainstays — De Clarke, Stan Goff, and Audrey Mantey — as writers, thinkers, and human beings in general, and am grateful to have met and worked with them.
If you’d like to see a picture, you can go here.
20 October 2008, 6:23 pmGerry Rubin Jr.:
Hello Stan,
My name is Gerry. I am a 20 year old currently residing in Durham, NC. I plan to enlist in the U.S. Army as a Machinist or Metalworker in about 6 months… Or whenever I can drop the necessary weight to do so. ^_^
My current library of interests are Stoicism & Philosophy, “Hobby-Level Disaster Preparedness & Self-Sufficiency”,
Appropriate Technology, Metalworking & Arts [primarily Blacksmithing & Bladesmithing], Firearms and a whole host of Literature that would probably require it’s own blog.
I’d describe myself as a political Decentralist, a philosophical Stoic & Pragmatist and a religious Agnostic.
I’ve gravitated to this blog and your writings at large because I respect and admire your unique perspective… I’ve had a life-long journey of seeking out the Intellectual ‘Renaissance People’ throughout history: Those few Ecclectics, Eccentrics, Polymaths and Contrarians-Among-the-Contrarians who defy categories and resist the desire for historical notoriety, but who’s actions and words have allowed them to create their own worldview free of the fear of ostracism and scrutiny…
[Aton Edwards, Buckminster R. Fuller, Robert Anton Wilson, Chuck Palahniuk, Marcus Aurelius, Saul Williams, Ben Mack, Alan Moore & about 1,000 Other Folks...]
And I see you as a person who’d also be pretty cool to talk to about the past, present and future on these various levels.
Also, on that note, a session of ‘coffee & chatter’ with me would be mostly me asking questions and trying to nervously absorb whatever wisdom I could.
[IMG]http://i38.tinypic.com/2uqohm8.jpg[/IMG]
20 October 2008, 9:31 pmJanetW:
Hmmm…guess I’m the first woman to respond to this request, which I find a bit curious but here goes… I’m a current homemaker, a former English as a Second Language teacher and tutor, a longtime codepinker, and the worried aunt of a lieutenant in the Marine Corps. I first heard of you, Stan, when you were interviewed by Amy Goodman in 2003, and I thought, “Thank God! A veteran who’s speaking up and making sense.” I’ve been against the attack/bombing/occupation since before it happened, and Stan’s writing has been a sort of touchstone for me during these terrible years.
I read and respond to the emails at info@codepinkalert.org; am currently enjoying the poetry (and a bit of prose) of two Massachusetts poets, The Two Roberts — Lowell and Frost; feed and watch wild birds; love baseball; eat my own homegrown tomatoes, peaches and herbs in season; and have lobbied/protested in the District of Condescension as I call it, three times in the past two years.
Oh yeah, I’m a softball catcher, too.
To see me in action with some codepink pals (second from right in bottom photo) on our monthly Walk for Peace on the Golden Gate Bridge, click here: http://www.codepinkalert.org/userdata_display.php?modin=54&uid=6570
20 October 2008, 11:25 pmStan:
I was wondering where our sisters were, too. Thanks Janet. De? Audrey? Elaina? Kathy? Lisa? Hullo?
21 October 2008, 4:52 amrsklnkv:
Though I generally lurk these days I have posted in the past…My name is Adam, I’m a 35 year old ex-con who discovered Stan’s work through ‘Full Spectrum’. I’m an avid reader (trying to find books about prison that I haven’t read…), activist and occasional writer. Currently, I’m working to organize a post-prison support group for folks who need a little perspective on living in day-to-day society while dealing with post-incarceration baggage. I hope to get this going for the new year.
21 October 2008, 8:13 amI grew up in a fundamentalist/right-wing, racist, sexist middle class white household where I learned the fine art of hate/intolerance and general ignorance. In prison these ideals were reinforced but I became a reading nut and discovered feminism, anarchism, and then later on, Stan:) To say I’ve had a political shift since my release over a decade ago is perhaps an understatement. My political affiliation is ‘it depends’ as I’m not a big fan of labels and I’m not religious but have an open mind (grew up ‘christian’). Practiced other things at various periods including Islam. I find it difficult to come to terms with the religion crammed down my throat as a child so generally just avoid it these days (yes, as a kid I was told dinosaurs were planted by god to test faith and that masturbation was akin to rape).
I’ve worked at the same bookstore in Portland, Or. for ten years, I like to watch movies and talk about politics over a pint, and share my life with my best friend. We’ve been together for eleven years and she is a photographer and the single most important person in my life to whom I attribute my ‘awakening’. She has challenged my notions of politics and society every step of the way and I don’t think I’d be the person I am today without her help.
Cheers and greetings to all…The insight posted here over the years (De, Audrey, Stan and all the regulars…Thank You!) helps keep me going some times and certainly gives me hope.
Susan:
Mostly a lurker, I’ve posted a few times as speck/catlady. I found Feral Scholar by following DeAnander over from MoonofAlabama.org. I was enchanted by the humanure thread, and wish I didn’t live in an apartment. I have a copy of The Power of the Machine on my shelf, and I’ve read at it, but need a discussion group or professor to keep me at it. It’s thick and fascinating stuff…
I’m a musician–performer and teacher–currently unemployed and debt-free, an interesting position to be in this winter. I just moved to Portland, OR, a city that seems to foster many good ideas about how people might live more wisely in the coming hard times. SPINfarming, bicycling and recycling, public transportation, neighborliness, casual funky public art, strong coffee and highly hopped ales.
21 October 2008, 1:05 pmAudrey:
I’m not feeling much like a representative of the sisters at the moment. A couple of my students drew on my face this morning so I’ve been sporting this dashing moustache all day:
The wall there is in my classroom – one of my kids painted it last year. I teach design at a high school for the arts in the Detroit area. Before that, I spent too many years doing intel/counterintel for the army. I met Stan and James on the gulf march, and am indebted to both of them for too many reasons to list.
José, you mustn’t worry about the typos. I don’t think we type them ourselves – I know I don’t. I believe the software introduces them when we hit the submit button, probably to keep us humble. (Also, I’ve discovered if you do make horrifying errors, you must beg De to fix them, never Stan. He will only laugh, tease you for caring, and generally be no help at all if you want a post changed.)
21 October 2008, 3:17 pmKim Sky:
Hello Folks,
I too was wondering where are the women … I am a woman, Kim, too survive, I found computer programming in 1978. Since then, on and off again, I’ve traveled the world, worked odd jobs, including selling jewelry in the streets, and computer programming. Got into radio in 1998, Radio for Peace International Costa Rica, then bits of journalism, attended the first Narco News Journalism School in Isla de Mujeres Mexico as an “instructor” as my writing at that time was sophisticated. This is where I kind of fell apart, the boozing misogyny of an organization I’d come to love, the competitiveness just kind of killed my ego. I’ve been working to recover ever since. Apologies for my confessional message. I’ve made art, more recently lived in Spain, then Hawaii, then San Diego, and am now in Portland, Oregon — programming my computer — and when I’ve got no work, I experiment with non-conventional methods of reporting, making art, and cartoons. Stan has been very kind and posted some of my new-journalism-attempts (and I watch them flop on his site — GOOD FUN).
That’s it. Nice to meet you all. Chao, Kim
21 October 2008, 4:21 pmJames M:
Audrey, if you were in need of a Halloween costume idea, I think you could pull off Salvador Dali pretty well
21 October 2008, 4:34 pmWaldow:
It is fun to meet everybody. Too bad there’s no punch and pie.
My partner and I live in a two room house we rennovated in her father’s back yard. It is in a little town at foot of the Coast Range in Oregon 30 miles west of Portland. We raise ducks for meat and tend to a few fruit trees and a little garden. We also lease a few acres outside of town and are getting it ready to raise small livestock. You can rent acres of fallow land around here way cheaper than you can find a ratty apartment. Lots of us here on this blog are poor, but please don’t let it stop you from getting a lease on some land, it is a lot of fun and cheap exercise.
I came over here from Mike Ruppert’s old site to get more of Stan’s perspective on gender, race, and violence.
For a political program, I want an application of Old Testament idea of having a Jubilee every fifty years to redistribute property to EVERYONE “In the year of jubilee the field shall return to the one from whom he bought it, to whom the possession of the land belongs.” Of course, our system ought not to be based on heredity, but simple personhood should give each of us a little steak every so often. Enterprise could follow for a while then. For a time “Each of them will sit under his vine And under his fig tree, With no one to make them afraid…”
Having coffee with me is fun if you like loud crude viscous left wing carpenter ego blather. Reading this blog’s guidelines has frozen a few warts off me I’m glad to say.
Fuck college loans people, read good shit! Read it over and over.
Here’s a picture of me and some old workmates. I’m the one with the earflap hat.
21 October 2008, 10:12 pmStan:
{Richard has had problems posting this, so I am putting it up… there is a great picture of him with baby, but it is in email as an attachment. If anyone knows how to turn that into a postable pic, please reply. Congrats on the new birth, and welcome to the world, Mirah!}
I’m an infrequent commenter, but constant reader…
I grew up in a politically conservative, though more or less liberal,
suburban family. My father was in the Navy in Vietnam. I was born in
California, living on Navy bases there and in Mississippi till the late 70s.
Have lived in Maryland or DC for the last 30 years. I have a degree in
history, which doesn’t have anything to do with my job (which is as
unenthusiastic computer programmer). I remember reading George Kennan, and
primary documents like NSC-68, in classes, then finding Noam Chomsky and
Z Magazine by way of an interview in Rolling Stone in 1990.
Over the years I’ve moved further and further to the left, to the point that
I now see civilization itself, or at least modernity, as, to use Derrick
Jensen’s word, “irredeemable”.
I’ve been reading you, Stan, for a few years, first on CounterPunch, then
Full Spectrum Disorder, and here. I’ve been especially
interested/excited by the analysis here about feminism, and about localism
and food problems and so on (and the problems facing a society based on oil
when the oil goes away or becomes less plentiful, etc.)
I was married a little over two years ago, and my wife Aimee and I had our
first child, a girl, Mirah, 10 weeks ago. She, of course, makes it more
urgent that I/we find different ways to live (for one thing, I commute 2
hours from Baltimore to DC for work). I blog at The Existence Machine, about
literature and politics.
That’s all I can say for now, I have baby duties! Thanks for everything!
22 October 2008, 5:26 ameoinmonkey:
I guess I post often enough to feel included, so here goes for me. I am a 29 (soon to be 30) year old British male from Leeds, West Yorkshire. I have always been left wing in my political outlook, I think from having been raised by parents who left their home town of Belfast, NI, because of a small civil war, and attendent religious bigotry and insanity, going on around them. I went to a well regarded public (as in private) school, where I learned two hugely valuable things: Any idiot can pass exams if they get the right training, and many idiots have and go on to help run the country- usually into the ground. Just because someone is wealthy does not make them smart- but nor does it necessarily make them bad either.
22 October 2008, 11:48 amI did a degree in American Studies, which also meant I could live in the US for a year as part of the degree, and for reasons to do with family rather than location, i spent that year in Buffalo, NY (main questions: “Are you British? What the hell are you doing in Buffalo?”). I had such a great time, and such a correspondingly crap time when I came back to the UK, that I decided I had to return to the land of the free, which I acheived by doing a Masters degree in American Culture Studies at Bowling Green, OH. In all, I spent about four years living in the states, and loved it, despite the bloody awful weather and the fact that college Republicans struck me as something akin to the Hitler Youth in slacks. I also got to teach classes in Ohio, where I made sure to push my sick, liberal, anti-American bullshit down the throats of young and impressionable (mainly) white Ohioan college kids. As part of the required reading, I made them read and discuss some of Mr Goffs pieces from the net (I thought the whole of Hideous Dream, or Full Spectrum Disorder might be a little bit much for an intro level class), which I had been introduced to by a friend of mine from the same program, who had spent time in the Navy Engineers, including a whopping (and, he said, very fortunate) two day tour in Vietnam (he also helped put the runway down on Diego Gracia, which he said made him feel a bit guilty everytime they mentioned rendition flights).
I dont always agree with everything on this blog, but unlike many lefty people, i dont think that it is at all important to agree all the time, but I have a tendency to post something only when i disagree. Never mind.
I dont have a photo.
eoinmonkey:
PS I had read quite a bit of Mr Goffs stuff online, and had ordered and read Hideous Dream, when I rented (as part of a more general desire to watch bad action films relating to my thesis) Collateral Damage. For some reason, it was quite a shock to go from hearing your voice in my head as quite northern/midwestern, to actually hearing your one line in the film and realising you have a deep south accent. Strange how our perceptions are so real to us.
22 October 2008, 11:53 amKim Sky:
OREGON – wow, a lot of the folk on this list are from Oregon. Perhaps we should all meet in Oregon sometime — by that I mean everyone who participates on this blog. Would that be interesting?
Chao, Kim
22 October 2008, 1:26 pmStephen:
Hello everybody !
I am a Christian, father, engineer, retired Navy submarine vet trying to make a differnce in my corner of the world – Raleigh, NC.
Have always felt that things are just not right, I was lucky to find VFP, Noam Chomsky, and Stan to jump start my education.
I am new to the site and trying to read myself up to date.
Stan is a true inspiration and I learn something of value every time he touches the keyboard.
Onward & upward !!
22 October 2008, 2:57 pmBuddhalovesPaine:
I do have a compelling reason not to use my real name. Not that using my real name would certainly result in retaliation but it could, from an undisciplined member of the US armed forces some of whom may live in the area.
22 October 2008, 3:24 pmAfter all I make no secret of the fact on the internet that I think any member of the US military not working for the Iranians, the Russians, the Cubans or the Venezuelans is a traitor to the US Constitution and to Americans who can read and understand simple concepts like thou shall not go half way around the world to attack and occupy a country that did not attack your country, even if such an order to do so was given after the order was approved in a democratic referendum. By the way did I mention that my wife immigrated from a country on the US axis of evil list? What a joke! (For the US to label other countries evil)
I did serve 4 years in the military during peacetime. As you can tell by posted name I am interested in comparative religious studies, philosophy, economics, history, and politics. One of my first memories is of November 22nd 1963. Although I recognize that the use of force to resist injustice has many negative side effects that can make injustice even worse I make no apologies for not being a pacifist. It is my opinion that depending on the situation not using force to resist injustice can also have long term negative side effects.
I do believe that it is better to convert your enemy than to kill him. Still, I have no sympathy what so ever for US soldiers killed or horribly wounded in Iraq.
I first learned about Stan Goff from the From the Wilderness website. I also read the Wayne Madsen Report. Mr. Madsen was also was often carried by From the Wilderness.
It is Thomas Paine that inspires me more than anyone else. But there are two events that inspire me by reminding me dramatic sudden change is possible. One is the civil rights march over the bridge in Selma Alabama. The second is the fall of the Romanian dictator in 1988(?) whose name I will not attempt to butcher.
cyndi:
hi. my name is cyndi. i usually only read your blogs, although i have commented a few times in the past. i’m 49 years young and live in southern california. i find inspiration in art, love, and in the poetry of pablo neruda. i’m in the process of writing my second screenplay; my first is a love story of flesh, blood, spirit, and the coca eradication in bolivia (it sounded good while i was writing it). i love drinking coffee in the morning, but i’m thinking about quitting, unless that would disqualify me from of a sit down with you (do you drink beer?). i own a small crafting business in my town, and enjoy working with other artists in my community. i have a lot to learn about world issues and come here seeking knowledge, not only in what you write but from those who comment. i’ve traveled many places around the world and found my soul in the jungles of mexico.
22 October 2008, 8:39 pmpardon any typos.
Stephen:
Think I have figured out the code for inserting a pic. Here goes.
22 October 2008, 8:46 pmStephen:
From Family Reunion 07
22 October 2008, 8:58 pmRadical_Camera:
I am a Lieutenant in the the Army National guard currently serving in Afghanistan (my tour ends in January). I joined the infantry right out of high school in 1998, an angry young conservative man looking for gender security. After coming face to face with the reality of being a private on active duty in a combat arms unit, having a girlfriend who was a black feminist and environmentalist, and being exposed to Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, and Michael Parenti, I made a slow but radical move to the left. The shift took about eight years. I’m now looking into getting out of the military as a conscientious objector.
I first encountered Stan’s work reading Hideous Dream, a book I discovered as the result of research I was doing about insurgency prior to being deployed to Afghanistan. Already familiar with Che, Castro, Mao, and Galula, I felt that there must be some sort of American counter-narrative sympathetic to or at least, aware of, the motives of native people against foreign occupiers. Hideous Dream did much more than act as that counter-narrative. It validated a lot of things in me that I felt about military life but did not really have the confidence to really push to a meaningful, paradigm shifting end.
I then went on to read FSD and Sex & War. I had already decided I was a socialist with strong anarchist leanings, but Sex & War introduced me to radical feminism and really got me thinking about difficult things that are probably better learned outside a combat zone.
Currently I’m anxiously awaiting the end of my time here, reading Stan’s blog, Ivan Illich, Susan Bordo, and other such work. It’s like heroin, the only thing that seems to soothe.
I’m also teaching myself photography and have been documenting my entire experience here. I’ll have to post my photos up someday when I have the time.
22 October 2008, 11:36 pmBuddhalovesPaine:
Radical Camera,
23 October 2008, 10:21 amA man like you could perhaps do a lot of good in the military. It would be unpaid, not appreciated by most, and high risk. Well maybe it could be paid but the pay would never really compensate for the risks that you will take.
The Russians say that a spy behind the lines is like a division at the front. So two spies behind the lines ought to be worth a lot more. But more importantly the Portugese say a dozen leftist officers brought together by fate (God?) make a revolution. I know that it is asking a lot. You would be taking risks that I never took. But if not you who?
Even though I have never taken the risks that I am asking you to think about I do not feel at all hypocritical about asking because I know that through out history people have taken such risks. This web site is no doubt monitored by the OSI or CID or some such nest of vipers. Luckily I am writing from a free country. If you have a change of heart there would no doubt be a period of suspicion hanging over you. But with creativity and luck you could over come these suspicions. In the short term you may have to do evil acts but you must always keep your eye on the goal of destroying the Military Industrial Complex from the inside.
That is the only way that this anti-Christ can be destroyed without taking the lives of millions of somewhat innocent people down with it.
Let me tell you a story to illistrate my point. On the night January 9th 1945 Chief inspector Ploeg of the Facsist Dutch Militia was assassinated in the small town of Hempsted near Harlem. A surviving witness to this event was 12 year old Anton Steenwejk. Ploeg was assassinated near the home of the Steenwejks. The Gestapo broke into their home upon arriving at the scene to question the family members about what had happened.
During the interogations a book by Spinoza was found and the enraged Gestapo investigator sent the family out to be placed with the hostages and executed in retaliation for this assassination. But one German soldier pulled Anton away as the family was being moved to the execution site and put him in his truck. He was taken to a local police station and placed in a cell with a wounded female resistance member.
Anton survived and years later at a funeral met a man named Hess, one of the two people who had taken part in the assassination. When Hess found out who Anton was he asked him outside because he felt the need to justify his actions for assassinating Ploeg so close to the end of the war, since it had resulted in the death of Anton’s entire immediate family. Anton told him that Ploeg had to be stopped because he was a cruel barbarian who used horrible methods of torture while interrogating prisoners and could have betrayed many members of the resistance. Hesses own brother was among the hostages that the Germans were holding to prevent acts of resistance of this kind. Despite these risks Hess’ own mother approved of the plan to kill Ploeg. And in fact her son Hess’ brother was also one of those executed on that night.
Hess did not lie to Anton. But he did not tell the whole truth either. Anton would only learn many years later that Hess was protecting a much much bigger secret. You see Ploeg was not really the nazi that he pretended to be. He was really the highest placed Dutch communist party member who had infiltrated the fascist security appuratus. He did not enjoy at all torturing Dutch patriots who were risking their lives to fight fascism in Europe. But he knew that their fate was sealed the moment that they were captured. In his position he was able to steer investigations away from communist members of the resistance and towards liberal and conservative anti-fascist. But as it became clear to the Dutch CP that they were going to fall under the control of the US and England they realized that Ploeg would be in a very vulnerable position. They could never get him to a country that would be safe for him to live in and he would certainly be killed once the Netherlands was liberated. That is he would certainly be killed unless he switched sides to save his life and betrayed everything he knew about communist penetration of the Dutch underground and government in exile. That is why the communist party was willing to pay such a high price to make sure that he was silenced for good.
Now I could also tell you a story about the most influential Lt. in Military history. A Lt. Schulze-Boysen who worked as a Russian agent in the German Luftwaffe in the 2nd World War who was executed in 1943 by the Nazis.
But I chose the story above to better illistrate the costs and the benifits of working for your ideology and not your country.
BuddhalovesPaine:
Radical Camera,
23 October 2008, 12:00 pmPerhaps no one who writes on the internet is really who they say they are. But maybe they are you can just never know for sure. I decided to write you with another option than the one I kind of implied above. That is you decide to stay in the Army for just 4 more years and not give a rats ass about what kind of OERs you receive or how foolish you look to the people that you work with. After all they ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS. They are leeches on the the people of the planet masquerading as heroes. Under such conditions there is no end to the amount of positive work that you can do. For example you can give bad EERs to the good NCOs and good EERs to the bad NCOs.
You could do everything in your power to make the officer corp look bad. What is really funny if you are successful you may be moved from a platoon leader position to a battalion S1 or S2 or S4 position. Then the amount of chaos that you can cause has suddenly multiplied by 10. The decisions you now make do not affect dozens but hundreds. What is even more halarious is that because almost all the other officers are interested in a career they will go to lengths to cover up your “mistakes” because it looks bad on them. Why hell you could even get caught meeting with a Russian female with the unit code books in your hands and they will help you cover it up to save their own asses. So once you cause enough trouble as a staff officer the unit will try to get rid of you and send you somewhere else. hahahahahaha now you can just spread your virus and if your new location is further to the rear chances are you can now create snafus that affect thousands.
Following this strategy you never have to risk actually joining any type of organized conspiracy, you never have to meet with a Russian or Iranian Agent you just have to have a good cover story for everything that happens and no how to play poker. Oh oh oh one of my favorites is giving incorrect information to an NCO when only you and he or she really knows what you said. Then when for example the NCO shows up late for a staff meeting, it is just your word against his (hers) as to what you really said. When you follow this plan you are a grain of diamond in the gears of the motor of evil. You will probably end up with an honorable discharge anyways and even if it were to be dishonorable a dishonorable discharge from an evil organization is actually a cause for celebration because it is proof that you have done an excellent job.
skol:
I’m just a kid in the middle of Wisconsin. After coming over from FTW – where Stan’s articles were my favorite – I eventually googled him and here I am! Part of the reason I googled him was because “omg, this guy was in the special forces blahblahblah!” … real guy like, y’know?
Talk about cognitive dissonance! It’s been a helluva rollercoaster ride, and I thank everyone here for it
I would not be who I am without this blog… and that’s saying a lot.
23 October 2008, 1:19 pmCrowings:
I’ve had my mind blown one too many times for the Real ID thing, for now. I’d be an irregular lurker. One of the ladies. I surfed upon a link to something from one of Stan’s books a couple years ago, and dug it. A really nice combination of elements that get right out of the box with me.
I’m an artist who among other things cleans house and I use the bad chemicals, despite my upbringing. haha. I live smack downtown in an old New England factory city, referred to by some as the ‘armpit of Massachusetts’ (Abby Hoffman and Emma Goldman were here!) but come from groovy organic lala land USA. Paradise. I had more than enough of veggier-than-thou head-in-the-sand “wholistic” back-to-the-lander separatism a very long time ago, not that that’s why I’m here, but I sure do miss my lake, the land, my hands in the soil, long country roads, and bumping into people who speak the native tongue on a regular basis. My tiny dream is a home with garage doors, within which I can pick fresh tomatoes all year long and have room to dance like a maniac when I’m working.
I’ve always been uncomfortable with being a card-carrying member of the exclusionary and self-satisfied ‘in-group’. I’d kinda rather be a human among humans than a member of a species stuck on self-destruct, on it’s way to extinction. I’ve had a bizarre life with quite a range of experiences and know all kinds of people. I can write and study subjects of interest to me with great meticulousness, but I’ve had my mind off words for a while.
I find this place very refreshing and reassuring sometimes, like a long drink of cool water.
Thanks for being here.
24 October 2008, 3:55 amLinda C.:
Hey Y’all,
Some of you know me – some don’t. I just show up every now and then. I’ve known Stan for years – and he will always be “The Poet”!
I’ve moved myself and my son from our rural Arkansas home, to the mountains of Montana, that I have always loved so much. I left my garden and most of my family behind. I had to follow the “wanders lust” that lurks in my soul and to continue my quest to be “off” the grid.
I spend time on this blog – I dig in deep and learn much. So to all of you “regulars” – keep posting. There are many persons such as myself that depend on the little seeds of knowledge that can be gleaned from your “rantings”.
Peace
24 October 2008, 3:52 pmValarie:
Long time lurker
I attended the March in 06′ and met you briefly during it. I found your blog after that and enjoy the topics and find it interesting and thoughtful. It has been years since I have done much in the way of reading in the areas of some of the social issues that are covered here so I haven’t felt I would have much to contribute in the discussions.
I am a 43 yr old female, military background in a number of ways, and now on and off again active in the peace movement. I have an undergrad degree in history, and had started a research emphasize on a gender specific area.
SO…I hang out around here now and again because you guys discuss women’s issues, and also peace from a feminist perspective with the male viewpoint predominanting. Which I just find fascinating, but often disagree with. So rather than be argumentative, mostly I just lurk and hope to learn something new.
26 October 2008, 2:40 amMichael Anderson:
Hello, folks….I am 58, a musician living in Salem, OR. I first got onto Stan via FTW in 2002, when a fellow guitarist hipped me to the site. I credit FTW with not only awakening me to Stan Goff, but also kick-starting my awareness of Peak Oil, and all that is related to it (essentially EVERYTHING, but that came with time—smile). I have generally been anti-military throughout my life (fought the draft successfully in ’72 after drawing #24 in the ’68 lottery), but for some reason his writing caught and held my attention, and has opened my mind to a different kind of “military” perspective. Continued reading his writing in Counterpunch and Third World Traveler, and bought Full Spectrum Disorder.
I don’t consider myself an activist, per se, although from time to time I have done volunteer work for various social and political things. That being said, this site has been instrumental for me in encouraging self-examination on sexism, racism, environmental, religious, and financial issues in ways that no other form of online media (or any other media, up to this point) has done. I think we all can use some work (some of us more than others), and what you’ve done is encourage me to look at myself and try to grow.
You guys are like jazz (my musical muse)…looking for new ways to do things, yet respecting tradition, in a spirit of community, cooperation, and spirituality; and emphasizing scholarship, reasoning, and critical thinking…working on what musicians call “chops”. It is really all connected.
Thanks
27 October 2008, 3:25 pmSusan/speck/catlady:
Oregonians–any interest in getting together face to face, over strong coffee or highly hopped ale? I’m spending too much time reading fascinating stuff online (here is one place in particular) and not enough time getting to know my allies (and their music). Connected, yes.
Maybe we could plan an occasion for Stan to come out and speak. maybe we could invite De down from the Canuckistan harbour….
Susan
28 October 2008, 1:51 amRadical_Camera:
Buddha,
I know this is an introduction thread, so I hope I’m not breaking some forum rule by responding to Buddha.
I’ve always told myself that if I were ever to deploy to war, one of my top priorities here would be to stop war crimes at any and all cost. What I was surprised to discover here was that many soldiers just really aren’t put into those type of situations. It’s only a minority of troops over here who actually go kicking in doors and dealing with the population in a way that has the potential for what we normally consider war crimes (if we don’t speak of war itself in any form as a crime against all humanity that is). I appreciate your examples from WWII, but that’s just not the kind of situation I find myself in. Instead, what you have are small injustices and insults over the course of the deployment–a racist remark here, an obscene gesture there, and those are the types of things that I try to influence whenever I get the chance. Stan told me once about his ‘smile and wave’ policy in Haiti, something I implement here on a daily basis. As a truck commander on convoys, whenever I see children or friendly segments of the population, I tell my gunner to smile and wave at them. Even when my gunner isn’t exactly fond of Afghans, he ends up being enthusiastic about doing it. I also try to do it with more hostile segments of the population, but it tends not to have much effect (like in Kandahar). And also when I can, I spread cynicism about military life and service, which isn’t something you need a socialist to do. Most people in the Army, especially on deployments, become cynical if they aren’t already so. I just poke and prod the fires by being an officer who openly talks about those sort of things without apology and acts consistently (as opposed to those soldiers who say they hate the Army and war, and then express homophobic, patriarchal, or pro-military, pro-rank views in various situations). I also consciously never refer to Afghans as “haji,” contribute to the typical racist humor and dialect that soldiers are prone to in these environments, speak negatively about women, or talk in homophobic terms. I try best to lead by example rather than speak directly to soldiers about these issues, which tends to be a waste of time and energy in the end if it pulls you into a prolonged debate. I’m sure, however, that once and a while I’m guilty of being complicit through silence, but I do what I can.
As Wendell Berry says, I try to “plant sequoias.”
And on the subject of staying in the Army to sort of change it, to act as a “spy” so the speak, I’ve come to the conclusion that being a part of the system and working within it to enact change dilutes the radicalism inherent in my position. By working within the military bureaucracy and navigating its currents, I feel that all it does is make me more moderate. I’d be fighting like a soldier in WWI, great sacrifice for a few feet of progressive territory. I think far more good could be done outside the military than within it. Though that doesn’t mean at all that I think it’s pointless for those in the military to continue pushing change from within, it’s just not something I could tolerate doing. It might be the path for others, but not for me. I really can’t stand the culture anymore. Aside from that, the military has strategies for handling subversive elements. It’s not always jail and bad OER’s. They could just re-assign you to positions and places where you have little influence or exposure to others, or they can send you on a suicide mission somewhere, so short of directly intervening in assassinations, genocide, and massacres, or bringing lawsuits against the Army, you’re limited in enacting radical change through subversion. Perhaps it could done skillfully and to good effect, there were socialists who joined the Army in WWII and Vietnam specifically to organize against the war from within, but that’s a far cry from the path I took and am currently on.
Finally, even if I were a soldier with a kinetic mission who was put into situations with the potential for intervening in violent situations, the fact is is that war is extremely chaotic and there is a real threat of being killed by the Taliban here in any given engagement regardless of my politics and philosophy. I haven’t been involved in any fire-fights so far, but I’m constantly outside the wire and have driven through highly dangerous areas on convoys, visit villages, and work closely with the Afghan Army on a daily basis. Basically, there is a lot of work to do here and a lot of fear. Even if I believe the occupation is morally wrong, I’m still in a position where I’m trying not to get killed by either the misogynist, civilian-killing Taliban, or an incompetent, arrogant, medal-mongering Chain of Command. It’s a complex situation that I’m doing my best to get through. I’m also in a fortunate position being an officer. An enlisted soldier would have a significantly much harder time affecting things in any meaningful way.
28 October 2008, 9:29 amRandy Morris:
Count me in on the Oregon get-together. I will post my bio later, but I’ve been an on/off active poster here since FTW turned me on to Stan’s writings.
Randy Morris
28 October 2008, 11:12 amcharles:
Hi everybody,
I’m 58 in Detroit, Michigan. I met Stan virtually on the old Crashlist started by the late Mark Jones, now A-list, and some other lists. I am impressed by his courage and honesty in “travelling” from working for the US military to vigorously opposing US imperialism. He’s our generation’s Smedley Butler. Also, I share his emphasis on feminism, and the need for men political activists to prioritize it in their politics.
I spent most of 1968 to 1984 in college to the point of being a kind of “professional student”. I started in ethnology/cultural anthropology, bachelors and masters, but ended in law. I have had two “tours” in legal services for the poor, a couple years working for trade unions, and then “city council” law for most of my legal career.
I have a son 18, Alexander.
I actually didn’t become a Marxist/Materialist until after leaving school, fancied I’d become a professional revolutionary, follower of Angela Davis, et al. Also, I’ve been an auto-didact/feral scholar since leaving school. I think it’s accurate to say that I am an intellectual, organic even, though I’m not very much published, except on internet lists for the last ten years. I have a few original ideas ( e.g., see my “For Women’s Liberation” printed on this blog)
I played softball (well) until last year when I suffered detached retinas ending my “career”. Also, I’m a world-historic party dancer (smile).
All Power to the People ! Workers of the West, it’s our turn ! Yes we can !
Charles Brown
28 October 2008, 4:03 pmlauren:
I found this website just this morning but consider myself a longtime fan of Stan Goff.
31 October 2008, 9:25 amI am a teacher of history (mighty intimidating these hard days) and a published historian. I organize support for local workers whenever there’s a strike and am passionately committed to the labor movement. I live in a small conservative town which I don’t want to name. Thank you Stan for providing a place for us.
Michael Anderson:
I’d be up for an Oregon get-together also….it will be interesting to see how many different places we come from!
31 October 2008, 1:59 pmpeggy:
Margaret Trawick. Sixty year old anthropologist. Worked in India and later Sri Lanka. U.S. citizen, but employed in New Zealand. Soon to retire (yay!) because of primary progressive multiple sclerosis, but dealing with it. Stopped posting at Feral Scholar because I got angry with Stan. Still angry, but at least he’s (regretfully, and with lots of provisions, and at the very last moment) supporting Obama for prez. I am a progressive.
1 November 2008, 9:45 pmStan:
I apologize to Peggy for anything I’ve ever done or said to offend. I now that I have been guilty of both with a lot of folks. I am happy your bio is here, and you have been part of my growth, too. Your work on the Tamil guerrilla communities was amazing and I think of it often. I include you among those in the Obama (for now) movement who are characterized by empathy and goodwill. Happy to hear from you again.
2 November 2008, 1:38 pmAK:
Hello everyone… I see I’m a bit late here as usual
Up to this point, I’ve been very much a lurker on this site, partly because much of what I have wanted to say has already been said by Stan and many others, and in part becuase of my own nervousness or reluctance to post in online discussions. I am a 21 year-old university student (studying politics, history, and anthropoology) and have spent most of my life in Vermont, which has come to influecne a great part of my personal and political life. I first came across Stan’s work in 2003/4 when an excerpt of “Full Spectrum Disorder,” which I got my hands on and spent the next 1 1/2 days reading. In FSD and also Hideous Dream, Stan articulated so much of what I was starting to realize and grapple with, but at that time couldn’t express.
After that I found out about Feral Scholar, and have been a fan ever since. As with probably a lot of other guys, it was a case of “came for the Marxism, stayed for the feminism.” Even though I had been involved with radical Left politics for a number of years before learning about this site and later reading Sex and War, I was one of those lefty white males who made a lot of noise about class, imperialism, war, etc, but was completely ignorant to my societal priveledge in terms of race and gender. In fact, it was my exposure through Stan to Catharine MacKinnon, bell hooks, Andrea Dworkin, and radical feminism that led me to be skeptical of, and everntually break with a lot of the “orthodox” Left. I also consider myself a Christian (I have been involved with United Churches of Christ for the past year), and have started a backyard garden for a couple of years (though the frost has been a consistant hinderance to growing squashes and sweet potatos). Fortunately, there is a pretty strong relocalization and self-sufficiency community here in Vermont.
These movements also led me to re-examine Vermont’s history, and since 2006 I have been involved with Vermont’s growing sovereingty movement, although I have disagreements with secessionist groups like Second Vermont Republic, particularly because of the absence of any revolutionary perspective in their programme, and over the need for a truly internationalist national liberation struggle. I do want Vermont to be independent of the US, but rather to end the 200 plus year American occupation of my country and its people by any means necessary. I believe in a united, independent, 17 county, democratic, socialist Worker’s Republic, and my allegiance is to the Westminster Proclamation and the Windsor Constitution of 1777, furthered by the Montpelier Declaration of 1785, and to the Republic of Vermont and its people, whose sovereignty and self-determination were illegally and unconstituionally surrendered to the US government in 1791. However, Vermont itself could not survive alone as a Republic, even as a socialist Republic, but rather as a springboard for revolution and national liberation in Quebec, Dakota-Lakota land, Puerto Rico, and throughout the Americas, just as Mariategui and Marti predicted.
Anways, its great to finally post and meet everyone here, this is an amazing bunch of folks (wicked gweat, as we would say). Basically the best articulation I’ve found of my politics and outlook on life is by the famous Irish Republican and trade unionist Bernadette MacAliskey, who basically summed up my political beliefs in 4 minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmKeYDsDimI
(apologies in advance for spelling mistakes
Wobenakiak Kizos Posiwaganogan!
3 November 2008, 12:03 amLong live Free Vermont!
Waldow:
Oregon, Susan/speck/catlady, Randy Morris, Michael Anderson, Kim Sky….
Well, let’s get the Oregon people from this site together, as Kim and Susan suggested. Best do it between the 15th and the 22nd of this months before the holidays. The People’s Food Co-Op would probably let us use a room. A home would be better, but I shack way out back Portland Proper, so the SE Portland Co-Op is probably best, yes? I’ll schedule what people can agree on and bring some feral food.
My email is shawn@imperviousconstruction.com. My Phone number is 206-9076.
Susan/speck/catlady, Randy Morris, and Michael Anderson: You expressed interest, but I can’t find a contact for you three. Kim Sky, I found your info and will email you.
-Shawn
7 November 2008, 5:41 amRandy Morris:
Ok, my bio, such as it is:
(took my daughter to march in a fairy parade that day)
My name is Randy, I live in Oregon with my partner, Jessica, and my 13-year-old son, Derek. We moved here about two months ago from Wyoming. The move was precipitated by my final burnout in the local Democratic Party machine and being a small business owner for the last ten years. Now here we are, and neither Jessica or I knows what to do with ourselves other than scrabble to survive in a wrecked job market—we need some kind of community. We are both very excited about the possible upcoming Oregon get-together.
I am a veteran of US Army occupation in Central America during the late 80′s. I never shot at anyone, nor was I shot at by anyone but fellow grunts (accidentally, I always presumed). I saw the culture of big-dick rape culture up close and personal, but avoided becoming caught up beyond an interest in guns. I got turned on to Feral Scholar through the bleeding edge From the Wilderness site immediately following 9/11. Everything I was hearing in the mainstream media sounded hollow and I ventured further afield as the months went on. Feral Scholar is one of the only online community sites I still visit daily, though I have little to contribute but my attention. The level of scholarship here can be intimidating, as can the occasional appearance of dogmatic political esoterica.
I got to meet several of the cool people from this site during the March to New Orleans. Jessica was also involved in the March, and that is where we met and subsequently became partners. The March was an amazing experience, one that helped catalyze my exodus from the wilderness of Wyoming. I want to feel MORE of what I felt during that amazing ad-hoc community.
My email for the purpose of this thread is theritz@tribcsp.com . My phone number if you would like to contact me is 644-2739 (area code is in Beaverton, OR) Please feel free to contact me anytime. Also, Jessica and I would like to throw our apartment in as incentive to the Oregon get-together as a safe place (and we have a sweet movie setup, too)
Take care,
Randy
7 November 2008, 1:42 pmBuddhalovesPaine:
Radical Camera,
7 November 2008, 4:29 pmThank you for your very informative reply. It is both inspiring and discouraging simultaneously. It is discouraging that there are so many young Americans who have such a low level of historical knowledge that they can be manipulated in to doing things that really are not what Americans should do.
Keeping people out of the US military who can be easily manipulated in to doing terrible things with out a good reason is also a very important job. I would like to write a little more but my spouse is kicking me off the computer now so maybe another time.
BuddhalovesPaine:
Radical Camera,
I do not know if you will ever see this or not but I have a few minutes to kill until the load of wash is done.
A few months ago I saw a pickup truck with a bumper sticker on the back that said, I volunteer to fight what you fear. Well if this person is in the military he or she is “milinformed”. That person volunteered to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and DOMESTIC. So have you. If you take this oath seriously it is not an oath that you can ignore just because it is inconvenient. Each day the US military has forces in Iraq it is using the US Constitution as a piece of toilet paper. OK the US Supreme Court has not ruled that to be the case. But fortunately the Constitution is a public document and it does not take a Harvard educated lawyer to see that the US military shits on the Constitution each day. It only takes someone who can read at about an 8th grade level and understand simple concepts.
Now I do not expect you to go all Rambo on me and try to defend the Constitution like the heroic Sgt. Hasan Akber did.(More about him later) You can not defend the Constitution by yourself. But doing what 1LT. Watada did would be a good start. As I am sure you have heard by now the US military was unable to convict 1st LT Watada for refusing to deploy to Iraq. By the way did you know that Ehren is a German word that means to honor in English, kind of makes me wonder about things.
Now a second point concerning the bumper sticker that I mentioned above is that I do not fear Iraqi Nationalists,
or seriously deluded Taliban supporters. If there is anyone that I and the American people need to be protected from it is from fascists in the US government. Now I really do hope and pray that the Taliban, at least as it was, does not come back to power in Afghanistan but the say of the US or NATO in that outcome should be very small. We are outside of the outsiders.
Because US legal standing in Afghanistan is at least cloudy and because the cover story used to justify US involvement there is better I do not take a position on whether or not a US soldier should refuse deployment to Afghanistan. In any case I did think of one other thing that you could do to defend the US Constitution and that would be to make a copy of Stan’s letter to US troops or my letters to you and leave them somewhere that you could claim that you accidently left them there and you were not disiminating subversive material.
Now about Sgt. Akbar. I recently recommended to some people that they write Sgt. Akbar to give him moral support. One person responded that they would not because Sgt. Akbar is a murderer. If you ask me he was the only person in the military who attempted, at least that we know about, to defend the US Constitution. One could say that his attack on the CP was not justified because he had no chance of success. But if viewed from a larger perspective of the whole war one must not ask whether he personally had a chance od success but whether or not the Iraqis had a chance of success. Second the fact that he did not openly declare his intentions but used treachery to carry out his attack. Well the US government used treachery to carry out its war. So I say big deal. If the US wants to use treachery it should not expect that it will be the only ones to use it.
One final comment. The military wants you to believe that a war crime is shooting civilians and blatant acts like that. But the fact is attacking a country that did not attack your country is the most serious war crime.
8 November 2008, 1:40 pmYour chain of command would like you to believe that you have to believe what they tell you.
Several years ago a German court ruled that if individual soldiers have to rely on their chain of command for deciding if a command is criminal or not the whole concept of war crimes has to be thrown out the window and all Nazi convictions overturned.
In memory of,
John Cornford 1915-28 December 1936 Lopera Spain
BLP
Waldow:
Oregon… Hello, (Rsklnkv where you at?), we’re meeting up,
From emails and postings as of Sunday the 9th, looks like we’ve got a group of about seven people who’d like to get together in the Portland area. Several people volunteered their home and to meet in and it looks like Kim has the most central location based on your responses.
The times still convenient for the everybody are Tuesday 18th – Evening, Wed 19th – Daytime, Friday 21st – Daytime.
Let’s settle on Tuesday evening. Please let me know about schedule conflicts before this Wednesday the 12th.
Please look to your email or contact me for further information. I’m not comfortable posting too many specifics on the blog here. After talking with Kim, I’ll get back to everybody by email by this Thursday.
Details, details, and then some fun, social and thinking. And at least punch and pie.
Bye,
Shawn Waldow
9 November 2008, 9:37 amshawn@imperviousconstruction.com
206-9076
charles:
But the fact is attacking a country that did not attack your country is the most serious war crime.
^^^
20 November 2008, 3:18 pmCB: This is legally correct. It is a Crime Against Peace, violating a United Nations law. It is ranked above the Crime Against Humanity ( Genocide). Hermann Goering , the Nazi War Minister, was convicted of Crimes Against Peace ( illegal war) at the Nuremburg trials.