munky.org|v3.0

Young girls live in fear of rape and murder in Darfur

“They told me to kill, to rape children.” I ask anyone, could you follows these orders? For most of us, it would be rather straight forward. I would rather die. However, if you didn’t follow orders, you would.

I don’t envy Nic Robertson of CNN.  He’s the man who wrote a recent article, recounting what happened to a man who was constricted as a Sudanese soldier.

As I sat inches from Adam –not his real name — I feared the revulsion I knew I would feel at my own questions as I asked about rape and his involvement. I have interviewed rape survivors in Darfur. I have two daughters. I am a human being with a conscience. It would be hard to listen to his replies.

Right on the head. I don’t know if I could’ve controlled myself talking with one of the perpetraitors of one of the most horendous acts of genocide in recent history.

Adam claims to have not killed anyone though, and he did not penetrate while raping  (he claims he just laid on top). He didn’t want to do it, but to do otherwise would’ve been death. He attempted to escape and was instead captured and tortured. After he did leave, he went with his sisters and joined the rebels. Unfortunately, they didn’t trust him either, locking him up until he was able to escape.

So that goes back to the original question. Could you do it? Could you forcefully follow orders to commit sins on a paramount scale? We say we would rather die, but in Adam’s case, that was the only alternative at the time. What good would it do to die like that? You would save nothing nor no one. You would be no martyr, there would be no grievance, since no one would know it happened.

The only satisfaction of doing what is right in the face of death is never having to live with the atrocities you have committed. It’s a power question to think about. I don’t know what I would do. Maybe say ok, while secretly forming a rebellion within the ranks of the men like me, enslaved by my government to kill my own people. Yet what good would it do, maybe buy a village a day or two at best?

If you want to read the entire article, then click here.

The good news is, a judge in the International Criminal Court has issued a warrant for the arrest of Omar Hassan al-Bashir, president of Sudan and the man leading the genocide in Darfur. More on that is available here on CNN.

Lockheed Martin Photo - F-22

With the hard times come hard decisions. Right now in the mist of potentially record deficits fueled by years of war, pork-barrel spending, bailouts, and tax cuts, some things are going to have to be trimmed. The Obama administration has made it clear that it considers cutting funding for further acquisition of the F-22 Raptor. Each F-22 costs about $140 million, and the Air Force is wanting to purchase several hundred more to augment their current small fleet. Obviously, billions of dollars are at stake, and we currently have a number of fighter jets including the F-16 and F-15, so on the surface this sounds like a good idea.

Wrong. The F-22 goes above and beyond the capabilities of the current fleet of U.S. fighter jets. America has learned since World War 2 that air superiority is critical in mission completion. And in terms of superiority, the F-22 has it. It’s incredibly stealthy – the only time radar can pick one up (it’s actual radar signature is classified however) is when it opens its weapons bay for a fraction of a second to launch a missile – and it is maneuverable in ways that only an F-15 can dream about.  It has the capability of cruising at mach speeds without afterburners, allowing it to more efficiently go deeper in enemy territory fast and on less fuel.

Opponents of the F-22 say that it’s role can be filled by the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which utilizes stealth technology developed from the F-22, is more flexible in its uses, and costs between $80 t0 $90 million dollars. However, the F-35 is not production ready, and won’t be for a few more years. The average age of the US fighter fleet is around 30 years old and is in the process of slowly being phased out. The F-22 is available here and now (there are approx. 120 in service today). Even though the F-35 may be more cost conscious monetarily, once you weigh in the unfactored costs it’s not worth the weight.

There is also 95,000 jobs tied up in the production of the F-22, coming out of nearly every state in the union. Do we need to create a policy that would put another 100,000 people out of work?

There is also other concerns that not everyone else is willing to mention. The F-22 is state of the art technology and is more advanced than anything out enemies have created. If we back out of it though, the technology behind it may find its way into the wrong hands. The last thing we need is for China (who we know has attempted with some success to smuggle F-15 parts into the country to reverse engineer one into their own fighter) or Russia (whose puppet master is ex-KGB and government policies lend themselves better to the U.S.S.R. than democratic Russia) to get their hands on the technology and secretly develop a fleet of advanced fighters. We’d be sitting ducks.

Thankfully – for now – most in Congress have been opposed to the cut backs, due to pressure from their constituents over the potential job loss. They’ve learned quite well the power of the ripple effect through the economy, so this may hold them at bay for now. However, the recession is going to get worse before it gets better, and with Obama wanting to wipe the deficit within his first term (good luck to the that), I don’t know how long they will hold up.

I ask you to please go to contact your U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators and implore them to fight against cutting the funding for the F-22 Raptor.

Wall Street

Ok, I’m just getting fed up. Seriously.

First off, I’m sick of those damn wall street analysts. They go on the shows, post their blogs, write in the papers. They are oh so smart and know everything. Well if these dueschebags knew what the hell the were talking about, then A) we shouldn’t have gotten into this mess anyways, and B) they’d be running their own company. Not a consulting firm. They be running their own banks skipping merrily along the way because all of their rivals are being handed to them on a silver platter by the FDIC.

Comprehending the news has always been an art of distinguishing the bull from the truth, but honestly, nowadays it’s blurred so much you don’t know if it’s a horror movie or the 1930′s revisited. These guys have gotten into everyone’s heads that the sky is falling, grade A Chicken Littles! Sure, the sky is broken, some pieces may be dropping, but the last time I checked, the sky is still up there. (more…)

(source) Iraq reconstruction history details waste, failures – CNN

We’ve known it for years: Our government may be the worst role model for how to spend money. But this is almost too sickening given everything else. The war itself, and the ensueing “police action,” were expensive enough. But spending $40 million on a jail that will never be used because some dumbfuck in Washington thought it was a smart idea to start infrastructure improvements BEFORE the country was secure. I guess the next war we’ll let them build skyscrapers on the front lines so the Brass can get the birds eye view.

While we squabble away at this whole bailout mindset – the banks, the homeowners, the carmakers, etc. – the government is showing perfectly that it itself can’t manage money with a damn. Ludacris ideas. Spending way too much on stupid shit while not spending enough on the things that make real importance. Just so they can scratch each others backs while it is finished.

We’re a joke and a disgrace. Our housing markets are in the tank, unemployment levels sky high, banks falling, cities crumbling, the middle-class dying. Towards the begining of the war on terror in Afghanistan, Mr. Bin Laden sent out one of those infamous “fireside chats” of chastizing the infidel. As always. But he stated his mission was simple. Do to the U.S. what they had done to the U.S.S.R. Let the war drive them to bankruptcy. He wanted to bury us on our own terms. His plan is working pretty well, sad to say.

We’re looking at trillion dollar deficits. Ouch! A massive loss of wealth in a short amount of time. Billionaires shrink to millionaires. Millions down to the thousands. Thousands to the unemployment line, with hands open and pockets inside out. Please help.

Even my family and I, of that so-called recession proof class. Hah. My wife looses her near 50,000/year job. 2.5 months later she finally gets another job: a whopping $12/hour. Me, I make it through my job cuts. But no overtime. Zip. Hell, they are trying to fight us about working 40 hours a week. I’ma fight though, because that’s what I got to do.

Well make this through it though. That’s one thing that Bin Laden underestimates. He thinks tenacity is a gift from Allah only given to the Bediuens and the jihadists. We survived a massive economy depression just to be thrust into war. We emerged victorious in both counts. We wonder why our parents and grandparents had a different kind of toughness, it’s from living through those times. These times. Adversity builds character. And too take my cheap jab at the Russians, the lack thereof explains the lack of the U.S.S.R. on a map today.

One thing we need to do though is reign in our government. That whole for the people by the people doesn’t mean “For the people to watch us fuck, by the people who let us fuck.” It’s not enough to sit by idly and trust our country is in good hands. While at the same time, a balance must be made so not to overpressure the government to make hasty ideas, which turn into dangerous ideas. Things will fall into place, but it takes a vigilent eye, the collective eye of every United States citizen, to ensure everything is properly maintained.

Well, that’s bout it for the evening. I need to crash. Hard.