War, Politics, and Life by Bruce Maulden
Last paragraph yesterday from a story by Spencer Ackerman at the Guardian about how NSA people do as they please with government technology: Compounding the potential financial conflicts at the NSA, Buzzfeed News reported that the home of chief of its Signals Intelligence Directorate, Teresa Shea, has a signals-intelligence consulting firm operating out of it.…
One of the sadly-prolific and ironically-evolving tragedies of these modern times has to be Iraq. The invasion 11 years ago could-be most-easily “the greatest strategic disaster in U.S. history,” but for sure, that one single event also marked day one of a fucked-up, immoral, man-made calamity. Flashback dream at right: A frightened child flees Basra,…
Clear and chilly this early-morn Monday on California’s north coast — there’s a misty-bit of ground fog, which seems to sparkle and glow when sunshine reaches through it, creating for just seconds, the illusion of a way-colorful buzz to the air. Burns off pretty quick, though, if there’s no real off-shore wind. Despite the fireball,…
A fog-soaked early Friday here on California’s north coast, feels like it’s fog-soaked all over the world. The NWS calls it ‘patchy fog,’ but there’s not a empty/patchy spot anywhere, and we’re also forecast for a chance of ‘drizzle’ sometime today, which is just another word for ‘fog-soaked.’ Language the clue — due to hard-shell…
In the parlance of close calls, American dodged one nasty, dangerous bullet in 2008. Last month, that projectile was actually a fist — Sarah Palin and her whole family got involved in a drunken brawl up yonder in Anchorage, Alaska, with shirtless fighting, slut shaming and all kinds of odorous activities. Ms Sarah also screamed…
Misty, wet fog this early Tuesday on California’s north coast as the fall weather pattern fits more like summer — this attitude will rob us of the lunar phenomenon due tonight. A ‘blood moon‘ and its environs: Sometimes, when the moon dips into Earth’s shadow during an eclipse, the natural satellite takes on a coppery-red…
Another slide into some kind of whirlwind war zone once again, the odds are slowly being upped for more American flesh being put on the line in Iraq. Not yet ‘boots on the ground,’ but how’s the feel of ‘boots in the air.’ Via Mcclatchy this evening: The United States sent attack helicopters into combat…
Maybe an ominous turn of events in the anti-ISIS campaign in Iraq — the crazy horde might secure Abu Ghraib, just outside Baghdad, and could place their captured US 155 mm howitzers within range of Baghdad International Airport. A major-bad to close the airport. From Mcclatchy: “These have a range of about (20 miles) and…
The Global AgeWatch Index, a study on the influence of old folks, reported the worse country in the whole world to grow old in is Afghanistan — a horrible tribute to a lost, terrified country, nearly forgotten. Next Tuesday, by the way, the 13th glorious anniversary of “Operation Enduring Freedom”, and operations indeed have endured.…
Steady rain and a gray quiet this afternoon — war the topic. Yet what is war? Via CNN: Mass shootings have been occurring more frequently in recent years, an FBI study shows, with nearly one incident a month from 2000 to 2013…Seventy percent of the incidents “occurred in either a commerce/business or educational environment,” the…
