War, Politics, and Life by Bruce Maulden
Rain again this Saturday morning on California’s north coast, with that sunshine scheduled for next Tuesday, already pushed back to Thursday, and today’s rainfall supposedly heavy at times, totals maybe an inch. Beyond the fractured ways of weather, narrative of the Sony hacking whatnot has developed some serious scenarios — this morning an odd bounce,…
Last week’s release of the mouth-full, “The Committee Study of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Detention and Interrogation Program,” has exploded so impactful, now it’s recognizable/understood by just three words, ‘CIA Torture Report,’ or ‘Torture Report‘ for short — and all kinds of blowback side-issue shit has been regurgitated. Use of torture to create a way-false…
Rain pelts hard, then drizzles off into just hanging moisture — long-overcast clouds this early Monday appear ready to burst here on this little stretch of California’s north coast. And those clouds do occasionally open, but after a short-quick lashing of big droplets, making big spatters on my back patio, the rain lingers briefly only…
Dark with a thick overcast in mid-afternoon here on California’s north coast, ‘rain likely’ so says the NWS and most-likely it will, but who’s to know? Beyond/besides just a warming planet, this yesterday in the Guardian reveals humanity’s plight hinges on more than climate: A stark depiction of the threat hanging over the world’s mammals,…
Sunshine finally this afternoon — and for more than just a few minutes. A factoid known in reality, but yet proven. Via the LA Times: New research has rigorously tested Male Idiot Theory, which posits that, well, men are idiots and are driven to take ridiculous risks despite the clear prospects for self-harm, and for…
Rain continues, but on this early Friday California’s north coast keeps on floating. Does anyone anywhere seem concerned about this? Between April and June 2014: ‘There were 70 suicides among service members in the active component, 14 suicides among service members in the reserves, and 20 suicides among service members in the National Guard.’ Although…
Rain still a-coming here this late afternoon on California’s drenched northern coast — seems not as windy, though. Straight-up comment off the ‘CIA Torture Report,’ this from David Simon, creator of “The Wire,” on his blog yesterday: Fuck writing reports. Fuck arguing about reports. For the very soul of the country, some people must go…
The word “blowback” was invented by the CIA to put a name on their ‘unintended’ fuck-ups — one sliver of ‘blowback’ already off the ‘CIA Torture Report’ concerns the real-big lie. From McClatchy: ‘CIA Director John Brennan, under fire over the Senate report on the CIA’s use of torture, is facing new heat over his…
A swelling interest in George Orwell, in a swelling Orwellian age of WikiLeaks and worldwide mega- surveillance — art imitating life, and life becoming a movie. Robert Butler at Intelligent Life magazine reviews the literature of a cultural, social motif for an age, “1984,” a tale of the times, from Orwell’s literary executor Bill Hamilton: ‘“We’re…
As the now-infamous ‘CIA Torture Report’ continues to wedge down the digestive tract, some upshots — one, how effective Sen. Mark Udall’s outrage speech this morning on the floor of the Senate:’““One disturbing finding: [CIA] Director Brennan and the CIA are continuing to willfully provide inaccurate information and misrepresent the efficacy of torture. In other…
