Choosing flocks.

(Click on chart to enlarge.)

"What about the Catholics?"......

They don`t get a mention?....

Well I absolutely don`t know... I didn`t draw the chart....most likely the artist has made a point "by omission".

Burning money, and boiling blood.

Years ago, whilst attending a safety awareness course, a lecturer made it quite clear...
"There`s no such thing as an accident", he taught..... "There`s carelessness, lack of planning or maintainance, there`s stupidity, and all accidents show a failure of anticipative prevention by the management."

At 50 million dollars, loosing one Chinook helicopter and crew is unfortunate, even careless to say the least, but loosing three in one morning is bordering on stupidity.

Fourteen Americans dead as helicopters crash in Afghan raids.


The sheer waste of taxpayer money in this arrogant war is more than stupid, it has become pointless.
The helicopters can be replaced, and as long as the servile taxpayer doesn`t mind, and no doubt the military will want more, as for replacing the crew, it`s "Next please".... until there are no more replacements, willing to die for futile glory and the whims of the rich.

Off to work now, so here`s a tune for anyone feeling a little under the weather.

Thoughts that cross the water.

Have you ever gone to the `phone, thinking I`ll call *^^&*, and suddenly as you do, the ring tones sound, and there`s the very person, with the same notion in mind.

Is it the power of thought, or just a coincidence?

Did you ever wonder how millions of migratory birds can agree to meet, twice a year at the same place and time, to fly across continents and between nations?..

Anyway.....looking at two articles on the internet, one from Britain, the other from the US, one might ask if the writers were aware of each other, or is it just a coincidence of thought and time.

From Texas the voice of Len Hart:

FACT TIME: there is only ONE justification for war under International Law and that is ''imminent threat'.
.....
I say file capital charges against George W. Bush, his guilty staff and the Pentagon brass who knowingly and willing planned the entire heist on behalf of big oil!
........

I say charge every member of the Dick Cheney 'Energy Task Force' for planning it all, literally carving up the oil fields of Iraq before the all-too-convenient Riechstag Fire called 911 gave them the broad and wide ranging pretext to begin a perpetual war in which the US would plunder the Middle East."

Full text.


More moderate, but with the same tone, in London, writing about Afghanistan in the Guardian newspaper, from the columnist Simon Jenkins....

Not calling for the politicians and generals to be charged and tried, but it seems that the same conclusion is reached;

That our armed forces are no longer defending the interests and safety of the taxpayer, but instead are serving the greed of the oil barons and defending the stagnant ineptitude of politicians.

"...We have blown $230bn of US and UK taxpayers' money and left 1,463 soldiers dead. Everything has been tried, from gender awareness courses to carpet-bombing Tora Bora......
...The West is not under any threat that remotely justifies this wreckage. Instead, weak politicians, bored by domestic ills, have seized on any passing threat to boost their standing at home by fighting small wars abroad and making them big...
..Western leaders seem unable to resist the seduction of military power. .."

Original article here.

The military wants more soldiers, more weapons, more drones, more helicopters, tanks, more more more, but perhaps, in terms of meeting the realities of less developed nations, the time has come for the West to consider sending architects, bricklayers, carpenters, engineers, electricians, plumbers, doctors, nurses, teachers.....

In return, maybe the human race will start travelling in the same direction at the same time.

Harps, chords and other notes.

Karl Jenkins, a modern Welsh composer, conducts his own "Palladio", with Catrin Finch playing the electric harp.

Both are said to be "at the edge". Enjoy!

The message from Hakimullah Mehsud.

Hakimullah Meshud is a leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, supposedly killed by a drone, or was it a missile, or.... anyway, he`s still alive, and would like Obama to withdraw all his troops from Muslim soil.
If not, he says, "send two million, and it will still not be enough."

The military solution from the US/NATO is doing nothing except wasting the blood of young soldiers, leaving many of them as amputees and /or mentally incapacitated and billions of taxpayer funds on armaments and weapons that after eight long and wasted years have brought neither peace nor stability, nor even an honest election...but of course, without war, the generals would have no career, and the arms manufacturers would have no markets.

Hakimullah has also constantly affirmed that his only goal is to drive out all invading troops, and nothing more.
His methods, the roadside bomb, and the ambush are typical of guerilla tactics the world over... the IRA against the British, Castro and Guevara in Cuba, the Algerian resistance against the French, and of course, in some ways, the Vietcong.

The location, tactics and timing are always in his control, a first rule of warfare.


In the clip, Mehsud appears with his retinue, their demeanour has an air, a spirit that exudes self-confidence, but without the swagger of most military enclaves.

Nothing radical or new in his tactics, except that he believes fervently that he represents the views of almost 1.5 billion Muslims, many of whom are exceptionally wealthy.
Along with the news that the Chinese, French, Russians and most Arab oil producers are calling for an end the dollar dominance in oil trade, it looks like it`s time for America and Nato to consider withdrawal, before they bankrupt their citizens.

Ending war.

So what happens next... the Taliban are seemingly all powerful and unrelenting, the American military and NATO are now the most expensive the world has ever seen, and want more funds, but confess they are loosing both in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The war machine wants billions...to build... more means of destruction, an oxymoronic affair indeed.

But there we are, why build and sell tractors for 10 K, when army jeeps fetch a hundred K, why produce hammers and chisels, when machine guns and rifles fetch a thousand times the price.

Why train teachers, or doctors for the good of the entire community, when soldiers and airmen will bring the power of life and death to their masters.

But sooner or later, politicians all realise that warmongering is a dangerous game, and with no real progress in Afghanistan, Obama has very little time before the cost of the American military becomes a topic of public discussion.

The price of an armoured troop carrier approaches a million or so bucks, jeeps like the hummer cost less, whilst helicopters fetch 20 milion or more.

All from the hard working taxpayer, whilst the roadside bomb costs the Talibans just 50 bucks or so, and is raised from "donations".

Britain/Westminster is spending billions too, and still has no specific mandate or objective.

"Get the terrorists"... "Stop the extremists", are hardly well thought out reasons for occupying a country that for the most part seems to support the ejection of foreign troops. After the obviously corrupt elections in Kabul, the notion of bringing democracy is another transparent falsehood.

Meanwhile, back at the bankers banquet.

Looks like most of the "change" has ended up in the pockets of the rich.