Pointings for May 14, 2012

Here are a few choice morsels from the past few days compilation.

Nation States (not?)

• mashable.com: Pirates Off Silicon Valley — 133 Startups to Live on this Rogue Boat

Why? Because the people on the boat and their enterprises would not be subject to any nation’s laws, or taxes. Reminds me of the google co-founder who renounced U.S. citizenship — so as not to pay taxes. Hmmm. On the one hand it pisses me off to think that people would refuse to pay their share of what it take to support all of us, including educating our children. On the other hand, when at least 50% of our taxes go to war making, and when education is more and more indoctrination, I find it hard to stay mad. Furthermore, I’m all for the idea of various bioregions self-identifying and seceding from the so-called U.S. of A. Regional “government,” to the extent that any centralized authority is necessary — for transportation and communication infrastructure, and what else? — makes more sense. Nation states are a figment of map makers imaginations fed by the his-torical quest for territory and treasure. BTW: This rogue boat is still, by the way, in the “concept” stage.

–––––

Foot Soldiers of the 1% waking up? (See new Chris Hedges column.)

• fas.org: Pentagon Moves to Combat the “Insider Threat“

Are we to assume there’s more and more dissension in the ranks? And that those whose minds have been broken and remolded and controlled to fit the compartmentalized, hierarchical military mindset are beginning to wake up? It reminds me of another post that sent chills up my spine.

• readersupportednews: Missing FBI Agent Believed Armed and Suicidal, Say Police

Suicidal? Or set up to be killed. What does he know that the FBI doesn’t want him to tell?

______

Banksterism

• shiftfrequency.com: JPMorgan Black Swan?

Greg Hunter’s perspective on the 2 billion dollar vanishment at the one bank that was supposed to be above it all. I suppose this is the worst-case scenario (or maybe the best, depending on your point of view). From the article: “What if the other big banks are in the same spot? Does there come a time when the big banks are no longer too big to fail but too leveraged to save?”

_____

Space Weather

• susanrennison.com.

Wish I could remember who turned me on to this interesting site that “keeps online some of my research about the new phenomena of space weather driving massive evolutionary change.” I like that Rennison will follow a new announcement by NASA, for example, with a commentary on what it might mean. The latest on her blog, the discovery that the sun is moving more slowly than predicted; so slowly, that it doesn’t have a “bow shock,” but a “bow wave.” That this discovery undoes decades of scientific theory. Rennison: “ We’re on the threshold of a new era in which space weather can be as influential in our daily lives as ordinary terrestrial weather. “

_____

NATO and Missile Defense

• nationalinterest.org: Debunking the Missile-Defense Myth

The way it begins says it all.

“A report by the Pentagon’s own Defense Science Board (DSB) has poured cold water on U.S. missile-defense plans. It basically backs up what independent scientists and engineers have been saying for decades: a dedicated adversary easily could defeat the planned system by using simple decoy warheads and other countermeasures. So while missile defense will create incentives for U.S. adversaries and competitors to up their ballistic-missile stockpiles, it won’t provide any combat capability to counteract these enlarged arsenals.

“The simplest countermeasures to the planned missile defense are cheap inflatable balloons.”

And in other “defense” (read: offense) news, there’s this, coming right up, the NATO summit in Chicago May 20-21. The Nation asks, Why is NATO necessary?

Here’s a paragraph from that article:

“As laid out by Ambassador Daalder, one of the American objectives at the Chicago summit is to ensure that NATO members maintain their military capabilities during this era of deep recession. At a time when austerity programs are gutting essential social services in Europe and the United States, it’s hard to imagine a more misguided objective. A far better goal is to shrink NATO’s military budget and global ambitions so that US and European leaders can focus on the greatest threat to Western peace and prosperity since World War II: an economic crisis that threatens to destroy the social welfare state. A broad coalition of activists (see natoprotest.org) will be converging on Chicago to hold teach-ins, direct-action training and a Counter Summit for Peace and Prosperity in pursuit of just that goal.”

Meanwhile, I just now ran across this:

• China Daily: NATO Chief says Missile Shield to be Expanded

Why? Because the aerospace and defense-contractors can continue to reap huge profits, that’s why. I mean, DUH!

_____