OF THE
TIMES
Whether the mask is labeled fascism, democracy, or dictatorship of the proletariat, our great adversary remains the apparatus - the bureaucracy, the police, the military. Not the one facing us across the frontier of the battle lines, which is not so much our enemy as our brothers' enemy, but the one that calls itself our protector and makes us its slaves. No matter what the circumstances, the worst betrayal will always be to subordinate ourselves to this apparatus and to trample underfoot, in its service, all human values in ourselves and in others. - Simone Weil, French philosopher and political activistIt's no coincidence that during the same week in which the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Yates v. United States, a case in which a Florida fisherman is being threatened with 20 years' jail time for throwing fish that were too small back into the water, Florida police arrested a 90-year-old man twice for violating an ordinance that prohibits feeding the homeless in public.
"At the United Nations in 1999, there was a remarkable moment when the draft culture of peace resolution that we had prepared at UNESCO was considered during informal sessions. The original draft had mentioned a 'human right to peace.' According to the notes taken by the UNESCO observer, 'the U.S. delegate said that peace should not be elevated to the category of human right, otherwise it will be very difficult to start a war.' The observer was so astonished that she asked the U.S. delegate to repeat his remark. 'Yes,' he said, 'peace should not be elevated to the category of human right, otherwise it will be very difficult to start a war.'"And a remarkable truth emerges, one it's not polite to talk about or allude to in the context of national business: In one way or another, war rules. Elections come and go, even our enemies come and go, but war rules. This fact is not subject to debate or, good Lord, democratic tinkering. Nor is the need for and value of war - or its endless, self-perpetuating mutation - ever pondered with clear-eyed astonishment in the mass media. We never ask ourselves, in a national context: What would it mean if living in peace were a human right?
No matter what a grand jury decides in the case of a white Ferguson police officer who shot and killed an unarmed black teenager, people will take to the streets, whether in anger or celebration.Police, however, are not ruling out riot gear in an area that has already seen violent protesters, and in turn, heavy handed tactics against protesters and members of the media.
Ferguson Mayor James Knowles III has said he is preparing for "all worst-case scenarios" when the grand jury finally speaks. Police are gearing up for riots. Since August, police have spent more than $100,000 stocking up on body armor, tear gas, handcuffs and other crowd control items.
The [Don't Shoot] coalition created a list of 19 demands they dubbed "rules of engagement," including a plea to police to avoid using armored vehicles, tear gas, rubber bullets or rifles, and to don riot gear only as a last resort.
Did Aaron take his own life or was he killed? Moti Nissani is Wayne State University Department of Biology Professor Emeritus. "Who Killed Aaron Swartz," he asked?Aaron Swartz's suspicious death
He quoted Bob Marley saying: "How long shall they kill our prophets while we stand aside and look?" He listed reasons why Obama administration scoundrels wanted him dead.
His death "was preceded by a vicious, totally unjustified, campaign of surveillance, harassment, vilification, and intimidation."
CIA/FBI/Mossad/MI5 assassins expertly "mak(e) murder look like suicide." Numerous "enemies of the state" die under suspicious circumstances. Media scoundrels don't explain.
US authorities "had excellent reasons to kill" Aaron. He was legendary in his own right like John Lennon, MLK, Malcolm X and others. He threatened status quo dominance. He denounced Obama's kill list and anti-Iranian cyber attacks.
The bankers, generals, and spooks who comprise our invisible government had plenty of reasons to kill Aaron Swartz, especially because the internet - along with a well-armed citizenry - are the last remaining obstacles on the road to their totalitarian horizon. He was creative, idealistic, and unbendable. He was young and admired by many. If not checked, he might have slowed down the Syndicate's attacks on the biosphere, freedom, peace, justice, free flow of information, and common decencies. So the invisible government probably did kill him. They did so either indirectly through constant harassment, as his loved ones publicly state, or, most likely, directly by hanging him and alleging that he hung himself.Who killed Aaron Swartz?
Comment: If we are to celebrate Remembrance Day this year, there's nothing more fitting than (re)reading Tomas Young's letter again and share it far and wide, because this is exactly what we should remember, not just today but everyday: the psychopathic insanity of our leaders who stage wars, and ALL the victims of ALL wars, especially the ones being fought right now because of the "lies, manipulation and thirst for wealth and power" of said leaders:
Dying vet's 'F*** You' letter to George Bush & Dick Cheney needs to be read by every American
Hemingway addressed soldiers thus in his "Notes on the Next War: A Serious Topical Letter" first published in Esquire (September 1935):