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Last login: 3 days agoLaodan: laodan is a guy from Milford, Pennsylvania, USA.; Likes 1,600 pages, 24 videos, 8 photos • 222 fans • Received 65 reviews; Member since Aug 08, 2005

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A criminal idea | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk: Jan 26, 12:27pm 3 reviews economics, globalization, power
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/james_k_galbraith/2008/01/a_criminal_idea...; A criminal idea in The Guardian by James K Galbraith
Five former Nato generals, including the former chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, John Shalikashvili, have written a "radical manifesto" which states that "the West must be ready to resort to a pre-emptive nuclear attack to try to halt the 'imminent' spread of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction." In other words, the generals argue that "the west" - meaning the nuclear powers including the United States, France and Britain - should prepare to use nuclear weapons, not to deter a nuclear attack, not to retaliate following such an attack, and not even to pre-empt an imminent nuclear attack. Rather, they should use them to prevent the acquisition of nuclear weapons by a non-nuclear state. And not only that, they should use them to prevent the acquisition of biological or chemical weapons by such a state. A criminal idea Pre-emptive nuclear strike a key option, Nato told Fact is that laws are created under duress of force that comes with the power to impose such laws. Laws can be changed or adapted or cheated upon at will by those who have the power to do so without being threatened by ulterior sanctions. Recent history showed us that the West can indeed by-pass International Law without being sanctioned while other nations are being punished for not observing the laws drafted by those same Western powers. In other words Law follows Force and force is the prerogative of economic power that sustains state power. I think that it would be more productive thinking about why such a proposal comes out precisely at this time of the history of late modernity. Such a proposal comes out at this precise juncture not as the result of an accident. It figures high as a response in the present Western Zeitgeist of insecurity that comes with: - a Western popular backlash against globalization - a Western perception that newly industrializing nations are "stealing" their traditional fossil fuel sources. - a Western perception that those same newly industrializing nations are not playing by the same rule-book and are thus somehow "illegally" disrupting "the level playing field" - a Western perception that China, India and other newly industrializing nations are responsible for the bulk of CO2 ejections that lead to climate change. - and so on. Countering this proposal with legal arguments is thus not going to relieve us from the adoption of that proposal by Western Powers.

Edge: THE GOSPEL OF JUDAS: May 23, 2007 10:45am 4 reviews religion, power, worldviews
http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/pagels07/pagels07_index.html; THE GOSPEL OF JUDAS in Edge, The Third Culture, A Talk with Elaine Pagels
There is a Jewish tradition about persecution and about martyrdom which sees dying for God, as they called it, as a way of witnessing God's power. The followers of Jesus argued intensely about that question. And the Gospel of Judas is one of the writings that comes out of these intense, painful arguments involving the threat of violence, arrest, threat of torture and public execution. This shows us what DIDN'T become Christianity and casts very new light on what did. THE GOSPEL OF JUDAS
1. Stories about Jesus were written long after his death.
2. The story of Jesus that has been passed down through history is a simplified and screened history. It is only after emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and made it the religion of the empire that the story of Christianity as we know it today was fashioned through selective retaining or purging of gospels. Among the retained are the ones by Mark, Paul, Matthew,... and among the purged are the ones by Mary Magdalene, Phillip, Thomas, Judas,...
3. The story of Christianity, as we know it, has to be understood in the context of it being transformed into the official worldview of the Roman Empire. It then became a tool for the men of power to glue mentally their citizens behind a unified vision and understanding of reality.
4. The story of Christianity devised as the worldview to be shared by all within the Roman Empire had not much in common with the message of Jesus the first century rabbi.
5. What does it change to know those facts?

Salon.com News | "We dont want to confirm or deny the Holocaust": May 30, 2006 6:22pm 1 review globalization, power, geo-politics
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/05/30/ahmadinejad_interview/index.html...; We don't want to confirm or deny the Holocaust I never had the chance to read what Ahmadinejad says. Here is a good interview of him and what he says is simply astonishing. I will not start a personal commentary it would be too long, everyone can make up his own mind... Der Spiegel in Tehran, Iran By Stefan Aust, Gerhard Sp�rl and Dieter Bednarz """ Following is an interview with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad conducted by German newsmagazine Der Spiegel in Teheran. Spiegel: Are you still saying that the Holocaust is just "a myth"? Ahmadinejad: I will only accept something as truth if I am actually convinced of it. Spiegel: Even though no Western scholars harbor any doubt about the Holocaust? Ahmadinejad: But there are two opinions on this in Europe. One group of scholars or persons, most of them politically motivated, say the Holocaust occurred. Then there is the group of scholars who represent the opposite position and have therefore been imprisoned for the most part. """ URL: We don't want to confirm or deny the Holocaust

3quarksdaily: May 26, 2006 3:26pm 1 review us, globalization, power, geo-politics
http://3quarksdaily.blogs.com/3quarksdaily/2006/05/the_us_in_peril.html; The US in Peril? I think the US, yes, is confronted by 3 plagues: indebtedness (public + private), energy (oil) and the sharing of a worldview (but the return to old religious belief systems will just not help, on the contrary, it blinds the country to the factors that will determine its future in a globalized world. Dumb indeed!). via 3QuarksDaily, Abbas Raza, in The New York Review of Books by Jeff Madrick """ Dependency on oil is one of three major tendencies that will seriously undermine America's future, he writes, the other two being the influence of radical religion and the growing reliance on debt to support the economy. For Phillips, these constitute "the three major perils to the United States of the twenty-first century," and he offers little hope that the US will avoid the consequences. """ URL: The US in Peril? URL: American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century by Kevin Phillips. Viking Press

Project Syndicate: May 11, 2006 4:05pm 1 review globalization, power, geo-politics
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/moisi5/English; The European Museum For someone as myself who has been involved (for a short time) in the creation of Europe's future this article is hillarious but also sadening... Europe and I should add the West in general are acting very provincially indeed as if the rapid inclusion of 60% of the world population into modernity were bound to have no impact upon them... in ProjectSyndicate by Dominique Moisi """ Prominent Asians, such as former Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew, are now warning Europeans that if they continue on their current course, Europe will rapidly become irrelevant for anything other than tourism and high-end real estate. A prominent Chinese businessman who divides his time between Hong-Kong and London was even more specific. At a private gathering of top business and political leaders in Paris a few weeks ago, he said, "You Europeans are becoming a Third World country, you spend time on the wrong subjects -the constitution, the welfare state, the pensions crisis - and you systematically give the wrong answers to the questions you raise." """ URL: The European Museum

A Theory of Power, Jeff Vails Critique of Hierarchy &Empire: May 11, 2006 1:53pm 1 review military, globalization, power, geo-politics
http://www.jeffvail.net/2006/05/private-law-of-war.html; The private law of war I have read Jeff Vail's book "A Theory of power" and because of its excellence I now follow his posting on his blog. Feff Vail has worked in the US military he was in Irak in 1991 so he knows what he speaks about when he writes about the affairs of war. I advise anyone interested in matters of security to read Jeff's post. in Theory of Power by Jeff Vail """ "Security will become a function of where you live and whom you work for, much as health care is allocated already."- John Robb. We stand now at a fork in the road: the world is rapidly but almost imperceptibly moving towards security as a market function. If we hope to uphold a set of supra-market standards in areas like human rights, privacy, and freedom, then the world community must act to bring security functions back within the publicly regulated realm. Whatever the solution, there is a critical need for better regulation of private military and security functions of all types--hopefully awareness of this legal vacuum will be the first step in the path to a collective, international solution. """ URL: The private law of war URL: A theory of power (FREE 66 pages PDF Download)

A Theory of Power, Jeff Vails Critique of Hierarchy &Empire: Apr 25, 2006 12:27pm 1 review complex-systems, networks, power
http://www.jeffvail.net/2006/04/normative-network.html; The Normative Network in a Theory of Power by Jeff Vail """ How can a dispersed lattice of self-sufficient nodes ever produce enough self-regulation to facilitate complex interaction? Doesn't that require hierarchy to impose rules in a top-down manner? Not so much. Here's a paper written by rather precocious high school student Alexander Franks on the matter: "Understanding Evolved Strategies for System-Wide Coordination in Noisy Environments." """ URL: The Normative Network URL: Understanding Evolved Strategies for System-Wide Coordination in Noisy Environments URL: Promise to move our lives closer to that ideal URL: r some thoughts on this concept as applied to open-source warfare.

Foreign Affairs - The Rise of U.S. Nuclear Primacy - Keir A. Lieber and Daryl G.…: Mar 16, 2006 5:00pm 2 reviews globalization, power, geo-politics
http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20060301faessay85204-p0/keir-a-lieber-daryl-g-p...; The Rise of U.S. Nuclear Primacy
Whow! How does it feel to know that the US could be capable to succeed a first strike successfully? As the authors write "One's views on the implications of this change will depend on one's theoretical perspective".
in ForeignAffairs by Keir A. Lieber and Daryl G. Press:
""" Today, for the first time in almost 50 years, the United States stands on the verge of attaining nuclear primacy. It will probably soon be possible for the United States to destroy the long-range nuclear arsenals of Russia or China with a first strike. This dramatic shift in the nuclear balance of power stems from a series of improvements in the United States' nuclear systems, the precipitous decline of Russia's arsenal, and the glacial pace of modernization of China's nuclear forces. Unless Washington's policies change or Moscow and Beijing take steps to increase the size and readiness of their forces, Russia and China -- and the rest of the world -- will live in the shadow of U.S. nuclear primacy for many years to come. """

URL: The Rise of U.S. Nuclear Primacy

EastSouthWestNorth: How Movie Censorshpi Was Practiced in Hong Kong: Feb 26, 2006 7:59am 1 review society, power, censure
http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20060226_1.htm; Ha, ha, whomever is in power all seem to behave in a similar fahion: controlling in ESWN by Roland soong: """ The British colonial administration was hysterically afraid of the Five-Star Flag and Mao Zedong icons. Within its power, it banned the appearance of these objects. Basically, anything with the Chinese national five-star flag, emblem, anthem or leaders (such as Mao Zedong) was banned from view in Hong Kong. But there was more: The Yellow River Cantata, The White-haired Girl, satellite launches, nuclear tests, Tibetan highway construction, marine department directors, ... """

How to Save the World: Feb 17, 2006 3:31pm 1 review power, socialization
http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/2006/02/17.html; Our education systems prepare us for dependence on employment by large corporations and government organizations. Model of an influenza virus