A drone by any other name...

It has been a while since I have posted on the Faustian or the Signal.
Life has had me very busy.
Mea Culpa.

I have some stuff in draft that will come out soon, hopefully. Till then, I will post on some issues.
Also, look for some of my older stuff - essays, stories, and rants - on :
http://delirium-online.blogspot.ca

Drones and the face of war

Few topics get this old bayonet so riled up as autonomous fighting devices, and remote controlled killing machines. Drones, for short.
These disgusting perversions of reconnaissance vehicles have fast become the assassination weapon of choice for the ruling elites of the west. They are expensive, sure, but if they get shot down there is no politically embarrassing casualties and flag draped coffins. If they kill a few dozen innocents while striking their target, the 'pilot' only sees flashed on a screen. He does not see or smell the burning flesh.
He does not weave for his life to avoid the AA fires bristling up from defences.
 In today's world of undeclared non-wars against enemies labelled simply as 'terrorists', an empty autonomous or remotely controlled missile armed plane or (soon to be) robotic killing machine bristling with weaponry seem to fit in to the surreality of the whole mess just fine.
Call me old fashioned, but I think soldiers should fight and, when the horrible need is there,  die in those wars. I do not write that in frivolity, but as a man who has seen far too much of such violence and witnessed the death of dear friends and comrades.
I think soldiers should fight in wars because unlike technicians watching monitors, or CPU's calculating trajectories - soldiers FEEL the situation.
They are capable  of mercy; of discriminating morally between targets. They are HUMANS - not machines, nor even remote observers. They are real people immersed in the conflict about them.
When soldiers kill, it effects them.
When they die, it effects the war effort and the folks back home.
This is the 'cost' of war.
When the human elements are removed from war, all you are left with is clinical, efficient murder.
War of the kind being fought today appears designed to last forever.
To be perennial war. War as an industry with growth seasons.

The pilots of these things will now receive MEDALS for 'service'.
Let's be absolutely clear here: We are not talking about real pilots who are risking their lives over enemy positions and engaged in visceral combat with enemy pilots and defences. We are not talking about riflemen who spend days embedded in some frozen valley waiting for the right bunch of murderous bandit trash to wander by - risking it all  to take them down.
We are talking about technicians with the basic aptitudes and the right level of coordination.
Some of them may well be conscientious minded and responsible.
I hope and pray that is so.
But, we know from press leaks and briefings many of them  who are decent are destroyed by their experiences.  When I was in the active service the drone pilots were seen as misfits and 'fuck ups'.
Their handy work in the first strikes was seen by many  as horrific overkill.
The pilots, as we knew,  were off somewhere way back and safe (increasingly out of theatre).
It was also widely rumoured they were being doped for performance.
Rumours are rumours. I do not usually give them much of an ear.
I have no idea if anything like that is truly the case, but I will be frank: It would not surprise me at all when it comes to projects like the drone initiatives. I will reiterate: It would not surprise me on single iota under these specific circumstances.
Also,  the medals we are talking about are not career service medals  to be awarded after years of service, nor are they badges to indicate a campaign service.
These are HONOURS that will exceed that of the PURPLE HEART.
That is the United State's military medal for being wounded or killed in action.
Is a joystick jockey to be put ABOVE heroes?
ABOVE those wounded in action, and our war dead?
And it doesn't stop there.
It doesn't stop in some dusty village in some place you've never heard of....

They are now testing the use of these things domestically. In law enforcement circles, the US has gone bonkers for drones. Even here in Canada the RCMP in BC are 'experimenting' with  surveillance models.

Something needs to be done about these mechanical killers and spies. Air drones, land drones, and water/sea drones. They need to be regulated YESTERDAY.
We need controls and conventions for these things in the same way we do with nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons - not medals and parades for the quacks that invent them and the guys that push the button to order the kill.
We need some sanity restored here and we need it fast. 

South Korea finds smuggled capsules contain human flesh

One of the most disturbing media-feeds I have read in ages.
Here we see the 'product' of the infanticide industry. No longer content with the forced killing of millions of Chinese infants (mostly girls of course) it seems the 'product' of that industry is becoming more and more available overseas. First it was in the form of stem cells, but those can now be made from other more morally palatable sources. Now the 'product' (dead infant flesh) is making it's way back to it's roots: Cannibalism.
People are EATING them in pieces and in capsules.
While western politicians play friendly with this regime praising them for their eugenics programs; these evil swines are taking women's baby girls, killing them, and FEEDING them to cannibal savages who think it is beneficial to ingest newborn or unborn baby flesh - for a profit.
Also found on CTV.




The Associated Press

Updated: Mon. May. 7 2012 10:26 PM ET

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea has seized thousands of smuggled drug capsules filled with powdered flesh from dead babies, which some people believe can cure disease, officials said Monday.

The capsules were made in northeastern China from babies whose bodies were chopped into small pieces and dried on stoves before being turned into powder, the Korea Customs Service said.

Customs officials refused to say where the dead babies came from or who made the capsules, citing possible diplomatic friction with Beijing. Chinese officials ordered an investigation into the production of drugs made from dead fetuses or newborns last year.

The customs office has discovered 35 smuggling attempts since August of about 17,450 capsules disguised as stamina boosters, and some people believe them to be a panacea for disease, the customs service said in a statement. The capsules of human flesh, however, contained bacteria and other harmful ingredients.

The smugglers told customs officials they believed the capsules were ordinary stamina boosters and did not know the ingredients or manufacturing process.

Ethnic Koreans from northeastern China who now live in South Korea were intending to use the capsules themselves or share them with other Korean-Chinese, a customs official said. They were carried in luggage or sent by international mail.

The capsules were all confiscated but no one has been punished because the amount was deemed small and they weren't intended for sale, said the customs official, who requested anonymity, citing department rules.

China's State Food and Drug Administration and its Health Ministry did not immediately respond to questions faxed to them Monday. Chinese media identify northeastern China as the source of such products, especially Jilin province which abuts North Korea.

The Jilin food and drug safety agency is responsible for investigating the trade of such remains there. Calls to the agency and to the information office of Jilin's Communist Party were not answered Monday.

The South Korean customs agency began investigating after receiving a tip a year ago. No sicknesses have been reported from ingesting the capsules.

No sickness? Sickness of the soul: EVIL.

Militant Secularism

A fantastic piece by Britain's ONLY Muslim Peer (House of Lords) and the leader of the British delegation to the Holy See. The piece, found in the Telegraph, is about the deracination and division of British and European culture caused by secular extremism.
Sure to rock a few rock-head's boats.
Enjoy!

By Baroness Warsi

9:23PM GMT 13 Feb 2012

Today I have the honour of leading the largest ministerial delegation from the United Kingdom to the Vatican – our reciprocal visit following the momentous State Visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI in September 2010.

We will be celebrating the decision Margaret Thatcher took 30 years ago to restore full diplomatic relations between our countries. The relationship between the UK and the Holy See is our oldest diplomatic relationship, first established in 1479. And today, thanks to the great success of the Pope’s visit, it is one of the strongest too.

But this trip is about more than a Valentine’s Day “love in” with our Catholic neighbours. This is about recognising the deep and intrinsic role of faith here in Britain and overseas. For a number of years I have been saying that we need to have a better understanding of faith in our country. Why? Because I profoundly believe that faith has a vital and important role to play in modern society. But mistakenly, faith has been neglected, undermined – and yes, even attacked – by governments in recent years.

When I met the Holy Father in 2010 he told me that he had heard what I had been saying and urged me to carry on making my case robustly. So today, I am taking a renewed message to the Vatican City; one which I want to ring out beyond the Vatican walls.

I will be arguing that to create a more just society, people need to feel stronger in their religious identities and more confident in their creeds. In practice this means individuals not diluting their faiths and nations not denying their religious heritages.

This is a message I’ve delivered on these pages before. But today I will be taking the argument one step further. I will be arguing for Europe to become more confident and more comfortable in its Christianity. The point is this: the societies we live in, the cultures we have created, the values we hold and the things we fight for all stem from centuries of discussion, dissent and belief in Christianity.

These values shine through our politics, our public life, our culture, our economics, our language and our architecture. And, as I will say today, you cannot and should not extract these Christian foundations from the evolution of our nations any more than you can or should erase the spires from our landscapes.

My fear today is that a militant secularisation is taking hold of our societies. We see it in any number of things: when signs of religion cannot be displayed or worn in government buildings; when states won’t fund faith schools; and where religion is sidelined, marginalised and downgraded in the public sphere.

It seems astonishing to me that those who wrote the European Constitution made no mention of God or Christianity. When I denounced this tendency two days before the Holy Father’s State Visit in September 2010, saying that government should “do God”, I received countless messages of support. The overwhelming message was: “At last someone has said it”.

That so many people felt moved to write showed just how uneasy they were at the rising tide of secularism.

For me, one of the most worrying aspects about this militant secularisation is that at its core and in its instincts it is deeply intolerant. It demonstrates similar traits to totalitarian regimes – denying people the right to a religious identity because they were frightened of the concept of multiple identities.

That’s why in the 20th century, one of the first acts of totalitarian regimes was the targeting of organised religion.

Of course there is a crucial caveat to all of this. I am not calling for some kind of 21st century theocracy. Religious faith and its followers do not have the only answer. There will be times when politicians and faith leaders will disagree. What is more, secularism is not intrinsically damaging. My concern is when secularisation is pushed to an extreme, when it requires the complete removal of faith from the public sphere. So I am calling for a more open confidence in faith, where faith has a place at the table, though not an exclusive position.

When we look at the deep distrust between some communities today, there is no doubt that faith has a key role to play in bridging these divides. If people understand that accepting a person of another faith isn’t a threat to their own, they can unite in fighting bigotry and work together to create a more just world.

All the major religions ask their followers to stand up for their neighbours. Doing so doesn’t make you less of a Christian, less of a Jew, less of a Muslim – it makes you more of one.

So when I have my second audience with the Holy Father tomorrow afternoon, I will not just be looking back on his remarkable visit. I will be giving him my absolute commitment to continue fighting for faith in today’s society. I hope this is something we can share in and I hope it reinforces this extraordinary relationship between the UK and the Holy See.

The Baroness at a conference

FIrst the banner, now the oath....

Cheered on by their victory over the the various town square Santas, School grad ceremnonies, Military funerals and grave-sites,  and of course the 'prayer banner' of Cranston HS; the Atheist movement has now set it's sites on the US pledge of allegiance.

ACTON, Mass. –  A family has reportedly asked a Massachusetts judge to order a school district to remove the phrase "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance.

Interestingly enough, the plaintiffs, who are atheists and call themselves the "Does" to protect their identity, are not citing the establishment clause of the First Amendment in making their case. Instead, they are challenging the Pledge on the basis of the Massachusetts Constitution's guarantee of "equal protection."

The Does argue that schools discriminate against atheist children by taking part in a pledge that makes them feel “marginalized,” the Boston Herald reports.

Superior Court Judge Jane Haggerty will hear arguments Monday in Doe vs. Acton-Boxborough Regional School District.

In another challenge against saying the Pledge of Allegiance in Brookline Mass., a group called "Brookline Pax" had asked the town to vote in favor of a resolution calling for the school committee to rescind its Pledge of Allegiance policy and stop the Pledge from being recited in the schools.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/02/13/family-asks-judge-to-order-massachusetts-school-district-to-remove-under-god/?test=latestnews#ixzz1mIwu3Pkk

So, because a few kids have fringe beliefs that make them feel 'left out' they want to alter or even SCRAP this oath?

NK Death Camps revealed in detail

Glorious Leader's Korea may have no Religions but that of the state, they may be officially communist and Atheist by creed , but they believe in Hell. In fact, they manufacture Hell here on earth.
New images in the UK's Daily Mail give us a clear view into the secret death camps of Communist Korea:

"The North Korean government may deny their existence, but photos taken from space have revealed in unprecedented detail the concentration camps that are used imprison more than 200,000 citizens.
Men, women and children are forced to work seven days a week as slaves and eat 'rats, frogs, snakes, insects' and even faeces to battle starvation in the camps."

One man, imprisoned in one of the larger camps as a child thinks they must be growing, as more Koreans are sent to be worked to death.
"'The camp definitely looks bigger. For example, new buildings for prison guards weren't there before. I can only assume that means there are more prisoners being held and therefore more security is needed.'"
The evidence certainly backs his claims.
This is what happens when nations are reduced to ideological constructs, when God is banished and men take His place; when morality is seen as a sliding scale and justice as a tool for power. This is what happens when the Good do nothing.
This is what we pretend is not possible 'in the 21st century!'
This is the modern face of Evil.
Banal, clinical, official, progressive, scientific, practical Evil.