11-11

A suggestion from Ballista on this Veterans Day...

Write to:

A Recovering Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20307-5001

Divide and Conquer

How long before Putin* annexes Georgia for his new Russian empire?

Georgia claims Russians have cut country in half


*Don't say I didn't warn you. Nefarious.

Empire (Re)Building

Forget the Olympics, Russia has sprung it's own form of "opening ceremonies" on the neighboring Republic of Georgia. Looks like the Kremlin has decided to seize the breakaway region of South Ossetia, which Georgia claims for its own.
The Soviets Putin Medvedev ordered Russian armored forces into the area this morning. They are currently pressing toward the regional capital of Tskhinvali and Georgian press are already declaring this a war. The Red Army Russkie air force also reportedly bombed a Georgian air base. The Georgians are reporting that they downed a pair of Russian aircraft.

In short, this is all very, very bad. The press on both sides have already declared this a "war". Not just a spat, scrape, skirmish, or battle. A war. Want to know what a war for oil and imperialism really looks like... here you go.

Beijing Triathlon

Well, it seems that double-speak, misdirection, and propaganda are the new triathlon for the Olympics this year. First, this from Arne Ljungqvist, chairman of the Olympic medical commission:

"The mist in the air that we see in those places, including here, is not a feature of pollution primarily but a feature of evaporation and humidity [emphasis added.]"

Oh, it's mist! Ballista thought that smog was the particulates, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone that the Chinese authorities admit are at near-unsafe levels, as set by the World Health Organization. (Air Pollution Index of 91, with 100 being unsafe).

Then there's the US cycle team arriving in what appeared, at first, to be protective face masks. Again, we all assumed the masks were for pollution. No, no, no. The cyclists later apologized for the misunderstanding and explained the masks were really there to prevent them from speaking their minds while in Communist China, thus protecting them from unexpected and completely accidental injuries.

Finally, we have the very rapid spot-cleaning of Beijing itself. That's not an unfinished building behind that curtain. And that corner never had a host of food carts on it. Nope just a nice clean city. Take lots of pictures for your capitalist pig friends. Remember the city as it was for this week because it doesn't matter what happens in China after the Olympics. Not that anything "unpleasant" is going to transpire. Of course not.

Ballista expects this type of behavior from the Communist party - it's their stock and trade - but it's disappointing to see the Western officials following suit. What did Solzhenitsyn say about the free world losing it's spine?...

A Mind Always Free

It is difficult to encapsulate the meaning of the life of Alexander Solzhenitsyn upon his death last Sunday. His prose revealed to an ignorant world the horrors of the systematic oppression imposed by the Communists in the Soviet Union. He consistently and convincingly argued for the inherent and basic rights of all people and appropriately faulted every standing political system for its respective failures or weakness. Perhaps most importantly he demonstrated the power of the individual to resist and outlive the monster of terror and slavery.

Yankee Scribble has a few brief words about Solzhenitsyn, which you might find interesting, as well as links to various media commentary on the man. I would like to add these two...

1978 Commencement Address at Harvard
Excerpt: "A decline in courage may be the most striking feature which an outside observer notices in the West in our days. The Western world has lost its civil courage, both as a whole and separately, in each country, each government, each political party, and, of course, in the United Nations. Such a decline in courage is particularly noticeable among the ruling groups and the intellectual elite, causing an impression of loss of courage by the entire society... Should one point out that from ancient times declining courage has been considered the beginning of the end?"

1970 Nobel Prize Speech

Keep Watching the Skies

Astronaut claims aliens real, contact covered-up by government.


Ballista is note quite sure what to make of this story. It's easy to dismiss this as the ramblings of an older gentleman who maybe just wants some attention. He was once famous for walking on the moon, but now hardly anyone knows his name. Or, perhaps he was just trying to tell a cute story to a foreign radio host. Thinking more seriously about it (and I can't believe that I am actually doing so), why would he tell this story, if true, to an Australian radio program? Seems kind of like an important development if true and worthy of a press conference or book or something more "official".

But, on the flip side, if he's telling the truth, what has changed that he's willing to say this now? Could be he thinks the government can't do much to him at this point in his life for spilling the beans.

Here's Ballista's take... stories of aliens from space resonate with everyone. They play on inherent fears of the unknown and an inherent curiosity of the same. At the same time, the alien theme is well suited as a means to bringing people together. Think about the ending of Independence Day. And who doesn't think that their government is hiding something. Essentially, I think Dr. Mitchell was trying to make a point about society and human relations of a much more terrestrial kind.

Returning to Europe

Radovan Karadzic is a Serbian war criminal, who has been on the lamb for 13 years. Now, he is being brought to justice. (Well, he's being turned over to the Hague, so we'll see how much justice is actually done.) The relevant and significant facts of his arrest are that he was finally arrested by a courageous new government in Serbia, which is staking its political future on more democracy, atoning for past atrocities committed by the likes of Karadzic, and working toward EU membership. This is amazing in the place that gave Balkanization its name, is historically aligned with Russia, and has strong nationalist attitudes. Even when Communist Tito was running the joint, Serbian nationalism was a tapped as a source of power and control more so than international Marxism.

Read about the fascinating feats of diplomacy that helped bring all this about here.

The slow march out of the darkness of Communism and post-communist extremist nationalism for the nations of East Europe is a story that people in the West should be more familiar with. Not just because it has led to the sacrifice of NATO blood and treasure (and reputation), but because it presages some of the conflicts that the nations of the Mideast will encounter soon. Also, a pro-Europe Serbia is probably pissing off the Kremlin, and that never leads to anything good.