This may be simplistic, but if we weren't so hated around the world for our agressive activities and meddling in foreign governments, we wouldn't need Blackwater (human waste + H2O) to "protect" our diplomats. I can remember when we all we needed was a small contegency of marines to guard our embassies and diplomats traveled without private thugs as bodyguards.

Civilization will resume when history declares Blackwater the loser of this war it started.

Listen to what Jack London said a hundred years ago in "IRON HEEL": "Another great institution that had taken form and was working smoothly was the Mercenaries. This body of soldiers had been evolved out of the old regular army and was now a million strong, to say nothing of the colonial forces. The Mercenaries constituted a race apart. They dwelt in cities of their own which were practically self-governed, and they were granted many privileges. By them a large portion of the perplexing surplus was consumed. They were losing all touch and sympathy with the rest of the people, and, in fact, were developing their own class morality and consciousness."
Hoa binh

Iraq is the front in the war against Blackwater, Triple Canopy, DynCorp and numerous other mercenary corporations. Thank god the Iraqis are fighting them there so we don't have to fight them here.

"Thank god the Iraqis are fighting them there so we don't have to fight them here."

Don't count on it. I'm inclined to think that their foreign assignments may just be a practice run for the real thing.

It would be very easy to get the troops out of Iraq by focusing on all the tax money going to these outlaw mercenaries; unplug the mercenaries, and the troops couldn't stay there without major increases, which the public will not support.

This Stop Outsourcing Security Act is a reactionary strategy commonly practiced by the left wing. The problem is that failing to face down the right wing intent effectively legitimize that intent. The right wing intent is to dominate, period.

Instead of reacting to the endless manifestations of the right wing domination intent, we have to face it down and banish it. We could for example campaign to banish the Repuk party, after we impeach public enemies number one and two. These are symbolic acts of course. To banish the domination intent we have to target its most glaring symbols.

The SOS bill is a good start but needs to be altered to prohibit Blackwater from EXISTING.

My friends, Blackwater will be more than happy to be "called home"-- because they're positioned to take over border security for the US. Erik Prince as much as said so in his testimony before Congress and Blackwater is attempting to build a giant facility down near the border outside San Diego. Congressman Duncan Hunter, ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, is pimping for them.

"In an October 15th Wall Street Journal interview Prince indicated that Iraq-type operations were no longer at the top of Blackwater USA's business agenda and that he saw his company as going more "full spectrum." Now, as they move into their new facility on the Mexican border, Eric Prince & Company appear to be set to expand into both border enforcement and the Bush White House drug war with an operational role in Plan Mexico, the $1.5 billion U.S.-Mexico drug war scheme to fuse drug-fighting agencies on both sides of the border under Washington's control."

It's worth recalling that "fighting drugs" is a time-honored way for recent American administrations to go after liberals, dissidents and young people...as well as squash labor and progressives in Latin America.

Read about it here: http://www.counterpunch.com/ross11092007.html

Did you know that Blackwater is training our police forces? New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles and Chicago - doesn't that make you happy and feel oh-so safe? I went to their webiste and looked at some of their newsletters. It was horrifying. These people are dangerous and they are operating legally and spreading their "virus" with our tax dollars.

Blackwater's Erik Prince is a fundamentalist Christian militant, by which I mean that he has military forces and weaponry at his disposal and is reported to avidly support the replacement of the Constitution with a theocratic state. I believe it's called the Christain Restoration Movement or somethign like that.

Can you say Praetorian Guard?

I don't know about you but it terrifies me.

Prejudiced against cowboys? I vote for less outsourcing on all fronts, security, torture, cheap products, food production. But the unsupervised, unprincipled elements of a mercenary force are not real cowboys.

The cowboys and cowgirls I know are hard-working, take good care of their animals, are, or could become, important in humane raising practices of grass-fed, free-range beef. They keep the best of the old practices of raising beef alive.

Those practices are "green," --- depend on horses and renewable/recyclables materials, not on oil. Most care about the health of the range.

Since when is "cowboy" a pejorative?!

Priestess of Isis--- If you really want to be alarmed read the piece about the militant christian take over of the Air Force Academy. Christian Facscists aren't about to leave anything to chance. Hit em from all fronts, is their motto. We have to keep anchoring ( shining) the Light. It will set us all free but I fear, not before the darkness seems all but overwhelming first. Hate to quote an old adage, but it is darkest before the dawn. Just keep holding the Light. They may seem to have the power to extinguish it, but that is their delusion.

"Iraq is the front in the war against Blackwater, Triple Canopy, DynCorp and numerous other mercenary corporations. Thank god the Iraqis are fighting them there so we don't have to fight them here."

Ron, that was funnier than hell.

former mexico president fox was at bill maher's show and told an anecdote that underlines the cowardly posturing of george w. bush. he said bush visited his ranch in mexico, where fox keeps a pretty lively stallion he rides all the time. he offered it to bush, who just touched it with a finger and pulled back, saying that his security contingent would not allow his riding it. later fox visited bush at his texas ranch and they rode around in an SUV. fox said bush was pretty good at operating the windshield wipers and labeled him a "windshield cowboy."

Why do I feel like all this is just one giant nightmare?

The Neocons, global warming, 9/11, Blackwater, a million Iraqi's dead, almost 4,000 American soldiers dead, depleted uranium, chemtrails, songbirds becoming extinct, bees becoming extinct, women and little girls being raped and mutilated in the Congo, Darfur, a zombied out Congress, privatized elections, 50 million Americans with no health care, oil depletion, the dollar crumbling, millions of foreclosures and on and on and on.

I'm tired of the tears and the pity party I've been having all by myself (well, and kind of with all you guys). Just today I was bawling my eyes out, crying to my friend, "Why couldn't I have just been born and lived a normal f'ing life? Just live in peace with nice people and help one another out. Be cool and friendly...live, love then die eventually?"

Instead, here we are. Since "the selection" in 2000 it's all been rapidly spiraling out of control. And I have 4 sons who will be facing a draft probably as early as next spring. Just wait. It's coming.

Will someone please wake me up and give me a hug and say, "Don't worry. Everything's fine...it was all just a very bad dream...."?

Black Water? what the fuck is that?

Eric Prince? royalty? Christian?

Reminds me of the Priest that was conducting "Black" masses and raped/murdered the nun a couple years ago.

GO JESUS!

abbybwood
"Just today I was bawling my eyes out, crying to my friend, "Why couldn't I have just been born and lived a normal f'ing life? Just live in peace with nice people and help one another out. Be cool and friendly…live, love then die eventually?"

Hey sweety
I'm with ya. May I offer this little tidbit, I feel that the very nature of my passion at the moment in history is important, and therefore, so is yours. If it helps at all, and if you are of a spiritual bent at all....think that opposites may be true, and this coming tide of darkness against those who claim themselves Christian and who seek to dominate us all with their beliefs and control are the ones warned about. My beliefs are more rooted in Native American mythos, but even there you can find warnings about what is happening. Call it projection, truth, prophecy or whatever you like, you were born during this time for a reason. I am not trying to sermonize, but offer comfort and to let you know that your emotional outbursts and feelings about this are legitimate. Don't give up hope. Keep the passion. Virtual hugs...

Everyone should listen to this talk show that aired yesterday on local NPR station to hear some very scary views held by these folks - especially Boswell and Land (the call-ins were just as scary):

Thu, Nov 8, 2007 — 9:00 AM
Thehttp://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R711080900

Christian Right and the '08 Election

With Pat Robertson coming out in support of Rudy Giuliani yesterday, the show looks at candidates' efforts to woo Christian conservatives. Has the Christian right's clout in national politics diminished?
Host: Michael Krasny
Guests:
Charles Boswell, senior pastor at Immanuel Baptist Church in Wichita, Kansas.
David D. Kirkpatrick, Washington correspondent for the New York Times
Matthew Continetti, associate editor of the Weekly Standard
Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and author of "The Divided States of America?"

In the plumbing trade," blackwater" is a eupheism for raw, untreated sewage. Some are floaters and some are sinkers mucking things up, but they are all shit.

There is only one reason for Blackwater and that is M-O-N-E-Y. Blackwater is Halliburton and Cheney. Almost half of the money being wasted on this disaster in the Mid-East goes to Halliburton. And I saw Bush senior on the news tonight, ORDERING us Iraq war protestors, to lay off of his son. Then junior came on and said he didn't worry about his critics. ___ No shit, as if we didn't already know that. Hey King, you are employed by us in case you forgot.

Well, I know that doesn't make a lick of difference, because we didn't elect him, he stole it and there is no honor among thieves. Since we didn't elect him, guess he don't have to listen to us or obey his sworn duty to protect and defend our law of the land, that G-damn piece of paper, our Constitution.

Here's my intuit-hit.

* Iran refuses US treasury notes for anything (oil).

* We launch cruise missiles.

* Russia & China respond & they through out - FLOOD US $$ everywhere.

* Our US economy collapses--we are in Chaos--most in fear.

* The super secret military pulls off a fake (mock) negative ET landing (s).

* Martial law is imposed due to the most scariest "realities" taking place.

[ big hugs for those who are feeling very down...]

And... Yes, there's a lot of effluent hitting the fan at the moment, but here's a concept to maybe raise hope:
The human body gets zits, boils, spots on its surface, this is a natural way to get rid of toxins which the body needs to expel.

We could maybe look at the 'body politic' in the same way?
Thus: many of the toxic fools who are at the helm, -on the *sur-face* of things at present, were previously around for many a long year *behind the scenes*, (albeit usually at a lower level of power).

But now they have risen to the fore, --all ready to be s-q-u-e-e-z-e-d like any coalescence of poison, ~ and then suitably expunged for all time, into the waste bin of history!

If this notion / concept has any validity, then it may offer a ray of hope to those feeling morose at the parlous state of current affairs?

______________

Cultural note re 'Cowboys' :::
Yes, strictly speaking, I suppose the term should only refer to those males involved in all things bovine, but of course Hollywood made loads of movies based around 'cowboys', and the depicted propensity of such characters to "get drunk, shoot up a town, and generally act badly" (etc) led to the term being now internationally representative of 'someone ill behaved', or 'something done badly, hastily and without care' – such as with the now widely used term in the UK :: 'cowboy builders'.

I have also heard another term being used: *a cowhand* but fail to understand this, because unless bovine Genetic Modification has taken an even more sinister turn, I've yet to see any cattle with *hands*,

...although, -upon reflection, there is that cretin in the Gray House!! :)

The praetors can protect --- the praetors can unprotect.

To those feeling downhearted, may I offer this link which has helped me: http://www.wanttoknow.info/youweremadeforthis. It's a pretty good website all around.

Dealing with these kinds of challenges is what we were made for -- it's just that in most cases no one told us, we have to figure it out for ourselves. Kinda like Dorothy. :>)

My hero was Roy Rogers and Superman when I was a kid.

When George Bush asked me to spy on my Marxist family in the early 50's when Little George was in town with him, Big George came in the room in full Cowboy outfit like Roy Rogers as if that would impress me that he was one of the "White Hats" as he put it.

"Cowboy" became a bad word when these phony Dude Ranch Cowboys pretended so that we would Associate them with our childhood heros.

Now even Barbara calls Big George "Superman".

Someday you all might get it.

Siouxrose----I'm with you all the way. The Great Mother has her own ways of correcting any imbalance, and she will.

We are the ones we have been waiting for, and as hard as it may be to remember sometimes, we knew what we were in for before we came back to Mother Earth again.

So many midwives here to assist the birth of a brand new consciousness that honors the dishonored, that restores what has been forced underground, and that welcomes every life affirming change that is to come.

Abbeywood, Hang in their honey. The best is yet to come. Light/Love will dissolve the darkness. Hold onto that especially in the days to come. Birth is messy and damned hard work, but what comes out is wonderous to behold! Your mother-love is a powerful force for change. And it can be found all over the planet today. You are not alone!

ggpearl---another soul companion! I welcome you with open arms. Please stay on this site and share your love and wisdom with us all.

Mercenaries are necessary to fight unpopular immoral wars. If the war was remotely popular or vaguely moral, soldiers would do the job.

Mercenaries will willingly commit war crimes and terrorize. This is also a major reason that Shotgun Dick and Bu$h the inferior use them.

Finally, the fact that total pussy war wimp drug and alcohol addicts, like Shotgun Dick and Bu$h the inferior, are used to paying for every possible service that is unpleasant or risky is just icing on their cake.

Real tough guys got chunks of war wimps like Bu$h the inferior and Shotgun Dick in their stools.

UN-common-dreams: (good name btw)
A "good hand" is the best, understated praise good, real cowboys bestove upon their peers. It is a good way to appreciate someone, don't you think, whose work require brains, feelings, and skilled hands.

I'll dwell on the cowboy stereotypes a sec .. just long enough to make folks aware that sterotyping occurs in many forms. Europeans have been known to be prejudiced. Hollywood does have role-model cowboys as well, not just the rough&tumble type.

History has a strange way of moving around, but if Enlightenement and human rights got a boost in Europe, it is in USA where the concepts bloomed in the last 50-100 years. Yes, seems we're loosing ground lately, a sad realization for me personally.

No offense but this is getting a little more anal than is necessary. It may feel good to call someone you don't like a shithead but it doesn't change the situation. The are better ways to object to something you want to see change.

Praetorian Guard, yes. Also, and perhaps more to the point, Blackwater is a new Waffen SS.

Right wing political troops not part of the army. The Fourth Reich is coming.

lemoncurry
Let them come. It is as it is. The only way to get out of this mess is to walk through it. They are the opposite of what they claim to be.

figmentzenguitar
good link, thanks.

Evolution is change, and it is the only constant. Handing over the reins of the cart to those who want control allows them to drive that cart straight into the ditch. They are their own worst enemy. Letting them think they have control....well, Gnarls Barkley said it best.
Aho ya'all

PRIESTESS OF ISIS (Love that name!), good posting!

ABBEYWOOD: I'm glad you bring humanity to the forum. What I've learned is that when the evident facts of life do everything to result in a cascade of the blues, it's good to get out and connect with nature. Whether you walk in a park to breathe with the trees, bike into an area where birds sing, walk by the still waters or pulsing oceans, EVERY THING in nature inclines to heal the human spirit. (Sure, when She--the great Mother--becomes justifiably pissed, she may shift her paradigm to send earthquakes, floods, tornados, volcanos, hurricanes, etc to remind us who's boss. Even so, it's powerful to realize little boys with gigantic twisted egos messing with weapons of mass destruction are NOT the foremost power governing space ship earth, even if the powers of equalization take time and rebound in cyclic waves.